Chronicle editorial opinion
Nine total miles of Corridor G (US Route 119) has one lane blocked due to a preservation project.
That would hardly be news, except that work on repairing the surface that is blocked has ground to a halt. Local residents and commuters have inundated the Chronicle to ask what is going on. Today, the paper published the explanation from DOH communications director Brent Walker.
Certainly, Walker’s response that the contractor on the roadway discovered that the concrete “foundation” usually used as the base for repaving projects had deteriorated is plausible. Walker assured the Chronicle that the DOH staff is working hard to find a solution so that paving can begin. He estimates that the completion date — set for July 28 — will still be met or will be obtained within a few days of that target.
Three legislators representing the area say they have obtained the same assurances from DOH officials. While expressing concern that the project is a potential traffic hazard until completed, the three say they are “satisfied” with the DOH response. All three — State Senator Ron Stollings and Delegates Zack Maynard and Jeff Eldridge — say they will remain vigilant in watching the progress made.
So, we accept the DOH explanation and praise the three legislators for working for their constituents. However, there is one representative missing from the mix. That’s State Senator Richard Ojeda, a Logan County Democrat.
Ojeda, who took the senate floor daily during the recently-passed session to sing the praises of marijuana, may not even know there’s a problem on the Corridor. That’s because all the freshman legislator has done is harangue about his predecessor on social media and in every public session he can find.
Ojeda cannot let the election go. He is still disturbed, nearly a year later, that his predecessor was ever allowed to sit in the senate chamber. He makes daily accusations about the previous senator, members of the Logan County commission, and other elected and appointed officials. According to the Gospel According to Little Richard, he and two or three henchmen are the lone defenders of constitutional government in Logan County. As he touts his military career of saving us from being conquered by the Taliban, Ojeda maintains that he and his crew have “exposed more corruption than anyone in the last 50 years in Logan County.”
What exactly has Ojeda “exposed”? Nothing tangible that the eye can see. Yet he rages on.
Ojeda IS one of Logan County’s legislative representatives. It is not often that the “leader” of a county spends all his time trying to destroy that county’s reputation. We have referenced before how Ojeda tactics are similar to those used by Adolph Hitler to acquire power in Germany. Adolph did a great deal to fight “corruption” once in power, didn’t he? So, too, does Ojeda.
While the other lawmakers were complaining to the DOH, Ojeda was standing in some unidentifiable portion of Mingo County talking about cell telephone towers and job creation. As the winds muffled his words (thankfully) on video, it is obvious Ojeda cannot get over the popularity of his predecessor.
In response to any inquiry, Ojeda always says the Chronicle “doesn’t like me.” Whether we “like” him or not has nothing to do with public responsibility. Actually, what we “like” from public servants is truth and transparency, which Ojeda claimed during his 2016 campaign he would give. To date, there has been none.
Ojeda makes wildly inaccurate statements, then accuses everyone else of lying. He recently said that of 34 state senators, 31 are lawyers. That is not even close to being true yet he refuses to acknowledge that he was pitifully ignorant concerning his fellow senators or he blatantly lied when he said how concerned they all are about Logan’s judicial system. One day, he says he suffered a stroke prior to the election and was hospitalized for one day. The next, he says he was in the hospital four days. As grandfather used to say, “if he lies about one thing, he’ll lie about everything.”
So, we wonder if there’s any chance the senator could descend from his hypocritical mountaintop to show one degree of concern for his constituents. A simple phone call, on a break from a ranting session, might help.
Open transparency hidden from the public is a sham. Richard Ojeda is a sham military leader and legislator.