Lorain/Elyria, OH
Deputies, county workers hit the streets in support of Issue 4
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ELYRIA — Two laid-off Lorain County Sheriff’s deputies were back on the streets Thursday, knocking on doors in an effort to convince voters to leave in place a 0.5 percent sales tax hike imposed by county commissioners earlier this year.
Dan Strohsack quickly won the support of Bud Shuster on Pinewood Drive in Elyria after he explained what he and his fellow deputies did for the cities — running the jail, keeping track of sex offenders and serving warrants.
“I think they deserve it,” Shuster said after Strohsack finished his pitch.
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Not everyone has been so easily sold, Strohsack said, but most are willing to listen, and many of those have promised to vote for Issue 4 when they cast their ballots next month.
Citing dwindling revenue, the commissioners slashed $6 million across county government late last year, a move that led to more than 75 county workers, including 12 full-time deputies and eight part-time deputies, losing their jobs.
Two of the laid-off deputies have returned to work thanks to funding from the Lorain County Solid Waste Management District, but others have been forced to take work where they can.
Strohsack is working as a corrections officer in the county jail and picking up a few shifts with Kipton police. Ryan Sayers, another laid-off deputy who was knocking on doors with Strohsack on Thursday afternoon, worked as a Lorain County Metro Parks ranger over the summer and is now working at the jail.
But Strohsack said if the sales tax fails at the polls, a wing at the jail could be closed, and he and Sayers could be out of work again. Besides, he said, he doesn’t want to be a corrections officer, he wants to be a cop.
“You could pay me the same to go dig a ditch, but I want to be back out there doing what I love,” Strohsack told Roger Vanek, another Pinewood Drive resident.
Vanek said he wasn’t convinced. He said he is opposed to the 0.5 percent income tax hike that the city of Elyria is trying to get passed because he fears it will simply lead to city workers taking home more money.
“I have a problem with the police and fire here in town, with this longevity pay,” he said.
Vanek said government workers need to be willing to sacrifice.
“Some of these people had it good for a long time,” he said. “But there’s a lot of people who don’t know where the next slice of bread is coming from.”
Vanek also said he wants to see immediate results if he does vote to keep the county sales tax increase in place, something Strohsack said will definitely happen. If the sales tax does pass, he said, he and his fellow laid-off deputies will be back on the job within a week.
Strohsack said he believes the sales tax is the fairest way to raise money for the county because everyone will end up paying a little to put the deputies back on the road.
“The drug dealer who buys his $200 pair of shoes is going to be paying it,” he told Vanek. “He’s actually going to pay for us to go out and get him.”
Sayers said he’s been telling people that the commissioners aren’t bluffing when they say the county needs the money and more cuts will happen if the sales tax increase doesn’t pass.
“They really need it,” he said. “This is reality.”
Sheriff’s Capt. Dennis Cavanaugh, commander of the Lorain County Drug Task Force, said he has been coordinating the deputies’ door-to-door campaign.
Right now, he said, the deputies are focusing on Elyria and Carlisle and Elyria townships, but they also plan to hit Lorain and other areas of the county in the coming weeks. About 30 deputies are expected to knock on doors Saturday, he said.
And the deputies won’t be alone, Cavanaugh said. Assistant county prosecutors and other county workers who have taken pay cuts or seen coworkers lose their jobs also will be campaigning for the tax over the next month.
Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.
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Do you really think we need more taxes?Do you think we get the most “work” for the money from our Sheriff’s department?accountability is the key ! How many times have you seen this entity wasting our tax dollars? How effective has the “DRUG TASK FORCE ” really been? wake up people until everyone fears for their job like most of us have we will not get our moneys worth so to speak. THE PEOPLE can POLICE ourselves almost as effectively if we learn to look out for each other . WE need to “trim the fat” in government and this is one FATTY part that needs it …..VOTE NO TO MORE TAXES AND YES TO EFFICIENT WORKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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How well are they REALLY doing ? the jail is busy enough to fund itself as for keeping track of sex offenders????????isnt that what their supposed to do ?Why has it suddenly gotten more expensive ??? efficiency is at an all time LOW………How many “deputies ” does it take?…..come on I just dont buy it……..where has the “grant” money gone? too much overtime,longevity pay….wish i got it been at this job for 20yrs……Yes it’s a DANGEROUS JOB but they knew that when they took it does that mean WE THE PEOPLE have to pay for waste…….of personnel and money …THE BUCK needs to stop here!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I got a phone call from a “yes” supporter named “David” urging me to vote yes. Here are some of the reasons as to why I am voting NO, -#1. the way the commissioners put it on before and their attitutde of “I don’t care what the people say” (Ted Kalo and Lori Kokoski) it was brought to the people and the people said NO, -# 2. 12 days after the election Ted/Lori decided to put the tax back on in April regardless of what we said - so twice we the people had no say, the commissioners will do what they want with no regard to us. ,-#3. the fact that there are no consessions made by the commissioners and when they have a “sale” and get rid of the big screen TV’s , extra furniture and extra “fluff” I would possible reconsider, however David said -” that’s the problem , they aren’t getting rid of the fluff, they need more money” HA! Like I will give more money for them to squander! I DO NOT believe for One minute that the money collected from this tax will be used soley for the sheriff and jail! It will buy more “fluff” and pad someone’s paycheck. I DO NOt trust our commissioners as far as I can throw them. I WILL NOT VOTE YES for this TAX!
