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Cry me a river
There are way too many ?“Function/Festivals?” in Olde Pickletown and for the most part they are a joke.
Let?’s close a state route so we can parade pets?
Let?’s close a state route so we can parade cars?
Let?’s close a state route so we can hear jazz and eat ribs?
Why not utilize the park system the taxpayers are already paying for to hold these so called important events?
How about letting people actually drive by your business on the way to the event and say?…?”Oh honey I want to stop by there?”.
I would bet that most of the business owners of the OPVBA actually supported the old regime in bypassing the Olde Village with the ridiculous by-pass idea. What is wrong with you people?
One further thought/suggestion to the OPVBA is to maybe sell better wares than Sanford & Son.
The TAXPAYERS should not be paying/subsidizing you?’re failing businesses. Lobby Council to rezone you?’re Olde Village back into residential units and sell them for fair market value.
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Issue by issue
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You have made some great points. Let?’s explore further, shall we? Closing a State Route is an important consideration. You will have the unconditional support of the Police Chief and Fire Chief on that one I am sure. I heard they hate the idea of it and have always been opposed but told to just go along. Talk to the residents who choose to live in the downtown area. They hate having to detour themselves but especially have to explain detours to their visitors during that time. They hate the left over trash and totally rude and obnoxious people that violate their privacy and destroy their yards and pee on the sides of their houses. Talk to the residents that live on the detour routes. One concern I have always had is diverting traffic across the school property. I know it is a city street officially, but is that the best place to send people just trying to get through this little burg?
Utilize the Park system? HAH!! We have an essentially undeveloped park program with little to no leadership or vision. All I read in the papers is they are hanging their hats on this new amazing, wonderful, stupefying Master Plan. Whoop-de-doo! How about hiring a professional who can work with the residents to establish a true vision and execute the plans?? How about taking the simple route and just hire a Parks Director from another community that has established a successful Parks Department?
You?’re right on the support of the OPVBA supporting the mysterious bypass.
Q. Why would the supposed business leaders support a plan to bypass all their businesses?
A. Daryl Berry? Ding-ding!
He owns most of the land along the bypass. He was the leader/founder of the OPVBA and would have had the most direct financial benefit from the bypass.
As to your Sanford and Son comment, that was a little harsh but not too far off the mark. We need something new. Rezoning all of downtown back to residential won?’t work because first you have to have someone who actually wants to live in some of those run down rat traps. You have to give people a reason to either a. live there or b. stop and shop there. Right now there are no reasons for either.
Now to the crux of all these issues. Participation. Quityerbitchin and get involved. Volunteer for the Violet Festival board and help make a difference. Volunteer for the Chamber of Commerce and make a difference. Volunteer for the Parks Commission or Parks Department and make a difference. Volunteer to start up a new, all-encompassing organization that takes over leadership of OPVBA, Violet Festival and whatever else there is and set new criteria for what you want. New faces bring new ideas. Old faces bring the same old same old.
That?’s the bottom line ?– YOU!!
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What about the township?
I think the community needs to wake up by this new city budget. It amazes me that we have downtown business owners complaining about the city cutting funding for these activities. What wasn't mentioned was the Parks and Recreation budgets. As a city taxpayer it has frosted me that for years you hear demands made by the township residents about the lack of service and rec facilities here in the city but once you talk about merger they run like scalded dogs. I believe over half of the people using the city's parks are city residents. I believe over half of those enrolling in the parks classes are city residents. Even those in that downtown business group are not city residents. If in fact 40,000 people show up for the Violet Festival and the City's Population is 13,000 and some of them NEVER attend then why hasn't the Violet Festival been made self supporting?
Why should the city hand the Violet Festival $20,000 to entertain township residents to want to bitch all the time about how cash strapped the City is and never question their own government and the trustees?
Why don't these township resident go to the township for their funding?
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Right on the mark!
This new budget is a farce. The only way to increase income is to raise the income tax. For that, you have to go to the voters. Will we vote in a tax increase to, say, 2% or 2 ?½%?? Not on your life! Heck, we wouldn?’t vote in a sales tax increase for the county that would have rested mostly on out of county people. Now another way to balance a budget or have more in the net column, at least here at my house is to cut costs. So where do you cut costs? What?’s your highest spending factors? Well here in this burg it?’s Police and Parks. Those are the two largest budgets. Want to cut Police? Want to cut Parks? What are the pros and cons of each? Another large chunk of our change is salaries. Should the mayor and council stand up and do their part and forego salaries? Are any of them reliant on this income to get by? Are any of them in this for the money? Are staff numbers appropriate? Do we have too much here and not enough there? Would we want to perhaps do with less service from the Service Dept.? I mean come on, we all do this month by month at home. If we need more net we make accommodations.
Cutting the funding for the festivals and the other stuff that people here seem to think are hokey and worthless is a start but you?’re spitting on the inferno here. Want to reduce the fire? Get a big fire hose.
You?’re right. The city spends a lot of money that the township benefits from. Always have. The township always sits back and says they have no money. Well, we had a chance to change the face of our representation in the township that may have made a difference. Guess what ?– no one but Rookstool stood up to try. No one. The city was on a path of progress but guess what. We made choices that will stall progress in favor of politics. We all live with our choices.
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