The latest Geauga Park District glossy promotional mailer landed in mailboxes across the county today, a week before the primary election in which Tim Grendell is being opposed by Matthew Rambo. These mailings probably cost the taxpayers of Geauga County in excess of $15,000 each and have been sent out five times a year for the past several years—except this year, when this extra one followed hard on the heels of the previous flyer sent in January and was timed to arrive a week before the election.

In this particular mailing, Executive Director, John Oros restates the claim that he and Grendell have been repeating over and over since Oros was appointed to his position in 2014—that the parks are “better than ever.” They began repeating this mantra almost immediately after the former director and park board was removed and replaced by the Grendell cronies.

The fact is that there were numerous improvements and programs that were well into the planning stages when Grendell and Oros took over—plans that take several years to develop, obtain approvals and then implement. They are now claiming credit for all of those plus a few playgrounds and extreme sports venues that they built at the cost of sacrificing the mission to preserve, conserve and protect the natural resources within the parks.

If you need any further verification of the current state of the Park District, just read the letter to the editor that was sent to the Geauga Maple Leaf last week by Dan Best—perhaps the best known and most highly respected member of the Geauga Park District naturalist staff for over three decades. You can read Dan’s letter here.