good for middletown

Welcome bumper!!! I, too, was born here in 1948. I remember the bus stop down from G.C. Murphy on Broad St. Caught the Park Place bus next to what is now Beau Verre Studios many times when the green and white Ortman-Stewart buses were running. Remember the Meadowlawn, Crawford St, Lakeside, Upper Arlington buses too. You're correct! Some of Middletown's best days were during the decades of the 50's and 60's. Started to go down hill in the 70's IMO. When the Journal was run by locals, it was a decent newspaper. Then, as more non-Middletown residents took over positions within the Journal, it started to disintegrate as to interesting hometown news. Now, the news stories and the way they are written are a shadow of what they were back then. The talent has retired/ died and has not been replaced. To have the Journal like it was, it would have to be wrestled away from the Dayton Daily News influence. It has become pathetic since being taken over by the DDN. IMO, we on this site, are working on support for candidates like Laubach and Smith. We like the change in attitude and want to remove those in leadership roles that we view as having decimated this town. All of this is JMO of course. Again.... welcome aboard.

thanks vet and vivian, with Laubach and Smith im hoping its a good start on  showing the people of middletown that the same old does not work and rid council of the click that has put  middletown in this mess..

I think it is great too having community forums. But as you will see if you visit here daily, our community is very apathetic and only a few hardy souls post on here regularly. That is the problem and one of the many reasons the city we grew up in and loved has fallen to pieces quite frankly. I don't live in Middletown any more but still visit regularly and have parents and many friends there. There are several local community forums in towns one fifth the size of Middletown with more posts in one day than this forum gets in a month. Is that pretty accurate John, at least for Monroe site? It is not like people in Middletown don't have computers, so what is it?

Bill- you may be correct here. Sounds like a need for the library to offer/ give free computer classes to the seniors and the poor. How about MUM offering some free evening computer classes to the public on campus? How about opening the PUBLIC neighborhood schools to allow the people in those areas of town to stop in, see what their taxes paid for and take a computer class on the basics once or twice a week. Then, if MUM, the library or the schools have excess computers that have been written off the books, give those same people a free computer to take home to practice what they have learned? Crazy idea???? Don't know until we try...... right? Might increase the computer literacy here in town. Use the school kids as tutors. The young people are computer wizards from what I have seen. It will also teach the young kids some interpersonal skills working with various aged people in a learning environment. Could help everyone involved in many ways. JMO

Think you're right wannaknow on your assessment of Picard. Seemed to indicate from the beginning which side of the fence he chose to align himself with. His recent posts here indicated as much. If we can move his little buddies, Becker and Mulligan out next election, and, hopefully, the folks in the 4th Ward will have had enough of Picard and not retain him (assuming he decides to run again), AND, after this term, we can finally get people to see the light in the 1st Ward to purge Armbruster, we may have a council that will make a difference and work for the people for once. Scott- Jones may feel less inhibited and start to "open up." I sense she feels confined by the atmosphere created by these people. As has been mentioned before- to be even more effective, we will need this new council to clean the deadwood from the city building starting with the city manager on down.

acclaro- I agree with your assessment of the situation within the city. I agree that there is an abundance of apathy with the citizens of this community. My contention is that you have to start somewhere and that starting point is to gut and overhaul the Council and the School Board while retaining some current members. Sauter and Fiora on the School Board are worth keeping. Likewise, Laubach, Smith and Scott-Jones all have potential if they remain committed to the people's wishes and don't stray over to the people in both camps who seem bent on destroying the city and the schools.

As we are working to teardown and rebuild Council and the School Board, we must try to find the golden solution of how to take all the angry people in this town and build them into one large group with an agenda and a message saying if these people don't start doing what we want them to do, we are going to gather petition signatures and have them removed for the purpose of replacing them with our own candidates, who will do what we want them to do. It will take several of the current Council and School Board members removals before they look up and take notice that we are serious. Until that happens, they are not intimidated. It will also take the removal, by the new Council, of the City Manager and some of her crew to straighten up the attitude within the city building too. All of this needs to be repaired for any chance for change.

There has been several attempts to organize the people for the purpose of strength in numbers. None have been successful. You can get the people angry enough to talk about the problems but you can't get them off the couch to go develop a game plan and organize. They care and are angry..... just not enough to do anything about it. JMO

Acclaro,

VietVet wrote: Likewise, Laubach, Smith and Scott-Jones all have potential if they remain committed to the people's wishes and don't stray over to the people in both camps who seem bent on destroying the city and the schools.

