Springfield, Help Me Understand

How do you not know? How do you not ask?

How do you not...? How do you...?

First and foremost, this is not meant to insult or berate. I have come to the conclusion that so many people here are just victims of emotional abuse. That being said....

I've been trying to understand how the people here allowed an actual mafia to literally rule over them. The same people who accuse people of being fascist kings are the same people who defend the town's (and county's) government.

There's always a willful ignorance - those quick to defend things about which they have no knowledge or information. There are always those who vote without knowing. I've done it. We've all done it. This isn't that. This is knowing and continuing to vote for more. Or maybe they don't vote - the majority here don't. 37K registered voters and people "win" positions with 4K votes. The County has referred to record low turnouts for many of the elections in the last decade.

Local politics are boring, tedious, the last thing on anyone's mind. My father always used to talk about the importance of local politics, but I never listened. I heard, I'm remembering and repeating here after all, but I didn't listen. Probably because he was a money guy, an old-school businessman, and I was the opposite. I just never understood what seemed like nefarious motivations for money. I didn't feel comfortable around the people in his money circles. I get nervous-nauseous when I think about money too long. And this hasn't served me well at all. (lol)

But I digress....my questions are:

Why would a person know a candidate was an actual criminal and still vote for him? Why would people vote for a $100 million jail in a County of 130,000 people? If a criminal gets a sentence of 366 days, they are automatically sent to the state prison, so....? Why would people vote for a 2.4% city tax (all across the state)? Why would people vote for ANY new or improved taxes anymore? Why would someone have no idea who a person is painted in a city-block-wide mural and attend dedications and gush on social media about the beauty of it? Why would someone defend a City Manager and City Commissioner sitting next to each other, typing on their phones, passing notes to each other, and giggling throughout an entire Commission Meeting in the middle of the August - October 2024 national spotlight, while speakers were pleading for help they'd been asking for for 3 years? Why would they let a Mayor lie to them and about them for years? Why would they not only accept a Mayor's insane "rules" on what a person can say to him but publicly say, "Thank you for allowing me to speak for these 3 minutes"? I could go on and on...

There are always those that lack education or give a damn. There are the virtue signalers who defend the government, usually because they're dependent on other people's money or are brainwashed to think the government is here to help and save us. (They're "servant" leaders, right?)

And then there are the victims of abuse. I've only been here in Springfield a short time, but I've never in my life seen it so obvious. They're the overt malignant types. Nothing covert here, because they don't have to hide it.

A theory that makes a lot of sense is that people feel discouraged and know it really doesn’t matter what they think and want. As evidenced by the jail tax that was astronomically voted down. They don’t care. They’re still going to purchase that land (already did before the vote) and put the jail there where we don’t want it. They really don’t care what we want. It’s all an illusion of democracy. Also, the school levy that was supposed to end. It was voted on and the people said no to extending it. The school took it to court and they won, so now the people are forced to pay a levy they just voted no on. So why vote? Does it really matter?

They preach fear in every speech, every meeting, every article, every post. And for over a decade. The town is so riddled with federal welfare (taxpayers from all over the country have poured billions not just into the state, but into Springfield, specifically, financing the corruption. On top of all the other taxes Ohioans pay into the city. So much so that they have no idea where they've spent it, no idea what to do with it so they give $70K raises and take "delegation' trips to Europe, and announce the building of things that never get built. You instill that much dependency in a group and convince them they can't survive without them....again, it's all just the very definition of abuse.

The definition of emotional abuse is a pattern of behavior that diminishes the victim(s) over time. It's the old adage of a frog in boiling water. Drop him in and he'll jump out. But put him in and heat to boiling, and he'll boil to death. I think the town has been beaten down so much and for so long they're scared, exhausted. They've been lied to and lied about and now at a national level.

And now they have no voice and people still think the City leaders are here to help them.

I guess I end here with, "There are none so blind as those who will not see". At this point, if you don't know you won't know.

The November 2025 Election Results

Once again, Clark County outdoes itself with record low voter turnout. 30%! County-wide. You know it was a lot less in the City of Springfield.

11,804 people voted FOR the Parks tax levy. Reason: In the water? In the school system? You have to be all kinds of dumb or dependent.

5, 435 people voted FOR the sales tax increase for the jail. Reason: In the water? In the school system? You have to be all kinds of dumb or dependent.

3,008 people voted FOR Andy Rigsbee. Reason: People don't know who he is or do and don't care that he's an actual criminal. He was on the list of 3.

3,299 people voted FOR Larry Ricketts. Reason: He changed his entire personality after starting his campaign. He's a pro-Haitian, anti-citizen ranter. Nobody know who he really is. He was on the list of 3.

And 4,288 voted FOR Chris Wallace. Reason: He whored himself to all the Project 2051 meetings in town. Nobody knows a thing about him. He was on the list of 3.

But most disturbing of course, is the 3,000 people just voted for a criminal to sit on the City Commission. From a Facebook account trying to remind people who Andy Rigsbee is: This is his wife's embezzlement case. HOW do you purchase ALL that on a firefighter's and CPA’s salary and not know something is going on?

