September 19, 2023 Hello, Friends, Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for September 19, 2023. Do you remember who you voted for in the last few school board elections in your district? We hate to ask, but can you remember if you even voted in those elections? It’s natural for those “small” races to get lost – the budget, the buzz, the media are all always consumed with the bigger races. And in years when only small local issues are on the ballot, many voters don’t remember Election Day. Many don’t show up. But for a moment, think back to 2017, 2019, 2021. Even though no one expected it (at least prior to 2020), the people who were elected to local school boards in those races have had an enormous impact on the generation of school children who lived through those years – a far greater impact, we would argue, than any school boards in our lifetime. The policies that entered school districts in the wake of Covid-19 and the death of George Floyd have had monumental effects on our kids. In fact, many children have still not recovered academically, socially, and psychologically from those disastrous policies. Looking at the decisions your school board has made in the last handful of years, do you ever wish you could go back and take a fresh look at those races? Now think ahead. Doesn’t it seem like new and shocking developments are arriving on the scene at an accelerated pace? It seems like every month brings revelations of new cultural and political indoctrination, new depths of intrusive and sometimes inappropriate content in schools, new waves of conflict in communities about how teachers and school districts conduct themselves. You have a chance right now to decide who will be in charge of those decisions and policies. Our next election is in less than two months. Over the next seven weeks, school board candidates will be appearing at events, setting up websites and social media groups, and canvassing in your neighborhood. Make it a point to meet with them, look over their materials, ask tough questions. When you find candidates you think would do a good job serving your district and handling the next wave crises and events, please spread the word to others in your district, donate to candidates, sign up for their events, help them canvass or make calls. It’s never been more obvious how crucial these school board seats are. Please make sure you do all you can to investigate the candidates and support the ones you believe in. Check out the Geauga Schools section of our website for information on local districts and the candidates running. Thank you for spending a few minutes with us today. Have a wonderful week!

Weekly Spotlight Vote NO in November! Issue 1: Constitutional Amendment to enshrine abortion in Ohio’s Constitution. Local organizations are gearing up to fight this radical, dangerous amendment. There is a training opportunity to help voters prepare to get the word out about defeating this amendment: Pro-Life Campaign Training on September 26th This requires registration. Please click on the link above for more details. Someone in your life doesn’t know about this yet! Please spread the word to everyone you know: Vote NO in November! This amendment will allow abortion up until BIRTH. This amendment will allow ALL procedures dealing with “reproductive rights” for ANY person of ANY age with NO PARENTAL CONSENT – not even notification. That means abortions for 11 or 12 year olds, gender reassignment, hormone treatments for children, birth control and abortions for underage girls at the direction of abusers. It’s a haven for abusers and traffickers, and a horrific nightmare for children and parents. Vote NO in November!

Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Legalizing Recreational Cannabis: Also on the ballot in November will be Issue 2, a proposed law (not an amendment) to legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio. This citizen-initiated statue would regulate the use, sale, and home cultivation of marijuana. The proposed law also seeks to enact a “cannabis social equity and jobs program”. See the ballot language for this proposed law here. House Bill 183, introduced by Rep. Beth Lear and Rep. Adam Bird, would require students in Ohio K-12 schools and universities to use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological gender. It would also prohibit schools from allowing students to share overnight accommodations with students of the opposite sex on school-sponsored trips. House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives and are now in committees in the Senate. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! Senate Bill 6: Regards certain public entities’ governance policies (Anti-ESG): The bill prohibits the state retirement system boards and Administrator of Workers’ Compensation from making an investment decision with the primary purpose of influencing any social or environmental policy or the governance of any corporation (ESG), and specifically prohibits the Administrator from investing funds with a primary purpose of ESG. It additionally prohibits the boards, Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors, and Administrator from adopting or promoting a policy under which the board or Administrator makes investment decisions with the primary purpose of ESG. House Bill 245: Prohibits Certain Adult Cabaret Performances Introduced by Rep. Angela King and Rep. Josh Williams, this bill will prohibit adult cabaret performances in locations other than adult cabarets. The bill defines adult cabaret performances and describes penalties for violations.

Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Please be unceasing in your efforts to get everyone you know to vote NO in November! House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. It is crucial that we get these bills passed with overwhelming support in order to head off or defeat a veto by the Governor. Please use this link to spread the word on these bills to as many people as you can! House Bill 183, Calls and emails needed to get these bills through committee. Details here. House Bill 245: Calls and emails needed. Details here.

Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 09/19/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 09/20/23 – Moms’ Night at the Farm in Chardon 09/21/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting 09/23/23 – Liberty Camp Fundraiser and Celebration 09/26/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 09/26/23 – Pro-Life Campaign Closing – Turnout & Election Integrity – Newbury 09/26/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 09/27/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting 09/27/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 10/02/23 – Moms’ Book Discussion in Chardon (Geauga Homeschool) 10/03/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 10/09/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting 10/09/23 – Moms’ Book Discussion in Chardon (Geauga Homeschool) See our full Calendar for details

September 12, 2023 Hello, Friends, Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for September 12, 2023. This November, there will be an amendment on the ballot, crafted by Democrats and big-money interests like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. They are calling it the “Reproductive Rights” or “Reproductive Freedom” amendment. Neither name is accurate. This amendment would enshrine the right to abortion into our Ohio Constitution, but it would also do so much more. This amendment is not as bad as you think…it’s actually much, much worse: The proposed amendment would outlaw virtually any restrictions on abortion and all other procedures, including sex-change surgeries, that touch on reproduction, for both adults and minors. It would cancel out not only parental-consent laws but also mere parental notification for minors’ abortions or sex-change surgeries; strike down health protections for people of all ages who undergo these procedures, including requirements that a qualified physician perform them; and erase any meaningful limits on late-term abortions. Ohio’s Disastrous Abortion Ballot Proposal, National Review Proponents of the amendment want to pretend it’s a common-sense, moderate provision to protect the rights of Ohioans. In reality, it is so broadly worded that it represents one of the most extreme proposals of its kind anywhere in the United States. Left-leaning organizations all over our state are attempting to deflect from the damaging details of this amendment. Don’t let the left capture any more votes due to ignorance – this amendment is about much more than abortion and it will be dangerous, not just to babies – but also children and women in Ohio. More from the National Review article: “The Ohio proposal is so broadly worded that it would prevent the legislature not only from requiring the consent of parents before their child pursues a particular procedure, but also from requiring mere notification of parents — well short of the power to veto their child’s decision — before the procedure takes place. After all, requiring even notification has the effect of “directly or indirectly” burdening or interfering with the decision in question.” Please join us in getting out the vote this November. Make sure you are registered, help educate your friends and neighbors, and check back often for more opportunities to stop this extreme amendment. Rest assured, FortifyGeauga.org will provide you with the latest updates on how you can help ensure the right outcome in the November election. Stay tuned! Thank you for spending a few minutes with us today. Have a wonderful week!

Weekly Spotlight Vote NO in November! Issue 1: Constitutional Amendment to enshrine abortion in Ohio’s Constitution. Local organizations are gearing up to fight this radical, dangerous amendment. There is a training opportunity to help voters prepare to get the word out about defeating this amendment: Pro-Life Campaign Training on September 26th This requires registration. Please click on the link above for more details.

Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Senate Bill 6: Regards certain public entities’ governance policies (Anti-ESG): The bill prohibits the state retirement system boards and Administrator of Workers’ Compensation from making an investment decision with the primary purpose of influencing any social or environmental policy or the governance of any corporation (ESG), and specifically prohibits the Administrator from investing funds with a primary purpose of ESG. It additionally prohibits the boards, Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors, and Administrator from adopting or promoting a policy under which the board or Administrator makes investment decisions with the primary purpose of ESG. House Bill 245: Prohibits Certain Adult Cabaret Performances Introduced by Rep. Angela King and Rep. Josh Williams, this bill will prohibit adult cabaret performances in locations other than adult cabarets. The bill defines adult cabaret performances and describes penalties for violations. Legalizing Recreational Cannabis: Also on the ballot in November will be Issue 2, a proposed law (not an amendment) to legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio. This citizen-initiated statue would regulate the use, sale, and home cultivation of marijuana. The proposed law also seeks to enact a “cannabis social equity and jobs program”. See the ballot language for this proposed law here. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are? There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163). Read our post on CBDC for more information. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions.

Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information.

Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 09/12/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 09/12/23 – Truth and Light Town Hall 09/13/23 – Homeschool Day at Century Village Museum 09/13/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 09/15/23 – Working and Homeschooling Meet and Greet 09/18/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 09/18/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting 09/19/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 09/20/23 – Moms’ Night at the Farm in Chardon 09/21/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting 09/23/23 – Liberty Camp Fundraiser and Celebration 09/26/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting See our full Calendar for details

September 5, 2023 Hello, Friends, Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for September 5, 2023. As Summer prepares to leave us, we find ourselves once again facing election season. While there are crucial initiatives on November’s ballot (chief among them the extremist, anti-parental rights, abortion-without-limits amendment, Issue 1), let’s not forget the school board races that will soon be in full swing. We all know school board races have changed dramatically in the last few election cycles, and for very good reasons! While it’s true the stakes have always been high when our children are involved, parents have awoken to the hard realization that many aspects of public education are vastly different than they were in our youth. If you doubt how dramatically schools have changed, ask yourself: what policies, practices, or political positions are too far left to be openly pushed and promoted in your public school? Can you think of any? Yet students, teachers, parents, or board members who express traditional values are met with open hostility. The changes we are seeing are the full effects of a cultural shift in beliefs about the purpose of education and the blurring of the line that used to separate parent’s responsibility from school’s responsibility. If you’ve noticed this trend, please think on it as you evaluate potential school board candidates. While school board races are ostensibly non-partisan, the differences between liberal and conservative school board members are utterly undeniable. If we are serious about protecting our children and correcting the course of public education, we need to move beyond the pretense of non-partisan school board races and vote with our values in mind. For more on this, read Conservative is Not a Dirty Word. We are gearing up for our first Citizen Social this Saturday, September 9th. Our special focus this month will be introducing you to Geauga County school board candidates. We have candidates from Chardon, Kenston, and West Geauga lined up to address the crowd and spend time getting to know you. We will also have a presentation by the Ohio School Board Constitutional Coalition, a fabulous organization created as a common-sense, education-first alternative to the left-leaning Ohio School Board Association. Please note: Berkshire school board candidates will not attend this meeting due to scheduling conflicts. We may reschedule Berkshire candidates for a later date. Stay tuned for updates. All candidates have been invited to address the crowd, tell us about their campaigns, and help us understand why conservative voters should vote for them. Fortify Geauga is not endorsing all the candidates present – they may have views that are very different from ours. But this will be a good opportunity for you to meet them and speak with them face-to-face. Please join us! Click here to RSVP online on email us at FortifyGeauga@proton.me. Claridon Town Hall 13930 Mayfield Rd. 6-8 pm Saturday, September 9th Light refreshments provided This month also marks the beginning of our first Fortify Geauga Membership Drive. For details on becoming a Fortify Geauga Member, see our Membership page. We hope you will consider becoming part of our Fortify Geauga family. It’s important for conservatives to spend time together and we are excited to welcome new members who will help us find new ways to spend time together in a positive, relaxed atmosphere. Thank you for spending a few minutes with us today. Have a wonderful week!

