Stone Gays To Death Says Window Washer/Tea Party Member

Esk, who owns a window-washing business, also took a jab at those who get divorced, saying that divorce cases should be tried by a jury.

Tea Party Member Says He Supports Stoning Gay People To Death: A Republican candidate & window washer who is also a member of the Tea Party expressed support for stoning gay people to death, according to The Huffington Post.

Scott Esk, of Oklahoma, made the comments during a debate on Facebook last year. But he may soon get the chance to share some of his Biblical ideals with the state legislature, as he is slated to run for the state House of Representatives at the end of June. Stoning homosexuals, the Republican said, was a practice sanctioned by God.

"That was done in the Old Testament under a law that came directly from God and in that time there it was totally just. It came directly from God," Esk told the Moore Daily, supporting what he wrote on Facebook. "I have no plans to reinstitute that in Oklahoma law. I do have some very huge moral misgivings about those kinds of sins." 

However, Esk wrote on Facebook last summer that he never said he would introduce "legislation to put homosexuals to death," but he "didn't have a problem with it," The Huffington Post reported. "I think we would totally be in the right to do it," Esk wrote. "That goes against some parts of libertarianism I realize, and I'm largely libertarian, but ignoring as a nation things that are worthy of death is very remiss."

Esk, who owns a window-washing business, also took a jab at those who get divorced, saying that divorce cases should be tried by a jury. "I also don't buy into the notion that it's unfair to make somebody stay in a marriage he's unhappy with," wrote Esk, whose 15-year marriage ended in divorce, according to The Huffington Post. Elections for the state House of Representatives will be held on June 24. "I look forward to applying Biblical principles to Oklahoma law," Esk said on his website.

Meet The Window Cleaning Mayor

Mayor Alan Ausman is proud of Bethel's revitalization efforts as well as its history.

Meet the Mayor: Alan Ausman of Bethel cleans windows, helps village envision the future (Bethel, Ohio)  - Alan Ausman (born Feb. 3, 1965), Bethel. Ausman was elected in November 2011 and took office in January 2012. He served three years as a councilman before being elected mayor. He is a registered Republican, but considers himself "a Conservative before a Republican." He graduated from Williamsburg High School in 1983, but has always considered Bethel his hometown. He has been a professional window cleaner for 30 years. As mayor of Bethel, Ausman earns a salary of $500 per month.

Elected: Nov. 2011
Population: 2,700
County: Clermont
Founded: 1798 by Obed Denham
Claim to fame: President Grant spent part of his childhood in Bethel. It is also the home of Steve Newman, The WorldWalker.

1. What is the single biggest issue facing your town?

I believe that the biggest issue facing Bethel is our infrastructure needs as is evident by three water main breaks in the last four weeks and a water tower rupture recently. Council approved securing a low interest EPA loan and will begin on replacing our decaying water mains and replacing the 1930’s era water tower this spring.

We have already begun a Plane St. (our Main St.) revitalization project that is replacing curbs, gutters and sidewalks as well as new street lighting. We are also working on grants to replace our bridges. One has been completed (Charity Street) and another (Spring Street) to begin the near future.

2. If someone were to visit your town for the first time, what should they see and do?

We have the only Ben Franklin 5 &10 store in Southwest Ohio and it is owned by Tim Smith, who is a third generation of Smiths who have owned the store. A person can go to the store and still have loose candy weighed and bagged just like Ike Geodesy did it on the Waltons.

We also have many antique shops on our Main St. Midway, the iconic single screen theater, is still operating on weekends.The Bethel Historical Society operates a museum in the Grant Memorial Building open most Saturdays and has quite a collection of history.

3. What is your proudest accomplishment as mayor?

I would have to say my proudest accomplishment as mayor is actually a great accomplishment for the village as a whole. In 2009 we were placed in fiscal emergency and it was removed in 2013--ahead of schedule even with our local government funds being cut in half. It took a lot of work from many people, but together with council and administration, we were able to right the village’s finances and chart a positive outlook for the village of Bethel into the future.  fiscal emergency in 2009 and

4. What do you hope is different about your town in ten years?

It would be my hope within the next ten years that we can have our Main St. upgrades complete and have a whole new look to our Main Street business district.

5. What are your political aspirations?

I have no further political aspirations as I enjoy serving as mayor in the town where I grew up.

6. I bet you didn’t know...

The first mayor of the village of Bethel (1852) was Jesse Grant, the father of Ulysses Grant.The Grant Memorial Building that stands in the center of our village is actually in honor of Jesse Grant, not President Grant. We were also a stop on the Underground Railroad as the founders of Bethel were avid abolitionists.

Don Marsh the Window Cleaner: "Transparency Through Technology"

Don Marsh: Transparency through technology - Running for mayor in the bluest city in this part of the state, Don Marsh is the reddest of the five Gainesville mayoral contenders. The other day, Marsh, 51, with his blue eyes, blue T-shirt and blue jeans talked about his first rodeo as the red guy - his run for Alachua County commissioner in 2002. Marsh, a Republican, received 33.67 percent of the vote in a loss to Cynthia Chestnut, a Democrat. "It made me more understanding of public officials," he said, "though I still reserve the right to roundly criticize them."

In the early 1980s, Marsh and his wife, Cindi, moved from Clearwater to Gainesville for work. But soon afterward the job was pulled out from under him, he said. "I'm a high school graduate in a college town," he said. So with no degree, he felt he had to create a job for himself. And he did. He started a window cleaning business by one day buying a squeegee, and now, nearly three decades later, he's still washing windows. "I never thought that an education was something on paper," he said. "It's something that's in your head."

In 2004, he started a Web site, Alachua Voter Guide, as a melding of his interests in both the Internet and local politics "I wanted people to know what was going on," he explained. During his campaign, he has employed Facebook, Twitter and his blog to get his message across. As mayor, Marsh said he would use the electronic media to offer "unvarnished truth" and "real transparency" to the public. Marsh, a supporter of the Tea Party movement, said his main issue, if elected, would be lowering utility bills.

Gainesville Regional Utilities "is fundamental to our economic ecosystem here, and if we screw that up, we put ourselves in a hole that we can hardly get out of," he said. In the campaign, Marsh has raised the second-least amount of money among the five candidates, but he said he is confident going into the election Tuesday. "I'm not a quitter. I started my business with next to nothing," he said, adding that "on Election Day they count the votes, not the money."

Questions for the candidates - The Sun asked each candidate the same four questions, asking them to keep their answers to 50 words or less...

How would you handle the city's projected budget deficit of roughly $7 million?
Stop ambitious road-narrowing projects, cancel One-Stop center, sell or lease Ironwood Golf Course, eliminate the office of Communications and Marketing, staff reductions for non-essentials, move to open source software licenses, hold more review board meetings online, collect rent on more cell towers.

What would you do to alleviate the city's issue of homelessness?
It is time to cultivate a good relationship with our houses of worship. These are the people who are most willing to help them for free, and we need a healthy working relationship with them.

What would your top priority be in office?
Reduce the transfer rate from GRU and stop hiding our taxes there. Then, lobbying state and federal authorities to lift the moratorium on coal power plants. We will use alternative fuels when we can afford them.

Why are you the best person for the position?
I want all the right things -- fire and police protection, affordable standard of living, job opportunities in a positive business environment. And I am willing to drag every project out into the light and let the citizens see it so we can either own it or reject it.