Letter to the Editor “Integrity Matters”

Joe Lyons • March 17, 2024

Integrity matters. If you were to Google “integrity” you would find it defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” Whether people know, realize, accept or fail to acknowledge it, Law Enforcement officers hold a great deal of responsibility in the sense that many things they do happens behind closed doors and out of the view of the taxpayers. Preparing reports, gathering statistics, applying for grants, internal discipline to name a few can all happen behind closed doors for years. You may never see it, you may only see it when a law enforcement officer of many years is suddenly charged with a crime, such as dereliction of duty or even theft. But you have to ask yourself, how do we get to this point? How can someone hired by a law enforcement agency fall so far from grace? Was it over time? Or did they have a moral imbalance from the start. As a retired law enforcement officer I can tell you where it starts, and that is at the top.

You as the voter, the voice of Ashland County, need to take all of this into account this Tuesday when you vote. You hold the power to decide what kind of person you want at the head of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office. The person you will entrust with the ability to effectively lead with integrity the main enforcement body of this county who administers the jail, our 9-11 dispatch center for many residents or the deputies who respond to your house when you need it most.

That person is NOT Kurt Schneider. We all know elections can bring out the worst in people, you do not have to go far to see that. It is a sad reality, but under the extreme pressure of putting yourself in the spotlight like Schneider and Chad Enderby have done, someone’s real moral aptitude can be revealed. Kurt Schneiders lack of moral integrity has been shown to alarming levels during this campaign.

In a comment in response to Chad Enderby’s endorsement from J&H Lawn Care, a concerned voter made the following statement “Kurt was in our neighborhood today soliciting votes. When I pointed out our neighborhood’s “no soliciting” sign, his retort was “it is his constitutional right” to knock on our doors. To me, this is just disrespectful for our neighborhood. When I was talking a couple of weeks ago, one of Chad’s people stopped me and asked if the sign meant them. I said yes because it was soliciting votes. Right or wrong, Chad is respecting us. Kurt is not. Made up my mind who we are voting for. Two more votes for Chad! Also, I am on the side of needing new people with new ideas and no favoritism for the old school”.

As a voter, you must ask yourself is this how you want your deputies to be led? That it is ok to push the extreme boundaries of the citizens constitutional rights? It does not stop there.

On 3/17/2024, the Kurt Schneider campaign advertised and held a free BBQ at the corner park directly across from the Ashland County Board of elections, where citizens were casting their early votes. One could argue this is in violation of Ohio Revised Code 3501.35 (A)(5), No loitering or congregating near polling places specifically during an election and the counting of ballots, no person shall do any of the following: solicit or in any manner attempt to influence any elector in casting the elector’s vote. Additionally, once the event ended several campaign signs were left behind on the county park property in violation of established rules prohibiting this.

As a voter of Ashland County, if this is what a prospective Sheriff is willing to do, one could only wonder what he would allow to happen behind the closed doors of the Sheriff’s office. You would probably never know until it hit the headlines. A vote for Chad Enderby this Tuesday will end a revolving door of the “good old boys” we have known for so long. Integrity matters.

Darcy Baker

Ashland, Ohio