Hope and a future for Trumbull County

I’ve been reading a bit about the history of Trumbull County. Our county really has a rich history, and it makes me a little sad when I compare that to what we are today. I hear people who say that our best days are behind us. I have friends who feel like this place is hopeless-that it will never be better and will only just keep getting worse. Some have talked of moving away when they can.


I have to admit, we have some big problems here. We have public officials who have forgotten they are public servants. There are corruption and ineptitude in our public agencies. Our housing market is awful-compounded by the horrible septic rules. We have poverty, unemployment, and a depressed economy. We have abandoned houses throughout the county. There are crime and blight in the cities. Even in my little town of Farmington, I’ve been told the top three calls for the paramedics are drugs, suicide, and domestic violence. It looks bleak even to a naturally optimistic person like me.

It doesn’t have to be that way. One of my favorite Bible verses is Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

Hope and a future….Wouldn’t it be great if THAT were “just so Trumbull County?” That’s what we need here, isn’t it? I believe it can be that way. In fact, in some ways, we have small glimpses of it already.

I wrote a column during the summer about the wonderful work that the Warren Family Mission is doing. They don’t just feed people. They help people to lift themselves out of poverty. One person a time, they are changing lives. By doing that, they are helping to slowly change the face of this county.

Another new organization is the aptly named Mahoning Valley Hope Center. They are also working with the homeless and others to improve their lives. They offer recovery, education, and wellness programs. They are planning to open a halfway house in 2013. Like the Mission, they are faith based and operate without government funding.

There are individuals who are trying to make this county better by crusading against the corruption and ineptitude of our public officials. I’ve written about Berry and Deanna Meadows and their fight to fix our health department. Their attorney David Engler has also been involved in trying to clean up our Children’s Services Board. He is representing some young women who were abused in a Children’s Services group home. Attorney Engler and the Meadows’ aren’t doing what they’re doing to make a name for themselves or to enrich themselves. They are fighting for the citizens of this county and to make this a better place to live.

Individuals, churches, and other organizations all over this county are doing big and small things everyday to try to improve our area. That should give us hope and motivate us to do more as well.

This is the season for hope. Christians will soon celebrate the birth of a baby born to give hope to a lost and dying world. Not only 2000 years ago, but still today, hope can be found. Hope comes from God, but He uses humans to impart that hope.

I think we all want “hope and a future” for this county.

It won’t come from a government program or a political party or a candidate but from ordinary people who are willing to work to provide hope.

If enough of us do that, our hope and our future will follow.

The Tangled Web

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!”


The Trumbull County Health Department has created one heck of a web in their dealings with the septic issues in this county. As mentioned in previous columns, they’ve created a monopoly for off-lot systems. They’ve also seemed to show favoritism in enforcement of regulations. They’ve delayed and denied requests for public documents and discontinued public participation in meetings.

When Berry and Deanna Meadows began to uncover the corruption and use social media to expose it, the Health Department tried to use intimidation to attempt to shut them up and in the process has made a very tangled and complicated web. As noted in my first column back in July, when the Meadows’ uncovered some documentation that seemed to point to Sheriff Altiere’s son getting special treatment by the Trumbull County Health Department, they posted that information on Facebook. Shortly afterwards, felony charges of theft by deception were brought against Berry Meadows. These charges were eventually dropped. Berry Meadows still suffered from this retaliation though-public humiliation, a tarnished reputation, and of course the financial cost of defending himself.

Now, the Health Department has further tangled the web by attempting to take away Mr. Meadows’ installer’s license. This would shut down his business and take away his livelihood. Mr. Meadows received a notice in August that he would have a hearing regarding revocation of his installer’s license. Now, a big part of their grounds for revocation (and what was focused on in the hearing) is that some of the tanks that Mr. Meadows installed floated out of the ground. Mr. Meadows is not the only installer who has had this problem though, and he contends that the problem is with the tank itself and not a problem with the installation. He has witnesses including a fellow installer and a professional engineer who would testify to that fact. However, he won’t have the opportunity to present any evidence to defend himself-more of that tangled web.

