Darke County Commissioner
Perception vs. Reality
By Mike Stegall 

I was given the opportunity on Tuesday night, June 11th, to get a tour of the new Hospice facility at Wayne Healthcare.  This is a fantastic addition to Darke County, and is a much needed facility that will make things a lot easier for the families that need the use of the State of the Heart services.  

The person who will run the facility, Heather Wogoman, gave me the tour, and you could see the pride she has in this facility.  Pam Bowman has done an excellent job in setting up the décor and layout.  Both ladies, along with the entire Hospice State of the Heart team, are to be commended.  

This facility was funded locally by a lot of good companies and people who care about their community.  No tax dollars or Government funding was used, it was all by donation. As I was leaving, I began thinking about how Darke County always supports things like this.   If there is a need in the Darke County community, we always rally around it and get it fixed.    

I also thought about how some people in the County, a small but vocal few, constantly complain about almost anything in this County.  There is no doubt some curmudgeon will complain about something being wrong with this facility, or the ever present, ”It cost too much”!  The perception for these people is Greenville sucks, there are no jobs, the Hospital is a band-aid station, the schools are graduating idiots, everything is to expensive,  and the Mayors and Commissioners do everything in private so they can spend the people’s money out of our private slush funds!    

Sound familiar?  I hear this kind of thing often.  Normally, when I hear someone talking like that, either in person or in one of the chat rooms on the internet, I ask them where they got their information.  99% of the time they say they heard it from a friend who heard it from a guy, who works with a woman whose cousin is related to the secretary’s husband by  second marriage, who worked in another area last month, who knows what’s going on!  Really?  That’s your source?   

Then I ask them if they have ever talked to the person who ‘s in charge?   Again, 99% of the time the answer is “No, but my source is very reliable.” Really?  For most of my life, (at least 50 years), I have heard that Fram is closing almost every week!    I have heard for at least 4 years the Ethanol plant is closing forever, especially when they close a couple of times a year for maintenance!  They both are still here.   How often do you hear that Wayne Healthcare is a band-aid station?   Really?  Go visit, take a tour of the facility, check the  doctors on their staff, and then say that.  

Why do we want to believe the worst, without finding out if it is true or not?  Why take any rambling rumor at face value?  For a county that has nothing good happening, no jobs, doesn’t care about anything, or the quality of life we have, (the perception), a lot of people donated time and money to make the Hospice facility a reality for those in need.  They did this selflessly.  It is not a perception.  

Greenville and Darke County are great places to live, better than most, with beautiful parks, great museums, nice downtowns, and people who donate time to plant flowers downtown in our city and villages to make things look better.  On Fridays in the summer, a lot is going on in the downtown areas for people to do, to meet, and have a good time.   

Greenville was named one of Ohio’s Best Hometowns by Ohio Magazine.  This is the reality, not perception.   Darke County has plenty of jobs available, if you want to work.  We are even training people for their future so they will stay in Darke County, and for those who may want to change jobs, we have a manufacturing readiness class available.  All of the County schools, and businesses, and in a joint effort, even some out of County businesses, are working together to make sure we have a viable workforce.   This is the reality, not perception.   Most County schools have an “Excellent” rating from the State, and a good majority of our kids go to college.  This is the reality, not perception.   

Is Darke County without problems?  Of course not, but our problems are no bigger than anywhere else, and a lot of ours are smaller than most places, and fewer than most.  This is the reality, not perception.    Everyone needs to step back and take a look at what we have here.  It is reality.  Maybe some people would rather live in a “perceived” world filled with negativity and misery.  Why?  I have no clue, but some people are only happy when they are miserable, and making others miserable with them.  That is just a sad reality, and a sad reflection on their lives.  Don’t listen to those people.  Nothing, other than misery, makes them happy. 

Take a few minutes, sit down, relax, and look around.  A lot of good things are going on here.  Enjoy it!  Help others to see it.  Darke County and all of our cities, towns, villages, and townships, are doing good things.  Is it perfect?  No, nothing is.   A wise man once said,”Perfection may be unattainable, but Excellence can be achieved”.   Most people in leadership positions that I know are working towards that goal, whether it’s in Government or private enterprise.  They do it not for personal gain, but to make things better for all. This is the reality, not the perception. 

The reality is this is a great place to live, work, and raise families.  The perception is just that, a perception by those who refuse to be happy with anything, especially reality. 

Mike Stegall, Darke County Commissioner