Statement shouldn’t cause distress

To the editor:

Ami Huffman, the Jay County director of community development for Jay County Development Corporation, made a private statement in a private group that should not cause any distress to residents or businesses in this county. 

A letter to the editor headlined “Comments should result in removal” was printed in The Commercial Review on Friday. This letter, written by Jim Sanders, called for the removal of Ami Huffman from her position as director of community development. This letter also claims that Huffman’s comments will result in “the Jay County economy and population to continue to struggle and lose opportunity.”

It is not Huffman’s fault that people in the community may decide to stop supporting businesses such as Portland Pizza King, Strohl Appliance and Electric, Greek’s Pizzeria, Grounds on the Fly, Greazy Pickle, etc., because these businesses made the choice to publicly support a parade that ended up not being what it was advertised to be. Mrs. Huffman never made any comments directed toward one side or another, she never said anything political, she always remained neutral and, most importantly, she never mentioned anything about boycotting any businesses. Mrs. Huffman has always fought for the best for our community, and I, for one, believe that Jay County is extremely lucky to have someone like Ami Huffman fighting for us.

This parade was advertised as a parade that would support our country, our military, our police and our first responders. Many people even stated that this parade was not going to be a political event. These statements were unfortunately proven to be incredibly incorrect. This parade was filled with Donald Trump flags, confederate flags, and even instances of degradation toward presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden.

If members of our community make the decision to “take note” of the businesses sponsoring the parade, as Mrs. Huffman put it, that would be their own personal decision. The businesses that sponsored this parade should have put more thought into how participation in a parade that everyone knew had the potential to turn political would affect the amount of customers that they bring in.

Just as the individuals and businesses that participated in the parade have the freedom to support whichever presidential candidate they please, members of the community also have the freedom to choose what businesses they would and would not like to support based on businesses’ stated beliefs and views in accordance with how they may align with the individual’s own beliefs and views. The beautiful thing about living in America is all of our freedoms, and this is a perfect example of them in action.

I will be incredibly disappointed in my community if Ami Huffman is released from her position. As Mr. Sanders mentioned, JCDC states that they “are here to assist our community in growing their economy.” However, one is not able to assist a community in growing their economy if they self-sabotage themselves by being public about their political opinions.

You should not publicly support a racist, sexist, homophobic man, and then be shocked when you lose customers. If these businesses are allowed to have their own opinions, so is Mrs. Huffman.

After all, the First Amendment of our U.S. Constitution states that we all have the right to freedom of speech. The First Amendment should be just as important to members of our community as the Second Amendment is.

Ashlyn Dow

Portland