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A Look Back...

Printed From: MiddletownUSA.com
Category: Middletown Community
Forum Name: Middletown News, Info and Happenings
Forum Description: Discuss any Middletown Ohio area news story.
URL: http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3555
Printed Date: Nov 23 2024 at 8:07am


Topic: A Look Back...
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Subject: A Look Back...
Date Posted: Dec 25 2010 at 9:50am
I would like to thank MUSA for this site where we have the opportunity come together and express our views on the many subjects that effect our every day lives.

Why is it that the end of December always causes us to look back over the previous twelve months?

I would like to thank all of you for your support of the cemetery issue.
I have been overwhelmed by emails from all over the country concerning this issue. About half the emails and phone calls said they understood my decision to stop working with City Hall, because they had attempted to do so, and after many years had just given up in disgust. Others encouraged me to carry on, and sent many kind words about my efforts to restore the historic cemetery.

What really shocked me as I started typing my answer to an email was the line “given up in disgust” because I suddenly realized I had heard this comment over and over again during the past year concerning many import issues facing our city. Wasn’t that the comment I had heard from Gary Barge and his long fight with the city to clean up the canal? I have talked with citizens that will no longer sit on boards or volunteer because they have ”given up in disgust”. Citizens have went before city council numerous time about the condition of the streets and sewers and they to have “given up in disgust” because now they city can’t find the funds. The citizens have “given up in disgust” about the over abundance of Section 8 vouchers that have devastated their neighborhoods, property values and schools while the city was “asleep at the wheel”. All of these citizens end their conversations the same way “if I could sell my property I would leave tomorrow”.

Then you talk with local business people and leaders of our community and they are afraid to speak up or take action because of retaliation or the removal of funding from City Hall. I have been shocked to see this retalation play out at the Planning and City Council meeting over the past twelve months.

I think it is time that we ask ourselves some very hard questions?
Why do we sit silent and accept our local government as it is?
Why did we let this happen in the fist place, and why do we let it continue?

2011 is fast approaching and I think its time for us to come together and take back OUR CITY. The very future of Middletown and millions of dollars of taxpayer money are now at stake.
It is time for us to stand up and do the right thing for Our Community.


Replies:
Posted By: Paul Nagy
Date Posted: Dec 25 2010 at 10:14am
Yep!
    pn

Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Dec 25 2010 at 2:22pm

I need to make a correction to my above statement.
I just received an email from Gary Barge with some great news.
The work on the canal project is due to start in March 2011 if all goes well.

Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Dec 25 2010 at 3:07pm
Vivian says "I think it is time that we ask ourselves some very hard questions?
Why do we sit silent and accept our local government as it is?
Why did we let this happen in the fist place, and why do we let it continue?"

We have all talked about this before. We talked about it when Mr. Kidd tried to organize the people in their quest to get city hall to listen to them years ago. We talked about this when we tried to get a large group of people together at the library with no on-going success. It died out due to a lack of interest. We talked about how we believe there is a large contingent of citizens in this city who are fed up with the leadership and direction of the city, and we also talked about the one thing that seems to permeate the attitudes of the fed up people- COMPLACENCY and INDIFFERENCE also known as apathy. The magic question to our problem of people involvement is how do we overcome the rampant apathy and "I'm mad, just not mad enough to do anything about it" attitude? How do we get the people together in any sufficient numbers to make city hall take notice? Don't know.

Vivian also says "2011 is fast approaching and I think its time for us to come together and take back OUR CITY. The very future of Middletown and millions of dollars of taxpayer money are now at stake.
It is time for us to stand up and do the right thing for Our Community."

See all of the above. We've all suffered some under the current and past city leadership in the form of a damaged, poverty stricken, ghetto themed, downward trending city with high taxes/low property values, low employment, lousy/no jobs, businesses leaving, etc. It must take a direct blow from the city to a major portion of the people to get any response. Apparently, the city must do something so blatantly crippling on a personal level to the majority of the people, to get the people to march on city hall and apparently, that hasn't happened as yet. Anyone have the answer to bring the people together against the city?


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