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Property registration proposal |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Posted: May 16 2012 at 4:47am |
Property registration proposal draws opposition from landowners
By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer |
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Don't understand. If the city's only need is for registration of properties around town, sit someone down at the computer at the city building, get on the Butler County Auditor's site, do a property search and compile a rental/vacancy list for Adkins. Hell, get on the phone and call the landlords to get verification. The city already knows where the apartments and vacant properties are. Why does the city think they need to charge the landowners a $25 fee and set up another paperwork ladened system to verify their properties when they can get the info. free? The only conclusion one could come to is that it is yet another attempt to concoct another revenue generation scheme for a cash strapped city. Those folks in the city building refuse to generate revenue the old fashion way......through company and payroll taxes. That would require an effort on their part to start bringing companies and jobs into the city. We can't have that, now can we. Between council's rubber stamp decision making and the circus in the city building, this town has got to have the most inept collection of city leaders of any town in Ohio.
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Observer
MUSA Immigrant Joined: Dec 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 46 |
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Let me play devils advocate for a moment as I'm not convienced either way on this one. If I had to read between the lines on this one I suspect this is one way that Adkins and the admin is trying to run off some of the section 8. Whats one of the fastest ways to deter a business to leave or not come to your town...tax it. Since Middletown can't just call up HUD and give back vouchers they have to show that the demand isn't there. If landlords don't want to pay the $25 or be have an aversion to being registered then take your business to another city. I haven't talked to anyone with knowledge of the situation but that's my guess as to the real reason behind this plan. Most on this board feel that MiddletownUSA drove the section 8 problem to the front burner a few years back. This may or may not be true but lets say that the city is using this fee and registration as a deterent to potential new or existing landlords (the bad kind). Shouldn't we at least give them some credit for trying to reduce the numbers?
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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If as you say, I commend Adkins and company for reducing all Section 8. I'd like to see it gone for good. Good observation on the intent. What is puzzling is that the city did everything they could to invite as much Section 8 blight to the city while helping drive the city to ghetto status for the almighty fed dollars......now, a change of heart on reducing it??? What happened? Did they finally see the error of their ways? |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Gentlemen |
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Observer
MUSA Immigrant Joined: Dec 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 46 |
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Like I said initially. I have no inside information and I'm not disputing whether Mr. Adkins has reduced the number of section 8 to date. What I am saying is that he has said he/ admin. have expressed a strong desire to reduce the number over several years and I'm merely saying this maybe one way to do so. Yes the city did get us into this problem but I don't think any of the current council members were part of the group that allowed this explosion to happen in the early 2000's.
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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Observer,
The city has expressed many "strong desires" in recent years. Actions speak louder than words. All you have to do is look at the track record of Middletown in the "desires" vs actions category to see where this is headed. This will do what the "Master Plan" has been unable to accomplish to date: reduce the population to around 25,000! When property owners can't rent without the consent of government, more houses will be abandoned and demolished. High taxes, no jobs and overpriced and over regulated housing will insure the continued death spiral. BTW, doesn't the already have housing inspectors? Aren't their already laws on the books to deal with this problem? |
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Citizen123
Outsider Joined: May 21 2012 Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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I am close to this issue and the $25.00 fee that is being thrown around is not going to be the fee, not even close. More like $100.00 to $250.00/year per mail box. With 2 new salaries, about $80k/year with benefits,
2-vehicles and computer software. This cost will be passed on to the tenants. |
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Observer
MUSA Immigrant Joined: Dec 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 46 |
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Tony, We all know we can sit here and lambast city hall all day long but that has nothing to do with what i was saying. We all know past performance is a strong indicator of future behavior but it doesn't have to be. All i was trying to convey was what i saw when reading the tea leaves. Nothing more nothing less....not saying a $25 fee will solve or won't solve our problems with section 8, merely taking what I've heard some in the city admin say and applying it to this situation. As i said initially, i'm plyaing devils advocate. I'm certainly not taking up the cause to establish this fee.
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Middletown29
MUSA Citizen Joined: Mar 30 2011 Status: Offline Points: 474 |
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Vivian Vivian there you go again. Why can't you address the issue at hand instead of just constantly trashing the city?
I am no great fan of the city, but you throw mud at everything the city tries. |
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rngrmed
MUSA Citizen Joined: May 06 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 309 |
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Why single out the landlords? Why not all property owners? There are plenty of property owners that don't mow their grass or take care of their houses as well.
