Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

OK, I moved this can of worms to another string in hopes of conducting a survey. BTW, sorry for the Anonymous signature on the other string. Sometimes the fingers don?’t obey the brain when you get old.

I?’ve heard over and over again, and even signed petitions against waiving water and sewer tap fees. I don?’t think it?’s fair and that?’s that. What Mr. Harding has rattled off comes to $7,176 per lot in income for the City that our City leaders often decide to just say ?“Faggitaboudit!?” to the people who fund their campaigns. Let me congratulate the campaign contributors who benefited the most from this. You people got a heck of a deal. Without turning up the volume on my current migraine by doing the exact math, it appears from the campaign funding information posted elsewhere on this site that none of you even had to contribute $7,176 combined to all the candidates you supported, yet you potentially get that much in your pocket PER LOT in your numerous developments scattered across Pickerington. Developers, you did your homework well. I?’m willing to bet there isn?’t a bigger group of suckers located in any one place in Central Ohio that can rival what you found at 100 Lockville Road. What a gold mine! By the time they are done annexing all of Violet Township you?’ll have made millions off what appears to have been an investment of $2,000 or less. Talk about Capitalism at its zenith! You?’re my idols.

I would like to conduct an informal survey to rate the overall satisfaction with the parks and other community perks in Pickerington and I?’m open to suggestions on survey questions. Mr. Harding, does Neighborhood Link have the capability of setting up a little survey area to the left of our screens?

1. Are you satisfied with the quality of parks available to you?
2. Are you satisfied with the number of parks available to you?
3. Do you feel the parks are maintained as well as they could be?
4. Do you feel the parks offer enough age-appropriate amenities for your entire family?
5. Is there adequate parking at all the parks?
6. If you play tennis, are there enough courts available to you?
7. If you play basketball, are there enough courts available to you?
8. Do you feel that there are enough baseball/softball fields available to support some community leagues so that you don?’t have to go to Columbus to join one?
9. Do you feel safe in our parks?
10. Do you ever wonder what happened to the Water Tower Park that was purchased but never used?
11. Did you ever see the Community Center in Westerville and wonder why we don?’t have something like that, too? (before you get your boxers in a bunch, yes, I know it was funded through a ?¼ percent income tax but it was worth it)
12. Would you like to see a community pool at one of our parks so that we wouldn?’t have to pay the exorbitant fees demanded by the private pools?

These questions could go on and on but words are limited here. Since there seems to be a ?“consultant?” on every street corner here in town (or is that just Council?), is there a reader of this forum that could generate a survey with the appropriate questions and in the appropriate format that we could possibly circulate through the community to get a real feel for how the citizens feel about parks and the like? Something more official that what I have done and then we could take it to our esteemed leadership at City Hall to give them an idea of what their constituents want. Not that it matters too much to them, but it might help some prospective candidates for the fall of 2003. Heck, it might even help some other developers to realize just what $2,000 or so buys them in Pickerington. We might get this place built out before the end of the decade!



By Maverick

RE: Park Survey

Mr. / Ms. Maverick,

RE: Park Survey

I?’ve been in contact with the Webmaster relative to interactive areas being added to this web site, such as your suggestion of a Parks Survey. Unfortunately, it is not possible to add such a feature to the site.

The site has over 34K of information and details, however configuration is not possible for the survey you suggested.

Over and over various City Officials have stated that they hear no complaints from local residents. They say such to the media, to the public at meetings and they have gone out of their way to avoid survey results in the past. I?’ll cite the ?“Merger Survey?” conducted by Violet Township following the 2nd Growth Summit meeting as an example in which not one City Official read through the survey cards. (I did read through all the response cards and the comments were very clear in what the public wants.)

I have attended a fair share of the City?’s Public Meetings and Hearings and heard complaints that fly in the face of the often used, ?“No ones complaining so everyone must like what we?’re doing?”. There are 490 signatures of residents wishing for a say in the R4 zoning practices. There are hundreds of signatures of residents wanting to express their opinions through their own ability to vote in Initiatives running the range of Use of Emergency Legislation, Waiving / Reducing Fees, and Zoning Limitations.

The newspapers have been filled with letters concerning our roads. The troubles of storm water should be very fresh in everyone?’s minds from last Sunday?’s flooding, road closures and warnings of high water over roadways.

I know that some folks don?’t like to do the ?“Math?”, yet 2 + 2 = D is simple. 2 + 2 stands for too many house for too little infrastructure (be it parks, roads, schools, drainage, lack of commercial tax base, etc.) is our formula for disaster.

It is apparent that current officials will not change their approaches. They don?’t listen to past survey?’s, public comments, letters to the Editor, etc. - So the question begs asking, why not change the current officials?

RE: Parks Survey

Hey~Hey,

Boo Boo - We have parks?

Does the family depicted on the Pickerington City Web Site really represent Pickerington? The family brought a picnic basket and a rake to spend the day at the park?

Oh wait kids! Let?’s rake the leaves before we have our picnic. Won?’t that be fun?

I guess it does not matter. They sure look like they were having fun with the rake and basket. I just wonder if the photo was taken at Victory or Sycamore Park.

Oops here comes the Ranger! Gotta run!


By Yogi Bear

Parks, what parks?

I have heard smooth talker Randy speak highly of his parks, but I have not seen any list of thowe parks. I know of a couple (convieniently surrounding 100 Lockville Road) but have not been to any others. Pickerington Ponds would have been a wonderful one. I have been to Slate Run, that is a very nice park with amenities for all. Bluntly it is another sham for Hughes to say we have wonderful parks. We have semi cared for fields with run down facilities. May be he should charge the outsiders to use the parks. Oh never mind, there is no incentive for them to come to our parks when there are much nicer parks nearby. Hey Hughes, shut up about the parks, they suck, and stop your blabber about the bike trails, they will never happen. Concentrate on the real issues and stop diverting attention.

By Violet