The letter from Virginia Bolen concerning Commissioner Ron Stoltz was very disturbing for me. Having been in a commission meeting with Bolen and watching her making fun of Ron and laughing at him, I feel there is some bigotry going on here.
I appreciate Ron saying in the lengthy hearing that he agrees with another commissioner just like I appreciate one of the public, instead of going on and on and on and wasting the Commissioners’ time and our time repeating exactly what someone else has said, just referring to the previous testimony. It only needs to be said once and a speaker can then just refer to a previous testimony and agree with it and sit down. Speakers are encouraged to do that all the time in the legislature.
Commissioner Stoltz is just being kind in sparing everyone a lot of time and certainly you don’t want him to speak or vote on a subject he hasn’t researched, do you? I appreciate his honesty. To say that is “all you have heard him say in Commission meetings” is an extreme exaggeration and Virginia knows it.
To claim he is disinterested in what is going on is another supposition that goes against the facts and since I know Ron, against who he is. You know, John Quincy Adams was known to appear to sleep in sessions of the U.S, Congress and in his office. In point of fact, he was not really sleeping; he was actually listening to the secret talks that political opponents were engaged in. Often, they were speaking of how they could thwart Adams’ attempts to bring the issue before the House. Adams reports in his diary of hearing conversations which were actual death threats against him.
So maybe Ron was tuned into your laughing at him and now mocking him in the newspaper, Virginia. We, as Moses, all have different traits and talents. Ron’s talent is to listen and learn and when the facts are present to make good decisions with as little speaking as possible. We need more Rons at this level, at the state level, and at the Federal level. Keep it up, Ron, and let the loose tongues wag.
Jenny L. Erickson
Stevensville