Mort's At It Again

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   Ms. Mort is beating the old drum again on the merits of her Pride group and their accomplishments. Nothing wrong with being the motherly cheerleader for the town, but good lord, hearing her espouse the fluffy surface based projects of her fix 'em up group is like the old record skipping on the record player. We understand, Ann, you folks like to paint and rehab. Great! Now, not only is she citing the "spruce up" deeds of her group but she is also taking the credit for getting new business in town like the hobby shop she mentions. Did her group actually bring these businesses to town as a result of her group's work? If true, sounds like she is also in the business of Econ. Devel. as well as the head of the "Sprucing Up" department. Bottom line ..... What her group is doing is certainly commendable and worth noting (please, not constantly Ann), but it isn't the solution for fixing this town's real problems. You folks keep painting and we, the voters, will make the real changes needed, starting in November.   

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VietVet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008	Post Options Post Reply Quote VietVet Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Mort's At It Again Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 11:58am
	Ms. Mort is beating the old drum again on the merits of her Pride group and their accomplishments. Nothing wrong with being the motherly cheerleader for the town, but good lord, hearing her espouse the fluffy surface based projects of her fix 'em up group is like the old record skipping on the record player. We understand, Ann, you folks like to paint and rehab. Great! Now, not only is she citing the "spruce up" deeds of her group but she is also taking the credit for getting new business in town like the hobby shop she mentions. Did her group actually bring these businesses to town as a result of her group's work? If true, sounds like she is also in the business of Econ. Devel. as well as the head of the "Sprucing Up" department. Bottom line ..... What her group is doing is certainly commendable and worth noting (please, not constantly Ann), but it isn't the solution for fixing this town's real problems. You folks keep painting and we, the voters, will make the real changes needed, starting in November.

wasteful Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 793	Post Options Post Reply Quote wasteful Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 12:01pm
	If you are talking about the Hobby Shop at the Airport I thought that was being run by the folks at the Airport. Hmmmmmmm I wonder why she can't get any roads fixed?

Hermes Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: May 19 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1637	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hermes Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 12:11pm
	I personally think it's time for Ann Mort to retire to Arizona. I for one am sick of her "drum beating". She apperantly has nothing else to do except accept accolades & praise for what little she has accomplished. Has she stopped the crime ? Has she reduced section 8 ? Has she fed and housed the poor ? Has she filled the potholes in our streets ? Has she improved grades of our school kids ? Has she stopped corruption ? Can she make it rain ? Or snow ? Can she walk on water ? How about raising the dead ?
	No more democrats no more republicans,vote Constitution Party !!

acclaro Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878	Post Options Post Reply Quote acclaro Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 12:12pm
	Vet, you don't understand Ann's motives. This has nothing about Ann promoting Middletown, and the activities which have translated into nothing of substance or sustainable force. No...its Ann promoting Ann by appearing she is accomplishing something. Its marketing PR 101, creation of "buzz." None of the hype is real, I love the Garnetr Group, they call it the hype curve, when companies create hype when the product is not done or unproven, to create a following. Andd does the same, its the hype, it has nothing to do with new paint, a clean window, but all about Ann. Then, those who know little about marketing, about accomplishments, think, wow, I need to hire this woman, she gets things done. Its hype Vet, the hype curve, the hype factor, about Ann, not about her 'mover and shaker' capabilities as "some" have defined.

wasteful Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 793	Post Options Post Reply Quote wasteful Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 12:53pm
	Why do we never hear from the local Politicians or City Admin yet we constantly hear from Mort and Merrell and it is always the same drum beat, Middletown Pride, Parks and Pool. Never anything different, never anything from the city, just Parks, Pool and Pride....the 3 P's.

VietVet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008	Post Options Post Reply Quote VietVet Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 4:47pm
	acclaro- don't know if you're accurate on this one or not. Do you mean to tell me that you are suggesting that Ms. Mort is a person who has to constantly have her ego massaged? In your opinion, Ms. Mort is NOT doing this for the good of the city...... that her deeds are all for selfish motives and she isn't really telling us the whole story surrounding the efforts of her group? If what you say is true, she sure has been working hard at being important producing events for the entertainment of the citizens, producing a "Good News" magazine and organizing her legions to spiffy up the town. If true, how sad to see that a person has to fulfill their lot in life by having everyone around them think that they are important. indeed. The Journal is only helping to fuel the fire, giving her press whenever she utters a word. Hopefully, all of this speculation is not true.

2000+ Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Jan 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 100	Post Options Post Reply Quote 2000+ Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 7:26pm
	I'm no fan of Ann Mort's because I personally think she is the PR person for the status-quo's interests. As a matter of fact, I really don't like her for a variety of other reasons, but she does get some stuff done and her critics have to admit to that fact. As to Mr. Wood, when you rack up the number of institutions he has founded, (Habitat for Humanity, TV Middletown, Sink or Swim, My Park, etc.) not to mention his MJ columns about the crap the city gets away with, you may better understand that your words need to be put into action to make anything happen. In the meantime, how about you coming out from behind your curtain and starting a movement, (maybe run for office where you'll have to answer some tough questions with real answers) to actually help change the direction of the city.

