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To the editor:
I attended the State of the County program that was held this past Tuesday at Steubenville High School. It was a nice attempt by the panel, who were all Republicans, to spin information and take credit for all the so-called positive things happening in Jefferson County. The local Republicans who put this event on did not have one local elected Democratic official on stage to share their perspective. In addition, they did not allow any questions from the audience.
These same Republican officials took credit for programs going on in Jefferson County that were made possible by legislation enacted by President Joe Biden and Sen. Sherrod Brown (neither of whom they mentioned by name) -- programs such as the Inflation Reduction Act, Chips Act, as well as funding for the Appalachian Grant Program, all of which helped put the entire country, as well as the Tri-State Area, on solid financial footing. These same beneficial programs were voted against by most of the Republicans in Congress, including our former Rep Bill Johnson. He, like those at the program, tried taking credit for things they were opposed to and voted against not that long ago.
It was also amazing to see how county Commissioner Eric Timmons took credit for how well the county is doing when just a little over a year ago, when he was running for office, he stated how horrible Jefferson County was doing. Once in office I guess the natural inclination is to try and take all the credit, but it was really disingenuous. If the local Republican elected politicians who put on the program want people to believe that things are looking better for Jefferson County, then they should be honest about who deserves the praise. Commissioner Dave Maple at least acknowledged the hard work and contributions that two past commissioners made, such as Thomas "Bo" Graham and Tom Gentile, and he himself deserves praise for his honest presentation and his hard work over the years with other commissioners.
We all want to see local economic progress and we are happy when good news about growth and improvements are made, but the entire program was a bit misleading and it wasn't really transparent with the citizens of Jefferson County -- as it was promoted to be. Taking credit for things your party once opposed and repeatedly voted against is not only dishonest, but it's highly offensive to those who know better.
Eddie Abdalla
Chairman
Jefferson County
Democratic Party