Agree with Factguy. Based on the information in this post, Bohannon's ideas show no real alternate direction nor choice for Middletown voters. The MMF, inner circle of influence and the nasty political machine that is running Middletown (aka Mulligan, Kohler, Adkins and company)will crush any resistance to the plan as they did Josh Laubach. Anita Scott-Jones started out asking questions and did a bit of prying but quickly fell into place before she was ousted herself. You never hear her ask the questions she once asked and is now an inner circle soldier. Bohannon, based on this, will offer no resistance and will probably be another puppet like Picard. A waste of a vote if all of this is factual.

The Econ. Dev. Dept is a waste. Too many years have transpired and too little has been accomplished in that time frame to call them a success. They do not know how to bring in business as is evident by the amount of progress being made in Hamilton versus Middletown. It would be a waste of time trying to work with a group with such a pathetic track record. Need to gut that department and hire a reputable job opportunity headhunter to bring in potential employers. No need to raise taxes if the revenue source comes from payroll and corporate taxes. Taxing people is the lazy way of gaining revenue. Trying to gain revenue through seeking out employers takes some work and knowledge and the city doesn't have smart development people in place and doesn't want to make any effort at all to grow this town. It is easier to bleed the people financially dry.

The population is aging and with the medical issues of the baby boomers starting to increase, there may be a need to increase the medical responses. The drugs and crime escalation in town (caused by the welcome mat thrown out to attract this segment of society by the city leaders) has increased. We have decreased the quality of people we call residents by doing this. Any escalation of police presents is a direct result of the quality of the people the city leaders have chosen to invite to town.

The image? Solve the above issues and make progress on solving the image. It will take a very long time to kill and replace what has been grown by the city leaders the past 30 years.

One person isn't going to create change on council. It will take 3 or more in a group, all with the same agendas of complete change and all voting consistently for complete change to make a difference. An occasional Laubach or a person like him stands no chance, even as they sit in that council chair. They will be ganged up on, become frustrated and eventually just leave as Laubach did. Josh would have been more successful if he had two or three more just like him on council back then.

amen factguy dean and vet

just say no

mmf is a failed entity
ED is trying to sell a faulty product
how can police solve the drug problem?--they can't put them all in jail--they can't fine them--they have nothing to take--let them OD and die because they seldom make it back to be productive citizens
I like Doug also, and a few others in the bunker--but things really aren't changing fast enough
neighboring communities are eating our lunch daily
Middietown is the poster city for "stay away"

hate to say all of this, but it is true and continues to exist as such

Once a year I review the assessment given to Middletown and most other cities in Ohio. Below is the reference given to the bonds associated with the funding of the AKS project.

For years the line has been given the city is going broke. On the contrary, residents are being misled the sky is falling, how high pension liability to be, no funds for streets, and new levies are coming to Don't buy into the tax hype the city needs more cash. It could use some, but that should be by income creation, and while there is plenty of room to cut at the Abbey, they have more than enough cash-flow to sustain the services at 1.75% rate. Otherwise, the Moody rate would be far below the excellent rating category the city sits presently.

Revenue is not a problem in city hall, its just the unwise manner it is spent and disregard for servicing the neighborhoods effectively, that have kept so many hand-cuffed for years in a declining property market.

Help unfortunately, is not on the way.

Aa3 rating maintained on $34.1M of outstanding GOLT debt

New York, May 12, 2015 --

Moody's Rating

Issue: Special Obligation (Nontax Revenue) Industrial Development Revenue Bonds (Federally Taxable) Series 2015B; Rating: A1; Sale Amount: $2,000,000; Expected Sale Date: 05-25-2015; Rating Description: Revenue: Other

Opinion

Moody's Investors Service has assigned an A1 rating to the City of Middletown's (OH) $2.0 million Special Obligation (Nontax Revenue) Industrial Development Revenue Bonds, Series 2015B (AK Steel Research and Innovation Center Project). Moody's maintains the Aa3 rating on the city's $34.1 million of outstanding long-term general obligation limited tax (GOLT) bonds.

SUMMARY RATINGS RATIONALE

The A1 rating reflects satisfactory legal provisions and the very strong debt service coverage of pledged non-tax revenues. The A1 rating is notched once off the city's Aa3 GOLT rating due to the more limited nature of the pledged revenues, which consist of certain nontax revenue collected within the city's General Fund.

The Aa3 GOLT rating incorporates the city's moderate tax base size, favorable location along the I-75 corridor between Dayton (Aa2 stable) and Cincinnati (Aa2 negative), and a satisfactory financial profile despite multiple years of operational imbalance and use of General Fund reserves. The rating also incorporates a strong financial management team, below average income indices, and above average adjusted net pension liability.

OUTLOOK

Outlooks are usually not assigned to local government credits with this amount of debt outstanding.

WHAT COULD MAKE THE RATING GO UP

- Increased diversification of operating revenues that reduces dependence on an economically sensitive income tax revenue stream

- Improvement in resident wealth indices

- Sustained growth in the city's tax base

WHAT COULD MAKE THE RATING GO DOWN

- Material declines in General Fund financial reserves and/or economically sensitive revenues

- Ongoing deterioration of the city's tax base and/or demographic profile

OBLIGOR PROFILE

The City of Middletown is located in Butler and Warren Counties in southwestern Ohio, approximately 25 miles south of the City of Dayton and 39 miles north of the City of Cincinnati. It was incorporated as a municipality in 1837.

LEGAL SECURITY

The Series 2015B bonds are special obligations of the city that are expected to be payable from project revenues, but debt service is ultimately secured by the city's nontax revenue pledge.

USE OF PROCEEDS

The bonds are being issued for the purpose of financing the acquisition of property for the development and construction of a research and development facility for AK Steel.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in this rating was US Local Government General Obligation Debt published in January 2014. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.

REGULATORY DISCLOSURES

For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.

Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review.

Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating.

Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.

Mark Gregory Lazarus
Analyst
Public Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
100 N Riverside Plaza
Suite 2220
Chicago, IL 60606
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653

Genevieve K Nolan
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Public Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653protect those 'aged" citizens that weigh on the city. On the contrary, the average age of the Middletown resident is 38. Simply put, the taxpayer is paying too much tax in Middletown and Butler Cty. A bit surprising as one will read, is Middletown is well equipped financially, to meet its forward pension liability.



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Well so are we suppose to just let it all ride with "business as usual". Why would we not want to give Bohannon a chance. You say it takes more than one person, well how 'bout we start with one and work on the others? JMO

Change producing lineup for council:

Laubach, Presta, Nagy, Spiderjohn, Moon, acclaro....all smart, knowledgeable people who actually have some common sense. I think Factguy might work out too. Nice lineup with some diversity thrown in for good measure.

That ought to take care of the city turnaround in time.

Would be even better if a city building purge occurred starting with the city manager on down, making the group above and city hall more compatible and subject to getting more positive things done. It would also negate the influence the MMF has over the city right now with no need for any inner circle activity, hidden agenda's, pet projects nor exclusion of citizen participation in their city.