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AJ's Meeting Tonight |
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VietVet 
MUSA Council 
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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 Topic: AJ's Meeting TonightPosted: Mar 08 2011 at 11:42am |
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From the Journal...
MIDDLETOWN — People wishing to speak their concerns about Middletown or City Council are invited to speak at Councilman A.J. Smith’s first District Dialogue meeting to be held today, March 8, beginning at 6 p.m. The public forum is meant to allow residents across the city to express their concerns, especially those in the Second Ward, which Smith represents. The event will be held at the Robert “Sonny” Hill Community Center, 800 Lafayette Ave., Middletown. Concerns can be shared until 7:30 p.m. We've all discussed AJ's problems, both behind the council desk and out in public. Gotta say though, at least the man has the guts to face the public and run the risk of a public confrontation with this meeting. Wonder if he will incur the wrath of some of the 2nd Ward people who are dissatisfied with him? Kudos go to Mr. Laubach, Ms. Scott-Jones and now AJ for at least giving the public a chance to interact with them in an informal setting. More than I can say about Allen, Picard (although he was at the Laubach/ Scott-Jones meeting at Ms. Scott-Jones' house wasn't he?) Becker and Mulligan. They will never have one of these. Either don't care about the people or don't want to hear the abuse they may take. Becker, Allen and Mulligan seem disinterested in public contact. Egos? I'd like to see the city manager have one of these, open to the public in an informal setting. How about it Ms. Gilleland? Would you talk to the people for a change without the formality of a council meeting to control the dialogue? Would you field some hard cold questions about the city? |
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middletownscouter
MUSA Citizen 
Joined: Oct 11 2010 Location: Sunset Park Status: Offline Points: 501 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 5:11pm |
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Hate to disagree with you Vet, but Mayor Mulligan came to my son's Cub Scout event (public event) a couple Saturdays ago and spoke to the families there both in front of the mic as a guest and also as people approached him before and after.
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TonyB
MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jan 12 2011 Location: Middletown, OH Status: Offline Points: 631 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 6:02pm |
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Viet Vet, You won't see the city manager at public events because it's not in her job description; that and she doesn't live in town.
Elected officials are expected to make public appearances at events. contracted employees attend city events (government) because that is their job. After that obligation is fulfilled, whether they are seen around town is more a matter of where they live. Mr Smith should be applauded for having an open forum to listen to what citizens of his ward want to see him doing. You won't see Ms Gilleland do that because she is not answerable to the people, only city council.
(As a complete aside, how do you post a new topic to the forum?)
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swohio75
MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jun 13 2008 Status: Offline Points: 820 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 6:58pm |
I beg to differ. Unless she purchased the property for her good health... PARID: Q6511058000004 GILLELAND JUDITH A 1912 ANTRIM CT Owner Owner 1 GILLELAND JUDITH A Owner 2 Parcel Parcel Id Q6511058000004 Address 1912 ANTRIM CT Class RESIDENTIAL Land Use Code 510, R - SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING, PLATTED LOT Neighborhood 00007019 Total Acres Taxing District Q65 District Name MIDDLETOWN C CSD Gross Tax Rate 63.33 Effective Tax Rate Legal Legal Desc 1 15718 ENT Legal Desc 2 Legal Desc 3 Tax Mailing Name and Address Mailing Name 1 JUDITH A GILLELAND Mailing Name 2 Address 1 1912 ANTRIM CT Address 2 Address 3 MIDDLETOWN OH 45042 2901 Sales Sale Date Sale Amount 01-JAN-87 $152,500 16-MAR-99 $150,000 23-FEB-06 $250,987 23-FEB-06 $250,987 02-SEP-08 $200,000 25-MAY-10 |
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rem 1187
MUSA Immigrant 
Joined: Jan 25 2011 Status: Offline Points: 30 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 7:32pm |
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Got a question? Pickup the phone and call them. If your going to bitch get your facts straight first. Been to the almighty ward sessions and have seen all 15 of us at ever one. Watched one of the "Advanced members" on this site leaving Jones held at the chamber because know one showed up. Can't wait for this site to get serious about one issue and help solve it. Sorry to degrade this thread with 10th grade grammer but actions speak louder than words. And know I don't have all the answers, it's just that all the energy on this site could be quite productive if there was some focus. |
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VietVet
MUSA Council
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 7:37pm |
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middletownscouter- yes, I could see Mulligan speaking at a Cub Scout event in public. I can also see him in a position of being approached after the event. There would be no conflicts nor explanation to give nor pressure from the public at a Cub Scout event, right? There would be some major unpleasantness for Mulligan hosting his own "fireside chat with the citizens" wouldn't there? IMO, two very different venues. No pressure at the Cub Scout meeting. Your Cub Scout event was pleasant for him. The other would not be. He appears to be a person who doesn't handle conflict well and avoids it at all costs. Perhaps that's why he has yet to hold a "face to face" encounter with the public. JMO
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VietVet
MUSA Council
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 7:49pm |
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TonyB- she lives on Antrim Ct. between N. Breil and Manchester off Riverside Dr.
