Letters to the Editor Week of 6/29/20

Good and bad apples
To the editor: Can we all agree that every profession since time eternal has had both "good apples" and "bad apples" inside their ranks?
If a doctor is sued for malpractice, should we then get rid of all the doctors and simply scrounge around, hoping we can find someone to help us when we are sick?
If a teacher assaults a child, should we then defund all the schools and fire all the teachers? Crooked lawyers, bad nurses, shady business owners, the list goes on and on. The news has been filled with examples of what it means to be a bad apple.
As with all professions, our police departments have been dealing with this as well. Every profession must root the bad apples out. I hope we can thank our local police officers for their service, give them a wave as we pass them on the road, maybe buy them a gift card to grab a coffee after a long shift.
If our 80-year-old mother was having her door busted down at 3 a.m., I'm sure we can all agree we would appreciate one of those good apples showing up to protect her. I don't know about you, but I would like to be judged on my own actions. I do not want to pay the consequences for someone else’s choices.
Life is too short to be lumping people into groups.
Kim Kraemer
Oak Harbor

Portman thanked
To the editor: The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners would like to thank Senator Rob Portman for his work and his commitment to preserving our national parks. The Senate has passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which included Sen. Portman’s Restore Our Parks bill, which will provide funding for shoreline improvements and maintenance needed at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial.
Mark Stahl
Donald Douglas
Mark Coppeler,
Ottawa County commissioners

Plan to vote
To the editor: The 2020 Ohio primary election was to have been held on March 17, but due to Covid-19 was postponed to April 28. Instead of a go-to-the-polls election, this primary was a vote by mail
election.
Voters first had to get the absentee ballot application form either from their board of elections website, or track one down. The application had to be completed and returned to the board. Then the board mailed back to the voter the actual ballot. All this had to be accomplished within one month.
The Ohio Primary in April 2020 was a disaster.
*The election was not well publicized.
*Voters did not know what to do to participate in the election.
*Some voters did not have access to a computer to print the absentee ballot application.
*Some voters, especially seniors, had never voted by absentee ballot before and did not want to change.
*Some ballots never made it to voters in time to complete the ballot and send it back.
*Some ballots were mailed back by the voter in time, but never made it to the board until after the election. If there was no postmark the ballots were not counted.
*Some voters went to a board office primary election day to vote, but unless they were disabled, homeless, or hadn't received a requested ballot, their ballots were thrown away.
Ohio threw away 220 ballots voted this way.
There are lessons to be learned to prepare us for the November election. Plan to vote early. Plan to vote by absentee ballot. Print your absentee ballot application on -line at www.ohioSOS.gov.
If you can't print the ballot request at home or at a library, call the board of elections in your county and request the application.
When you receive the form, complete it and send it back to the board. This will put you on an early list to receive your ballot as soon as law allows them to be mailed.
When you receive your ballot, fill it out and return it to the board. Don't let a pandemic, post office problems or fewer voting sites cause you to miss your opportunity to vote.

Nancy Gurney
Lakeside