Again, what about businesses? I've seen several shops that rent that property looks run down
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rngrmed
MUSA Citizen Joined: May 06 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 309 |
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I thought Republicans were about less Government....or is that only when you ask them to do something for you? When it comes to taking your money..We need another layer
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greygoose
MUSA Resident Joined: May 19 2012 Status: Offline Points: 158 |
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Vivian,
You mention that there are already laws on the books to deal with any rental property problem. With that said, I have a question: "How does the city compel Badlandlord, LLC to comply with building code violations if the only contact information they have is an out of state PO box and the property owner refuses to accept any correspondence from the city"? The same is true of out of state banks. Let say that JPMorgan Chase makes a determination that the value of one of their properties in Middletown insn't worth the cost of needed repairs and ongoing maintenance. What do you think that they are going to do? What law on the books allows the city to compel their compliance? The registration process is the "tool" that they need to enforce the existing laws. I do think that there is some merit to the belief that money and control are a motivation, I just don't think that it the primary driver. |
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greygoose
MUSA Resident Joined: May 19 2012 Status: Offline Points: 158 |
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VietVet,
I couldn't agree more with your statement. For ten years, they pursued these vouchers like there was no tomorrow and now they are doing everything in their power to get rid of them. Like you said: "it is puzzling". Do you know what year Mr. Adkins took on his current position with the city? |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Vivian, |
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greygoose
MUSA Resident Joined: May 19 2012 Status: Offline Points: 158 |
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Ms. Moon
The most current numbers that I can find are two years old and are "approximate" because they were derived from percentages: 1. 3,600 subsidized rentals 2. 5,400 non-subsidized rentals 3. 2,100 non-subsidized rentals with out of town owners I have no information concerning the trailer parks. I do not see banks as a separate issue. They my not be rental properties but their abondoned properties are an eyesore to our community and they are related because the city has the same issue with them as they do with out of town landlords....."they can't be compelled to comply because they can't be served" |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Ms. Moon |
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LMAO
MUSA Citizen Joined: Oct 28 2009 Location: Middletucky Status: Offline Points: 468 |
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Just another way for our deadbeats in city hall to make up money that they have threw away.Sorry but I refuse to give in to them.Be a cold day in hell before I register my properties to satify the idiots in city hall. |
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greygoose
MUSA Resident Joined: May 19 2012 Status: Offline Points: 158 |
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Vivian,
I am not here to serve as your personal statistician. You asked me a question and I did my best to give you a legitament answer. I'm not sure why, because after checking some of your posting history, I can tell that it wouldn't matter what I said. The use of "Badlandlord LLC" was nothing more than a silly metaphor and I could have used a PO box in Springfield,Ohio just as easily. What is your point? If you know that a large percentage of landlords are from out of town, why did you ask the question? If you know this, then you should understand the difficulties in gaining compliance. Rentals represent 40% of the city's housing stock. You do the math. I am not saying that I like what I see in Middletown. I don't! But griping about the decisions of "past" city leaders and opposing EVERYTHING that is proposed from current leadership is not going to solve anything. I happen to think that Mr. Adkins has a better plan for the city's future than any city official that has been around in the past 20 years. Now it's my turn to ask a few questions. I noticed in a prior post that you stated that Mr. Adkins hadn't reduced the number Section 8 of vouchers: 1. Do you think that it for the lack of effort on his behalf? 2. Do you think that he is in favor of 40% of our housing stock being rentals? 3. Did he cause the poverty & blight? I do agree that the city needs to be held to the same standards. At the last council meeting, I thought that Walter Leap did a good job of getting that message across. |
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spiderjohn
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749 |
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thanx 4 the insight, mr.goose
hope that u don't get cooked Informative and thought-provoking. 40% rentals in a town of this size is incredible. Even more incredible is the metamorphosis that brought us to those figures. I have lived here for my entire life--went through the public school system k-12, and have been in business locally throughout. I can't accept the concept that our own local govt. has long-term led us into this situation simply to pad their pockets, their cronies' pockets, and to provide long-term job/bennie security. I also rate the current and last Councils as being the most destructive in my memory. Add in the direction of Admin, and we have a very citizen/business unfriendly situation If you are small, local or retail, Economic Development doesn't exist. You are merely here to pay the city piper for countless over-regulatory legalities and little to no support or services. I am the owner of an 86yo business that has thrived locally until the last decade. I have survived every kind of competition imaginable, however I can no longer win vs. the current levels of small crime and