Whose running for Middletown Council this fall?

so if everyone pulled their petition does this mean we will not have a city council??? Hmmmmm interesting

C'mon 1st Ward people. Someone- anyone - got to provide opposition to Armbruster. Get something from your Ward rep besides park, tree, pool and citizens group talk. You want someone who wants to dig deeper into the troubles of the town than that, don't you? This guy is wasting a slot on Council that could be occupied by a person who really wanted to attack the problems. 3rd Ward folks- let's listen to Joshua Laubach and see if he has some words of wisdom or we are doomed with another term of listening to Marconi talk, but seeing Marconi do little to address the many problems. He's wasting our time with his misdirected efforts. 2nd Ward- Hey! You folks have probably had enough of Ford haven't you? Can you think of anything significant that she has done? Fairly drab isn't she? Time to try someone new perhaps? AJ- John- you know what to do. 4th Ward- Someone new for a change. The end of the Schiavone influence in that area of town. LETS CHANGE IT ALL IN NOVEMBER.

oh year what are the qualifications to run for City Council?  I asked Miss Viv this and she did not know for sure

We can change all of this in November. We need to elect "Sauter-like" question askers and encourage them to delve into the Gilleland government with the intent to expose the "secret little agenda" that she and others have created. Then, hopefully, the new Council will start to investigate and correct the many clusters that have accumulated. Perhaps, after the smoke clears, we will be able to see some of the city building directors in various departments leave Middletown for the final time as we replace them with competency and openness. If Ms. Gilleland survives, hopefully she will get the message that she needs to change or she too, will be heading to I-75 for the last time. Most of these people need to be in the same situation that Price finds himself in now.

thanks guys

Jonathan Haller wrote: Its tough to find good people to run. I don't think we should let Armbruster run unopposed.

You are exactly correct!!  We desperately need one common sense, no nonsense, honest candidate from each ward!!  (No lawyers or politicians, please!)

Jonathan Haller wrote: I'd like to get council to post here so they may speak and clarify what they say in council sessions.

That would be great, Mr. Haller, but good luck trying to accomplish it!  I doubt that we presently have even one member of city council willing to engage citizens on ANY even playing field!!!  They MUST have complete control or they will be embarrassed and made to look foolish by their lack of judgement and their foolish decisions during their tenures at city hall.

Mr. Wood I posted the info about the RSVP on this site as it came from the City of Middletown Web Site right on the front page

NOTICE OF MEETING

CONVERSATION WITH COUNCIL

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

6:00 P.M.

The Manchester Inn

Little Miami Ballroom

1027 Manchester Avenue

Middletown, OH 45042

The public is invited to an evening of Conversation with Council hosted jointly by James

Armbruster (Ward 1) and Leslie Ford (Ward 2) at The Manchester Hotel at 6 pm on Tuesday,

June 30, 2009.

Conversations with Council are informal gatherings designed to give residents of Middletown an

opportunity to discuss issues that may come before council. Charter Review Committee

members have been invited to attend to present the recommendations for amendments to

Middletown’s Charter.

The Charter Review Committee Report and the Legislation coming before Council on July 7,

2009 for second readings are all posted to the city’s website at www.cityofmiddletown.org and

are available through the Law Department or Council Office on the third floor of the City

Building, One Donham Plaza, Middletown, Ohio. If you plan to attend this Conversation with

Council, please RSVP to betsyp@cityofmiddletown.org

For more information, contact:

Betsy Parr, Clerk of Council at 513-425-7831 betsyp@cityofmiddletown.org

Or

Leslie Landen, Law Director at 513-425-7830 lesl@cityofmiddletown.org

Another candidate for Middletown City Council

By Ed Richter | Thursday, June 25, 2009, 12:03 AM

Looks like another person has an interest in becoming a member of Middletown City Council.

According to the Butler County Board of Elections, Daniel Picard of Sherman Avenue has recently taken out petitions to run for the 4th Ward council seat being vacated by incumbent Councilman David Schiavone.

