A number of months ago, the Village Board voted in favor of purchasing a parcel of land along Columbus, bounded by Marietta and Moneta, so that this could be turned into a playground area. The fact that it is right across the street from where Kelly Avenue School used to be (along with its substantial play area) seemed to me to be fitting. One of the concepts we wanted to invite in our neighborhood impact study, was to try and offer playground and park equipment within safe walking distance of everyone who lives in the Heights.
This is really a rather tall order, as it is virtually impossible to find substantial open land in the Village. So, when this parcel of land became available, it was truly a blessing. A few weeks ago, we had the purchase of the playground equipment on the agenda. The problem was that three of our trustees were unable to make the meeting (for very important reasons). At the meeting, there were three trustees present (Trustees Owen, Pendleton, and Carter) and myself. We were able to just make the quorom with the four of us present. When the playground equipment purchase and installation came up, it was voted down, 2-1. Trustees Owen and Pendleton voted against the purchase; Trustee Carter voted in favor of the same. I threw a vote in there, too, that I was really not allowed to do. So, I thought that I had forced a tie (which really made no difference, as a tie is a defeat, as well). I further found out that I was wrong as to being able to vote to force a tie. So, in the end, the motion was defeated 2-1. Do I think it would have been approved if the other three Trustees had been able to attend the meeting? Without a doubt. But, that's the way the monkey bars sag sometimes.
Does this mean that we can never put a playground there? Luckily, it doesn't mean that. We will have to bring a NEW concept regarding the playground equipment purchase; we just cannot re-introduce the one that was defeated. So, we will be looking for Board approval in the near future for a revised concept for the same idea... a public playground at the corner of Columbus/Marietta/Moneta. The loss of the playground at Kelly Avenue School has left a void for this opportunity in that section of the Heights. We hope that it will be approved when it comes around again; and that we can bring a couple more further south in the Village in the not too distant future.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Many, Many Thanks to Rep. Jehan Gordon
Rep. Jehan Gordon announced last night at our Board of Trustees meeting, that the Village would be receiving $635,000.00 for the Prospect Road work, through the State Capital Improvements fund. In other words, it will be paid for, virtually 100% with the grant. This amount of money, obviously, is huge. It will give us a head start on more projects for next fiscal year, including doing the lower part of Prospect Road, along with (hopefully) several drainage issues we have throughout the Heights.
We really cannot thank Rep. Gordon enough. She has been attentive and concerned with our needs, and we've all been very pleased with her "service" for us. Particularly in these difficult economic times, we truly appreciate all of the help and guidance she has given to the Heights. We're doing pretty well economically, but as I've discussed before, the costs of maintaining our infrastructure will continue to exceed our ability to raise revenues. That's the nature of the beast. So, we can either turn a blind eye to our infrastructure needs (not acceptable), or do all that we can to attempt to increase our revenues in the coming years.
The grant could not have come at a better time. It's been around 20 years since Prospect Road has been milled and overlaid... it's time.
Again, THANK YOU, REP. GORDON!
We really cannot thank Rep. Gordon enough. She has been attentive and concerned with our needs, and we've all been very pleased with her "service" for us. Particularly in these difficult economic times, we truly appreciate all of the help and guidance she has given to the Heights. We're doing pretty well economically, but as I've discussed before, the costs of maintaining our infrastructure will continue to exceed our ability to raise revenues. That's the nature of the beast. So, we can either turn a blind eye to our infrastructure needs (not acceptable), or do all that we can to attempt to increase our revenues in the coming years.
The grant could not have come at a better time. It's been around 20 years since Prospect Road has been milled and overlaid... it's time.
Again, THANK YOU, REP. GORDON!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Waiting on Poison Pen
It's now Friday, nearly two full days since I invited Poison Pen to come visit me, and I've yet to have a reply. I'm thinking some cold cuts, maybe even the pulled beef, from Alwan's, for lunch. Right here. I'd even set aside a few hours (or more)... as much time as Poison Pen needs. Still waiting.
Now, don't anyone out there PRETEND as though you are Poison Pen, just to get a free sandwich or two. I have my ways of verifying if the person is the REAL Poison Pen or not. I won't give away my secrets, but it has to do with karaoke and asphalt.
Now, don't anyone out there PRETEND as though you are Poison Pen, just to get a free sandwich or two. I have my ways of verifying if the person is the REAL Poison Pen or not. I won't give away my secrets, but it has to do with karaoke and asphalt.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Journal Star Mish-Mash
I don't usually read the comments that are posted on-line whenever a story is in the Journal Star about the Heights. The fact that they're able to post anonymously, and that most everyone who bothers to post is usually negative in scope, sort of skewers the whole process, in my opinion. This story regarding Trustee Owen has taken on legs of its own, however, in allowing a stalwart Earl Carter supporter to fling all kinds of accusations around about what a jerk I am. That's fine, everyone's entitled to their opinions, but this one is almost too good to pass up... here it is, in its entirety, from someone called "Poison Pen"...
