IF I WERE TO RUN - Tell Us More Buddhalite

Excellent points buddhalite. Now, if we can just get two or three more to join you in the next council election cycle, and they just happen to overcome the MMF voting block and are elected, we will enjoy a majority on council and can begin the much needed housecleaning at the city building starting with the city manager and his supporters. Might be wishful thinking at this point but one can still have hope for change......if not for the MUSA folks here, for a new direction for this city. The last four decades have been a disaster for showing any progress and image building for this town. A totally new agenda with new priorities is needed to begin the turnaround. The controlling old guard with the town destroying lock on the city needs to be placed aside and they need to fade away.

How do we overcome the apathy that is so rampant in this town. It will take the support of people who don't care which way the city goes to go to the polls to vote the old guard MMF candidates out. How do you make that happen if most don't care?

Apathy contributors:

Many older, long established residents have given up on the city ever changing for the better and are resigned to feeling indifferent toward the current city condition. Some in the old guard who cared have passed on and some have moved out of town to get away from the nonsense.

Newer residency arrivals have no clue about the former All American city and it's heyday when money was flowing, Armco and the paper companies were at their peak, people cared and took care of their houses, cars and property and had the discretionary income for upkeep. Decent paying jobs for the times were plentiful and there was more of a feeling of pulling together rather than what we have now.They know nothing about Middletown and don't care to know. Some do care about creating crime and are interested in the drug scene here though.

Because newer people who have no attachment to the city, (other than to reap the HUD/low income housing, food stamp and other taxpayer funded amenity handouts given by city leaders and the feds), they don't see a need to register, much less vote in local elections which may or may not change the MMF stranglehold on things here. They could care less as long as they're getting their freebies.

And finally, to some, this city is a stepping stone or temporary place to live. They don't plan on staying and will move on to the next opportunity. To some, it all depends on when their low income benefits expire. JMO

Specifics?

I agree with most of what buddhalite is proposing. We need to see two more run for office with similar agendas. Need a majority on council of like-minded people to start the purge and lessen the effect of the MMF grip on the city....and that is where the problem lies. No one wants to run in order to make the vast amount of changes needed to fire the principal players in the city's destruction including the city manager and his supporters in the city building. Purge and replace with new direction people should be the theme for the council when a new majority is seated. High goal to achieve given the reluctance from people who could do the job but see it as too daunting of task. I am included in this group.

Changes in the following would have to be made to change direction....

Concentration on decent paying jobs. Fire the economic development department people who have not made the effort needed to obtain higher wage jobs for Middletown in decades. A new approach needs to happen from the new people brought in. Gotta clean up the city to attract new employers to town for a start.

Eradication of criminals and drug users with penalties so severe, no one would want to face the charges. Make the town climate hard nosed with no "easy outs" for crimes and drug usage committed. A major deterrent program needs to happen and a no nonsense "Sheriff Jones/Arpaio (sp)" mindset should be adopted.

Stop spending public money on the money pit known as downtown and turn it over 100% to private interests. More concentration on more marketable areas of town should be the focus. No property should be city owned. At the same time, review other areas of town and determine what is needed to make them appealing to new employers. If not doable, turn to real estate developers for these areas with a focus on making the areas livable again. Partner with employers and developers to promote growth. What can the city do to help them both.

No more public money loaned to private developers in the city. Let them obtain their own financing for their projects No more Grau's and Robinette's on the horizon. Been there, done that....it failed. Learn from it city leaders.

City involvement with the schools is crucial. Major improvements to the current train wreck that is the Middletown schools must happen to improve the reputation of the school district and the city. The city has a right to stick their nose in the school's business because the quality of the schools is a major selling point for attracting new residents/employers. Good schools help all of us living here. The schools have not been a plus factor for decades.

A major effort toward rebuilding the image of this city. It is classified as a ghetto by surrounding communities and has lost it's blue collar, hard working, middle class image it had for decades. Surrounding communities no longer respect Middletown. We have become a place to avoid.

Let's get some traffic flow and life back into this town. The streets are deserted after 6PM. There is a severe lack of entertainment here as well. Dine out perhaps. Go to an arts show downtown once in a while. Broad St. Bash. Smith Park once in a while. (what happened to the Blues Fest at the city building or down at AK Pavillion?)Go to church, DORA's, the MUM campus occasionally or a social event held by an organization perhaps......that's about it as to social functions. And how about the kids who live here? Any events for them?

I dunno. Just seems like the town is being designed to be a quiet big sister to Oxford when the college in NOT in session and all have gone home. Just seems like there was more going on decades ago and the town was more "lively".

Concerning all the empty lots, particularly in the old second ward/downtown area......

Has the city thought about contacting Habitat for Humanity people to see if they would be interested in building on these lots? How about contacting churches who may have volunteer house building programs to help people in need through their ministries? Has the city thought about contacting building trades schools to help people learn how to build houses. The city might want to help them out by giving them the lot for a buck like they do their downtown buddies. Would that fill some of the holes in the second ward.....how about doing the same thing in the downtown area empty lots using trade school students to build new speculation buildings........just suggestions. Criticize if you must folks but we gotta start somewhere don't we?

How about a program like the one that picks up trash on the roadways leading into Middletown and by the river......include a group that would take trimmers, hedge clippers, lawnmowers and edgers to areas of town where people just can't cut the bushes and weeds from around their homes. Enlist grass cutting services and give them business tax breaks. Plenty around from what I see. Trim the fence lines and shape the bushes for them. Have tree trimming businesses lend their services cutting down dead trees or trimming branches. Have the city give them a tax break on their business for doing the work. Make it worth their time. They get a tax break. The city eventually gets their town cleaned up and more presentable to the neighborhood and to any potential residents. The same principal applies to painters, carpenters, etc. Gives all businesses work, employs people and keeps them in business for future tax money for the city revenues.