the demographic rate of poverty. Living wage jobs don't exist here. Quality of life shopping/entertainment options are few and far between here. No one with anything going for them is going to move here. I live in a reasonably upscale neighborhood, yet the home next to me has been vacant for over two years. It is in serious dis-repair and completely over-grown. The city has ignored the situation. I operated two businesses in once-thriving strip centers.. The first went vacant, and I operated there 30 years as the only business in a center that looks like something out of bombed-out Baghdad. I went through countless ED directors who promised tenants within 6 months. Never heard from any of those ED people again. All packed up and left. I also operated in another once-thriving retail center which is currently following the same course. Didn't like what I sensibly had to do, I took my losses and vacated both locations. Didn't need to go through the decline twice. Local businesses are on their knees like never before, and competition has nothing to do with their problems. Thefts, break-ins, vandalism,and low-income demographics are more than small businesses can over-come when it goes on for as long as it has(and will continue) here. I have had enough of our Council and Administration. I have no faith in either of them. I don't trust them, and don't agree/approve with their actions. My only method of recourse is to starve them into submission via the ballot box. I will not support them on any issues until I see serioua about-face change(I don't see it coming from this group). Tear this system down, and re-build from the ground up. Painful but necessary. Mr.Adkins? Maybe what he is doing now is necessary to begin the journey back to where we need to be. ]I don't see anything else moving us towards prosperity. It surely won't be art galleries and property giveaways and a pipe dream about an area that no longer has any significance in our recovery. A few years ago, we were told that the east end was our salvation. That situation has blown apart, and never gets a mention any more. An embarrassing entrance to our community, now book-ended by the never-ending re-do on the western front. Can we stick with something until we get it right? jm bitter o end of rant
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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sj,
A thought provoking rant that has a solution with which I am in complete agreement. The only way to change the current direction of this city is to change everything about it from the ground up. I would say you have reason to be bitter; it's not like this city government has done anything to help you and your business. I only hope your business will survive until the rebuilding takes place. greygoose, It really isn't a matter of opposing EVERYTHING this council offers; it's more about the mixed messages that this council offers. If you listen to them, we have vague "problems" but are "moving forward". Nothing could be further from the truth in that regard; the region around Middletown is moving forward. This city is reaping what has been sown for the last 30 years of myopic vision and is now reeling from the effects of overtaxation and poor execution of previous economic development plans. While Mr. Adkins plan might look good on the surface, the track record of city government makes trusting any plan they come up with problematic. As for the out-of-town property owners, if you can't get them to clean it up under current laws, charging them a "registration fee" isn't going to motivate them to do anything more than they are doing now. It's just another revenue generator for the city which will be wasted on another half-assed attempt to maintain the status quo. Why not try boycotting those out-of-town landlords who won't repair their properties? Maybe that will motivate them to either sell or repair. |
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Pacman
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612 |
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Can Middletown File Chapter 9 Bankruptcy and get out from underneath the section 8 contracts with the feds and force the public employee unions back to the table to renegotiate their contracts much like the city of Vallejo in California did?
Pacman |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Vivian, I am not here to serve as your personal statistician. You asked me a question and I did my best to give you a legitament answer. Greygoose Thank you so much for providing and posting these numbers for us. In this case numbers, not pictures, are worth a thousand words…and they clearly show what has happened to our once proud City. I'm not sure why, because after checking some of your posting history, I can tell that it wouldn't matter what I said. You might be correct in this statement. It is difficult for me to defend the actions of the City when their actions and the numbers tell a very different story. I sit and watch the council meetings and I’m amazed at the misleading and sometimes down right untruthful statements that are made during these meetings. Then I wake up the next morning and this same misinformation is printed in the I’m not against what the City does as much as the means they use to manipulate a project. The latest example is the So show me the numbers and prove your point. The use of "Badlandlord LLC" was nothing more than a silly metaphor and I could have used a PO box in Again are we talking about landlords that live out of town in Monroe, Lebanon, West Chester and West Middletown or are we talking about a landlord that lives in California or Florida? How many of these landlords that own property in Rentals represent 40% of the city's housing stock. You do the math. I have been told that we have about 23,000 properties in As per your numbers we have 11,100 rental properties. If these numbers are correct… then why did the City just approve an additional 216 rental units to be built on property that was once zoned commercial? If in fact over 40% of the properties in I am not saying that I like what I see in Really?...From where I’m sitting the When are we going to face the real needs of this City? The only answer we have gotten to date is “ We were asleep at the wheel” and “We don’t have the funding”.
