From My Personal Facebook – Vote No On 24

Twinsburg friends… I don’t often post on my personal page about City business but this is one of those rare times where I’ll comment on my page about such things.

Issue 24 is on your ballot this November. I have put together a slew of (hopefully) unbiased information about this issue on my Council page here on Facebook (Greg Bellan – Twinsburg City Council Ward 5) as well as on my Council website – Category: Issue 24

This is an incredibly confusing and nuanced issue due to several factors. I have tried to explain those issues as concisely as possible – if you have questions please review the content there.

I would urge everyone to vote NO ON ISSUE 24. This is my personal opinion of course but I believe at least on this particular issue it is a VERY educated opinion. I’ve done more research and had more conversations with experts than I care to relive.
The bottom line is this – whether the ballot language says it or not (it doesn’t), our police and fire services as well as the long term financial flexibility and health of the City of Twinsburg is what’s at stake here.

I won’t go into the details here and I don’t particularly want to engage in any debates here either. The proponents of this issue say it’s about voting. They say it’s because of the clubhouse. They’ll go out of their way to disparage our police, fire and service people. They’ll call into question people’s motives and suggest there are things being done that are underhanded, etc.

I’d ask the residents of Twinsburg to consider this – what is the motivation NOW? Why, after 50 years is the Charter no longer sufficient? I have to believe that it is in direct response to Council’s actions in July where we put forth next year’s tax budget – a budget that includes increases in taxes specifically earmarked for POLICE and FIRE.

I don’t consider myself a ‘politician’ so much as a ‘public servant’. Listening to this sort of mudslinging is part of the job, a job that I take VERY seriously and that I love doing. There are times when it’s easier than others to ignore that sort of bashing but I have a really difficult time when people sit back from a very uneducated and hypocritical positions behind a computer screen and bash the wonderful employees of our great City.

You can call it political spin. I’d disagree with you.

I’m proud to stand with the ENTIRE City Council, even my colleagues who voted against raising millage, in OPPOSING Issue 24.

I hope you’ll join me in voting NO ON ISSUE 24.