Council retreats and goals

A challenge for our community

• Comment: what does Middletown need to do to get off Forbes' list of fastest-dying towns in America?

Saturday, December 13, 2008

It didn't take long for critics to latch onto Middletown's dubious inclusion on a list of America's 10 fastest-dying towns this week.

Forbes.com, the online version of the business magazine, ranked Middletown No. 10 on its list and pointed to new U.S. Census Bureau data on household income, poverty rates and education levels as evidence of its conclusions. Bensenville, Ill., topped the list and nearby Kokomo, Ind., was No. 3.

In 50 years, Middletown has gone from winning acclaim as one of the National Civic League's All-America Cities in 1957 to a list of fastest-dying towns. While some may wonder how that happened, the burning question is, what are we going to do about it?

As we've noted in the past, readers shouldn't get overly excited when a publication recognizes Middletown as a good and prosperous place to live — as has occurred in the past — nor should they grow despondent when another publication does a hatchet job. We know our community better than their drive-by observers — so we're modest about the occasional accolades and skeptical of the darts. Especially when they appear to based solely on cold numbers.

Still, it would be an error not to pay close attention to the numbers and what Forbes.com is saying about Middletown. Like many Midwest towns that have tried to weather the wrenching transition from a flourishing industrial past to a service-based economy, Middletown has had more than its share of challenges and setbacks.

But the Census numbers indicate a sharp increase in the poverty rate here since 2000 — from 12 percent to 22 percent in 2007. Those are concerning numbers but we doubt they tell the whole story. As Mayor Larry Mulligan Jr. noted, the year-long lockout at the Middletown Works of AK Steel — a Fortune 500 company, by the way — commenced in March 2006 and surely affected the median household incomes ($37,000 in 2007) and poverty rates found in the latest Forbes report. A city does not bounce back from such a traumatic event overnight.

And Middletown is also paying the price for having enlarged its Section 8 housing-voucher program, which has grown from a $2.47 million venture to a $9.64 million program in eight years. The number of housing-assistance vouchers for low-income families and individuals has grown from 767 to 1,663, giving Middletown a disproportionate share of Butler County's poor. In fact, Middletown has far more vouchers than the entire remainder of Butler County, which has less than 1,000 — what City Manager Judy Gilleland has called "an imbalance." Do you think those numbers might have affected Middletown's poverty rate?

Earlier this year, Gilleland was delicately trying to tell City Council that the city had inadvertently created this imbalance by seeking more vouchers in past years, but her concerns were quickly drowned out by Section 8 residents pleading with council not to curb the program. Discussion soon turned to finding a new manager for the program, not shrinking it.

We'll add here that it's not our intent to blame Section 8 housing for those dismal numbers. Instead, we would just remind city leaders that they should be prepared for such glum rankings periodically if they consciously intend to allow the number of vouchers to grow, or to stay the same.

The challenge here is to actively define the kind of community Middletown wants to be in the future, instead of passively allowing others to define us. We were encouraged by the development of the city's new comprehensive master plan a couple of years ago, but were discouraged to watch council members quiz Gilleland earlier this year about how the number of Section 8 vouchers grew — in her words — "without a conscious conversation with council." We're glad she has called that lapse to council's attention.

Unfortunately, the Forbes.com ranking will not be an easy label to shake off. Already this week, a Monroe councilman was citing the report as that council decided to drop out of the local Chamber of Commerce. And a businessman's attorney, Greg Pratt (himself a former Middletown council member), mentioned the ranking at a City Planning Commission meeting when his client's request was rejected. And these won't be the last times we hear the Forbes report mentioned.

But we are encouraged that Middletown has a brighter future than Forbes apparently sees, and a new generation of leaders has emerged that is serious about improving the community and not living in its past. Most encouraging of all is the development of the Interstate 75 exchange, where the new Atrium Medical Center sits and holds promise as a new economic engine for the community, and the many accompanying educational opportunities for residents.

And like other older communities that have seen many of their residents sprawl into new, shiny subdivisions in other bedroom communities, Middletown remains surrounded by prospering neighbors and will ultimately benefit from the convergence of the Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan areas along the I-75 corridor. That growth may be slowed by the current tough economy, but it will come eventually.

So we invite Forbes to come and take another look at our town in a few years. We think they'll find a different Middletown than the one this week's list predicts.

Section 8 negotiations proceeding

By Ed Richter | Monday, March 9, 2009, 12:15 PM

Middletown city officials are continuing its contract negotiations with CONSOC Housing Consultants of Columbus who was selected to continue as the Section 8 housing choice vouchers administrator.

In her weekly update to City Council, City Manager Judy Gilleland said the city has ” been making very good progress with CONSOC on the new contract. We have agreement on most of the procedural items; we are still negotiating the CONSOC fee.”

Gilleland said her “intention was to have a fixed fee for the contract thus not providing an incentive for CONSOC to increase the number of vouchers. After conversations with CONSOC, we are willing to consider a fee based upon the number of vouchers.

While the city is willing to consider a fee based on the number of vouchers, Gilleland said the city is also including language in the proposed contract to reduce the number of vouchers by 10 percent a year until there is a total of 800 vouchers from the current 1,662 vouchers.

Gilleland said, “the reduction would only be through attrition - as voucher holders left the program, their voucher would be given back to HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development).”

She said HUD could reassign those vouchers to Butler or Warren County, but also said the city is more concerned about ensuring our program is under control. While this language of intent to reduce is included in the contract, Council will need to also discuss as the Housing Authority while reviewing the Administrative Plan, she said.

So what do you think? Do you think this is the best way to reduce the number of Section 8 housing choice vouchers? If not, how would you resolve this issue?

Putting aside all the accusations of good ol' boys, inside profiteers, secret societies, and seances at Kohler's house, what are some legitimate reasons for maintaining the Section 8 status quol? Just playing devil's advocate.  I started wondering if one thought is what good is it to run a few hundred Section 8 folks out of town -- where are we then? You would still have an overabundance of poor housing stock, still have low income renters taking their place, etc.  Without jobs and other reasons for people of middle income and up to move here, are we left in the same place?  Could it be a legimate thought that a drastic reduction in Section 8 will do nothing to improve the town and the City might as well work on getting some industries in here and worry about Section later? 

Mike
Haven’t you been paying attention?
City Council clearly stated that "they were asleep at the wheel".
Doesn’t that answer all the question that you might have about Section 8 over the past 10 years?