PATA History Pages

Requested Correction of Information to the Pickerington Area

Facts related to Pickerington Republican Club's recent mailer.

*** webmaster's editorial note.
PATA is non-partisan and was approached to help inform the area residents about dubious information they received in their Saturday (11/3) mail. As "others" have commented on this issue within our discussion pages, it was deemed important to have the most accurate information available to the concerned citizens of this community.

Below is a letter from the resigning Pickerington Republican Club Treasurer in it's entirety, unedited or altered.
Page breaks are necessary to fit within the confines of our web maximum words per posting. - webmaster

Ed Laramee
8914 Stonehenge Drive
Pickerington, OH 43147
(740) 927-6767
November 4, 2001

Dear Chevington Woods Residents and Pickerington Area Republican Club Members

On Saturday, November 3rd, like you, I received a letter from the Pickerington Area Republican Club. The envelope bore the tag “IMPORTANT! Republican Voter Guide Inside.”

Prior to receipt of this misleading mailing, I had planned to spend the weekend on private business and getting the Civic Associations assessment mailing ready. I had also planned to draft a letter resigning as Treasurer of the Pickerington Area Republican Club and to mail it with an explanation to the membership. MY RESIGNATION AS TREASURER OF THE PICKERINGTON AREA REPUBLICAN CLUB IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. However, with my name prominently featured in the text of this mailing, I feel constrained to explain to my neighbors as well

The envelope I received contained 4 “slate cards” captioned “Republican Voters Guide,” which listed four names for “City Council Candidates” and two for “Township Trustee Candidates.” The text read, in part, “Dear Republican Voters: Enclosed are your Republican Candidate Voter Guides to help insure Republican victories! ... These Republican Voter Guides are brought to you as a service of the Pickerington Republican Club......mail the form below to:

Pickerington Republican Club
Attn: Ed Laramee, Treasurer
8914 Stonebridge Dr.”

This document also bore the incorrect but legally required disclaimer, “Paid for by the Pickerington Area Republican Club, Ed Laramee, Treasurer, 592 Courtland Lane, Pickerington, OH 43147"

DO NOT BE DECEIVED by the DEVIOUS double speak embedded in this material. It fails to tell you that the other candidates, those not named, are also Republicans. In fact it might lead you to conclude the opposite.

Please let me recite a few facts: (page 2)

Fact #1: JEFF FIX, BRUCE ROOKSTOOL, DAVID SHAVER, and TED HACKWORTH, are the candidates not listed. THEY ARE ALL REPUBLICANS.. All of the candidates for City Council and Trustee are REPUBLICANS. A fact well known to Lee Gray, the author of these documents. Folks, vote anyway that you want - Republican victories are assured. - Do not be deceived by these spurious “Republican Voter Guides.” They are the handiwork of a handful of votes at a meeting orchestrated by a few in their own self interest.

Fact #2: These were supposed to be the “endorsements” of the Pickerington Area Republican Club. Along with the vast majority of the Club membership, I had no part in selecting the names listed in this erstwhile “Voters Guide.” Of those listed, Terry Dunlap is the only one that I have and am supporting financially and with practical campaign assistance.

Fact #3: Truth - I am, and have been for several years, Treasurer of the Pickerington Area Republican Club. As a matter of election law, a “Paid for by...” disclaimer with the Treasurer’s name and address, must appear on all publications, and election related mailings of the Club. This is not the Treasurer’s option.

Lee Gray, the former Mayor of Pickerington, and the principal author of this mailing, did not have permission to use my name in any other way.

Fact #4: While I support good Republican candidates at many levels of government, I do very little financially. My help, if sought, will usually consist of practical advice, the donation of time, voter information, etc. Excluding, Barbara Curtiss, the County Auditor and my boss, I have seldom publicly “endorsed” any candidate. Since my name is the only one appearing in this mailing, it has appeared to some of our neighbors that these are also my personal endorsements: Some people are intentionally spreading that idea. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.

Prior to the “Chamber of Commerce’s Candidates night, I hesitated to involve myself in the Pickerington City Council race. My chief concern was with the Trustee positions. Like many of you, I care deeply about this community and want to maintain a strong Township as a counterpoint to the City of Pickerington. The four candidates for Township Trustee are all good men. But they, along with Lee Gray, Craig Maxie, Doug Parker, Darryl Berry, and for that matter anyone who cared to ask, knew that I have committed my support to those I believe are the best men for the job at this time: TERRY DUNLAP and JEFF FIX. My opinion has not changed! I mention this not to effect your votes, but to make this point: Even had the name JEFF FIX appeared in these spurious voter guides, I would be writing you this letter.

Please let me recite a few facts (page 3)

Fact #5: I mention the names Gray, Maxie, Parker, and Berry, for a reason. Under the stewardship of Brian Fox, the Pickerington Area Republican Club flourished reasonably well. While there was always the undercurrent of “city control,” Fox did his best. This year Fox stepped aside in favor of a “duly elected” Parker. Parker sent out notices to Club members for a “Special Meeting” for the purpose of considering candidates for club endorsement. The meeting was to be convened “around 9PM” following the Chamber of Commerce’s Candidates’ Night.

The formal Candidates Night program ran a little after 9. It was followed by an informal mill and mingle with the candidates. As the only two Council incumbents running for re-election present, Maxie and Parker were milling and mingling with all the others. At about 9:30PM, Terry Dunlap asked me “When and where is the meeting?” We looked around, most of the Club’s members present were still milling and mingling. But Parker was no where to be seen.

Dunlap and I headed for the exit in search of the “Special Meeting.” As we turned the corner into the adjacent darkened hallway, I heard Parker’s voice rising in volume as it accelerated into the end of the parliamentary chant “...the motion’s been made and seconded, any discussion, all in favor say aye (all), opposed nay (none). Motion carries. Motion to adjourn...”

In this darkened hallway, in this “very special” meeting, I saw Parker, Lee Gray, Darryl Berry, Craig Maxie, and a couple of ladies, one of whom was taking notes for the absent Club Secretary. I asked, “What are you doing?” “We already did it,” was Gray’s reply. “What did WE do?” I inquired. “We voted to endorse all of the incumbent councilmen, Terry Dunlap, if it’s OK with the party chairman, and Harry Myers.” I asked Parker why he “...hadn’t let me know that he was leaving the “mix and mingle” session to convene this meeting. As the Treasurer, and the only other Club officer present, didn’t he think it appropriate to let me know? Why hadn’t he made an announcement so that all of the other Club members who were in the other room could express their opinions and vote? Why had he presided at a meeting and over an endorsement vote in which he had a beneficial interest?”

As I put Parker on the spot, Gray offered that it was his fault, because he had pushed Parker to get started because he (Gray) wanted to get home. I responded “that was beside the point, Parker was President, and had a responsibility to the membership.” I advised them, particularly Gray and Parker, that I believed that although what they had done might have been within the recently massaged by-laws that I considered the way they had gone about it morally dishonest and a disservice to the Club and its members. In a few spare words I told them that I was very angry.

Fact #6: In my opinion four good men, Shaver, Hackworth, Fix and Rookstool, along with their aspirations for public office have been damaged by the duplicity inherent in this mailing. I am appalled to have my name attached to it. This is not representative of the Republican Party, or the members of the local Club. It is lousy when the good give and take of our process is glaringly perverted by self-dealing. It’s crummy when the good names of many are sullied by the actions of a few.

Thanks for reading - Sincerely

** received 11/4 via eamil from Mr. Ed Laramee for posting to the PATA web site.