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Heroin Epidemic

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Vivian Moon View Drop Down
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    Posted: Jan 25 2015 at 10:35am

Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015
Agencies ‘need to mobilize’ against heroin epidemic

Heroin Summit in Middletown meant to develop action steps.

By Hannah Poturalski

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN 

More than $1.5 million in government funds were spent responding to the growing heroin problem in Middletown last year, City Manager Doug Adkins said.

Adkins said he asked the city’s public safety forces and health department to calculate for 2014 the city’s direct cost to responding to the heroin problem.

The $1,577,864 spent included over $18,000 for indigent burials of drug overdose deaths; $167,000 spent by the fire department; and $1.3 million for the police department, including patrols, special operations by the narcotics unit and jail corrections, according to Adkins.

He said on top of that 49 people in Middletown died from heroin last year.

“If I put it to you there was a defective product in this community and it killed 50 people and it generated $1.5 million in damages … we would lose our minds,” Adkins said. “We would absolutely stand up and say, ‘No more.’ But heroin is uncomfortable; we don’t like to talk about that.”

In response, the city of Middletown and Atrium Medical Center are holding a Heroin Summit from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday at the hospital. The day-long event is not open to the public because it’s a work session for community stakeholders to set goals and begin developing a community-wide response to dealing with the heroin issue most effectively, Adkins said.

“I believe this will be the most difficult issue I will face this year,” Adkins said. “Heroin is devious, funding is scarce and the damage to our community is almost beyond calculation.”

Adkins said when he started in 2005 as the city prosecutor, he would come into the office on a Monday to find about 20 people in jail from over the weekend. He said only about three cases were felony crimes.

“Then heroin resurged in this community, and if we come in on a Monday morning now, there are 30-35 in jail and over 20 of them are felonies, almost all related to drug abuse and drug addiction in this community,” Adkins said.

He said the $1.5 million spent responding to heroin kept the city from paving an additional six miles of roadways and putting more public safety people on the streets.

Adkins said the Heroin Summit will include stakeholders from city government, police and fire, the prosecutor’s office, the courts system, health care providers, education, business and religious communities, and civic and social groups. State Rep. Tim Derickson (R-Hanover Twp.) is also scheduled to appear.

Tina Gregory, nursing director of Atrium’s emergency department and behavioral health unit, said she’s hoping the multi-disciplinary agencies will be able to collaborate to develop action steps.

“It’s not a problem one piece of the puzzle will solve,” Gregory said. “We need to mobilize against this.”

Gregory said the Middletown hospital has felt the same burden from the heroin problem as hospitals and communities across Ohio. From 2000 to 2012, there’s been a 366 percent increase in drug overdose deaths in Ohio, according to Gregory.

“We see patients with heroin problems several times a week,” she said.

During a 24-hour period in the first week of January, Gregory said Atrium treated 14 heroin overdoses and, surprisingly, none of them resulted in a death.

“People though are dying,” Gregory said.

In the first three months of 2014, Butler County had 50 drug overdose deaths — a 139 percent increase over the same period in 2013, according to Gregory.

During the entire 2014, Middletown alone had 49 heroin deaths and another seven pending the final coroner report, Adkins said.

Gregory said men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 are at the highest risk for a fatal drug overdose.

“We have stigmas that we put with drug abuse. … Drug addicts are bad people; people addicted to drugs must come from dysfunctional families; heroin addiction is a character flaw,” Adkins said. “I will be the first to say those addicted to drugs are responsible for their choices and their behavior, but I will also say I’ve spent enough time talking to medical professionals … to say that when heroin addiction takes control of a person, it is now a chronic medical condition.”

Adkins said 40-60 percent of drug addicts will relapse.

Gregory said it’s “such an intense use of resources” for emergency medical responders, police and fire, and hospitals to respond to and treat heroin use. She said the medical costs are “outstanding.”

“There are so many other collateral effects,” Gregory said. “People losing jobs, family factors, children in foster care, the emotional piece.”

Gregory said Atrium recently received $11,000 in grant funds to obtain 150 Narcan kits, that include the drug used to reverse the effects of an overdose and educational materials. She said doctors at the hospital will prescribe the kits — valued at $72 each — to patients that could benefit, as well as help educate family members.