I happen to think that Mr. Adkins has a better plan for the city's future than any city official that has been around in the past 20 years. Well I guess that would depend on whether you are among the 150 “Special Friends of the City Hall”. I have great concern when so much power and money is placed in the control of one person and one office at City Hall. I’m really concerned when the need for power and control is greater than the freedom of the citizens of this city. Now it's my turn to ask a few questions. I noticed in a prior post that you stated that Mr. Adkins hadn't reduced the number Section 8 of vouchers: 1. Do you think that it for the lack of effort on his behalf? I remember the quote from Mr. Adkins as he stood before City Council that night. He said “Give me the power and I will make it happen”. The City Council voted and gave him anything and everything that he requested. I believe that it is a matter of record that I and Nelson Self clearly stated on this blog that HUD would not reduce the number of vouchers in an area with such high poverty numbers. That Mr. Adkins could not impose undue regulations and hardships on Section 8 landlords or tenants. 2. Do you think that he is in favor of 40% of our housing stock being rentals? I do not know the personal views of Mr. Adkins on this and many other subjects other than what he has stated at public meetings. However I do have a little food for thought question... What should the percentage of rental property be in 3. Did he cause the poverty & blight? I have stated my views and the numbers many times on this blog about the wasted government funding of NSP and CDBG. I believe we got very little bang for our buck. Example: I believe the city purchased the However the City sold a newer larger building, known as CG&E for $220,000 and even gave CS the old I may only have three little grey cells but even I can tell that something is terribly wrong with the numbers involved in these deals. And then we have the Duncan Oil deal...mercy! I do agree that the city needs to be held to the same standards. At the last council meeting, I thought that Walter Leap did a good job of getting that message across. I agree that Mr. Leap, Rachel Lewitt and several others did a wonderful job of stating their position on this subject. |
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greygoose
MUSA Resident Joined: May 19 2012 Status: Offline Points: 158 |
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Vivian,
I appreciate your response to my post. It is now clear to me that you are very "tuned in" to the happenings within our city. I may be wrong, but your response leads me to believe that what I perceived as constant negativity is really a release of many years of frustration with our city's leaders and their poor decision making history. You've raised several interesting points that I would like to chime in on: 1. Because of the city's poor history, you and many others on this board are leary of the positive "spin" that city leaders put on projects that they support. It's understandable but, to be fair, isn't it to be expected. Would you follow a general into battle if he told you that that odds of survival were 1 in 100? 2. You mention Cincinnati State as an example of the city's manipulation of the facts. Can you tune me in on why you feal this way. I'm not disagreeing, I just don't know. To me, the third party feasability studies looked good and the risk to the city appears minimal. 3. There are approximately 9,000 rental units in the city but, according to the city's 2010 Section 8 Report, we should "strive" to reduce that number to around 3,600 (a 60% reduction!!!!!!). If the city approved the building of 216 rental units, it flys in the face of their own recommendation. Can you provide more info on these proposed new rentals? 4. I don't see $25.00 per mailbox putting any landlord out of business unless they are already headed that way. Don't get me wrong; I don't like the added expense, but will support it if it benefits the city as a whole. Quite frankly, much of my support for the registration program is the hope that it will help reduce the number of sustainable rental units toward the 3,600 goal. To date, my support for Mr. Adkins is due to his recognition that the city has too many rentals and reducing that number is a primary objective of his (that's why I would like more info on the proposed 216 new units). 5. Conceptually, I understand your concern over a single individual having too much power and control. However, the problems that Mr. Adkins is dealing with are monumental and if he needs additional "stroke" to get it done, I'll support it (as long as individual freedoms are not truly encroached upon). 6. In my prior post, I asked you questions about Mr. Adkins because I have, what I believe, to be the answers. You are absolutely right about HUD not permitting Mr. Adkins to reduce the number of Section 8 vouchers, but it was not due to a lack of effort. The 2010 Section 8 Report that he prepared was so full of spin, it made me dizzy reading it. However, HUD isn't going to allow it until poverty related numbers drop enough to justify it. I think that it is imperative that the number of rental units in this town be reduce to have any chance of economic recovery. If you can't reduce that number by taking away vouchers, the only choice that you have left is to take away the actual rental units. I believe that to be Mr. Adkins' strategy and support it. It's going to be painful but I feel that it must be done. This support is not coming from someone sitting on the sidelines with nothing to lose. I have many rental units in this town and this strategy will cost me much more than most residents. 7. I see that you mention the Duncan Oil deal. I happen to know the president of that company (unless he recently retired). What deal are you speaking of? I can probably get the inside skinny on it if I know what you are referring to. 8. I thought that Walter Leap did the best job of stating his position. I loved it when he pointed out a couple of city owned properties that were not be maintained. Rachel Lewitt lost some credibility with me when she stated something to the effect of "many landlords are opporating at a loss". This might be technically true, but anyone in the "landlord business" knows that demand is higher than normal and we all know what happens when demand is greater than supply. I look forward to your reply. I am curious to see how much we do and don't have in common. |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Vivian, |
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