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Rod Serling, that chain-smoking, plot-twisting, mystery master of Twilight Zone human drama, is alive and well and, apparently, writing his scripts in Richland Township. This week's episode is right out of the Ronald Reagan quotebook, "Mr. Zowniriw - Tear Down this Wall!"
Do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do. You're traveling through a different dimension. A dimension of arrogance. A dimension of intimidation. A dimension of fear. An angry dimension, whose boundaries are those of neighborhood turmoil and frustration. There's your signpost up ahead. Your next stop - the Zowniriw Zone.
Station Avenue. Nice older homes, some occupied by the same residents for 30 years. A quiet backwater of a street, tucked off the beaten track in the southcentral part of Richland. Until about five years ago, when the big city problems arrived, in the form of Mike and Amy Zowniriw.
At first, things went pretty smoothly. The neighbors even signed Mike's nominating petition for supervisor, and supported his campaign in 2003. But once he was elected, everything changed.
Six different neighboring families, former friends and supporters, came to the Board of Supervisors meeting last Monday to beg the township for help.
"We're fed up with their manipulative and vindictive ways," said Ruthellen Bonomo, who lives next door. She described how Mike and Amy have removed her outdoor security lightbulb, threatened her children, entered her property to initiate arguments, and allowed their dog to run free and bite the Bonomos and their guests. Amy boasted to her that Mike is "over the police"
"My parents and I are scared," added Kelly Collins, the neighbor on the other side, whose family has lived in half of the Z's Victorian duplex for 30 years. "He is using his position as supervisor to intimidate people". She described how Mike has repeatedly entered her house despite being warned to stay out, allowed cats to run free and defecate on her outdoor furniture, and shined a spotlight in her mother's bedroom window at night.
She says that Amy has slammed a door on her, and both Zowniriws yell, scream, and curse at her, and all of the neighbors.
The only surprise here is that anyone is surprised. For almost 16 months, Supervisor Mike Zowniriw has demonstrated a penchant for working against his own township. He has written to a judge opposing Richland, while instead supporting his Richland Citizens Alliance. He has inaccurately claimed that the staff and other supervisors have violated the law. He has harassed volunteers on boards who didn't vote his way.
He threatened me for reporting the incidents, and The Free Press for firing his wife. Now, his bullying has forced neighbors on both sides to hire attorneys, and bring legal action.
How did the Z's react to the letters from those lawyers? Ruthellen says they hung a bright spotlight outside the Bonomo's bedroom window all night. Collins claims that they incessantly yelled and pounded on her walls, despite the fact that her sick father had just returned from the hospital.
And last Monday night, after the supervisors' meeting, Collins found that they had built a wall across the cellar, and turned off her water! Her parents, elderly and handicapped, had to live without water, and were forced to get an injunction to prevent the Z's from doing it again. Only in court did Mike agree to tear the wall down and rebuild it in the proper place.
You can take the Zowniriws out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the Zowniriws. Political office is used for intimidation. Arguments are won by screaming and cursing. Retaliation is the name of the game. Station Avenue is now officially part of the 'hood.
If you believe Mike, it's all lies, a big conspiracy to discredit him and his wife. He claims to have been "targeted and set up and crucified". As he so delicately put it, "They have a bug up their ass".
Does Serling's script have everyone involved in a mysterious neighborhood-wide plot? Do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do.
Whatever the reason, all of these families are very fearful and angry about something . Something big. A big bug. They are not political activists, nor vengeful opponents. Just everyday citizens who have had their peaceful neighborhood thrown into chaos by one township supervisor who, they say, acts "above the law".
And the neighbors aren't alone. The Intelligencer ran a long editorial concluding that Z "has no business being a supervisor", and suggesting anger management. The Free Press called his retaliation "blatantly a bullying tactic - certainly not an action to be taken by an elected official".
Collins' parents now plan to sell their house to escape the problems. But they have been overwhelmed by contributions - some from perfect strangers - of water, food, and donations for their expenses, which they expect to reach $10,000. And they vow further action against their tormenters.
But, there are still people who stand up for Mike. Like Lois Stevens, a founding member of Z's RCA, and wife of candidate-for-supervisor Vic Stevens. Her letter to the Intel, claiming that this was all a "smoke screen", was printed right next to the giant headlines "Supervisor admits mistake". Rather embarrassing for her, but very revealing to Richland voters, who see that Vic Stevens is still a strong Zowniriw political ally.
And there's RCA head cheerleader Paul F.A. Maderson, who often speaks at township meetings, waving his arms, jumping up and down. Monday he yelled at a supervisor " You are a sanctimonious hypocrite". The dramatic Serling plot twist? No, just the pot calling the kettle black.
Maderson certainly understands the term "sanctimonious hypocrite". For years he has railed about enforcing zoning laws in Richland, but closed his own Bed & Breakfast last summer after he was caught violating those same laws!
Township residents have more than four years left of Z's "leadership". Station Avenue families face his bizarre behavior, and possible retaliation, every day. And night.
But such is life...in the Zowniriw Zone.