Efforts across Butler County to get a handle on the growing heroin problem have included formation of a county-wide opiate abuse task force; development of a Youth Heroin Prevention Initiative by Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser; formation of Heroin Control, a group for family members of addicts; and Hope Over Heroin rallies.

Gmoser said he’s visited students in Hamilton and Trenton schools alongside a handful of recovering heroin addicts that share their personal experiences with the students. He said a 54-year-old woman shared her story of once being a high school cheerleader but has since lost two husbands to her heroin use.

“The superintendents and principals were really quite amazed how quiet the audience was during the speaker,” Gmoser said. “Usually, there’s always a rustling, but during this program, (the students) were riveted.”

Gmoser said he believes it’s most effective to catch the young person before they start experimenting with highly-addictive drugs.


By the Numbers

The city of Middletown in 2014 spent over $1.5 million* in direct response to heroin use.

$1,280,387 spent by Middletown Division of Police for dispatch, patrol, detectives, special operations (narcotics unit), jail corrections and police records

$167,000 spent by Middletown Division of Fire

$112,224 spent by Middletown Municipal Court on criminal and civil eviction cases

$18,253 spent on indigent burials for overdoses

$1,577,864 total spent in 2014

Source: Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins

*The exact numbers are difficult to calculate. Each department attempted to capture their direct calls for service and quantify the costs associated with their response.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan 25 2015 at 5:29pm
Let's see. The city leaders create an environment that fosters the drug scene as they invite more low income/Section 8 to town. Most are responsible and do what they are required to do but it is the activity of others who only add to the malaise in the city and bring in their pals from outside the city to add to the crime scene. The drug scene gets worse as the heroin usage increases, prompting more Narcan responses to retain the lives of the users who overdose. The police are overtaxed even more while the officer numbers go down. The fire dept, with it's reduced numbers must respond to the increased medical runs due to overdosing. Increase the workload and lower the numbers to do it. Incredible lack of logic.

Not trying to mask any callousness here. IMO, I don't want to see one more attempt to revive people on heroin who don't care about their lives anyway. Why keep bailing them out if they have a desire to risk their lives with each drug usage? Why should the city incur the cost of Narcan, pay the medics to respond and administer it and make the attempt to care for people who could care less?

The city leaders make a habit of creating a problem, realize what they have done, which is always too late, then search for the answer to fix it. In this case, not creating the environment for drug usage to thrive would have been a good start for a reduction in the problem. The magnitude of inviting all not wanted in other cities has had devastating effects. Instead, they saw only revenue money for the city and not the residuals that the idea has brought.

Wrong city path coupled with narrow sighted thinking only seen in Middletown.....again.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vivian Moon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan 26 2015 at 9:38pm

Posted: 7:04 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, 2015

Leaders share ideas to tackle heroin in Middletown

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN 

    Community leaders hope they took another step toward ending, or at least reducing, the heroin epidemic in the Middletown area.

    About 40 people representing a cross section of the community gathered for six hours Monday at Atrium Medical Center, sharing ideas on how to loosen heroin’s grip that killed 49 people in the city last year, and strained city and public safety budgets. City    Manager Doug Adkins said Middletown spent $1.5 million last year dealing with the affects of heroin, and it’s time to be proactive.

     “We are in this for the long haul,” Adkins told the group at the conclusion of the Heroin Summit, a work session for community stakeholders to set goals and begin developing a community-wide response to dealing with the heroin issue. “This will not be quick. It won’t be three meetings and, ‘Thank God, we solved heroin.’”

    He said if the city can reduce deaths related to heroin by 50 percent that would be “a pretty remarkable accomplishment.”

    Adkins said in 2014 the city spent $1.3 million for the police department, including patrols, special operations by the narcotics unit and jail corrections; $167,000 by the fire department; and more than over $18,000 for indigent burials of drug overdose deaths.

    From 2000 to 2012, there was a 366-percent increase in drug overdose deaths in Ohio, according to state records.

    Jackie Phillips, city health director, said heroin addiction is an epidemic that’s impacted the entire U.S. She said heroin hits harder in communities that face poverty, offer easy access and are located near major cities.

