October 28 , 2021 The Beacon • 7

I recently received a very well-written letter and fact sheets explaining the issue that will be addressed when you exercise your right to vote in November . The issue is a new Coshocton County Justice Center .

The 20-member committee that researched , studied and proposed this project laid out the facts for your review and consideration at https :// www . facebook . com / coshoctoncountyjusticecenter . I encourage anyone who needs facts , figures and contact information to visit this site before election day .

I felt driven to tell you just how important and needed a new justice center is for Coshocton County . Now retired , I was honored to serve as your Coshocton County clerk of courts for many years . In that capacity I was mandated by the Ohio Revised

An important issue appears on the Nov . 2 ballot for voters who will be asked to support a 1-mill continuous operating levy for the Coshocton County Career Center .

If approved , the levy would generate about $ 760,000 a year for dayto-day operations , including utilities , transportation , supplies and staffing . The owner of an $ 80,000 home , for example , would pay $ 28 a year .

The career center has not received any new operating money since 2001 , and enrollment is at an all-time high .

While voters are being asked to support a new operating levy ,

they no longer are paying for a 1-mill permanent improvement levy for facility maintenance and repairs that expired in 2020 .

I encourage you to educate yourself about the operating levy , and above all , vote on Nov . 2 . Rick Lewis Chief Executive Officer

Ohio School Boards Association

Code to empanel the Grand Jury , see each jury tour , and inspect and report to the State of Ohio the conditions of the Coshocton County Jail . During these inspections I would witness shock and dismay by the citizens who have never seen the inside of our county jail . I was overwhelmed by the negative comments that echoed the fact that an updated facility is desperately needed .

For 10 years prior to serving as the clerk of courts , I worked for the Coshocton County prosecuting attorney . The one thing I saw firsthand was the generational criminal behavior in our county and the repeat offenders using the system . It was plain to see incarceration just didn ’ t seem to work for many . We have outstanding tools to rehab and counsel offenders but a facility that does not allow this needed answer . A new justice center will most definitely resolve these problems and many more .

The Coshocton County Sheriff ’ s Office and prosecuting attorney work hard to provide safe and healthy protection to our county residents . A community can only survive with a system of justice that can protect you the citizens , protect our dedicated jail personnel , and work to rehab and counsel our incarcerated .

I urge you to get the facts and support the levy for a new Coshocton County Justice Center . Irene Crouse Miller Retired Coshocton

County clerk of courts

Libraries have been a part of my life since childhood . Walking into the lobby was always so exciting . Books were too expensive to purchase so I would borrow them from the local library . With those stories I could travel anywhere using my imagination . Picturing places I wanted to visit .

As a teacher , the library would have books available for my students to coordinate with a theme that I was teaching . We could learn about the world around us . The bookmobile would come to our school twice a month for students to find books , anything from comics

to “ Ripley ’ s Believe it or Not .”

My own children loved story time and summer reading programs . They went on to belong to the teen groups and my daughter had a summer job there during college . She is now a librarian in Dayton .

I remember in 2017 , before the levy , the reduced hours and programs . With the passage of the levy in 2019 , weekly

hours increased from 86 to 101 hours per week , which allowed 177,959 visitors access to the library . All ages utilize the computers for wi-fi from school assignments to filling out forms . Digital materials have increased from just under 30,000 to over 50,000 . I would like to see these programs continue .

The library currently operates with the same amount of state funding received in 1998 . The annual cost to a home owner of $ 100,000 home is $ 14.56 . The amount seems such a good value for our money . Vicki Walters Coshocton