Looking For Some Answers & Giving My Opinion

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I am not trying to pick on any one person, or trying to insult anyone.  I am just looking for some answers.  All of us who live in Middletown are looking for answers to the many questions involving the city's revitalization.  We all want to better the city, we all want jobs, we all want ammenities, we all want entertainment, we all want better schools, we all want retail establishments, we all want restuarants, we all want our roads fixed...  We all want to be brought into the 21st century rather than stagnating in the mid 20th century.  The problem as I see it and hear from the people on this website is that nobody is willing to pay for it.  Nobody wants new fees, nobody wants new taxes. just how is all of the above to come about?  As i look at it, it is not Middletowns job to provide jobs for the residents.  It is however, Middletowns job to provide a city which is vibrant, inviting, maintained in a manner that makes businesses and people want to locate and reside here.  that means maintaining the roads, maintaining the parks, keeping up with the surrounding area in manner that we are able to compete.  This will not happen and can not be done for free, someone has to pay for it.  
For the 2nd time in 2 years at election time we have heard that downtown is run by crooks, that the gas tax has been misused and not used for roads.  Can someone prove this?  Can someone provide me or this website with a law that states how the gas tax is to be spent?  Can someone provide financial documentation from the city showing where the gas tax has been spent for the last 4 years?  We continually get the accusation but no proof.  I am not saying that it hasn't happened, I'd just like somebody to prove to me that the money has been misused.   
Another issue is the Sunset Pool.  For 6 years I have listened to all the bitching about the pools.  Obviously the city residents do not support the pools financially by using them by using them so that they can remain open.  People have tried to raise money to keep the pools, but the residents have failed to step up to the plate.  It seems to me that Middletown has enough problems and issues to deal with that to continually harp on the pool issue is a waste of time, money and resources.

Middletown can no longer afford to sit around each year and wait for the Federal Government to dole out approximately $3.0M (+/-), so that Middletown can buy 10 houses and repair them and sell some of the for a loss,  tear down 30 or 40 condemned homes, and repairs on 50 other houses.  I know this is an oversimplification of how the funds are spent, but at this rate it will take 50-75 years for Middletown to just catch up.  We can longer just sit by and wait for the city to do what is needed in order for Middletown to survive. 

As Middletown stands now with it's poor infrastructure, accessive poverty, accessive section 8, lack of funds to make needed improvements, poor performing (which appear to improving) it is not appealing to businesses and residents and is dying on the vine.

Middletown needs to make drastic changes and have people at city hall and city council that think outside the box and do what is best for the city as a whole.  The city needs to stop concentrating on just satisfying small groups of people which in some cases total only 4 or 5 thousand and realize the city contains 50 thousand (+/-).  Mrs G seems to think that the downtown area is the heart and blood of Middletown, I disagree with this statement and believe that Middletowns futur and prosperity is on the East end. There needs to be "out of the box" thinking in dealing with the 3000 (+/-) vancant/condemned housing units that need to be demolished.  We can not simply deal with this issue by tearing 30, 40 or even 50 houses a year.

We can also not continue to spend a minimal amount on roadway infrasture and hope to ever catch up with our ailing roads.  Middletown will never see a robust retail, enterainment, restuarant environment as long as the city continues to cater to the level of poverty that it has, it must change it's way and begin attracting middle income residents.  

The city leadership needs to make revitalization of the mall and it's surrounding areas a top priority instead of allowing to languish and deteroriate.  The City needs to also look at 122 as it's main entry way into Middletown and deal the miriad of old 1960's/1970's style Strip Centers that litter this main roadway.  

Middletown City Council can no longer just sit by and wait for the city admin to come to them with ideas such as Cinci State, and the PAC which benefit very few people in this city.  We can not be buying buildings that cost small fortunes to remodel and maintain such as the Manchester.  

City Council needs to focus on "out of the box" ideas and thinking that will move Middletown forward.  Many times when watching Middletown City Council, I get the impression that most of them 1. do not want to be there 2. are bored and 3. have no clue or ideas on how to move Middletown forward.  I would suggest that if Middletown Council is so overwhelmed with meetings, that they do away with being on all these commissions and boards and allow the people that they appointed to do their job.  That way maybe City Council can put forth some ideas and plans to make major improvements to the city.

I realize that this is not necessarily City Councils job and this is what we have the City Administration for, but very little seems to be getting done in Middletown and we seem to always be moving in reverse.  The city and Council must analyse the city's negatives and improve them so that businesses will want to move to Middletown as well as middle income residents.  This is the only thing that will generate more income for the city.  To continually go on as we have for the last 6 years that I have been here will only hasten Middletowns decline.

The residents must also step forward and be willing to do what is best for city as a whole.  We can no longer sit here as we have for the last 3-4 years and talk about it.  Action must be taken by all.

PACMAN