Medina County Municipal Court Election
The story of the on again off again
election for the Medina Municipal Court is not
really a story about the law or even an
election. It is a story about
people.
People like Republican William Batchelder,
who originally prevented the election from
occurring because he didn’t want the voters to
decide the fate of a political friend. I think
it is telling that Mr. Batchelder is now
running to represent Ohio’s 69th District,
which coincidentally nearly mirrors the
Municipal Court District.
People like Republican State Rep., Chuck
Calvert, who in a laconic and spiteful and
unconstitutional attempt to hand the job back
to another political crony wrote a tiny little
amendment designed to undue the Batchelder
agreement and hid it in a 2,300-page budget
bill. I believe that the amendment was tiny and
hidden because, like his mentor Mr. Batchelder,
Mr. Calvert really didn’t want the content
debated or voted on.
People like Republican Medina County
Recorder Nancy Abbott, who opportunistically
jumped into the race willing to abandon the
voters who elected her County Recorder in 2004.
The Medina Municipal Clerk position would hand
Ms. Abbott an 80% raise in pay if she were to
be elected, and, if played like any well
stacked deck, would give her old job back to
her if she loses the election. Nancy is a
career politician and knows all the angles.
People like Lori Henry, who became the
current Municipal Clerk of Courts when she
submitted her resume like most of us did when
we got our job. She was hired when the
Batchelder agreement was still in effect, and
could not have known that the Republican power
brokers were waiting to strike. Lori doesn’t
have a network of political cronies and
financial backers like her opponent does. She’s
a Clerk who was hired because of her experience
and qualification. Lori Henry is doing an
excellent job, and even Nancy Abbott has
admitted as much, but like most people Lori has
no political experience or savvy.
It is time to for the people to say NO! to
the back-room shenanigans that career
politicians and power-brokers Abbott and
Batchelder and Calvert have been committing.
Medina needs a change.
Elect Lori Henry because she is the best person for the job.
John Galish
Brunswick, OH