The first day of the hearing was September 28. The health board wanted to have a closed door hearing, but the hearing officer said that it would be open to the public. During that first day of testimony, Rebecca Fugitt of the Ohio Department of Health testified about the floating septic tanks. She referred to a letter from Stark Aeration of Canton, a distributer of the Enviro-guard system which is the only system that has had problems with floating tanks. Stark Aeration blamed faulty installation for the problems. Well, duh! Of course they would say that. Presenting proof from Stark Aeration is like someone’s mom testifying in court that her baby didn’t do the crime.

The next day of the hearing was November 15. Mrs. Fugitt continued her testimony. She admitted that the only tanks that floated were Enviro-guard. Other witnesses for the Board also testified as well, including the homeowner for whom a bond claim was pursued by the Board regarding the floating tank. The bond company rejected that claim because they believed that the problem was with the product not the installation. Overall, the case against Mr. Meadows was not going so well, and he hadn’t yet had the opportunity to present his case or his witnesses.

On the morning of November 16, the board had not yet presented all of their witnesses, and Mr. Meadows had not yet had the opportunity to present his defense. Abruptly, the Board decided that no more witnesses would be presented, and the attorneys for both sides would only be allowed to present their closing arguments. Mr. Meadows, who had been told that he would have an opportunity to present witnesses and evidence for his defense, has not been given due process. The Board has stated that a decision will be made in January. Any guesses as to what the decision will be?

So what do we do? We have this tangled web that the Board of Health has created. How do we stop it?

We pull those threads and keep on pulling until the web is gone.

The Meadows are doing that. They’ve filed a federal lawsuit against members of the Board of Health; Dr. James Enyeart, director of the Trumbull County Health Department; Frank Migliozzi, director of environmental health; Sheriff Tom Altiere; sheriff's office employees Maj. Tom Stewart and Sonny Schulyer; county commissioners; and attorney Rob Kokor, who represents the Board.

We can support the Meadows in their effort. Apply pressure to the Board of Health. Attend their meetings with signs in support of the Meadows. By the way, due to recent ruling, the public are allowed to have signs at these meetings, but they must be no bigger than twelve inches by eighteen inches. Donate to the Meadows’ legal fund. Join their group on Facebook.

One issue that has recently come to light is that the elections for the Board of Health for the last several years may have violated Sunshine Laws by using a secret ballot. David Engler, attorney for Berry Meadows, has filed a complaint on behalf of the Meadows’ and others, which requests among other things that “the current board members be disbanded.” Judge Logan did grant an order that future elections for the board not be done by secret ballot, but has not yet ruled on whether the current board be disbanded. If the board is disbanded, it is crucial that we have a new board that will work to seek to be public servants and to solve problems instead of making them worse.

The trustees from the townships, the mayors of the villages, and the mayors of the cities of Cortland and Hubbard elect the members of the Board of Health. Make calls to your trustees or mayors and find out where they stand on this current Board of Health. If we are able to elect a whole new Board, make sure they support people who will be public servants. If we can only elect one new board member in March, pressure them not to re-elect anyone on the current board. If they don’t cooperate, come re-election time for them, throw them out.

We need to send this Board of Health a message.

We need to yank those threads!

We need to unravel this web!

Let's Make Ourselves Uncomfortable

When Deanna asked me to speak, I was of course honored. People don’t usually ask me to speak. They generally want me to just shut up. I also felt a bit anxious. Deanna wanted me to tell my story. I don’t like talking about myself. I’d rather talk about issues or ideas, but I will do my best.


I guess if I had to give this speech a title it would be Make yourself uncomfortable. First, let me tell you a little about myself and what makes me comfortable. I grew up with a lot of chaos. My mom was ill during my entire childhood so our home was very disorganized and chaotic. I like order and peace and quiet. I like organization and lists and plans. Until not too long ago, my life was pretty orderly and organized.

Not that I have always had my life go as planned. All I really wanted was to get married and have lots of babies. I got married 23 years ago, but the babies didn’t come. So I kind of fell into a career. I ended up starting my own business 18 years ago. In 1999, I finally got my hearts desire when we adopted our son, Jack. My life was pretty perfect by my standards. I had my family and my business. I was active in my local church and homeschooling Jack. Life was pretty good.

Before I go on, you need to understand some things. My husband and I both grew up in Geauga County. When we got married, we bought our house in Farmington almost on the Geauga line. We both worked in Geauga and we also went to church there. Our orbit and our circle of friends were in Geauga County. We knew there were problems in Trumbull, but we sort of pretended we didn’t live there. In the last few years, though, some things happened that began to wake me up to some of what was happening here in Trumbull.