Weekly Spotlight NOACA – As long as NOACA persists with its overreaching climate panic policies, we will keep a spotlight on it and continue pushing for citizen action. There is a NOACA Board meeting coming up this week. Please plan to attend and speak up. Let NOACA know we do not consent to their Climate Action agenda. If you want to know more about NOACA, check out our resources here.

Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Vote NO in November! Issue 1: Constitutional Amendment to enshrine abortion in Ohio’s Constitution. Local organizations are gearing up to fight this radical, dangerous amendment. There are two excellent training opportunities in our area to help motivate and educate us on defeating this amendment: Truth and Light Town Hall on September 12th Pro-Life Campaign Training on September 26th Both of these events require registration. Please click on each item for more details. NOVEMBER ELECTION UPDATES The Abortion Amendment: There were two major updates to the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. First, in a move many find suspicious and disheartening, the Ballot Board voted to title the proposed abortion amendment “Issue 1”. This is problematic because we just concluded the August 8th Special Election in which a completely different proposed amendment was titled Issue 1. This is expected to sow confusion among voters. The best thing to remember is VOTE NO IN NOVEMBER. Issue 1 in November will be the so-called ”Reproductive Rights” amendment, which would enshrine ABORTION WITHOUT LIMITS into the Ohio Constitution. The second development with this amendment is that the Ballot Board voted to change a few key phrases in the language that will appear on the ballot, specifically, they changed “pregnant person” to “pregnant woman,” and “fetus” was changed to “unborn child” (“unborn child” is now mentioned four times in the ballot language, versus one mention of “fetus” in the earlier version). In addition, the phrase “Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy” was added to the ballot language. This is significant as many opponents of this amendment rightfully complained that the original language was intentionally vague. See the ballot language here. Legalizing Recreational Cannabis: Also on the ballot in November will be Issue 2, a proposed law (not an amendment) to legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio. This citizen-initiated statue would regulate the use, sale, and home cultivation of marijuana. The proposed law also seeks to enact a “cannabis social equity and jobs program”. See the ballot language for this proposed law here. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are? There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163). Read our post on CBDC for more information. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions.

Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information.

Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 09/06/23 – A New Vision for Berkshire Schools Public Meeting 09/08/23 – NOACA Board Meeting 09/09/23 – Fortify Geauga Citizen Social 09/11/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting 09/11/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 09/12/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 09/12/23 – Truth and Light Town Hall 09/13/23 – Homeschool Day at Century Village Museum 09/13/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 09/15/23 – Working and Homeschooling Meet and Greet 09/18/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 09/18/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting 09/19/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting See our full Calendar for details

August 29, 2023 Hello, Friends, Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for August 29, 2023. It’s been a stressful and destabilizing week for many of us. The damaging storms that swept through our region spawned 9 tornadoes! While many of us experienced disruptions to power, phone, and internet, damaged trees and blocked roads, we can be thankful the storms did not cost any lives. Our nation is also in a place of turmoil right now. The level of corruption on display within our institutions is staggering and demoralizing. Tragedies, disasters and malfeasance cause us moral injuries that can derail our belief in the promise of America. But there is also hope. Connecting with each other, caring for our community, and putting our townships and our county in order can go a long way to restoring and refreshing us. One of our county agencies, Geauga Public Health, is helping us in the fight to keep our liberties intact. We see colleges, businesses, and school districts throughout Ohio and the country dabbling once again in nonsensical, tyrannical COVID policies. But GPH, who set the tone last year for common sense public health COVID guidance, has issued a “School COVID Guidance” document reiterating “the decision-making autonomy of families.” Read more here. It was only a few years ago that Geauga County citizens rallied to rid our health department of a far-left Commissioner with very unAmerican ideas about health autonomy. The efforts of liberty-loving patriots helped shape our current Health department into the body that today is asserting the value of individual rights in health policy. So, as our state and our country are gearing up to once again do battle with damaging pandemic policy, we have proof that local action is helping to secure our rights here in Geauga County. Never underestimate the results when we dedicate ourselves to the maintenance of our liberties at the local level. If you want to meet other Geauga County conservatives who believe in the power of local action, please consider joining us for our first monthly Citizen Social on Saturday, September 9th. (See details in our Weekly Spotlight.) Thank you for spending a few minutes with us today. Have a wonderful week! Weekly Spotlight Please join us for our first Citizen Social Event and Membership Drive on Saturday, September 9th at 6:00pm. Fortify Geauga is excited to announce we are beginning our long-awaited Monthly Citizen Socials. Each month, we will set aside a few hours to eat, socialize, learn from, and inspire one another. As Jim Henson once said, “There’s not a word yet for old friends who’ve just met.” We look forward to making new “old friends” as we launch this new tradition together. Our focus for September will be introducing you to school board candidates in Geauga County school districts.Candidates have been asked to introduce themselves, tell us why they are running for school board, and explain why they think conservative voters should support them. There will be ample time to mingle, chat with, and ask questions of the candidates. If you would like to attend this free event, please RSVP to fortifygeauga@proton.me. Once you have RSVPd, we will send you location information. We hope to see you there. Click here for more details, and please share our invitation with other conservative friends. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio NOVEMBER ELECTION UPDATES The Abortion Amendment: There were two major updates to the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. First, in a move many find suspicious and disheartening, the Ballot Board voted to title the proposed abortion amendment “Issue 1”. This is problematic because we just concluded the August 8th Special Election in which a completely different proposed amendment was titled Issue 1. This is expected to sow confusion among voters. The best thing to remember is VOTE NO IN NOVEMBER. Issue 1 in November will be the so-called ”Reproductive Rights” amendment, which would enshrine ABORTION WITHOUT LIMITS into the Ohio Constitution. The second development with this amendment is that the Ballot Board voted to change a few key phrases in the language that will appear on the ballot, specifically, they changed “pregnant person” to “pregnant woman,” and “fetus” was changed to “unborn child” (“unborn child” is now mentioned four times in the ballot language, versus one mention of “fetus” in the earlier version). In addition, the phrase “Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy” was added to the ballot language. This is significant as many opponents of this amendment rightfully complained that the original language was intentionally vague. See the ballot language here. Legalizing Recreational Cannabis: Also on the ballot in November will be Issue 2, a proposed law (not an amendment) to legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio. This citizen-initiated statue would regulate the use, sale, and home cultivation of marijuana. The proposed law also seeks to enact a “cannabis social equity and jobs program”. See the ballot language for this proposed law here. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are? There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163). Read our post on CBDC for more information. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 08/29/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/31/23 – 09/04/23 – The Great Geauga County Fair 09/05/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 09/09/23 – Fortify Geauga Citizen Social 09/11/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting 09/11/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 09/12/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 09/13/23 – Homeschool Day at Century Village Museum 09/13/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 09/15/23 – Working and Homeschooling Meet and Greet 09/18/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 09/18/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter
August 22, 2023

August 22

Hello, Friends,

Welcome to a brand new week!  This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for August 22, 2023.

An important meeting is taking place in Geauga County Tuesday night (August 22).  If you haven’t made plans to attend the NOACA Community Engagement meeting at the Federated Church Family Life Center in Chagrin Falls, please reconsider.

Why is it important to attend this meeting?  NOACA is in the midst of a PR push, attempting to convince residents in its five-county area that climate change is a dire problem threatening the well-being of our counties.  NOACA has spent millions of dollars “researching” and drawing up plans that would allow it to usurp county authority in order to enact its “Climate Action” plan.  It is essential that Geauga County residents attend this meeting to let NOACA know we are not in favor of the massive overreach it is attempting.

If you are unfamiliar with NOACA, please visit our NOACA page and spend a few minutes learning about it.  NOACA is a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) that covers Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties.  MPOs were originally formed with the intention of allocating federal gas tax monies for regional transportation projects (bridges and roads).  Unfortunately, NOACA has expanded its own mandate into climate panic and equity agendas which are used to justify taking money from the 4 rural counties and spending it on left-agenda projects that benefit Cuyahoga County.  The decision-making board is comprised of more representatives from Cuyahoga County than the other 4 counties combined, which means Cuyahoga interests go unchallenged.

Friends in the other NOACA counties, the information on our NOACA page applies to you as well.  Please click on your county below to see when NOACA will hold its Community Engagement events in your area.

Cuyahoga meeting
Geauga meeting
Lake meeting
Lorain meeting
Medina meeting

Please send a clear message to NOACA:  each county should retain the right to set its own priorities for climate-related policy.  

Thanks for spending a few minutes with us.  Have a wonderful week!

Weekly Spotlight
Please join us for our first Citizen Social Event and Membership Drive on Saturday, September 9th at 6:00pm. 

Fortify Geauga is excited to announce we are beginning our long-awaited Monthly Citizen Socials.  Each month, we will set aside a few hours to eat, socialize, learn from, and inspire one another.  As Jim Henson once said, “There’s not a word yet for old friends who’ve just met.”  We look forward to making new “old friends” as we launch this new tradition together.

Our focus for September will be introducing you to school board candidates in Geauga County school districts. Candidates have been asked to introduce themselves, tell us why they are running for school board, and explain why they think conservative voters should support them.  There will be ample time to mingle, chat with, and ask questions of the candidates.

If you would like to attend this free event, please RSVP to fortifygeauga@proton.me. Once you have RSVPd, we will send you location information.  We hope to see you there.  Click here for more details, and please share our invitation with other conservative friends.

