Questions remain in Nuss affair

8/16/2007

As a Catholic priest and good friend of the Rev. Tom Leyland, I am very concerned about the behavior of Bishop Leonard Blair in the Rev. David Nuss affair. Why did the bishop attempt to portray the affair as consensual, hiding from us that it was with a very recent widow who could be very vulnerable?

Why did he neglect to tell the diocese that I wrote him a letter as early as May 7 (which he did receive) expressing concern about a very serious situation pertaining to St. Rose parish in Perrysburg involving a lawyer and hoping there would be no cover-up? (Though I never mentioned Father Nuss by name, the bishop never called me about this letter.)

If the bishop knew about the affair as early as January, why was it necessary to appoint Father Nuss as pastor of St. Rose, especially as he had zero experience at being a pastor and there are so many other experienced pastors in this diocese?

I have many other questions.

The Rev. Steve Stanbery

New Bavaria, Ohio

A July 25 reader seems to find justification in Christianity for forcing us all (through city government's powers to tax and police, I suppose) to give to the poor. He feels that spending money on public entertainment is unconscionable so long as any children are starving anywhere. Instead of spending on a Marina District, we, the City, should buy the Owens-Illinois building and give it to charity.

He then seems to warn us of the consequences of our hard-heartedness by quoting a vague but warm doom described in Revelation and intimates that the passage refers to global warming.

OK, this is far-fetched. But it is an example of the way many of us confuse the importance of personally doing good works with the evil of forcing others to do those works. To thump my own Bible, "Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." - Luke 18:22

Peter S. Miller

Marin Drive

In response to U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor's July 26 letter to the editor, I did meet with Mr. Gillmor regarding the closing of the National Machinery Co. in Tiffin, Ohio; however, I in no way implied that I was a "spokesman" for the displaced workers. Furthermore, the only thing that has been misrepresented was Mr. Gillmor's written response to our meetings.

While Mr. Gillmor did express sympathy to the many workers who lost their jobs because of the National Machinery closing, he never addressed what he would do to support legislation to strengthen the WARN Act and protect workers. My intention was not to discuss the emotions involved in the National Machinery situation but to enforce the necessity of protecting workers from devastating closings. Neither of these topics was properly addressed in my meetings with Mr. Gillmor.

After receiving no response to phone calls and e-mails on these topics, I attended a town meeting in Republic. Unfortunately, Mr. Gillmor's response was another politically correct apology for what happened to the workers of National Machinery. He also said he was unaware of the details.

However, we discovered that the bank involved in financing the new company had Mr. Gillmor on its board of directors. Furthermore, a member of the bank was present at the sale of the company's assets.

Mr. Gillmor said he doesn't have a "magic wand" to fix broken companies. We are not asking for that. We are asking him to do his part as a representative to support legislation protecting vulnerable workers.

It seems, however, his magic wand only works for legislation supporting the banking industry.

Tom Kummerer

Upper Sandusky, Ohio

Editor's note: Mr. Kummerer was an employee of National Machinery Co. for nearly 25 years.

I was surprised at what Mayor Carty Finkbeiner proposed for FedEx on Reynolds Road. Unless I'm wrong, company trucks already are turning left into their yard with two trailers in tow. How would traffic handle three trailers turning in the rain off of Reynolds? Or in the snow?

Sadly, this sort of growth is the natural result of a successful business, but there must be a better way to enter their yard than from Reynolds.

Possibly they could enter through the back of the now-vacant Ryan's restaurant. Or they could consider relocating to one of the large, vacant downtown lots as an alternative overflow area to ease the problem. More thought needs to be put into solving the problem of possibly having semis with three trailers on our streets.

Relocation would be a serious loss for the city. FedEx is a part of us. Why not sit down together and work out a better answer to three trailers behind a cab at one time?

Howard Winters

South Reynolds Road

I want to bring to light a situation most military families will experience at least once in their careers. Most military families move often (in our case, every one to three years). While the military pays for the relocation, it does not provide any assistance in the selling of the service member's home.

While I realize it is a choice to purchase a home (renting and limited base housing are options), I also do not feel military families should be penalized when they buy. We have moved four times in six years of marriage, and even though we can afford a home, we need to stop and think each time, knowing we will probably end up losing money if we buy.

When it is time to move, it is left to the family to list their house, sell it, and pay any fees. Why can't the military do something similar to what private companies do? They could purchase the homes and then sell them for the families, or at least pay the Realtor fees. We have lost money before because we had no time to build equity, and we are sure to have it happen again.

We lived in Maumee for almost three years. My active-duty husband was then moved to North Carolina and deployed. We moved with him and have not been able to sell our Maumee home. Now my husband in Iraq has the added stress of two mortgages. I just feel more could be done to make these frequent moves easier on the military family. It is not our choice to move so often, and we are just asking for a little assistance.

Kelly Gump

Jacksonville, N.C.

Columnist Paul Krugman is correct, we all need health insurance. We also need a home, a car, food, and many things. The problem with health care is too much government.

The weak intellectual group says we have a right to this or that, but as soon as we make that assumption, the services decline and appreciation for the service diminishes.

Here is a concept Mr. Krugman may not understand: You work, strive, and sweat for everything, including survival.

Here's something else: Everything is limited. All the utopian health-care systems Mr. Krugman speaks so gloriously about will in the future collapse. Why? Because doctors will become just another salaried job, but you will still need a great deal more preparation than most jobs.

Capitalism creates more wealth and prosperity than socialism. Here is the deal: Socialism and communism destroy individual greatness. They also create a dying country and civilization.

Richard E. Hughes

Defiance

General David Petraeus and his September progress report to Congress are certainly getting much attention. Maybe he is good. Maybe he is the very best. But he is no magic-man who can make conditions in Iraq disappear.

Nor can he alter the tragic and inevitable consequences caused by our invasion.

The report will likely recommend a continuance of the hopeless Bush-Cheney policy of the last five years and praise our brave troops for their "progress."

John A. Galbraith

Maumee