Respect the office
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Before getting down to business, please allow me to offer some background information.
(Not that I expect the anonymous Internet bloggers – who have suggested that arson, when one disagrees with a local newspaper, is compatible with good citizenship – to fully comprehend this column.)
They will read it, though. They always do. Or they'll have someone read it to them in order that they may begin another onslaught of online anonymity.
With that said, for those who do not know, my background in writing newspaper columns and editorial opinions dates to 1978 when I was published in The Cincinnati Enquirer for defending (of all people!) one Peter Edward Rose. A rough count would support that in the ensuing years, I've managed to write and publish enough columns to fill several books. Or one really, really big book.
My best guess is that I've written close to 1,500 original columns and/or editorials. One or two of them may have actually been worth reading (opinions vary). The industry professionals apparently thought so. And I will admit that receiving multiple statewide first-place awards for newspaper writing has been a measure of validation of the efforts of this self-proclaimed Ridgerunner, as my friend Tim Rosselott calls me.
On the other hand, Joe Himes is happy for me.
With 1,500 columns and more than 60 awards for editorial excellence (most of which are now resting in Mount Rumpke), and more than a quarter of a century of newspaper writing, I still enjoy the print medium and the journalism business in general.
I've been fortunate to receive words of kindness from President Ford, Governor Taft, Governor Strickland, Congressman Brown, Senator Portman, Congressman Harsha (who, on a bad day, nominated me to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1979), and many others. I have letters from each of them that I hope my children will save.
For those who've read my political ramblings over the past two decades, this may come as a surprise, but this conservative has two very good reasons to appreciate Gov. Strickland.
The first happened many years ago at the Ohio Statehouse. Pam and I had taken our three home-schooled children on a field trip to the Statehouse. Unexpectedly, we passed then-Congressman Strickland in the hallway. A few weeks earlier, I had criticized Ted in print over something or other. Politics. Government. Philosophy. I can't even remember now. But that afternoon, the congressman stopped and spoke to my wife and children, shook their hands, and said that their old man wasn't horrible.
Fast-forward a few years, and Ted was the guest speaker at the opening of the new Hillsboro City Schools. Upon his introduction, he made his way toward the stage. He shook a few hands, as politicians do. Then, he stopped and turned. "Good luck with your new paper, Rory," he said.
Ted Strickland didn't have to do that. Rick Earley made the comment that I'd have to be nicer to Ted in the future. I hope that I have been, although our political opinions will, most often, be a bit different.
Through the years, the newspaper business has given me the opportunity to meet many people whom I otherwise wouldn't have met. People like Sen. Doug White, Sen. Cooper Snyder, Judges McKenna, Greer, Coss, Spencer, McMullen, Davis, Judkins, Hapner, Hapner, Foster and many others. I've actually made lasting friendships with a few lawyers!
And through the years, I've attended a few public meetings. More than a few, in fact. Statehouse. College board. School board. Hospital board. City council. County commission. More than I can readily recall. I've covered trials. Press conferences. Announcements of unfortunate indictments. Drug busts. An exchange or two of gunfire. And even the story of a captured rattlesnake in a Portsmouth home along the Scioto River. On three occasions, I've had my life threatened.
Let's face it. When it comes to local, state and federal government, this old codger has seen a lot. But in all these years, I've never witnessed a ridiculous public outburst like the one at the Feb. 1 meeting of the Highland County commissioners.
I'd like to put this in some perspective. I've worked with Hillsboro mayors from Betty Bishop to Sandy Harsha to Dick Zink. I have written encouraging and complimentary words about each of them. And I've written words of criticism about each of them. To this day, they all speak to me, as do members of their respective administrations, past and present. They are all stand-up individuals and conduct themselves in accordance with the expectations of the public office. It's obvious they respected the office of mayor and its administration.
None of them got a free pass and none of them expected one.
This past Wednesday, Hillsboro's current mayor – all of one month on the job – presented an attitude of contempt for everything he discussed. AEP. The EPA. The commissioners, themselves.
He began his most unusual tirade by explaining how higher electric bills would hurt his personal business ventures and campaign promises. Eventually, he got around to the impact on Hillsboro citizens and businesses. But he most assuredly started off by how this affected him. He mentioned his campaign, his lease with the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, his plans for a coffee house.
After that, he got around to the rest of us.
When Commissioner Tom Horst said that consumers need to contact their state lawmakers and look at options to purchase electricity elsewhere, the mayor exploded.
"Tom, I beg to differ with you," he said in an already loud tone. "We need to play hardball. We need to take the fight to them. If they want to turn off the lights, let 'em."