One thing was that we left a church we’d been members of for 20 years. This church was a small church maybe 30-40 people attending on a Sunday. I had been very active-played piano, taught Sunday School, planned the music each Sunday. I was a big fish in a very small pond. The church we ended up at is Grace Fellowship. Some of you might be familiar with Grace. It seats around 1000 people and is close to full most weeks. This was quite a big change and significant for a couple of reasons. First, my circle of friends enlarged to include folks who were far more Trumbull County than I am. Our orbit changed so that we were spending more time in Trumbull County. Also, the change from a small church where I was always busy to a large church where I had some difficulty figuring out where I could serve gave me some time to get involved in other things.

Another thing that happened to me and probably to lots of you was Facebook. The interesting thing that happened with me and facebook is how it led me to meet people in my own backyard. I met Deanna and Berry on Facebook. One other big thing that came from Facebook and had an impact on me is that I got involved with volunteering for Jim Graham’s campaign for Congress. Now understand I’ve been interested in politics since I was 15 years old, but I’d been busy with my perfect little life so I’d never gotten very involved. I did volunteer in the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, but this was the first local campaign I had ever been involved with. Through the campaign, I met more Trumbull County people who knew way more than I did about the issues we have here in Trumbull County. I was starting to realize that maybe I needed to get more involved.

One thing that happened during that campaign is that I became a precinct committee person and executive committee person for the Trumbull County GOP. At the beginning of this year, I was asked to be a part of their communications group. Now the purpose of this group is to try to communicate conservative ideas through letters to the editor, social media,etc. We study the issues, not just national and international, but also local. One of the local issues that we became involved was the court consolidation. I ended up not only writing about this issue but getting involved in pressuring our Commissioners to move forward on it.

Also, out of the communications group came the opportunity to write for the Trib as a Community Columnist for a year. My goal in writing this column is to try to speak to people who are like I was-kind of out there busy with their own little lives not really involved in what is happening. I knew about some of what was going on, and I thought that somebody should do something. Over the last few years, I realized that I needed to be one of those somebodies. In the last 7 or 8 months, I guess I’ve done just that. However, it has come at a cost to me. I’ve always been a busy person, but as I have gotten more involved not just with writing the column, but also with campaigns, and going to meetings, etc.,-all the while running my business and homeschooling my son- I have become busy to a point where my life is very chaotic-exactly the opposite of my comfort zone. I don’t have any peace and quiet and calm. I’ve become less organized than I like, and often my plans and lists get thrown out the window.

I need to tell one other thing that has happened over the last few years. It is a little bit personal but I need to share because of the truth that it revealed to me. In the last several years, my husband began to change physically and mentally. I made excuses for these changes but realized in May of this year that something was truly wrong with him. I took him to the doctor and after ruling out a few other things, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

All of my organization and lists and plans for our future were gone with the wind. What was left of my comfort zone had been carried away like a house in a twister. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Unlike Dorothy, I would never return. I would never have my perfect little life back. I would forever be uncomfortable. In the last couple of months though, I’ve realized some things about being uncomfortable. First, it is not the end of the world. I can survive this. Also, and this is the big one: Nothing important gets accomplished when you’re comfortable. Think about it. A pearl is formed when sand irritates the oyster. A diamond is just a lump of coal under pressure.

Tonight I want to challenge you to make yourself uncomfortable. Now I know that everyone in here knows that we have big problems here in Trumbull County-not just septic problems not just health department or CSB problems. We have a pervasive culture among our public officials that makes them think they aren’t really public servants-that they are above the rules. They are little kings in their castles, and we are just allowed to live here. We need to change this, but we can’t change this until we change ourselves-make ourselves uncomfortable. Now not everyone has to be as uncomfortable as Berry and Deanna have been or even I have been. I do think though that there are some things that everyone needs to be doing. These are things that might be out of your comfort zone, but are really things that all good citizens should be doing.

First we need to inform ourselves. Thomas Jefferson said “ An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will.” If we the people want to truly be in charge we must inform ourselves. If we don’t there are consequences.

Jefferson also said, "If once (the people) become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions."

Wolves, that’s just so Trumbull County.

