Refresh My Memory Please

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It is no longer simple for me to do internet research.  I know some of you remember better than I.
If you can answer the following questions I would appreciate it:

1.) What year do the city do away with the Wards systems?

2.) are all of the Wards going to be for election at the same time?

3.) Will the Mayor be elected by the Citizens or appointed by the Council?

4.) Will the Mayor's position be in addition to the 5 council members? 

5.) How will they do away with 2 of the 7 positions they currently have?

6.) Are any Citizens (other than current Council members) willing to run for election?

Pacman

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Pacman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pacman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Refresh My Memory Please Posted: Oct 04 2012 at 10:42pm
	It is no longer simple for me to do internet research. I know some of you remember better than I. If you can answer the following questions I would appreciate it: 1.) What year do the city do away with the Wards systems? 2.) are all of the Wards going to be for election at the same time? 3.) Will the Mayor be elected by the Citizens or appointed by the Council? 4.) Will the Mayor's position be in addition to the 5 council members? 5.) How will they do away with 2 of the 7 positions they currently have? 6.) Are any Citizens (other than current Council members) willing to run for election? Pacman

Mike_Presta Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike_Presta Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 05 2012 at 1:30am
	Pacman: I doubt that my memory is better than yours, but I will do my best to answer your questions. 1.) What year do the city do away with the Wards systems? A: All four ward seats expire at midnight on December 31, 2013. At that time, Middletown will no longer have ward representation on City Council. I think (although I am not sure) that precincts will still be designated by wards (such as Ward1 Precinct1, or Ward 3 Precinct 5, etc.) to describe voting precincts, but this will have nothing to do with representation on city council. All city council seats will be elected "at large" and anyone living in any area of the city will be eligible to run for any vacant seat. 2.) are all of the Wards going to be for election at the same time? A: Well, since there are no more Ward seats, this is irrelavant. All four ward seats used to be up for election at the same time, with all at-large seats up for election two years later. Since the "Ward system" will expire on 12/31/2013, and the total number of council seats will be reduced from seven to five, only TWO at-large council members will be elected in November of 2013 to replace the FOUR ward council members. 3.) Will the Mayor be elected by the Citizens or appointed by the Council? A: The mayor will be elected at-large by the citizens every four years, with the next mayoral election occuring in November of 2015. 4.) Will the Mayor's position be in addition to the 5 council members? A: NO!!! Two at-large council members will be elected in 2013 (and every four years thereafter), and the mayor and two more at-large members will be elected in 2015, and every four years thereafter. Of course, this could change if MMF would allow us mere citizens to amend the city charter. 5.) How will they do away with 2 of the 7 positions they currently have? A: Two positions will be eliminated by attrition at the end of calendar year 2013. (See the answer to Question #2 above.) 6.) Are any Citizens (other than current Council members) willing to run for election? A: Who knows??? But let me say this: If we want anyone to have a chance against the MMF machine, we should start looking for candidates NOW!!! If anyone is thinking about running, they should begin organizing and seeking support NOW!!! If you (or anyone else) wants to have a go at it, contact me sometime AFTER October 15, and I will offer whatever assistance I am able to offer. (No liberals or MMF shills, please.) PS: The four Ward council members whose seats will be expiring on 12/31/2013 are: Ward 1: Ann Mort Ward 2: AJ Smith Ward 3: Josh Laubach Ward 4: Dan Picard
	“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012

Pacman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pacman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 07 2012 at 7:46pm
	Mike is exactly right about those wishing to run for office. You need organization and financial backing, Which means you have to get away from the idea that you won't accept other peoples money to run. You have to form a group that puts the Middle Income Citizens above the Upper income crowd. Anybody with any sense knows that $200 a seat tickets at the Sorg is going to be a failure. We need to organize as a group and offer as much financial support as we can. We can not do this on a nickle/dime operation. I do not see any of the current concil members who are leaving being relection. If you want matters to change you must put forth the effort now by organizing. You can not just organzed on a blog or in a back room. This is an important matter and the only way the City will change is if the citizens move forward for the whole city and not just a part of it. From the lack of post on this topic, it doesn't seem like change is a top priority on this blog. Pacman

Mike_Presta Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: Apr 20 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3483	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike_Presta Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 08 2012 at 3:10am
	Right you are, Pacman. The most severe problem in Middletown is the apathy of the citizenry. Unless the regular, main stream citizens wake up, get informed, and start voting to elect some fair-minded, sensible council members, this city is doomed. Right now we have an entire council who routinely hears that the administration finds large (six-figure) sums of money laying around in our supposedly cash-strapped treasury whenever a pet project arises and not one council member raises an eyebrow, asks a question, or says a word. We have an administration that is raiding our "rainy day" fund to the tune of over $600,000 supposedly to solve a deficit of less than $70,000, and no council member seems to object. If the citizenry doesn't wake up and begin to care, and begin to vote more responsibly, then things in our city will never get better--they will only get worse.
	“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012

