Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

It never ceases to amaze me how few people in Pickerington can stick to attacking or defending ISSUES instead of PEOPLE. No matter the issue, eventually any debate degrades into attacking people. Everyone needs to grow up some. This pathetic website has turned into personal attacks on Fix, Sauer and whoever else?’s name cones up. Now you have dug up the past in bringing up O?’Brien?’s name. What has he done to suddenly become embroiled in this issue? Nothing that I can see. He hasn?’t said anything, written any letters, or in any way tied his name to the issue of the initiative or referendum. Why then are people on this site so willing to name him as a poster to a thread?

My guess is desperation. Plain and simple, as another poster pointed out, desperate times make for desperate people. A poster who might be Fix or writing in a way to pose as Fix calls out O?’Brien. Why I wonder? Let?’s assume for the sake of this argument that the poster is a Fix ally, at least. Why call out O?’Brien? Is it because he still poses a threat to the Fix regime in the city and township? How does he pose a threat? The guy hasn?’t spoken publicly, appeared publicly of in any other overt way become involved in city politics since leaving office. Could it be that because the entire time he was in the public eye he acted honorably, voted his conscience, attempted bridge building between sides and represented this city as we want from all our elected officials? Could it be that he never became a politician? Could it be that as this issue approaches the vote that the opponents of Issue 9 are panicking with the thought that yet another former elected official will come out in support of it? They easily defame Gray, Maxey and others on this site hoping that the past cannot be let go of. Now they are calling out another person hoping that they can then have another target to say has formed a subversive alliance with enemies of the past.

Here?’s what I think. I think that anyone opposing the Fix regime in this city will get my support. I think that if they call out someone like O?’Brien, he has my support. Support for what you ask? Well, things are going to change a lot in city government soon. When the results are in on May 8th I am sure the handwriting will be on the wall for Fix and his pals. I think that people will then come forward showing interest in running for office in November and running these buffoons out of town. Perhaps O?’Brien would be the right candidate. If in his silence and privacy after leaving public office he can pose this kind of threat to Fix, then maybe he would pose an even larger threat to Fix and those trustees if we elected him back to office.

Folks, if you agree that the Fix regime is acting desperately now, wait until after the May 8th election. They will become as desperate as they were when Fix turned the Republican party in this county against O?’Brien before the last election.

Seeing our future in our past?

You might have a point here. At least you have piqued my interest and gave me something to think about while riding the lawn mower yesterday. If we are looking to the past for people willing to lend their name, money and effort to Issue 9 and the referendum, maybe we must look to the past for the leadership or tomorrow.

Obviously something happened between Shaver and O?’Brien that resulted in him being fired without notice from P&Z. The story I heard is that Shaver asked O?’Brien to run his judicial campaign. At the time he asked, which was about 90 days before the primary, Shaver had raised no money, secured no endorsements and had not gotten one single commitment of campaign support. What I assume the no-s, nots and nones I state above mean is that even Shaver?’s NW Republican Club was steering clear of this ladder climber with his overt medical issues.

The question I have to ponder is when did the split between Shaver and O?’Brien really occur? Having attended several council meetings and interacting with both Shaver and O?’Brien separately on other issues, I think that the parting of ways occurred very early in O?’Brien?’s term. There was an issue over the sewer plant that they were polarized on which fortunately O?’Brien?’s, Hackworth?’s and Wisniewski?’s foresight saved the taxpayers millions of dollars and perhaps stopped the requirement to build over 300 homes a year to support it.

But I think their division came for much more fundamental reasons and it goes back to the hiring of the city manager. I think that O?’Brien saw the handwriting on the walls with Shaver based on his treatment of Wright, Sabatino and Parker during the manager search and negotiations. Then the venomous Shaver only escalated the council split as time went on. I think that O?’Brien saw the opportunity to build bridges or mend fences with the minority members of council and Shaver sought only to drive the wedge deeper. But I think the defining moment in the irreparable damage to their relationship came with the ?“Someone?’s Ox has to get gored?” statement during the Diley Road deliberations. I happen to know that O?’Brien was so offended and devastated by that statement that he never looked at Shaver the same way again.

I think that the relationship between O?’Brien and Shaver, and ultimately all the Shaver supporters who blindly followed and believed Shaver without question became a permanent split. I think it turned out that all the Shaver followers never attended council meetings, never knew any insider information and only based their allegiance on ?“Dave?’s a good guy just going through a rough patch right now.?”

So now it might be time for us to look to the past to see our future. Maybe someone like O?’Brien can do a better job than Shaver has done. Maybe he was more of a leader in the elected set than anyone on the outside gave him credit for. Maybe it was only people like me that spent so much of my time at 100 Lockville that saw the leadership and genuine love for this city he exhibited. Maybe we finally had someone who had no ego to serve, only a city. Maybe we need someone like that now.

When Pigs Can Fly

After the way that the Honorable Mr. O'Brien was treated, I doubt that he will ever run again.

You see, Mitch is smart. He has the ability to acknowledge that he has been used and treated poorly. He learns from his mistakes.

After what happened, I believe that the city doesn't deserve the talents and dedication of Mr. O'Brien.

Do I wish he would make a comeback? You bet I do...!!!

Do I understand why he remains silent. Even more so.


p.s.

As a side note, I have lost ALL respect for Shaver over the O'Brien incident. I am embarrased that I carried water for the Shaver campaign.

EOM

By No B.S. Zone

You never know about things.....


You never know about things. Maybe he just hasn?’t been approached in the right way. My experience with the several times we met and worked on a couple of projects together shows me that if nothing else from his time on council, he grew a thick skin. Perhaps with the right support now from the right people, his treatment in the past will become a thing of the past.

I agree with you that he is smart. He is also loyal. I think that he took a lot on the chin from local and county republicans and never brought it out into the public so as not to harm the few good republicans left in this area. He never exploited partisan ties in quite the manner that people like Smith did. He wasn?’t, and still might not be a registered republican but the NW club always said ?“He is a Republican at heart.?” I think he also proved loyalty, albeit misplaced in hindsight, to Shaver through all his tough times. Who was the one to talk Shaver out of resigning every time he threatened? Who was the one to still never say a bad word about Shaver when he sided with Fix and turned the county politicians against him? And most importantly, who stuck by Shaver?’s side during the long process to hire a city attorney? Was it Riggs and her usage of the terms ?“psycho?” and ?“ambulance chaser?” and ?“a joke among his peers?” when trying to garner votes for her choice as law director. A choice, I may say, that reeked of political paybacks for state-wide elections. No, it was O?’Brien. Who had the opportunity to print quotes from his opponent Fix from a P&Z meeting where Fix accused him of violating his oath of office and other slanderous and unfounded remarks but didn?’t? Who took the high road and who went belly down in the gutter? Who had class and dignity and who didn?’t?

Some may consider it a weakness to not fight back, but all things considered, which would you rather have as a leader in this community? A person that can take the high road or someone that wants to get into every street brawl and name-calling contest the detractors can dream up? In other words, do you want 4 more years of Shaver or a Shaver clone or 4 years of true leadership that is dignified, ethical, moral and has only the best interests of the community at heart?

I have worked in this city for over 20 years. I can tell you that I can count the times on one hand through regime after regime that there has come along just the right person at just the right time when we needed him. I think that with a little gentle persuasion and most importantly, the right level of support behind him, we might just draw O?’Brien out of retirement and back where he belongs and where he is needed the most.

We all know that the voters in this city are capricious. We see time and again their choices to follow the tabloids over following a proven track record. While we are in the mood to change the charter and more, maybe we need to consider changing the type people leading us into the future.