Dear Annie and Old Geezer,
I will attempt to answer your questions here. I feel we do not have anything to hide as an organization. And I certainly do not feel as though we are a fringe organization. Our vision and mission statement and how we came about are posted on the site in the ?“Our Pages?” section on the left-hand side of your screen. I will also post our ''Articles of Association,'' which we created and adopted by vote in January of 2000.
PATA started as a telephone conversation between Bill Miller and myself after a school board meeting. Bill?’s observation was that there were many ?“individuals?” pursuing issues in the community on a daily basis. His reference to the Kroger referendum which I attempted and failed at, and several zoning hearings and school board meetings at which we had seen each other, and had casually met others who took the time to attend and voice their opinions. I told him how it is easy to become burned out as one person following so many issues. He suggested we call others who would be interested in these issues and form a group to achieve some efficiency in addressing them and also be able to pool the resources of the individuals involved and gain knowledge about how to be effective. So PATA is Bill?’s idea, achieved, with the synergy of a group of viewpoints, attempting to make a difference in the community.
We do not disclose member names in PATA or identify officers unless the individual wants to make that disclosure himself/herself. We believe in their right to privacy and to serve behind the scenes for whatever reason, is fair. No posting of names will occur and as we are associated, we are not required to do such. Some people do fear reprisal upon themselves or family members if their association with this or any group is revealed due to the nature of some of the focus issues we attempt to address. I feel sad that anyone in this community has to feel this way but obviously it is a valid concern.
We hold public meetings as issues dictate. We announce these in the local weekly papers and on this site. We hold PATA membership meetings periodically, but rely on email and phone calls for the day to day operation of the organization.
We do not publish minutes of our meetings, and are not required to, we prefer to utilize this web site and our newsletter to inform the community of issues we are concerned with.
We attempt to post documentation from governmental sources and letters from elected and appointed officials to validate our positions. This allows those who do not have easy access to such information to read it and see what really happens, many of these items never make it into the local press. We also publish individual member?’s letters of concern to governmental agencies to outline issues for further public knowledge.
We are organized into three focus teams at this point in time. The City focus team, The Violet Township Focus Team, and the Pickerington Schools Focus Team. As issues dictate we may break into special interest groups with individuals willing to do in depth study on certain issues, such as Emergency Legislation, Pickerington Ponds development impact, Zoning issues which exist in the city and township, and annexation issues.
continued...Please see PATA Answers part Two below
I will attempt to answer your questions here. I feel we do not have anything to hide as an organization. And I certainly do not feel as though we are a fringe organization. Our vision and mission statement and how we came about are posted on the site in the ?“Our Pages?” section on the left-hand side of your screen. I will also post our ''Articles of Association,'' which we created and adopted by vote in January of 2000.
PATA started as a telephone conversation between Bill Miller and myself after a school board meeting. Bill?’s observation was that there were many ?“individuals?” pursuing issues in the community on a daily basis. His reference to the Kroger referendum which I attempted and failed at, and several zoning hearings and school board meetings at which we had seen each other, and had casually met others who took the time to attend and voice their opinions. I told him how it is easy to become burned out as one person following so many issues. He suggested we call others who would be interested in these issues and form a group to achieve some efficiency in addressing them and also be able to pool the resources of the individuals involved and gain knowledge about how to be effective. So PATA is Bill?’s idea, achieved, with the synergy of a group of viewpoints, attempting to make a difference in the community.
We do not disclose member names in PATA or identify officers unless the individual wants to make that disclosure himself/herself. We believe in their right to privacy and to serve behind the scenes for whatever reason, is fair. No posting of names will occur and as we are associated, we are not required to do such. Some people do fear reprisal upon themselves or family members if their association with this or any group is revealed due to the nature of some of the focus issues we attempt to address. I feel sad that anyone in this community has to feel this way but obviously it is a valid concern.
We hold public meetings as issues dictate. We announce these in the local weekly papers and on this site. We hold PATA membership meetings periodically, but rely on email and phone calls for the day to day operation of the organization.
We do not publish minutes of our meetings, and are not required to, we prefer to utilize this web site and our newsletter to inform the community of issues we are concerned with.
We attempt to post documentation from governmental sources and letters from elected and appointed officials to validate our positions. This allows those who do not have easy access to such information to read it and see what really happens, many of these items never make it into the local press. We also publish individual member?’s letters of concern to governmental agencies to outline issues for further public knowledge.
We are organized into three focus teams at this point in time. The City focus team, The Violet Township Focus Team, and the Pickerington Schools Focus Team. As issues dictate we may break into special interest groups with individuals willing to do in depth study on certain issues, such as Emergency Legislation, Pickerington Ponds development impact, Zoning issues which exist in the city and township, and annexation issues.
continued...Please see PATA Answers part Two below
