Week 9 (June 2-6)
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Week 9 - Day 5
Win a UA Trash Sticker! Take the "Trash Trivia" Quiz!
Yet another off-topic piece of news.
City engineer under investigation and not all Council members apprised ...
Click here to read "UA Engineer Quits; Councilmen Left in the Dark" in today's Columbus Dispatch.
Click here to read "UA City Engineer Resigns from Post" in June 4th's UA News.
According to the Dispatch article, the City Manager has stated that "The Ohio Ethics Commission also has been asked to look into ... [allegations that arose since the initial issues surfaced]."
The Ohio Ethics Commission investigates breaches of the Ohio Ethics Law. Click here to see the section of the Ohio Revised Code that deals with ethics.
Week 9 - Day 3
Another off-topic discussion (again, I apologize), but this is important.
UA City government is at it again, and their message is ...
"Residents are a Nuisance!"
At Monday's Conference session, the following rule changes were proposed. This package will have its first reading at the next Council Meeting on June 9. It only needs 5 (five) votes to pass.
UA staff and Council are truly Lost in Space.
Here is a summary of proposed changes.
Click here to see the changes themselves.
2. Limiting speaker input to 3 minutes.
3. Prohibiting speaking if you haven't submitted a speaker slip
by the start of the agenda item.
4. Requiring that all written material be submitted by noon
on the Friday before the meeting, and charging copying
costs for any submissions greater than 25 pages.
5. Requiring that all Powerpoints/electronic media be submitted
by 11 AM on the day of the meeting.
6. Requiring prior approval of the use of electronic devices
(tape recorders for audio playback, remote pointers/slide
changers).
7. Making the following types of ordinances subject to only one
reading, and making them effective upon passage:
(a): Economic Development Incentives
(b): Amendments to the Rules of Council
(c): Adoption of salary schedules
(d): Acceptance of deeds to the city
8. Lowering the number of votes required for suspension of
rules from 6 to 5.
Let's get this straight. - limit resident/speaker input,
The important changes are #7 and #8.
City staff and Council are proposing that only 4 votes be required to suspend rules on a permanent basis, whereas 6 votes are currently required to suspend rules on a case-by-case basis. Look for the ordinance to be amended before its final vote ... "compromising" by eliminating some of the proposed changes, but keeping #8 and #9.
The net effects of the proposed rules?
They ...
- provide city staff/Council with time to develop opposing
arguments to resident input (while not providing
residents the same opportunity), and
- enable staff/Council to push things through regardless
of public opinion.
In other words, they are setting themselves up to be able to do
whatever they want, whenever they want -- with just 4 votes.
Less accountability, fewer checks-and-balances.
I don't think that's why they were elected/appointed.
These rule changes are unacceptable.
Where did these come from?
From ONE meeting of the Rules Committee on April 7.
Here's the agenda for this meeting.
City staff and the Rules Review Committee are claiming that these changes will improve the delivery of services by streamlining the process.
This is garbage.
Bit by bit resident rights are being taken away by their own elected and appointed leaders. We saw it with the "Trash" and "Tremont Rezoning" ordinances.
What is our reaction? See "One UA Voice" for one person's interpretation.
If you value democratic government at all, come to the Council Meeting on June 9 to express your voice regarding these proposed rule changes.
Week 9 - Day 1
Were we done by 7 PM?
Nope.
Here's Guilford after 7 PM ... recyclables still in need of attention.
Here's something totally off-topic (I apologize), but worth mentining.
Has anyone passed through North Star and Lane lately? There's a building going up that is so close to the road that no one going east on Lane or north on North Star can see cross traffic.
Here's the structure as it is being framed now. (This is on Lane going eastbound.)
and going northbound on North Star ...
Here's what it will look like when the walls are built.... The lines have just been drawn at the steel structure ... when it's built, it will come out another 8 inches due to the exterior masonry.
and from the other side ... 
Motorists are totally blind to cross traffic in those directions.
I've talked with a professional civil engineer, and from a traffic standpoint, "sightlines are everything."
Truly an accident waiting to happen.
Once the structure is built, be very, very careful at this intersection.