    “We have more of those factors,” she said.

    Adkins said a follow-up meeting is set for Feb. 23 at the hospital and he hopes to continue the momentum that started Monday at the summit, which drew members of the medical community, church and city leaders, business leaders, police and fire officials and elected officials.

    They talked about the importance of prevention, treatment and education. They said the city needs to educate its youth about the dangers associated with heroin, install a centralized phone service to direct those with questions regarding heroin, and open a one-stop center so addicts can receive in- and out-patient treatments.

    “We build jails for these people,” said Mike Gmoser, Butler County prosecutor. “We need to build facilities for these people.”

    Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims said his jail, which is sometimes referred to as a “detox center,” has had success giving inmates shots of Vivitrol, which eliminates the high associated with heroin. He said the inmates receive up to six shots, and the cost a one-month prescription is about $1,200

    “You can only help those who want to be helped,” Phillips said.

    Ron Ward is one of those who wanted helped, he said. Ward, 46, who has been clean from methamphetamine for two years and six months, said he started Celebrate Restoration out of his Middletown home. The goal: Get addicts off the streets and return them to productive lives. He said since last year, he has assisted five addicts, three from Middletown.

    “I just love the city, and I want to see us get better,” he said.

    Marquita Turner, chief nursing officer at Atrium, and Lamar Ferrell, pastor of Berachah Church in Middletown, said prayer is needed, and God is the most powerful remedy.

    “We have to call on this higher being, the healer to fix this problem,” said Turner, who added the “just say no” anti-drug message needs to be more consistent.

    It’s important, she said, to get into the homes of addictive parents and make sure their children don’t make the same decisions.

    Ferrell said since heroin addiction is considered a disease and those impacted need healing, there is something people can do that is free. He’d like for the community to meet once a week, at the same time, the same place, and pray for those shackled by heroin.

    “We will ask God to do the impossible,” Ferrell told the group. “We are dealing with impossible situations, but we are not dealing with a God who is stumped. He’s saying, ‘Trust me.’”

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan 27 2015 at 6:08am
I guess only city leaders have the solutions to the heroin problem in town. After all, they have been running the ship the correct way for decades haven't they and their ideas and decisions have created a great city in which to live. Apparently, the citizens have been excluded again as to any input in the town in which they live.

The religious people think the solution is to gather the entire city to pray for these people, calling on that "higher power". Good luck in attaining a decent number to participate. Most in town would rather sit on the couch rather than to vote or get involved in other ways. Some are here for the fed handout programs and could care less what happens in town.

The medical people want to set up clinics, have classes and motivate the users to stop.

The police are strained as to responses to the fallout of the heroin usage as they steal to finance their habit. The fire medics are strained from the additional runs to administer Narcan to the ones who could care less about their lives. All of this coming as Adkins trims down the fire workforce. Let the overdosed heroin user pay for the Narcan treatment and the trip to the hospital, not the taxpayer.

Adkins and crew created this residual scene of heroin use by placing the welcome mat out for all low income/Section 8 participants and all that that brings to town. Now, he and the others who wanted the low income abundance, want to fix the very problems they fostered and look like a hero in doing so. Who's fooling who here Adkins?

Jail the repeat offenders who steal and use. Let them pay for their own Narcan treatment and hospital stay. No more freebies on the taxpayer. Stop the cottling. Establish laws for the number of times they are attended to for their habit. Use the courts to oust them from the city if they are repeat offenders. We don't need more problems like this here. Lord knows, we have enough created by the leaders to deal with.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote over the hill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan 27 2015 at 10:11am
Maybe some statistics on the number of heroin users and Sec 8 recipients might shed some light on your hypothesis. Or would that be profiling? Don't know
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bumper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan 27 2015 at 12:41pm
i really don't see how anyone being able to hold a real job doing this !! IMO if someone is really that stupid to get talked into doing this crap!! or whatever, i really hate seeing my $$$$ being wasted on saving them just to give them another day to do it again!!  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan 27 2015 at 3:33pm
Originally posted by over the hill over the hill wrote:

Maybe some statistics on the number of heroin users and Sec 8 recipients might shed some light on your hypothesis. Or would that be profiling? Don't know


Perhaps a breakout between the poor community of Middletown as to heroin users as compared to a more upscale community with a higher class resident clientele and less low income/ Section 8 such as Lebanon and go even higher by throwing in a Mason or West Chester may tell us something.

