On Nov. 17 at 11:23 a.m., I heard a loud crash coming from the area of Sylvania Metamora Road.
I saw a black automobile spinning and backing across Pond View Drive. The front of the vehicle was in the street with the left side and driver’s door were on the ground along with a wheel. Impact was made with a large Toledo Edison pole that resulted in injuries to the driver. I immediately called 911 and was infuriated when I received a recording stating “do not hang up, someone will be with you shortly.” “Shortly” was 2 minutes and 31 seconds later. When my call was addressed, emergency personnel arrived quickly.
I am a retired Toledo police officer, serving on the streets for 33 years. Therefore, I recognize the importance of how quick emergency response is imperative to the preservation of life.
I am the president of the Twelve Lakes Home Owners Association with more than 300 residents who pay taxes to support the 911 emergency system. This type of system is not serving Sylvania Township residents.
I urge the Sylvania Township Trustees to re-evaluate their regional 911 system affiliation, as this is a continuation of a failing and poorly managed public safety phone response system.
JOHN BILLS
Sylvania Township
Former Toledo mayors fighting gun violence
In Toledo, a resident is three times more likely to experience violent crime than the state average, and 2.5 times more likely than the national average, according to a national report based on FBI statistics.
This is unacceptable to us, and it should be to all Toledoans.
We must ask: Where are our elected officials in addressing this terrible hurt upon Toledo families and our neighborhoods? Where are the community and church leaders? Have we accepted the type of gun violence thousands of people saw at a Whitmer-Central football game, with hundreds of thousands later watching the violence unfold before their very eyes on their televisions?
The Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods is hosting, at Toledo churches, a series of town hall meetings to seek input from neighborhood residents. To date, we have heard significant support for growing our Block-Watch programs and reintroducing community-oriented police and citizens walking streets through our neighborhoods.
There is overwhelming support for Toledo Police officers and citizens working together to bring peace and calm to our community. We are asking our citizens and the T.P.D. to come to our neighborhood meetings so we can hear your concerns and recommendations for “peace” in our city. Your ideas will be heard as we finalize our plans for presentation to city officials.
Our next meeting is Tuesday at 6:30 PM at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 2240 Castlewood Dr. You and your ideas would be very welcome. Sincerely, for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods,
MICHAEL BELL, CARTY FINKBEINER, PAULA HICKS-HUDSON, AND DONNA OWENS
The writers are former mayors of the city of Toledo.
Blade gets pension coverage wrong
The Nov. 20 editorial “Unmuzzle Pension Boards” is the latest in a recent series of baseless attacks against STRS Ohio that should give readers pause.
The pension fund’s one-voice policy is portrayed as a malicious strategy to “muzzle” members. In reality, it is a standard policy shared by thousands of other boards. In John Carver’s book, Boards That Make a Difference, he says that these policies are not designed to drown out an individual’s voice but rather to enable the board’s authority in its decisions. These practices can also help avoid misinformation in the media, something The Blade manages to achieve despite these policies.
Perhaps The Blade hopes the state audit will yield damning revelations. The recent one-sided coverage has conveniently failed to highlight the latest fiduciary performance audit that concluded STRS Ohio’s “investment operations demonstrate excellence” and that the pension fund’s investment performance is in the top quartile compared to peers.
I do not doubt the state audit will echo this. I hope The Blade provides fair coverage of the findings, even though it will likely be a much less interesting story than they’ve portrayed thus far.
HANK KIM
Washington
Hank Kim is the executive director and general counsel of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems.
Saturday essay right
Saturday’s essay, “Ohio Must Better Support Its Teachers” was spot on.
Because we need teachers, I would also suggest bringing back a type of loan program from the ’60s known as the National Defense Education Act loan. For every year of teaching, part of the college loan was forgiven.
Other suggestions include fast tracking and forgoing unnecessary university classes and paying mentor teachers in the school districts to teach classes where they get more classroom experience plus methods and student teaching. Lastly, student teachers should receive some type of compensation as do interns in other fields.
JUDY BASHFORTH
Maumee
No amphitheater
We live in a country where money and power rule the land, where some businesses are allowed to pump huge sums of money into political causes and others are allowed to manipulate our way of life through business transactions.
My wife and I moved to Waterville from South Toledo in 2015. We chose Waterville because of its idyllic setting on the Maumee River and the slower pace of life. We live in a house down the street from an area that was converted from farm fields into houses, condos, apartment complexes, and a senior-living facility. I suppose some progress was inevitable.
However, I fail to see the need for an amphitheater in this vicinity. We already have enough venues: the Toledo Zoo, the Huntington Center, University of Toledo, the Stranahan, Centennial Terrace, and Fifth Third Field.
Waterville lacks the infrastructure needed for this type of project by way of roads, sewage and water systems, hotel complexes, and law enforcement and fire-and-rescue teams. Taxes would have to go up to accommodate an endeavor of this kind.
Money talks, and $18M speaks loudly. Did the company really need five legal experts to explain why this project is a good thing? I can only hope that the few who are involved in the decision making look beyond the dollars and cents and vote to maintain a more family-friendly Waterville.
MARK SUTTER
Waterville
No supermajority
Regarding the article “Ohio lawmakers consider voting reform” in The Blade (Nov.18).
Why should a supermajority be required to pass a citizen initiated constitutional amendment at the polls? Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says the requirement won’t impede the ability of Ohioans to bring change. So why do it? As the article says the General Assembly can alter or repeal an initiated statute by a simple majority vote, and a constitutional amendment requires another constitutional amendment to be changed, which the general assembly would need a supermajority to bring to a citizens vote. The Republicans have given themselves one through unconstitutionally gerrymandered districts anyway, so I guess it doesn’t make much difference right now.
Now the Government Oversight Committee is amending voting law to require mailed ballots to arrive in seven days rather than 10. As Tuesday is voting day, does the vote tallying place take in the mail on Saturdays? I know there is no Sunday delivery so that brings the time for ballots to arrive down to six at best and possibly only five days.
Why restrict the time period for requesting absentee ballots from three days before elections to seven? If a ballot isn’t postmarked before Election Day it doesn’t count. Mr. LaRose says he doesn’t believe the post office can handle it that fast. That is probably true considering former President Donald Trump appointed a Postmaster General who deliberately slowed down the mail by eliminating many sorting machines.
Mr. LaRose says he is “trying to be nice” to us peons by not requiring a 10 day period. Wow. Why does the bill allow a citizen to request an absentee ballot online but not to fill it out or submit it online? Online authentication is readily available. More nonexistent voter fraud I suppose.
KARL PETERSEN
West Toledo
First Published November 27, 2022, 5:00 a.m.