"Longing....1966, maybe 1967 measures were taken to prevent PH form being surrounded...we both know the particulars. It was a great move on the part of the participants...genius in fact. And, as far as calling for a vote to cease being a separate community, to my knowledge there has never been, nor or there any citizens now who want to see that happen...ever.
Longing...let me explain my concerns...It begins with a disgruntled citizen, who approached the mayor, demanding that the mayor have PH public works tear down a building in his neighborhood.. The mayor explained to the citizen he couldn't just tear the building down, there were legal channels that had to be exhausted before they could demolish the building. The citizen told the mayor, and I'm paraphrasing, 'you're the mayor, you can do anything you want'. The mayor insisted that wasn't the way it was done, reiterating that he couldn't do what the citizen wanted until the court gave him the legal right. The citizen became angry and told the mayor, and, again, I'm paraphrasing, 'if you can't, I'll show you I can and will'. Ultimately, the court gave PH the right to demolish the building and it was torn down, but the citizen was so enraged with the mayor for refusal to do his bidding that he decided to run for mayor himself (which is everybody's right, I have no problem with system). My problem is with the citizen expecting the mayor to supercede the legal process to meet his demands and in his belief that his demand should be the first and obviously the only consideration for the mayor. Wait...it gets better.
At some point, the very same mayor appointed the citizen's BFF to the position of Fire Chief. The new Chief had his own ideas of how the fire dept should be run, but the mayor was concerned about the costs of implementing the Chief's ideas of the perfect fire dept and ambulance service. The mayor checked with Sharon Kennedy at Advanced Medical Transport and learned the Village could sign a contract with AMT, that would cost the taxpayers nothing. When the Fire Chief learned that he could lose half of his recently acquired domain if the mayor was successful in negotiating with AMT, he called his BFF, and the race was on.
My point?
We now have a mayor, duly elected in two elections, no dispute (the people had their say), who only considered running for mayor because the former mayor refused to thumb his nose at the legal procedures required to assure the Village wasn't sued.
A mayor who has no control of his temper, who throws hissy screaming fits when people don't do what he expects or orders them to do.
A mayor who thinks purchasing a whole new fleet of official vehicles, even an official car for his BFF, the fire chief, is an example of his superior administration skills. Did Chief Bill Bair have a big, new, shiny car provided by the village Longing?
A mayor who thinks it's his divine right to spend Village money on any pet project he chooses and who isn't above violating the rules of order to cast the tieing vote to keep his project from being defeated by the people we elected to determine how our money is be spent.
A mayor who believes his intellect to be sounder, superior to everyone else and therefore doesn't have to explain his reasoning or actions except to say. 'it's the right thing to do'.
My last question is...the right thing to do for who?...the people of PH or the volunteers and paramedics of the fire and ambulance service.
Call me stupid Longing, but these actions and tactics are alarming when you compare the actions and tactics of his predecessors.
I guess Monkey has decided to keep his mouth shut until he gets his act together...wonder how long that will take? Of course, learning not to go off half-****ed comes harder for some of us than others. "
I read this, and I keep thinking that the writer is describing Earl Carter. But, nope... it's me, and my "horrible" temper, blah blah blah. My first notion is to just ignore it, but I'm going to point out a couple of things.
The house in question was on my block. It was empty for about ten years. It had a hole in its roof for about seven years. Raccoons, vermin, and vagrants were hanging out inside of it. Mr. Carter drove by this house several times a day (as he lives on the same street I do), and did nothing. We (over 20 neighbors) took two petitions to the Village to ask to have the house torn down or fixed up, but nothing was ever done about it.
Yes, I finally had enough. I went to Village Hall, asked for petitions to run for mayor, was told they never have that sort of thing at Village Hall (later I was told at the County Courthouse that this was WAY out of the ordinary); and within two weeks after that, MAGICALLY the house was torn down. Was it done by the Village? Nope. It was brokered by Mr. Carter to be done by a private excavator. That excavator then placed a lien on the property for his charges. Good deal. The house was FINALLY torn down. Why did it take so long, and why did it happen so suddenly after Mr. Carter knew I was running for mayor? Simple. He wanted it removed as a campaign issue... no photos to be taken of the dilapidated house. Whatever... at least it was gone.
Mr. Carter never talked to me about the house before it was torn down. I never said to him that he could do anything because he was mayor. Hardly... we really didn't communicate with each other. You're getting quite a story there, Poison Pen... and I'll give anyone reading one guess as to who Poison Pen has been talking to.
And, don't tell me that "legally" it takes even 5 years to have a house like this addressed. We've had to do it to a few houses since I've been in office, and it takes about 6 months from beginning to end. To quote the Village Administrator at the time, tearing down the house "was not a priority with the mayor."
