MIDDLETOWN CITY COUNCIL AGENDA , April 17, 2012

I. BUSINESS MEETING – 5:30 p.m. – COUNCIL CHAMBERS – LOWER LEVEL

1. MOMENT OF MEDITATION/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

2. ROLL CALL

3. CITIZEN COMMENTS

Community Transitions Center, Brian O’Leary – Report to Council

4. CITY MANAGER REPORTS

Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims – 2011 Annual Report of the WC Sheriff’s Office

SELF-Named the City of Middletown as the Partner of the Year

Public Safety Sub Committee of Council Discussion

Monetta Pennington, Marketing Director for Cincinnati State Middletown

5. CONSENT AGENDA. . . Matters listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion and one vote of consent. There will be no separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed and considered separately.

(a) Approve City Council Minutes: State of the City March 27, and Council April 3, and April 5, 2012

(b) Receive and File Board and Commission Minutes:

Airport Commission- January 4, 2012

Park Board- March 5, 2012

Board of Health & Environment-March 13, 2012

(c) Confirm Appointment: Denise Lynn Johnston- Senior Account Clerk

(d) Layoff/Recall: David Shaw- Division of Fire

(e) Proclamations:

Days of Remembrance- April 15-22, 2012

Arbor Day- April 29, 2012

6. MOTION AGENDA

(a) Abolish the Public Safety Sub Committee of Council

7. COUNCIL COMMENTS

II. LEGISLATION

1. Resolution No. R2012-07, a resolution in support of the designation of State Route 42 in Warren County as the “Warren County Veterans Highway”. (2nd Reading)

2. Resolution No. R2012-10, a resolution to make adjustments to appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures of the City of Middletown, Counties of Butler and Warren, State of Ohio, for the period ending December 31, 2012, and to declare an emergency. (Wellfield Protection Fund) (No action requested until May 1, 2012)

3. Ordinance No. O2012-18, an ordinance authorizing the incidental expenditure of public funds in support of the public safety levy being placed on the ballot on behalf of the City in August 2012. (1st Reading)

III. RECESS

Meeting will recess until Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 6:00 P.M. for a joint meeting with Middletown City School Board Members.

What a joke the discussion on Legislation Item #3 was last night!!!

Granted, we the people were not permitted to see exactly what the “substituted” version said, but if I followed the convoluted explanation correctly, it REMOVED the $500 LIMIT on “the expenditure of public funds for incidental expenses related to the support of [the public safety levy]”!!!

This means that we taxpayers can now pay for MORE EXPENSIVE lunches and dinners than could have been provided to the supporters of the levy with the $500 cap!!!  It also means that someone can…oh…say…slip a domestic partner a few thousand dollars to design a campaign flyer in support of the levy!!!

Ya gotta admire how they tried to make it sound like removing the $500 limit means that they won’t spend anything.  Actually, all it did was remove the cap and make the SKY the LIMIT!!!

Oh, and it “authorizes the nominal use of staff time not to exceed an average of five hours per week from the effective date of this ordinance until the date of the election in support of said tax levy”!!!  Let’s see…five hours per week, times thirteen weeks is 65 hours.  The Shysters at City Hall will certainly read this as “five hours per week PER EMPLOYEE”!!! 

And people…don’t be fooled!!!  I’ll bet a shiny new dime that one ploy they will try is to sell this as:

A “continuing levy, of the FIVE YEAR levy that expires this December 31^st”

But make no mistake!!!  “Continuing” in this sense means “PERMANENT”!!!  “Continuing” in regards to a levy means that it continues FOREVER, unless there is a successful ballot issue to END it!!!  And I guarantee you that council will NEVER vote to put an issue on the ballot to end it.  The only way that will happen is if the citizens circulate petitions, get a couple of thousand valid signatures, etc., and then vote an end to it.  This will make the increase of the payroll tax to 1.75% PERMANENT!!!  Have no doubt about that…so consider it carefully before you vote!!!

I was watching the re-play of this discussion again.  One of the items Landen mentioned was “typing something up for a meeting real quick…on a City computer, for example.”

Just like what happened with the infamous “Moving Middletown Forward” electioneering flyer, eh Les???

Ya gotta love Ann Mort!!!

“I give up. Pass something, I don’t care.”

Thanks, Ward One voters!!!