No Free Lunch Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Immigrant Joined: Aug 14 2009 Status: Offline Points: 23	Post Options Post Reply Quote No Free Lunch Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 9:44pm
	Elvis and Ann Mort to have lunch with the City Manager on Monday, August 17th.

Impala SS Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Jan 12 2009 Location: middletown Status: Offline Points: 136	Post Options Post Reply Quote Impala SS Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 16 2009 at 11:14pm
	Boy Ann has enough feathers in her cap she should have a full head dress by now, is she working on the squall dress and shoes now. Enough Ann we are getting sick to death of your bull sh*t, enough is enough go away please.

No Free Lunch Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Immigrant Joined: Aug 14 2009 Status: Offline Points: 23	Post Options Post Reply Quote No Free Lunch Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 2:36am
	More churches and religious organizations should consider various volunteer efforts to help their fellow citizens. Spread the good news through good works and compassion for those truly in need. JMO

wasteful Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 793	Post Options Post Reply Quote wasteful Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 3:39am
	Wood founded Habitat for Humanity and all this time I thought it was Jimmy Carter. TV Middltown the Mouth Piece of the City Admin only, is not truly a Public Acess TV channel. Sink or Swim has yet to produce results which will keep the pools open. My Park is the Citizens taking care of the parks which they have been doing for years in Middletown as the City can't afford to even have a One Man Parks Dept. My Point is the City does not Sink or Swim on the Parks, or a Pool. It sinks or swims on its infrasturcture, its school system, etc., its desirability of people to live here who have jobs to pay the taxes that generate the revenue to maintain and improve the city. Currently Middletown fails on all of those points and the surrounding communities profit. So you can rah, rah, Pools, Parks and Pride all you want it is not solving what truly ails Middletown. An as far as " In the meantime, how about you coming out from behind your curtain" 2000+ is a rather strange first name or surname for that matter don't you agree.

Merrell Wood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 55	Post Options Post Reply Quote Merrell Wood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 11:06am
	Wasetful, Just saw the posts about someones complement regarding my past civic efforts and your related criticism. I'll do what I can to clear things up for you. Habitat for Humanity (national) was founded by Millard Fuller from Georgia in the 60's. He was a devout Christian and a successful businessman who used both those skills to bring the current Habitat concept to life. I think his church went on a few cruisades to Africa to build housing for the poor and he came back with the basic concept. Jimmy Carter got involved once it was well establish and then became a spokesperson before, during and after his presidency. He's still involved but since he's now older his involvement is probably pretty much diminished. Middletown's Habitat is now 15+ year old and has built more than 60 homes for familys who can afford to pay a mortage. One has to assume the local Habitat organization has had some effect on the number of Section 8 claims. If you would like to get involved, give Gene Snow (board president) a call at 424-6464. As to your anonymous criticism from behind the curtain, Id like to see all of those who post on this forum use their real names. I'll be back later to try and correct more of your mis-information about TVM & SOS. Stay tuned.

wasteful Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 793	Post Options Post Reply Quote wasteful Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 11:45am
	Merrell I was being sarcastic about Jimmy Carter, but your history lesson is well taken. You along with many in Middletown miss the point. How many times can we talk about Parks, the Pool and Middletown Pride? They appear in the Journal on a regular basis and we all know who Mort and Merrell are and what they do. The message of the drum beat needs to change from the same old tired message to one that moves the city forward. I am not saying don't work on the pool and the parks I am just saying the constant drum beat of the same message over and over wears thin. The major issues with the city are basically pushed to the wayside, those being Poverty, education, infrastructure, revenues, jobs, etc. Instead we get a steady dose of Parks, Pool and Pride over and over and over. Merrell and Mort change the Message.

Merrell Wood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 55	Post Options Post Reply Quote Merrell Wood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 5:34pm
	Wastful, I must assume you read my last Thursday's MJ column that delt with the parks and the good news concerning their private sector renewal. Being chair of the park board, the evolution of this concept has been something nice to see. I also must assume you saw Mort's column on Sunday. Her piece on top of mine 3 days apart was probably as much "good news" about things that have little to do with the big picture as one should have to read in one week. However, I along with many others in Middletown do not miss you point. We all know this place has a lot to fix before it can return to the status it once held. Since there seems to be a number of individuals and institutions that can't or won't change the status quo because of their vested interests or ignorance of what's needed to turn our ship of state, here we are again. What I've been doing lately about this situation has been to write a fairly regular column in the MJ that try's to expose the BS that's hard not to miss. My MJ column of July 26th. delt with the smoke & mirrors used by the dominant members of the Charter Committee to bring us a two-for-one ballot about dumping the ward system and changing the size of council at the same time. I've more than a dozen column's this year about similar examples of civic hipocracy As you say, the constant "drum beat" of the same old "good news" doesn't change a thing that changes anything, but if you check around, you'll discover the majoritiy of the columns I write and will continue to write deal with many of the same issues that annoy us all. Many on this blog are extreamly frustrated with the limbo our city is in and hope to see a major change in council this Fall. I'm planning on working for those candidates that can bring change, but most important for me is keeping the 4 ward system. Finally, one key difference between Me & Mort is that she is embraced by the status quo, while I am mostly avoided by them and don't mind it at all.