Being the city manager, she has a choice of being at a public event or not, doesn't she? She makes a CHOICE of shying away from the general public and CHOOSES to stay close to her trusted group. She strikes me as not being a people person to the general populace. Just her personality perhaps....shy? (although I have heard she is a terror to work for- don't know if that's true either) Actually, IMO, she is indirectly accountable to the public through council. I would imagine that if she happened to infuriate the people of this town enough, pressure could be put on council to get rid of her. (this should have happened already IMO) Go to the forum main page- click on a selection such as "city council". At the top left there is a box for "new topic". Click that, put a heading to it and start your new subject. |
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VietVet
MUSA Council
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 8:05pm |
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rem1187- yep, you're right on many of your comments. The biggest disappointment to alot of us is the fact that we have yet, despite several attempts, to get organized into one cohesive unit on this site. We talked about recalls for council and the school board but couldn't get that off the ground. We talk about showing up at council meetings when the city leaders do something stupid but only a few show. We talk about replacing Becker, Mulligan, Allen and Picard with viable candidates who will help this city rather than destroy it but no one wants to run for office. They may have a business to run and no time to dedicate, may not want the headaches of trying to straighten out this mess they have created, may not be able to afford running. Perhaps personal obligations tend to take precedent over running for office, etc.
You can call them. You can E-Mail them. Sometimes they respond. Sometimes not. We bitch, but usually have the facts fairly straight. Mr. Presta, Spider, and Pacman are reliable to provide the factual account in most cases to back up what is posted here. I would like to see us all unite under some commonly acknowledged agenda, focusing on realistic items that we can impact. Like the town's apathy itself, I guess we have alot of discontent people here......just not discontent enough to gather to insist on change. |
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Smartman
MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jun 14 2008 Status: Offline Points: 299 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 8:13pm |
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Damn!!! I'm late for AJ's party!! I was going to bring beer!!! Maybe we can move the party to Judy's!!! |
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spiderjohn
Prominent MUSA Citizen 
Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 8:48pm |
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I think that everyone was heading to Applebee's afterwards.
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 9:00pm |
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Judy is going nowhere (to Ms. Moon). Bought a house that dropped $51,000 in a matter of 2 years. Today, she would be luck to get $165,000 for it, but she's committed to being here. House bought.
Not a council member, have requested my 3rd ward representative many times, to put money back into dedicated infrastructure fund rem, to no avail. This city is too far gone to give a damn. Recall? On what grounds, the stack full house and at large play? Voters approved it.
Moving the canoe upstream against the tide is a challenge. They could not pay me $100 Kk a year to serve on council. Its a game for the "in towners", not those idiots like me who moved in to commute.
Good 1 sj....100 beers of beer on the-------. Pass it around, 99 beers et al.
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council
Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 9:21pm |
I'll start with this easy one first:
Scouter:
With all due respect to the cub scouts, I'm sure that the mayor knows that they are unlikely to ask the tough questions.
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council
Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 9:29pm |
Even though I try to attend every "conversation with council" I was guilty of being absent from the one at the Chamber office. You must realize, however, that some of us are old, infirm, travel occassionally, work (not me, but others) various shifts, and have various other scheduling conflicts and cannot always attend each time. But I do agree, generally with much of your statement.
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council
Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 9:53pm |
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Generally speaking, Rem was proven correct this evening!!!
I was about a half an hour late, but I did attend AJ's event. The only other ones there were Jackie Phillips, a gentleman that I did not recognize, and two reporters from an alleged local newspaper. Rev. Tyus also poked his head in for a couple of moments but did not participate.
AJ did most of the talking. I questioned him about the change of venue and structure for the council work sessions. he told me at least a dozen times that these sessions were open to the public, even though I made it clear that I understood that point. He did assure me that he would bring up taping these sessions, for delayed broadcast, at the next council meeting. I don't understand the reasoning behind this, unless they want an opportunity to edit the tape, but it is better than nothing. I do hope that he is true to his word.
AJ spent much of the remainder of the time repeating his support of unions and oppostion to SB5. I disagreed with his statistics but that did not seem to matter to him. I saw no wisdom in trying to debate as his mind seemed to be closed on the matter. At 7:40, I said my good-byes and departed.
PS to Smartman: If the "party" moved anywhere, I was not invited.
PS to Spiderjohn: I actually DID go to Applebee's afterwards and had a bite to eat. I was there for about an hour. I can say for a fact that none of the other attendees arrived there by the time that I left. The crowd was sparse...I would have noticed.
Had any of them showed up, I probably would have offered them a drink. Even though we disagreed on the issues and I was interrupted several times, the meeting was amiable.
