We need to fight to reclaim our rights that have been lost

To the Editor:
Stomped, mashed, squelched. You had to be there! But I’ll try to tell it. We have the hugest democracy crisis in this country; if you were there you know it, saw it or heard it! But you had to be there to believe it! The Medina County Board of Elections held a hearing in response to a petition with more than the required number of signatures for adding a county charter/community bill of rights to the November ballot. But you do not have the right to vote! Four unelected board members are deciding to not guard your right to the democratic process. It took an hour and fifteen minutes.

If you knew the significance and implications (which you could know from viewing a videotape of this hearing), you would recognize that the best hour you could spend would be in seeing and hearing what just happened to your rights. They were stomped out, crushed and left for dead. And why should you really be concerned? Because this is the new governing structure and it is far from democratic. Take a peek at Columbus, search “Franklin County charter – Columbus bill of rights,” and you will know we are not alone. So, we can bury our heads in the sand or we can fight to reclaim what is lost, which is what we need to do.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice O’Neill rightly observed in a case between the corporate state and community rights: “This is a usurpation of power from the people that we should not indulge.”

Patti Hunt

Wadsworth