Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

There were roughly 50 citizens in attendance last night at the ?“Meet the Candidates?” night at PJHS. Hopefully some participants of this forum were there and will offer their impressions of the event.

I was and will be happy to start off. Starting with the candidates for Township Trustee, I was extremely disappointed in the questions offered to them. There was little room for disagreement on the issues. Would any of them have answered no the either of the questions? Not if they want a vote. Without the possibility of dissention among the candidates, we can?’t make a decision to cast a vote for an individual who thinks like we do. I would much rather have heard them offer their thoughts on how Violet Township is more than capable of taking great strides in making access to either 33 or 70 safer and faster before Mr. Postage has his way and grabs all the land he can. I would rather have heard about all the planned road improvements in the works to support the growth Pickerington is mandating. I would rather have heard that the Township has a plan in place to arrest the land grabs to secure the light industrial commercial development they all said we need. We know we need it, we just need to know that they have taken the steps necessary to assure Pickerington does not get the land. Because they have proven time and again that they will most definitely rezone it to R-4. I thought all the candidates were confident, articulate and gave the appearance of being capable of handling the responsibilities of the office.

Moving on to the School Board candidates ?– at least the questions to them offered us the opportunity to hear differing opinions. And by the 2:1 ratio of audience votes, we saw there is a welcome change coming there.

If only Mrs. Sanders practiced what she preaches. Is it respectful to the Board and the community to constantly display the nonverbal antics she does at the meetings? You regular attendees know what I am talking about. ?“Does anyone make a motion to ?….??” [eyes move toward Siggy with a perceptible movement of the head] ?“Does anyone second??” [eyes move towards Debbie with a perceptible movement of the head] Audible sighs, noticeable rolling of the eyes, changes in the tone of your voice, conspicuous changes of posture ?– all when one of your current majority offers a differing opinion, are not signs of respect. And please, don?’t ask for what you won?’t give. Your replies to the questions were pretty much rhetoric. We?’ve heard you say it at the Board meetings, we heard you again last might. Time for some new material. Yocum works for you, not you for him. Share that with your pals on the Board and your pals running for office. You don?’t need to sanctify him in public.

Mr. Monhollen, where did you come from? I appreciate your dedication to the community to run for office, but did you tell us what you believe or did you tell us what you thought we wanted to hear? You need to clarify your positions to the voters sometime before the elections so you?’re not overlooked for lack of interest. You lost the opportunity for us to get to know you a little bit by apparently reading one of your campaign flyers to us.

Mr. Maurer, you seem to be a man of few words. No one doubts your dedication to the kids. You are undoubtedly one of the biggest assets to the boosters of the extracurricular programs I have seen in a while. Without your selfless dedication to the kids, I believe the quality of the programs you support would be greatly diminished. I think I speak for many voters when I say keep up the good work. You have found your niche in the Pickerington school system. Stick to what you do the best as a booster. But leave the board to someone else.


By Soap Box Hero

Meet the Candidates Night, Pt. 2

Mr. Brink, all I can say is WOW! What a performance. Your passion is obvious but you need to make your credentials just as obvious. I think you have a lot to offer but your delivery needs work. My personal belief is that going to the Board meetings right now is like going to a taping of a sitcom. It might take a few hours to end up with the 250 words or so you read in the papers, but every minute you?’re there is pure entertainment. With the current Board configuration, and with your fervid delivery of material, the auditorium at Heritage couldn?’t hold all the people that would come to see the show. You still have time to let the people know you are serious about what you believe in and assure us that your serious side is what would be represented, it elected.

Mr. Powers ?– all business with an appropriate amount of humor mixed in. Well spoken and seemingly tuned in to what needs to change to raise the Board out of its doldrums. You are going to need to get to the people more and let them know what you stand for. You were, by far, one of the more interesting candidates of the evening and I think with a little more exposure, the voters might feel you would be an asset to the Board.

Mrs. Oakes ?– well done. You were passionate, enthusiastic, made good eye contact and were easy to understand. You told us what we NEEDED to hear, not just someone told you we WANTED to hear. Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for others, as an incumbent, your reputation precedes you. I think that by the show of the voting boards, the audience agrees it is time for a change. You will be a part of that change. Hopefully, the new Board will be sensible enough to vote you in as President.

Now on to what the regular readers will recognize as one of my favorite subjects:

THE BARNUM AND BAILEY PRESENTATION OF THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
Ladieeees and gentlemen?….Boys and girls of all ages?…. Please turn your attention to the center ring under the big top at 300 Lockville Road! You won?’t believe you eyes and ears!

Come on people. Was I the only one who saw the script those guys read last night? I guess you don?’t hire a media consultant without getting something for your money. My perception was that the conspicuously absent Mrs. B had a big hand in what her minions said last night. Rhetoric, rhetoric, rhetoric ?– please, for once in your public career, tell us something new. I think the reason that Mrs. B didn?’t seem to be there was that she was in the back room pulling the strings to make those puppets dance. At least the incumbents didn?’t have the gall to say that too much trouble was being caused by non-City residents to our faces. There was just too many of those troublemakers in the audience. They save those comments for the faceless media barrage.

Actually, where were Mrs. B and her vice mayor Randall? Wouldn?’t you assume that in their perfect little world that they would be front and center supporting their lackeys? I realize Mr. Homewood L. Gray was there to assure the puppets danced in step, but a show by the constitutional chain of command of endorsement should go without saying. Not to do so sends a grave message to the voters ?– ?“Even if we lose 2 seats, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. We?’ll still have the majority.?” Well, we?’ll see.


By Soap Box Hero

Meet the Candidates Night, Pt. 3

Mr. Hackworth, thanks for your honest and earnest answers to the questions. Thanks for not reading a script. Thanks for showing us you have the knowledge of the actual ramifications of TIFs, as they are actually used in Pickerington and whom they benefit the most. Thanks for trying to remind us that the single biggest issue facing Pickerington is the uncontrolled residential growth, and its detrimental effect on the community as a whole, in spite of PACC?’s attempt to evade that issue.

Lastly, Mr. Shaver, I could go on forever about my feelings about attorneys, however, I felt you represented yourself last night as Joe Concerned Citizen, parent, taxpayer and fed up with it all. Thanks for running for office. I think you would be an asset to the City government because you could bring a more objective voice to the Council when it comes to their interpretation of the law (read: City Charter, etc.). I appreciate your commitment to protect the Ponds area, but that will be built out so fast our heads will spin. Mr. Homewood will hit that first before any sane City government can change it. I?’m glad you see Emergency Legislation as abused and antidemocratic. Hopefully, since you and Mr. Hackworth were the only two people with the guts and knowledge to challenge the status quo, you might be able to make a difference in your roles as the minority of the Council.

Make a difference on November 6th. GET OUT AND VOTE!


By Soap Box Hero