The only other person who has taken out petitions for the 4th Ward seat is Geri Lynn Maples of Barbara Drive. Maples ran two years ago for an at-large seat and also sought appointment to council when there were vacancies a few years ago.

As of now three of the four council seats that are up this fall could be contested. The only seat that has yet to see a second candidate emerge is in the 1st Ward which is currently held by incumbent Vice Mayor Jim Armbruster of Longford Drive.

In the 2nd Ward, there could be two challengers to incumbent Councilwoman Leslie Ford of 17th Avenue. Those challengers who have also taken out petitions include John Soppanish of Lafayette Avenue and A.J. Smith Jr. of 16th Avenue.

Smith, who worked as a campaigner for the Obama campaign, has recently launched a Web site, www.smithformiddletown.com. There supporters can also learn more about him as well as make a campaign contribution via credit card in amounts ranging from $10 to $1,000 or more.

Although he has announced his intentions to run against Ford and has taken out petitions several weeks ago, Smith is planning to make a formal announcement of his candidacy at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 27 at the Poppin Buttons Restaurant at the corner of Minnesota Street and 16th Avenue.

Over in the 3rd Ward, incumbent Councilman Tony Marconi of Rosedale Road may have opposition by Joshua Laubach of Flemming Road. However, Marconi is still the only candidate that has already filed his petitions.

One thing that could make this election season more interesting would be to see some of the more vocal critics of council step up and run for one of the four empty seats. That could be another way to facilitate change for the community by sharing their ideas and see how the voters feel about those ideas being advanced.

Mr. Richter states:

 

"One thing that could make this election season more interesting would be to see some of the more vocal critics of council step up and run for one of the four empty seats. That could be another way to facilitate change for the community by sharing their ideas and see how the voters feel about those ideas being advanced."

 

Pacman Says:

 

A far faster way to Facilitate change in Middletown would be if the Middletown Journal and it's reporters did their jobs and actually delved into what has been happening to Middletown just over the last 10 years.  Some topics for you Mr. Richter:

 

1)  Section 8---why has no one from the MJ gone to the City gotten a hold of the letters and reports that escalated Section 8 to the level it is at today and WHO DID IT?  Why has no one from the MJ ever done an in depth story on Section 8 that I can remember in Middletown?  Why does Middletown have 1 Section 8 voucher for every 31 residents?  Why has the MJ not interviewed anyone on council about Section 8 and the fact that they spent 2.5 years trying to get a contract ironed out?  Why has no one ever interviewed City Council and the City Manager as to why we are the Section 8 capital of the SW Ohio and possibly Ohio period?  I can't think of a better time to go ask these question of Mr. Marconi and get some answers for the Citizens before November.  But the MJ won't and I have to ask, WHY NOT?  But then the MJ won't answer that either.

 

2)  Poverty same as above no one form the MJ has ever gone and done a story about this disaster in the City.  Basically same questions as above.

 

3)  Business retention once again the MJ and it's reporters ask and do nothing.

 

4)  HUD issues once again nothing.

 

5)  Schools once again no in dept reporting just the usual PR release sent from the School system.

 

6)  Infrastructure why has it gotten to the point it has?  What is being done other than considering a $500k bike path, etc?

 

7)  Downtown another topic that deserves an in depth look and not just from the rah rah crowd standpoint.

 

8)  Ed actually take some of the concerns from this board and go ask City Council about them

 

9)  Ed instead of after the next City Council meeting just going back and typing verbatim what was said do an interview with a Council Member or two and give us some meat and not just fluff? 

 

10)  Charter Changes we get nothing from the MJ about this other than regurgitation of the minutes to the meetings.

 

And another thing, Mr. Richter!!! Exactly how do you propose that these "more vocal critics of council" go about "sharing their ideas with the community"???

It is called being Human Mike.