Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Welcome to the new PATA website!

Hello and thank you for coming to the PATA. This site is now operating under new direction. I and my cohort, otherwise known as Roadrunner and Coyote, have both been long time readers and posters to this blog. We live right here in this community a have a deep desire to see that Pickerington remains a wonderful place to live. We have agreed to take over this website in order to ensure that it contains the most up to date information and topics of discussion for what is happening in the Violet capitol of Ohio. We will continue to support the founding principles of PATA and will promote its integrity.

Okay, by now you?’re asking yourself what is different. Well nothing right now. But rest assured there is much change on the way. We plan on being as involved as each of you is in the day to day observations of this community. We plan on creating specific areas of discussion such as a City, Schools, Township, etc. in order to gear your comments, concerns, and questions to your preferred tastes. Most of all, we want to hear from you as to what you want, expect and need from a forum such as this. After all this is your site, we are merely the gatekeepers. We will post a topic of discussion each and every week. These topics will vary from subject to subject based upon what is in the news or what is newsworthy. Once posted, we?’ll just see where they lead. If no one responds?… no problem, we can delete it. You all, of course, still retain the right to start discussion topics of your own.

We are looking to find a way to archive most of the links you currently see on the left side of your page and discussion older than a year or so. There is a TON of valuable information contained in these links and we don?’t want to lose it, but we?’d like it moved somewhere that it can be searched and used down the road. We both subscribe to the age old maxim that, ?“Those who fail to remember the past are therefore condemned to repeat it?”. More on that later.

We will be working closely with the hosts of this website to explore any new features they offer now and any new features that they plan on offering in the future, but to be quite honest, there are many blog services at our disposal and we may opt to take our business to a new host that offers you the most impact and flexibility available.

Okay?… that?’s it for now. Thanks again for stopping by. We hope to see you again soon. Tell all your friends about the site and the changes that are coming. After all, while it is fun to talk and argue with each other, it?’s even better when new people chime in. We promise you this?… it?’s gonna be a heck of a ride.

Feel free to offer your comments and suggestions in reply to this discussion topic or email us at pickeringtontaxpayers@yahoo.com.

Your friends in Picktown,
Roadrunner and Coyote

By Roadrunner and Coyote

Anonymity and Accountability

Dear Roadrunner and Coyote,

Hmmmmm. Change.

While I think your nicknames are funny, I am curious as to why you have decided to host the PATA website under pseudonyms. Integrity and anonymity are not generally concepts that coexist peacefully.

There was a time when PATA was out in front of the issues and not afraid to let the public know who was in charge of this site. This transparency, as well as the assured anonymity of posters (when desired), was key to its success. PATA is now rarely mentioned in the local news. The last couple of years has seen a lack of leadership within PATA, which you have the opportunity to change. It's tough to lead from the shadows.

What will you do with postings with which you disagree? Will you delete them? How will we know if someone else's postings have been deleted?

How do we know you aren't elected officials with an agenda to actually stifle discussions or steer them the way you want?

How will the public be able to hold you accountable when we don't know who you are?

I encourage you to come out of the closet and proudly expose yourselves (figuratively speaking, of course)!


By Red Flags

Anonymity -- Do we Need it?

Red, if you've been around this website for a few years, you will remember that there once was a time when anonymity really was needed. There were readers of this site (let's call them the evil ones) who were not above trying to ''get even'' with people who said things the evil ones did not like.

One of them, you may remember, even took to sending poison pen letters to my employer, accusing me of associating with a local troup of shotgun-toting, masked terrorists, who (according to this evil one) drove about Pickerington in frightening black pick-up trucks tearing up ''Vote Yes'' signs, at gunpoint, during levy campaigns. He apparently hoped to get me fired, but actually wound up making a big fool of himself.

What with anonymity and all, I don't know if the evil ones are still around. They used to post here in their own names, but they may have gone underground. Who knows, Red? You could be one of them. They always wanted other people to post in their own names.

Anyway, the evil ones were certainly soreheads, and if one chose to argue with them, it generally was safer (and certainly was more fun) to do so anonymously. There is also the BIA, which probably monitors this site like a bunch of cops.
Who wants to mess with them? And it definitely is more fun to tweak them anonymously. They don't know, that way, whether they are contending with five or six people, or a whole community.

But how do you feel about anonymity now, Red? I would enjoy knowing who you and certain other posters are. Many of you likely are good friends of mine. It certainly feels eerie carrying on a conversation, or an argument, with a good friend, and not knowing it. We also lose the opportunity to deepen friendships, and learn more about each other. And I, for one, am not the sort of person to take these things personally. Some of my best friends are actually Republicans. You can be sure, at least, that I won't try to get even (although I might give you a hard time).

That's why I've always thrown caution to the wind, and posted in my own name. But not many folks have followed suit. You could be one of the few, Red. How about giving it a try?

Evil Ones in Pickerington

Oh no, Bruce, that sounds awful what the evil ones did to you. Jesus loves you for all you have been through.

How terrible that the evil ones tried to get you fired and masked terrorists drove about Pickerington in frightening black pick-up trucks trying to intimidate you for speaking the truth. I cannot believe that they actually tore up your signs with shotguns! How many of your signs did they shoot at? How many poison-pen letters did they send to your employer? Did they wear their masks driving their frigthening black pick-up trucks?

I hope for your sake the evil ones are not around any more and didn?’t just go underground. You REALLY made them foolish.


By More Red Flags