Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Prepared stmt request.

A request was made for the text of the 'speech' I made a Pickerington City council on the 19th of March 2002. Yes the paper completely trashed the spelling of my last name and NO I'm not related to some Wisniewski that played/plays for OSU football.

I don't feel Councilman Wright attacked me as much as he was expressing his frustration with these continuing topics being brought up when his basis for a good school system is 27/27. While we might differ in our expectations for our schools and community he is as much entitled to his opinion as am I. I will not attack him for his views and I plan on meeting with Mr. Parker and Mr. Shaver to have an in-depth discussion with them regarding the growth of our city and concerns I have.

I removed only one line from this statement I felt that was far too general and inappropriate and doesn't need to be further publicized.

Mayor Hughes, city councilmen, other elected and appointed officials;

Thank you for allowing me to have time to speak to you this evening. I?’ve been a Pickerington resident for over 12 years now and have seen tremendous changes in our community throughout that time. Our community now has many conveniences which can be attributed to the hard work of our Mayor and city council and many of which I am personally grateful for.

Let me also state I am not against development nor am I against housing developments and not even against meaningful annexation. I have however become so concerned about numerous issues affecting our community that it has stirred me to become involved and to become an outspoken voice of reason instead of a quiet dissenter.

I am extremely concerned about the rate of growth we are now experiencing and the lack of infrastructure needed to support this growth, along with the burden it is placing on the current residents of this community. While I do not yet have school-age children it is shameful the children of our community must attend classes in modular classrooms. I also become quite angered when I see housing developments pop up on every street corner without road widening or improvements being made. Every new development that arises causes yet a greater burden on our schools, which are obviously already overcrowded yet the development continues on unchecked. This rapid expansion also causes a greater burden on our fine police, fire and emergency service workers.

I?’ve read the bio?’s of our city councilmen and the one thing that caught my eye was that ?½ of city council is made up of individuals who work in the computer field as do I. When I?’m involved with a new project two major questions must be addressed at some time. Addressing these questions closer to the start of the project is always more efficient and productive than addressing them after the fact and finding the answers to be no. #1. Will the system be able to handle the peak loads as well as it does the averages? #2. Will the system be able to handle future growth? Do you see the correlation between this and the growth of Pickerington?

Continued in next post....

Part 2 of prepared stmt.

Can our roads handle the peak times as well as they do the averages? Anyone who answers this positively hasn?’t waited 30 minutes or more trying to get from in front of Marcus Theatres to the on-ramp of I-70 or driven in 15 mph traffic coming from the opposite direction or waited through 3 lights to turn from Diley onto Hill Rd. Can our schools handle the future growth? How can they handle future growth when they can?’t contain their current levels? I?’m sure another tax increase or two to build 2 or 3 more elementary schools will temporarily alleviate some overcrowding as well as our last increase will temporarily alleviate the problems at the junior and high school levels. But how much is too much for our seniors or those who aren?’t as affluent as some within our community?

The fact that Councilman Shaver, campaigning on a platform of slowing down development, was elected to city council with the greatest number of votes should send a message to everyone that the majority of the residents of Pickerington want change. The question is does city council hear what the members of this community are saying? I am completely opposed to the proposal for condos being built in our community off of Long road. We don?’t need another slap in the face like someone trying to convince us that 1 housing development donating $150 per house to the school system is somehow a win-win situation for everyone or that emergency legislation is the answer to all our ailments.

I don?’t want to be adversarial with city council but I do want to know that my concerns are being addressed and not just being met with a grin and a thank-you.

Voice of reason


Brian,

Thank you for your recent words in multiple public forums.

To paraphrase from Haile Selassie, ''Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voices of the people when it mattered most; that has made possible the situation that we now find ourselves.''

I appreciate your becoming, in your own words, ?“an outspoken voice of reason instead of a quiet dissenter.?” That is exactly what this community needs.

Thanks, again.

People hear you

Mr. Wisniewski,

Your words have not fallen upon deaf ears.

There are many, even the quiet ones, that appreciate every word you delivered to the ''listening impaired'' at Lockville Road Tuesday night.

I have personally witnessed city council meetings where residents (not outside agitators), were rebutted in a fashion that was near, if not, a personal attack by some of the people sitting behind the council bench.

There is a prescription that promises 100 percent success in eliminating the infection...Unfortunately it won't be available in Pickerington until November 2003.

Thank you,

Tim Bryant