Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

As the Contact person of PATA I would be remiss in not informing you of the plans of the Columbus Board of Realtors. I?’ve clipped the information of their head, who spoke in front of Council with unlimited time against the 2 units per acre ?– then Issue 17 initiative to little avail as 72% of the local voters overwhelming approved the density limitation that the vast majority of Council and the then Mayor opposed. The BIA also included home phone #'s I won't.

Here comes the CBR again.

Dear Pickerington Realtor:

You are receiving this email because you are associated with a Real Estate
Office in the Pickerington area. I thought you would want a briefing
regarding a proposed one-year moratorium on new residential construction
being proposed by Pickerington City Council member David Shaver.

On Tuesday, March 4, 2003 at 7:00 p.m., the City of Council of Pickerington
will be holding the first of three hearings on the proposed moratorium. As
you know, housing has been under considerable attack by a vocal minority of
citizens in the Pickerington area, not all of whom reside within the city.
The Columbus Board of Realtors has worked with city staff, the majority of
the city council who are in support of growth, and the Building Industry
Association trying to communicate the value of good, managed residential
growth to the economy of the community and its importance in maintaining the
value of ones investment in real property.

I have observed at the meetings I have attended that this vocal, anti-growth
group is very well represented. I have also observed at these meetings that
the residents and business community supporting growth have been poorly
represented. In other words, only one side of the story is being told and
heard. I might add that the message is often confusing and misleading.

Attached is a briefing paper prepared by the BIA on the proposed moratorium.
Please take time to review it. I hope that it ''spurs'' your interest enough
to get you to attend the hearing scheduled for March 4. Between the BIA and
CBR, we hope to have at least 100 residents and business people opposing the
moratorium in attendance. If you feel comfortable with speaking, please
fill out a speakers slip and give your opinion. The Mayor and growth
advocates on city council really need your support.

Listed below is the contact information for the members of Council. Please
take a minute to contract them and let them know you opinion regarding the
proposed moratorium (all home addresses are Pickerington, OH 43147). You
can also send a letter to the address at city hall to the attention of the
council member: City of Pickerington, 100 Lockville Road, Pickerington, OH
43147.



Mayor Lou Postage
235 Parkwood Ave.

Council Member Bill Wright
723 Preston Trails Dr.

Council Member Doug Parker
8 E. Columbus St.

Council Member Brian Fox
592 Courtland Lane

Council Member Craig Maxey
770 Janice Lane

Council David Shaver
512 Chatham Court


You may also go to the city's web site and submit your comments by clicking
on: http://www.pickerington.net/sections/contact/contactform.asp
.



I suspect that seating will be limited. If you are planning on attending,
please show up before the 7:00 p.m. stating time of the City Council
meeting. Bob Miller, President of the Columbus Board of Realtors, and I
will be there. Please join us. And, even more important, speak out!



Larry L. Metzger, CAE

Chief Executive Officer

Columbus Board of Realtors

614-475-4000

lmetzger@columbusrealtors.com

Throw the Scum Out


Bob's message makes it just about as clear as any of us could want. Does this community belong to the BIA, the developers and the Columbus Board of Realtors or to our children?
The letter also makes it pretty clear that Lou Postage is simply a liar.

Lou is simply playing us for fools. He pretends to be in favor of controlled growth while conspiring with the likes of the BIA and developers to make sure that nothing stands in the way of these people from raping our community. The sad part is that he thinks we are stupid enough to buy it . The even sadder truth is he is banking on us doing nothing about it.

They have even gone so far as to suggest that they pack the meeting halls with developers, realtors and builders so that no actual citizens from the community can speak.

Do these people even live in our community? Do thier children go to our schools and will thier children have to go on split sessions and be deprived of extracurricular activities because of the explosion of growth in our community. Will these people be stuck in houses that no one will buy because of the rapid detioration of the schools. do they ahve to dirve the cloggeds roads every morning. The answer is no-they will have taken thier profit and moved on to bleed other communities dry once they have destoryed this one.

Here are three short term solutions:

1. Have recall petitions prepared and any council member who refuses to vote for the statute as is should be the subject of an immediate recall. Start ciruclating the petitions at the meeting.

2. Have a petition already prepared to have the voters enact the statute before council at the next election. In other words, by pass the greedheads. Start ciculating this petition at the meeting.

By Boycotting Bill

Throw the scum even further


3. Immediately boycott the business of any councilmember who votes to destroy our schools by allowing uncontrolled growth. This means, for example, that everyone of you who have Lou as an insurance agent should be on the phone tomorrow cancelling your insurance.

4. Remember the anmes of the realtors who speak out for destroying our community. Since the school system will soon be in shambles and we will all be moving soon anyway, do not use these realtors under any circumstance. Do not recommend any of these realtors to your friends.

5. Boycott and pickett the Parade of Homes. In honor of this celebration of greed we whould all put signs in our yards saying BIA-GO AWAY. We should all plan on taking turns picketting outside the parade of homes on weekends.



By Boycotting Bill

Addl Suggestion

How about an even simpler action to start?…

The statement that these are the actions of a ?“vocal minority?” is clearly not accurate. ?¾ of the voters is not a minority. Since Mr Metzger has followed the results of the election, as have the council members and city employees he?’s working with, then doesn?’t this amount to an intentional untruth which was knowingly included in communication on behalf of a business organization. It?’s one thing to ?“spin?” an issue, and another to misrepresent facts. In today?’s environment of long overdue enhancement of business ethics, would this not reflect very poorly on the CBR if publicized in the local or even metro media?

Would this not be even more true if it were accompanied by statements from local residents (or reasonable councilmen) and school district residents (or reasonable school board members) regarding the negative impact this growth is having on our community and schools. Illuminating their profit motive in regard to this issue could only enhance the points that could be easily made to local media.

Since it only takes a few minutes of our time, and since they do occasionally get some attention, how about a few of us, especially a few who?’s names or positions are ?“familiar?”, write some letters to some of these very accessible media outlets and bring this out of the shadows, and into the light. I wonder if the CBR would risk a negative public perception over this issue.

And keep working on the recall...I'll personally do whatever is necessary to facilitate that, and I am a Pickerington resident.




By Now Also Anonymous