Rural voters can fix schools
According to the public school funding database the Dispatch posted, my kids’ school district is going to have a deficit in the millions of dollars. And mine isn’t the only one. That same article says 120 school districts will have a deficit by 2029. Another article reports on how the funding situation is hitting rural districts even harder.
Well, rural voters, you can fix this. Yes, you! Not me, not in the city. My state representative and senator have voted in favor of constitutionally funding schools. But rural voters, well, your representatives have not. House Bill 96, passed last year (the budget bill) was passed by 21 GOP senators and 61 GOP reps. These are your elected officials, and they decided to:
Every two years, we voters have a chance to fire elected state officials who are not working for us. Because of gerrymandering, my vote is not very strong. But you rural voters really do have the power to fix our public schools. All you have to do is fire the people in the Statehouse and Senate who, among other things, prioritized a football stadium over your children’s (and mine’s) education.
Dennis Drew, Columbus
Domestic violence perp among our police
The Dispatch has reported more than once about the disturbing upswing in domestic violence rates despite local overall crime rates declining.
When looking for the causes, why not begin with the June 18 Dispatch article, “Columbus police officer faces charge in strangulation”? This suspect, Officer Timothy Fuller, had been “recently sued [reported Feb. 26] for lack of action in a domestic violence case [March 21, 2024] that turned fatal.”
In fact, two other (male) officers, Mitchell Clifford and Ryan Cale, were also sued; they’d accompanied Fuller on the two calls in the six hours prior to 60-year-old Marchelle Freeman’s murder by her boyfriend, Stewart Butler.
None of those three officers sworn to protect and serve removed the soon-to-be murderer’s gun, despite Freeman begging them to, and despite “unrelated 2023 misdemeanor charges that were previously dismissed” that would have shown he “should have forfeited” it.
By the way, Butler is only serving a 14 to 19.5-year prison sentence. Will the policeman strangler also get off with a slap on the wrist? Is there a good ol’ boys’ culture in our local police forces that invites complicity and silences accountability? Chief Elaine Bryant, look there first.Samantha Willow, Westerville
Rethinking the death penalty
As an Assistant Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney in the early 1980s, I was a proponent of the death penalty for capital crimes. However, like Governor Mike DeWine, I have since changed my opinion for a number of reasons.
First, deterrence: A 2009 study concluded that the possible imposition of the death penalty does not deter violent crime.
Second, time, cost and complexity: Death penalty cases can cost two and a half to five times as much as non-death penalty cases. Years, if not decades, may elapse before the execution takes place. Execution is sometimes problematic, resulting in prolonged, painful or unsuccessful attempts.
Third, coercion: Defendants may be coerced to plead guilty to a crime they did not commit to avoid imposition of the death penalty.
Fourth, false convictions: The death penalty may preclude a wrongly convicted person from proving their innocence. The Innocence Project has successfully overturned more than 250 wrongful convictions using the relatively nascent science of DNA identification.
Fifth, social isolation: Although executing a person removes violent offenders from society, life without parole is equally effective.
Sixth, if you believe that God’s gift of life is sacred, then it should be left to God, rather than a jury, to determine whether and when that life is no longer sacred.
Finally, the death penalty achieves one thing that life in prison cannot: an eye for an eye… revenge. But you have to ask yourself whether exacting revenge outweighs all the contrary reasons above.
Neal Snyder, Columbus
Check your property value now
This is another important year for property owners to work with the Franklin County Auditor’s office as the county undergoes the 2026 Property Value Update process. And property owners have a big voice in the determination of their final values.
Tentative values are now available on the Know Your Home Value website (auditor.franklincountyohio.gov/KYHV) and were recently mailed. The value update will set new values for every parcel in Franklin County, where we are seeing moderate stabilization increases averaging 10% across the county. It is important to remember value changes and taxes are not a 1:1 ratio.
If you believe your tentative value is incorrect, I strongly encourage you to work with the office to schedule a Property Value Review.
Review sessions give property owners the chance to speak with appraisers and provide evidence about why a change from the tentative value is warranted. If the evidence supports a change, adjustments will be made before final values are set in December.
I encourage every property owner to review their tentative value, review their property information and take part in this important process if you feel a change in value is appropriate. Your voice matters, and this is the time to be heard.
Michael Stinziano, Franklin County Auditor
Misconduct crosses party lines
Re “Microlooting, Medicaid fraud and shrugs at assassin. We’re in trouble,” (June 21): In his opinion piece, Philip Derrow makes many excellent points. Trust, honesty and the willingness to follow laws and a rational social contract are necessary for the health and survival of a republic and a society.
I do not believe that the problem is an exclusively a liberal one.
Many who call themselves conservatives, including leaders such as President Donald Trump, engage in dishonest and lawless behavior that undercuts the functioning of our nation.
This is a problem that permeates our entire society, and we all must realize that doing the right thing and the willingness to compromise transcends allegiance to any political ideology.
Seth Kraner, Columbus
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Rural voters can change course on Ohio school funding | Letters
Reporting by Letters to the Editor, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Letters to the Editor, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
