New City Manager Selection

Sorry, but I can’t be quite so kind.

Gilleland, Mulligan, and the rest have NOTHING to show for their efforts, let alone anything worthy of award.

Their alleged showpiece, “downtown Middletown”, has been a multi-million dollar BUST at taxpayer expense. We have NOTHING to show for the tens of millions of dollars they have flushed down the toilet on behalf of us taxpayers. Just use Mayor Mulligan’s own yardstick!!! (“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012)

Use Pendelton Art Center as an example. All the art sold there should have been taxable as Middletown income to the “artists” (remember the “furkini” babe?). How much income tax has been returned to Middletown’s taxpayers’ for our million dollar plus donation??? You can bet not much, or City Hall would’ve been bragging about it!!!
Same with Cinci State for the big bucks we Taxpayers blew on that deal. How much income tax has been returned to us for “all of the high income jobs” that Cinci State has brought to our city???

Where are all of the restaurants and coffee shops that they promised??? Oh…that’s right…they keep closing as fast as they opened. How many tax dollars have they actually brought in???

What are the numbers???? Let’s let the FIGURES TELL THE TALE!!! What are the numbers??? If our city was bringing in significant payroll tax dollars from our downtown investment, you can bet your bippy that City Hall would be shouting the numbers from their ivory tower.

They held all of these meetings involving the “stakeholders”, but they always seem to leave out the biggest stakeholder of all…the taxpayers!!! So the taxpayers end up being the “bag holders”…and “the bag” seems to always be EMPTY!!!

And, if I’m not mistaken, they are about to do the similar things again with the Manchester, the Sorg mansion, and the Sorg Opera House.

So consider this: Each and every of our city officials, whether award-winning or not, swore an oath that they would “not make or authorize the expenditure of public money other than for adequate consideration and efficient service”!!! This means that they would NOT WASTE OUR MONEY!!! So…did they all act stupidly over and over, or did they just DISHONOR their OATHS???

You tell me. Is providing our city’s elite an arena to meet a couple of times a month, along with a couple of extra academes for them to rub elbows with, an “adequate consideration” for the expenditure of millions of public dollars???

I don’t think that they can all be that stupid!!! The only alternative is their lack of honor of their oaths…so why should they be “awarded” with anything other than a fine or a jail cell???

Of course, all of this is just my humble opinion.

Mr. Presta,

You make an excellent point concerning return on investment for the tax dollars being spent on the downtown. If there were significant revenues being generated downtown, we'd have been innundated with articles about it. Yet the silence tells you what you need to know concerning this "revitalization".  As to spending more taxpayer dollars, I don't see anything or anyone to stop the gravy train from continuing. I'd be interested if there were any real, organized resistance to  subsidizing the downtown with taxpayer dollars but I just don't see it happening. The council of 5 now has all the votes necessary to do whatever it wants and it's obvious what that is.

have to agree with processor here
Cohen family has been golden to this community for longer than I have been alive, and I respect every member of the family.
While I disagree with some of Ken's concepts and direction, I cannot knock the man's intent or character. I don't believe any of the family lives here now, though a part of their company remains.
And Ken has done well during his run on top of the business.
Credit where it is due

Don't dislike any of the Mulligans either, though there seems to be a lot of them active currently. I believe most of them live here.
Strongly disagree with a lot of their direction, however can always openly discuss anything with Larry or Joe without the conversation going bad or personal.

We are in the mess that we are in for many many varied reasons, and decades of selfish and after-the-fact poor decisions.

jmo

processor- Could it be that Ken Cohen stayed involved because he has a horse in the race, that being the "flagship" location of his company here in Middletown? If indeed, the council and city leadership are following the guidance of the MMF, as has been suggested, and given the MMF agenda of town control under their terms, why would he want to be associated with a group that have guided this city into the abyss?

Personal gain? I refer you to his business on Grand and University for starters.

Political agenda support? How about helping to field a strong candidate pool for local offices through his MMF group? So far they have been unbeatable when challenged by those outside the sphere of influence. Their voting block overwhelms the apathetic majority at election time. Yep, he's a town power broker who has chosen to control the city while not chosing to be a part of the city's inhabitants. Same goes for Mason-living Adkins and others.

As for living out of town for two years, why did he choose to do that rather than continue living in his hometown that he "cares so much about"? Good enough to control but not good enough to live here?

Silver Spooners?

IMO, anyone who graduates high school while dad builds the business, then shuffles off to college for that business degree, returns to town and slips right into the business as President of the company as dad slides off to retirement, hasn't earned their stripes to run that business as yet. Gotta learn from the ground up don't you think? Yet, it happens all the time......along with Cohen Brothers, there is Miller Insurance. Oswald Carpet and Brown Singer Fabricators to name a few over the years. How about Akers Packaging, Armbruster Florists and Bremer Animal Hospital? Don't know.....do you make a person, with no experience, a President on the first day back from college with degree in hand? You tell me. Guess they can do what they want, it's their company. I'd be a little nervous with junior at the helm directing what I spent a lifetime building and I'd certainly remove them if they dropped the ball early on.

Respect for all the work that he has done? If you are referring to his MMF work, I'm not impressed with the misguided, destructive themes of this group. Other work? Dunno.   

acclaro:

"I may be misinterpreting Vet's statement, but I don't believe the intent was to blame Ken Cohen or many others"

To clarify.....I am talking about an age-old tradition where grandpa started the business, his son took over as grandpa either died or retired, and the business was passed on to his son, and on and on it continues until either the business goes under caused by bad decisions or non-competent handling of the operation, or the latest to take over having no interest in running grandpa's business.

This could be anyone.....Cohen, Miller, Brown- any person who inherited the business and walked into it as they were pre-ordained before high school to occupy the leadership slot. They got to the top because they were the next in line in the family, not necessarily because they came prepared, were the best candidate nor even desired to take on that role. The family merely expected them to step in when it was their turn. For me, the term "silver spooner" simply means that a person was set up for a better life simply by being born into a wealthy family as compared to a person who had to get it the hard way by starting at the bottom and working upward. It was given to the wealthy, priviledged one where the other had to earn it the hard way. There is no blame. It is the luck of the draw as to where the destiny lies. (Note: see lyrics to the song "Fortunate One"- Creedence Clearwater) or reference the Royal Family of England.

Ken Cohen and the members of the MMF may be fundraisers and inner circle candidate backers, but, in essence, they direct the matters of this town and direct the priorities through council and the city building personnel. I would imagine they have a hand in who occupies the city building in key roles also. If true, then one can reason that, indeed, they are the "behind the scenes" power brokers IMO.