But we have to do more than just inform ourselves and this is where it can get uncomfortable. We need to also inform others. It can be writing letters to the editor or just talking to our friends. This may mean bringing up touchy topics with our friends. Nudging them to find out for themselves what is really going on. It may be uncomfortable, but it is necessary that we inform others. I don’t think that we need to beat people over the head with stuff, but we need to work at making sure people know what is going on.

Finally, we need to get involved. Go to meetings. Find out who your trustees are and what they are doing. Go to commissioners meetings. Go to health department meetings. Support Deanna and Berry in their effort as this thing goes on. They are sacrificing a lot to do this and will need our support to help them.

I want to say something about this fight. I’ve heard people refer to it as a David and Goliath fight. It is, but not just because the little guy is fighting back. When David fought Goliath, he wasn’t just fighting for himself, he was fighting for the whole nation of Israel. We need to remember that Berry and Deanna are fighting for all of us-for every citizen of Trumbull County.

I love this county. It is beautiful, has a wonderful history and has great people, but it is dying in front of my eyes because of the corruption and ineptitude of its leaders. My son often tells me he wants to buy my house and live here forever. I would like that, but I fear that it won’t be possible if we don’t make some changes. This county is not going to change if we do nothing. Washington and Columbus aren’t going to save us. We must do it ourselves. If we want change, we must change. This is my challenge to you:
Let’s change Trumbull County.
Let’s change ourselves.
Let’s all make ourselves uncomfortable.

Pick Up Life Where it is Broken

I confess. I am a genealogy nerd. I have been researching my family tree for about twenty years. The thing that I love the most about doing this is the little stories I discover and sometimes the little artifacts I find. One of my most treasured finds is a letter written by my great-grandmother.


My grandparents were killed in a traffic accident in 1961. They left behind my mother and her sister who were both adults and married, as well as my Uncle Mitch who was a young teenager. My great-grandmother wrote them a letter to try to comfort them in their grief. I have a copy of that letter, and I treasure it for its simplicity and power.

She opened the letter with this sentence, “My heart is breaking with sorrow, and I don’t know what to say except to pick up life where it is broken, and try to live a life worthy of the parents who have gone before.”

My great-grandmother’s advice to “pick up life where it is broken” was not a simple platitude. She had experienced many times of picking up her own life. When she was a eight years old, her mother died in childbirth, and she was left to help take care of the household and mother her siblings. This was the 1880’s, and her life was not easy. Her family moved around from Kentucky to Missouri and finally to Oklahoma to homestead.

She met her future husband in Oklahoma, and together they homesteaded. They were original Sooners, having participated in the land run in 1890’s. She lost a four year old son to an infection. She watched another son, my grandfather, go off to fight in World War I. She lived through the Great Depression.

When she wrote this letter, she was suffering the greatest grief a mother could know-the death of her child. Yet, she reached out to comfort her grandchildren with her own simple words born of experience-“Pick up life where it is broken.”

I’ve heard a story of my great-grandmother her that shows what she was made of. She had been told by a doctor that she was dying. The family took a final family trip to Pike’s Peak. When they returned, she announced, “I’m not going to die.” She ended up living into her nineties.

Recently, I’ve been undergoing my own trials. In May, my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. The day he was diagnosed, I re-read that letter. I had always treasured that letter for its history and beauty, but that day I felt like my great grandmother reached out from the past to comfort me and advise me. I knew that I needed to “pick up life where it is broken.” I had to keep moving forward.

In the months since the diagnosis, life has at times been difficult. I have often felt like giving up, but I know that I can’t do that. I have to, as a good friend likes to say, “keep plugging away.” I’m so grateful for the legacy I have from my great-grandmother, and for the advice that she left for me. I hope that I’ve inherited a bit of the resilience that she had, and that I can keep picking up life where it is broken, and leave that legacy for my own child.

Give the Class Act an Encore!

One of the big problems with one party rule is that the majority party begins taking the voters for granted. They think, sometimes correctly, that the voters will vote for anyone who is in the “right” party no matter who he is. A good example of that in our area is State Representative Tom Letson in the 64th District.

Let me start with my limited personal experience with Mr. Letson. Back in August, I attended a Northwest Neighborhood Association meeting where he spoke and answered questions in a town hall type setting.

