Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

I am very disappointed to see the old city/township divisions resurface. This is particularly hard to understand, given that every square inch of the city is part of the township. Folks, we're fighting ourselves.

We're one community, largely defined by the boundaries of our school district. We need to act like one. Unless we do, others will eat our lunch while we're too distracted by these pointless internal squables to notice. It's happened before.

I was hoping that the JEDD would provide a foundation for trust and cooperation, at last, between the Board of Trustees and the City Council. So did others, including some members of both governments. It does not look, however, as if this ever will happen, and I think it's time to take another direction.

We do not need two separate units of government in this community, one overlapping with the other. Not only is this redundant, but it keeps us even from formulating a common vision for this community's future. Do we want to take control of our common future, and decide for ourselves on our community's direction, or to we want to leave this up to builders and developers, most of whom are gone as soon as their land/buildings are sold?

Let's at least get started on this. If our elected leaders won't appoint a citizens' group to study a merger of the city and township, let's get a commission started ourselves. Let's all join together to fight for our common future, instead of fighting each other.

By Yosemite Pam

Careful

You're coming dangerously close to suggesting that we work together. That's not an attribute that is favored here. Unless your suggested meetings include foul language and screaming, it's most unwelcome.

There is going to be change

I am going to disagree here. A few years ago I would have been all for a merger. After reading the ?“proposed?” agreement between the City and the Township I am outraged. Remember Pam; 40% of the consistency for the trustees come from the City of Pickerington. Yet they choose to ignore us and only put our tax dollars in greater peril. I remember that Randy Hughes called for a merger committee and what did it get him. Your township trustees went into full propaganda mode and ran their survey. What was the result 95% in the township against. Pam; you got to be kidding!!!

Apparently there have been some at city hall this time using a calculator and they don?’t like what they see. The number keep coming up all RED.

The township government is not a government like you argue. It is a caretaker looking over zoning department and the fire department. They in reality report to the County Commissioners. They can?’t issue debt and that means they can provide very little infrastructure to promote any kind of commercial development. As a City taxpayer please tell me where our $200,000 we send to the Trustees every yeargoes or what it is use for? The last I heard they sued us in like 2001. Someone told me they are threatening another suit over another annexation. So can we all say they are using our money to sue their own constituency.

The City tax payers also send over $2 Million to the Township for a fire department. What control does the city taxpayers have over the expenditure of those funds? NONE, NONE!!!!

Now the Trustees through their hand picked crony (Jeff ?“Dough Boy?” Fix) wants the City Taxpayers to give up its right to annex and its right to form a paper township. The only two protections they have to control their own tax dollars and they want the city taxpayers to give that up for 30 years. Are these trustees really looking out for the interests of their city constituency?

What they want is Political cover. They have already put it to the City and they want the city to agree to its punishment. For years now they have bashed the City Council and look they have a new one. They have already block the City from any kinds of commercial development yet many in the township (unincorporated areas) have not figured out that all of your future development will mostly be residential. Thanks to the zoning policies you allowed them to follow. In fact all of the remaining lands are currently zoned residential.

You folks out in the Township might consider recalling your trustees before the City voters do. That might show us some understanding of the situation by the unincorporated areas.

If this ordinance passes as written then there will be a referendum. I know you folks out in the township started most of the referendums in the past on City issues. Now once the referendums are completed I think we need to consider the paper township and then the City school district.




By City Slicker

For real change

Always the same old crap!

I am for:

Paper Township
City School District

We need an aggressive ''Bushman like'' manager and council. One that is about the people they serve...not self serving like they were.

Forget about the sorry arse economic agreement and start annexing the CRAP out of them. Then rezone the resedential to commerical. QUIT BENDING OVER PICKERINGTON!

Done with my rant. I am just sick of all this BS.