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Amelia businesses received a letter from John Wainscott dated February 23rd, 2009. The letter was reminiscent of the RAMIFICATIONS, now known as the infamous “threat” letter, of August 11th, 2008. One of the threats was as follows: “. Legislators are unwilling to comment on "what will happen"; instead they are waiting for new laws to come from the lawsuits that are sure to come. The economic climate is too poor for businesses to have to weather a storm of uncertainty while new laws are hashed out in a courtroom.” Let’s examine this for a while. In my experience since entering this dispute I have come across some legislators who have been willing to comment on “what will happen”. The key here is that you have to ask! For example on of my colleagues sent the following email to Senator Niehaus. I believe he qualifies as a legislator. Read the email and his response below. Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 9:21 PM To: Senator Niehaus Subject: Dissolution of the Village of Amelia Gentlemen: As I am sure you are aware, there is currently scheduled for the May ballot the issue of whether the village governmental structure in the Village of Amelia should be dissolved. While the issue will ultimately be decided by the voters, various statements and claims are already being made in an effort to influence the voters one way or the other. I am writing to you because certain claims have been made regarding what you, as our elected state legislators, have or have not indicated. Thus, instead of relying upon third party hearsay, I figured I'd get confirmation one way or the other directly from each of you. Specifically, with respect to the prospect of the village being dissolved, it has been claimed that legislators are "unwilling to comment on 'what will happen'" and "instead they are waiting for new laws to come from the lawsuits that are sure to come." A few simple questions - (i) have you declared yourselves or otherwise demonstrated an unwillingness to provide any comment on what will happen in the event the village is dissolved; and (ii) have you declared yourselves or otherwise demonstrated that you will simply await for new laws to come about through any lawsuits? I appreciate it you could confirm or deny that which has been attributed to you. I thank you for you time and your service. Sincerely Subject: RE: Dissolution of the Village of Amelia Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2009 08:34:05 -0500 From: SD14@senate.state.oh.us To: pb45102@hotmail.com CC: Candice.Miller@senate.state.oh.us; district66@ohr.state.oh.us I can only speak for myself, but I believe Rep. Joe Uecker would agree. The information you have been given is either inaccurate or incomplete. It is unclear what will happen if the village is dissolved. That is being researched by the Attorney General's Office and State Auditor. As far as waiting for new laws, we cannot pass legislation that will retroactively impact Amelia. The process being followed in Amelia is governed by current law. Any new laws that may result from the dissolution of Amelia would only affect such actions that are initiated after enactment of such a law. The only way Amelia would be affected by the new law is if the current dissolution process failed, and another attempt was made after any new laws go into effect. I hope that helps clarify my role in this situation. Tom Niehaus Let me repeat what Wainscott said. “. Legislators are unwilling to comment on "what will happen"; instead they are waiting for new laws to come from the lawsuits that are sure to come. The economic climate is too poor for businesses to have to weather a storm of uncertainty while new laws are hashed out in a courtroom.” So what in Wainscott’s statement is true! Unless of course you think that Wainscott is a better legislator than Senator Niehaus!!! I don’t and if we dissolve Amelia Wainscott will just be a bad memory that will fade away in time! __________________ |
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