City officials will be asking for emergency legislation from Middletown City Council at its Tuesday, April 7, meeting to extend its current contract with its Section 8 housing administrator for another three months so that a three-year contract can be completed.

Spider

This entire Section 8 contract situation has turned into a bad novel.
Over the years it is evident that the City Manager, Council Members, Mr. Kohler and other department heads have not been keeping their eyes on this ball.
They admitted that over the years they had many problems with CONSOC but they continued to use this vendor. Why didn’t they solve the problems along the way? Why did they OK an increase in Section 8 vouchers? Why did they choose CONSOC with the highest bid? Then the City Manager hires an outside firm for $30,000 to negotiate a 3 year contract that now seems to have some serious problems. And you can bet that we haven’t heard the end of this problem.
Before we vote this year we really need to demand answers from all the candidates to all the questions and problems that we have discussed here on this forum.

April 7, 2009 5:30 P.M.    Middletown City Council Meeting

I am here tonight to speak for the 7,000 people who can no longer speak for themselves: those 7,000 souls and 233 veterans, who rest quietly in the Middletown Cemetery. I represent them—and those who may be buried there in the future.

During the past five years I have spoken to city managers, mayors, council members, the police department and many more city officials in an effort to preserve and improve the condition of the Middletown Cemetery.

In 2005, I met Marty Kohler at the cemetery to discuss the critical condition of the vault.  He told me Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds could be used to restore the vault if City Council declared the cemetery historic. In 2006, Council made that declaration; however, Mr. Kohler has not set aside a single dollar of CDBG funds for the vault restoration. The stone work continues to deteriorate, and still the CDBG budget does not include funds to restore the vault.
I requested that the City strap the vault to keep the stone walls from collapsing; the City ignored my request.
I requested that the City put a tarp over the roof; again the City ignored my request.

In October 2007, the Middletown Community Foundation awarded a grant of $11,000 to help secure the stone work until the vault could be completely restored. In 2008, Don Thompson came before this Council and requested additional funds to save the vault. Council denied his request. If the monies are not used this year, the Foundation will rescind the grant and retain the funds.

This past September, about a week after Hurricane Ike hit, I asked the Public Works Department to clear the driveways enough to allow access to the back section of the cemetery for a funeral. There were three days until the funeral, but city staff told me they were too busy clearing other areas of the city. The funeral home staff and I had to clear the drives so the funeral procession could get to the grave. After several months Woodside Cemetery sent 5 men for 2 days to the cemetery to cut up the downed trees and large limbs. The City has still not sent a crew to finish clearing the cemetery. As I stand before you tonight the cemetery is still littered with damage from last September’s storm. WHAT IF THIS HAD BEEN YOUR FAMILY MEMBER? Again with your INACTION you have shown A TOTAL LACK OF REPECT for those buried in this cemetery

In November and again in December 2008, the Public Works Department contacted me about hurricane-related damages at the cemetery so they could prepare their reports for FEMA. Both times I told them there was damage to about 23 stones.

In January Pam Banks of the Finance Department contacted me about damage at the cemetery; it seems that Public Works had told them there was no damage. The Finance Department asked if I would meet Mr. Priest, the FEMA Representative, so the City could file the claim. I met with him at the cemetery to verify the damage and got a quote for repairing the stones.
CLEARLY THIS WAS NOT THE RESPONSIBILTY OF A VOLUNTEER.  

I have tried to work with the City to restore and maintain the cemetery. I find it strange that the City is able to find funds for other historic projects, but Council is unwilling to allocate funds to save or care for this historic cemetery.

HOWEVER…it really isn’t a matter of whether you think this is a worthwhile project,
or whether you want to fix the fences and close the gates to secure the property,
or even that you just can’t seem to find the funds to restore the vault.
Ohio Revise Code 4767.06(H) clearly states that you MUST.
It is your legal obligation to care for and maintain this cemetery.

In 2005, after the cemetery was vandalized, I spoke with then-mayor, Noah Powers and told him that the city was in violation of Ohio Revised Code. It is clear during the past five years Council has consistently ignored my message….not because funds were not available, but because you simply don’t care. 

I’m here tonight to inform you again that the City Government’s apathy and neglect of this cemetery over the past 60 years puts you in direct violation of Ohio State Law. The law clearly states the city MUST have processes and funding in place to properly manage, maintain and preserve a city-owned cemetery.

I respectfully request Middletown City Council establish a dedicated board to oversee the management, maintenance, and preservation of our historic Pioneer Cemetery. 
I request that the Vault and all fences be repaired and cleared.
I’m also requesting any and all information, including donations and expenditures, regarding the Middletown Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund—an account which now seems to have vanished.
 
Other citizens and I have made various attempts to encourage you to address the condition and problem issues of the cemetery; perhaps you would rather respond to a formal complaint as to why you continue to ignore and violate Ohio Law for basic cemetery regulations and cemetery maintenance.
Please be advised… that if Council can't agree in the next two weeks to address Middletown Cemetery’s problems, I will file a formal complaint against you with the State of Ohio.

As of tonight, there are fourteen days for you to respond with a realistic plan for addressing the needs at the Cemetery….and the clock is ticking.

Well pacman--I have watched and participated in this "big game" for over 50 years, and from pretty much every angle imagineable. I have a pretty good idea of what is happening.

It is a tough balance.

