Newark Ohio Tea Party

C-TEC - The buck stops nowhere

2010-05-07T07:26:00.001-05:00

The evaporation of public money entrusted to the care of C-TEC’s school board and administrators has been well-documented by the Advocate and discussed at length in blogs and comments. Those I’ve written, plus links to news reports, can be found at this link.

Bob Handelman, president of the school board, denied responsibility when asked by the Advocate about the school board’s role. This school board president - with whom the uppermost resonsibiltiy lies - believes himself, other board members, and administrators blameless for any of this. The buck, for them, apparently stops nowhere.

As reported by the Advocate 4/27/10, “board president Bob Handelman, a Newark school board member, joined the second session to defend the board's handling of the expansion, arguing C-TEC was guilty of nothing more than accepting bad professional advice. He's told us there's no evidence anyone in C-TEC acted in bad faith and there was no need to investigate what went wrong, nor any need for apologies.”

The fact is, Bob Handelman and everyone involved in C-TEC’s recent and present administrative blundering owes this community four things: 1) an apology for irresponsible management of public money; 2) an explanation of how things went so wrong in the decision-making processes and by whom these decisions were made; 3) resignations of those responsible; and 4) new administrative policies to prevent recurrences.

If C-TEC leaders think denial is their salvation, they are truly underestimating the intelligence of parents and taxpayers. To claim innocence - rather than to claim responsibility - rather than claim a firm resolve to do better - demonstrates delusion that won’t be forgotten.

Who should pay for user “needs?”

2010-05-03T08:57:00.001-05:00

Users of Mental Health services, users of the county library, users of county parks, users of C-TEC facilities and users of several other public facilities in Licking County are unashamedly asking for more dole from property owners this election. Meanwhile Newark Catholic Schools have raised from their users more than $1 million for their users’ needs.

Would local property owners like to see improvements to all the community’s schools, agencies, and institutions? We certainly would. And we would like to see them - as with Newark Catholic - lean on their users, not property owners for support. The idea that property owners should - and can afford - to pay the expenses of everyone who “needs” more and more is an idea that is no longer based in reality.

I predict that few of tomorrow’s property-tax requests will pass. If not, maybe it will inspire a new perspective on who should be paying for the “needs” of users of public services

Swallowed by Utah

2010-04-16T16:29:00.007-05:00

Nearing the end of our drive to Ogden UT, we descended into a deep canyon and were met with a series of industrial-strength wind gusts.

We already had been introduced to western winds that morning when, just west of Cheyenne on I-80, we passed two semis - one jack-knifed in a big ditch, the other on its side, both blown off the road. The wind kept at us all day as we crossed the high plains and the mountains.

One shouldn’t expect too much wind in a canyon, not anything like the mountains. These blasts, however, seemed driven by the devil. They carried sand and small rocks from the canyon walls, drove them into the newly repaired paint of our car and pitted the front window in a thousand places, as though with bird shot. For good measure we were slammed on the side with a mightily flung and good-sized piece of metal, branding the Accord with yet another reason to have stayed home.

Welcome to Utah, pilgrims.

We had come there to celebrate the promotion of my Air Force son to the rank of tech sergeant. It’s a big deal, rank-wise and pay-wise.

His squadron held an informal ceremony, which included the symbolic pasting-on of the stripes by the fists of airmen. Maybe because Mom was watching, Lance didn’t take much of a beating. However, Mom and Lance’s wife, Shannon, got the first chance to take a shot at him and here’s a an official Air Force photo of the unbridled cruelty of that moment.

We had planned to stay four days, that we might get reacquainted with our 17-month-old grandson, Preston. This is when I began teaching him how to write, as he snatched my pen, clicked it several times before surrendering it, only to grab it from my pocket again.

Though four days would have been plenty, storms from the northwest kept barreling across northern Utah and bringing snow and high winds to Wyoming. That was when Ohio was in the 70’s, flowers coming on strong and folks back here were frolicking in summer clothes. It was only after the eighth day that we found a clear trough in the weather to follow eastward back to Ohio.

Playing with one’s grandson for days on end is pretty neat, but better things might happen to a person than being stuck so far away and for so long.

Local knife in national spotlight

2010-03-26T15:43:00.002-05:00

My son the bladesmith hit the big-time when one of his knives was featured in the most recent issue of Blade magazine (“The world’s #1 knife publication”). Lon got a three-page spread with seven photos of the knife being tested, and a rave review on its quality.

Called a “tactical camp knife,” it is made of W2 tool steel, a material that holds its sharpness longer than others.

He has been making beautiful knives for collectors and sportsmen, traveling to knife shows around the country, working at it steadily and hard. He’s acquired incredible skills with metals and fancy handles, using forge and hammer and other basic stuff, the way it was done 100 years ago.

His web site is http://www.lonhumphreyknives.com.

Financial carnage coming to Ohio?

2010-03-24T08:05:00.001-05:00

A writer for the Plain Dealer says look to New Jersey and see Ohio early next year, with a $7-8 billon shortfall. Here’s the link.

On-line ads are not required reading

2010-03-23T15:39:00.001-05:00

Web designers have developed their ability to annoy readers to the point where I now weigh the value of getting free information against having to suffer as the price.

There is a defense for the type of on-line advertising that shoves messages in your face: leave. That’s what I did when the Advocate’s blog page was overwhelmed by one of its pop-up ads. I voted against it in the only way I could: I checked out.

Most, if not all, of the Advocate’s on-line pages have become excruciatingly tedious by the insertion of over-sized, flashing, garish “ads” begging by their cheeky and cheesy appearance to force feed unwilling readers.

Only this morning I removed the Columbus Dispatch from the news sites I visit daily. I did it for the same reason. Just one too many of their over-zealous and unwanted intrusions into my life.

Neither the Dispatch nor Advocate sites work well with my Mac and its Safari browser anyway. Their on-line pages, unlike other web sites I visit regularly, require special effort to make them fit my screen, and of the two the Dispatch is by far the worst.

There comes a point when the effort required for reading overwhelms the need for information. The Dispatch has reached it and the Advocate is drifting closer.

Somebody needs you

2010-03-18T09:16:00.001-05:00

When solicited for a donation to this charity or another, I often hesitate because I know much of my donation will go not to needy beneficiaries but to some faraway marketing firm.

Meanwhile, right here at 823 Steel Avenue in Newark is a charity helping your neighbors and mine: Food Pantry Network, whose purpose is to feed families that can’t afford to buy food.

In 2009 alone, Food Pantry Network provided 794,651 meals to 168,817 persons, 43 percent of whom were children.

Those of us who, by the grace of God, still can afford to buy our food - often at expensive restaurants - might consider digging a little deeper for the well-being and comfort of kids who go to bed hungry

Inefficiency, duplication at the core of school expense

2010-03-17T06:44:00.001-05:00

The average cost for an administrator of elementary and secondary schools in Ohio is $91,030. Those salaries cost taxpayers of this state $824 million each year, according to researchers at Underwood & Associates of Columbus.

The Brookings Institution has studied Ohio’s economy and concluded, among many recommendations for restoring Ohio’s prosperity, that this state must shift spending from school administrators to classrooms. It recommends 1) transparency regarding costs of districts’ administrations; 2) pushing districts to share services; 3) the mandating of administrative procedures; and 4) cutting the number of Ohio’s school districts by at least one-third.

I’ve been writing about it for many months and other writers had been preaching similarly long before me. “Recognizing that ‘local’ school districts are no longer local is the first step in a real fix for Ohio’s broken system, I wrote 5/11/10 at this link.

The essay advanced four ideas that I believe would save millions.

1 - Combine at the state level all administrative functions that do not directly involve individual school buildings. Top local school administrators should be building principals.

2 - Combine at the state level purchasing of supplies and provision of services such as busing. Services and supplies could be provided by private companies, selected by lowest and best bids.

3 - Pay school employees throughout Ohio the same, with variance according to the cost of living in each community.

4 - Remove state interference from the art and science of teaching. Let teachers take over that responsibility in full, but provide for ways to weed out incompetent teachers and financially reward the better ones according to a statewide measure. All schools would teach the same classroom subjects and offer the same extra-curriculars, as mandated by a commission of a-political persons with demonstrated expertise in education.

School administrators, under the present system, all do essentially the same jobs, each in their own little neighborhoods. It makes the state system a massive and inefficient conglomerate of disparate parts supposedly doing the same job. There is no reward for efficiency or cost containment. Run out of money? Bribe, threaten, and sweet-talk property owners for more taxes.

Oversight of Ohio’s public schools presently is a political process, guided not by management skill, not by educators, but by people skilled at getting elected to office. Meanwhile teacher/staff/administrator labor unions guide this “oversight” from the shadows. Never mind that all schools of Ohio should be doing the same thing for the same purpose, which is bringing students to a certain level of knowledge over a 12-year period.

I am not optimistic, Brookings Institution notwithstanding. To run Ohio’s schools with a modicum of business sense will require citizens to finally out-muscle the labor unions, a factor so far kept secret by the state’s education reporters.

From a Wildcat spectator:

2010-03-15T08:26:00.000-05:00

1 - The people involved in selecting the three football coach finalists did a good job. I am pleased that all three candidates have local roots and sound knowledge of the problems and potential of the Wildcat football program.

2 - I am ashamed of the way in which many commenters to the Advocate reports displayed ignorance and meanness toward the candidates. Emboldened by anonymity, they attacked the motives, morals and abilities with offensive and outlandish assertions. In view of this treatment, it’s no wonder one candidate changed his mind; the wonder is why the other two didn’t.

3 - The negative attitudes on display in the comments sections are symptomatic of what’s wrong with Wildcat football. These anonymous blow-hards are full of it and, while coaches and players and the majority of fans know that, their noise adds to the difficulty of regaining the Wildcat Roar, as one fan called it.

4 - The success of Wildcat football is going to depend on a show of strength and solidarity among fans. We have to let the athletes and their coaches know that their fan base is wide and loud. Keep the agitators at bay by challenging their lies and foolish assertions - or better, tune them out.

Public contracts are public business

2010-03-08T09:30:00.001-05:00

The Advocate article 3/7/10 regarding uniform allowances for city employees should be an eye-opener for taxpayers who seem unable to connect the dots between public employee unions and the never-ending squeeze on the public purse. These dots might also connect city employees’ taxpayer-provided electronic amusements to the possibility that Newark may no longer be able to afford a dog warden.

Citizen-taxpayers need to know the details of public-employee contracts: city, county workers, sheriff department, school employees and administrators.

I hope the Advocate will post these public-employee contracts in its data base. That would enable taxpayers to decide if they’re getting their money’s worth and whether elected officials are guarding the till or giving it away. Public contracts are public business.

It’s time to force a move

2010-03-02T14:41:00.002-05:00

“Resident Lesa Best listed more than 20 properties at Monday’s Newark City Council Meeting that she has complained to the city’s property maintenance department about for three years without significant enforcement.
...
“This is your responsibility, but I ... just see a lot of excuses.”

[Copied from the 3/2/10 print edition of the Advocate. If it was on-line, I couldn’t find it.]

That encounter at City Hall should have gotten more attention because Lesa is aiming for the right target: non-enforcement of city ordinances, though she and others have brought it to the attention of Council in various ways for YEARS.

There is only one way to clean up this city and that is by using the laws that Council has already passed, as I wrote 2/12/10 (Get rid of trash by enforcing the laws)

It is the mayor’s legal responsibility to ensure that city laws are enforced, as specified in the City Charter. Forcing the mayor to do his job should be the next item on the agenda of Lesa, Council, and local media.

This has gone on long enough.

Where will government stop?

2010-03-01T09:40:00.001-05:00

Today’s Advocate editorial on Council’s proposal to increase Newark’s bed tax by 3 percent is well-conceived and written, but it ignores the most important issue.

Beyond the Advocate’s concerns for Council’s need to determine beforehand how funds will be spent, how they will be accounted for, and who will be involved in those decisions, there should be concerns about the purpose and power of government.

Did citizens really bestow upon government the authority to screw around in private business profits for the benefit of self-proclaimed tourist attractions? More important, how do we stop these intrusive attitudes and practices?

Requiring a 3-percent hike in local hotel fares is one more example of Council sticking its nose into private affairs of certain businesses for the benefit of a few vocal “customers.”

Hotel owners and employees in Newark represent a miniscule number of voters, so reaching down from above and ordering a new tax on their profits is a shoo-in. More easy money for Big Brother - like the auto tag tax and the charge for emergency squad transportation.

And no real harm done, right? Except that nearby hotels without that new tax aren’t far away.

Support for tourist attractions should be generated from whatever attractiveness they can muster, not from more attempts at jiggering the marketplace with another tax-and-spend plan by Big Brother.

Where will government stop? It’s up to us to draw the line and the way to begin is to stop thinking of this meddling as a legitimate function of government.

The hog trough that is U.S. health care

2010-02-24T09:41:00.003-05:00

The United States health care industry is a hog trough, and the U.S. government has allowed it to become so. Common people can no longer afford basic health care unless they have insurance and that insurance is priced beyond those without employer or government assistance.

The greed of health care providers and insurers is every bit as destructive as that of oil companies, Wall Street operators, banks, and monopolistic concerns of all stripes. These horrific giants operate destructively with their own rules by permission of Washington DC. They can do so because they have bribed the US Congress. It’s that simple.

The major flaw with Obama’s “reform” is not that Americans don’t want it, necessarily, but that it is so complicated that few if any commoners understand it or ever understood it, making it vulnerable to the disinformation that was/is heaped upon it. Who knows if we want it if we don’t know what it is?

I’m pretty sure that President Obama’s “health care reform” is dead in the water. Even before Thursday’s televised forum to discuss the issues, you can tell neither Republicans nor Democrats intend to use it for less than their personal grandstand. The New York Times’ preview for the event is at this link.

