UPDATE:  1/16/10 – The invitation that started this whole mess can be seen by clicking here. 

A MEETING HELD ON 10/26/09 supposedly to give the residents of the Wyoga Lake neighborhood the “real” information about their storm water run-off problems, Council Person Mary Bednar invited a few other council members and few members of the Planning Commission along with the City Engineer to a small get-together with the residents of the area.   The attending council members were:  Janet D’Antonio, Ron Alexander, Mary Bednar and Sara Drew.

The meeting addressed some “false and misleading” information circulating in the area.  We are not concerned so much with the content of the meeting as with HOW it was held. 

At taxpayers expense two employees were invited to this meeting held after their regular work hours (can you say “overtime”?).   In addition, it should be pointed out that the four council members who were there constituted a quorum.   Under Ohio law the quorum constitutes a council meeting. 

In the mean time,  the three members of the planning commission who attended also constituted a quorum. 

So, you might ask, exactly what kind of a meeting was this?

Was it a City Council Meeting?

Was it a Planning Commission Meeting?

No, it was A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN MEETING to promote Mary Bednar’s campaign for election to city council.   

Her campaign re-election  committee  paid for the goodies and other amenities.  Did they pay for the information to try to heal over the irate residents too?   Cider and muffins will excuse a whole lot of governmental misdeeds.  Even when one of the city’s residents tried to attend the meeting and was told that it was a “private” gathering and was escorted off the premises under the threat of having the Police called by a member of the  council.   Councilman Ron Alexander tried to convince the resident to stay (because he probably recognized the illegality of the meeting) but the poor guy left because he didn’t want to violate the law. 

Isn’t this the same group of council members that authorized the purchase of a house for $250,00 to save the residents from the catastrophic costs of repeated flooding?  Now we even have to pay for the maintenance of a vacant lot forever.  Have they offered to buy your house?