Current Issues
An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio

Urgent Notice for Cardinal School District and Newbury Township residents:  We are still missing some candidates for the upcoming November election:

NEWBURY FISCAL OFFICER (no candidates)

CARDINAL BOARD OF EDUCATION  (only 1 candidate for 3 open positions)

If you or someone you know would like to run for these positions, there is still time to register as a write-in candidate.  The deadline to register is August 28th.  Write-in candidates must be officially registered with the Board of Elections by the August 28th deadline in order to be counted on Election Day.  The process is simple:  fill out & submit one form along with a $30 filing fee.  See details here.

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).  You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are?  There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163).  Read our post on CBDC for more information.

Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills.  House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives.  HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools.  House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections).  Citizen action got these bills through the House.  Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word!

House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions.

Five Minutes
Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each.  Why not tackle them all this week?

House Bill 73:  Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill.  Details here.

House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8:  Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills.  Details here.

House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act:  In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation.  See details here, and please read this post for more information.

Calendar

Calendar/Upcoming Dates

• 08/22/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 08/22/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Geauga County
• 08/23/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting
• 08/23/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting
• 08/24/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Medina County
• 08/29/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 08/31/23 – 09/04/23 – The Great Geauga County Fair
• 09/05/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 09/09/23 – Fortify Geauga Citizen Social
• 09/11/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting
• 09/11/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting
• 09/12/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 09/13/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting
• 09/18/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting

