Political candidates are human, sometimes they get sued. If the Franklin County Common Pleas Civil case – Wade versus Iott — that is the focus of my column this week in the Toledo Free Press — “Silence isn’t always golden” LINK were just a simple civil case, it’d be debatable as to it being newsworthy. However, it is the statements reportedly made by Richard Iott that make it more than a simple civil case.

The e-mail sent by Iott to Wade reportedly made statements that were described as “unacceptable threats and comments” in a complaint filed Sept. 3, 2008.

“In addition to anticipatorily breaching their obligations to Plaintiffs, and despite their obligations of good faith and fair dealing to Plaintiffs, Defendant Richard Bradley Iott has made unacceptable threats and comments to Plaintiffs, all young college students, who asked him to fulfill his written obligations, including the following comments by Mr. Iott:

• “A threat to force upon his son’s roommates another tenant ‘from a Third World nation that practices small animal sacrifices and glorify stealing as an art form:’
• “Inviting litigation, as Mr. Iott would find ‘great sport’ in causing litigants to spend more than his own contractual obligation; and
• “Attempting to intimidate his son’s college roommates to pay his obligations or face eviction.”

The Iott campaign has still not commented on this to me, they can ignore me as a media source, that is their right. This won’t make the questions go away, though I wonder what price buys silence.

You as voters, have the right to determine if this matters to you or not.