Mr. Letson treated his constituents with disrespect and rudeness. At the beginning of his remarks, he referred to someone who wasn’t present with a vulgar word. A gentleman in the audience reminded Mr. Letson that he was in a church. Mr. Letson repeated the epithet. The gentleman again reminded Mr. Letson of where he was. Mr. Letson’s response was to make a smart aleck remark about Jesus riding a “donkey.”

Later, someone asked a question about upkeep on vacant lots. That person referred to the fact a weed filled lot could be both unsightly and dangerous. Mr. Letson responded with a rather bizarre statement about growing up on a farm and how beautiful a wheat field is. His attempt at humor was both strange and disrespectful to the person who asked the question.

When discussing Mr. Letson’s faults, I guess the most glaring are his personal issues. Some would say that his previous problems with taxes and his substance abuse issues are in the past, and it is not fair to bring them up in this election. However, I disagree. While I feel compassion for people who struggle with addiction-in fact two of the people I love most in the world have had these struggles-the skeptic in me cringes each time I see a public figure follow this same tired script that Mr. Letson followed back in January, 2011. It goes like this: public figure has an embarrassing mishap, accident, tax problem, etc.; public figure goes to rehab. Quite frankly, I think using the rehab card is a mockery to people who sincerely seek help.

Mr. Letson’s tax problems are a matter of public record, but let me review the facts for those who haven’t paid attention. In January of 2011, it came to light that Mr. Letson had a tax lien placed on his property by the IRS for $37,416.58 for taxes, interest, and penalties for the tax year 2006. WhiIe I understand how easy it can be to get into trouble with the IRS, my issue with this is not just that he owed that tax. In February of this year, Mr. Letson spoke to another newspaper about the tax issue. He said that he spent money he that he needed for his own taxes on his parents’ care, but that now all of his taxes have “since been paid.” As of September 13, 2012, the county recorder’s office still had the federal tax lien listed as unpaid. It is my understanding that once the taxes have been paid, and a form filed, that the lien must be released within 30 days. It seems to me that a sensible person, having paid those taxes, would make sure that he filed any forms necessary to have the lien released as soon as possible. I’m not sure if Mr. Letson was being dishonest in his interview; or if he doesn’t have the good sense to take care of the paperwork and get the lien off of his property. Neither option inspires much confidence.

More important than Mr. Letson’s personal deficiencies is his history of not putting the best interests of his constituents first. As a member of the Warren City Board of Health, he voted to approve the renewal of the Warren Recycling Landfill in spite of the Ohio EPA’s recommendations and the concerns of the community about the hazards posed by the landfill. It was eventually shut down and declared a Superfund cleanup site.

In 2009, Letson co-sponsored a bill to raise state income taxes by 4.3% and delay a planned tax decrease. In his version of the bill, the pay for state representatives was also increased. That’s right, folks, he co-sponsored a bill to increase taxes on his constituents while raising his own pay.

More recently, as outlined in a previous column, Mr. Letson assisted in successfully blocking the consolidation of the Eastern and Central District Courts. He and his fellow Democrats cared more about making sure the Democrats keep power than saving the taxpayers $150,000-$200,000 a year.

So do the people of the 64th District have an alternative this year? Yes, they do. Former State Representative Randy Law is Mr. Letson’s opponent.

While Mr. Law doesn’t come from a family of attorneys like Mr. Letson, he is a lifelong resident of this area. He has owned several businesses over the years and has been very involved in the community.

Mr. Law was elected to the Ohio House in 2004, and during his time there, he voted for the largest tax cut in state history. Representative Law also sponsored the Landfill Reform Bill as well as the Firefighter Safety Training Bill. It is especially important to note Mr. Law’s work on the Landfill Reform Bill in light on Mr. Letson’s failure in this while on the Warren City Board of Health. Mr. Law had to fight hard for this legislation working to convince his own party that it was the right thing to do. As a true public servant, he put the needs of his constituents before partisan politics.

This year the citizens of the 64th District need to realize that they deserve better than what they have. They have a choice between Letson and the better man. I’ve heard Mr. Law referred to as a “class act.” That is an apt description. I sincerely hope the voters choose to give the “class act” an encore.

Trumbull County, We have a problem...

Most people in Trumbull County know we have a septic problem. A few people understand why we have that problem, and even fewer people know how we can fix it.