See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter August 15, 2023 Hello, Friends, Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for August 15, 2023. In the wake of Issue 1 failing on August 8th, conservatives have three essential tasks to work on throughout this Summer and Fall: 1: Vote NO in NOvember – Democrats are attempting to enshrine abortion without limits into our Ohio Constitution. They are billing their amendment as “Reproductive Rights” but it’s actually a very dangerous, radical proposal that would not only allow painful, dangerous late-term abortion; it would also obliterate parental rights to decide, or even be made aware of “reproductive” decisions for their own children, including abortion, contraception, hormone therapies, sex-change procedures, etc. Please help spread the word so your friends and neighbors understand how dangerous this amendment would be for our children. Please read and share: See the Language of the Proposed Amendment There’s One Thing to Remember: Vote NO in November! Ohio’s Disastrous Abortion Ballot Proposal Deceptive “Reproductive Rights” Ballot Initiative Language Exposed Beware “Reproductive Freedom” Ballot Initiative It’s Not Just Abortion 2: Support conservative school board candidates in your district. While many of us believe politics should not be part of school, the sad fact is: politics IS part of school board races. And the only candidates we ever hear speaking about parental rights and returning to academics are conservatives. Check out our Geauga Schools pages. We have a page for every district with general information, lists of school board candidates, and an area where candidates can post their upcoming events and information. If you know any conservative school board candidates in Geauga County, please encourage them to send us their information to post: FortifyGeauga@proton.me. We also need YOUR input. Fortify Geauga is putting together questionnaires for local school board candidates. Let us know what questions you would like to ask. Put your suggestions in the Comments section your district’s Fortify Geauga page or email us at FortifyGeauga@proton.me. Find our district pages here: Berkshire, Cardinal, Chardon, Kenston, West Geauga, and the Educational Service Center of the Western Reserve Do you think someone is missing from the list of school board candidates? Maybe it’s YOU! You can still register as a WRITE-IN candidate. The deadline is August 28th. Simply fill out this form and submit it to your County Board of Elections with a $30 filing fee by August 28th. 3: We must be a tidal wave of support for the education bills waiting to be taken up in the Ohio Senate. There is no alternative. These bills made it through the Ohio House with citizen support and they need our support to get through the Senate. We MUST exert all possible influence to make these bills VETO-PROOF. If the overreaching, horrendous November amendment is enacted, schools will be the last line of defense for our children. Thanks for spending a few minutes with us and have a wonderful week! Weekly Spotlight NOACA is at it again, with another series of “Community Engagement” meetings scheduled throughout their 5-county area. If you don’t know what NOACA is, please visit our NOACA page. You need to pay attention to NOACA because NOACA has big plans for Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Cuyahoga Counties. Be sure to make a plan to attend the meeting in your area and spread the word to your friends and neighbors. We must increase citizen engagement to stop the massive overreach of this far-left organization. Cuyahoga meeting Geauga meeting Lake meeting Lorain meeting Medina meeting Also, please participate in NOACA’s survey on “Climate Resilience and Climate Action Strategies”. Please let NOACA know how you feel about their efforts to usurp our county government in the name of climate panic. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are? There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163). Read our post on CBDC for more information. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 08/15/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/15/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Lake County 08/17/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting 08/17/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Cuyahoga County 08/21/23 – Ohioans Defending Freedom August Meeting 08/21/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 08/21/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting 08/21/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 08/22/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/22/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Geauga County 08/23/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting 08/23/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter August 8, 2023 Hello, Friends, Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for August 8, 2023. You’ve probably seen the results of the August 8th Special Election. For conservatives, the outcome is disappointing. As of late on Tuesday, unofficial results show Issue 1 was defeated statewide, roughly 57% to 43%. Here in Geauga County, unofficial results show a much narrower margin, with 48% voting YES and 52% voting NO.There is much to be gleaned from the details of this election. Voter turnout in Geauga County was around 52%, which is astonishingly high for a Special Election. There also seem to be significant differences in the numbers of conservative-leaning voters taking advantage of early in-person and mail-in voting. These trends can be confirmed with more confidence once all the data is verified. We may be disappointed by the failure of Issue 1, but we cannot be defeated. We saw enormous voter engagement here in Geauga County and statewide, and we must nurture and grow that engagement leading up to the November election. Two crucial issues need our enthusiastic attention in November: First, we must defeat the ludicrous, radical amendment seeking to enshrine abortion without limits and dangerously broad protections for any and all “reproductive” decisions with zero age restrictions. There is no question we need to mobilize to defeat this amendment. Second, we MUST mobilize every conservative voter in our county to support and vote for conservative school board candidates. If you’ve been working as hard as we have, take a breath this week! Recharge and enjoy the bounty of Summer here in our beautiful county. Remember the balance between fighting for the big things like liberty and justice, and cherishing the small things that make every day worth the fight. We’ll start fresh next week with updated information, new insights, and solid plans for putting our grassroots momentum to good use. Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. We look forward to working with you to protect our rights and Fortify Geauga and Ohio.Have a wonderful week! Save the Date: Fortify Geauga will be holding a citizen event and membership drive on Saturday, September 9th at 6:00pm. Come join us for an evening of fun, education, and connecting with other conservatives. Details to follow in next week’s Newsletter. Weekly Spotlight Save the Date! Would you like to spend an evening with other Geauga County conservatives looking to make friends and make a difference? Would you like to learn more about how to make your voice heard in our county Republican party? We want to meet you and learn what issues are important to you. Please join us on Saturday, September 9th to learn about Fortify Geauga and become part of helping us strengthen grassroots conservative values in our county. We’ll send out more details in next week’s Newsletter. Hope you can make it! Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. House Bill 201 (Prohibit sale restrictions on motor vehicle based on power source): This bill will prevent municipalities or the State of Ohio from implementing extreme environmental regulations like California has- such as banning or phasing out combustible engines. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Spread the word about the radical pro-abortion amendment that will be on the November ballot. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have spent millions getting a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. This amendment is not as bad as you think – IT IS MUCH, MUCH WORSE! Please read about this destructive amendment and share the information in the links below: Deceptive “Reproductive Rights” Ballot Initiative Language Exposed Beware “Reproductive Freedom” Ballot Initiative It’s Not Just Abortion Visit our Geauga Schools page and leave us a comment about what is important to you in the upcoming school board races. Click on your district’s logo to leave comments specific to your district. We’ll be preparing questionnaires to present to each school board candidate and we’d love to know what’s important to you. House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here.House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 08/09/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 08/14/23 – Boots, Barrels & Glitz Gala for Friends of Womensafe 08/14/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Lorain County 08/14/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting 08/15/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/15/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Lake County 08/17/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting 08/17/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Cuyahoga County 08/21/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 08/21/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting 08/21/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 08/22/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/22/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Geauga County See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter August 1, 2023 Hello, Friends, Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for August 1, 2023. We are one week away from the August 8th Special Election. People seem to be falling into two groups lately: those who miraculously haven’t heard about the election (hard to imagine for some of us), and those who are utterly fatigued by efforts to spread the word and by the persuasive attempts on both sides of the issue. Please help your neighbors and friends to vote! Offer rides, send information, or make a date of voting early or on August 8th together. County Board of Election offices are open for early voting (see hours here). For an illuminating analysis of how wealthy special interests and out-of-state actors have manipulated Ohio’s Constitution, read Mark Pukita’s post, Analysis of Ohio Amendments Reveals Big-Business and Out-of-State Influence. One very important thing to remember: Polling places sometimes change for Special Elections. Occasionally, the usual polling spot may already have been reserved for other events. If you live in Geauga County, take note of these changes: If you’re not sure which Geauga precinct you are in, please check here. If you are outside Geauga County, please click here to verify your polling location. Happy voting and have a wonderful week!Weekly SpotlightLocal School Board RacesThe deadline is fast approaching for School Board candidates to submit their signatures to get on the ballots (August 9th at 4:00pm). So far, at least 20 potential candidates in Geauga County have pulled petitions from the Board of Elections to run in our local school districts. These numbers might change as the deadline approaches. Now is the time to start thinking about what you want to see in a school bard candidate in your district. Where do candidates stand on masking and pandemic policy? How do they define parental rights? Which of them are willing to stand up against state and federal pressure to implement politically-motivated policies? How do they prioritize accepting outside funding versus protecting the values and autonomy of the parents in their communities? Which candidates have the attention span, knowledge base, and appetite for the actual work of a school board member? Let us know what you think about the candidates in your district and what your priorities are for your district. Help us populate our Geauga Schools page by leaving a comment with your thoughts about upcoming school board races and issues. You can also submit letters to our Geauga Voices page by emailing us at FortifyGeauga@proton.me. We look forward to hearing from you. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are? There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163). Read our post on CBDC for more information. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Someone you know is unaware of the Augst 8th Special Election. Please figure out who that is and fill them in. We need the vote of EVERY conservative in Ohio to protect our Constitution on August 8th. Please leave no stone unturned. Check out our page on the August 8th Special Election and share it with your friends. Vote NOW.Early voting is open now for the August 8th Special Election. You can vote in person at the Board of Elections office (for Geauga friends, that’s at 470 Center Street, Bldg. 6A in Chardon. Be sure to bring your photo ID (driver’s license or passport). Click here for early voting information. House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 08/01/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/01/23 – Exploring Home Education 08/01/23 – Geauga County TEA Party Meeting 08/03/23 – Exploring Home Education 08/07/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 08/08/23 – Ohio Special Election 08/08/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/09/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 08/14/23 – Boots, Barrels & Glitz Gala for Friends of Womensafe 08/14/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Lorain County 08/14/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting 08/15/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/15/23 – NOACA Community Engagement Meeting, Lake County 08/17/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter July 25, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for July 25, 2023. We see them everywhere: the signs for and against Issue 1. We are also bombarded with television and radio ads supporting or opposing it. It’s easy to fall into the shortcut of gauging the issue by the marketing we see. But if you’d like to know more about what really IS and really ISN’T in Issue 1, please take a look at the materials on FortifyGeauga.org:The Basics of Issue 1The Implications of Issue 1How, When & Where to VoteOpportunities to Act While there are many issues facing Ohioans right now, passing Issue 1 is of paramount importance. One of our Fortify Geauga mottos is, “Someone in your life doesn’t know about this yet.” We bet there is someone on your contact list who could use this information. Please do all you can to help make your friends and neighbors aware of the August 8th election. Offer someone a ride to the polls on August 8th. Or, why not make a date of voting early? Get some friends together to vote early at your board of elections office and then enjoy lunch or coffee together. Many thanks for reading our newsletter, sharing our information, staying informed, and helping us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Have a wonderful week!Weekly SpotlightNOACA has scheduled a round of Community Engagement meetings in Geauga, Lake, Loraine, Medina and Cuyahoga Counties. Please plan to attend the meeting nearest you. Before you go, read up on all things NOACA here. To maintain the sovereignty of our locally elected bodies, it is essential that we educate ourselves and our neighbors on the ways NOACA oversteps its authority.Current IssuesAn in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are? There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163). Read our post on CBDC for more information. Human Trafficking is the scourge of the modern age. Even in rural communities, we need to be vigilant and aware. One anonymous local business is hosting the move The Sound of Freedom at the Mayfield Road Drive-in in Chardon. This event is being offered free of charge as a service to the community. Thank you, Anonymous Local Business! Check our Calendar for details. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions.Edit this to insert text.Five MinutesHere is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Someone you know is unaware of the Augst 8th Special Election. Please figure out who that is and fill them in. We need the vote of EVERY conservative in Ohio to protect our Constitution on August 8th. Please leave no stone unturned. Check out our page on the August 8th Special Election and share it with your friends. Vote NOW. Early voting is open now for the August 8th Special Election. You can vote in person at the Board of Elections office (for Geauga friends, that’s at 470 Center Street, Bldg. 6A in Chardon. Be sure to bring your photo ID (driver’s license or passport). Click here for early voting and absentee ballot information. House Bill 73:Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here.House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 07/25/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/25/23 – Learn More About Issue 1 with Rep. Steve Demetriou 07/26/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting 07/26/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 07/26/23 – Getting Started in Home Education 07/26/23 – Free showing of The Sound of Freedom (PG13) 07/27/23 – Town Hall to Defeat Ohio’s Pro-Abortion Ballot Initiative 08/01/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/01/23 – Exploring Home Education 08/03/23 – Exploring Home Education 08/07/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 08/08/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter July 18, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for July 18, 2023. For those of us who spend time on patriot causes, it can be hard to remember a time when we weren’t keenly aware of the issues we now follow. But the truth is, the issues that capture our attention aren’t always familiar to our neighbors and friends.This week, we hope you’ll make an effort to alert your friends, neighbors, and family about the upcoming Special Election on August 8th. As important as it is to our dedicated patriots, you’d be surprised at how many people still don’t know about it. We at Fortify Geauga would be honored if you would share our information on August 8th with other conservatives throughout Ohio. Don’t miss this week’s excellent post by Stephanie Stock, President of Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, on the importance of citizen involvement and why she plans to vote YES on August 8th. And don’t forget to Vote! Early voting has already begun. Visit your county Board of Elections office to vote early in-person, and don’t forget your photo ID. Have a wonderful week! Weekly Spotlight Good news for home education in Ohio: The regulations that used to govern home education have now been enshrined in law. The new laws are favorable for home educating families. While the difference between regulations and laws might seem trivial, home education advocates remind us that laws are more permanent, harder to change, and offer more secure protections for our rights as parents to direct the education of our children according to our values and beliefs. For information on the new laws, please see this informative post from Geauga County Homeschooling. Also be sure to check out their upcoming events if you are interested in learning more about starting home education or you are already home educating and looking for information or support. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). You’ve probably heard of it, but do you know what it means and what its implications are? There is a bill in the House Financial Institutions Committee right now that seeks to reject CBDC as a form of money in Ohio (House Bill 163). Read our post on CBDC for more information. Human Trafficking is the scourge of the modern age. Even in rural communities, we need to be vigilant and aware. One anonymous local business is hosting the move The Sound of Freedom at the Mayfield Road Drive-in in Chardon. This event is being offered free of charge as a service to the community. Thank you, Anonymous Local Business! Check our Calendar for details. Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Someone you know is unaware of the Augst 8th Special Election. Please figure out who that is and fill them in. We need the vote of EVERY conservative in Ohio to protect our Constitution on August 8th. Please leave no stone unturned. Check out our page on the August 8th Special Election and share it with your friends. Vote NOW. Early voting is open now for the August 8th Special Election. You can vote in person at the Board of Elections office (for Geauga friends, that’s at 470 Center Street, Bldg. 6A in Chardon. Be sure to bring your photo ID (driver’s license or passport). Click here for early voting and absentee ballot information. House Bill 73:Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here.House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 07/18/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/19/23 – Geauga GOP Central & Executive Committee Meeting 07/20/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting 07/25/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/26/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting 07/26/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 07/26/23 – Free showing of The Sound of Freedom (PG13) 07/27/23 – Town Hall to Defeat Ohio’s Pro-Abortion Ballot Initiative 07/27/23 – Town Hall to Defeat Ohio’s Pro-Abortion Ballot Initiative 08/01/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/07/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 08/08/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter July 11, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for July 11, 2023. Think for a minute about what you love about America. What is it that stirs in you when you listen to the Star Spangled Banner or see the flag whipping proudly on a windy day? It’s interesting to think back to how those impressions were formed when we were kids – reciting the pledge at school, celebrating Flag Day, attending parades and fireworks on the Fourth of July, placing wreaths and flags on Memorial Day, memorizing the Gettysburg Address or parts of our founding documents. Some of us were lucky enough to have service members in our family who shared the stories of their sacrifice. Most of us are dismayed to see many of these traditions and celebrations evaporating for current generations. What do you think of when you hear, “Representative Government”? For many, thoughts go first to voting for President or US Senate or House. But few people think about the most local of local representatives: our county governments, school boards, local governing boards, city and township governments, and our county party committees. The people in these positions make the decisions that affect our lives at the most intimate level. Yet most of us spend the smallest amount of our “political appetite” thinking about those people and the decisions they make. The antics and foibles of celebrity-status national politicians consume us and tie up our energy while the local and state issues that affect us most are often largely ignored. Here at Fortify Geauga, we are passionate about connecting citizens with their local representatives. We see the frustration being expressed at board meetings and on social media. We feel the concern and dismay that come when we see how far our country has fallen from our original ideals. What we don’t see is much understanding of the one place where citizens’ concerns and values should be most directly heeded, valued, and amplified into policy: our county party Central Committee. Over the next several months, we will be working hard to connect our Geauga County neighbors with their Geauga GOP Central Committee representatives, and to educate all of us on the purpose and possibilities of Central Committee. We want to help reshape what you think when you hear “Representative Government”. We’re planning Geauga County events to help you connect with your representatives, education sessions to make sure our Central Committee members have all the tools they need to serve you, and a series of articles and resources on our website to help. Stay tuned for updates and announcements. Good things are coming and we can’t wait to share them with you. Stay tuned. Have a wonderful week! Weekly Spotlight Most of our readers already know there is a statewide Special Election on August 8th. The only issue on the ballot is Issue 1, also called the Constitution Protection Amendment. Issue 1 will raise the threshold for passing Constitutional Amendments. Currently, it takes 50% +1 vote to make a change to our state constitution. Issue 1 would change that threshold to 60%. Not surprisingly, misinformation abounds on Issue 1. The chief claim is that Issue 1 is only about abortion (Democrats are trying to pass a pro-abortion amendment in November, and passing Issue 1 would make it harder for that to happen). Democrats are eager to defeat Issue 1, which is ironic considering the Ohio Democrat Party requires a 60% vote to change its own constitution. This week, it’s important to remember a few key facts about Issue 1: · Issue 1 would help keep special interests from manipulating Ohio’s constitution. Our constitution has been amended more than 170 times and is now 15 times longer than the US Constitution. · After Issue 1 passes Ohio will STILL be one of the few states that allows citizen-led amendments to be placed on the ballot. Issue 1 doesn’t change that. · Multiple Ohio organizations support Issue 1, including the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association, the Ohio Restaurant Association, The Ohio Farm Bureau, The Buckeye Firearms Association and others. Click here for more information about Issue 1 supporters. · Read 4 Big Lies Opponents are Spreading About Ohio Issue 1 Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House of Representatives. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. House Bill 201 (Prohibit sale restrictions on motor vehicle based on power source): This bill will prevent municipalities or the State of Ohio from implementing extreme environmental regulations like California has- such as banning or phasing out combustible engines. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Someone you know is unaware of the Augst 8th Special Election. Please figure out who that is and fill them in. We need the vote of EVERY conservative in Ohio to protect our Constitution on August 8th. Please leave no stone unturned. Check out our page on the August 8th Special Election and share it with your friends. Vote NOW. Early voting is open now for the August 8th Special Election. You can vote in person at the Board of Elections office (for Geauga friends, that’s at 470 Center Street, Bldg. 6A in Chardon. Be sure to bring your photo ID (driver’s license or passport). Click here for early voting and absentee ballot information. House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here.House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support these bills. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 07/12/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 07/18/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/20/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting 07/25/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/26/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting 07/26/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 08/01/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/07/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 08/08/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 08/09/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details Contact us at FortifyGeauga&proton.me