Hermes Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: May 19 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1637	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hermes Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 6:35pm
	Mr Wood you do a fine job and I'm more than happy to see you continue in your efforts to enlighten and educate on the happenings of our good city. A job well done sir and I for one wish you many years of success !
	No more democrats no more republicans,vote Constitution Party !!

spiderjohn Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749	Post Options Post Reply Quote spiderjohn Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 7:33pm
	Wow--I am agreeing with Wasteful more and more. Let's hope this continues, or we air our differences constructively. JUST SAY NO IN NOVEMBER

Nelson Self Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Aug 17 2009 Status: Offline Points: 144	Post Options Post Reply Quote Nelson Self Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 8:04pm
	Spider John: The times, they are a changin'.

Pacman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pacman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 8:14pm
	Spider if it is word for word as was in the Charter Review recomendation, it was written by Landon and now the City has gone out and hired another lawyer to do what exactly: "The city has engaged the services of Don McTigue, a Columbus lawyer with extensive background in election law, for assistance in this matter, according to a memo issued by city Law Director Les Landen that was sent to City Council on Friday, Aug. 14." One thing must give you pause it was Les Landon's insistance to write the Charter Change as one issue, including both the reduction of council members and doing away with the wards, not anyone else's. So let me ask this if the Council had given the go ahead to put this on the ballot back in July, what would be the difference between where we are now and where we would have been last month? I just am not getting all of this excitement over this Petition. It either passes or fails and the people have had their say, as it should be.

wasteful Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 793	Post Options Post Reply Quote wasteful Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 8:30pm
	Thanks Spider I am glad some people get the Point.

Merrell Wood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 55	Post Options Post Reply Quote Merrell Wood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 9:01pm
	Pacman, In reference to the ballot language and Les's decision to place the two issues on one ballot, I had an extensive conversation with him last Monday about the confusion of the ballot language he created. My inquiry had to do with the Ohio Secretary of State's common rejection of a ballot that can be shown to be "confusing" to the public. As stated in my column of July 26th, it is not common for one ballot to contain two issues for the public to decide at once. At the conclusion of our conversation, Les said he was considering checking the language with a higher source of credibility. He obviously has. However, he orginally was placed in this position because of the insistance of the major power brokers on the charter commitee who refused to simply put up for public vote only a change in the ward system. They wanted both. You should have been there. It was one of the best examples of stagecrafting I've ever seen. Anyway, we're all going to have the chance to vote on the two for one ballot and I intend to support keeping the 4 Ward system.

Merrell Wood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 55	Post Options Post Reply Quote Merrell Wood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 9:06pm
	Oh, and I forgot to ask, how in the world did we get all the way from Ann Mort the house mother to Les Landon and the ballot language?

Pacman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pacman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 17 2009 at 9:12pm
	Ask Spider he posted about the ballot langauge I guess someone asked a question about it somewhere. So Merrell are you saying there is a chance that this could still end up being pulled due to the two issues in one intitiative and that is the reason for the hiring of the lawyer? Or is this a done deal if the Signatures pan out as being legit?

Merrell Wood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 55	Post Options Post Reply Quote Merrell Wood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 18 2009 at 7:42am
	Pacman, I'm only saying that in our last conversation, Les seemed to think it prudent to double check the language himself or hire someone who could. Since the Butler County board of elections has nothing to do with ballot language and their responsibility is only to run the election, his next step was obvious. He certainly doesn't want the ballot to be thrown out by the Sec. State. I doubt the ballot will be pulled but I'm sure the hired gun will make certain the language is appropriate. Even after the election, a claim could be brought to the state about the language and result of the vote. Stay tuned. I'm sure it will be a topic of discussion at the next council meeting. In the end, I think it's a done deal.

spiderjohn Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749	Post Options Post Reply Quote spiderjohn Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 18 2009 at 9:04am
	So--if the petition language is invalid, wouldn't that render the petitions invalid also? That decision would mean that people who signed the petition would see a DIFFERENT issue on the ballot(not necessarily as the petitions that were signed)? Doesn't sound legally correct imo

Merrell Wood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Mar 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 55	Post Options Post Reply Quote Merrell Wood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Aug 18 2009 at 9:51am
	Spider, Logical rational but who knows? This is getting too deep for my opinion. I was just passing on my conversation with Les and the one I had with the Sec. State's office about a confusing ballot. I guess we'll hear more tonight.