Postcard that discredits Rep. Allison Russo is inaccurate PBS series shows people susceptible to certain info
Over the weekend, I received a postcard from the Ohio Republican Party saying, incorrectly, that state Rep. Allison Russo signed a pledge to defund our police.
Please know that this is false information. If one searches Russo's sponsored and co-sponsored bills at the official Ohio House of Representatives website, one will not find any such legislation. She does not support defunding the police and has no plan to take away our ability to receive help when we dial 911 for an emergency.
Russo has a doctoral degree in public health and understands how public policy affects our lives, our health and wellbeing. She does not support defunding the police. She does support long overdue police reforms based on the 2015 report by the bipartisan Ohio Task Force on Community Policy Relations commissioned by former Gov. John Kasich. It says, among other recommendations, that we should create specialized units of trained intervention officers to respond to mental health crisis situations.
This is why I voted for Allison Russo for the Ohio House and recommend her to others.
Janet Ciccone, Upper Arlington
The PBS series "Hacking Your Mind" should be required viewing. The first episode explains that our brains are wired and ready to operate on autopilot. Later episodes describe how we're susceptible to certain kinds of information, why we prefer one group over other groups, and other behaviors.
The four episodes are available on the PBS website and some streaming services.
Steve Piehler, Columbus