Fortify Geauga Newsletter July 3, 2023 Hello Friends! Welcome to a brand new week. This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for July 3, 2023. In honor of Independence Day, we are taking a break from our usual format. Rather than the important smaller matters with which we normally concern ourselves, this week is for understanding and appreciating the bigger matters of why we fight those smaller battles. We must never cease to celebrate, in our hearts, our intentions, thoughts and deeds, the meaning of our founding and the promise it holds for the life of humans. After all, our founders were chiefly concerned with creating the best government for promoting human flourishing. How could they know that without first considering our humanity? They came from a time when “liberal education” had an entirely different meaning. It was, first and foremost, an attempt to train the mind and soul to first understand, then consider and confront the nature of man, the laws of nature and nature’s God. Many believe that is one reason our Revolution was so markedly different from others: it was not for blood and revenge, for retribution, mere territory, or material gains. It was truly for an ideal of liberty previously unseen in human government – informed and inspired by the best understanding of Judeo-Christian values and the western political traditions sprung from Athens. President Ronald Reagan addressed this difference in a Parade Magazine piece in 1981*: In recent years, however, I’ve come to think of that day [Independence Day] as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history. Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government. Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should. Happy Fourth of July. Here at Fortify Geauga, we are grateful for the opportunity to freely meet, freely speak, learn with other patriots, and participate in our government. Best wishes to all for a joyous Independence Day! * Want more inspiration on Independence Day and other important American celebrations and American history? Check out this great free resource on civic education: What So Proudly We Hail, Making American Citizens Through Literature CalendarCalendar/Upcoming Dates 07/04/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/10/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting 07/11/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/12/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 07/18/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/20/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting 07/25/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/26/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting 07/26/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details Contact us at FortifyGeauga&proton.me

Fortify Geauga Newsletter
June 27, 2023

Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for June 27, 2023. Last week’s Ohio House session was full of exciting developments. Conservatives are celebrating the passage of three important education bills and one medical protections bill through the House of Representatives. These victories represent the diligence and dedication of lawmakers and citizens who have labored over these issues for many months during this legislative session, and in many cases, for years prior to this session. We must remember that these victories, while heartening and exciting, are not yet complete. We cannot rest on these accomplishments until these bills finish their journey through the Senate, to the Governor’s desk, and are enacted as laws. Please read Celebrate, Then Plan: Pro-Parent Pro-Student Bills Still Need Your Help. It may seem daunting, but we must remember, we do have the energy for these fights because we are parents, because we are citizens, because we are free men and women who are willing to act to protect our rights, our autonomy, and the health, innocence and safety of our children. Thank you for being in this fight with us. Have a wonderful week! Weekly Spotlight Break the seal this week. If you’ve never called or emailed a legislator, let this be the week you do it. We hear from people every week who are engaging in this process for the first time. Many are nervous to do it – that’s okay! Just remember: none of this can happen without your involvement. We are in this together and we can win this together. The instructions we provide on the Fortify Geauga website are designed to make activism as easy and effective as possible. Take a look through the items on our Act Now page and pick one that is meaningful to you. Drop a comment in the comments section after you complete a task – let us know how it went and help inspire others to act. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Ohio’s crucial common-sense education bills. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8 passed though the House last week. HB 68/6 will protect minors from harmful, so-called “gender affirming therapy” and will ensure the fairness and safety of women’s sports in Ohio schools. House Bill 8, also called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, will ensure the rights of parents to determine their children’s exposure to sexually explicit materials (among other protections). Citizen action got these bills through the House. Please be part of the citizen action that will now get them through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. Someone in your life hasn’t heard of these bills yet – please share our information and spread the word! House Bill 73 (The Dave and Angie Patient and Health Provider Protection Act) will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. House Bill 201 (Prohibit sale restrictions on motor vehicle based on power source): This bill will prevent municipalities or the State of Ohio from implementing extreme environmental regulations like California has- such as banning or phasing out combustible engines. The Constitution Protection Amendment is vitally important. DECLINE TO SIGN! Please spread the word: DO NOT SIGN their petition to get their initiative on the November ballot. Also see our page on the August 8th election for help with registration and voting. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? House Bill 73: Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 68 (combined with House Bill 6) and House Bill 8:Calls and emails are needed to urge your Senator to support this bill. Details here. House Bill 51, The Second Amendment Preservation Act: In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. See details here, and please read this post for more information. Central Committee victory in jeopardy? We celebrated a victory recently when language changing the way Central Committee seats are filled was struck from the most recent Ohio Budget bill by the Senate Finance Committee. Unfortunately, it seems there may be a chance this harmful language is reinserted during the budget reconciliation process. This is a frustrating development, but the good patriots at the Ohio Precinct Strategy have some advice on how to ensure our victory is not reversed. Read: Vigilance Needed to Preserve Your Rights to Local Representation. Check out volunteer and paid opportunities to help pass the Constitution Protection Amendment on August 8th.Sign up for training, attend a townhall, or pass on the information to your friends and neighbors. We need all conservatives in Ohio to help us pass Issue 1 on August 8th. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates 06/27/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 06/28/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting 06/28/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 06/29/23 – Geauga Board of Elections Special Meeting 07/04/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/10/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting 07/11/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/12/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting 07/17/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting 07/18/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting 07/20/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting See our full Calendar for details

