Leadership
It should be noted that during the recent JEDD/MOU meeting at the senior center in Canal Winchester on March 27th the Township lawyer Al Schrader indicated that JEDDs never come in one size. This is in direct conflict with the rhetoric of Fix and Weltlich. CEDA?’s are easier to create than JEDDs because CEDAs can include areas without the property owners consent.
So let?’s debunk the first myth: That we can create a JEDD for a five area tract on Busey Road and it can be used for a big box or an industrial park. Clearly the township lawyer seems to be saying in the Times article that is not true. What the Trustees are doing is trying to prevent and create road blocks for Pickerington so that they cannot annex into the township. It is as simple as that.
At the same time, as the township creates road blocks to annexation they seem to look the other way when it comes to Canal. Clearly Canal Winchester has played it smart with the trustees and they are ready to make their move because they no longer need the cooperation of the trustees.
Clearly the City of Pickerington currently has a severe leadership problem. The Mayor has tried to interject himself into these negotiations with our neighbors only find out later that his efforts have failed. From sources in both Canal Winchester and Violet Township the Mayor performs poorly in these talks. Clearly Weltlich has NO REPSECT for the Mayor and makes fun of him behind his back. The Canal Mayor, Jeff Miller, is more discreet but blames Mayor Shaver for blowing the negotiations with Canal and Violet Township and the CEDA agreement last year. The Mayor is a very poor judgment of character and that was shown by appointing (Mayoral appointment) Trustee Fix to the CEDA negotiations last year. I am told that there were offers made by both Canal and Violet during these CEDA meetings last year and Fix and Shaver wouldn?’t accept them or even consider them. What is even more disheartening is they made this decision on their own with out any consultation with either the City Manager or the Council.
Clearly the City has a professional staff and people far more skilled in negotiations than either the Mayor or Trustee Fix. Although the Mayor tries to play the bad cop in these negotiations he is clearly intimidated by Weltlich and Weltlich?’s tantrums. I think it is time to re-think the negotiations and not treat them as some criminal investigation but rather than laying our cards on the table and moving in a positive direction for the community. What both Fix and Shaver lack is the experience in municipal finances and taxation. They go into these negotiations with little or NO background information giving away huge chunks of the City?’s future assets and belief that they will someday make up the different with volume or what ever their theory is.
First the City must find a new MAYOR. If the new Mayor is limited in Municipal negotiations then he or she should defer to the City Manager. If the City Manager is not capable, then find one that is. As a taxpayer, I would like to see the City administration concentrate of the City first and those properties on our borders, continue to make efforts to develop commercial and restrict residential growth. If the Citizens of Pickerington want more services then they should be given the chance by the ballot box to make that decision.
By Bright Eyes
It should be noted that during the recent JEDD/MOU meeting at the senior center in Canal Winchester on March 27th the Township lawyer Al Schrader indicated that JEDDs never come in one size. This is in direct conflict with the rhetoric of Fix and Weltlich. CEDA?’s are easier to create than JEDDs because CEDAs can include areas without the property owners consent.
So let?’s debunk the first myth: That we can create a JEDD for a five area tract on Busey Road and it can be used for a big box or an industrial park. Clearly the township lawyer seems to be saying in the Times article that is not true. What the Trustees are doing is trying to prevent and create road blocks for Pickerington so that they cannot annex into the township. It is as simple as that.
At the same time, as the township creates road blocks to annexation they seem to look the other way when it comes to Canal. Clearly Canal Winchester has played it smart with the trustees and they are ready to make their move because they no longer need the cooperation of the trustees.
Clearly the City of Pickerington currently has a severe leadership problem. The Mayor has tried to interject himself into these negotiations with our neighbors only find out later that his efforts have failed. From sources in both Canal Winchester and Violet Township the Mayor performs poorly in these talks. Clearly Weltlich has NO REPSECT for the Mayor and makes fun of him behind his back. The Canal Mayor, Jeff Miller, is more discreet but blames Mayor Shaver for blowing the negotiations with Canal and Violet Township and the CEDA agreement last year. The Mayor is a very poor judgment of character and that was shown by appointing (Mayoral appointment) Trustee Fix to the CEDA negotiations last year. I am told that there were offers made by both Canal and Violet during these CEDA meetings last year and Fix and Shaver wouldn?’t accept them or even consider them. What is even more disheartening is they made this decision on their own with out any consultation with either the City Manager or the Council.
Clearly the City has a professional staff and people far more skilled in negotiations than either the Mayor or Trustee Fix. Although the Mayor tries to play the bad cop in these negotiations he is clearly intimidated by Weltlich and Weltlich?’s tantrums. I think it is time to re-think the negotiations and not treat them as some criminal investigation but rather than laying our cards on the table and moving in a positive direction for the community. What both Fix and Shaver lack is the experience in municipal finances and taxation. They go into these negotiations with little or NO background information giving away huge chunks of the City?’s future assets and belief that they will someday make up the different with volume or what ever their theory is.
First the City must find a new MAYOR. If the new Mayor is limited in Municipal negotiations then he or she should defer to the City Manager. If the City Manager is not capable, then find one that is. As a taxpayer, I would like to see the City administration concentrate of the City first and those properties on our borders, continue to make efforts to develop commercial and restrict residential growth. If the Citizens of Pickerington want more services then they should be given the chance by the ballot box to make that decision.
By Bright Eyes
