Lucas County Government

Well, they're at it again.  I think they have too much free time on their hands.  The Lucas county commissioners have officially resolved to oppose Arizona's State law SB 1070 (click here for an official copy of the resolution).  Maggie Thurber blogged about it here and raised a few good points.

Briefly, from someone who has read the law but who is not a lawyer, the law states that if a policeman arrests someone for a misdemeanor the policeman can demand that the detainee (that's legalese for the alleged scumbag who has been allegedly busted) prove that he, she or other is in the United States legally.  That's it.  Somehow, according to our three elected county commissioners Pete Gerken, Tina Skeldon Wozniak and Ben Konop, this law amounts to an infringement on our civil rights.  In particular they claim SB 1070 violates the 14th amendment.  It doesn't, but that's another matter.

Gerken, Konop and Wozniak can sit in their plush offices at One Government Center and cry about civil rights all they like, and I could not possibly care less.  When they decided to use their office as a bully pulpit to express their opinion they crossed the line.  By writing this resolution and making it official, the commissioners have stated that their opinion is my opinion as well, and that is an authority that no elected official should have.  One, because they can't know my feelings on the law, two because not everyone in Lucas county opposes SB 1070 and three because SB 1070 does not affect the residents of Lucas county.

The arrogance displayed by these three angers me, but I'm not surprised by their attitude.  Between the three of them they have the hubris of medieval royalty, the vanity of a television evangelist and the narcissism of a rap star.  The three would-be County Czars are making their official resolution known to the powers that be:

Section 2. A certified copy of this resolution will be sent to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and President Barack Obama, Senator George Voinovich, Senator Sherrod Brown, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, and Congressman Robert Latta as the federal representatives for Lucas County.

Which led me to suggest that we, the poor and underprivileged mere civilians, do the same.  Now realistically, writing to The Anointed One will gain you little more than a cursory investigation by the Secret Service and your missive will be delegated to a place of honor in the nearest landfill, but a handwritten letter to Governor Jan Brewer in support of SB 1070 might cheer her up a little.  As for the others, who knows.  It's likely none of them will ever read a letter from anyone reading this blog, but I suppose you never know for sure.  If nothing else you'll be helping to keep a U.S. Post Office delivery person employed.

So to make life easier, here's a list of people to write to.  Remember that neatness counts, as does spelling, punctuation and politeness.

Pete Gerken, President
Tina Skeldon Wozniak, Commissioner
Ben Konop, Commissioner
One Government Center
Suite 800
Toledo, OH  43604
http://www.co.lucas.oh.us/forms.aspx?fid=41

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer
The Honorable Jan Brewer
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
(602) 542-4331
(800) 253-0883
http://www.azgovernor.gov/contact.asp

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
(202) 456-1111
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Senator George Voinovich
420 Madison Avenue
Room 1210
Toledo, OH 43604
(419) 259-3895
http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Senator Sherrod Brown
200 N High St. Room 614
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 469-2083
(888) 896-6446
http://brown.senate.gov/contact/

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur
One Maritime Plaza - Sixth Floor
Toledo, Ohio 43604
(800) 964-4699
(419) 259-7500
http://www.kaptur.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=152

Congressman Robert Latta
1045 N. Main Street, Suite 6
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402-1361
(419) 354-8700
(800) 541-6446
http://latta.house.gov/Contact/

I'm going to write and explain that I oppose the Lucas county commissioners resolution, and moreover I support Arizona's Governor and I think SB 1070 is good law.  If I should get any replies I'll post them here.

As a final thought, if Gerken, Konop and Wozniak are so concerned about our civil rights, why aren't they doing more to restore our 2nd Amendment rights?