After that heated comment, this mayor, who had been addressing the commissioners, turned to several citizens in attendance and, raising his voice, barked: "You can write all the stories you want about who I'm sleeping with or how I do my hair. We need to say we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore."
The mayor then rose to leave before Mr. Horst asked him to calm down and return to the meeting.
Frankly, there's not much from all of my past experiences that I can draw from to rationalize this type of behavior from a public official. He seemed to be angry at this newspaper and, at the same time, angry at one of his primary campaign opponents who was attending the public meeting.
(For the record, I have never written about the mayor's hair or sleeping habits. I don't care about either. Nor does anyone else.)
Following the meeting, I suggested to the commissioners they invest in a gavel. Otherwise, if they accept such crass behavior at their meetings, it might become the norm.
After an initial reluctance to comment, Commission President Shane Wilkin said: "That's not an atmosphere we want in our meetings. It won't happen again."
Good. We'll hold you to that, of course.
Another commissioner, Jeremy Shaffer, laughed and said "That's just (the mayor) being (the mayor)."
Maybe Commissioner Shaffer found some humor in it. I didn't. The mayor saved his most vitriolic outburst not for the commissioners, to whom he'd been speaking, but to members of the Highland County TEA Party and media who were seated behind him.
Now, if the mayor would like to re-define the outburst to just the media, that would be fine. But he might want to do some fact-checking beforehand.
There were at least 10 observers to the mayor's conduct. And at least one of the 10 had a digital video and audio recorder with him.
In spite of requests, we'll not post any of the dialogue or unnecessary theatrics on our website.
What I'll say is this. Until he lost his composure, for whatever reasons, the mayor had a few good points related to the significant increase in utility rates. We can all agree on that.
But yelling and cursing, while somewhat comical, isn't going to solve the problem.
Commissioner Wilkin suggested a public forum, with a carefully written petition available for signatures, and a thoughtful presentation to the Ohio Public Utilities Commission and AEP, through which local residents and businesses can be heard.
That's a lot better than shouting (a la 1976) "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore." How original.
Try that tack in an AEP office and see how far it gets you.
Highland County and the city of Hillsboro have a long history of good and honorable public servants. I've been fortunate to know most of them for the last 30 or 40 years. I cannot envision any one of them stooping to the behavior that 10 of us witnessed on Feb. 1.
Enough, already. It's time to grow into the job and show respect for the office.
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
(Not that I expect the anonymous Internet bloggers – who have suggested that arson, when one disagrees with a local newspaper, is compatible with good citizenship – to fully comprehend this column.)
They will read it, though. They always do. Or they'll have someone read it to them in order that they may begin another onslaught of online anonymity.
With that said, for those who do not know, my background in writing newspaper columns and editorial opinions dates to 1978 when I was published in The Cincinnati Enquirer for defending (of all people!) one Peter Edward Rose. A rough count would support that in the ensuing years, I've managed to write and publish enough columns to fill several books. Or one really, really big book.
My best guess is that I've written close to 1,500 original columns and/or editorials. One or two of them may have actually been worth reading (opinions vary). The industry professionals apparently thought so. And I will admit that receiving multiple statewide first-place awards for newspaper writing has been a measure of validation of the efforts of this self-proclaimed Ridgerunner, as my friend Tim Rosselott calls me.
On the other hand, Joe Himes is happy for me.
With 1,500 columns and more than 60 awards for editorial excellence (most of which are now resting in Mount Rumpke), and more than a quarter of a century of newspaper writing, I still enjoy the print medium and the journalism business in general.
I've been fortunate to receive words of kindness from President Ford, Governor Taft, Governor Strickland, Congressman Brown, Senator Portman, Congressman Harsha (who, on a bad day, nominated me to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1979), and many others. I have letters from each of them that I hope my children will save.
For those who've read my political ramblings over the past two decades, this may come as a surprise, but this conservative has two very good reasons to appreciate Gov. Strickland.
The first happened many years ago at the Ohio Statehouse. Pam and I had taken our three home-schooled children on a field trip to the Statehouse. Unexpectedly, we passed then-Congressman Strickland in the hallway. A few weeks earlier, I had criticized Ted in print over something or other. Politics. Government. Philosophy. I can't even remember now. But that afternoon, the congressman stopped and spoke to my wife and children, shook their hands, and said that their old man wasn't horrible.
Fast-forward a few years, and Ted was the guest speaker at the opening of the new Hillsboro City Schools. Upon his introduction, he made his way toward the stage. He shook a few hands, as politicians do. Then, he stopped and turned. "Good luck with your new paper, Rory," he said.
