Here is my take:
Wow! I think an important event in Tiffin's history is being made, starting with last night's Tiffin City Council Public Hearing that was supposed to conclude with a vote of City Council...but didn't.
Never before in the history of our local government did so many Tiffin Citizens unite in opposition to a Tiffin University initiated ordinance that would normally get "rubber-stamp" treatment by City Council and the Mayor. In fact the Tiffin Citizens are so angry that they converged on city hall, where some turned away or left early because of the crowded, uncomfortable court room pews. It was so crowded that people were standing ten-deep in the hallway. Terminally ill and elderly people, one of which was using an oxygen canister, came early. Young people who would speak out in opposition came with their families. Normal Citizens came from every Tiffin City Ward and beyond.
This was Tiffin Ohio Citizenship at its finest! Starting now, Tiffin Citizens can claim to be different from others in the United States where citizens often complain of their lack of influence on their government. But, they never act to perform their civic and constitutional duty to set their government straight..."or to remove it".
With their action, and I'm sure more will follow, Tiffin Citizens are setting a fine example for what other American citizens can do to influence their local government...if they just focus on one issue at a time.
Even the grandson of the founder of Tiffin University, Dr. Thomas Keen, came with his wife to make an articulate and compelling argument for why City Council should defeat the ordinance. Mrs. Keen publicly chastised the President of Tiffin University, Dr. Paul Marion, for his lack of "integrity" for misleading information, attempts to mislead the public, and using his standing as a high-profile community leader to get Tiffin City Council and the Mayor to ignore our own citizen/neighbors. Dr. Marion is NOT even a Citizen of Tiffin.
For nearly 2 and a half hours, about 35 of the people each got up and spoke. Person after person gave one or more reasons for City Council to defeat the ordinance. After all were finished, I presented a Power Point litany that gave documented fact-after-fact that pointed to Dr. Marion, and Dr, Grandillo's lack of regard for the individual Citizens of Tiffin who were now opposing their Miami Miami Street Project Plan. Their Plan includes closing Jackson Street without the approval of the neighborhood property owners, and to have the private property owners suffer other indignities.
The hearing was covered on Tiffin's Cable Television network and viewed by about two-thousand people at home. My presentation disclosed misrepresentation-after-misrepresentation for which I believe these TU Officials should be held accountable. Yet, it seems that some Council members were getting bored as they pretended to listen. When Dr. Paul Marion was allowed, by Council President, to make the concluding statement, the Tiffin University President took the podium, turned to address the Tiffin City Council and said,
" Well, I heard a lot of emotion tonight.
As far as I'm concerned, it is all irrelevant."
I could NOT believe my ears! With his declaration to City Council that Tiffin Citizen concerns were all "irrelevant", Dr. Marion announced his dark political view and contempt for local governance. He might as well have said:
"The Citizens of Tiffin are irrelevant, should
quietly pay their taxes and accept that they
have NO say in how they are governed."
or
"The Citizens of Tiffin are too stupid to know
what is relevant to their own governance.
Government needs to be firmly in the hands
of those who command power."
or
"How dare these people assume that anything they said at this public hearing will be given any consideration by those of us who really govern Tiffin, Ohio. Do they think this to be a Democratic Republic?"
quietly pay their taxes and accept that they
have NO say in how they are governed."
or
"The Citizens of Tiffin are too stupid to know
what is relevant to their own governance.
Government needs to be firmly in the hands
of those who command power."
or
"How dare these people assume that anything they said at this public hearing will be given any consideration by those of us who really govern Tiffin, Ohio. Do they think this to be a Democratic Republic?"
It is now clear and public knowledge that Drs. Marion and Grandillo, have acted arrogantly, and hurt the trust of Tiffin Citizens. They have publicly embarrassed the institution we call Tiffin City Council. It is hard enough for individual council members to do their often thankless job of governing our City. Our honorable council members do not need to be again flumoxed to provide their official votes to favor the tax-financed plans of Tiffin University Officials...because such plans are...wink...wink..."for the good of Tiffin"; any justification of which will never come. These Tiffin University Officials have thus acted dis-honorably.
Tiffin Citizens are people who can govern themselves in the true spirit of being an American...even if they are from this small Ohio town called Tiffin. City Council Members and the Mayor are elected from the ranks of Citizens, but they are human and not immune to powerful and beautifully crafted attempts to persuade their votes. They are under a lot of pressure, so before you judge them, please first understand their quandary in the face of raw political power.
Why did Dr. Marion think it appropriate to ask our Tiffin City Council President to come to his campus office at Tiffin University for a "Damage Control" meeting?
Is someone confusing the governance mission of Tiffin University with the governance mission of Tiffin City?
I think we need to take account of what has happened. The unusually large crowd of Citizens at Council's Public Hearing have delivered their certain message. Our normally quiet Tiffin Citizens have found their voice and have now taken an important step in learning how to use it.
The abuses of Tiffin, Ohio political power against those Citizens who can't protect themselves, needs to stop.
Now, it is up to Council Members and the Mayor to take the next step that will either embolden Citizens to participate more in their government, or embolden Tiffin University Officials to continue abusing the sick, elderly, and hopeful among us. Maybe both.
Joe Monaco
Tiffin, Ohio Voter
