By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall, An Independent Populist
At the last Lake County Commissioner meeting the appointment of new Lakeland Community College Board members was VERY revealing to me.
Here are the current Board Members that were replaced.
Ms. Kessler made the mistake of standing up to the former President, Morris Beverage, Jr., and demanding accountability for the financial disaster that had happened over the past many years at Lakeland. She stepped up and took charge when Mr. Beverage abruptly left the office, with the furniture, before the State financial report on Lakeland saw the light of day.
Please note that Morris Beverage Jr, has a son., Morris Beverage the third. The third is a newly elected Lake County Commissioner that now is in control of the Commissioner’s Board with Commissioner Rich Regovich as his second vote.
We are not sure what Ms. Fellows is guilty of, but maybe being married to Dale Fellows, chairman of the Lake County Republican Party, upset the Uniparty that has taken over Lake County. We found Ms. Fellows to be a rather tenacious, no nonsense personality, and she demanded accountability during the Board meetings we attended.
The infiltration of Democrats into the local Republican Party is rather obvious, and there is a realigning of power within the “Kool Kid Klub” members. With 166,661 registered voters in Lake County, here is a breakdown of party affiliation. 70% of registered voters have no party affiliation. It is obvious why Democrats want to slip in behind the Republican curtain. Democrats have less chance to win in Lake County.
The newly appointed Lakeland Board members are Morgan McIntosh, and Deanna D’Amore. We have never heard of Ms. D’Amore, but have been told that she is a Democrat, but Commissioner Regovich was profusely in favor of her.
However, we know Morgan McIntosh since he is our current Concord Township Trustee. He is also Chairman of the Lake County Township Association. He was instrumental in getting Concord’s second fire levy to pass in the last election cycle, and the reallocation of funding formula the Local Government Funds.
Is there a conflict with Mr. McIntosh holding his present government positions at the same time holding a seat on the Lakeland Community College Board of Trustees? The Ohio Ethics Board referred us to the following website.
Although there is no direct mention of any conflict, we will have to continue to monitor the situation to gauge Mr. McIntosh’s action on the board. We certainly hope that he never considers raising property taxes for the college.
Both candidates received the vote of Beverage the third, and Regovich. Commissioner John Plecnik abstained in the vote for both candidates. No doubt we will have many more articles about Lakeland Community College so that we may expose for the Lake County taxpayer how they have been abused. Regarding Commissioner Regovich, he may have to buy new boots, because the muck and mire he has stepped in will get really messy.
To quote a famous detective…”the game is afoot”…Maybe we can get our friend Lily to weigh in on this issue also. She really gets animated with this political mumbo jumbo….Stay tuned…
Update: February 20, 2025
Mr. McIntosh sent us this response:
OFFICIAL RESPONSE:
The story titled “Lakeland Board and Compatibility of Public Officials or Positions” published on February 19th, 2025 represents another example of your substandard journalism which, again, fails to meet basic standards of fairness and accuracy. A responsible journalist would inquire with the subject of a story or seek comment prior to publication.
Your reference to my role as President of Lake County Mayors and Managers is incorrect. I am currently, the President of the Lake County Township Association (LCTA). As a responsible leader in Lake County, I ensured that all necessary due diligence and conflict checks were performed before applying for and accepting this position. Had you reached out to discuss this appointment with me, I would have clarified this.
Your insertion of the fire levy to the story lacks context to my role on the board at Lakeland Community College. It disregards the important role this levy plays to ensuring the safety of seniors in Concord Township. You present a clear bias, as always, ignoring key details that offer a complete and accurate perspective. This approach distorts the truth and is clearly part of your broader political narrative rather than objective reporting.
As a person of sincerity and a high-level of integrity I believe it’s important to stand up against disingenuous reporting, political commentary and the factual inaccuracies that you choose to perpetuate.
As I have offered on many occasions, should you desire open and honest conversation and debate I remain available to you.
Regards,
Morgan R. McIntosh
Trustee, Concord Township
February 27, 2025: LFC Response to Trustee McIntosh by Brian Massie:
Thank you Trustee McIntosh for your response. Just so you know, I will keep digging for the truth for the citizens of Lake County. Your self-serving comments prompt me to keep filing records requests.
I did not have to publish your self-serving comments, but I always want to get the complete story to the citizens.
When you were promoting the recent fire levy that will bring in $3.1 million annually in additional property taxes, you failed to mention to the voters that additional revenue of ~$712,543 annually would be received by the Township because of new buildings and the sexennial revaluation without a vote of the taxpayers. It would have been more transparent if the taxpayers had known that fact before they went to the polls.
It would also have been more transparent if you and the other Trustees would have told the voters in the Riverside School District that without their vote the district would receive over $3.8 million annually, and the County would also be receiving $1.8 million annually without a vote of the taxpayers. This does not even cover the increase in the local government funds for Concord that was recently decided by the Lake County Mayors and Managers and Township Trustees.
Also, the “dirty little secret” that politicians do not want the taxpayers to know is that the taxing authorities did not have to accept the unvoted increases.
As we have debated several times before, we differ in our understanding of the role of a township trustee.
If our Trustees are not looking out for the financial interests of their constituents, who will? The Lake County public sector’s growth is outpacing the private sector’s ability to pay for the services. The accumulation of cash by the many taxing authorities is staggering. What we experienced was a pure “money grab” by the public sector, with total disregard for the financial interest of the citizens of Lake County.
Here is who we are fighting for, we were hoping that our Trustees were in the fight:
Stay tuned, as we keep “pulling back the curtain”.
Categories: Lake, Lake County - General, Lakeland Community College