Incidences by city as to Narcan administration frequency, theft numbers by drug addicts and heroin city deaths may tell us whether the low income/Section 8 influence directly relates to heroin use as it applies to the status of a town's economic level. Dunno.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wannaknow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jan 29 2015 at 6:29am
I lost a child to drug overdose. Some of you shouldn't be so quick to judge. She was in a car accident and got hooked on the pain medication that doctors prescribe so freely. Street drugs were cheaper so of course that's the route she chose. My thoughts are the doctors are partially responsible b/c they want to give people a pill to fix everything. The schools should educate the children so they know the dangers of drugs. They could tell the counselors about mom and dad's meth lab or whatever.

As a former bar owner I have seen the druggies peddle their goods. Needless to say I have zero tolerance for any type of drug use, probably why I'm out of business. The motels in town are full of the drug users, buyers and sellers. Route 4 is the pipeline bringing that stuff in from Dayton.

It is so hard to get people in this town motivated to do anything. We see that at the polls. Putting drug addicts in jail does nothing but stop them for a bit. The Narcan gives them another day. A very small percentage of drug addicts recover to lead productive lives. Of course b/c we are human we continue to make an effort to save them. The education of our children needs to start much earlier to be effective.

This epidemic is not just in Middletown. It's only going to get worse.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MIDDPROUD Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 8:24am
I thinks its great that so many people on this site have great OPINIONS/IDEAS about all subjects city related.  Why don't all of you get out from behind your computer monitors and get in touch with Mr. Adkins and let him know how you the tax paying citizens of MIddletown can solve all of the currant/future problems.  

We all know the roads are bad, the schools are bad, lack of police and fire protection, heroin problem ect.. These are all items everyone of us know exist.  All of you need to tell the city what they can do to raise capitol to improve and or solve all of the issues.

You elected five people to council, to be your voices and they elected Mr. Adkins six total people to solve this cities problems.  There are 48,000 additional minds/ideas out here that need to be heard.  You all need to show up at city council meetings and tell the six in charge that you think needs to be done to solve these problems.

This is our city, we should be voicing our ideas.  If we feel our leaders are out of touch with the direction we  want our city to go, then tell them face to face!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vivian Moon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 8:43am
We all know the roads are bad, the schools are bad, lack of police and fire protection, heroin problem ect.. These are all items everyone of us know exist.  All of you need to tell the city what they can do to raise capitol to improve and or solve all of the issues.

Hmmm....City Hall didn't want to hear from us BEFORE they spent all the money, raided all the funds and gave away all the buildings downtown.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote over the hill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 9:48am
People were shouting from the roof tops to please listen to the people before you empty our coffers on pet projects downtown, before they decided to get in the real estate business, before the Sec8 fiasco. Many of us have been before council on various issues. They chose NOT to listen to common sense, that doing what was best for the ENTIRE city instead of a chosen few would bring more rewards in the long run. Maybe council might want to read a few suggestions that have been posted here on this blog. JMO
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MIDDPROUD Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 11:24am
Maybe it is time for a change!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 11:29am
MIDDPROUD:

Simple answer as to why we don't all march into Adkin's office or address council......They don't want to hear from us. We are the enemy in their opinion. Some of us have attended a council meeting or two and have addressed council for our three minutes of fame. We, of course, were stopped exactly at the three minute mark by Mayor Lawrence Mulligan (one of the problem children by the way) as they didn't like what they were hearing. If we were supportive of their ideas, we would have been able to speak as long as we wanted as it helped massage their egos as the city supporters do. Many glossy, embellished, rosy presentations from the friends of city hall have been made in front of council and they get all giddy with delight as the glowing remarks are laid upon them. Not so when we show up.

