DEAR EDITOR:
Get the facts!
This is only my opinion but I sure hope you think about this before you vote. I am an active volunteer firefighter, and I come from a family of firefighters both past and present.
On the ballot this year there is a county-wide fire levy for one ladder truck, to be in Ottawa and 2 heavy rescue vehicles.
Ottawa feels they are in need of a new ladder truck and new heavy rescue vehicle. The other heavy rescue vehicle is to go to Kalida. They have no money to purchase these, so they want the people of Putnam County to purchase these for them. When was the last time Putnam County bought your local Fire Department a fire truck? Never.  When is the last time you saw the need for a ladder truck at a residential house fire? While the truck may be old, it is still operational; it is available to the entire county at this point. There are several neighboring counties that have ladder trucks and are there for mutual aid. As far as being turned down for the use of their ladder truck, this was in instances where it was in use somewhere else. This could occur in Ottawa as well. That is what mutual aid is for.
Why do the people of Putnam County need to buy a new ladder truck that may or may not be used in their fire district? What about the rest of the county? No other village has the county purchase their equipment. Do you realize that if this goes through, you may still be charged extra for the use of this truck? 
As for heavy rescue trucks, they want $1.5, million for them. Seems to me the Putnam County Office of Public Safety just bought Ottawa and Kalida heavy rescue vehicles in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Their trucks are getting older but are still operational. Most of the fire departments have their own rescue equipment that was purchased on our own without any help from Putnam County.
Why do we need a countywide heavy rescue? About two years ago Putnam County Office of Public Safety was going to disband the heavy rescue because it was too expensive to operate. Now they want the taxpayers to buy two heavy rescue trucks.
They say it will cost $21.13 per year based on a $100,000 home. How many homes out there are worth more than $100,000? How will they continue to get funding for upkeep on this truck?
If you do this for one department, you should do it for all the departments. I can’t see the taxpayers wanting to purchases fire trucks for everyone in the county. Maybe the rest of the county would like their insurance rating to go down also.
Get the facts about the county-wide fire levy. Support you local fire department.
Please talk to your local firemen, even those from different departments and get their feelings.
Brian Schroeder
Columbus Grove

DEAR EDITOR:
We are losing freedoms it seems like almost daily. The newest one is here in Ohio. Issue 2 is presented by the backers as a fairness issue to woo voters to vote for it. I see it for what it is, trickery.
Issue 2 is about redistricting for voting which happens the year after the nationwide census is done.
We find out where every one moved to and see what changes have happened. Due to the last Census, we here in Ohio lost two Congressional seats so, the districts have to be redrawn to accommodate the loss.
Currently, the Redistricting Board is made up of one Democrat and one Republican from both houses of the State Legislature. This is four out of the seven seats. The other three seats constitutes the governor, secretary of state and the auditor of the State of Ohio. These are all elected officials we vote on. Three of these positions are statewide races and the other four positions are elected from their district and then pick by their peers from their perspective legislative body. The whole point? They are elected and we pick them.
Those who started Issue 2 talk about we need to make it a more fair by making a board to equal this out. The problem with this plan is the committee will be appointed positions — and — appointed by who? We will not be appointing these people with a vote, so why would we give up this right we have now of voting for the members of the board?
Francis German,
Wapakoneta

There have been times when I thought there might be something wrong with me. I didn’t aspire to be more than I was. I was happy with my life and the things in it. Everyone else around me seemed to be going a 100 miles an hour, always reaching for the next best thing. I feared I was a slacker. Was I not motivated enough? Didn’t I have the drive to reach for more?

I love my job, my husband, my family and my dog. I like living in Delphos. There was a time I couldn’t wait to get out of here. We all know how that turned out. You don’t know what you have until it changes and there’s no place like home — wherever that may be.

DEAR EDITOR:
I am writing this letter in response to a recent letter about our county’s debt. It suggested that Putnam County would not be in debt if elected officials had the taxpayers’ interest in mind. I want to inform the writer and all citizens in Putnam County that our county is no longer in debt. The jail bond’s final payment was due in 2021. It has been refinanced to be paid off in 2016 with all the necessary payments transferred out of the general fund and into a special fund that can only be used for jail payments. Since the money is set aside, I consider the jail paid in full. The landfill closure debt bonds scheduled to be paid off in 2031 was also paid in full.
Paying these debts early required a sacrifice by all of us in the county. All the elected officials took a 15 percent budget cut which was very difficult, but they buckled down and worked harder with less money. I personally thank all of them for our county being out of debt. The cooperation was commendable.
The commissioners also had to raise the sales tax 25 cents on every $100 spent on taxable items for the purpose or paying the long term county debt. This was a good investment since it saved around $1,500,000 in future interest payments for our county. In 2013, it may be possible to lower the sales tax. It actually is too early to responsibly promise a reduction in taxes since the state is reducing local government funds, sending more mandates to the counties and future health care cost is an unknown at this time. That possibility will be evaluated in 2013.
Another little fact I haven’t noticed in any of the letters to the editor is that Putnam County’s 2012 budget is less than in the year 2005. I credit all elected Putnam County officials for these achievements.
Vincent T. Schroeder
Putnam County Commissioner

DEAR EDITOR:
When it comes to these “Protect Religious Freedom” signs in the front yards of so many people, my sign definitely serves for more purpose than just the rights of women. Christians are being persecuted all over the world. We should not be surprised by this, the Bible tells us it’s going to happen. That doesn’t mean we, as Christians, should be doormats.