People such as Ohio’s very own House Minority Leader John Boehner have already announced that the purpose of this meeting is not to look for compromise, but attention. “We shouldn't let the White House have a six-hour taxpayer-funded infomercial on ObamaCare,” Boehner said, meaning this is one more place, one more event, where Mr. Boehner will try to get his hat in the ring for the Presidency. At least some of us back in Ohio know what a waste he is.

Meanwhile, the Democrat Party machine is intent on scoring points - not for Americans, but for Democrats. Watch the chief Democrat clowns at work on the nation’s health care crisis: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be out front, elbowing for the spotlight.

The solution to health care reform is for the federal government get out of it, except to restore competition. I think the President could use the executive branch to end the AMA’s monopoly profits, lift the protections allowing the drug industry to rape at will, and bust up the cartels selling health insurance.

That would be the foundation for genuine health care reform. What we’re going to get is cheap, annoying, self-defeating theatrics.

Read the President's proposal

2010-02-22T16:53:00.001-05:00

Download the President’s proposal for health care reform at this link.

Go buy more pills, bunky

2010-02-21T09:49:00.002-05:00

It should come as no surprise that CVS profits were up 10% at the end of last year. All you have to do is watch pharmacists there struggle to keep pumping out enough pills to cure a tidal wave of “sicknesses.”

Consider when you pass any pharmacy just how many genuine ailments there can be for what percentage of the local population. It appears that everyone in town has at least a few reasons to order pills, and I’m betting that real sicknesses are not among the great majority.

The sickness in this country is too many ads by the drug industry, telling people they are sick and urging them to “talk to your doctor” about imaginary symptom du jour.

It isn’t supposed to work like that. Your doctor doesn’t need to be talked to if he’s genuine. He knows if you need pills or not.

Will he, however, play your game to get repeat office visits? Apparently there are many local doctors who willingly listen to patients whine for this pill or that, then contribute their credentials to this legal and socially acceptable trafficking in drugs.

Health care reform should begin here: Outlaw mass media ads for drug sales directed at consumers. Likely this can be done by executive order or by the FDA. Likely that is a very long shot.

Get rid of trash by enforcing the laws

2010-02-12T08:45:00.002-05:00

There are specific laws now in effect that could clean up Newark’s trash. Here they are, Part A and Part B:

PART A
The mayor is responsible to citizens for ensuring all laws and ordinances are enforced. (City Charter 5:03)

PART B
Newark has many laws by which it could resolve every one of its trashy neighborhoods, trashy families, and trashy slumlords. For example:

660.04 Filthy accumulations
660.05 Sidewalk repair
1860.03 Authorized receptacles for trash
1860.04 Disposal of solid waste
Property Maintenance Code (PMC) Sec. 302.1 Exterior Property Areas, Sanitation
PMC Sec. 304.1 Exterior Structures, General
PMC Sec. 304.2 Exterior Structures, Protective Treatment (e.g. paint)
PMC etc etc etc through everything about a house or building that could possibly go wrong, inside and out.

You don’t have to be a lawyer - you don’t even need to be half-bright - to look at the slumlord properties in Newark and perceive their lawless status.

The mayor is considering abandoning the above ordinances by handing over control for Newark’s cleanliness to the County Health Department. The Property Maintenance Code would, in that case, be considered a failed experiment after only three years and property owners would again be subject to ham-handed enforcement tactics by health inspectors along with harassment from complaints by anonymous busybodies.

The mayor has at his command everything he needs to clean up this city. He has the authority, he has the police, he has the courts, and he has a community-approved set of laws that could be made to work. He has everything but the will and the ambition and the inspiration.

It’s past time for council and citizens to insist that he fulfill the pledge he took when he assumed office and to comply with his legal obligation to enforce our laws. If he doesn’t, he will have ignored that pledge; if he rises to the occasion he’ll have put some badly needed polish on his reputation.

Trash bin boondoggle: winners and losers

2010-02-11T17:23:00.001-05:00

WINNERS
If landlords are required to provide trash bins for their single-family rentals as the City Safety Committee intends, the obvious winners will be trash haulers. No longer will they need to solicit business from these residences, worry about collections, nor attend to the problems of families who use these “free” bins. All this will be provided by the property owners.

Trash haulers would not have to start and stop services as renters move in and out, set up new accounts, close out old accounts, attempt to make difficult collections or write off bad debts.

Less work, more profit. And who’s next in line for gifting? - water, electric, gas utilities for their convenience and profit?

LOSERS
The losers are the landlords. Those of us who obey the laws, are good neighbors, try to get good tenants and who run a tight ship. We would be required to pay these bills and we’d take care of it.

But the slumlords, the culprits? They don’t obey the laws now and this won’t change that attitude. Nothing will change, their properties will continue to be trashed, and they will receive no effective punishment.

Landlords will have to increase rents to cover trash, and while that may sound like a simple matter, it isn’t. In the first place, not all renters require trash service; under this system they’ll pay for it anyway. Their defense will be to rent somewhere out of the city.

A higher price tag for rent - no matter what you include among services - is a higher price tag. This tag has already - or should have already - been increased because of the increased school property taxes being felt this year.

Code enforcement costs will hit city taxpayers harder when trash-bin policing begins, if it does - which I doubt. Here’s why: If enforcement is to be certain, uniform, and fair, the city will have to set up a data base, a clerk, and a foolproof way to coordinate with the haulers.

The winners would be the trash haulers. The losers would be landlords (not slumlords), renters, and taxpayers.

---------
CORRECTION: Legislation regarding trash bins will not come before City Council for consideration as early as I believed. Councilman-at-large Dave Rhodes said that the proposal is in the hands of City Law Director Doug Sassen and that it likely will go back to a Council committee again 2/22/10 before it goes to full Council the following Monday, 3/1/10. I have made corrections in the previous two essays on this subject.
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NEXT & LAST: GET RID OF TRASH BY ENFORCING THE LAW

Property Maintenance Code - More than a failed experiment?

2010-02-11T07:59:00.002-05:00

It has been about three years since Newark rolled out the most recent Property Maintenance Code, but already it is in danger of getting shot down by the lack of enforcement and a mayor who wants to avoid this responsibility by handing it over to the County Health Department.

Today’s Code was carefully crafted over a period of several months with maximum opportunities for input from anybody with an interest. The former Code had been rejected by a referendum vote, mainly because of intrusive restrictions on what owners could do with their properties and the ham-handed enforcement procedures by the city health department.

The present Code removed the health department from all enforcement issues other than health endangerment. Otherwise, enforcement fell to a Property Maintenance Code administrator (dismissed a few months ago by the city) who was to be assisted by a property maintenance clerk.

The Code was to be complaint-driven and the complainant was to be identified, thus eliminating frivolous and spiteful harassment by unidentified busybodies. Violators were to be first given a warning and 14 days in which to comply, rather than the traditional stern, impersonal tactics employed before. It also provides for an appeal process before a five-member committee.

Newark had morphed from Gestapo to reasonable regarding property maintenance problems, except for one thing. It required a city administration which could oversee it, but that was not to be.

It has not been effective at addressing all (most? any?) complaints brought before it. I’m not sure where the blame for that lies, what layers of politics and bureaucracy interfered, who neglected to supervise whom, who screwed off when they were supposed to be enforcing, or whether the Code was ever followed regarding the way PM complaints were handled but I am sure of one thing: the reason the Code is failing is not because it is defective in any way, but because of Mayor Bob Diebold’s administration of it.

According to City Director of Law Doug Sassen, “This office is not unhappy with the Code as it exists. We are happy with the procedural aspects of the Code and we believe it is sufficiently comprehensive to address the obvious needs of the City given that it is not a ‘beautification’ manual and it has sufficient teeth to be effectively enforced.”

To compound Diebold’s ineffective oversight, now he is proposing to hand over enforcement of it to the county health department. It seems to me that if the county could enforce city ordinances, we might find all sorts of useful things for it do.

This is trophy-level government incompetence, but to make it worse the Council Safety Committee Monday agreed to start rending the Property Maintenance Code with a major change in what it requires of property owners, blaming the Code itself for Newark government’s inability to administer it.

NEXT: TRASH BIN BOONDOGGLE: WINNERS & LOSERS

Time for a trash confrontation

2010-02-10T17:56:00.003-05:00

Lesa Best has done her best to get this city to use its power sanitize slumlords, their trashy tenants, and their crappy-looking, and often unhealthful properties. She has incessantly photographed and publicized this problem on the Internet and has presented her concerns to Newark City Council. She is an advocate of a cleaner, better Newark like none before her, that I know of.

Not just her interests are at stake, however. The community wants to have slumlords brought under control. Meanwhile, citizens are are paying city employees to do just that.

City employees, however, won’t do that. It’s not because the city doesn’t have the right ordinances in place, not because the city doesn’t have a good property maintenance code, not because the city doesn’t have administrators charged with enforcing these and other laws, not because the city doesn’t have a police department nor legal prosecutors, and not because it doesn’t have a mayor in charge of all this.

So why isn’t it working? Because the city has a mayor who has no grip, who has failed the city in his responsibility to enforce the city’s ordinances; who has not challenged slumlords with the enforcement tools he has. It’s that simple.

Not all of us who rent dwellings to tenants are slumlords. Some of us take care of our houses and our tenants. Some of us have as much pride in our rental properties’ appearance and safety and sanitation as we have for our own homes.

Lesa, after having embarrassed the city administration on its failure to confront slumlords hundreds of times in words and pictures, has convinced members of City Council’s Safety Committee that landlords and slumlords should be required to provide trash containers to tenants.

It will do no good and it will put an unnecessary and intrusive burden on landlords. If the mayor and his administration won’t enforce the Code and get their hands dirty handling slumlords, is the addition of this ill-conceived requirement is going to change that?

No, it won’t. What will change that is for the community to confront the mayor and his administrators and insist that the laws be enforced.

NEXT: NEWARK’S PROPERTY MAINTENANCE CODE AND WHY IT DOESN’T WORK

Let’s help legalize democracy

2010-02-08T09:54:00.001-05:00

Government-by-and-for-businesses was bad enough before the U.S. Supreme Court gave foreign and domestic corporations new power to interfere with our already-failing democracy.

The situation and what’s being done about it are summarized by “Move To Amend,” a project of the Campaign to Legalize Democracy:

“On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. Human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions. The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule.

“We Move to Amend.

“We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, and move to amend our Constitution to:
Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
Guarantee the right to vote and to participate, and to have our votes and participation count.

“Protect local communities, their economies, and democracies against illegitimate ‘preemption’ actions by global, national, and state governments.”

If you want to sign a petition to help get this done, go to: http://www.movetoamend.org/

NCS vs bullies - New policy?

2010-02-07T17:16:00.001-05:00

NCS board members will face off with school bullies when it meets Monday (2/8/10) and considers the recommendation of the Student Achievement Leadership Team (SALT). That is, according to This Week Community Newspapers report at this link:

“The committee's next task was a revision of the district's bullying policy. The committee will recommend to the school board to omit the phrase stating that the policy applies to students "while en route to or from school."

"It's impossible to ensure that every child is free from harassment the entire time," Herreman said. "You can't follow every student."

Christenberry suggested including "social media" in the bullying policy's current enforcement of harassment via "Internet, e-mail, cellular telephone, personal digital assistance (PDA), or wireless hand-held device," allowing it to cover Facebook and Twitter.”

Sheriff credits citizens’ savvy

2010-02-05T12:57:00.001-05:00

It rubs me the wrong way when governments tell citizens they are too dumb to care for themselves. This shows up frequently when a “snow emergency” is called and folks are told they shall not drive because Big Brother knows best.

Today, a Channel 4 (Columbus OH) reporter asked Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp what the different levels of snow emergency mean. He said the levels are set according to difficulty of driving.

He said these levels are more like advisories to citizens so individuals can decide whether to stay home or not, or words to that effect.

Hooray for the sheriff who, today at least, removed Big Brother’s unnecessary interference in lives of citizens.

Go to the Obama wellhead

2010-02-04T09:49:00.002-05:00

When I wrote “Shall we call it quits, America?” a comment by “nooman” asked: “I’m curious Bruce, what is is specifically that you think we should be standing behind this President on?”

Let’s look first at what’s happening with this Presidency.

1) Mr. Obama was elected, in part, because the middle class felt betrayed by unfair influences on federal government’s activities. That means the way lobbyists for special interests buy votes and thus steal our tax money and freedoms. Mr. Obama went to Washington partly on promises to change that and thus improve the lot of the middle class.

2) The President has launched a fight on our behalf with these special interests, largely multinational corporations which, in effect, nullify the wishes and needs of individual citizens by attempting to insulate incumbents from defeat at the polls. That’s what the President has gone to war against and he needs to mobilize and inspire the middle class to back him.

3) To do that requires facing off with the world’s best spin doctors, the people who have mastered media control and disinformation (meaning to deliberately mislead with partial or slanted or false information). I believe these special interests/multinationals control the nation’s mass media from the top, so the insertion of disinformation has a clear and easy path.

So back to “nooman’s” question: First way to stand behind the President is to find out what he is trying to accomplish by learning exactly what he’s saying. That’s the most important way we can support him: just listen to him without the disinformation filters.

Maybe it’s common knowledge by now that anything you get from mass media is filtered by definition (they have to filter it in order to present it). But what isn’t common knowledge is who is filtering and why. To find out, follow the money. See who owns mass media in this country. Look at their corporate interests. See if they have financial reasons to doctor the “news” in a way that favors multi-national corporations and other organizations with some bucks to be made from Washington.

Since you can’t be certain what the President is saying via mass media, then you have to go to the wellhead. The White House provides a thorough and user-friendly web site where you can read transcripts of every Presidential speech and reports on all Presidential activities. That’s where you can get your no-spin facts.

Go to The Briefing Room http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room for current Presidential announcements and statements of policy. For instance, today (2/4/10) there are five articles from yesterday’s White House news (Press Secretary briefing; meeting with governors on energy; steps to boost biofuels; memorandum on strategy on carbon capture and storage; and remarks by the President to Senate Democrats). On that same index page are links to eight categories of information covering Presidential policies, actions and legislation.