No, like you have done, the city puppets and their supporters can read this forum and some do. They even enlist their blind, easily swayed hacks here to attempt to intimidate, anger and frustrate us at times. The school board does it too, usually during levy time. Doesn't work. All that happens is that the city supporters incur our wrath here, we are accused of not going along with the program which is a cluster and the verbal sparing between them and us usually ends up in a stalemate. Factual data has been presented here when the city does something stupid, usually on a frequent basis. Doesn't do any good. The city plants pay no attention to factual data as they attempt to twist and distort our positions against the stupidity.

Usually, nothing is resolved here. Just a place to vent frustrations as we all know it is a waste of time trying to talk to them in person.

I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 2:29pm
Change?

That's what elections are for, and Middletown has elected both new and additional council members and board members repeatedly. The majority of Middletown has changed, through voting, and elected new officials.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 3:38pm
Originally posted by Factguy Factguy wrote:

Change?

That's what elections are for, and Middletown has elected both new and additional council members and board members repeatedly. The majority of Middletown has changed, through voting, and elected new officials.


That's right Factguy, and we all know what happens around here during election time for council and school board don't we.

The fact is, when it's voting time, we are usually stuck with those who support the current city agenda and are sponsored by the MMF to allow them to continue to have in place those who will take direction from the few, the proud, the inner circle currently controlling things in this town. You know it. Everybody knows it that gives a dam.

We also know that the vast majority of citizens of voting age could care less, are not registered, and wouldn't get their sorry butts off the couch to go punch some buttons at the voting booths. That and there is no one decent, who knows the problems of the city and wants to tackle the dominant voting block in town to win a seat on council or the school board. When a person out of the club has announced their intention to run, the wheels are set in motion to eliminate the threat as the MMF pulls from their supply of yes people to dilute the vote, spreading the paltry amount of votes over many candidates with one of their many winning the seat. We know that is the way it works here.

Basically, this is the reason we are stuck with the same old faces who rotate between the school board, council and some of the many committees in town. Ann Mort is a perfect example of the roving candidate as she has been in many positions, some won by election and some by appointment. Look at Tyus on the school board. He was defeated and still came back by appointment. Keep the same faces in the controlling elected positions to continue the game plan in place that continues to drive the city/schools in the downward spiral it has been in the last four decades. Unless you have lived here during that time span and before the destruction started, you don't know the whole situation and can't make a comparison of then and now.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 4:14pm
Admittedly, you stated there were legitimate elections. These elections were won by candidates honestly. Moreover, you have admitted by elections, your opinions are of the minority of those working and living in Middletown, as the outcome of elections has been supportive of candidates running for office, whom I add, represent the majority of their constituents.

Moreover, you admit your viewpoint, or opinion, represents the minority, not the majority, of the current state of affairs in the city. You are therefore complaining because you are a minority.     

    
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 6:52pm
Originally posted by Factguy Factguy wrote:

Admittedly, you stated there were legitimate elections. These elections were won by candidates honestly. Moreover, you have admitted by elections, your opinions are of the minority of those working and living in Middletown, as the outcome of elections has been supportive of candidates running for office, whom I add, represent the majority of their constituents.

Moreover, you have admitted by elections, your opinions are of the minority of those working and living in Middletown, as the outcome of elections has been supportive of candidates running for office, whom I add, represent the majority of their constituents.. You are therefore complaining because you are a minority.     

    



"Moreover, you have admitted by elections, your opinions are of the minority of those working and living in Middletown, as the outcome of elections has been supportive of candidates running for office, whom I add, represent the majority of their constituents."

I have admitted nothing of the kind.

Do you really think that the election of the current crop of puppet candidates represents the wishes of the majority of the people in this city? On the contrary, the election of the current group of council and school board members represents a very small faction of inner circle interests sponsored by the MMF, sanctioned by the city building people and rubber stamped to publicly keep the program moving legally by these council people. Council people aren't required to be independent thinkers. No need. They are directed by the Mulligans, Ken Cohen and the others on the MMF board and other "movers and shakers" who have their special agendas which do not include the majority.   

