Postcards, a corn festival, and a highway that runs past Ashley
Quick one this week, and there is one thing I need from you at the bottom.
What We Did
Friday and Saturday we were at the Ashley Corn Festival, and it was a good time. I talked with a lot of people who see politics differently than I do. That is most of this county, and I am not bothered by it. Nobody has a Republican pothole or a Democratic sewer line. Everybody wants water that works, roads that move, and services that show up when you call. I am running to serve all 18 townships and every city and village in this county, including the folks who will never vote for me.
Saturday evening was the Ohio on the Rise dinner in Columbus. Sherrod Brown, Amy Acton, David Pepper, Annette Blackwell, John Kulewicz, Allison Russo, and Senator Mark Kelly all spoke. Eleven hundred people in the room and everybody walked out with more energy than they walked in with. This is a real moment in Ohio, and it is a privilege to be on the ballot for it.
Sunday we were at the Big Walnut candidate meet and greet with candidates and party folks from across the county. Good conversations, good turnout.
What's Coming
Campaign committee meeting is tonight at 5:15. Hybrid, so come in person to 670 Meridian Way in Westerville or join on Zoom. Reply to this email and I will send you the link.
The big one this week is ODOT's public meeting on the US 23 to I-71 connector. ODOT has released its recommended preferred route, and it runs just east of Ashley and crosses state Route 521 here in Delaware County before it meets I-71. If a four lane freeway near your property matters to you, this is the week to say so. The Delaware County session is Thursday, August 6, at the Delaware County Fairgrounds Ag Building, 236 Pennsylvania Ave. Two windows, noon to 2 and 4 to 6. No presentation, just maps and staff you can talk to. I will be there for the noon session.
If you cannot make it, comments go to ODOT through September 1 at publicinput.com/23-71study. Everything received goes into the final study that lands with the legislature October 1. This one is a state decision, not a county decision, but it will reshape traffic and land use here for the next fifty years. Speak up now while the map is still being drawn.
Good News
More than half our postcards are already out the door and in the hands of volunteers. That happened fast, and it happened because people said yes when I asked.
What I Need
More postcard writers. Here is how it works. I hand you a bundle of 30. You write them out by hand, then either give them back to me or drop them in the mail when the timing is right. A bundle takes about 45 minutes.
That is it. No script to memorize, no doors to knock, no phone calls. Forty five minutes at your kitchen table.
Handwritten mail gets read. That is why we are doing it this way instead of buying a slick mail piece. If you can take a bundle, or if you know somebody who would, reply to this email or text me at 614-203-9405. If you already took one, thank you, and I will happily give you another.
Bottom Line
Growth in this county is not slowing down, and neither are the decisions being made about it. A freeway route, a sewer line, a subdivision approval. These things get decided whether or not we are paying attention. I would rather we pay attention.
Plan the growth. Protect what matters.
Ryan