Earl Carter appointed the present Fire Chief based on the recommendations from the Fire Department. Mr. Carter WANTED to be able to appoint a chief of HIS choice, but even he knew that it was best to go with the Department choice, if at all possible.
Mr. Carter had plenty of time to check out the set-up AMT could present, and he chose not to pursue signing up with AMT. Don't make it sound like he was about to do so. Nothing of that sort was ever talked about at any meeting where minutes were taken.
I chose to run for mayor without consulting with any member of the Fire Department, Ambulance Service, anyone connected with the Village. I ran for one reason and one reason only... because I felt I could do better than Earl Carter. The "falling apart" house was just one of the examples of what I didn't approve of. Add the proposed Streetscape, the changes at Tower Park, the park in the flood plain, and the poor relations with the Village employees to that list.
The Fire Chief does not have a personal vehicle paid for by the Village. The EMT Leader utilizes a vehicle that is an EMT car. It is clearly marked as one. Sometimes members of the Fire Department use the same vehicle to pick up supplies, deliver items, etc. It is used for Village safety business. Again, period. The EMT leader will sometimes take the vehicle home. He lives about a half dozen blocks from Village Hall, and is on 24 hour call. They keep a full supply of safety items in the trunk of the vehicle.
I don't feel I have a "divine right" to do anything. The trustees vote to approve or turn down. It's not my baby. There are some items I have pushed for. Others I have not. I can vote to break a tie or force a tie. I believe I've forced a tie a couple of times; broken a tie maybe about a half dozen times. I rarely vote. (Special Note: I have since verified that I CANNOT vote to force a tie. I did it once, not more than that, and I was in error when I did so. I have since publicly stated the same. Don't ask me what I read to make me think that I could do that sort of vote. Obviously, whatever it was, I was way wrong in my interpretation!)
Now, Poison Pen, I understand that you don't like what's going on in the Heights now. That's fine, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. But, at least get the facts straight. That's all I ask. This is the same sort of "half truths, innuendos, and outright lies" that the Peoples Party and its periodicals have thrown about for years now. I don't expect Poison Pen to view things any differently, but here is an open invitation to Poison Pen...
Call me at 686-2385, and let's arrange a meeting. Bring as many questions as you want. Bring a friend if you want to. We'll take as long as you like. I've nothing to hide, it's all out in the open, we're audited every year.
I'll even spring for some sandwiches if you'd like.
"Longing....1966, maybe 1967 measures were taken to prevent PH form being surrounded...we both know the particulars. It was a great move on the part of the participants...genius in fact. And, as far as calling for a vote to cease being a separate community, to my knowledge there has never been, nor or there any citizens now who want to see that happen...ever.
Longing...let me explain my concerns...It begins with a disgruntled citizen, who approached the mayor, demanding that the mayor have PH public works tear down a building in his neighborhood.. The mayor explained to the citizen he couldn't just tear the building down, there were legal channels that had to be exhausted before they could demolish the building. The citizen told the mayor, and I'm paraphrasing, 'you're the mayor, you can do anything you want'. The mayor insisted that wasn't the way it was done, reiterating that he couldn't do what the citizen wanted until the court gave him the legal right. The citizen became angry and told the mayor, and, again, I'm paraphrasing, 'if you can't, I'll show you I can and will'. Ultimately, the court gave PH the right to demolish the building and it was torn down, but the citizen was so enraged with the mayor for refusal to do his bidding that he decided to run for mayor himself (which is everybody's right, I have no problem with system). My problem is with the citizen expecting the mayor to supercede the legal process to meet his demands and in his belief that his demand should be the first and obviously the only consideration for the mayor. Wait...it gets better.
At some point, the very same mayor appointed the citizen's BFF to the position of Fire Chief. The new Chief had his own ideas of how the fire dept should be run, but the mayor was concerned about the costs of implementing the Chief's ideas of the perfect fire dept and ambulance service. The mayor checked with Sharon Kennedy at Advanced Medical Transport and learned the Village could sign a contract with AMT, that would cost the taxpayers nothing. When the Fire Chief learned that he could lose half of his recently acquired domain if the mayor was successful in negotiating with AMT, he called his BFF, and the race was on.
My point?
We now have a mayor, duly elected in two elections, no dispute (the people had their say), who only considered running for mayor because the former mayor refused to thumb his nose at the legal procedures required to assure the Village wasn't sued.
A mayor who has no control of his temper, who throws hissy screaming fits when people don't do what he expects or orders them to do.
A mayor who thinks purchasing a whole new fleet of official vehicles, even an official car for his BFF, the fire chief, is an example of his superior administration skills. Did Chief Bill Bair have a big, new, shiny car provided by the village Longing?