How in the hell did you arrive at that conclusion? The elections were won by candidates who were not challenged, had the financial backing of the MMF , inner sanctum of city building supporters and the voting block that shows at every election to keep the MMF kingdom intact. It doesn't take a large voter turnout to have the MMF candidates win. That is due to the non-involvement of the majority of potential voters here. The size of your MMF voter block is sufficient to beat any outsider candidate. Past elections have proven this. If more of those who remain silent and disinterested in change would register and vote these MMF candidates out of office and vote for those who run who wish to end the current cluster, the direction of this city would change for the better. You and your buddies are safe as that scenario will never happen. Your pals are banking on the apathy to continue your quest to total the town. Makes it easy for you and all who think as you do to win.

No, I'm frustrated because there is never a serious challenge put forth to oust the people that you support. I want a housecleaning on council, the school board and the city building. Those in office are not good for this city and it shows. Just open your eyes for once and see the results of their ideas. The city/schools are a shadow of their former selves and the city is posturing on ghetto status.














I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote spiderjohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 7:42pm
Also, many of us our not happy because:

No one else of electable credibility wants to run because:

1. Those on Council and in Admin for years have run this city in to the ground--they should ALL decline any more terms, and Doug A should remove many serving in Admin--we can't fall much lower imo.
2. The financial future is shaky due to bad land/property purchases followed by giveaways + the selective preference towards the former downtown area, which has not produced beyond municipal subsidy. Virtually every business down there would be gone without repeated taxpayer funding.
3. Citizens feel betrayed by how their tax funding has been used(false promises regarding public safety--a ridiculous light show at the I-74 entrance/EXIT--property giveaways with tax forgiveness and no contingencies of job creation or future revenue contributions)
4. No one wants to inherit these messes and promise a turnaround.
5. More people of substance want to leave vs. those wanting to come here--factguy himself states that we are shrinking population and we all know what types of people are leaving.

Hey factguy--you are involved and have the details from start to finish--please chronicle the Duncan Oil fiasco from beginning to current, with all costs involved detailed(including Admin man-hours invested)

Sorry to be tough, but let's honestly call it like it is and lay the cards on the table...

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 05 2015 at 11:10pm
Where to begin.

The majority of voters elected the current council and board of election members by a large number of voters and outcomes representing 75% or greater and somehow that represents a minority? That defies logic and factual objectivity.  Re-litigating past elections on desired results does not change elected officials won by the majority of voters. If the votes don't represent the majority of voters and desires, are you suggesting in any given election cycle, if 100% of those registered don't vote, the election results are tainted, or not real? If so, every elected official in the nation using your logic, was elected by a minority, your minority, and you want a mulligan, a do-over. 
 
The problems in Middletown began many years ago, and long before the present city council and board of education elected officials came to power. These hard working and dedicated individuals did not cause the decline in Middletown. Conversely, they attempted to rid the city of section 8, that the majority of musa desired to be cut. They paved almost all major roads, extended the area east of 75. They expanded education possibilities with Cincinnati State, and slowly but methodically, have the building blocks to re-store downtown Middletown. There is not an urban planner or public study that doesn't reveal the direct success a city or municipality has, or doesn't have, with a robust thriving city. If Middletown is to succeed, it MUST have a downtown offering many amenities to residents and busineses.

Duncan Oil swap with other properties cost little in funding, and to a large part was conceived when Governor Strickland was in office and Ohio had plans to have high speed rail throughout the state. Not one city council member nor city employee, could control the election and removal of Strickland. Moreover, if the train had run as planned, we were very well positioned to take advantage of being a stop on the route, which would have made it convenient and cost effective to reside in Middletown, and work in Dayton, Cincinnati, or Columbus. The totality of these events were out of the control of anyone within city leadership or council. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mike_Presta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 06 2015 at 12:45am
I never cease to be amazed at how the  "3-C Railway" that proposed three trips per day each way from Cincinnati to Cleveland via Columbus became fantasized into "high speed rail throughout the state" and a light rail commuter system for Dayton-Middletown-Cincinnati. 