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Paul Nagy
MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jan 11 2009 Status: Offline Points: 384 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 10:38pm |
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Mike,
You must be mistaken when you say that there were only 5 of you there. AJ has reminded us very plainly that he has support from at least 76% of the second ward. DId you look carefully around the room?
" AJ did most of the talking" you say. Well, that part sounds right. Now, AJ doesn't avoid a subject, so I wonder if you are accurate that when you asked about the change of venue and structure for the council work sessions that his reply had nothing to do with the question. He must have told you why they changed it in the first place and how the change was better for the taxpayers. After all, not lettng the taxpayers know what is going on is less stressful for the citizens if they can't make it to a meeting. Not being able to see it on TVMiddletown must have some serious undercover benefit for democracy that has not been explained to us. This is the way dictators and totalitarians do things, not city council. Council and especially the Administration need to be able to talk about the city's business in an environment that is not stressful to them. After all, it is open to the public. You must have sneezed when he gave the answer and you just missed it. Maybe AJ answered your questions just before you got there.
Also, you have got to be wrong about AJ talking about his partisan support for SB5. We all know council members are nonpartisan. The city charter says so and the other council members don't do it. Its a good thing two people from the press were there. I'm sure they will write an entire article on the actual facts of the meeting and correct your account..
Well, when a city is run like ours is, it only leaves sarcasm to describe the injustices, corruption and incompetence that are apparent. What a waste of life.
Paul Nagy
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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Posted: Mar 08 2011 at 11:11pm |
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Mr. Nagy, absolutely one of the most eloquent written pieces of satire I've read, Bravo! Sadly, true.
Smith---the mouthpiece for the union, and a few show up, knowing his agenda. But, doesn't everyone have an agenda on council? A city driven over the cliff, into a ditch, and no one asks for the keys back.
This is a nightmare isn't it? Amazing courts and judges can have murder trials and complex litigation on camera, but it "disturbs" the people's business. What a mess and most have no idea they have been taken to the cleaners time and time again.
I assume Smith's union friends were in Madison and couldn't make it make in time for his charade tonight. They will re-appear.
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Mike_Presta
MUSA Council
Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483 |
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Posted: Mar 09 2011 at 5:46am |
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Messrs Nagy and Acclaro: Excellent commentary! And Acclaro, splendid observation regarding the courts!!! From mere petty civil matters all the way to capital cases where death is the punishment, the proceedings and arguments can be made in front of TV cameras and broadcast across our nation, but the business of THE PEOPLE of Middletown seems to be just too “sensitive” to be discussed in front of TV cameras. The matters of our (once) great nation are routinely discussed in The People’s House of Representatives daily in front of the C-SPAN cameras for live broadcast and taped replay, but the matters of The People of Middletown apparently make our elected officials too “uncomfortable” for similar openess??? Even that august body, the Senate of the United Sates, conducts their daily debates in front of cameras, both live and for rebroadcast. Budgets, cabinet and high court appointments, censures of their own members, inquiries of all sorts, investigations, even impeachments and declarations of war are discussed and debated in the open and recorded and rebroadcast for all to see!!! Yet, somehow, matters coming before the city council of Middletown, Ohio, are just too “sensitive”, somehow just too uncomfortable, for our elected officials and civil servants to discuss in a manner where the discussions can be seen and heard by any interested citizen as easily as they can watch the impeachment of a US president, the debate of our nation's budget, the trial of an alleged murderer, or the the confirmation hearings of a US Supreme Court Justice. Something is wrong here. Something is terribly, terribly wrong here!!! |
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“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Paul Nagy
MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jan 11 2009 Status: Offline Points: 384 |
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Posted: Mar 09 2011 at 7:03am |
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Mike,
What a shock. Our newspaper reported the Aj meeting exactly as you said but with one additional note. They said that the low attendance was because of apathy on the part of citizens . So that straightens out those of us who thought it was a no confidence statement about Aj. If the apathetic citizens had no confidence in AJ the reporters would have told us so. Wouldn't they?
Paul Nagy
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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Posted: Mar 09 2011 at 9:23am |
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Mike, I believe the Freedom of Information Bill requires openness in all settings, including cameras inside the court in most venues. Of course, anyone could attend the session upstairs and record it, pop it on youtube. And, of course there is a reason for discussing these issues upstairs, and it is not council members are "camera" shy."
What I find strange? I always thought public figures worked for the citizens, not the other ay around.
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Bill
MUSA Citizen
Joined: Nov 04 2009 Status: Offline Points: 710 |
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Posted: Mar 09 2011 at 9:50am |
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The attendance or non-attendance at these silly events doesn't necessarily mean much. Whenever AJ requests info from Judy (that she later doesn't provide) he claims it is because of all these calls or emails he's been getting. So apparently there is communication with council but not in person. Frankly I wouldn't attend one of these things -- no pictures in the paper for me plus whatever we say will fall on deaf ears.
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