A mayor who thinks it's his divine right to spend Village money on any pet project he chooses and who isn't above violating the rules of order to cast the tieing vote to keep his project from being defeated by the people we elected to determine how our money is be spent.
A mayor who believes his intellect to be sounder, superior to everyone else and therefore doesn't have to explain his reasoning or actions except to say. 'it's the right thing to do'.
My last question is...the right thing to do for who?...the people of PH or the volunteers and paramedics of the fire and ambulance service.
Call me stupid Longing, but these actions and tactics are alarming when you compare the actions and tactics of his predecessors.
I guess Monkey has decided to keep his mouth shut until he gets his act together...wonder how long that will take? Of course, learning not to go off half-****ed comes harder for some of us than others. "
I read this, and I keep thinking that the writer is describing Earl Carter. But, nope... it's me, and my "horrible" temper, blah blah blah. My first notion is to just ignore it, but I'm going to point out a couple of things.
The house in question was on my block. It was empty for about ten years. It had a hole in its roof for about seven years. Raccoons, vermin, and vagrants were hanging out inside of it. Mr. Carter drove by this house several times a day (as he lives on the same street I do), and did nothing. We (over 20 neighbors) took two petitions to the Village to ask to have the house torn down or fixed up, but nothing was ever done about it.
Yes, I finally had enough. I went to Village Hall, asked for petitions to run for mayor, was told they never have that sort of thing at Village Hall (later I was told at the County Courthouse that this was WAY out of the ordinary); and within two weeks after that, MAGICALLY the house was torn down. Was it done by the Village? Nope. It was brokered by Mr. Carter to be done by a private excavator. That excavator then placed a lien on the property for his charges. Good deal. The house was FINALLY torn down. Why did it take so long, and why did it happen so suddenly after Mr. Carter knew I was running for mayor? Simple. He wanted it removed as a campaign issue... no photos to be taken of the dilapidated house. Whatever... at least it was gone.
Mr. Carter never talked to me about the house before it was torn down. I never said to him that he could do anything because he was mayor. Hardly... we really didn't communicate with each other. You're getting quite a story there, Poison Pen... and I'll give anyone reading one guess as to who Poison Pen has been talking to.
And, don't tell me that "legally" it takes even 5 years to have a house like this addressed. We've had to do it to a few houses since I've been in office, and it takes about 6 months from beginning to end. To quote the Village Administrator at the time, tearing down the house "was not a priority with the mayor."
Earl Carter appointed the present Fire Chief based on the recommendations from the Fire Department. Mr. Carter WANTED to be able to appoint a chief of HIS choice, but even he knew that it was best to go with the Department choice, if at all possible.
Mr. Carter had plenty of time to check out the set-up AMT could present, and he chose not to pursue signing up with AMT. Don't make it sound like he was about to do so. Nothing of that sort was ever talked about at any meeting where minutes were taken.
I chose to run for mayor without consulting with any member of the Fire Department, Ambulance Service, anyone connected with the Village. I ran for one reason and one reason only... because I felt I could do better than Earl Carter. The "falling apart" house was just one of the examples of what I didn't approve of. Add the proposed Streetscape, the changes at Tower Park, the park in the flood plain, and the poor relations with the Village employees to that list.
The Fire Chief does not have a personal vehicle paid for by the Village. The EMT Leader utilizes a vehicle that is an EMT car. It is clearly marked as one. Sometimes members of the Fire Department use the same vehicle to pick up supplies, deliver items, etc. It is used for Village safety business. Again, period. The EMT leader will sometimes take the vehicle home. He lives about a half dozen blocks from Village Hall, and is on 24 hour call. They keep a full supply of safety items in the trunk of the vehicle.
I don't feel I have a "divine right" to do anything. The trustees vote to approve or turn down. It's not my baby. There are some items I have pushed for. Others I have not. I can vote to break a tie or force a tie. I believe I've forced a tie a couple of times; broken a tie maybe about a half dozen times. I rarely vote. (Special Note: I have since verified that I CANNOT vote to force a tie. I did it once, not more than that, and I was in error when I did so. I have since publicly stated the same. Don't ask me what I read to make me think that I could do that sort of vote. Obviously, whatever it was, I was way wrong in my interpretation!)
Now, Poison Pen, I understand that you don't like what's going on in the Heights now. That's fine, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. But, at least get the facts straight. That's all I ask. This is the same sort of "half truths, innuendos, and outright lies" that the Peoples Party and its periodicals have thrown about for years now. I don't expect Poison Pen to view things any differently, but here is an open invitation to Poison Pen...
Call me at 686-2385, and let's arrange a meeting. Bring as many questions as you want. Bring a friend if you want to. We'll take as long as you like. I've nothing to hide, it's all out in the open, we're audited every year.
I'll even spring for some sandwiches if you'd like.
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