Parking Garage Art & Misc.

Gonna miss it.

High Speed Rail?? wrote: Surely it isn't possible that she fantasizes about Middletown becoming the Detroit of S.W. Ohio??

High, there is no becoming the Detroit of SW Ohio.  Middletown is the Detroit of SW Ohio on a smaller scale.  I talk to a lot of people each week in Middletown some very well known and none are telling me that Middletown has a Bright Future, most just shake their heads at the cities predicament and lack of ability to cope with the issues.   

Judy G will no doubt be around for a long time. At $130k a year & she can do whatever she wants why would she leave ? Her presence has turned a boil into a festering puss infected wound that has no hope of healing and the only alternative is to amputate. She doesn't even have to live here and put up with her own idiotic ideas. Create a mess and move elsewhere, great strategy. I seriously doubt she even pays city taxes.

So just what do you guys want to do with all of these old worn out buildings and also houses.  With the exception of a few properties these places need to be torn down and the sooner the better.  If the goal is to continue on with the low income poverty stricken image that Middletown has then by all means reach into your pockets and buy these old pieces of junk and rent them out to more Section 8 residents.  Not exactly my idea of how to make your city grow but that seems to be the consensus here.....bring in more of the low income crowd.

High, 54 Vacant homes is not the issue 2000 is.  20 foreclosed homes is not the issue the 100's we have is.  First time home buyer assistance is not the issue, getting people to move here is.  Golden Boy is your issue.  $2.144 Mil in HUD Funds you need to ask Mr. Adkins, bet he has an answer.

wasteful- He-- Noooooooooooooo! Not the general consensus here at all to bring in more low income people. On the contrary......start downsizing the Section 8 program......start reducing the vouchers.......stop the program designed to bring more of that segment to this town. Fire the creators of this cluster. SOME of us DISAGREE with the ramping up of Section 8 from an image standpoint alone as it contributes to the welfare town reputation we already have, thanks to the city leadership including council.(not to mention all the other negative residuals)

We are complaining about the apparent lack of marketing done on these unwanted buildings before they are torn down. Still not sure if the buildings were wanted or not because Leap brought to our attention the city never has marketed the Swallens building. IF TRUE- IF TRUE, the building and site was never given a fair chance of selling if never thoroughly advertised as Walter Leap suggested. The only time we heard about the Swallens building being offered was to local citizens for a buck and to the late Perry Thatcher, as he said he had a taker several years ago. This never materialized of course and may have been a load of crap given to the city leaders.

Yes, we see the city is dying, especially we citizens who have been here for a long time. We also know who has contributed to it dying too, wasteful. The city leaders from the 70's to current. Gilleland's administration seems to be speeding up the death of the city by their decisions to drag it through the Section 8/welfare mud too. Some of us want her (and others) gone now and replaced to TRY- TRY....to stop some of the bleeding and to salvage what we can (if there is truely anything left anymore)

Wasteful -

High, I am not saying it doesn't matter.  I am saying go ask Mr. Adkins for an accounting.  I am sure he will have an answer and I don't mean doing it on here on a regular basis, that is getting you nowhere.  Personally this spending of $600+K a year is a waste of time and money if you ask me.   By the time all of the Admin fees and money is distributed to other organizations it becomes a joke in trying to accomplish anything in Middletown, Middletown needs in the 10's of Millions of dollars if not 100's to get the job done.  At this rate we will all be gone and buried before they make a dent in anything.  The HUD funds are basically being used to fund salaries in City Hall, just my opinion.  Same with why Section 8 was run up in 2007.  By the way Gilleland has nothing to do with the Section 8 mess, but it has fallen to her to deal with it and I hope it is done soon.  To much time is spent on a program that is excessive and detrimental to the City overall, in it's current state.  To have a waiting list with 225 out of towner's on it and only 90 people from Middletown is ludicrous.

Bobbie the City is not developing the land the city is meerly preparing the land to be developed by removing old and useless buildings.  Yes they are tearing down and clearing the land in hopes a business will come.  It is much easier to visualize a new business on a vacant lot than a lot which contains a huge eyesore with broken windows, caved in roof or one that has burned and is a skeleton of its past.  I agree the small retailer can most likely not survive downtown as there is not the customer base with disposable income down that way.

Pretty much water under the bridge as the building and garage are coming down.