Ted Strickland didn't have to do that. Rick Earley made the comment that I'd have to be nicer to Ted in the future. I hope that I have been, although our political opinions will, most often, be a bit different.
Through the years, the newspaper business has given me the opportunity to meet many people whom I otherwise wouldn't have met. People like Sen. Doug White, Sen. Cooper Snyder, Judges McKenna, Greer, Coss, Spencer, McMullen, Davis, Judkins, Hapner, Hapner, Foster and many others. I've actually made lasting friendships with a few lawyers!
And through the years, I've attended a few public meetings. More than a few, in fact. Statehouse. College board. School board. Hospital board. City council. County commission. More than I can readily recall. I've covered trials. Press conferences. Announcements of unfortunate indictments. Drug busts. An exchange or two of gunfire. And even the story of a captured rattlesnake in a Portsmouth home along the Scioto River. On three occasions, I've had my life threatened.
Let's face it. When it comes to local, state and federal government, this old codger has seen a lot. But in all these years, I've never witnessed a ridiculous public outburst like the one at the Feb. 1 meeting of the Highland County commissioners.
I'd like to put this in some perspective. I've worked with Hillsboro mayors from Betty Bishop to Sandy Harsha to Dick Zink. I have written encouraging and complimentary words about each of them. And I've written words of criticism about each of them. To this day, they all speak to me, as do members of their respective administrations, past and present. They are all stand-up individuals and conduct themselves in accordance with the expectations of the public office. It's obvious they respected the office of mayor and its administration.
None of them got a free pass and none of them expected one.
This past Wednesday, Hillsboro's current mayor – all of one month on the job – presented an attitude of contempt for everything he discussed. AEP. The EPA. The commissioners, themselves.
He began his most unusual tirade by explaining how higher electric bills would hurt his personal business ventures and campaign promises. Eventually, he got around to the impact on Hillsboro citizens and businesses. But he most assuredly started off by how this affected him. He mentioned his campaign, his lease with the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, his plans for a coffee house.
After that, he got around to the rest of us.
When Commissioner Tom Horst said that consumers need to contact their state lawmakers and look at options to purchase electricity elsewhere, the mayor exploded.
"Tom, I beg to differ with you," he said in an already loud tone. "We need to play hardball. We need to take the fight to them. If they want to turn off the lights, let 'em."
After that heated comment, this mayor, who had been addressing the commissioners, turned to several citizens in attendance and, raising his voice, barked: "You can write all the stories you want about who I'm sleeping with or how I do my hair. We need to say we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore."
The mayor then rose to leave before Mr. Horst asked him to calm down and return to the meeting.
Frankly, there's not much from all of my past experiences that I can draw from to rationalize this type of behavior from a public official. He seemed to be angry at this newspaper and, at the same time, angry at one of his primary campaign opponents who was attending the public meeting.
(For the record, I have never written about the mayor's hair or sleeping habits. I don't care about either. Nor does anyone else.)
Following the meeting, I suggested to the commissioners they invest in a gavel. Otherwise, if they accept such crass behavior at their meetings, it might become the norm.
After an initial reluctance to comment, Commission President Shane Wilkin said: "That's not an atmosphere we want in our meetings. It won't happen again."
Good. We'll hold you to that, of course.
Another commissioner, Jeremy Shaffer, laughed and said "That's just (the mayor) being (the mayor)."
Maybe Commissioner Shaffer found some humor in it. I didn't. The mayor saved his most vitriolic outburst not for the commissioners, to whom he'd been speaking, but to members of the Highland County TEA Party and media who were seated behind him.
Now, if the mayor would like to re-define the outburst to just the media, that would be fine. But he might want to do some fact-checking beforehand.
There were at least 10 observers to the mayor's conduct. And at least one of the 10 had a digital video and audio recorder with him.
In spite of requests, we'll not post any of the dialogue or unnecessary theatrics on our website.
What I'll say is this. Until he lost his composure, for whatever reasons, the mayor had a few good points related to the significant increase in utility rates. We can all agree on that.
But yelling and cursing, while somewhat comical, isn't going to solve the problem.
Commissioner Wilkin suggested a public forum, with a carefully written petition available for signatures, and a thoughtful presentation to the Ohio Public Utilities Commission and AEP, through which local residents and businesses can be heard.
That's a lot better than shouting (a la 1976) "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore." How original.
Try that tack in an AEP office and see how far it gets you.
Highland County and the city of Hillsboro have a long history of good and honorable public servants. I've been fortunate to know most of them for the last 30 or 40 years. I cannot envision any one of them stooping to the behavior that 10 of us witnessed on Feb. 1.
Enough, already. It's time to grow into the job and show respect for the office.
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]