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Sadly I see the waste and over spending every at the city and county level. Having seen city / county employee’s take 2-3 hours lunch breaks, drive county / city cars to perform personal tasks…
My vote is NO.
If you want a Yes vote from me…..Trim the county personnel structure, re-org to be more in line with a normal business then we can talk tax increases.
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Don how exactly does the county jail fund itself? There is zero overtime at the jail, and it’s not unusual to close some areas when an officer calls off. The deputies also have zero overtime. Many times there is ONE deputy working the entire county road patrol, putting everyone at risk. The amount of sex offenders has more than tripled in the last six years, and as laws are reworked, the amount of time needed to comply with the regulations has increased greatly. Yes, I think the commissioners have squandered and ignored and been extremely wasteful….but I want police protection…I dont want drug dealers and child molesters released because the jail closed.
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i dont question weather the deputies deserve it; they do but, when you cant trust the ppoeple in charge of where the money is spent how can ya really say ’sure, ill give you more money commish even though you already showed us that you dont care what we vote and imposed the tax anyway… even though kalo cant keep his own finances straight and he had to file bankruptcy… yeah, were just begging to give YOU more money…
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I agree Eatown, its a lose lose situation
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Dan Smith, Issue 4 money is to go to the criminal justice system. Be real do you actually think that the sheriffs dept. is going to get all that money.NO,they will not. There are more than one cruiser on the road at any given time. Last Saturday afternoon I was out in Vermillion near Russia Road there were three sheriff cars on the side of the road, they had one van pulled over. Why three cars? Take a Saturday afternoon country drive see how many cruiser you actually see, you will be surprised. We are being lied to about that.
The reason that the sex offenders registery has tripled is only because you can get caought peeing on a side walk and if it was a female that seen it and reported it, you go to court and wham you are labled. Sex offender registery from the beginning, when you are charged to the end when you have to registers is nothing but a money cycle. Take a look at people that are registers. There suppose victim is now there wife, or live in girlfriend or opposite. Do you know that when a girl goes to get help? When she is pregnant from social services, and she is under age and the boyfriend is under age lets say 13 girl, 16 boy, that is fair to say right ages. They social services will file charges against the boy. Now he is labled a SEX offender. BIG BUSINESS IN THE STATE OF OHIO. FELONY 4’s FELONY 5’s not even recognize in surrounding States. 1 day of sentenced jail time $20,000 past down from the federal govt. After seeing what the proscecutor office is doing with School Bus driver case and trying to force that issue and waiste are money I will not vote yes. Take a look at how much money the commisioners have in there real estate fund. A good guess is 8,000,000 that is right. That is 6 zeros it public information you just need to know where to look.
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They forced this tax on us without giving us a chance to vote, we have already been paying this tax for some 6 months now.
TAKE BACK YOUR MONEY VOTE NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Amen to all posters. I feel for the deputies, wanting to work and earn a paycheck, but the LCSD is so corrupt, and the Lorain County Govt. is so wastefull, we citizens will not allow this govt. to take any more of our money. We have children to feed, and cloth, and shelter, and educate (somehow). This tax levy will fail. Start making plans for that.
