Debate over mask mandates — The proposed bills at the Ohio State House to prohibit mask and vaccine mandates will only prolong the COVID-19 pandemic. Voluntary efforts have failed. The economy, children’s education, the medical care system, and the well-being of Ohio’s citizens continue to suffer. People who claim that mask or vaccine mandates violate their freedom have a spurious conception of what freedom means. Public spaces belong to the public. Every citizen shares the responsibility to make sure they do not harm others with whom they share public spaces. People who claim that they have the right to decide what goes into their own bodies do not have the right to decide what they will put in my body against my will. They have no right, and hence no freedom, to breathe out a deadly virus that goes into my body or anyone else’s. Frankly, this is a form of assault. Their claims of freedom amount to the freedom to commandeer public spaces. This is not freedom; it is tyranny over others, and means the end of public space, upon which our lives as fellow citizens of Ohio depend. Marilyn Fischer, Dayton
Dayton eliminates ombudsman office — The city of Dayton has funded the ombudsman office for about 50 years. Now, those funds are threatened to be ceased as the city’s income has declined. It is understandable that as income declines, expenditures have to be reduced. The ombudsman is an important advocate for citizens requiring help in dealing with government offices. The ombudsman office is experienced in solving complaints through the proper channels. City Manager Shelley Dickstein has stated the city’s mediation staff can take on the ombudsman’s service, and has the experience to do so without additional cost. My experience as an office manager and a business owner has taught me that if your office can take on such an additional workload, you are over staffed and need to reduce your number of employees. It appears the mediation staff can be reduced without any loss of city services to the citizens of Dayton and Montgomery County. Those funds saved by the reduction of mediation staff could be used to continue to fund the office of the ombudsman. Michael E. Mescher, Dayton