Pacman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pacman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 08 2012 at 8:48pm
	I whole heartedly agree with you Mike, For this City to become more aware of the issues it will take a group of Citizens to form some type of association and raise funds to make the citizens who can make a difference more aware of the issues. Just a few issues that need to address are streets, City Leadership giving away blgds for art centers, City Leadership spending city funds on midfest which loses money year after year according to the Journal articles, put pressure on the council to work for the citizens of middletown rather th the Unions which AJ seems to specialize in and the rest of the Council which seems to only specialize in the downtown area. We would need to form a group who could attack these issues. It would be up to the group to inform the citizens of Middletown of the issues that effect them rather than to wait to have the currect City Council do what is best for the majority of citizens in Middletown. If anyone wants to get together and tackle this problem, send me or Mike a private message. The way the new council election is going to be operated is our best chance as Middle Income citizens of Middletown to make a difference and have a say in our future. Pacman

VietVet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008	Post Options Post Reply Quote VietVet Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 09 2012 at 6:19am
	You have great data researchers in Vivian, Mike and others on this site. Pull important topic data from this forum, offer supporting data for the argument against what the city is doing, get together and assemble a newsletter, collect money for a mass mail through the post office to each home in Middletown and for printing costs and offer the people an alternative (rebuttal) to what they tell the Journal to report to the people. Only problem after you do all that.......will the people actually read it after they pull it from the mailbox? Attempting to gather people in this town is futile. Only a small handful show. SENDING the info. to them, without them having to leave the couch, MIGHT.....MIGHT help with the apathy. Dunno. IF they read the newsletter, even the most apathetic of people may get a little bunged at what is happening in this city.

ktf1179 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: Mar 19 2012 Status: Offline Points: 518	Post Options Post Reply Quote ktf1179 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 09 2012 at 9:07am
	Whoever runs will need a platform, here are my suggestions 1) Improve Roads 2) Reduce City Income Taxes to 1.5% 3) Stop all new Section 8 housing 4) Either Do away with the Middletown Busing System, or redo the routes that make sense 5) Invest in fixing neighborhoods first not Downtown 6) Enforce the regulations on keeping Middletown clean, and maintained by it's residence and businesses. And fine them heavily if they don't. 7) Invest in sidewalks along 122 and Grand Ave. to improve safety for people that walk to work. 8) Promote new housing development for Middle to Upper income houses, and business. 9) Continue to tear down blighted houses, and empty strip malls and businesses. 10) Reduce the size of City Government 11) Tear down or re-develop the Towne Mall Feel free to add or change them.

Pacman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pacman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 09 2012 at 7:05pm
	I agree with most of what Vet and ktf have said. The reason for the request for private message is to come forward with a plan before it is presented to the public and not to give the current council a heads up on the platform. KTF, 1) Improve Roads - Yes!, 2) Reduce City Income Taxes to 1.5% - Unlikely due to last election in August 3) Stop all new Section 8 housing - This has pretty much been done, it is now a matter of reducing Section 8 in Middletown which has become an issue 4) Either Do away with the Middletown Busing System, or redo the routes that make sense - The Current busing system is set up to hit a major needed area. such as Meijer and Kroger and generally does not run through the neighborhoods. Even though I live on a major road way in Middletown it does not come my way either. 5) Invest in fixing neighborhoods first not Downtown - I agree with you 100% on this. 6) Enforce the regulations on keeping Middletown clean, and maintained by it's residence and businesses. And fine them heavily if they don't. I also agree this issue. 7) Invest in sidewalks along 122 and Grand Ave. to improve safety for people that walk to work. I agree with this also, but the issue here is that in order to have sidewalk along 122 & Grand I believe you have to have the businesses and residents along these roads agree to pay for these sidewalks. I have never lived in a state where the residents are required to pay for and repair the sidewalks when it comes time to upgrade the roads. 8) Promote new housing development for Middle to Upper income houses, and business. - This should have started long ago and we would probably be better off going with middle income housing. But Counsil is more interested in playing around with $10m renovations of bldgs downtown which I don't care if the bldgs are renovated as long as the money does not come out of the taxpayers pockets or fed funds funneled to Middletown just to be funneled back to the SORG. 9) Continue to tear down blighted houses, and empty strip malls and businesses.- I agree with this one wholeheartedly. 10) Reduce the size of City Government - This would have to be investigated further as the current positions would have to be analyzed and their need decided upon. 11) Tear down or re-develop the Towne Mall - Towne Mall should be redevelop into a retail outlet/mall

Pacman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pacman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct 09 2012 at 7:11pm
	Just as an FYI, I do not think we should be going into too much detail on this site and think we should have a meeting of like minded Citizens and discuss a platform. We should require people to identify themselves (in a private message) before coming to a meeting. Identities will be kept confidential.