What "people's" wishes do you have in mind here? Vet, how do you reconcile that different people in this town have vastly different ideas regarding how the town should be governed?

Also, you seem to be ascribing agency and intentionality where I don't think it's warranted. I don't understand the claim that some "people" in the city are actively trying to destroy the city and the schools. I just don't see it. Those claims feel more like inflated rhetoric to me.

VietVet wrote: There has been several attempts to organize the people for the purpose of strength in numbers. None have been successful. You can get the people angry enough to talk about the problems but you can't get them off the couch to go develop a game plan and organize. They care and are angry..... just not enough to do anything about it. JMO

Actually, there are people in the community who organize effectively. That's why you're here posting about why the current system doesn't work (I think), because people who don't share your views organized, were elected, and enacted an agenda with which you don't agree (perhaps). So the question is why could those folks organize, while others cannot?   This is a serious question, and I would hope the answer goes beyond conspiracy theories and Middletown mysticism.     

acclaro wrote: ... Lets explore the city and its roots. Judge and Magistrate, former city law director (ND law grad), former police chief, former council person now in Butler Cty w/ cpa, former council person making bid for cty commission now NN is not running, former city Financial Chief retired, to name a few. Local residents don't vote on issues as much as the people they do, and whom they sahre a common bond, and school and church is that bond. ...

Aye, there's the rub!!!  With the exception of Judge Wall, I don't think that even one of the other people that you mentioned are Fenwick alumni.  (Nenni attended at least 3 years.  Did he switch for his Senior year???)  Besides, they're all young whipper-snappers, too young to have attended when the majority of teachers were priests and nuns!!!  I suppose that's why they don't know any better than to do some of things that they are doing!!! That's also why many--but not all--of the older Catholics are "misaligned" with them!!!

Marianne-"people's wishes I had in mind": (as has been mentioned many, many times on this forum)

Reduction of Section 8

Better communication between city gov. and the people. Less secrecy

Stop the theme of attraction of low income/welfare mentality

Better streets/infrastructure

Lower taxes

More common sense priorities- (ie- no more using money for limited popularity programs like bike paths and paving a parking lot at Bicentennial Commons)

Improve the effort to obtain decent paying jobs for the people

Start being business friendly and stop the practice of letting the Planning Director pick and choose the businesses that are allowed in town

More upon request

"How do you reconcile that different people in this town have vastly different ideas regarding how the town should be governed?" We really don't know that for a fact, do we? How do you get a read on that statement when you have so much non-participation and apathy in this town. Other than the remarks on this forum and the publicized positions from the city, we really don't have a read on the silent majority of the citizens, do we? We do know that a sizable percentage of the citizens are angry, don't we?

"Also, you seem to be ascribing agency (explain your meaning of the word- agency) and intentionality (is that a real word?) where I don't think it's warranted". What???? Please talk in layman's English for us mere mortals. Anyone can use a Roget's.

You don't see the claim that some people in this city are trying to destroy it? Trust me, Marianne, when you have experienced the climate of this town in the good times, as I have, and compare it with the condition it is in now, you would come to the conclusion that the town is being destroyed. Were you around here in the 50's and 60's? If not, you wouldn't be able to understand my comparison.

Marianne.... the people who organized, were elected and enacted an agenda needed to do so to target a small percentage of targeted voters in their corner of the town to get elected. You don't need large numbers to get elected in this town due to apathy in the voting process with Midd. citizens. IMO, it would be much harder to organize the much larger community-wide voter block needed to outnumber the "club" candidate votes. To defeat the entire "club" sponsored candidates, one would need to register (and assure they went to the polls), a sizable group of eligible city residents. I don't believe that you could motivate the number of people in this town to vote the "regulars" out of office due to the apathy. Another important aspect to consider is that if they are sponsored by the MMF'ers, they are set up with the signs, the pamphlet printing and distribution, the financing, and the networking to support their campaigns, whereas the candidates outside the MMF network must struggle to match them. No conspiracy nor mysticism here. This scenario actually occurs each election.