You can search the entire site by key word. From that, you can use one of several filters to arrive at the articles closest to your interests. If you want a no-spin report on what the President said and how he said it, type in any subject and get it straight.

Until you’re willing to do that much for own education, don’t even think you have a clue about what the President says, thinks, or does. So that’s the single best way to stand behind the President: Get your facts straight.

Grandbaby being cute - sue me

2010-02-02T17:36:00.001-05:00

Here's a cool dude learning his steps

Shall we call it quits, America?

2010-01-30T18:16:00.000-05:00

Count me among the people who have caused this nation to flounder. I voted to have it happen by my silence; and what about you?

I have failed to speak out about the lies and the half-truths of political partisans, zealots left and right, and mass media; and what about you?

I have failed to defend and encourage those critics, commentators, and government employees who are advocates of truth and justice; and what about you?

Here is a nation that elected Barack Obama to the Presidency because he told us he would help correct the fallout from misdeeds of past presidents. But this same nation, at last blessed with a statesman as chief, has set him adrift among partisan enemies. Where is the support we owe him? I have been stingy with it; and what about you?

Why aren’t you and I sending clear and defiant messages to Washington’s special-interest wolf packs? Why aren’t we demanding that critics stop these inane attacks on our President out of fear of Democrats or fear of dark skin or fear of losing ill-begotten profits? Why aren’t we insisting that citizens regain control of government while we have someone to lead us in that endeavor?

We have the chance to rise behind Mr. Obama, to become justifiably proud of ourselves again. But we cannot because “the way we do business” in Washington immobilizes, overwhelms, and stupifies little people out here across America.

Or does it? What about you?

Bully-proofing schools and neighborhoods

2010-01-29T10:09:00.001-05:00

When I first wrote about bullies I entitled it “Our village failed a child.”

However, none of the events since then - including my own writing - have reflected that this is more than a problem for schools, and more than a problem for police, and more than a problem for parents of bullies. Nobody, including myself, has framed it as a problem for our village.

That occurred to me when I reflected on why there was virtually no bullying in my rural school district many years ago. It wasn’t because there were no mean kids among us.

There were, however, three very influential forces: 1) there was always a teacher or an administrator watching when school took up, during recesses, lunch periods, and after school; 2) teachers had the nerve and felt the responsibility to punish misbehaving students; 3) people who lived in my village were looking out for the safety and welfare of kids and they had the courage and the will to help keep the peace.

Bullying and bad behavior by children were everyone’s problem, though it required time and attention and will power.

So why don’t we have a strong network of neighborhood watch groups? Why can’t parents organize to patrol problem areas? Why can’t the PTA get involved? Why aren’t parents standing up in city council meetings demanding police presence at problem areas? Why can’t individuals just do their own patrolling even without being organized or assimilated into a group? Why can’t teachers and administrators get out of the buildings to keep an eye on things?

I think these solutions - or perhaps better solutions - will materialize if and when everybody begins to see the children of our village as a personal responsibility.

Bullies don’t stop, nor should NCS

2010-01-26T18:20:00.005-05:00

That Newark City Schools hit back at student bullies in some classroom exercises (reported in the Advocate 1/26/10) is to be commended.

I wrote 12/3/09 that “Our village failed a child” and that it was in part the fault of schools. Now Newark City School administrators have acted to end bullying. Likely they recognize what they’ve accomplished as only the beginning. Meanwhile, lots of folks are jumping in the Advocate comments sections saying it’s not enough. I agree.

Bullying is like obesity, like tooth decay, like bad attitude, like addiction. You can’t make corrections with one talkie-talk field day. You have to fight it. You have to keep fighting it and you have to keep your guard up every single moment.

Some of the commenters indicated that the confrontation of bullies lies mostly or only with school principals, and that some principals are intimidated by parents of bullies. I suspect there is some truth in that, and if it is true, then let’s face off with those parents. Let’s hire security guards. Let’s call the police to the offices of school principals. Let’s take these parents to court. Let’s draw a line in the sand over which these parents and their kid-bullies shall not pass.

Announce that line; make it stick. That line will stand once the word gets out. Meantime, don’t stop with one talkie-talk field day. Do it regularly and encourage PTA groups (do they still have these in Newark?) to take up banderillas.

Our village should now have learned that it should never again fail one of our children. If that takes some unaccustomed toughness on our part, so be it.

THE WORLD’S SHORTEST BOOKS

2010-01-26T09:49:00.002-05:00

MY APPLIED CHRISTIANITY
By Rev Jesse Jackson
***
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BILL
By Hillary Clinton
***
THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE
By Al Gore
***
MY MORALS
By George W. Bush with introduction
By Richard Nixon

Alerts: Obama, Council rules, Mr. Kidd, Channel 19

2010-01-22T10:09:00.004-05:00

Don’t ever believe President Obama isn’t giving the Newark Tea Party a serious read. Two days ago I wrote about Newark’s lack of jobs Newark Remains Unstimulated

Today’s Washington Post headline: “Obama to focus on job growth in Ohio.” Ta Da!

=====

Rules are for suckers - Right, City Council?
Ohio law requires three readings of proposed legislation, Newark by virtue of its “home rule” Charter requires but two. Many ordinances, however, are passed on the first reading because they are claimed to be “emergencies” though exactly what the “emergency” is normally remains murky at best. Never mind the Charter requires Council to “clearly specify the necessity of the emergency.”

Also, Council again played fast and loose with the public money entrusted to it when it awarded without competitive bidding a contract to Claggett & Sons to work on the company’s own property.

Competitive bidding for projects of $25,000 or more is required by the Charter, but this routinely is defined as unnecessary by the votes of six Council members. The Claggett project is estimated at $35,000-$50,000.

Claggett is a good landscaping contractor who has performed perfectly on a couple small jobs for me, and would be my choice for the next one. Likely the city won’t go wrong by awarding this job to Claggett. But we’ll never know because the rules don’t apply here.

This points to the need for tighter rules to ensure that expediency and convenience stop being overriding objectives of Council members and the Council president. Those tighter rules could be a project of a Charter Review if Council would provide for it.

Meantime, if any citizen should feel Council is abusing bidding requirements a complaint should be filed with Mary Taylor, Auditor of State.

=====

Keep your eye on Mr. Kidd
Ronnie Kidd, the Heath resident who led the charge against Reflex traffic cameras, hasn’t retired. For one thing, he was a key player in Mansfield’s decision to ignore Redflex’s pitch to install cameras in that city. Here’s how he described some of it in a note to me 1/20/10:

“Last night I drove to Mansfield for its Safety Committee meeting, Caucus and Council meeting. The 3rd reading of its camera ordinance was planned. Only one Mansfield resident was there to protest the cameras. The same Redflex rep that did the Zanesville presentation was there to give a slick and gruesome presentation. Including once when a Council member called me to the podium to ask me some questions, I managed to address the Council 4 times. Vote: 8-0 unanimous against the cameras.”

His group of citizens who helped with the traffic camera exile is still meeting. They hope to help citizens of Baytown TX and Arnold MO battle red light cameras. Also, they are expecting to influence decisions by local officials on the county dog pound, the Davis-Shai House and the Rt. 79 median in Heath.

I think this group isn’t far from announcing some sort of formal organization and picking up speed as a very influential force which politicians will rapidly come to respect.

=====

Webcasts & Channel 19
I was confused by the Advocate report on Council’s discussion of a camera for webcasting meetings on the city’s website. It was my sloppy reading, not the reporter’s fault. Maybe there were others too who didn’t get the difference between webcasting (something new being considered) and cablecasting (what’s already being done on Channel 19). The discussion involved, in part, the cost of a camera for webcasts. City officials were told the cost would be $2,800, but a resident brought an inexpensive digital video camera to demonstrate its adequacy and simplicity. Now let’s see if anyone listens to him.

Speaking of cablecasts on Channel 19, it seems to me that they are more professionally produced now than they have been for many years. Also, that Newark Schools’ Channel 19 has a lot more and a lot better programming in quality and subject matter.

Thing is, if you don’t know when Council meetings are to be shown, and if you don’t know when the other stuff is on, what good is it? Seems to me that the Advocate could easily list Channel 19 programming, if only on its web site.

Newark remains unstimulated

2010-01-20T10:14:00.001-05:00

Federal “stimulus” dollars were supposed to create jobs as a means of undoing the damage to our economy by Wall Street sharpies, bankers, unregulated monopoly businesses of all stripes, and by government. But in Newark we are far from stimulated. In fact, as one commentator said, the people of Newark are selling hamburgers to each other for survival.

A tedious and uncertain trip through the federal stimulus brag sheet on the web reveals that two jobs have been created for the private sector locally. The rest of the $27,494,419 total in grants for zip code 43055 has created 26.58 additional jobs (on paper), all of them apparently are government jobs if indeed any were created.

A lot of that money went to schools and a lot to construction projects - projects the government would have to take care of anyway. So government feeds itself more of our tax dollars - as usual - as a way to stimulate our economy.

The two local jobs created (on paper at least) from a $171,787 grant went to Newark Townehomes, 11 Daugherty Circle in Newark. This is a HUD property I was told, and I think it’s owned by a corporation in Columbus, but I couldn’t substantiate that because whoever answered the phone wasn’t too talkative.

So there you have two jobs in the private sector for Newark out of all the billions nationally for bankers, stock brokers, auto manufacturers, auto dealerships and governments.

If you did not receive one of the two jobs and were are not already working for government or a school your financial outlook is probably like mine: It hasn’t been this bad for decades. Meanwhile, the greed of companies like Time-Warner Cable, property tax collectors, oil companies and other monopolies, seems boundless.

Before his election, Obama & Company were on Ohio like flies on manure. Now he keeps in contact, with me at least, by sending incessant e-mails asking for donations for this Democrat project or that. There’s a red button to use for donating.

I’d really like to donate Mr. Obama and the Democrats a hamburger as a symbol of the two new jobs we’ve received in Newark.

Unfortunately, there’s no red button for hamburgers - and I couldn’t afford it anyway.

Restore the roar of the Wildcats

2010-01-17T10:33:00.001-05:00

“Let’s restore the roar” is a comment by a Newark Wildcat fan, writing about the resignation of NHS Football Coach Buchanan. “Let’s restore the roar” means, in the fan’s (patsredwings) context, “let’s get back to having a wining Wildcat football team.”

There was another comment that stood above the others. It was from Keynan Williams, whose title is “Running Back #23 Class of 2011,” and who said “we're gonna go into the 2010 season, heads held high, ready for a street fight.”

To Keynan - and to me - the lousy records of recent years don’t matter. The fact that there’s going to be a new football coach doesn’t matter. What matters is simply, and mostly, a matter of spirit - a matter of how much fight will be taken to the field.

And that - the amount of fight - is largely dependent on how much Wildcat roar will be restored. If all these youngsters read and hear is more criticism from community quarterbacks and commentators - a constant yammer about all the things wrong with the football program - then it’s going to be that much more difficult for them to bring a street fight to the field.

To me, the Wildcat football team is to Newark what the OSU football team is to Ohio. I know it’s irrational, but if the Wildcat football team kicks butt, then in some illogical and implausible way, I have been victorious, and I’m not even particularly a sports fan.

My wife, who is less of a sports fan than I am, never fails to watch the Buckeye games with me, and she has been known to jump from the couch and scare the dogs when OSU does something magnificently right or wrong. Such enthusiasm for football from a non-sports fan supports the thesis that a winning football team is really important.

I see the Wildcats as a rallying place for a community that needs a lift in spirits, for a school system that’s been beat into the ground by unfortunate administrative bungling.

If we can make the Wildcats roar again, I think Newark citizens would feel better about ourselves. And I for one, will be watching - if only in spirit - when Running Back #23 Class of 2011 brings out next season’s street fight.

Newark, git ‘er done.

BBB alert on U.S. Census scams

2010-01-14T08:51:00.000-05:00

The following is from the Better Business Bureau web site:
During the U.S. Census, households will be contacted by mail, telephone or visited by a U.S. Census worker who will inquire about the number of people living in the house. Unfortunately, people may also be contacted by scammers, who impersonate Census workers to get access to banking and financial information. Law enforcement in several states have issued warnings that scammers are already posing as Census Bureau employees and knocking on doors asking for donations and Social Security numbers.

The big question is - how do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist? BBB offers the following advice:

If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag and a confidentiality notice. Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don’t know into your home.

Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information. Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census. Census workers will not ask for banking and financial information nor will they solicit donations.

Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail or in person at home. However, they will not contact you by e-mail, so be on the look out for e-mail scams impersonating the Census. Never click on a link or open any attachments in an e-mail that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.

More Magic Nanny trash

2010-01-12T12:21:00.001-05:00

Mayor Bob Diebold would like us to believe he can create public wealth at no charge to citizens. Just give him whatever he asks in the category of individual rights and he’ll take care of us. Behold: Newark Ohio’s very own Magic Nanny.

It is not surprising therefore that he has again presented for approval one of his pet projects: a monopolized trash-hauling system licensed by the city. Each time in the past citizens have overwhelmingly opposed this idea. But, like a teenager growing pimples, Diebold keeps it always just under the surface or on top and neither rational thought nor explanation works as defense.

Diebold’s determination to limit free enterprise among trash haulers has been now framed as “win-win” in the 1/11/10 Advocate report. This is because, Diebold says, “The city could charge an administration fee to manage the trash contract and fund the property maintenance department, and residents still would save money.”

Here’s what I wrote about citizen reaction on 5/1/08:

In spite of the wonderfulness of this proposal as presented by the Advocate, lots of on-line readers thought otherwise. Such reaction should be enough to end any discussion, even if were only the comment by "paul" who said, in part, "Without exception when competition is removed or governmentally controlled, price fixing, gouging and general rate abuse is imminent." If you don't think he's right, just consider cable TV and how its evolved under its city contracts.

