DEAR EDITOR:
If there was a question as to who takes state Rep. Mike Loychik seriously, outside of his phantom grievance laden, miseducated base, we now know that the editors of this newspaper do.
Sure, perhaps David Skolnick, after being ignored by this alleged servant of the people for over a year, should have taken a page from President Trump and replaced “I think” with “People are saying” when trying to get comments from him regarding his placating his base with school board “reform.”
Is Loychik worthy of being treated with journalistic integrity? Let’s look at his track record.
He campaigned on a blatant lie that his opponent, a former prosecutor, supported “Defund the Police” movement. Loychik has refused to talk to media. The first thing he did at the statehouse was toss the Trump fan club the possibility of renaming Mosquito Lake, a blunder many Republicans and all Democrats thought was silly. After this, judging by comments on social media, Loychik refused to respond to residents who wanted to engage him on that lake name issue. Next Loychik walks unmasked into a room where masks are mandated for a school board meeting and then whined after being escorted out. Of course, this was a political stunt meant to excite his angry base and had nothing to do with legislating on behalf of all residents in his district.
The joke extends to his Twitter feed. Not one post has anything to do with Ohio legislation or the business of the people. He whiffs out gems like “Lock. Her. Up”; “Are the Biden crack pipes at least made in America?”; and “Which is higher: Inflation or Hunter Biden?” Funny stuff, but is this really the outreach of an elected official worthy of respect?
Finally, look at his reaction to Mr. Skolnick’s perhaps ill-worded voice mail. He runs to social media to frame it in talking points that his trained-to-mistrust the media will enjoy rather than reaching out to the newspaper. In return for this petulance he gets an apology from this paper. Wow.
This post- tea party, Trump-inspired crop of elected officials that Loychik is a part of are not serious politicians nor elected officials. They’re conservative radio show listeners given a seat at the table by voters who only care about feeling like victims while having their worst fears confirmed by the words and actions of those they elect. This newspaper must stop treating them, from the county level to the state level, like they’re business as usual.
JOSHUA NATIVIO
Warren
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