Election Time Again

Well, Tuesday is Election Day here in Ohio. Fairborn will be voting for a Mayor and three council positions.  This will be the first time since 2003 that I am not running for council. Fairborn has term limits.  Council is limited to two terms totaling eight years.  I have served my term and am not eligible to seek re-election this time.  It has been melancholy watching the new faces coming out to vie for the vacant seats.  I guess on one hand I miss all the hype, strategies and action, but on the other hand, I don’t.  Campaigning for office is a lot of work.  Sometimes I think you have to be nuts.  The pay isn’t good, the hours are terrible, and your entire life, politically and personally is open for review.

In addition to the local races, there are some other very important issues to decide. Fairborn has a police and fire levy on the ballot.  It is vitally important for these issues to pass for Fairborn’s future.  With state and federal budget cuts trickling down and unemployment, which affect income and sales tax, local budgets are taking a beating.  Without the passage of these two levies, I fear for Fairborn’s citizens.  The city manager has decided that the cuts that will be made will be in closing two of our four fire stations. Commerce Center will go first.  It has been open as staff permits, but without the funding, it will close permanently.  That will affect those on the east side of town with longer response times.  Residents in that area will have to be serviced by the already overburdened station on Funderburg Road, and if they are not available, the Rona Hills station would be the responder.  That will greatly increase response time when minutes or even seconds count.

In 2012 or early 2013, Rona Hills station will be closed.  This will then leave the entire city to rely on the Funderburg and Broad Street stations.  Everyone in Fairborn knows to get across town, one of the two main streets have a railroad crossing.  To get to the northeast of town, the only way is to cross a set of tracks.  Add a freight train schedule to that and it only spells disaster.

I know some of you have thought this was a scare tactic.  But I don’t think anyone has figured out another resolution to the problem.  Is it scary?  Absolutely!  I have been in a position where I needed a medic and the response was delayed with the irregular hours of service from Commerce Center.  Susan and I were shopping at Kroger when I lost consciousness.  Medics were called, but because Commerce Center was closed, the dispatch went to Funderburg.  Their medic was available, but since they must also send an engine to assist, the engine had to come from Rona Hills.  I am the first one to tell you, as I have in the past, that Fairborn’s public service employees are the best in the world.  But if they can’t get to you, it doesn’t matter how good they are.  The result would be the same.  I was lucky.  It didn’t turn out to be a matter of life or death.  But I don’t think anyone really wants to spin that roulette wheel.

Ohio is facing Issues 2 and 3.  Issue 2 seems to be the biggest and appears that the entire country is watching this one.  From what I gather, in an attempt to get control of Ohio’s financial situation, SB5 has been drafted by the House.  The entire Bill appears to be about 304 pages, but I think the main purpose of the Bill is to make public employees responsible for a fair and equal share of their benefits such as healthcare and pensions.  Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with that.  Susan is a public employee and she pays a good share of those costs.  If employees that are being paid with tax dollars are not paying their share, then this is the fair and responsible thing to do.  If each one pays their share, it will take that burden off the state equally and I would assume save thousands of dollars.  If employees in the private sector pay there share, public employees should pay theirs.

I understand it will also limit their right to strike.  Okay.  Is that really a bad thing?  Who ultimately pays the price if public employees strike?  Well, teachers are public employees and if they  strike, the kids suffer.  If police or fire strike everyone suffers.  Let’s try this hypothetical scenario.  Let’s say our fire department decides to go on strike because they didn’t get the wage increase they wanted.  Let’s say they didn’t get it because the city didn’t have the money to give it to them, not because they didn’t deserve it.  So they are at a stand off.  I don’t think we can expect a sign carrying, refusing to work strike, but all of a sudden everyone has the flu.  Who wants to go explain to a mother whose child has just been struck by a car and died why there was no one there to help her?  Or why it took 20 minutes to get a medic on the scene?  I know this would never happen in Fairborn because we take care of our own, but it may not be like that all over the State and the vote you cast will affect the entire State of Ohio.

I’m sure there is a whole lot more involved than just that particular point, but we all know legislators are the most wordiest people ever.  Just break it down one by one and view all the possible outcomes.  I have heard the commercials, just as you have for both sides.  If you vote yes, they may not be there to help you.  If you vote no, it will cost Ohioan thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars.  And my Republicaness (I don’t think that’s a word) may be showing right now, but bottom line is, yes vote, no vote, without money it’s all just a lot of words on paper.  If we don’t start taking control of the spending, there won’t be anything to bargain for.

So…everyone get out and vote on Tuesday.  Take a good look at the candidates.  See who you think can make a change.  If you’re not happy with the way your local government has been working and there is an alternative to the same old, same old, vote for a new voice.  Fresh ideas, new ways of thinking.  Vote to make sure your community moves forward.

I don’t think I meant to make this entire article about politics, but I guess I did.  Even those of us that know we may not be here to see how the future turns out, are still very concerned because our families will live on past us.

Well, Monday night will be my last official City Council meeting in Fairborn.  I will miss the second meeting in November because we will be in New York celebrating Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family.  It will be nice to see them and the grand-kids again.   Then at the first meeting in December, I become “old business”.  Old business.  Wow, that really sounds…I don’t know how to describe how that really sounds to me or how it makes me feel.  I think I’m afraid I’m just going to fade away.  That people won’t remember me.  Someone will mention my name and they will have to stop and think, “Why is that name familiar”.  Susan says no.  She keeps trying to convince me that I have made an impact on a lot of lives and that I am not that forgettable.  I hope so.  I hope that when people look back over my eight years on city council, that they can say, “You know. That guy really cared aboutFairborn.”  Because I do.  I know there are scores of people that may not have agreed with every decision I made, and sometimes it may not have been the popular one, but hopefully they know I believed in my heart it was the right one.  I have seen some things happen in Fairborn that I had predicted, but was out voted on, even ridiculed for.  I see more things coming down the pike due to some decisions that were made by council that are going to come back and biteFairborn“in the butt” as they say.   But, I can honestly say, I made the decisions I did with the information I had with the intent to make Fairborn the best it could be.

Fall is in full swing.  Leaves are changing and the world is experiencing God’s magic.  I love this time of years with all the colors.  Susan and I are taking a few days off next week to get away and spend some time together.  Just the two of us.  We are making the best we can out of a bad situation, just as all those who suffer with MSA.  I think it will involve seeing leaves.

Tags: Election, Election Time Again, Fairborn Ohio, Fairborn Ohio City Council, Frank Cervone, MSA, Multiple System Atrophy, Shy-Drager Syndroms

This entry was posted on November 7, 2011 at 4:56 am and is filed under Conservative, Elections, Frank Cervone, MSA, Republican, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.