It boggles the mind.  Some folks' grasp of reality tends to be tenuous, at best.
“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 06 2015 at 6:43am
Factguy:

"The majority of voters elected the current council and board of election members by a large number of voters and outcomes representing 75% or greater and somehow that represents a minority? That defies logic and factual objectivity"

To restate your post. The majority of the current voters, DEFINED AS BEING THE MMF VOTING BLOCK WHO VOTE FOR MMF CANDIDATES CURRENTLY PROVIDING A STRANGLEHOLD ON THE OFFICE POSITIONS HERE, ARE IN THE MINORITY as to TOTAL POTENTIAL VOTERS THAT COULD PARTICIPATE. In other words, Factguy, because of the non-participation of the vast majority of TOTAL POTENTIAL voters in this city who may back the non MMF candidate, the relatively small MMF voting block (again, as compared to the POTENTIAL NUMBERS THAT COULD BE VOTING), having a large turnout, always has the winner in the elections.

That does not defy logic nor factual objectivity.

Factguy:

"The problems in Middletown began many years ago, and long before the present city council and board of education elected officials came to power. These hard working and dedicated individuals did not cause the decline in Middletown"

Let's restate this also.

The problems in Middletown began many years ago and long before the present city council and board of ed. elected officials came to power.

So far so good.

Here is where you are wrong.

"These hard working and dedicated individuals DID NOT CAUSE THE DECLINE IN MIDDLETOWN."

WRONG!

These "hard working and dedicated individuals" DID CONTRIBUTE AS MUCH AS ANY OTHERS WHO PRECEDED THEM IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY AND SCHOOLS. They continued the downward trend and added a few wrinkles of their own to add to the misery that is now the norm here. God man, just look at the crime, the drugs, the streets, the low housing values, the stale low paying job's available here, the almost non-existent economic development, the pathetic attempts to make the downtown work, the Section 8 blight, the image issues, the general malaise of the city as it gives the impression of a dirty, deserted, "lack of life", hopeless theme. The streets are deserted and the life has been sucked right out of this town. You don't see that and if not, what in the hell are you looking at? The schools are no better. They are at the bottom of the list as to desirability, academics, have gone downhill in sports as the consistency of winning in football and basketball, once a given here, has eroded to a middle to lower echelon affair.

Factguy:

"Conversely, they attempted to rid the city of section 8, that the majority of musa desired to be cut"

You're kidding right? THEY were the perpetrators of the increase in Section 8. THEY get NO CREDIT for trying to repair what they created. The creators of the problem are not to be placed on a pedestal for suddenly realizing what we here have known for years.....IE, that the oversaturation of Section 8 was bad for the city. C'Mon Factguy. These people aren't heroes. They are to be villified for the low income/Section 8 carnage they created.

Factguy:

"They paved almost all major roads"

Hell, they haven't even got a good start as yet. Mercy.

Factguy:

"They expanded education possibilities with Cincinnati State, and slowly but methodically, have the building blocks to re-store downtown Middletown"

Both CS and the downtown have yet to show any measurable eye-opening success and you know it. CS has LOST STUDENT ENROLLMENT. The downtown is constantly in flux with people in and out of the buildings down there and if it weren't for the boost in taxpayer handouts down there, it would be even worse as to occupancy and interest. No, Factguy. The downtown is still trying to restart, even after millions have been thrown at it. It is as big a white elephant as the City Center Mall was.

Factguy:

"If Middletown is to succeed, it MUST have a downtown offering many amenities to residents and busineses."

Probably the dumbest statement you have made so far. The downtown died in 1958 with the advent of the Middletown Shopping Center and the eastward movement as the desired place to be back then. The east and northeast sides have been the activity spots for decades and still is. Look at the traffic and activity out around Kroger, Lowes, Wal-Mart, and the area around Applebees. Then look, on any given day, at the activity down at Broad and Central, the "hub" of the city activity. No comparison, even after years of development concentration at that downtown location.

So, I find it amazing that you would make a statement that if Middletown is to succeed, it must have a downtown. The downtown dies decades ago and life, shopping, meeting people's needs and interest still went on. It went on out in the east end where it continues today.

We don't need your dam downtown to survive. It is only you and people like you who think the answer is down there. Hate to disappoint you. It hasn't been for years. You and your downtown buddies remain in a trance as you attempt to protect those on S. Main St. as you are directed to do by those who live and are on the board of the MMF.