Nothing has changed since then, but the Advocate reporter bought it, since no balance was offered. Apparently the Advocate reporter does not know the history of Magic Nanny Diebold’s promises for great things to come of his other “money-making” schemes for which citizens pay dearly.

Take, for one, “billing of insurance companies” for rides to the hospital in city trucks manned by city employees, a shell game he pushed time and time again until it became reality while he was still a councilman. This won’t cost citizens anything, only insurance companies, he said in his sales pitch. This turned out to be a multi-million-dollar scam which is costing - and will cost - citizens dearly forevermore, most likely. Read the shake-out of it here: Riding to the hospital with your city employees: Bend over taxpayer ...

Consider another of Magic Nanny Diebold’s miracle solutions for the ever-short-on-cash Newark Ohio. This was the rise in cost of driving by $10 per vehicle per year, tacked to the purchase of auto licenses. This was sold as the absolute only way we could ever maintain our streets decently. I suspect that most of this (by switching lanes in the underground labyrinths of the treasury) went to our employees because there is no noticeable improvement in street repair or maintenance and much whining about having no money for much of anything and least of all those projects important to Newark taxpayers.

So now this same mayor - whose term can’t be over soon enough - would have us believe that the city would be richer - and the prices to residents would be lower - if the Magic Nanny were permitted to select and license for all citizens a single trash hauler.

If Diebold’s plan gets implemented, here’s a prediction. I predict that citizens will have absolutely no meaningful input regarding which of the haulers is given a Newark monopoly. I predict that the contract will be awarded to the company - Big O Refuse - that is managed locally by the son of Newark Councilman Don Ellington. Not that there’s anything wrong with that company, and I’m not accusing anybody of anything illegal but, if I were betting, that would be my pick.

For a review of the performance of Bob Diebold, and how the Magic Nanny rides roughshod over citizens go to this link Then go to it again before you vote for a mayor.

NCS employees, we don’t care about your convenience

2010-01-10T10:07:00.001-05:00

Newark City Schools quandary over where to educate students while the high school campus is being rebuilt is the subject of an Advocate report (1/10/10).

It says administrators favor spending another half-million-or-so tax dollars on renting 16 classroom buidlings.

Another option, would be to schedule split sessions - difficult, but doable, the report says. The problem with that is “it ... hurts your activities” and the administration would have to “manipulate (its) staff so that everybody’s happy.”

This is the kind of fiscally irresponsible crap that property owners and income-tax payers are tired of hearing from NCS administrators.

We don’t care about your activities or your convenience, and we had hoped that a new superintendent and a new treasurer and a couple new board members might make a difference in the NCS attitude toward spending taxpayers’ money.

This is not a good omen.

Unlike Ohio senators, clowns are professionals

2010-01-04T17:25:00.004-05:00

Before passage of the Ohio budget in late December, Senate Republicans removed from the bill a provision that would have cut legislative salaries by five percent. This is great news to tax-weary Ohioans, knowing that legislators have so favored themselves because they only make $60,584 a year for part-time jobs with full benefits.

We appreciate their exemplary performance in not only representing their own interests, but for having frittered countless opportunities to do something important - anything important - but have used their time, instead, to bash political opponents as they try to influence the next election.

Thomas Suddes, whose political commentary is reproduced in the Dispatch, wrote on 12/13/09 “The only differences between the Republican-run Ohio Senate and the Ringling Bros. circus is that the Senate doesn't charge admission (unless you lobby), and Ringling clowns are professionals.”

In this essay he reports that of the 219 Senate bills introduced in 2009 three reached the governor’s desk. “That means (a) most Senate bills are just publicity stunts ... or (b) Republican senators ... aren’t dying of overwork.” Read his essay here. I personally favor the (a) option. And the (b) option.

While the solution for school financing has never been more distant in Ohio law books, our lawmakers nevertheless reserve plenty of time to interfere with lives of constituents. Consider wine purchases and auto wipers.

They had time to protect the interests of the Ohio Wine Producers Association with a new law that limits your household to no more than 24 cases of wine in one year. To understand the details, here’s a link to the Dispatch report.

Also, Ohio’s new law that makes little people turn on their lights when they use their auto wipers went into effect recently. That should draw international ridicule for crude and disruptive government interference.

It is, of course, one of those publicity stunts, but one that backfired with people who know in their hearts they are smart enough to figure out when to turn on their lights. Just when you think government has reached the limit for stupidity, along comes something like this.

Remember, on election day, not those politicians’ deprecating proclamations; remember their performance. If your public servants haven’t been part of the solution to your problems then they are a cause of your problems. That will be the only important point of focus when you step in the voting booth.

EDIT 1/5/10
State Rep. Jay Hottinger wasn’t in the crosshairs of this essay because he isn’t a senator. He is, however, among those I’ve indirectly criticized, without naming him, for what I’ve called, politely, “deprecating proclamations.”

I’m glad he called me 1/4/10 to brief me on his position regarding the state budget and other matters. As our representative from the 71st District we should keep up on what he’s thinking and how he’s voting, but unfortunately there is no easy way to do this, given the lack of interest by the Advocate and the Dispatch.

Related to the above essay, Jay said he supports the 5% pay cut for legislators and he voted against the windshield wiper bill.

He also addressed the state of Ohio economics. Most everyone who cares knows he is a loud and frequent critic of Governor Stickland’s budget. He said this is because it allows for a $5-$8 billion short-fall in a few years.

I said, ok, what are your solutions? He rattled off several possibilities, often adding that he wasn’t sure he’d fully support each of them or some such disclaimer. But from my hasty and incomplete notes, here’s what he said:

One source of more income would be a penny added to the sales tax. That would produce a billion dollars a year, he said.

The rest of his ideas were focused on the other side of the balance sheet: savings. Here are areas he would study: 1) Reform government pensions; 2) make cost-saving corrections in the way the state bids and awards construction projects; 3) prison reforms that would provide for fewer inmates; 4) reduced reimbursement to nursing homes by Medicaid; 5) privatization of the Ohio Turnpike; 6) repeal what are or will be non-funded mandates to schools such as the proposals for a) all-day kindergarten; b) adding 20 days to the school year; c) teacher ratio of 15 students per teacher (presently it is 21-1).

Without adding my thoughts about his thoughts at this point, that’s what he said.

OK, C-TEC, who screwed up?

2009-12-29T08:43:00.004-05:00

Now that Claggett & Sons has been awarded $3.8 million in taxpayers’ money to be paid by C-TEC, it’s time to get the rest of the story. It will prove what I wrote 11/23/09: “C-TEC’s problem is management.”

Who among those we entrusted with our tax dollars at C-TEC thumbed their noses at that trust and blew off - by mis-mangement - $3.8 million or more? Voters need to know how they mis-managed, and why they mis-managed; otherwise, corrections may never be made.

The Advocate report today (12/29/09) indicates the architectural firm may have to share some of the cost, maybe all of it. And this may not be decided for many months. Likely, the C-TEC board will try to deflect responsibility for any of this until “final resolution,” or something like that.
------------------
UPDATE

In today’s (12/30/09) report on last night’s C-TEC board meeting, another of my predictions came true, this one a no-brainer. (C-TEC board will try to deflect responsibility for any of this until ’final resolution,’ or something like that.)

Quotes from the Advocate report:

"I'm not in the position to comment; they are still evaluating all the issues," Rosati said. "I can't say anything else because the case is pending."

Superintendent Ron Cassidy, who is retiring Thursday, and the other members of the board declined to comment.

"We are still making decisions with our attorneys. We are still considering our options," Board Vice President Bob Handelman said. "Nothing has been decided."
---------------------------------

Taxpayer-voters cannot wait.

It can’t be said enough times: C-TEC is among this community’s most valuable educational assets. It has a long and proud history of providing local students with vocational education for the benefit of local employers.

Now this: an act of incredible disregard for management of public funds and perhaps years in the healing of public trust.

So who did it and why? And exactly what roles in this matter did individual board members play?

The Advocate has been zeroed in on this story from the beginning. The reporter has done a masterful job of keeping us informed, and the editorialist has been on target. You can access these reports and editorials here:

Board members defend C-TEC’s use of funds

C-TEC trial puts taxpayer money at risk

C-TEC’s problems require complete review

C-TEC’s legal bills exceed $1.5M

C-TEC at critical ﬁnancial juncture

Board approves superintendent's contract

Claggett wins C-TEC lawsuit

Newark’s spot in cyberspace

2009-12-28T14:51:00.001-05:00

Mark Spearman is a local computer guy who observed on his web site the difference in severity of punishment for David Ball, who got 17 years in prison on 10 counts of home invasion, and Joseph C. McClain, who got five years in prison for 25 counts of grand theft. Ball likely netted pocket change; according to Spearman’s essay, McClain took $475,000 from 40 people. Read it here: When stealing, please be real nice about it

Beyond that accurate observation about local justice in action, Mark continues to expand his web sites in helpful ways. Particularly recommended is Newark Ohio links Here you’ll find a directory of links indexed by area of interest, a section of which under Newark Ohio News Feeds, includes Craig’s List postings germane to Newark.

There is also an extensive list of local bloggers and community web sites, with a little description of each.

This service is particularly appreciated for anyone interested in staying current with as many Internet postings by local people as possible. As one who’s been in it a long time, writing in cyberspace is like dropping a shoe in the ocean and hoping someone will find it who cares. Now Mark has at least begun an index of shoe-droppers, and anyone who’s not listed there should make contact with Mark and let him know.

Another thing Mark inadvertently alerted me to is a list of local folks who publish on Twitter. When he began “following” me at this time-wasting site, I checked the others he “follows” and found a decent roster of fellow Tweeters wasting time on Twitter. You can go to Mark’s Twitter page at this link and get a list of who he’s following, and you can also check out the local people I follow at this link.

Anyway, hats off to Mark for the work he’s doing to list and index a broad range of people and things. I hope someday he will bring all his sites and publications under one supreme index page because the only criticism I have is that they are not easily found.

There is also another extensive list of local links on the web site nerk.com The takeoff point for this broad index is now tied to blogspot at this address.

Merry politics

2009-12-18T09:29:00.003-05:00

Merry politics to whomever wrote this and sent it out as one of those endlessly forwarded e-mails. And apologies to the author, as well, because I changed the salutations from “Democrats” for the first salutation and “Republicans” for the second. I like my version better.

To those who put politics above the meaning and value of Christmas:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish-ee.

To everyone else:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Redflex cameras epilog

2009-12-15T19:40:00.002-05:00

I received the following as an e-mail. It is a reply by Ronnie Michael Kidd to a Mansfield newspaper reporter asking for information about the Redflex traffic cameras installed briefly in Heath. I’m not sure why it was sent to me, but I am sure of this: It is a travesty of journalism that this information has to be revealed in my “blog” because of questions from a far-off newspaper, rather than by honest and thorough reporting by the Advocate.

On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 10:12 PM, Martz, Linda M. wrote:
Ronnie,

I saw the email you forwarded to Mansfield city council regarding the experience in Health. I’d like to talk to you for a story that probably will run a little later this week.

Did you start or lead the ballot campaign in Heath?

I was the lone protester at the first council meeting after the cameras were installed. I had been active in the Newark Advocate blogs and online comments to the Advocate articles about the cameras. A week or so later I was contacted by Duane and Becky Goodwin, the owners of a sign company in Heath. Between the first council meeting when I was alone (June 15th) and the next Council meeting July 6th our group grew to seven people. During that 3 weeks we started a Political Action Committee, drafted a petition to amend the City Charter to limit the use of photo enforcement and contacted other like minded groups in Cincinnati, Chillicothe and Toledo. We worked closely with the CAPE group in Chillicothe. Six members of their group joined us for a sign waving in early July when we picketed 3 businesses owned by City Council members. Besides attending one of the CAPE meetings in Yocktangee park in Chillicothe, I participated in 3 different sign wavings. From July through September our group held sign wavings on the front lawn of City Hall before each City Council meeting.

Twice the amount of signatures we needed for the petition were obtained in less than 2 weeks. We parked near Hebron Rd with a CAMERA BAN PETITION, SIGN UP HERE sign and got the signatures without having to go door to door. Half the signatures needed were obtained in one afternoon/evening at one location.

What made you get involved? (Were you ticketed yourself?)

I got involved when I saw the first camera on Memorial Day. On June 1st an article by the Mayor appeared in the Newark Advocate stressing the cameras were "100% for safety, not some scheme to make money". I felt this article should have appeared much earlier, when public input could have made a difference.
None of our group received a ticket from the cameras. Personally, I have never had a speeding or red light ticket in over 40 years of driving/motorcycle riding.

Is it true that Heath had a stretch of retail strip that had 7 cameras in a row installed to monitor speeding on it?

On the stretch of Hebron Rd between Coffman Blvd and Hopewell Drive there were 8 cameras, along with 2 cameras on 30th Street. Our intersection with the most accidents (Hopewell/Hebron Rd) only got one camera. Our 3rd and 4th most dangerous intersections got no cameras. An area with no history of accidents got two stand-alone speed cameras which accounted for 8600 tickets in July, the first month citations were issued. Each of the 8 cameras installed at intersections were speed cameras as well as red light cameras.

Did Heath post the locations for the cameras ahead of time?

The Mayor announced there would be a 30 day warning period for the cameras, beginning June 1st. The Coffman Blvd cameras were not active until June 29th. In June, 1000 warnings were issued. In July 12,858 $100.00 tickets were issued of which only 303 were red light violations. 8600 of the violations came from the Coffman Blvd speed cameras on the south end of Heath. These cameras were not included in the 30 day warning period.

Were most of the people who were ticketed out of towners passing through?

The Mayor claimed an 80% drop in violations from July until October. This was only possible due to two reasons. One: The no warning period for the Coffman cameras which created an artificially high starting point, and Two: a drastic reduction in traffic volume. From July until October the traffic volume dropped by 58,000 cars at one location. Many people were complaining that traffic had increased in residential areas. The lack of traffic on Hebron Rd was obvious along with a lack of cars in the parking lots at business locations.

