There is a home in Lorain that has gotten some negative
press coverage recently. You know the
one, on 21st St, with the 35 year old grandma and “neglected”
children. There have been both print and
TV stories about her. I understand the push to make people accountable for their
actions and I’m a vocal proponent of responsibility and accountability and I
have no issue with the stories being in the news. I also have no problem telling the grandmother
that she needs help. Whether it be from
her family or whoever, she needs help…for the sake of those children.
The reason I’m bringing this whole story up though is a
tirade Councilman Dennis Flores went on regarding the children that live at
that residence. Here is what he had to
say on Facebook after linking a recent story to his page:
"Unfortunately, for most of the children in Lorain it’s an
inherited way of life, to be the worst of the worst malfeasance. I feel sorry
for the neighbor you worked hard all your life, you retire, keep the grass
clean, cut, have a beautiful home and you get stuck living next to this pigpen,
Miss Piggy and the section 8 piglets. Just despicable!"
Now I understand Dennis going around and photographing the
run down homes of “adults” and I have no problem with Dennis making a comment
regarding the adults in that situation. He
has an opinion and he’s entitled to it.
What disturbs me greatly though are the labels “malfeasance”
and “section 8 piglets” coming from an elected official in regards to children
who have absolutely no control over the adults in their lives or their
situation. Some of those kids are in
diapers.
Many children in Lorain have it bad, we all know that and
being poor or on section 8 should not be nailed to a child’s chest as a badge
of dishonor. For someone who was elected by the citizens in his ward to degrade
“most of the children” in Lorain as he has needs a reality check and he needs
it now. As adults we can have a problem with
parent a: or parent b: but to lump our children together as he has is a
disgrace to his ward and to the city we live in.
Wow! Obviously, there are anti Dennis Flores folks out there! Talk about twisting someone's words and huffing and puffing and blowing things out of proportion! Where in Flores' statement did he "lump our children together". He is making reference to a specific situation and his comments are probably mild compared to those made by the unfortunate folk who live close to the house referred to. By the way - where are the officials of Section 8? Why has this been allowed to get this far out of control? I think the focus/energy should be put toward finding a solution to this sorry situation rather than trying to distort someone's opinion - which we are all entitled to.
ReplyDeleteHis words are copied directly from his Facebook page and when he said "most of the children", what am I supposed to believe that means? Yes the situation needs to be addressed, but calling children "section 8 piglets" is not the way we expect a city councilman to handle ANY situation.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to Channel 5's website you'll see that Dennis got the reporter to interview him at the residence in question. According to the reporter, he told him he "lived next door" to the residence in question. Anyway, if you watch the video, theres not a scrap of paper in the yard and the grass is cut. Not exactly a pigpen.