Sometimes you have to go along with things and let the good things happen (sometime by accident - sometimes by force) and for those of you cowards out here who want to hide behind your screen name and say all manner of things about our council, police, city manager, et.al. - YOU MISSED IT!

I can honestly say that the City Manager so many of you describe didn't show up tonight.  The city manager that I have envisioned him to be - is the one that showed up.

What a wonderful discussion - all points of view expressed - and no one called anyone names, no one had a vendetta, solutions were discussed.  Some very interesting pieces of information (that were all POSITIVE things happening in our community) were discussed (some I had no idea about) and I truly believe that Chief Muterspaw, Lieutenant Cunningham and the entire police force are committed to serving the needs of our community and they are vigorously (within the constraints of the law - and let's just say they are truly constrained by Ohio state law) working to root out the drug lords and all crime from our city.

Mr. Adkins was also there and I was very happy that he attended.  Those of you who think he's not approachable are just flat out wrong.  I'm not going to say that he thinks all my ideas are great and he's going to run Middletown my way for the rest of his tenure - but I will say he has a firm grasp on what needs to be done to make sure that Middletown is prepared for the growth that is headed our way (and understands the immediacy of it) and is trying his best to balance that against the needs of the old city as well - and I'd hate to be in his shoes.  As the old saying goes, you can't please all the people all the time....

If was a great glimpse into the character of our city leaders - and let's not to forget that Mr. Bohannon was also in attendance.  If you were there - and you still think that our leaders are out of touch - you weren't paying attention.  At all.

I'm quite optimistic about what I heard and saw at tonights forum - and even though it was poorly attended - it was positive and it makes me all the more desirious to work with our leaders to Make Middletown Great Again!  (Don't repeat that - Trump might sue us.) 

I'm going to put my money where my mouth is.  I volunteered to Mr. Adkins that I'd give my time to him and the city leaders anytime - and I stand by it.  I'm self-employed so I have LOTS of time and I'm prepared to allow them to use me in any way they wish.  We should all be this willing.

My final takeaway from this is that you have a City Manager who understands the past.  But he can't change the past.  He can't rewrite history.  All he can do is pick up the pieces of the tattered, shattered and battered city and try to build it back to a great place to live, raise a family, work and play.  That's what he's trying to do - but it took 4 years to destroy it - it's going to take a few years to put it back together better than it was.....we need to support his ideas, provide input (and for you naysayers - he's listening - you're just shouting instead of providing on-point solutions) and give him some backing.  

I for one was impressed - and was very satisfied at the conversation that we had.  It wasn't long enough - but it was a great start.  Next time - everyone should attend.  I'll even buy your coffee.

Bob

IMHO, the shortfall of "gap financing" capital will severely limit the city's community betterment opportunities.  The matters contained herewith demand open and honest dialogue with Middletown's citizenry.  Anything short of that is merely pleasant "Window Dressing" on the part of city staff and city council members.

Wanted to ask Mr.Adkins a question on his views on what seems to be a downtown infatuation with the city building and the Journal. It appears, by the numerous, repetitive articles in the Journal, and the ever present story about the success of the downtown vision by the city leaders, that the city is solely focused on the downtown area with the rest of the city getting a passing thought if that.

Just wondering, Mr. Adkins, why it would appear to some of us  that most of the city's energy and direction (and money) is on this area despite the extremely long time it has taken you to get to the point you are at now? The "slim pickins" as to choice and interest is still not enough of a reason to venture downtown for most.

The introduction of Cincy State, the PAC, Beau Verre, specialty stores and upscale dining is still not a catalyst for traffic and activity in your downtown and  hasn't caught fire after many years. The arts theme for the downtown with supporting "upscale" restaurants and entertainment hasn't exactly caught the interest of people in any noticeable numbers either.

So how do you explain why the downtown area hasn't taken off like the plan said it was going to do many years ago? How would the downtown partnership explain why there are still more storefronts that are vacant than occupied?  And why do the downtown merchants insist on offering a theme that most in Middletown are not interested in? There have been several references in this forum where people have gone downtown  on a Friday or Saturday evening, when activity should be peaking, and have described the streets as deserted with little going on down there. If this is true, how do you explain why this is occurring if this is the place to be in Middletown?

The typical downtown supporter response would be to "give it more time" or "there are more plans in the pipeline" but one has to draw the line in the sand as to effort and money spent versus the reward after a reasonable time frame. I believe we have met or exceeded that time frame to make a judgement call as to whether this endeavor has produced viable results or not, don't you?  If so, let's change course and start concentrating on other parts of the city as to effort and let the downtown develop on it's own in a private sector manner without city money help. 

Curious as to your answer on this topic.

Thank you in advance for any response.