Heath has a population of 8600 but has a large concentration of businesses bringing the daytime population to near 50,000. It is hard to say what the percentage was of tickets that went to residents versus those traveling through. In attending the weekly "Administrative hearings"/appeals at City Hall, I don't recall seeing Heath residents coming in for appeals the last 6-8 weeks before the election which makes me wonder if the tickets were not being screened by zip code. Only registered voters residing in Heath could vote on the issue.

Also, Mansfield’s police chief & its law director say they looked at what happened in other cities, including Heaht, and will try to avoid some of the mistakes made there. Do you think it’s possible they’re telling the truth?

In all the Cities where cameras have been installed, we hear the same thing, safety not money. The fact is that cameras do not make us safer. The only studies that show cameras reduce accidents come from studies backed by red light camera companies. Credible independent studies show that in the vast majority of the cases, red light cameras increase accidents.

There are some very undesirable side effects that go with the cameras. People avoid cameras when possible, which usually has a negative impact on residential streets. Businesses located in areas with cameras suffer not only from less traffic but also from a huge drain on disposable income being taken away from shoppers. From July through October over $2,000,000.00 worth of tickets were mailed out from the 10 cameras in Heath. The vast majority of those tickets came from speeding tickets issued in an area with an obviously under posted speed limit.

Would you have had a problem with photo enforcement if Heath had done a better job of PR?

Our group all had our own reasons for opposing the cameras. For me, it was the Constitution and Bill of Rights that had to be skirted in making a speeding or red light ticket into a "civil" violation. This creates a two tiered justice system, with the rights allowed under a misdemeanor traffic violation being taken away when the ticket is issued by a for-profit Corporation. My concerns were "equal justice" under the law, lack of the right to face (or cross examine) one's accuser, lack of the right to not self incriminate. The system only works due to the premise that one is guilty unless proven innocent. The ticket is issued to the owner of the vehicle instead of the driver. In Heath, the choices were to either pay the ticket, "nominate" someone else as the driver or pay the $100.00 in order to file an administrative appeal. The same private, for-profit company that calibrates the equipment makes the accusation, possesses the chain of evidence then profits from the accusation. Anytime law enforcement is outsourced to a for-profit company there will always be a motive and opportunity for abuse.

I have seen the presentations given by two red light camera companies. (Redflex and Gatso). They show some gruesome accidents that have one thing in common, they were all filmed by a red light camera. The presentations are slick and although they present it as safety, they are in business for one reason, to make money. So, the answer would be yes, I would have had a problem with red light/speed cameras regardless of how the City of Heath had launched the program. I will not sacrifice safety or give up rights my Ancestors fought to achieve to enrich a for-profit company and the City treasury. Law enforcement should be as it has always been, to protect and serve, not to generate revenue.

Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions. If you have local residents that wish to unite against the plans for photo enforcement, you are welcome to share my contact information with them. Our group (WE DEMAND A VOTE HEATH OHIO) along with the CAPE (Citizens Against Photo Enforcement) group in Chillicothe will assist the Citizens of Mansfield in any way we can.

If you would like to contact other members of the Heath group for their input for your upcoming article, let me know. We have a lot of information on our website, www.banthecameras.com

Ronnie Michael Kidd
740-281-0477

Linda Martz
Reporter
Mansfield News Journal
419-521-7229

Editor & Publisher was good to me

2009-12-11T07:13:00.002-05:00

Editor & Publisher magazine bills itself as “the bible of the newspaper industry” in an on-line article today announcing its own demise. For 125 years the magazine has been a tool of the trade and I’ve been a reader for about 40 of those years.

Even now I check the on-line edition almost daily for news of the industry. Back in the day, I was a subscriber and I checked the classifieds each week for job leads because it was the best - virtually the only - national newspaper jobs list.

E&P has been good to me. In the late 60’s and early 70’s it ran my articles on Advocate innovations, including one on the design and construction of the Advocate’s unique and expansive photo labs and studio in the old building on West Main Street. It also featured articles I wrote on the Advocate’s universal desk system. This was before newsroom computerization when “universal desk” was some kind of a murky goal held by lots of editors who seemed unable to make it work.

The Advocate’s system for handling the flow of editorial content received broad recognition, thanks to E&P. Later, I wrote and self-published (by using a Memeograph machine) a booklet on this subject and E&P added to the list of books it sold. Sales were surprisingly good.

The magazine also featured some of my studies in certain kinds of newspaper photos and at various times showcased the Advocate’s pictures as illustrations of what was happening in photojournalism.

Ironic, though, that in the end E&P was snared by the same kind of economic trap that is killing off newspapers. It’s all about profits; not service, not pride.

But then E&P editors themselves on many occasions flunked as technicians and as thinkers, in my opinion. Among the most glaring example of this was the series of columns by Steve Outing, who calls himself a media “thought leader.” Steve never uses two words where three paragraphs will fit, a true annoyance in a trade mag that should know how to use language. Among Outing’s leadership essays was the announcement that he had cancelled his printed newspaper and was sucking up free on-line news. He used this to illustrate his theory (with which I disagree) that printed newspapers are unnecessary and will all die off.

Maybe such “leadership” on the pages of E&P has influenced the overall health of newspapers, many of them struggling for life. I suspect it is the overall health of newspapers that came back to bite “the bible of the newspaper industry.” I hope E&P editors will see the irony if, as seems probable, whatever replaces E&P turns out to be an on-line version.

Bar stool buckaroo makes underdog history

2009-12-05T17:21:00.007-05:00

Licking County Ohio has as its trademark the name “Land of Legend” to commemorate famous folks like the drummer boy of Shiloh and Johnny Appleseed, whose stories live on. So far, one of the most interesting of its famous people has yet to be recognized as anything but a ne’er-do-well and a sot. Such is the lot of Kile Wygle, former owner, driver, and wrecker of a widely renowned motorized bar stool.

So far, Kile has to his credit a four-page police report, a nine-stanza poem by Carl Vine, a 4-minute song by country singer Bryan Lewis,

a write-up in Smoking Gun, the wrath of Licking County Child Support Enforcement Agency, about 227 media reports according to a Google news search, punishment for DUI, and the chagrin of having his famous wheels taken from him by a court and auctioned at eBay to pay his debt for child-support.

And all because he drank 15 beers before ripping off a 20-mph ride on a motorized bar stool and dumping himself onto the street. In general I’m for underdogs, and if there ever were a guy whose lot in life is “Underdog,” it’s Kile: He can’t win for losing.

Something he’ll never lose, however, are bragging rights that he has done more than anyone else in recent years to bring fame to Newark and Licking County. That has to be worth at least a mention in local history books forevermore.

Our village failed a child

2009-12-03T09:44:00.004-05:00

The Advocate reported yesterday about an incident that put a wide and ugly spotlight on Newark Ohio. It concerns the mistreatment of one of our children and you can read the story at this link and see the WBNS TV report at this link.

That incident would never have occurred if our village hadn’t failed so miserably, including ...

1 - Every driver who passed without stopping - especially the school bus driver. More than 50 drivers passed. I can’t believe all of them failed to call the police; did anyone call and, if so, did the police show up?

2 - Every resident who lived along the street, saw what was happening and did nothing.

3 - The Newark Police Department for not patrolling the streets near schools.

3 - The Newark Police Department for not getting serious about this crime until it received media attention and worldwide exposure on the Internet.

4 - The Newark City Schools for not preparing students for bullies, for not teaching this victim how to react.

5 - The Newark City Schools for maintaining the attitude: It happened off our official property, so we are helpless and we can’t get involved. Not true. Administrators and teachers could maintain a presence along neighboring streets (the principal and teachers at Lincoln did so many years ago when my kids attended that school). They above all, should get involved - personally and professionally.

6 - The Newark City Schools for failing to follow up on this incident; that video tape was surely available to administrators, had they cared enough to ask.

7 - The parents of the bully, of course, who failed to supervise their child.

8 - The parents of the victim who should have known their child could be endangered on her way home and acted to protect her with whatever it takes.

There is a proverb: It takes a village to raise a child.

Only one person did not fail the bully’s victim. That was the person who held a video camera and recorded Newark as it failed one of its children.

The Offended Generation

2009-12-02T10:58:00.002-05:00

If you’re not among those who has complained publicly about religious symbols, cultural customs, or common English words over which your feelings have been deeply hurt, then you’re not concentrating.

If you are not disturbed by the actions/inactions of others and how they intrude upon your personal beliefs, religion, diet, or health, then you simply aren’t in tune with your generation.

If you can’t constantly whine about how insensitive people act toward you, how they fail to sympathize with you, how they deny your freedoms and trample your rights, then you’re a pretty sad excuse for an American.

Just how unfair people can be toward fellow citizens is illustrated in this series of memos to employees about a Gala Christmas Party. It’s in a many-times-over forwarded e-mail that you’ve probably already read and found to be offensive.

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: October 1, 2009

RE: Gala Christmas Party

I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols... feel free to sing along. And don't be surprised if our CEO shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00 PM. Exchanges of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This gathering is only for employees!

Our CEO will make a special announcement at that time!

Merry Christmas to you and your family,

Patty

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: October 2, 2009

RE: Gala Holiday Party

In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees.. We recognize that Hanukkah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However, from now on, we're calling it our "Holiday Party." The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians and to those still celebrating Reconciliation Day. There will be no Christmas tree and no Christmas carols will be sung. We will have other types of music for your enjoyment.

Happy now?

Happy Holidays to you and your family,

Patty

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: October 3, 2009

RE: Holiday Party

Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a non-drinking table, you didn't sign your name. I'm happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads, "AA Only", you wouldn't be anonymous anymore. How am I supposed to handle this?

Somebody?

And sorry, but forget about the gift exchange, no gifts are allowed since the union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and the executives believe $10.00 is a little chintzy.

REMEMBER: NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

To: All Employees

DATE: October 4, 2009

RE: Generic Holiday Party

What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20th begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees' beliefs. Perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party or else package everything for you to take it home in little foil doggy baggy. Will that work?

Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from the dessert buffet, and pregnant women will get the table closest to the restrooms.

Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do not have to sit with Gay men, each group will have their own table. Yes, there will be flower arrangement for the Gay men's table.

To the person asking permission to cross dress, the Grill House asks that no cross-dressing be allowed, apparently because of concerns about confusion in the restrooms. Sorry.

We will have booster seats for short people.

Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet.

I am sorry to report that we cannot control the amount of salt used in the food. The Grill House suggests that people with high blood pressure taste a bite first.

There will be fresh "low sugar" fruits as dessert for diabetics, but the restaurant cannot supply "no sugar" desserts. Sorry!

Did I miss anything?!?!?

Patty

Company Memo

FROM: Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All F*%^ing Employees

DATE: October 5, 2009

RE: The F*%^ing Holiday Party

I've had it with you vegetarian pricks!!! We're going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the "grill of death," as you so quaintly put it, and you'll get your f*%^ing salad bar, including organic tomatoes. But you know, tomatoes have feelings, too. They scream when you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing them scream right NOW!

The rest of you f*%^ing weirdos can kiss my *ss. I hope you all have a rotten holiday!

Drive drunk and die,

The B*tch from H*ll!!!

Company Memo

FROM: Joan Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director

DATE: October 6, 2009

RE: Patty Lewis and Holiday Party

I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Patty Lewis a speedy recovery and I'll continue to forward your cards to her.

In the meantime, management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone the afternoon of the 23rd off with full pay.

Happy Holidays!

Joan

Nasty comments turned off in Knoxville

2009-12-01T08:14:00.001-05:00

New tools aid in policing web comments ...

... that’s the headline for a report by Editor & Publisher magazine which would be good reading for anyone interested in stopping rampant nastiness by local commenters.

It tells how the Knoxville Tennessee News Sentinel was forced to begin policing comments with the help of users.

Among changes was the requirement for real e-mail addresses that can be traced; encouraging reporters to read comments on their stories and respond; and not allowing comments for every article.

A newspaper spokesman said, "We became ruthless about deleting the mean [comments] and banning the trolls. We just tightened up. Our number of comments did go down when we became more aggressive."

In Connecticut, one group of newspapers temporarily disabled the reader comments function altogether.

This is the link to the E&P article.

On-line comments by the handicapped

2009-11-26T18:44:00.002-05:00

Impolite kids and cowards hiding behind anonymity are today’s Number One threat to ideas and debates of intelligent on-line commenters.

Lots of folks used to contribute serious comments and blog entries to the Advocate’s web site. Their numbers have dwindled considerably because too many abrasive and uninformed people attack others from behind “user names.”

These days you can tune into almost any string of comments that follows on-line news reports or blog entries and observe what appears to be the intellectually disadvantaged at work, most of whom are impolite without provocation.

Comments sections have become showrooms for what these people think is wit, rather than a discussion about the news report or bloggers’ subjects. These snipers are trying to boost their self-esteem by bullying the more intelligent and more peaceable readers. They’ll never have to look their victims in the eye, and that’s the ultimate shield for cowards.

The level of their writing ability often indicates they are very young people - from grade school to teenagers. Prolific, too, are sophomore-level pseudo-intellectuals, some of them apparently up in years.

Normal people can survive and enjoy it if they will recognize these youngsters and bullies and know-it-alls for what they are. Remember the source of their courage and they won’t seem threatening.

You don’t have to respond, or defend yourself, from the little people bent on trying to get you embarrassed or angry. It isn’t personal and shouldn’t be perceived as such. Be gentle because likely your adversary is a seventh-grader or some hillbilly who’s slammed back four beers. Keep your balance and you’ll enjoy the humor in on-line comments by the handicapped.

C-TEC’s problem is management

2009-11-23T17:12:00.001-05:00

Both of our sons graduated from Licking County Joint Vocational School and I am forever grateful for JVS instructors’ expertise and administrators’ patience and wisdom. My boys’ aptitudes were far better fitted to tradesmanship than academics and the long-term employment outcome has been a success, so far as that training contributed.

