The Summit County Port Authority and former Trustees concede begrudgingly that Trustees can legally terminate the series of one-year lease agreements for the Twinsburg Township Municipal Complex.
I believe the county spin machine helped create the drama over township payment of rent (the township did pay $104,000, on April 9, two days before getting the notice to vacate by April 30) for the sole purpose of erasing forever from the public's mind what I feel is a far more inconvenient truth -- that inept and ultra-quick decisions made behind the public's back in 2005 created this supersized, big box boondoggle in the first place.
The spin machine will not silence my story. I believe there were expensive abuses of government process, no-bid contracts and conflicts of interest that allowed this multi-million dollar nightmare to happen. My contention tends to be supported by the abusive disparity between the building's recent appraisal for $3.4 million and the township costs -- $8 million to $10 million if the lease were not terminated.
In my view, contracts that seem deceptive, financially harmful, nonsensical and cancelable should be cancelled, regardless of whether there is a powerful spin machine warning of a "greater good" to be served by protecting reputations, egos or ersatz political futures.
As ill-intended fear mongering continues, Some might notice the quiet and growing strength of township residents engaging in the political process so that another ludicrous deal never happens again. That's progress of which to be proud. No community has money to burn.
Now the township has the chance to get real, re-group and come up with a comprehensive strategy for fulfilling resident needs. No more rhetoric. Git-R-Done.
Carol Gasper
Twinsburg Township Trustee