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You are right about the stupds sex offender registration laws. No amount of laws or sheriff’s deputies can keep peoples children as safe as possible if neighbors watch the kids in their neighborhoods like it was when I grew up. Most importantly parents should protect their own children from possible harm Many child molesters prey on children within easy access, ie. their own families. This is not true in all cases but many child victims come from families/homes which have certain kinds of dysfunctions, and unfortunately, these type of dynamics are often present. It is pretty much a waste of deputies time having to comply with laws the legislatures could not resist passing, remember they are first and foremost politicians. Children are no less safe because of sex offender registration requirements if adults pay atention and kids are educated at home and in school. And yes there will always be extraneous examples of for example a child abducted by a stranger, but, these are a very small percentage of actual sex offenses committed. On the flip side, don,t let a bear see you peeing in the woods, pretty soon lawmakers will make that a felony.
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First I would like to say, please do vote for issue 4 & for the citizens of Elyria, please vote for issue 10. I’d continue to say that nobody wants to pay anymore taxes PERIOD. We all are sick & tired of having to pay more & more & more. It is POOR mismanagement of money by the Lorain Co. Commisioners & Mayor Grace. I mean Mayor Grace told the citizens of Elyria that if you didn’t vote yes last November that you were going to loose Police services. So it was voted to renew & now a year later he is telling you the same thing. The same could be said about the County Commisioners as well. They too have mismanaged the county money & are now begging voters to pass issue 4. They haven’t stepped up to the plate & made many concessions. Is there really a need for Jim Cordes & his position or his 6 figure salary. Can he justify what he does? However, we will all have the chance to vote them o/o their respective office as they are to blame for the situation we are in. But now for the real issue. The bottom line here is that if these issues don’t pass, there may not be anyone there when you call for help. To the person who said “we can police ourselves”. How are you going to do that? If you were to see someone breaking into your house or a neighbor’s house, what are you going to do w/ them? Are you going to stop them yourselves? If so, are you trained on what to do or do you just want to play hero. Who are you going to call to have them removed from the area or are you just going to take them home & say “don’t do this again.” The same can be said about sex offenders. Who are going to call when a stranger is talking to your child & you fear he/she is a sex offender. People would not believe how many sex offenders reside in this county or how much time has to go into tracking them down, cause guess what, criminals lie all the time & that is especially true regarding sex offenders & them lying about where they truely reside. So when that happens, there is a ton of work that goes into tracking them down & bringing charges against them. The Sheriff Office is mandated to track down these offenders & bring them to justice. To the person who said he saw 3 Sheriff units w/ a van on Russia Rd. First, there is no Russia Rd. in Vermilion. Furthermore, did you think that the van contained maybe an armed robbery suspect or did you just think that since you saw 3 units that there isn’t any reason for that w/o really knowing what was going on? I assure you that if you were to drive around this whole county, you wouldn’t see too many Sheriff units on patrol. Some may be enroute to work a private detail paid by that organization or believe it or not, all Ohio Sheriff cars look the same. So you may see other Counties going to & from other agencies for transportation of prisoners. Do you realize just how big Lorain Co. is, it’s nearly 500 square miles w/ 18 townships & approx. 70,000 residents who rely on the Sheriff Office for protection of violent crimes in progress (domestic violence, assault,robberies,burglaries in progress) & also expect the Sheriff to respond to “routine” calls as well. The Sheriff Office is down 10 deputies who respond to these EVERYDAY calls seriously cripling the response to the before mentioned calls. Can you imagine what will happen if these issues fail & another 10-15 Sheriff Deputies/Elyria Officers are cut. Contrary to what people believe, if Elyria Officers are cut, the Sheriff just can’t go & handle their calls either. So every citizen is in danger if these issues fail. Who will respond to the people who truely need help.
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Brent:
Nice post. You get it!
If people don’t like the representatives they have, vote them out. I hear on this and other sites that “everybody” a poster talks to does not like Grace or other elected officials yet they get elected. Obviously, these people live in small circles. That, or people agree with them to shut them up and get rid of them.
You want change? Make change. Get off the computer whining and get out and make a change. That is what all these elected officials (that you don’t like) did. They got off their butt, ran for office and won. None of them were elected or got anything accomplished whining on a computer.
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well maybe the sheriffs should be investigating the adminastration and putting a end to the coruption to save there own jobs . enough is enough , if we vote no maybe things will change , but we dont need more of the same , have had that long enough and it never gets any better.
VOTE NO ON ISSUE 10
VOTE NO ON ISSUE 4
cut the fat
end the coruption
or go some where else to beg for more taxes
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Has anyone seen the ANTI ISSUE 10 Billboard on Route 57 going south right before Jack Matia Chevelote. It is great it makes people aware. I seen it this morning and I clap my hands in my car. Than I relized I better watch the road. Who ever paid for that. I give you a big THANK YOU!!! And yes you can see and read it very clearly.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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