Since then, the school has changed a lot - different administrators and a whacky new name: “Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County.” Maybe that name has to do with marketing and prestige; it sure doesn’t tell anybody what the institution is or does.

Because I am now and forever a cheerleader for vocational education, I let slide an Advocate report on 10/25/09 that addressed some of the financial miscues that have occurred and are occurring there. In view of the most recent operating levy failure and the excessive compensation for its new superintendent, taxpayers may wish to review this report: C-TEC at critical financial juncture

The long-overdue court decision on a lawsuit by Claggett & Sons regarding construction contracts could break the C-TEC bank. Even if it doesn’t, the matter likely will prove costly to taxpayers and may be read as a signal that the school board and administrators were careless in oversight and weak in judgment when they let all this get to lawsuit status.

On 11/15/09 the Advocate editorialized that C-TEC's problems require complete review, and demonstrated bad judgment in its idea for “a new Western Licking County strategy” because folks out there are “killing C-TEC operating levies by wide margins.”

The Advocate’s solution? Cut those people out of the C-TEC district and let them get their vocational education in Columbus, which would lessen the number of anti-tax voters. Such a solution fails to acknowledge that it would also lessen the number of taxpayers supporting Licking County vocational education, requiring each property owner in the smaller district to bear even more of a school-tax burden.

Meanwhile, C-TEC’s operating funds are substantial enough to pay the new superintendent, Joyce Malainy, a $113,262 salary. There is enough in the kitty to pay her $471.93 per day between now and her Jan. 4, 2010 start date as reported by the Advocate 11/18/09 Board approves superintendent's contract

When C-TEC goes back to voters, this example of hog-trough-ery will be remembered, if only by me. Paying anyone $471.93 a day is a slap at property owners who are tired of enriching the estates of school adminstrators.

Before C-TEC returns with another request for more money, it should not be predicated on finagling the voter base by cutting off students from Western Licking County. Consider instead - simply - better management of its affairs, especially concerning the use of our tax dollars.

Criminal aliens want their rights

2009-11-20T10:00:00.001-05:00

This morning I read at the Dispatch web site “Immigration activists start reform push in Ohio.”

Two hours later I receive one of those e-mails, the facts in which are unattributed, but the thrust of which is on the money. It says:

“If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.

“If you cross the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely.

“If you cross the Afghan border illegally you get shot.

“If you cross the Turkey border illegally you spend the rest of your life in prison.

“If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get ...

“... a drivers license

“... a Social Security card

“... welfare

“... food stamps

“... and free health care!”

I have written about giving our millions of criminal aliens their “rights” many times and you can link to all of them here. But if this subject interests you, please at least read Criminal aliens: The losers are Mexico and Mexicans

Hebron Road: How much inconvenience is needed?

2009-11-18T10:27:00.002-05:00

Some Heath council members and the mayor have been voted out of office, effective in January, for failing to heed the wishes of most Heath voters on the traffic cameras issue. Now a new and important question is before council: what to do about traffic safety on main street? They have a new chance to listen to citizens, but will they? Or might they do the honorable thing and leave this decision to the newly elected replacements?

On 11/17/09 Heath council heard about two options for building something down the middle of Ohio 79. One is a big planter for trees and bushes; the other is a six-inch-high hunk of concrete. For details, read the Advocate report here.

Calling it “a one-time opportunity, using someone else's money for the most part, to make it aesthetically pleasing," Zoning Chief John Groff wasn’t about to listen to some other alternatives being promoted by citizens, according to Ronnie Kidd, who led the Redflex-camera revolt.

Their idea is to at least try a much less expensive fix - using curb cuts along the highway, one that would allow left turns FROM THE HIGHWAY by shoppers and emergency personnel, while eliminating left turns FROM BUSINESSES ONTO THE HIGHWAY where lots of drivers meet sideways or rear-end-ways with other vehicles. They say just try it first and see if we couldn’t save money while allowing a more free and convenient flow of traffic.

Kidd says the city is “pressing for a vote Dec 7 to beat a ‘deadline’ that we are researching. From what I can find out, the deadline can be extended. With two new council members coming in, the vote on Jan 4 could be FAR different from the vote on Dec 7. I already know two council members would vote against the median and believe that the two incoming members could be swayed to get the 4-3 majority we need.”

Kidd backs up his statement about the deadline with a memo from the Federal Highway Administration that says time extensions may include cases “where the public involvement process has altered the State's plan for satisfying the project's purpose and need.”

So again, the eye of local citizens, perhaps Central Ohio, and particularly Heath businesses is focusing on the behavior of Heath officials. This time those officials go in knowing you can’t vote someone out of office twice. We’ll see whether they use that knowledge or do the honorable thing.

Reform versus Big Insurance

2009-11-16T10:42:00.002-05:00

Cutting through the smoke screens and confusion caused by the insurance industry and media reports, here is the present status of what has become known as “health care reform:”

According to the Office of Health Reform, the present House and Senate versions of reform share a variety of measures that will reduce the rapid growth in health care costs while also providing Americans with higher quality care, including:

- Improve methods used in hospitalizations to prevent mistakes and unnecessary readmissions.

- Create incentives to reward quality care rather than quantity of procedures.

- Give physicians incentives to collaborate in patient care.

- Reduce infections and other health problems acquired at hospitals by use of rigorous reporting and transparency.

- Reward care that focuses on wellness using an integrated and coordinated delivery system.

- Eliminate some of the insurance bureaucracy by streamlining the payment system to save time and money now spent processing claims and navigating the out-dated insurance system.

- Establish a health insurance exchange with a public insurance option, allowing individuals and small businesses to buy lower-cost insurance and create competition.

Read the entire report from the Office of Health Reform at this link.

I think President Obama is more concerned about the quality of my health care than is the insurance industry and I think the insurance marketing machine is lying.

A Goldman Sachs analysis for health insurers concluded that “if no reform is passed, earnings per share would grow an estimated ten percent from 2010 through 2019, and the value of the stock would rise an estimated 59 percent during that time period.” Otherwise, not nearly as much. Read the article at this link.

AARP also has endorsed the U.S. House Health Care Reform bill, which Zack Space, our Congressman, voted for. Read about that endorsement at this link.

Zack Space is listening to me

2009-11-11T10:31:00.002-05:00

Who is it, exactly, that Zack Space isn’t listening to? The question is germane to Newark because Zack is scheduled to appear at The Works at 10 a.m. today and someone called an acquaintance and asked her to show up and yell at Zack: “You’re not listening to us.”

I really dislike people who cling blindly to either party’s line - in this case the GOP’s - and make their “intellectual” points by yelling inanities. If this demonstration went as planned, it was just another ruffian shout-down at a U.S. Congressman who came to Newark to honor veterans.

The Democrats, particularly before the Obama presidency, were no less ignorant and annoying. In fact, I give them more credit than Fox “News” for instigating piggish behavior, though Fox has improved upon it to the point where I strictly avoid exposure to it. I avoid exposure to those of both parties who preach from behind political-party blinders.

For the record, Zack Space is listening to me and to people like me. Anyone who yells otherwise at him from the street is ignorant and boorish.

Casinos - The fine print

2009-11-10T09:33:00.003-05:00

If you want to know what Ohioans really approved when they voted 11/09 to allow big gamblers to move into our state, read the analysis of Thomas Suddes in a Columbus Dispatch column at this link.

Lesson learned - Election Reflection #3

2009-11-07T07:47:00.001-05:00

The lesson to be learned from the overthrow of the Heath regime is that it is indeed possible to rein in government. That is a lesson worth remembering, worth repeating, worth applying.

We are by habit and training cowed by the political thickness of government bureaucracies. Consequently, we sigh, grow more angry and frustrated - and give up, go along. That’s how we are contained by the system; it makes us simply give up.

Most of the time.

Except when along comes a leader like Ronnie Kidd who demonstrates how wrong it is to simply give up.

I suspect he was motivated by anger at the injustice of what was happening in the city where he lived. But he was smart enough to harness that anger in a constructive way, to summon self-control and strike at the problem with facts.

Astoundingly, Ronnie wielded these facts against the power of the entire community establishment, including the Advocate. The facts won, the knowledge of the injustices won.

Not that Ronnie worked alone. He would likely be the first to credit those few very dedicated and brave individuals who joined the battle, and also the businesses who offered quiet, behind-the-scenes support. But this is another lesson to be remembered: Once a leader steps forward, if that leader is believable and dedicated and has a righteous goal, others will join.

What Ronnie and his small band of Freedom Fighters won can also be won in Newark, in Licking County government, in the Statehouse, in the U.S. Capitol and White House.

That is the lesson Ronnie Kidd has taught us.

Dismantling of the Zoo - Election Reflection #2

2009-11-06T10:26:00.004-05:00

A political scientist likely would find a great case study in how and by whom Heath voters were recently motivated. How did the great Waugh Zoo muster its support for the shakedown of motorists? And how was it shot out of the saddle by a few Freedom Fighters?

I don’t have the answers, particularly as regards the endorsement of the Waugh Zoo by the Chamber of Commerce when anyone with any sense knows Heath businesses were getting hurt by the lowered traffic flow and money spent on traffic tickets. All the Chamber had to do was to ask the right people instead of hiding behind a half-baked member “survey” to find out what was happening in Heath.

Several business owners, it turns out, were donating dollars and moral support to the Freedom Fighters, but precious few had the courage to openly buck the Good Ol’ Boys.

The business shake-out won’t be finalized until next year. After Christmas we’ll know the effect of removing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Heath economy and sending it to Waugh & Co. If it’s as bad as I think, there may be a lot of retail space for rent along Ohio 79.

The Chamber and it’s flock of sheep (including the Advocate) chose to ignore all this - and that, I think, is a tribute to Mayor Waugh.

Mr. Waugh is a man I never heard of before he teamed with the Redflex Aussies. So how did he merit such a noisy, if not wide, backing? Well, follow the money ...

Every single employee of the City of Heath stood to take a cut of the pie. Every vendor and every potential vendor for Heath stood to get fatter. Every person who dines at or uses or admires the Davis-Shai House could look forward to getting more public money poured into their little country club; all these individuals plus their relatives and friends, living in and out of Heath. Then there’s the most obvious of beneficiaries: Redflex employees.

Quite a web, just interested in the profits. Throw in political cronies interested in maintaining power, allow all these folks to comment anonymously from behind user names, without even identifying their personal associations, relationships, or profit motives, and you have created an unbridled, loud-mouthed, unreasonable cheering section for “traffic safety.”

In view of all that, isn’t it rather amazing that one pissed-off individual could muster a little group of Freedom Fighters that dismantled the Waugh Zoo?

Yes it is. More on that later.

I am uncomfortable in Heath - Election Reflection #1

2009-11-05T17:29:00.002-05:00

For the first time since June or July, I shopped at Giant Eagle today because there is a deal on turkeys.

It was like a homecoming except there was no joy. Giant Eagle is just like it was, but so is Meijers and the north-end Walmart where Rosalie and I are now accustomed to shopping.

Heath’s comfort level has bottomed out.

The bloodied Ohio 79 - with its strip malls and billboards - stands as a monument to the city where people will scam people for money.

Heath is where representatives of the people have stolen election signs and have ordered election advertising towed from an empty parking lot, costing the owner $135 because he was using the First Amendment.

Heath is where councilmen have laughed at people who bring their concerns before council. Heath is not resident-friendly, not visitor-friendly, not even business-friendly.

Heath is Good-Ol’-Boy-Club-friendly. Heath is where Club members cluster and cling and write nasty newspaper comments to those with whom they disagree. It’s where the power structure has no notion of fairness, nor a willingness to listen to non-Club members.

It shouldn’t have taken a revolt of peasants to make corrections. It should have taken only a small measure of decency from little Good Ol’ Boys who fancied themselves as bigger than any possible consequences.

The cameras and some Club members are out because peasants won the election. But because peasants scarcely outnumber the Good Ol’ Boys, I am uncomfortable in Heath.

Salute to Wildcat spirit

2009-11-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

Those who’ve earned admiration are people who voluntarily enter a place where they know they’ll come out with a beat-up body and a bruised ego - who know that, but who enter anyway.

At the top of the list of those who’ve done it recently and regularly are the Newark High School Wildcat footballers.

To march week after dreary week into the teeth of a new and nearly certain defeat is the mark of heroism, more so than those who go with hope.

These Wildcat footballers deserve our respect and our thanks as much, maybe more, than the sure shots of better years.

These guys demonstrated class and self-discipline and hard work and the willingness to take a thumping in the name of Newark High School. They are heros, really.

I hope the community will now rally on their behalf; build a bonfire; cheer for the Wildcat spirit - because this is where next football season begins.

Word from the street: Fact or rumor?

2009-11-01T16:46:00.001-05:00

Mayor Diebold’s recent proposal to give raises to the civil service commission does not pass the smell test. Is it a coincidence that Diebold and Company have a crucial civil service appeal hearing under way (Ketter), while he is pimping for a raise for the civil service commission?

What are the ethics concerning this? (And why isn’t the Advocate asking?) Since the mayor gets to appoint the entire commission, how could a city employee have any chance if they have to appeal to a commission appointed by the people who fired the employee?

Greg Ketter is being railroaded by Diebold and Carr for blowing the whistle on others as a part of his response to a reckless write-up. His career is being ruined for telling the truth. Meanwhile, the city is spending heavy bucks for an attorney to help with the last nail in Ketter’s career coffin.

========

The City is risking another lawsuit by laying off Tom Wolfe and then writing new property maintenance job descriptions to avoid bringing him back. Tom has already filed an appeal and if he can afford the legal expense has a good chance of winning in court.

========

The city’s general fund deficit is far worse than the mayor and Lehman will admit. The revenue estimate may be off by $1 million or more.

The Advocate’s kiss of death

2009-10-31T09:31:00.001-05:00

“Don't just listen to those who want to break the law.”

