Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

3000 homes in 10 years

Dear Pleased and others:

You state that there are no other plans being proposed. You are wrong in your assumption. I have 25 circulators walking the streets of Pickerington and they are collecting signatures for a growth management plan that will be patterned after the Hudson Ohio Plan. We are actually talking too and working with the citizens of Pickerington. Those same citizens are very much in favor of planning our future instead of the current system of having it dictated to us by a chosen few. This same plan was defended successfully in court.

What I have problems with the recent ordinance passed by the Pickerington City Council is that there was no discussion by the citizens prior to its passage. Clearly five of our city council members are ?“advocates of growth?” and they showed more than once in the last couple of council meetings. The basic question we all must ask ourselves here is do we have the right, as citizens of Pickerington, to determine our future? I believe that is our right and I will continue to fight for that right.

After a few years of watching some of our council members in action I have grown to fully understand that they have very little regard for, The Citizens of Pickerington, and their rights. They demonstrated it last Tuesday by passing an important ordinance that the public had not yet seen and the public was denied the opportunity to comment on that ordinance. IN MY OPINION they did not do a good job with that ordinance.

The ordinance is nothing more that an offer to the BIA. Yes the offer sets some very high standards for the BIA to fulfill and some may think that will solve our problem. You can?’t solve the problem by leaving the citizens and the voters of this city out of the discussions.

What happens if the BIA comes back with a counter offer and I know they will? Will this City Council vote to approve this counter offer by a vote of 5 to 2? I have no doubts that they will. I hear comments that there will be public hearings. As Lou Postage has said in the past, ?“wake up people.?” The BIA clearly has 5 votes in their pocket. What ever they proposed can?’t be stopped by David Shaver or Heidi Riggs.

I am very close to the people in the negotiations and I have no input nor do I fully understand what their position is. Clearly the folks on the street that pay the taxes are not happy at all with the Community Authority nor do they have any trust that this current council will present a fair deal to them.

The basic concept here is that the Leaders that have voted time and again to place this community and its school system into the mess we are in, are the ones some of us are trying to follow out of the mess. We should have a new city council with leaders that talk with the citizens and we should plan where and how we get there and it should be by the citizens that will be asked to pay the taxes and support this in the future.

Continued

3000 homes in 10 years cont.

If we have a group of people negotiating and they claim it is for the schools only then what about those of us that are empty nesters? What about the single and married couples with no children and what about the retired folks on fixed incomes?

Lou Postage has already stated he wants to make both High Schools equal. Does that mean this money for a Community Authority goes to build a $15 million sports complex like the North School? They have also called for building sidewalks and a recreation center totally free to those in the community authority thus further dividing the community.

The fact is the City Residents must first determine their own future by public election. They must decide what they want for the city and its infrastructure. Up to now our future has been determined by those remaining five council members that have repetitively denied the citizens their rights in bringing these issues to the ballot. In fact Lisa Reade and others are in a battle in the Ohio Supreme court at this very moment trying to get a referendum on the November ballot.

At the Tuesday night council meeting the subject of higher density came up within this Community Authority and Craig Maxey said, ?“He wouldn?’t tickle the two lots per acre ordinance.?” Do any of you believe that Craig Maxey is a man of his word?

Bruce Rigelman presented what it would cost for 3000 more homes in our school district in ten years. The amounts that we would receive are a SMALL fraction of what it would cost the district in new buildings and other infrastructure. That is not even considering if the city would divert some of these funds to city projects.

My question to all of you that think you are accomplishing something with this community authority and your negotiations with the very people that placed us in this position. If the BIA comes back with a counter offer that kills our schools, that crumbles our roads, that over burdens us IN THE CITY WITH OVER WHEMLING DEBT.

How do you stop the remaining five on council that are ?“Advocates for Growth?”?

Wes MonHollen already said at the Tuesday meeting that he supports his friend Lou Postage and he didn?’t see anything wrong with charging new residents a higher tax. The majority of the school board will support it and we know that. So how do you stop the school board form accepting it?

Clearly Brian Fox is the Republican Party County Chairman. Does he have any control over Mike Kiger? You bet he does. Is he threatening a primary for Judy Shupe you bet he is. So how do you stop the county commissioners from accepting this Community Authority even if it is a bad deal for the citizens of Pickerington?


Judging by recent history of these remaining council members have they allowed the citizens to vote on any issue? NO NO NO NO NO

YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD

TED YOU HAVE EXPLAINED THE ISSUE VERY WELL!
THIS IS YET ANOTHER BIA SMOKESCREEN!
WATCH FOR THE TROJAN HORSE TO ARRIVE SOON IN FORM
OF A COUNTER OFFER.

Do tell, please

As to what your hometown is and what state it is in so we can see how they've managed their growth.

Thank you.