View this in your browser. Fortify Geauga Newsletter June 20, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week! This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for June 20, 2023. This week, we’d like to remind you that there are multiple steps to supporting legislation. We have seen tremendous results in getting conservative legislation through committees this session, but it’s crucial that involved citizens remember: there are several points in the legislative process when legislation can be defeated. When we ask you to use your voice in this process, one step may not be enough. Please make a habit of checking back often for updates on the issues that concern you.Worthy legislation has a long journey from concept to law. It starts with the dedicated public servants who write and introduce the bills. It travels its long path on the shoulders of concerned citizens who carry it through hearings and votes. Without our support, these bills that enhance our way of life and support our rights will not become laws. A great example of the need for ongoing involvement is House Bill 73, the Dave and Angie Patient and Health Provider Protection Act. HB 73 is up for a 5th hearing and a possible vote in the Health Provider Services committee on Tuesday, 6/20 at 3:00 pm. Prior to that date, we ask all conservatives to contact the members of that committee and urge them to vote YES to advance the bill. But once the bill passes through the committee, we’ll be asking conservatives to contact Speaker of the House Jason Stephens to urge him to bring the bill to the full House of Representatives for a vote. Once passed out of the House, the bill will travel to the Senate, where it needs to go through the process again, then on the full Senate, and finally to the Governor. That’s why it’s imperative that concerned conservatives take an ongoing interest in promising legislation. For a great visual reminder of how important your voices are, please read this post. Have a wonderful week! Weekly Spotlight House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. There are a number of citizen actions that area needed to get this bill through the legislative process. Please see the Act Now section of our website for up-to-date instructions. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Geauga Parks Strategic Planning Public Meetings will be held Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week at 7:00pm. See our Calendar for details. House Bill 201 (Prohibit sale restrictions on motor vehicle based on power source): This bill will prevent municipalities or the State of Ohio from implementing extreme environmental regulations like California has- such as banning or phasing out combustible engines. House Bill 68 (The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act) Now includes House Bill 6 (The Save Women’s Sports Act): These two pivotal bills will provide needed protections for adolescents and school-aged athletes. Both of these bills have passed out of their respective House committees and are now ready to be voted on in the House of Representatives. House Bill 8 (The Parents’ Bill of Rights) seeks to address the common-sense concerns of Ohio parents by requiring public schools to notify parents of sexually explicit content in school materials and allow parents to review such material and decide whether their children should see it. The Constitution Protection Amendment is vitally important. DECLINE TO SIGN! Please spread the word: DO NOT SIGN their petition to get their initiative on the November ballot. Also see our page on the August 8th election for help with registration and voting. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? House Bill 73: Please act right away! Calls & emails are needed to the committee on Tuesday morning. Other actions may be needed after Tuesday, depending on the outcome of Tuesday’s committee meeting. Please check our website for further steps you can take later this week. Click here for current instructions. House Bill 68 & House Bill 6:Calls and emails are needed to urge Speaker Stephens to bring this bill to the House floor for a full vote. Details here. Check out volunteer and paid opportunities to help pass the Constitution Protection Amendment on August 8th.Sign up for training, attend a townhall, or pass on the information to your friends and neighbors. We need all conservatives in Ohio to help us pass Issue 1 on August 8th. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates · 06/20/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/20/23 – Pro-Life Campaign Kickoff Training by The Leadership Institute · 06/20/23 – Geauga Parks Strategic Planning Public Meetings · 06/21/23 – Geauga Parks Strategic Planning Public Meetings · 06/22/23 – Geauga Parks Strategic Planning Public Meetings · 06/26/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting · 06/26/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting · 06/26/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 06/27/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/28/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting · 06/28/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting · 07/04/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 07/10/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting · 07/11/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 07/12/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter June 13, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week. This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for June 13, 2023. Did you feel it this week? The great menace chasing us all…news photos of New York City looking like Mars, the slight orange-ish haze lingering in the sky, dust and air quality warnings on the weather report. The news will tell you it’s climate change, but they are leaving out a few key words. The real threat stalking us is THE RUSE OF climate change, and it’s being used to manipulate people into giving undeserved power to leftist governments. (See our NOACA coverage for abundant examples.) Just like the California wildfires of the last several years, many are now rejecting the idea that last week’s Canadian wildfires are the result of climate catastrophe. Instead, astute observers point to recent trends in forestry mismanagement, in which climate conspiracists have shut down the time-tested practice of controlled burns. Read this New York Post opinion piece for more. Whatever the cause, we are all grateful for an end to the hazy air and for the long-awaited, cooling gift of rain making its way through Geauga’s farms and fields. Have a wonderful week! Weekly Spotlight We have a time sensitive opportunity to submit written testimony once again for House Bill 68: The Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, a.k.a. the SAFE Act. This bill will prohibit the mutilation of children in the state of Ohio under the guise of Gender Reassignment Surgery. HB 68 will receive an additional hearing on Wednesday, June 14th. Formal written testimony will be accepted until 4:00pm on Tuesday, June 13th. Click here for details. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Reality Check for Conservatives: Most conservatives have no idea what we are up against in our Republican-dominated state. We have many truly dedicated conservative lawmakers trying to advance common-sense conservative legislation. They need our help. Please read and share this post. Reality Check for Conservatives: Why You Need to be “One of THOSE PEOPLE” NOACA is still an issue and it will remain an issue until we get out of it! If you haven’t already, please look over the information on this insidious organization and its counter-productive and overreaching goals for Geauga, Lake, Medina, Loraine & Cuyahoga counties. House Bill 183 (Single-Sex Bathroom Access in Schools and Universities): House Bill 183, introduced by Rep. Beth Lear and Rep. Adam Bird, would require students in Ohio K-12 schools and universities to use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological gender. It would also prohibit schools from allowing students to share overnight accommodations with students of the opposite sex on school-sponsored trips. The Constitution Protection Amendment is vitally important. This week, an excellent conservative champion, Chris Maurer, Republican State Central Committee Representative from District 29, provides a deep dive into the dangers lurking in the broad, deceptive language of the so-called “Reproductive Rights” ballot initiative Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and Ohio Democrats are pushing. Don’t miss her excellent post. Remember: DECLINE TO SIGN! Please spread the word: DO NOT SIGN their petition to get their initiative on the November ballot. Also see our page on the August 8th election for help with registration and voting. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? ACT TODAY: Ohio House Bill 68: Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, a.k.a. the SAFE Act. This bill will prohibit the mutilation of children in the state of Ohio under the guise of Gender Reassignment Surgery. This bill will receive an additional hearing on Wednesday, June 14th. There is still time to submit written testimony for this bill. See details here. HB 6: The Save Women’s Sports Act has been passed by the House Higher Education Committee. Now we need to Contact Speaker of the House Jason Stephens and urge him to bring it up for a vote of the full House of Representatives. Check out volunteer and paid opportunities to help pass the Constitution Protection Amendment on August 8th.Sign up for training, attend a townhall, or pass on the information to your friends and neighbors. We need all conservatives in Ohio to help us pass Issue 1 on August 8th. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates · 06/14/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting · 06/15/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting · 06/19/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting · 06/19/23 – Prolife Townhall · 06/20/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/20/23 – Pro-Life Campaign Kickoff Training by The Leadership Institute · 06/26/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting · 06/26/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting · 06/26/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 06/27/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/28/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting · 06/28/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter June 6, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week. This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for May 6, 2023. Please note: future Weekly Newsletters will be delivered on Tuesdays. We’ve experienced a dose of true Summer weather this week in Geauga County. Summer flowers are emerging, along with our first fresh strawberries – and how about that gorgeous strawberry moon? The breathtaking beauty of our Geauga landscape is a true blessing. Political action regarding the August 8th Special Election is really heating up as well. We are starting to see conservative individuals and organizations gearing up for get-out-the-vote efforts. Please do all you can to help in these efforts, whether that’s volunteering to knock on doors or make phone calls, or educating yourself and your neighbors on what’s at stake. Please spread the word any way you can: VOTE YES ON AUGUST 8TH! Weekly Spotlight There is only one issue on the ballot for the August 8th Special Election: Issue 1, also called the Constitution Protection Amendment, will protect our Constitution by raising the threshold for new amendments. Currently, it takes only a simple majority to add a new Amendment to our Constitution, making our most vital state document ripe for manipulation from special interests. The Constitution Protection Amendment would raise that threshold to 60%. The most vocal conservative groups supporting this amendment are pro-life groups, who are working to keep an abortion amendment from passing in November. But numerous other conservative groups are mobilizing to help pass Issue 1 as well. Please look into the volunteer opportunities available and check back frequently for new additions. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio NOACA is still an issue and it will remain an issue until we get out of it! If you haven’t already, please look over the information on this insidious organization and its counter-productive and overreaching goals for Geauga, Lake, Medina, Loraine & Cuyahoga counties. Please consider attending the next NOACA Board meeting this Friday, June 9th. House Bill 183 (Single-Sex Bathroom Access in Schools and Universities): House Bill 183, introduced by Rep. Beth Lear and Rep. Adam Bird, would require students in Ohio K-12 schools and universities to use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological gender. It would also prohibit schools from allowing students to share overnight accommodations with students of the opposite sex on school-sponsored trips. The Constitution Protection Amendment is vitally important. Please take the time familiarize yourself with it and make plans to share the information and support the efforts of Ohio conservatives to pass this Amendment. Also see our page on the August 8th election for help with registration and voting. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Help us spread the word and make progress on getting our county out of NOACA (Cuyahoga, Lake, Medina & Lorain folks, you should be aware of NOACA’s influence on your county and contact your county officials). New opportunity this week: Bus transportation available to the NOACA Board of Directors meeting on Friday, June 9th. Check out volunteer and paid opportunities to help pass the Constitution Protection Amendment on August 8th. Sign up for training, attend a townhall, or pass on the information to your friends and neighbors. We need all conservatives in Ohio to help us pass Issue 1 on August 8th. HB 6: The Save Women’s Sports Act has been passed by the House Higher Education Committee. Now we need to Contact Speaker of the House Jason Stephens and urge him to bring it up for a vote of the full House of Representatives. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates · 06/06/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/09/23 – NOACA Board of Directors Meeting · 06/12/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting · 06/12/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 06/13/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/14/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting · 06/15/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting · 06/19/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting · 06/19/23 – Prolife Townhall · 06/19/23 – Untitled Event · 06/20/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/20/23 – Pro-Life Campaign Kickoff Training by The Leadership Institute See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga Newsletter Week of May 29, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week. This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for the week of May 29, 2023. It’s exciting to see so many conservative political figures and organizations gearing up to help keep abortion out of the Ohio Constitution. Here at Fortify Geauga, we are watching these efforts with great anticipation. We plan to publicize these efforts so our conservative neighbors can get involved. If you know of any local efforts, please share the information with us at fortifygeauga@proton.me. If you want us to contact you when opportunities become available, join our Geauga Precinct Network. Unfortunately, conservatives aren’t the only ones preparing. Read this article from the Ohio Press Network on the leftist organizations allied to enshrine abortion in our Constitution: Radical anti-life gender justice group backing Ohio ballot initiative revealed to pushing end to ‘unethical’ parental involvement laws. Reflections on Memorial Day…The celebration of Memorial Day is for some just a long weekend with cookouts and lots of flags. But for the heartfelt patriot, it is a solemn time to reflect on the depth of the sacrifices our soldiers and their families are asked to give. Often, what our nation needs is too much to ask, but we aske anyway, and heroes deliver. As Frederick Douglass reminded the crown in his Decoration Day address at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1871, “Dark and sad will be the hour to this nation when it forgets to pay grateful homage to its greatest benefactors. … Those unknown heroes whose whitened bones have been piously gathered here, and whose green graves we now strew with sweet and beautiful flowers, choice emblems alike of pure hearts and brave spirits, reached, in their glorious career that last highest point of nobleness beyond which human power cannot go. They died for their country. No loftier tribute can be paid to the most illustrious of all the benefactors of mankind than we pay to these unrecognized soldiers when we write above their graves this shining epitaph.” Our heartfelt thanks to all who serve and have served, and to those who have given their lives (and the ones who mourn them), you will never be forgotten. We strive to defend what your sacrifice has secured. Weekly Spotlight One of the freedoms we too often take for granted is our right to participate in local government. While national stories and federal elections take up a huge amount of our attention, the laws and policies that affect us most intimately are made right in our own communities and in Columbus. This week, please take some time to read about the purpose and structure of your County and State GOP Central Committee. Geauga Friends, find out more about our Geauga County Central Committee and be sure to let us know if you want to be included in future Fortify Geauga events where you can meet and communicate with your Central Committee representatives. Current Issues An in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio House Bill 183 (Single-Sex Bathroom Access in Schools and Universities): House Bill 183, introduced by Rep. Beth Lear and Rep. Adam Bird, would require students in Ohio K-12 schools and universities to use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological gender. It would also prohibit schools from allowing students to share overnight accommodations with students of the opposite sex on school-sponsored trips. House Bill 51 (Second Amendment Preservation Act): In response to repeated federal attacks on our Second Amendment rights, the tireless patriots at Ohio Gun Owners have been working with legislators to craft and refine House Bill 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Anyone in Ohio who values our 2A rights needs to help support this groundbreaking legislation. Significant Changes to Central Committee Operations Buried in Behemoth Budget Bill (House Bill 33): This 5,000-page budget bill has passed through the House and is now in the Senate Finance Committee. While there is obviously a huge amount of information in this bill, one particular item is causing great concern among conservatives: buried in this behemoth budget is a significant change in the way Central Committee vacancies are filled. Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163):This bill defines digital currency and rejects it as a form of money in Ohio. Government control of your money is the next step in the ESG/Socials Credit System. If they control your money, they can control your behaviors and actions. The fight to keep abortion out of the Ohio Constitution:Pro-abortion special interests are currently collecting signatures to get an amendment on the November 2023 ballot to enshrine the right to abortion into the Ohio Constitution. We must fight to protect all of Ohio’s children. Five Minutes Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Significant Changes to Central Committee Operations Buried in Behemoth Budget Bill (House Bill 33): Let the members of the Senate Finance Committee know they need to take Central Committee language out of the budget bill. You can call or email committee members, submit written testimony ahead of the May 30th hearing, or even make plans to attend the hearing and give oral testimony. Details here. House Bill 51 (Second Amendment Preservation Act):Please contact the members of the House Government Oversight Committtee and Speaker of the House Jason Stephens and let them know you support this legislation. Details here. Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163): Please read our information on the dangers of CBDC and contact the members of the House Financial Institutions Committee this week. NOACA: We still need more people to contact our County Commissioners and tell them we want Geauga County to LEAVE NOACA. Instructions here. Please share our all-things-NOACA page with as many Geauga County friends as you can (and Lake, Medina, Lorain, and Cuyahoga folks too). Also, if you missed the riveting panel discussion on NOACA May 12th, you can watch it here (the discussion starts at the 50-minute mark). Consider attending the next NOACA Board of Directors meeting on June 9th. Transportation from Geauga County may be available. Details here. Geauga Friends: Could you help us get in touch with conservatives in your area who are willing to make phone calls, send emails, and help educate their friends on the issues that are important to us? Please sign up for our Precinct Network today. Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates · 05/30/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/06/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/09/23 – NOACA Board of Directors Meeting · 06/12/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting · 06/12/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 06/13/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/14/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting · 06/15/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting · 06/19/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting · 06/20/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/26/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting · 06/26/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting · 06/26/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details