First, a little Septic 101 for everyone: If a home can’t be tied in to a centralized sewer system, it must have a septic system. On lot septic systems have a tank for solid waste and the liquid waste or black water is filtered through the soil. All of the waste is contained to the property and none enters the streams and rivers (waters of the state). Off lot systems have a tank for solid waste and a filtering system that cleans the liquid waste before it enters the streams and rivers.

Where there are no central sewers available, the method preferred by the Ohio EPA is an on lot system. Unfortunately, in our area, we have a clay soil that does not filter the liquid waste well. In order to make an on lot system possible, work has to be done to the soil to make it filter. There is also usually a larger footprint required for this system; and of course, it can get very expensive. Usually it is impossible to have an on lot system for lots less than one acre. The Ohio EPA requires that all options be exhausted before an off lot system be installed.

From 1992 to 2002, the Trumbull County Board of Health did not follow Ohio Administrative Code for approving permits for off-lot systems. They also subdivided property into lots smaller than five acres without a plan for a central sewer system or a determination that such a system would be impracticable or inadvisable. As a result, in 2006, the Trumbull County Board of Health was sued by the State of Ohio. To settle that lawsuit, the parties entered into an agreement-the “consent decree.” In this agreement, the Trumbull County Board of Health agreed among other things to only allow off lot systems when it is impossible for the homeowner to connect to a central sewer system or to install an on lot system. They also agreed to only allow sand filter systems for off lot systems. In 2008, the agreement was amended to allow other filtration devices that are “certified by the manufacturer to meet or exceed the performance of a sand filter.” However, the guidelines for accepting these devices are established by the Trumbull County Board of Health.

To date, only two devices have been approved by the Trumbull County Board of Health. One of these is more expensive than the sand filter system. It is also even more unsightly than the sand filter system. We effectively have one system outside of the sand filter system that can be used in an off lot system. The Board of Health has created a monopoly for that manufacturer. Because we have the consent decree which gives TCHD the final authority to regulate competition, it costs more in Trumbull County to have an off lot system installed here than it does anywhere else in Ohio.

The Trumbull County Board of Health has rejected requests to approve another system that was approved by the Ohio Department of Health in 2010. This system was approved for use in all the other counties in Ohio. Our Board of Health believes that it doesn’t conform to the consent decree. Because of the consent decree, they have the power to set the guidelines for approving the systems.

What are the effects of this situation? The cost of putting in an off lot septic is higher here than anywhere in the state. We live in an area where home values are not that high to begin with. Often, when a property is sold, the septic needs to be replaced. Sometimes the cost of the new system is actually close to what the home is actually worth. Also, because our Board of Health now has the reputation of being unfair and heavy handed, people don’t want to buy in Trumbull County. By the way, the heavy handed reputation is earned. They have jailed people for not replacing their septic system. The sales of homes have been stalled making our already depressed economy even worse.

So what is the solution? First, we need to get out from under the consent decree. The intent of the decree was to make us compliant, but it has now become punitive with Trumbull County’s rules now being stricter than the rest of the state. The decree has been amended; why can’t it be revoked? The candidate for 64th District State Representative Randy Law thinks that it can. He believes that as state representative, he would be able to help put pressure on the Administration and the Ohio EPA to bring the parties to the table to agree to revoke the decree. In a candidate meet and greet in September, he vowed to be relentless in trying to solve this problem. Please note in 2005, when he was in the General Assembly, Mr. Law worked diligently to sponsor and pass the Landfill Reform Bill. So he has a history of working hard to solve difficult problems. Tom Letson, the incumbent in that race, hasn’t addressed this issue in the three terms he has been in office.

We also need to realize that we don’t just have a septic problem. We have a Trumbull County Board of Health problem. They have been heavy handed in the enforcement of this decree. Their creation of the monopoly for off lot systems has added to an already difficult situation. They need to be replaced. How do we do that? Understand that your township trustees and some village officials elect the Board of Health. Find out who your trustees are. Go to their meetings. Make sure they understand what is happening at our Board of Health. If they don’t listen, replace them. Remember this: two trustees from each township are up for re-election in 2013.

These people-the State Representatives, the trustees, the Board of Health- are public servants. If they forget that, we need to remember that We the People have the power to replace them. We need to use that power, or we will lose it. We need to pay more attention to what our public officials are doing and hold them accountable for their actions. If we don’t, things will just get worse; and we will have only ourselves to blame.