From his wife's (at the time) embezzlement case: “A subsequent investigation conducted by the company revealed that Rigsbee had forged 235 checks over the five years of her employment with Ultra-Met, totaling $1,933,982.69. Rigsbee spent the money to buy personal items for herself and her family, including, but not limited to, the following: a remodeling of the family residence and purchase of new kitchen appliances and furniture; numerous televisions and other electronics; six automobiles; one sailboat and one powerboat; three motorcycles; 17 firearms; 99 bottles of wine; computer software valued at $9,000; 750 movies on DVD; multiple video gaming systems; new golf clubs and a membership to the Windy Knoll Golf Club; several trips to France, Ireland, Scotland, New York City, and Boston, which included first-class tickets, limousine rentals, reservations at the Ritz Carleton Hotel, and tickets to Broadway shows; three Rolex watches and two diamond rings; china flatware and silverware; various power tools; payment in full of student loans; payments made on several credit cards; payments for household maintenance services; and $113,071.45 paid to family and friends.” She took the fall alone though……

And the City of Springfield "leaders" have been giving him Fire awards ever since. It doesn't take a lot to figure out their thinking behind that. And Tracey Tackett loves him, which should be all anyone needs to know, really.

The Hoax that was Their Hoax

Rob Rue's Imaginary Powers in cahoots with DeWine and all the "men" who are supposed to be representing us.

The Commission Meeting "Guidelines"

Rue mispronouncing names. And nobody corrects him. I can't imagine letting this man get away with this little man tactic for years now....every 2 weeks.

The reading of the addresses and Heck's response is, "I've been here since 2006 and we've always read out addresses". I mean....

Rue's rules, his bans, his letters if you misbehave.

People actually say to Rue, "Thank you for allowing us to speak for 3 minutes. You don't have to do that and I just want to say thank you."

This is not a dialog.

Being Called Racist and Dangerous and So Very Not Forward Together

We're racist and dangerous. And yet, not one marketing publication has a Haitian in it. Nobody has ever mentioned this? Saying "racist" online is the 1990s version of saying "bomb" in an airport.

Rob Rue and his Haitians

The Marketing and the Spray Painting on Water Towers

But above all, I think this example explains it best: Just One Mural

They City has taken to painting stuff on city buildings and water towers. The city slogan that came to life in Fall of 2024 is "Forward Together". They talk unity between the citizens and the "newcomers" has been painted on sides of buildings and on the water towers. Odd because you can't find a "newcomer" in one marketing publication for the town, but that's a topic for another post.

Anyway, in 2022, the Westcott House paid an artist to paint a mural on a historic building that stretches a city block downtown of a woman named Hattie Moseley. If you Google her, you will get results for a Hattie Moseley Austin who was a chicken restaurant owner in Florida. This Hattie lived from 1900 to 1998. And then you will get a few results about the Hattie Moseley mural in Springfield. Not one mention of just Hattie Moseley, only the PBS story by Tom Stafford about her mural. (See image below.) In other words, the only mentions of Hattie Moseley are about her mural.

In the PBS (and others), statements are made like:
She fought to desegregate the Fulton school system.
Hattie Moseley was integral in the fight to keep Fulton an integrated school in 1923.
Hattie Moseley (1899-1965) was a civil rights leader in Springfield Ohio who fought for desegregation of the schools and voting rights for women.

Hattie's niece, who is not old enough to have known her, was interviewed and said, "She would really fight for you", and "I know my aunt stood her ground".

About what, though? What did she do?

Locals with Facebook accounts shared the story and the same statements, never saying anything in particular. So I started asking - the Westcott House, the Clark Country Historical Society, anyone who had said anything on Facebook about the mural.

I received one answer from the Clark County Historical Society when I asked for more details to understand what exactly she did: "Her help resulted in Fulton not being segregated after a 1923 court ruling. She was also credited with helping to end Jim Crow policies, and helping Black and women residents become registered voters." I again asked for any specifics about this "help", but got no response.

How does a woman whose contributions ended Jim Crow laws not have a single mention online?

I can't get information, because there is none. It's a gorgeous mural! I'm all about honoring people who fought for justice in this country.

My point isn't that, though. My point is about trying to understand what it takes to convince a town that a mural should be painted of Hattie Moseley because "she did stuff".

And everybody gathered around and commented how beautiful it was on Facebook (where the town exists online). The nonprofits got involved - the Westcott house.

It is a beautiful mural. But why Hattie? Nobody knows. Try explaining it to your family when they visit from out of town. Try explaining it to your children. You can't. Well, see she did stuff back in the 1920s. She boycotted a school and registered women to vote, supposedly, although, there is not a shred of evidence to support that. Google her. You can't. Except for the mural. I'm all about celebrating those that stood for justice in this country. My only point here is that a town paints a city-block mural of a person they picked out of the sky and made a thing of it with zero information or evidence or...well, anything.

And the town, not only doesn't ask but gushes. It's the assumption that the people in charge here know best and know what they're doing. No questions asked. Sure, the ignorant and the virtue signalers that would scream racist if you asked.

So, what does it take to create a city where this is the norm? I keep landing on emotional abuse. Victims give up, they're scared, they're brainwashed that you don't know anything and can't take care of or think for yourself. The abusers are taking care of us, they know best, they're doing right by us.

I just want to shake this town.