View this in your browser. Fortify Geauga NewsletterWeek of May 22, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week. This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for the week of May 22, 2023. Geauga County has experienced stunning mild Spring weather these past few weeks. The beauty of our surroundings is hard to ignore. Let it be a reminder to balance the weary burdens of the political and moral fights we are engaged in with the blessings around us. Please enjoy this favorite poem that always reminds me of hope in the midst of our toils: The Peace of Wild Thingsby Wendell Barry When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. Have a wonderful week! Weekly SpotlightWe’ve all heard the adage, “All politics is local.” This week, we hope you will take a few minutes to read the guest post describing the purpose and structure of our Ohio Republican Party State & County Central Committees (How in the World Did This Guy Get Elected). If you’re not sure what those are, you are missing the best opportunity to impact the candidates and issues that shape your everyday life. This information is timely, as we have a special action alert regarding some slippery maneuvering of Central Committee operations being attempted with House Bill 33, a 5,000-page budget bill currently in the Senate Finance Committee.Current IssuesAn in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163): This bill defines digital currency and rejects it as a form of money in Ohio. Government control of your money is the next step in the ESG/Socials Credit System. If they control your money, they can control your behaviors and actions. Significant Changes to Central Committee Operations Buried in Behemoth Budget Bill (House Bill 33): This 5,000-page budget bill has passed through the House and is now in the Senate Finance Committee. While there is obviously a huge amount of information in this bill, one particular item is causing great concern among conservatives: buried in this behemoth budget is a significant change in the way Central Committee vacancies are filled. House Bill 73: The Dave and Angie Patient & Health Provider Protection Act: House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. The fight to keep abortion out of the Ohio Constitution: Pro-abortion special interests are currently collecting signatures to get an amendment on the November 2023 ballot to enshrine the right to abortion into the Ohio Constitution. We must fight to protect all of Ohio’s children. May 2nd Special Election results have been certified. The Geauga County Board of Elections will be conducting a recount on the Thompson Township Emergency Services Levy. The final vote tally was 101-101, which triggers an automatic recount. If the tie remains, the levy will fail (ballot issues fail with a tie vote). The recount will take place on May 23, 2023. Five MinutesHere is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? State and County Central Committees: Please take a few minutes to learn about the structure and purpose of our GOP State and County Central Committees. There can be no grassroots efforts without an understanding of how our party functions and your rights as citizen to be represented. Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163): Please read our information on the dangers of CBDC and contact the members of the House Financial Institutions Committee this week. Help fight the significant changes to Central Committee operations buried in behemoth budget bill (House Bill 33) by contacting the members of the Senate Finance Committee. Details here: Act Now on HB 33 The fight to keep abortion out of the Ohio Constitution: There are 77 days until the August 8th Special Election. We must rally all conservatives to vote YES on the Constitution Protection Amendment on the August ballot. Please share our information with as many friends as possible and join us as we prepare to boost conservative voter turnout for this Special Election. Read more here and share this with friends. NOACA: We still need more people to contact our County Commissioners and tell them we want Geauga County to LEAVE NOACA. Instructions here. Please share our all-things-NOACA page with as many Geauga County friends as you can (and Lake, Medina, Lorain, and Cuyahoga folks too). Also, if you missed the riveting panel discussion on NOACA last week, you can watch it here (the discussion starts at the 50-minute mark).Geauga Friends: Read about our Precinct Network and join today! Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar Calendar/Upcoming Dates · 05/22/23 – Geauga Board of Elections Recount · 05/22/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 05/23/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 05/24/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting · 05/24/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting · 05/30/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/06/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/12/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting · 06/12/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 06/13/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/14/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting · 06/15/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Fortify Geauga NewsletterWeek of May 15, 2023 Hello, Friends! Welcome to a brand new week. This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for the week of May 15, 2023. Happy belated Mother’s Day to all! We are kicking off a beautiful week here in Geauga County. With the last frost date behind us, many here are busy planting our warm-weather plants, and this is going to be a gorgeous week for all who sow. In case you haven’t heard, there was a huge victory last week at the Ohio Statehouse for all who believe in protecting life in our state. The legislature passed the bill needed to hold a Special Election in August and to place the Constitutional Protection Amendment on the ballot that will raise the threshold for new amendments to a 60% vote. (It might be confusing because those two issues started out as separate pieces of legislation, but were eventually condensed into Senate Joint Resolution 2.) Make no mistake about it: THIS VICTORY BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE. Many sources have indicated that it was pressure from citizens that secured this victory. Please be encouraged and allow this to motivate you! How will the Constitutional Protection Amendment help protect the unborn? When we vote YES in August, we will help make it harder for special interests to add amendments to our State Constitution. Currently it requires only a simple majority to add amendments, a lower bar than our US Constitution and many state constitutions. It is crucial to pass this NOW because Planned Parenthood and other far-left, pro-abortion folks are working hard to get an Abortion Amendment onto our ballot in the November election. If we pass the Constitutional Protection Amendment, they will need 60% of Ohio voters to approve their amendment in the November election, rather than the 50% +1 threshold currently in place. Weekly SpotlightArea residents attended a panel discussion on May 12th about leaving NOACA. The discussion, hosted by the Lake County Liberty Coalition, sparked much discovery and debate among Lake and Geauga residents. Read our recent posts on the discussion by Geauga resident Sharon Madger and former Geauga County Commissioner Skip Claypool. If you unfamiliar with NOACA or aren’t alarmed by their overreach, start here.Current IssuesAn in-depth look at issues conservatives care about affecting Geauga County and Ohio House Bill 73: The Dave and Angie Patient & Health Provider Protection Act: House Bill 73 will protect health care providers’ ability to prescribe and provide off label medications and protect their freedom of speech regarding medical issues. It also provides crucial patient protections regarding medication and nutrition while hospitalized, regardless of their treatment protocol choices. Ohio House Bill 6 (The Save Women’s Sports Act): Great News! This bill is one step closer to becoming a law. The House Higher Education Committee voted to pass HB 6 last week. There will be more steps to bring this bill to fruition. Fortify Geauga will keep you updated and let you know how you can help as this very important legislation makes its way through the legislative process. This bill will help protect women’s athletics in Ohio. It will require schools, state institutions of higher education, and private colleges to designate separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex. Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163): This bill defines digital currency and rejects it as a form of money in Ohio. Government control of your money is the next step in the ESG/Socials Credit System. If they control your money, they can control your behaviors and actions. The fight to keep abortion out of the Ohio Constitution: Pro-abortion special interests are currently collecting signatures to get an amendment on the November 2023 ballot to enshrine the right to abortion into the Ohio Constitution. We must fight to protect all of Ohio’s children. Five MinutesHere is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. Most of these tasks will take no more than 5-10 minutes each. Why not tackle them all this week? Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163): Please read our information on the dangers of CBDC and contact the members of the House Financial Institutions Committee this week. NOACA: We still need more people to contact our County Commissioners and tell them we want Geauga County to LEAVE NOACA. Instructions here. Please share our all-things-NOACA page with as many Geauga County friends as you can (and Lake, Medina, Lorain, and Cuyahoga folks too). Also, if you missed the riveting panel discussion on NOACA last week, you can watch it here (the discussion starts at the 50-minute mark). House Bill 78: The Dave and Angie Patient & Health Provider Protection Act:Calls and emails needed to further this crucial legislation. See details here. Geauga Friends: Read about our Precinct Network and join today! Please share our page with any interested conservatives. Calendar/Upcoming Dates · 05/15/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting · 05/15/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting · 05/16/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 05/18/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting · 05/22/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 05/23/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 05/24/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting · 05/24/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting · 05/30/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/06/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/12/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting · 06/12/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting · 06/13/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting · 06/14/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting See our full Calendar for details

Hello, Friends!

Welcome to a brand new week.  This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for the week of May 8, 2023.   

It’s been a dizzying week for anyone following the constitutional amendment legislation going on at the Ohio Statehouse.  We’ve tried to keep the updates coming.  As always, if any of the legislative issues we highlight are important to you, please check our website for updates.  We are updating legislative issues whenever needed – sometimes several times per day.

We have a special alert this week.  This is an all-hands-on-deck situation!  To stop abortion from being added to the Ohio Constitution, we need to flood the phone and email of Speaker of the House Jason Stephens TODAY and demand that he bring State Bill 92 and Senate Joint Resolution 2 up for a vote on May 10th.  We also need to reach out to other House Republicans and make sure they support these efforts.  These 2 crucial pieces of legislation have already passed through the Senate and are awaiting a vote in the House.  See more below… 

Current Issues (more on our Issues page)

• The fight to keep abortion out of the Ohio Constitution (Senate Bill 92 and Senate Joint Resolution 2):  Democrats are mobilizing to add an Abortion Amendment to the Ohio Constitution.  They are collecting signatures to put this amendment on the ballot in November.  If they succeed, that amendment could pass with only a simple majority (50% + 1 vote), and the “right” to abortion will be part of the Ohio Constitution.  This proposed amendment also has alarming implications for parental rights, as its very vague language will most likely be used to allow minor children to undergo many serious procedures without parental consent or knowledge. 
  
  The Republican response includes two steps: First, Senate Bill 92 will allow a Special Election to be held in August 2023.  This MUST happen in order for the second step to occur.  The second step is Senate Joint Resolution 2.  It will place a different amendment on the August ballot which would require a 60% vote to amend the Constitution, thus making it more difficult for special interests to pass the abortion amendment in November.  If SB 92 is not passed by May 10^th, there can be no Special Election in August. If there is not a Special Election in August, the 60% threshold amendment cannot be enacted prior to the November election.  To read more on this very important but somewhat confusing pair of issues, please read Eight Minutes to Protect the Unborn.
  
  
• Ohio House Bill 6 (The Save Women’s Sports Act):  This important bill will help protect women’s athletics in Ohio.  It will require schools, state institutions of higher education, and private colleges to designate separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex.  This bill has received multiple hearings in the House Higher Education Committee, and the committee will be voting on this bill on Wednesday, May 10^th. 
  
  
• Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163):  This bill defines digital currency and rejects it as a form of money in Ohio.  Government control of your money is the next step in the ESG/Socials Credit System.  If they control your money, they can control your behaviors and actions. 

Five Minutes (more on our Act Now page)

Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. These tasks should take no more than 5-10 minutes each.  Why not tackle them all this week?

• High priority:  We are still on a very tight deadline to get Senate Bill 92 and SRJ2 brought to the House floor for a vote.  These are absolutely crucial.  If you care about protecting the unborn in Ohio, please do this today!
  