acclaro- You are right. THIS council/school board are not the answer nor solution. Question.... policies, ordinances, procedures, laws, levies, job creation, school policies, school levies, superintendent hirings Section 8 levels, whatever you wish to discuss, comes from either the Council, the School Board, the city manager, the law director, the Planning Director, the Econ. Dev. Director or someone in the city building. My contention is...... if you replace the current "wrong path" (ie- who the citizens are angry with and want replaced) people on Council and the School Board and replace them with the "correct path" (ie- people who are more "in-line" with the people's wishes, who have the prosperity of the town as their agenda and who will start making competent decisions concerning this town) it will be a starting point (not the total solution) on making this a better place. Through the new stock of council/school board, we need to request that they remove some people in the city building starting with the city manager and we remove some on the school board and replace with active people. If you don't change the people and the current mentality, it doesn't have a prayers chance in he-- of changing. Why can't we have constructive solutions as you call them if we get the right combination of people in Council/School Board? The people are too apathetic to demand a change. We few that care enough to follow the town leader's antics are going to have to overcome the beast that feeds this city with poor leadership. We will have to encourage people with the correct ideas and direction to run and will have to outnumber the beast's candidates at the polls. Hard task.

Alright.... let's push back on some long festering issues. AJ/Josh (Anita?), please check for us, what happened in the 80's when the city said they needed money for the general fund and ask us voters to ok taking the money from the street fund and place it in the general fund. Find out why the voter was never asked by city hall to put the money back in the street fund and why it remains in the general fund today. If still in the general fund, could you two start the precedings to place before the voters a ballot to vote to put it back in the street fund after more than 20 years? Any other monies that were diverted over the years and were never replaced Mike? AJ/ Josh- how about sitting down with Russ Carolus and have him explain to you all the money manipulations over the years with all the funds, paying special attention to all the funds that are feeding the GENERAL FUND.... ie the black hole where monies from dedicated funds (street repairs) go to get lost and become unaccounted for. Can you tell them about the general fund Mike?

VietVet wrote: "Also, you seem to be ascribing agency (explain your meaning of the word- agency) and intentionality (is that a real word?) where I don't think it's warranted". What???? Please talk in layman's English for us mere mortals. Anyone can use a Roget's.

Vet, you're arguing that individuals in the community a. have the ability to do something, and b. are willfully doing something.

I don't use a thesaurus for my posts.

VietVet wrote: You don't see the claim that some people in this city are trying to destroy it? Trust me, Marianne, when you have experienced the climate of this town in the good times, as I have, and compare it with the condition it is in now, you would come to the conclusion that the town is being destroyed. Were you around here in the 50's and 60's? If not, you wouldn't be able to understand my comparison.

Sorry, I don't buy the "If you haven't lived here for 50 years, you don't understand" argument. No, I haven't lived here for 50 years, but I really don't believe a small group of individuals is actively trying to "destroy" the town. Would make for a good Stephen King novel, perhaps (Middletown as The Dome?).

Honestly, that thinking - ascribing the current situation in Middletown to a rogue group of wealthy insiders with ill-will for the rest of us ordinary folks - seems to simply a complex problem. Good for blogs, not good for real change.   

VietVet wrote: Marianne.... the people who organized, were elected and enacted an agenda needed to do so to target a small percentage of targeted voters in their corner of the town to get elected. You don't need large numbers to get elected in this town due to apathy in the voting process with Midd. citizens. IMO, it would be much harder to organize the much larger community-wide voter block needed to outnumber the "club" candidate votes. To defeat the entire "club" sponsored candidates, one would need to register (and assure they went to the polls), a sizable group of eligible city residents. I don't believe that you could motivate the number of people in this town to vote the "regulars" out of office due to the apathy. Another important aspect to consider is that if they are sponsored by the MMF'ers, they are set up with the signs, the pamphlet printing and distribution, the financing, and the networking to support their campaigns, whereas the candidates outside the MMF network must struggle to match them. No conspiracy nor mysticism here. This scenario actually occurs each election.

Vet, I agree with you here: if you want to have someone elected through The Ward system, you need only get a small percentage of people to the polls. If anything, it seems like that fact would make it easier for you and people who share your views to organize, get out the vote, and get someone elected who represents your perspective.

Look at the spending in the last election. Divide the amount raised/spent by the number of votes earned. I believe that AJ Smith's campaign probably spent the most "per vote". (I'd need to check my math though, so I apologize if I have this wrong).   Are you including his campaign in your MMFer category? I wouldn't think so.