It appears that our Lawrence County Commissioners have misplaced priorities.

They found $1,500 to give to the Domestic Violence Task Force, which is a worthy cause. They also found $80,000 to give to the Lawrence County Fair Board, another very worthy cause.

Here is what the Ironton Tribune, Sept. 22 reported. “An attempt to help out the Lawrence County Fair has wiped out the account the Lawrence County Sheriff uses to pay leases for some of the office’s cruisers.”

“Without any discussion at the Lawrence County Commission’s Aug. 27 meeting, $50,000 was transferred from various accounts in the general fund budget to the Lawrence County Agriculture Society.”

The same article also quotes Bill Pratt. Here is a part of his quote. “It is no secret I support agriculture,” Pratt said. “ As long as I am commissioner I will see that it will succeed.”

I say that this is misplaced priorities because:

We have an overcrowded jail for which we are being fined. The State of Ohio offered the sheriff a generous opportunity to use the prison in Franklin Furnace, which would have been a very good solution to our overcrowded jail until something else can be done. But the commissioners could not seem to find money to help our sheriff complete this offer. Misplaced Priorities.

None of the other projects the commissioners found money for is dragging our county into debt, but the lack of an adequate jail is and will continue to.

Incidentally, there was a check for $250,000 that the county received from the sale of Sherman Thompson Towers, anybody know where this money is?

Perhaps we need some new commissioners. I notice that Bill Pratt is up for reelection in the spring. Replacing him with a responsible individual would be a move in the right direction.

 

Charlotte Rowley Slagel
Ironton