With that editorial advice to Heath voters, the Advocate editorialist demonstrated her juvenile mentality and inherent Good-Ol’-Boy bias. No longer can anyone doubt that the Chamber of Commerce rules over the local newspaper: The foolish editorial of 10/25/09 urging voters to support the Heath Good Ol’ Boys and their red-light cameras proves it.

Throughout the months’-long controversy regarding the legality and the fairness of a foreign corporation issuing traffic tickets to local motorists - and doing so without oversight, and behind a cloud of allegations about entrapment, increased danger caused by the cameras, and cost to Heath businesses - the Advocate steadfastly failed to investigate.

Meanwhile, the information and facts dug out by Ronnie Kidd and a group of freedom fighters has been distributed in the Advocate’s print edition, blogs, comments, and on a well-publicized web site banthecameras.com

The Advocate’s response? Don't just listen to those who want to break the law; vote to keep the cameras.

What the editorialist can’t get through her head is that everyone - EVERYONE - knows why the Advocate supports the Heath Good Ol’ Boys. It’s because the Advocate wants to be in the Club, likely a considerable advantage in ad sales, probably juicy personal props as well.

But selling the Advocate’s editorial soul is exactly what she’s doing - and the Advocate’s kiss-of-death-by-endorsement grows stronger as years under Gannett ownership wear on.

DUI in a La-Z-Boy

2009-10-23T08:54:00.002-05:00

Our local folk hero who was arrested for DUI on a bar stool has been one-upped (more than once) by a driver of a La-Z-Boy in Minneapolis. http://www.imdb.com/news/ni1112026/

NCS board election: Bringing truth to the rumors

2009-10-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

From behind the scenes of local politics comes an interesting hint from a Blue-Ribbon observer: Molly Ingold is being groomed by local Republicans for a run at the mayor’s seat when it comes up for vote in two years.

If this is the case, the immediate GOP strategy might be to give her experience at city-wide campaigning in a difficult race and, if she wins, keep her in public view for the next two years.

Such might be the real reason why Molly decided to run for a two-year seat on the NCS board of education, rather than to try for one of the open four-year seats.

It might be. Or not. She previously explained her decision like this: “I began to think about the transition from one superintendent to the next and realized it was important to have some consistency and experience on the Board. I decided it was important for me to continue...”

To provide transition from the King Richards’ regime to the Ute superintendency seems self-defeating if voters are aligned more against Richards than not, as am I. The sooner we get out from under the Richards’ mentality at NCS the better. If Molly is offering more of the same old same old as a returning board member, and if voters perceive it as such, I think she’s going to follow Keith out to pasture.

If establishmentarians (represented in local elections by the GOP) are backing her, she’ll have a bunch of money and a bunch of ads.

I see it as a showdown between those business-oriented establishmentarians and the blue-collar, earthy, church-centered, property-owning, and elderly voters who will be attracted to Tim Carr.

I’ve mentioned here before that Tim is talking the kind of talk that older people have been waiting to hear from the city school board. He is holding out the hope that property owners and pensioners could see (some of?) their NCS property-tax burden shifted elsewhere.

All the above speculation aside, it isn’t fair to simply speculate. What is fair is to ask Molly what her long-term political aspirations are. And if that’s fair, it’s also fair to ask Tim. So I did.

My questions to both:

There has been speculation that one or both of you might be considering a run for Newark City Mayor when that election occurs in two years.

Since you are both running for the two-year-seat vacancy on the school board, I wonder if this speculation has merit.

In the interest of having all cards on the table before the coming election, I am asking you to tell Newark voters:

1) - Are you considering running for mayor, or for any other non-school-board office in two years?

2) - Has either local political party approached you and/or encouraged you about this option?

Molly said:

“1.) While it is my understanding there are rumors out there I am running for mayor in two years, I have not at all considered this as part of the reason I am running for a two-year term on the school board. As for the future, I am not always sure what tomorrow will bring so I try not to get too far ahead of myself.

“2.) Neither political party has approached me or encouraged me to consider any political position.”

Tim said:

“I'll answer the questions in reverse realizing that what I don't say is as important as what I do say. I want to be very clear. Nobody from any party has talked with or contacted me in any way about any political aspirations. In fact, nobody at all has talked with me about such things.

“Second question: I absolutely love my job as Pastor and can not see myself trading it for any political office. If I still feel like I can be a resource for the people and an effective advocate for the children I would consider running for school board again in two years. I consider my spiritual calling to take precedent over all others and see my political aspirations no higher the the school board.

“Thanks for your continued interest in the campaign, and for bringing truth to the rumors.”

It’s difficult to talk a deer to death

2009-10-16T07:39:00.004-05:00

After talking about the need to solve Newark’s deer infestation for many months, city council seems ready to take decisive action. They are going to pass the buck(s).

Council’s service committee agreed to let full council vote on it. What they’re going to decide is whether or not to let the mayor develop a plan to solve this matter.

Assuming council votes affirmatively, further action will depend on the mayor’s willingness and ability to get a plan for deer eradication that will please everybody. In other words, nothing’s going to happen, but council can now blame the mayor. Spot on for Newark governors.

On 9/14/09 I wrote Kill the deer humanely, explaining that there is a way to kill deer without the suffering caused by bow hunting. If you don’t think bow hunting causes suffering, take a look at this video in which a veterinarian tells specifically how a deer suffers once hit by an arrow.

Nobody in their right mind wants to cause these animals that kind of death. And if the mayor and council think anybody but bow hunters are going to get their jollies watching such a slaughter, I got news for them.

The Advocate editorialized for bow hunting on 9/13/09, and Councilman Doug Marmie has declared he’ll see to it that firearms are outlawed in the city’s war on deer.

But here’s what I wrote before: “gunning deer is way less cruel and a lot safer if done by professionals ...” Then I gave contact information for a company in Pennsylvania that specializes in deer-herd control, along with links explaining that professional sharpshooters are trained, careful, and knowledgeable; the kind of ammo used, and a bit about how the low-powered bullets are contained for everyone’s safety. Read it here.

Yesterday, I called Natural Resource Consultants, Inc. of Fort Hill PA and talked with Bryon Shissler. He told me that the company works in harmony with state officials and laws; that the company is available to come here and explain its services to the community; that it assesses deer-herd conditions (including habitat in and around the city); that it recommends what has to be done to control them; and that it defines goals and ensures they are met. He said that various types of consumers are willing to pay for the processing of meat.

I am convinced that the people of this area would prefer to see a bit of their tax money used to eradicate these critters by trained, professional and expert deer-herd managers.

The alternative is to wait for the mayor to solve the deer problem that’s been a problem ever since before he took office. It’s possible that his solution will be (since it’s so difficult to talk a deer to death) to wait for all the deer to die of old age.

School Board candidacy explained

2009-10-15T10:06:00.003-05:00

I recently wrote an essay about Tim Carr as a candidate for the Newark City Schools board of education. Folks who commented about it raised the question about why Molly Ingold chose to run for Tim’s seat, rather than for one of the vacant seats.

I asked the two candidates that question. Here’s what Molly told me:

“Bruce: I would be glad to address your question.

“Coming into 2009 I had planned on completing my term this December. At that time I believed the current superintendent was planning on retiring in 2010. We (at least I) received a surprise when Mr. Richards decided to retire in 2009. I began to think about the transition from one superintendent to the next and realized it was important to have some consistency and experience on the Board. I decided it was important for me to continue, but wanted to do so for a shorter period of time than 4 more years. Having already served 6 years, 2 more years would complete 8 years - 2 terms, so to speak.

“The night I took out my petitions, I called Tim to personally notify him of my decision so he would hear it from me and not anyone else. At that point he did not have any petition signatures and I thought he might choose to look at a 4 year term having only 9 months under his belt. He obviously decided to stick with the 2 year term as well.

“So I don't look at it as either Molly choosing to run against Tim or Tim choosing to run against Molly, but rather two individuals who made what they thought was the right decision. (Having talked with Tim about this, I know that both of us prayed about the decision before taking action.)

“Thanks for asking. I hope this helps answer your question. Feel free to share this with the other folks you spoke about..........Molly”

And here’s what Tim said:

“Molly told me she only wanted to serve two more years. All of our conversations previously were that she didn't want to run again. She did know my intentions to run for the two year term and to her credit, she called me several weeks later to say she was running against me. I am not aware of any other reasons.

“Sincerely, Tim Carr”

Trash solution: Use laws on the books

2009-10-12T08:42:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the Advocate - again - editorialized in favor of a city contract with a trash hauler to solve the piggish behavior of certain residents who soil their yards and sidewalks with trash.

The last time the Advocate did that, I suggested that newspapers be licensed, since Gannett is so willing to take away freedom of individuals and give it to the Magic Nanny. Such a license might require Gannett to move its printing operation out of Newark as a means to save wear on the city’s streets. Read it here.

Trash-talking is an on-going pastime in Newark Ohio and its disciples are preparing another dopey offensive on free enterprise. Trash is a favorite avenue by which local meddlers attempt more regulation on private affairs, as I said in the most recent essay, 3/9/09, at this link.

Meanwhile, citizens have consistently sent the message to council- and busybodies like the “Trash Talkers” - and the Advocate - to butt out of the trash collection business.

The solution for the pigs among us is simple. The city must enforce its own laws against fouling yards, sidewalks, and streets. The laws are on the books.

Unless something’s changed since I checked it in March, 2009, all the city needs is to enforce 660.04 (Noxious odors; filthy accumulations ...); and 660.05 (Duty to keep sidewalks in repair and clean); but especially at 1860.03 (a), (1), (2), (6) and 1860.04 (a), (1). They prohibit people from creating and maintaining improper and unsanitary and bothersome trash.

Talk all the intrusive and ill-conceived and bothersome “solutions” to trash you can think of, but to clean it up, the administration, the police, and the courts need only to enforce current laws.

Tim Carr could lead the way

2009-10-11T08:54:00.001-05:00

If you’re an older person or if you expect to become one, pay attention to the campaign promise of Tim Carr, candidate for Newark City School Board.

In the Advocate voters guide he lists as his top priority, if elected, to explore “ways to restructure funding for Newark City Schools that will help our senior citizens and property owners.”

He was a bit more specific when interviewed by the Dispatch/ThisWeek.

“He ... said the district needs to think about the renewal of the income tax levy now and start to think about restructuring it, to ensure no retirement benefits are taxed and seniors don't have to pay for it.”

As a prelude to that statement, Tim said “the school district needs to continue to be fiscally responsible, even with the spring passage of an additional 7.5 mills for five years to meet emergency requirements. Estimates show the money could keep the district from deficit spending for the next three to four years, but Carr asked if the district could be creative and make it last longer.”

Further, he mentions that during his short tenure on the school board he has felt “like an advocate for the kids and the people."

These statements reflect the right attitudes and ambitions. I hope he gets elected because students, parents, and taxpayers need a school board that works better and smarter. Tim could lead the way.

Mr. President, I am proud of you

2009-10-10T07:23:00.003-05:00

Today the Advocate published in its print edition yet another Obama put-down regarding his Nobel Peace Prize.

The editor who decided to display it on Page One apparently had not read yesterday’s Advocate editorial denouncing “vapid partisan claptrap.”

Also yesterday the New York Times published an editorial describing President Obama’s many challenges for world peace (challenges he inherited from former presidents and Congress, by the way).

That editorial summarized the significance of the Nobel honor like this: “Americans elected Mr. Obama because they wanted him to restore American values and leadership — and because they believed he could. The Nobel Prize, and the broad endorsement that followed, shows how many people around the world want the same thing.”

But President Obama said it best in an e-mail to his supporters: “... Throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

“That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

“This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.”

Congratulations, Mr. President. I am proud of you.

Money out of the Waugh Zoo

2009-10-05T07:09:00.001-05:00

Heath, renamed the “Waugh Zoo” by an unidentified wit, is trying to put on a happy face over its traffic-camera disaster.

Politicians have yet to admit publicly (to my knowledge) that the Redflex and Heath government milking of motorists is hurting businesses.

Count the brainiacs in the local chamber of commerce as also being in denial on this matter. Evidence: its endorsement of the Waugh Zoo’s Mayor Waugh for the coming election.

Many commenters to Advocate news reports say they’re avoiding the Waugh Zoo, echoing the buzz I get from Newark cashiers and others.

I have not driven through the Waugh Zoo for three months, except for three trips in the first days of July. This has cost businesses there $1,716.84, assuming I would have spent the same average per month ($572.28) as I spent there during April and May, 2009.

Something else. I have developed new shopping habits, most no less convenient than the Waugh Zoo offerings; many are more so. That’s a factor I don’t think Heath’s good ol’ boys considered. The effects of the Waugh Zoo era - like the George W. Bush era - will linger.

More NCS construction = Higher taxes?

2009-10-04T09:31:00.001-05:00

As Newark City School District continues improvement on its buildings I’ve long wondered whether debts being accrued may lead to higher property taxes.

Since 2004, when the issuance of $70 million in bonds was approved by voters for school construction, NCS has been hip-high in modernizing its facilities. An Advocate summary of the projects encompassed by this massive expenditure, as of last summer, is reprinted here.

Still to be undertaken is the most expensive ($39 million) element on the list: The restructuring of the high school campus, creating connected buildings and the demolition of Buildings C, D, E, and H, according to the Advocate report.

It seemed to me that, should the community elect to stop these building projects, lower tax bills would result from less money being spent for debt reduction. Further, I questioned whether the $70 million in bonds approved by voters in 2004 would cover inflationary costs.

I also wondered who dreamed up the plan for tearing down most of the buildings on high school campus and replacing them with structures never clearly explained nor debated, and over which - when it sinks into the community mentality - there might be a lot of dissatisfaction. Among the featured advantages of living in Newark - for decades - has been its beautiful high school campus. So who came up with this plan and why?

I queried Jeffrey Anderson, NCS treasurer, by e-mail. His reply was immediate and thorough. In summary, he said that curtailing these construction projects would not lower local property taxes, that the school building projects were designed according to state formulas and standards, that the school district is legally obligated to complete all the projects.

