Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

You Need Better Dots

Joanie, you need better dots. If these are the best you have, connecting them isn't going to do much good. Some unfortunate things happened, it is true. But I don't see anything here to disqualify our Mayor from continuing to hold office. It's politics.

The same is true of our Mayor's alleged personal problems. If the ''big scandal at city hall'' is that Mr. Shaver is depressed after a painful divorce, and has a longstanding tendency to depression which he treats with medication, its no big deal. The same is true of Larry King, Mike Wallace, Robin Williams, some of our greatest Presidents and, I would venture to say, quite a few members of Congress.

You can connect these pale dots to anything you wish, and they still won't make much of a pattern. As for making Mr. Sabatino mayor, I would prefer a depressed Dave Shaver to Mr. Sabatino at his best any day. Dave supports the vision of this community that is shared by most of us; Mr. Sabatino has opposed that vision at every turn. No need to connect any dots.

By Bigfish

But...

Big Fish,

Don't you think it would be fun to have Sabatino as our Mayor? I think it would be hilarious!

The headlines would be great! And it would attract a huge crowd to City Council and other Mayoral functions...think of the entertainment value!

We might even get people visiting from other towns, states, even countries. The windfall for our hotel industry would be phenomenal.

I think I will vote for Sabatino if he runs in the next election for mayor.


By Pete Puma

Reply

Bigfish,

First I don?’t recall saying anything about disqualifying the mayor from holding office. Don?’t put words in my mouth. I think he is underhanded, political, backstabbing, two-faced, scandalous, self-martyring, disgraceful and a whole lot of other things but none of these disqualifies him from holding office. After all, he is just living up to the lineage of Mayors we have had since Ricketts. He is no different and that is a shame.

Now on to your medical diagnoses. I think that he was forthcoming with but one of his maladies. Again, look beneath the surface for the truth. Is explosive rage a symptom of depression? Is periodic memory loss from day to day a symptom? Is checking in and out and in and out of AA a symptom? I don?’t know, I am not a doctor but can check with WebMD for you.

The Sabatino crack was a joke. However, when comparing personalities as you seem to be doing, I?’ll take a more stable personality as our mayor than an unstable one. Sabatino may be quite contrary but at least he stays his course. I don?’t think Shaver has a course other then the systemic destruction of good people and the city government.


By Joanie

Try to Understand

Joanie, I also am not a psychotherapist. However, enough of my close friends have suffered from depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive/compulsive disorder and the like that I think I have some understanding of these conditions.

Believe me, these conditions can be a struggle. A person can't take a pill and get better, or even feel better. Indeed, medications frequently make people feel much worse, and sometimes produce the same symptoms they are meant to alleviate. A person can come to terms with such conditions, only to be thrown completely off kilter by a stressful event such as a painful divorce.

Uncontrollable and irrational anger is, in my experience, one of the most distinctive symptoms of these conditions. Sufferers may also self-medicate with alcohol, and sometimes attend AA meetings just to have someplace to unload. Such meetings are far less expensive than sessions with psychologists, but can be just as rewarding.

Although I do not know Dave Shaver well, I consider him a friend and, at least in my experience, believe he deals with his emotional problems quite well. I have not seen him, however, since his divorce, and would not be surprised if the divorce hurt him very deeply.

You also seem to be a friend of Dave's, although a somewhat exasperated one. Try to remember that beneath Dave's current problems, whatever they may be, is the same good and decent person that we both know.

By Sympathetic Reader