Politics is Personal……In Wilmington, Ohio

You probably remember hearing of this southwestern Ohio town a few years ago: a major employer DHL US Express was closing its transportation hub, causing a loss of 7,000 jobs. The community was cast into the spotlight by the media as an example of devastation wreaked by the loss of jobs in a faltering economy at the time. It was featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. Even Glen Beck got into the act…but I digress.

Wilmington's mayor is a man of great personal and business experience, and has shown his varied political leadership skills. Whether heading up departments, developing programs and laboratories at Clinton Memorial Hospital over the years, or leadership on the many boards and civic programs in which he has served, the mayor obviously is a man to be reckoned with. He has served the community also as an EMT and firefighter, and has been duly recognized for all his accomplishments. He was once even awarded the Civic Leader of the year. He is a well-known figure, counting business owners and administrators as his friends, such as those in banking and mortgage fields.

A woman began working for a mortgage bank in Wilmington about a year ago. She had twenty-five years of experience, progressing in her field, and traveling across the country setting up offices, training new hires, and reorganizing branches for such companies as Norwest Mortgage, PNC, Wells Fargo and Bank of America among others. She was a supervisor, a division head, a vice president.  She interviewed, evaluated, and worked with employees to make sure all company goals were met in a timely and accurate manner, and taking action to correct any problems.  Just a couple weeks ago she received her own employment evaluation. There was nothing but praise for her accomplishments…the fact that she had turned her division around "360 degrees," meeting and exceeding all that was expected of her. The company was very pleased with her work. She received a raise, and a bonus as well.

Imagine how she felt last Friday as she was called in and summarily relieved of her duties. In the thinly veiled, grasping for "gotcha" reasons, one thing was blindingly clear: in the course of her completing her job as required…she  recently had to terminate the mayor's daughter.

In the words of FAUX news: We report. You decide.