I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 06 2015 at 6:57am
Factguy:

"Duncan Oil swap with other properties cost little in funding, and to a large part was conceived when Governor Strickland was in office and Ohio had plans to have high speed rail throughout the state. Not one city council member nor city employee, could control the election and removal of Strickland. Moreover, if the train had run as planned, we were very well positioned to take advantage of being a stop on the route, which would have made it convenient and cost effective to reside in Middletown, and work in Dayton, Cincinnati, or Columbus. The totality of these events were out of the control of anyone within city leadership or council."

For being "out of control" of city leadership and council" and this was "such a bad thing", there certainly was alot of talk among city leaders about the stop at the train station, the horse and buggy trips for the departing passengers from the station to the downtown area down Central Ave. There was the purchase of the gas station property next to the station, the former Office Outfitters for additional parking for the train station, the convenience store and gas station for Duncan. Doesn't sound to me like it was "out of control". Sounds more like the city leaders welcoming it with open arms and making pie in the sky plans to accomodate the train passenger activity via the use of the downtown.....until the plug was pulled on the whole train stopping idea and the city paid big money for and was stuck with the gas station and Former Office Outfitter lots that are still vacant (typical city operations by the way).   

Being "out of control of anyone within city leadership or council doesn't relief them of taking responsibility of the failure. They decided to to along with the program. They take credit for any success and blame for any failure. It is the way it IS SUPPOSE TO WORK when one has a position of leadership. Instead, I believe you, council, the school board and city leadership want credit when thing go well and point the finger at other sources when it goes poorly. Man up. Take the hit if you failed. Might help with character building for all of you.

I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stanky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 06 2015 at 9:09am
The "must have a vibrant downtown" argument is something from an Urban Planning textbook of the 1970's. Look at West Chester, look at Springboro, Mason, etc. These areas thrive and it has nothing to do with a downtown. In many of the successful areas, there is no downtown to speak of or, if there is one, it is small and inconsequential. Add in the fact the Middletown's downtown is 6-7 miles off the interstate and is not even part of a vibrant throughway i.e. Tylersville, Cin-Day Rd, Route 42, Route 741, etc.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote over the hill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 06 2015 at 10:18am
Monroe has never had a downtown area and yet look at its growth. You kinda missed that one FG.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vivian Moon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb 06 2015 at 11:54am

Where to begin.

The majority of voters elected the current council and board of election members by a large number of voters and outcomes representing 75% or greater and somehow that represents a minority? That defies logic and factual objectivity.  Re-litigating past elections on desired results does not change elected officials won by the majority of voters. If the votes don't represent the majority of voters and desires, are you suggesting in any given election cycle, if 100% of those registered don't vote, the election results are tainted, or not real? If so, every elected official in the nation using your logic, was elected by a minority, your minority, and you want a mulligan, a do-over.  

The problems in Middletown began many years ago, and long before the present city council and board of education elected officials came to power. These hard working and dedicated individuals did not cause the decline in Middletown. Conversely, they attempted to rid the city of section 8, that the majority of musa desired to be cut. They paved almost all major roads, extended the area east of 75. They expanded education possibilities with Cincinnati State, and slowly but methodically, have the building blocks to re-store downtown Middletown. There is not an urban planner or public study that doesn't reveal the direct success a city or municipality has, or doesn't have, with a robust thriving city. If Middletown is to succeed, it MUST have a downtown offering many amenities to residents and busineses.

Well Factguy let us start here....Notice date and players of this action

 Posted: 01 Sep 2009 at 7:07am

We need a meeting ASAP! 

    Tonight at the council meeting Mr. Adkins will be unveiling his new HUD plan for the City of Middletown that will forever change the way HUD funds can be used in Middletown. Because of all the HUD - Section 8 housing the income level of Middletown is now 54% low to moderate and therefore the Council can now declare the entire City of Middletown as a “SLUM AND BLIGHTED AREA”. If the entire City of Middletown is declared a “SLUM” then all HUD Money will not be restricted to designated areas as before. (Wards 1 & 2) Now ALL the HUD FUNDS can be used anyplace in the City that Council desires without any controls what so ever. 
    We the people will have no voice as to where we want these funds to be used.
    I spoke with Anita Scott Jones last night and she confirmed that this is the new plan for Middletown.

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