Washington County Commissioners Meeting 7/8/21

MARIETTA, OH — Today, the Washington County Board of Commissioners held their public meeting at the Job and Family Services building. It was for the most part business as usual.

Live in Marietta? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow Marietta Patch on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free Patch mobile app on Android or iPhone

One of the more unusual orders of business had to do with funding from the Army Corps of Engineers for the Devola Sewer Project. They had agreed to help fund the project to the tune of roughly $1,000,000. Today they approved a resolution related to the funding. Kevin Ritter says this mostly had to do with a mountain of paperwork they have to sign to accept the funds, and this wasn't much of an update at all. They did say that Commissioner Charlie Schilling would be handling the finances for this.

The commissioners also met with CEBCO, the brokers who sell the insurance to the county. Commissioner Ritter had recently made a public statement about issues that may be facing county employees regarding their health insurance. He had a survey sent out to county employees to get a sense of how helpful it's being. So far only a couple of dozen have been given back, but Ritter asks all county employees to fill them out.

Apart from that, there was a notable exchange between local business owner Ari Gold and the commissioners about a pressing issue in the county (TLV Restaurant is a sponsor of Patch Marietta, try their spicy hummus).

Gold: I would like to discuss about what we discussed about last week. I went on social media and there were about 500 comments regarding the question of why young people are leaving the county. I wrote some of the responses down here that got the highest amount of views, none of them were written by people I know. I did not alter them or modify them in any way. I think it's important to say because they do have a point over there. Some of them may sound offensive in some way, forgive me I didn't want to change them.

The first one with the highest amount of people responding was the one that said "The LGBT community in the area claims that they have fear of violence. That there is a deep fear of ignorance of LGBT." I did notice that while we had Pride Month, there were no real events in the county or the city regarding pride. I think I was the only business that had a sign about it in my business downtown. It's important to say that the percentage of LGBT in the area is quite high. Surprisingly it's among the top in the nation percentage-wise. So maybe people should understand that respecting the other or different is not a bad thing. I wouldn't even call it different, everybody has their own preference.

They also mentioned "A distinct lack of love for the arts, diversity, and culture. People want to see diverse events and markets." I did notice there are a lot of college students who are from the Middle East, there is a big Hindu community around here, African Americans and others. It seems like putting something like a cultural festival will attract, I've talked to a lot of people that say they would come from Columbus or Pittsburgh for events like that. So that could bring young blood into the area.

They say "Lack of support system, entertainment, and housing. And living like it was 30-years ago culture-wise."

There is a weird comment that people like for some reason. It says "Parkersburg has deteriorated into a cesspool. Look at the number of empty dilapidated buildings, gambling holes, and shipped-in druggies. The few with money hold property and taxes stifle small businesses."

"People in the area are antiquated"

"There is a major lack in culture."

"The political climate. People in charge are putting their interests before those who actually live here."

"The officials here would rather hold each other down than support and uplift their fellow neighbor."

"Social and political climate doesn't foster ideals for the new generation."

"Like living under a rock seeing industries and technologies that we don't have here."

A person complained that they tried to organize multiple free events every year, but watch city council actively trying to hinder them.

Commissioner Ritter: Okay I'm gonna stop you there. I think we get a flavor of what some of those issues are. And again, I want to commend you for your interest in addressing this topic, trying to get people to stay in the area. I do want to stop you from spinning your wheels, because you're addressing the board which doesn't have a direct impact on many of the things you just mentioned. Let me just suggest to you that there are other bodies in the county that address that very thing. If you want to sit down with me we can sit down with the other commissioners and we can try to point you in the right direction.

I think the issue you've raised is an important one. We primarily have a budgeting function, so we deal with tax monies that come into the county. Obviously keeping people in the county, spending money, that makes our jobs easier as commissioners. It's an ancillary connection we have to some of those issues that you mentioned. But it's not one we're unconcerned with. So again I'm happy to sit down and talk to you David, and I respectfully offer that because I don't want you to spin your wheels.

Commissioner Schilling: And maybe it's a situation, that after we do that, or maybe before we do that, we invite some of these other entities from the county, and sit and discuss. That would be my thoughts on it.

Gold: You have to understand my thoughts on it. From my perspective, there are only two places I can contact and express what I feel. That's here and the city council meeting. Now I did personally go to the mayor's office and try to join committees and I was banned from the mayor's office. I was told I wasn't allowed to ask any questions in the mayor's office at all. I didn't get any phone calls from the mayor's office about joining any committees, which means technically that's a violation of my rights by the Constitution.

You need to understand, if I'm expressing myself in front of you that means I've reached to the last resort, there's nobody else that I can speak to because nobody wants to hear. Now I'm the one who's not afraid to step forward and speak to you. Don't you think that there are others who are? I have nothing to lose. I'm not going to kiss ass to survive. I'm just going to say hey wait a second, America is built on something and people need to understand that people need to take into consideration other people as well. Now if I come to you and I announce it, it's only because no one else wants to hear.

There are only two options, either the county stays as it is and people keep leaving the area and in 30-40 years your kids won't be here because they'll have nothing to do here. And this county will turn to dust. Or you can do what they're doing in Mississippi and other states. Well, maybe this guy is sending the responsibility to this office, this guy is sending responsibility to this office, they're all saying it's not my responsibility.

Ritter: I'm gonna stop you there. Again, I'm happy to sit down with you, I'm happy to invite these gentlemen to sit down with you. We have a very limited capacity to address the issues that have been raised. The way we can be of help is by pointing you in the right direction to folks that are concerned with these issues. One of my great frustrations with this office is that the public misperceives the power of the commissioners. I get phone calls all the time from people wanting me to fix things for them and utilize powers I don't have from the Ohio revised code. That's what's going on here in large part. But, again I'm happy to sit down and point you in the right direction so your energies aren't wasted in this forum.

Gold: I don't see it as a waste. You did listen to me. You said you handle taxes so next week I guess that's what we'll talk about.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Marietta Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of our latest sponsors? Email any and all inquiries to me at christopher.schmitt@patch.com