Last December, I was having lunch at the now-defunct BBQ Junction, which was co-owned by Councilman Schiavone.  Having lunch at the same time was Council members Armbruster, Macronni, Becker and of course Schiavone (who was also waiting their table) and none other than Dan Tracy, who has gone on record describing himself as one of the largest Section 8 landlords in Middletown.  He has also been a proponent of CONSOC.  This meeting of the “minds” and I use that word loosely was right at the point where city staff’s recommendation to Council was to select another vendor to administer Middletown’s program.  This recommendation, I believe, was a result of a recommendation made by a subcommittee of city staff and residents who were looking at this issue.  From what I was able to gather from the minutes, the recommendation was not unanimous; there were two dissenters.

Now, Mr. Tracy was, I believe, part of that committee.  If I am not mistaken, he went before Council when this issue was first surfacing and argued for CONSOC.  While the minutes from the Housing sub-committee didn’t indicate who the two dissenters were, was one Mr. Tracy?  And was he using his influence with the four Council members who would soon after that lunch meeting vote against the staff recommendation for a new vendor to sway things in his favor?

I’m not making any accusations, but observing that meeting and the events that followed did not sit well with me.      

When the former Community Development Administrator assumed his new position with the City in January 2007, one of the first things he did was to revamp the now-defunct HUD Consolidated Planning Committee.  In 2006 it met only twice and attendance at those "advisory" gatherings had dwindled to four and five of the thirteen members.

The revamped Committee included four "target area" residents, two mortgage banking officials, three real estate professionals, one consumer credit counseling agency representative, two City Council members, and the Economic Development Director.  It began meeting on a monthly basis and provided meaningful hands-on expertise in: preparing new guidelines/procedures for the Down Payment/Closing Cost Assistance Program; assisted in helping to establish monthly Home Buyer Education Classes; was provided detailed fiscal information regularly on the CDBG and HOME programs; and helped to facilitate a true citizen participation process in the preparation of the FY 2008 HUD Annual Action Plan.

HUD Office of the Inspector General - Washington, D.C.

Pacman -

Hold the phone!!!

Now, now fellow citizens..…I think we all should send Mr. Kohler a THANK YOU card, after all he is responsible for the BOOM of Section 8 housing in Middletown. Yes sir, that was all part of the 5 Year Plan to put Middletown on the map.

I think it is pretty clear from my post that I stated it was not clear why this was turned down..  It could have been an unfunded request, the increase could have been denied by Congress, etc.  The fact of the matter is there was at least a request for additonal Vouchers by someone.

As far as Mind reading, what the hell is your bitch now.  I asked you politely to clarify you position, obviously you have an issue with stating your position on the issue.

So TruthTeller what is BMHA's SEMAP Score obviously it is below 90%?  I have seen some agencies in the 40's and Warren County is a High Performer, so what is BMHA's score?  At one time they were being reviewed HUD's Troubled Agency Recovery Center, but that was in 2003, they must have improved some to still be in business.  It appears that most of their troubles stemmed form their leadership or lack there of:

I don't know if the Dublin House is section 8 or just reduced cost housing for the senoirs. My uncle lives there and they told him last week everyone will be moved to another location. Anyone know what is going on there? Are they going to tear that building down? It must have some historical value. It was the police station when I was a child, a long time ago.

Section 8, front yard parking on council agenda (Extra HUD dollars for senior city staff to enhance staffing??)

By Ed Richter
Staff Writer 10:38 PM Monday, May 4, 2009

Middletown City Council is expected to approve a new three-year contract for the administration of its Section 8 housing choice voucher program when it meets today, May 5.

Council is expected to approve the contract with CONSOC Housing Consultants of Columbus which includes a number of changes that the city has sought, including a lower fee to administer the more than 1,660 federal vouchers to provide housing for low- and moderate-income residents.

Under the prior contract, CONSOC received 87 percent of the $11 million in funds the city receives yearly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, while Middletown got the remaining 13 percent.

The new agreement, however, increases Middletown’s portion of the federal funding to 22 percent and drops CONSOC to 78 percent, or roughly $85,000 per month.

Mills said increasing the city’s portion of the HUD funding was key to offsetting costs associated with other changes in the contract.

Other changes include the city or a third-party doing housing inspections as well as enhanced background checks for renters and landlords as well as better public access to public housing records kept by the firm.

In other business, council will hear the first reading of an amended ordinance concerning the parking of vehicles in front or side yards.

The proposed changes will allow vehicles to be parked in the front yard for up to three hours for washing or waxing of the vehicle, according to the proposed ordinance.

The ordinance also would allow temporary parking in certain circumstances, including up to six hours during an event when the driveway or street parking cannot accommodate the additional vehicles.

The proposed ordinance change will have the first offense as a minor misdemeanor but the penalty could be upgraded depending on the number of offenses that are committed.

City officials have said police won’t be looking for offenses and most likely infractions will come as the result of a complaint by a neighbor. The penalty would be a fine and would not include any jail time.

Council will also have a first reading on its contract with TV Middletown.

Middletown City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. today in the Council Chambers on the lower level of the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza.

"For more than 30 years, the Middletown Public Housing Agency, one of two municipal housing agencies, has managed the voucher program. Currently, the city, through its contracted administrator, CONSOC Housing Consultants of Columbus, manages 1,663 housing choice vouchers or about 7 percent of Middletown's households. This represents about 56 percent of the housing choice vouchers in Butler County, condensed over 15 percent of the county's population. The program presently has 1,548 active housing choice vouchers servicing 608 handicapped/disabled households, which account for 39 percent of the vouchers. There are 281 male head of households, or 18 percent, and 1,267 female head of households, or 82 percent. The average income is $10,841. BMHA is assigned 960 housing choice vouchers for qualifying low income residents for Section 8 federal rent assistance. In October 2009, for the first time in five years, BMHA’s waiting list was opened for pre‐applications and 2,300 people applied in six hours. BMHA still has 70 people remaining on its waiting list from five years ago.