  
• Please send emails to the House Higher Education Committee urging them to pass HB 6, The Save Women’s Sports Act.  The vote is on Wednesday, May 10^th, so please act right away.  You can also attend the vote in person at the Statehouse to show your support.  Details here. 
  
  
• We still need more people to contact our County Commissioners and tell them we want Geauga County to LEAVE NOACA.  Instructions here.  Please share our all-things-NOACA page with as many Geauga County friends as you can (and Lake, Medina, Lorain, and Cuyahoga folks too).  Also, mark your calendars for this informative event coming up on May 12^th.
  
  
• Central Bank Digital Currency (Ohio House Bill 163):  If you are interested in learning more about the dangers of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and how to fight it in Ohio, please visit FortifyGeauga.org later this week for more in-depth information.  We will update our Act Now page with details on the best way for you to help this legislation as soon as we receive guidance from our statehouse insiders.
  
  
• Please share our page with any interested conservatives.
  
  

Calendar/Upcoming Dates

• 05/08/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting
• 05/08/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting
• 05/09/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 05/10/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting
• 05/12/23 – NOACA Panel Discussion
• 05/15/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting
• 05/15/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting
• 05/16/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 05/18/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting
• 05/22/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting
• 05/23/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 05/24/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting

See our full Calendar:  http://fortifygeauga.org/calendar/

Hello, Friends!

Welcome to a brand new week.  This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for the week of May 1, 2023. 

We launched our website last week and were blown away by those of you who reached out with positive comments and encouragement.  Thank you!  Please feel free to email any questions or suggestions to FortifyGeauga@proton.me.  There are also comment areas on most of our pages.  Have at it, Patriots!

One thing we have learned in the last week:  the state legislative process in Ohio is thorny, twisted, and changes on a dime.  We endeavor to keep our site up to date on what’s needed for the bills and issues we are tracking…in fact, last week was a blur of updates, phone calls to legislators, and many attempts to nail down ever-changing details.  The point is, if any of the legislative issues below are important to you, please check our site frequently for updates.  As bills pass through different committees and hurdles, different strategies may be needed to help them along.  We are updating the Act Now page frequently, sometimes several times a day.

Finally, please forgive the quirks and inconsistencies in web design – it’s been an adventure for sure.  Things should be settling down over the next week or so and the site will become more consistent and hopefully better looking!

Current Issues (more on our Issues page)

• Special Election May 2,2023:  Do you live in Bainbridge, Chardon, Chester, or Thompson?  Are you ready for the Special Election on Tuesday, May 2, 2023?  Special Elections often suffer from very low turnout.  That’s especially unfortunate this time because there are some long-term levies being decided by simple majorities in those precincts.  That means just a small group of voters can make all the difference!
  
  
• Geauga School Boards need some fresh faces.  All 5 local school districts in Geauga County will have board positions up for election in November.  Have you ever thought about running for your local school board?  There are some excellent resources available to you from local conservative organizations.  Read our new post about the invaluable help being offered to candidates by the OSBCC (Ohio School Board Constitutional Coalition.
   
• Ohio House Bill 144 & Joint Resolution 1: This is one crucial step in the fight to keep the abortion amendment out of the Oho Constitution.  Read up on this somewhat confusing group of bills and resolutions in our recent post here.  Basically, we need to pass a thing so we can pass another thing so we can vote on that thing in August, so we can stop another thing from happening in November…just read the post and it will (hopefully) make sense!
  
  
• Ohio House Bill 68:  Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, a.k.a. the SAFE Act.  This bill will prohibit the mutilation of children in the state of Ohio under the guise of Gender Reassignment Surgery.  Proponents of the bill delivered in-person testimony and submitted email testimony last week.  Watch Prisha Mosely’s courageous and moving testimony in support of the bill.

Five Minutes (more on our Act Now page)

Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. These tasks should take no more than 5-10 minutes each.  Why not tackle them all this week?

• Be ready for Tuesday’s Special Election!  Send our Special Election page to all your friends in Bainbridge, Chardon, Chester, and Thompson.  Also see auburntownship.org’s post on the election.
  
  
• High priority:  We are still on a very tight deadline to get House Bill 144 and HRJ1 through their committees and brought to the House floor for a vote.  These are absolutely crucial.  If you care about protecting the unborn in Ohio, please do this today!
  
  
• We still need more people to contact our County Commissioners and tell them we want Geauga County to LEAVE NOACA.  Instructions here.  Please share our all-things-NOACA page with as many Geauga County friends as you can (and Lake, Medina, Lorain, and Cuyahoga folks too).  Also, mark your calendars for this informative event coming up on May 12^th.
  
  

Calendar/Upcoming Dates

• 05/02/23 – Special Elections: Bainbridge, Chardon, Chester F, Thompson
• 05/02/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 05/02/23 – Geauga County TEA Party Meeting
• 05/08/23 – Berkshire Local School Board Meeting
• 05/08/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting
• 05/09/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 05/10/23 – Cardinal Local School Board Meeting
• 05/12/23 – NOACA Panel Discussion
• 05/15/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting
• 05/15/23 – Kenston Local School Board Meeting
• 05/16/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 05/18/23 – Geauga County Board of Elections Meeting

See our full Calendar:  http://fortifygeauga.org/calendar/

Hello, Friends!

Welcome to a brand new week.  This is the Fortify Geauga Newsletter for the week of April 24, 2023.

Current Issues

• Say NO to NOACA:  Do you know about NOACA?  It stands for the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.  It’s a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) that is supposed to be about allocating federal funds for bridges and roads, but in reality, it is a creeping behemoth of left-leaning policy disasters.  You can’t ignore NOACA, because NOACA is not ignoring you.  Please read up on NOACA’s No Good, Very Bad Climate Action Takeover.
• Ohio House Joint Resolution 1:  (Also known as Senate Joint Resolution 2)  A constitutional amendment to require a 60% vote to approve new constitutional amendments. Currently, the Legislature must achieve a vote of 50% + 1 to pass new amendments to the Ohio Constitution.  This amendment would raise that requirement to 60%.  Read why this is a very good idea.
• Ohio House Bill 68:  Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, a.k.a. the SAFE Act.  This bill will prohibit the mutilation of children in the state of Ohio under the guise of “Gender reassignment Surgery”.
• West Geauga Security concerns:  Parents in the West Geauga School Districts are concerned with safety procedures after a student brought firearm and ammunition to the West Geauga High School with the intention of shooting other students.  The next West Geauga School Board meeting is Monday, April 24 at 7:00 pm.

Five Minutes – Here is a list of things you can do today to help us Fortify Geauga and Ohio. These tasks should take no more than 5 minutes each.  Why not tackle them all this week?

• High priority:  Call Ohio Speaker of the House Jason Stephens and urge him to bring HRJ1 up for a vote.  This important legislation is on the list of items that can be brought up for a vote, but he can still prevent the vote by stalling on this issue until the session runs out. Urge him to bring it up for a vote right away!  Phone:  614-466-1366.
• Contact State Legislators via email form to urge them to support HJR1/SJR2.  Use this form.
• Call or email our Geauga County Commissioners and tell them you want Geauga County to leave NOACA
  • 440-279-1660
  • commissioners@geaugabocc.org
• Send a brief email to the Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee in support of House Bill 68 (SAFE Act).  Click here for details.

Calendar/Upcoming Dates

• 04/24/23 – Chardon Local School Board Meeting
• 04/24/23 – West Geauga School Board Meeting
• 04/25/23 – Chester Township Board of Trustees Special Meeting
• 04/25/23 – Geauga County Commissioners Meeting
• 04/26/23 – Geauga Public Health Board Meeting
• 04/26/23 – Townhall Against Child Mutilation

See our full Calendar:  https://fortifygeauga.org/calendar/

Welcome, Friends! 

Thank you for signing up for the Fortify Geauga Newsletter.  The purpose of our newsletter is to inform conservatives about issues and opportunities for action in our county and state.  In the future, our Newsletter will contain links to our website, FortifyGeauga.org, where we plan to post tons of information and insights.  For the time being, we are still under construction and we are working hard to create a great site packed with lots of engaging content.  We are all volunteers who are trying our best, so please be patient with us as we build! 

Our regular Newsletters will include… 

• Current Issues 

A list of important issues we think you should be aware of in our County and State. 

• Five Minutes 

A list of actions you can do that will each take 5 minutes or less.  Call a legislator, send an email, or read up on something important to local or state politics. 

• Monthly Calendar 

A link to the web version of our Calendar.  We list the meetings, events, and deadlines you need to be aware of, along with links to more information on each issue. 

About Fortify Geauga 

We are a new organization in Geauga County, working to restore conservative values to our local government and Republican Party.  Fortify Geauga is not affiliated with any other organization or with any political party.  We do not raise funds for candidates, parties, or PACs.   

We live in Geauga County and sincerely want to help our conservative neighbors better understand and participate in local government.  As conservatives, we have seen our local governments and the Republican Party in Geauga County drift away from our values.  We would like to join together with fellow Geauga conservatives to make sure our local leaders and our county Republican Party reflect true, grassroots conservative positions. 

We support Civic Engagement, Conservative Values, and Transparency in Government.  Our specific goals are: 

Civic Engagement 

• Increase awareness among Republican voters about crucial issues impacting our county and state 
• Facilitate a Precinct Network for grassroots activism to harness the power of our conservative voters
• Encourage strong relationships between local representatives and constituents to ensure the voice of the people is understood and valued 

Conservative Values 

• Small, efficient government led by the wishes and interests of constituents, not politicians or outside interests 
• Protection of individual rights as enumerated in our founding documents, especially including religious liberty, freedom of speech, and the right to bear arms
• Protecting the lives of the unborn
• Ensuring public education is free from political indoctrination and parental rights are honored  

Transparency In Government 

• Open meetings of all party and governmental bodies, involving the narrowest possible application of secrecy permitted in Ohio’s Sunshine Laws 
• On-the-record voting in every possible scenario 
• Protecting the rights of citizens to participate in the process of government 
• Ensuring and prioritizing election integrity 

That’s us in a nutshell!  We hope you enjoy our content, and please contact us if you have a question, suggestion, or would like to add an issue or event we have overlooked.  Feel free to share this email with other Geauga conservatives.  If you’d like to unsubscribe, please let us know by email.  We can be reached at FortifyGeauga@proton.me. 

Patriotically Yours, 

Tiffanie Broadbent & the Fortify Geauga Team