Like I said earlier, I have been away for a while and now am fortunate to be back. What a lot has happened. We apparently had a good run on city council for a couple of years and then after the election have become disappointed and/or disillusioned with what we got. I won?’t say things have reverted back to the Wilson / Burkholder days but I can see those days on the near horizon. What happened that has caused friends to pit themselves against friends? What caused a county political party to overtly poke their nose into a nonpartisan city election? Have we simply stopped thinking for ourselves and thrown our fates to the politicians in Lancaster? It seems that council had a very productive two years in 04 and 05 but in 06 have simply ground to a halt favoring finger pointing over progress. Here?’s my unsolicited advice to city council and the mayor ?– if you refuse to cooperate among yourselves how can you expect to be able to cooperate with others outside? I guess it?’s true that voters generally get what they deserve.
Certainly not much has changed in the township except that again, friends seem to be pitted against friends. I saw no appreciable competition for the two vacant seats last election. No surprise there, the incumbents have always kept a stranglehold on those seats.
I could write an entire essay on issues with the schools. First, Oakes and Monhollen said they weren?’t running but not a single person came forward to run? Shame on everyone. At least not a person in this district can say a thing about those two since they weren?’t willing to serve. Then the levies failed what ?– 5 times? Either they aren?’t selling something the district thinks we want or their sales pitch is so bad that we reject them out of hand. Or can it be that the voters are just voting against the board? I don?’t know but it seems that a change has to be made for the voters to again place their faith and trust in the board. I mean no one is ignorant or uninformed enough to not believe that new schools are needed so there must be another reason.
As to the PATA website, nothing much has changed here either. Historically there have been those that wish to make a contribution and those that want nothing more than to antagonize. We got a couple of new webmasters and things improved. Then one of them quit for lack of a thick skin. Well, PATA is not for the faint-hearted. Perhaps the offended webmaster is better off distancing himself or herself. If the oven is too hot, get out of the kitchen. I guess it?’s good you are not a councilman or trustee or, God forbid a school board member. We have enough of them running from heat as it is.
I think there are two things mainly wrong with PATA. First is the lack of technology to use to both better organize it and require signing up with a real name since that seems to be such a sticking point for so many people. The second is, and it has been mentioned by others, is a person who is out digging for ?“the truth?” or whatever that can add information to the site that comes from a source like the city or others that people can read, digest and for more informed decisions and thus discussion on rather than rumor and conjecture.
I have learned something in these last few weeks ?“home?” in Pickerington. Since I am in transitional housing provided by my employer while we house hunt, I have the opportunity to not live in Pickerington nor send my kids to Pickerington schools. Believe me when I say that this is a decision I am not taking lightly. I am trying to come up with the old pro and con list of why I should live in this city, the township or even the school district. Trust me when I say that the Pro side doesn?’t have much written in it at this time.
By Maverick
