PATA History Pages

Council Members Recalled.

Newton Falls citizens call for accountability

** see the multiple links to that towns newspapers and web sites on what made area residents take the steps to recall (2) long-time Council members.

A citizen speaks out about their recall

Sara Davison
Newton Falls, Ohio 44444 United States
Wed, 7-Aug-2002 20:54:11
Congratulations to Kevin on being elected. He will serve the community well. He reminded all of us last night, that his work has just begun and he will be going out into the community to talk to people and find out what they need and want for our town. Our community has become complacent like so many other people. We want everyone else to make our decisions for us and to do the work. Democracy and freedom are earned and maintained through vigilance. It is sad in this modern day that we have so many elections take place where our representatives win by default because others do not want to take the time to run or be bothered. For years, there has been no planning in this community. We have hired city managers who do little to work with the citizens in this community. There are those who felt that they could divide and conquer us, but found that it did not work. All of us in the group have different backgrounds and views on topics. That is what helps us to move forward. We have not hid our motives or what we are doing. We chose to work for charter changes so that our community could move forward. There are those in this community that would tell you that you need a professional to manage this city. I have not seen that the professionals we have had in the recent past have done a lot for our city. A true professional would not make his two highest priorities changing the governing document of a city or an "economic development project". A true professional would have looked to see what state the city was in and what areas needed the most attention. We had a program for paving streets so that all the streets received attention in turn. That was thrown out the window last year and those streets that were skipped were not put back into the rotation. We miss out on so many things when we refuse to listen to the ideas and complaints that those around us have. I have knocked on doors in the past and talked to people about many items. In reality, I should say that I listened to what they had to say. They wanted someone, anyone to listen. I believe we have a council now that is open to the people. I hope that someone from the second ward will step up to the plate. We don't want someone who will conform, we want someone who will listen to the people.

Charter/City Manager form of govmnt not responsible to citizens

read link below how citizens of Newton Falls feel betrayed by their government.

Links

City Council members kicked out of office.
Council members run into voter anger over spending
Charter/City Manager form of govmnt not responsible to citizens