Most of the text of his email is at this link, followed by a note from NCS Board Member Tom Bline regarding the planning process for changes to the Newark High School Campus.

Warped humor

2009-09-29T03:04:00.001-05:00

Here’s a way to spank a deer

2009-09-28T17:45:00.001-05:00

Since Newark’s bureaucracy is still years late on bumbling its way into a solution for the deer nuisance that bedevils citizens, here’s a stop-gap remedy.

You can use a .22 rifle loaded with #12 shot shells at about 150 feet to sting their butts. These shells are commonly used to kill snakes and birds, thus they are mostly referred to as “bird-shot shells.”

I made a test shot today on a piece of cardboard. At about 50 yards the little BBs made dents in it, but didn’t even pierce it. That’s a good alternative for people like me who don’t want to injure the deer marauders, but who are not going to wait to be “saved” by the city.

Newark’s mayor certifies power of bloggers

2009-09-18T16:59:00.001-05:00

The mayor of Newark felt compelled to defend himself against the influence of local bloggers, meaning he has officially recognized them as being politically influential.

Mayor Diebold, in his Advocate essay “Pay attention to the facts,” felt it necessary to preach to his constituency on the unreliability of bloggers.

That’s a public certification of blogger power. It didn’t come as a result of bloggers being unreliable; just the opposite, in fact.

What traditional media can’t or won’t report will not necessarily go unreported these days, thus ending forever instances of cronyism between local politicians and local reporters. That must be a worrisome spot for bureaucrats and shyster office-holders.

The Internet has opened power to the people like never before. I think that, more than unreliability of bloggers, is what worries the mayor.

Kill the deer humanely

2009-09-14T16:01:00.002-05:00

More than two years ago I wrote (Deer are like rats) that if government would butt out of deer control and let landowners handle it themselves, deer overpopulation would soon vanish. Of course that will not happen as long as the bureaucrats at ODNR and certain businesses feed off deer-hunting profits.

I suggested in January 2008 that governments should arrange for sharpshooters to dispense with these nuisance animals (Get a grip on the deer problem: Shoot them). I also mentioned as an aside that bow hunting, in my view, is animal abuse, more cruel than a well-aimed bullet to the brain.

Now, a year and a half later, the Advocate editorialist awoke to the need to get serious about the deer nuisance and start killing them,or as she put it, “repel the deer invasion.” With bows.

Bow hunter persons can squee their pants over the chance to kill animals with bows in the city and get approval, and free meat and - yes - even gratitude. But gunning deer is way less cruel and a lot safer if done by professionals; still nobody has had the brains to follow through. And government still hasn’t figured out how to profit from slash-and-slaughter with bows and arrows, so government still doesn’t seem convinced it should participate.

So here’s a suggestion. Hire a deer eradication company, kill the deer humanely, sell the meat to a packer or to individuals and charge a fee. There we have 1) a business or businesses profiting, 2) Newark government profiting 3) deer meat made available to people who like deer meat, and 4) ridding the city of its most destructive pests.

How sharpshooters are employed to kill deer is described in Deer Control Methods and at wiki.answers.com Is deer sharpshooting a good way to control deer population?

Natural Resource Consultants, Inc. of Fort Hill PA specializes in managing deer herds. Its web site is http://agmap.psu.edu/Businesses/2795 The contact is: Bryon Shissler Phone: (814) 395-5335.

NCS: Ute, Christenberry send encouraging messages

2009-08-19T07:08:00.004-05:00

Two items in today’s Advocate should cheer a weary Newark City Schools constituency. The first concerns the new superintendent’s message to his staff: “do one thing above all else: Respect the students, and do everything possible for them.” (Newark chief challenges teachers to respect students)

In all my rants about the Richards’ Regime, the underlying thesis called for the school system to resume the long-ago tradition of serving students and parents first and doing it in the most economical way possible. So Doug Ute’s first words to his employees is precisely on target and is what this community needed to hear. Now, we’ll see if his employees can rise to that challenge.

The second item reported that one NCS board member has again risen above the bobble-head category. Vice President Mark Christenberry took issue with former Superintendent Richards about something, spoke out about it, and voted in favor of common sense, not as he was told to do. (E-mails show disagreement over Newark school resource officer)

The dispute was a result of the superintendent’s unwillingness to cooperate or take suggestions, but instead to issue the board an ultimatum. It sparked a very telling question from Christenberry: "How do we, as a board, make him (the superintendent) do what we want him to do?"

Hooray for Mark, who is the only board member who seems willing to take a management role in school affairs as voters expect. Mark won props here before when I wrote 11/15/08 that he stood up to Richards and voted against him and his school board puppet people on the question of hiring a PR mouthpiece in view of community opposition. Here’s the link, but the Advocate has taken its video down from free Internet access.

Heath businesses, get real

2009-08-16T19:12:00.001-05:00

The thing that Heath businesses seem to be missing is this: While shoppers are avoiding them, they are at the same time developing new habits and routes for shopping.

Heath businesses will not automatically recover lost customers when this is over. Some, but not all, will come back just because the cameras are gone.

Count me among those who may never return to many/most of them. Likely I’ll keep shopping elsewhere because “elsewhere” is just as easy and just as good and that’s how I’m now - and will be in the future - accustomed to doing it.

When Heath businesses awaken to this, they will wish they had “taken sides” at the very beginning. Not taking sides against your Nazi mayor and council? Whining to customers “Please do not punish us. Support us."

Gonad-less business owners of Heath: grow a pair and defend yourselves.

Our children: Too much too soon

2009-08-12T07:16:00.002-05:00

Four major ways parents fail their children are: 1) not supervising their use of the Internet; 2) not dressing them age-appropriately; 3) letting them have cell phones; and 4) over-scheduling their lives.

In short, giving them - and pushing them toward - too much too soon.

This from talk show host Regis Philbin, reading from a survey of moms. I couldn’t agree more.

Part of that over-scheduling is the fault of government and its push toward all-day kindergarten. This shameful deprivation of a year’s worth of childhood is merely a baby-sitting service for parents and a make-work arrangement for school employees.

Academic gains from full-day kindergarten diminish quickly and tend to be reversed during elementary-school years, according to an MSN report.

A study published in the journal Child Development, quoted in an MSN essay (Pushing Kids to Be Smarter Sooner) “used data from 13,776 children who were in the kindergarten ("K") class of 1998–1999. Though the reading and math skills of full-day K students tended to improve at a faster rate compared part-day K students, their lead evaporated once kindergarten was over. The academic abilities of the part-day K students actually increased at a faster rate between the end of kindergarten and the spring of fifth grade.”

Kindergarten is among the most misguided results of letting politicians decide how to educate children. There’s money in it for teachers and there’s convenience in it for parents, but forcing structured learning too soon is self-defeating. And that’s just politicians’ and parents’ earliest methods for turning kids off to classroom-acquired knowledge; there are plenty more over the next 12 years.

With new managers, NCS will revive

2009-08-03T07:44:00.004-05:00

Since the announced change in NCS superintendents there has been a cease-fire from critics of Newark Schools’ methods and motives. In November, voters could make it permanent.

Count me among those who intend to support the new superintendent as long as he proves worthy; also the new treasurer. I am assuming they will make wise decisions for the benefit of students, parents, and taxpayers. I am assuming they will be honest and open in all NCS affairs.

The honeymoon is on, which is a great time for the community to reflect on the rough times of the past few years. It hasn’t been pretty, it hasn’t been fun, and the schools lost a lot of goodwill and community support.

We need to reflect on it because the NCS board played a leading role in this unhappy time. They made - or supported - many unwise decisions. They seemed supremely incompetent as money managers and administrators.

The November election will open the way for voters to make corrections as they fill the positions currently held by Bline, Carr, and Ingold. As the Advocate reminded us yesterday, school board “candidates must turn in their petitions with the required number of signatures ... by 4 p.m. Aug. 20 to the Board of Elections.”

That we are not in a state of turmoil at the moment is a great advantage to our chances of finding candidates for those seats who are good managers rather than angry activists.

We need board members who are qualified as business administrators, able to manage money and spend our tax burden wisely. We need board members who will be leaders and not bobble heads for the superintendent. If we get them and if our new superintendent is the genuine article, we can look for much better times ahead: Not just a truce, but a new and welcomed beginning.

Backfire: When “safety” equals “hog trough”

2009-08-01T17:01:00.002-05:00

Two overlooked facts about Heath traffic cameras:

1 - Heath was a long stretch of agricultural land built to a hugely profitable enterprise because Rt. 79 passes through.

During the years since Heath was a corn field, ODOT, politicians, and business interests have ignored the obvious solution to “traffic safety,” which would be to build a bypass for SR 79 around Heath and Newark.

Rt. 79 traffic brought millions of dollars to Heath businesses; now greed has overtaken common sense, resulting in a traffic-ticket hog trough. It is fitting and gratifying that the scheme is back-firing. Rt. 79 has become the precise reason people are avoiding Heath businesses.

2 - Redflex of Australia has been lucky so far: Nobody has yet shot out (or otherwise disabled) these bottomless ATM troughs feeding Heath government hogs.

Carl Vine hits the big time

2009-08-01T08:44:00.001-05:00

Carl Vine, one of my favorite humorists, is among 10 semi-finalists in a national writing contest by the Robert Benchley Society.

I’ve read parts of “Chips off the Old Benchley,” because Benchley - who died in 1945 - was one of Dad’s favorite humorists and he kept that book around home for as far back as I can remember. That could have caused my affinity for Carl’s brand of humor.

Carl, a Johnstown resident who blogs for the Advocate and elsewhere, won this esteemed position for the essay, SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING ANY TAX FORM The winner will be announced August 17th.

Grand winner or not, here’s a local boy who’s making it big time as a writer. Cheers to Carl, whose e-mail address is: aesculusioensis@embarqmail.com

Lessons learned from Heath Deciders

2009-07-28T09:14:00.002-05:00

When is 50 mph in a 65 mph zone too fast?
When it’s icy.

When is 40 mph in a 65 mph zone too fast?
When fog, rain, or snow cut visibility to three car-lengths.

When is 70 mph in a 65 mph zone too slow?
When the flow of traffic is moving at 75.

When is 15 mph in a 25 mph zone too fast?
When kids are playing at the curb.

Okay then, how should safe driving speeds be determined?

The fact is bureaucrats can’t pinpoint a safe speed for any street or highway because each short stretch of each highway has its own idiosyncrasies. These idiosyncrasies change with the season, with the weather, with the hour of the day or night. Government’s Great Deciders often cause highway problems by decreeing unrealistic speed limits, as is the case in Heath.

Some drivers will drive at posted limits, even when they are too slow for road conditions or too fast for road conditions, no matter how much of a problem it causes other drivers.

Gary Burbank, a radio-talk-show host in Cincinnati, proposed several years ago that speed limits be set by the majority of motorists on any given street or highway. He’s right. The majority of drivers drive at speeds they feel are safe, taking into consideration the road conditions, weather, and visibility. That’s how you tell where to set the speeds.

People who drive at a great variance from the flow of traffic should be ticketed, too fast or too slow. Do that, take away cell phones, and arrest tailgaters. That would increase safety many times over. Next, let the Great Deciders decide how to better engineer traffic warning devices, to warn motorists of real hazards, and quit hassling drivers by orange barrels and 45 mph limits when there are no hazards.

Hassling motorists is the temporary pleasure of Heath’s Great Deciders. Not just the joy of hassling, but the profit for doing so likely doubles their pleasure. It also doubles the resentment and resistance and anger of people trying to use a state highway.

My number of visits to businesses in Heath since the cameras went active is exactly three. My last visit was when I learned that I can’t get to the mall without exposing myself to the Australian profiteers. My next visit will be whenever they deactivate the traffic cameras - maybe. By then I will have formed new shopping habits in places other than Heath. Likely by then many thousands of others shoppers will have broken the Heath habit.

Heath’s Great Deciders are teaching motorists a lesson. Indeed they are.

Cash for Clunkers scam

2009-07-24T07:32:00.002-05:00

“A new federal program designed to help consumers buy more fuel-efficient vehicles is triggering new scams. The program, known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), provides $3,500 or $4,500 credits to consumers who trade in less fuel-efficient cars or trucks that meet certain qualifications. CARS is scheduled to begin in late July, but related scams are appearing already.”

That's from an alert sent a few days ago by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.

“Cash for Clunkers” web sites are already appearing. They claim consumers need to register for the program, which isn’t true, and some seek consumers’ personal information including Social Security numbers.

There is more information on CARS at www.cars.gov or at 866 227-7891.

The clash of Heath war drums and Aussie cameras

2009-07-23T09:23:00.004-05:00

Likely the cameras along Ohio 79 are going to get a one-way ticket back to Redflex headquarters Australia, perhaps to the beat of angry citizens’ war drums.

That Heath’s traffic-“safety”-for-profit isn’t making any friends for the mayor or city council has been obvious for several days. Now city fathers okayed the mailing of 8,483 traffic tickets for a chunk of pain valued at $848,300 for driving in Heath, according to Ronnie Michael Kidd, who’s leading citizens’ battle against the invading Aussies.

Warm feelings toward Heath government were already fading before two councilmen were observed smirking while being addressed by a citizen about the traffic cameras: Tim Kelley, who works for the City of Newark in the Engineering Department, and Councilman Ron Krueger, a dentist doing business at 1102 Hebron Rd. The sound and the pace of the war drums intensified.

(Other Heath Council members with business interests on the Gotcha Strip are Council President Jeff Crabill who works at Fairfield Mortgage, 1357 Hebron Rd., Christopher May, associated with Honeybaked Ham, 1006 Hebron Rd. and with Dairy Queen, 720 Hebron Rd.)

It pleases me that Ronnie is proving how a pissed-off citizen can change the course of history. (This is also being demonstrated in Newark affairs by Rhonda Loomis and Lesa Best who are single-handedly kicking government butt, taking names and bringing improvements. Meanwhile, more and more citizens seem less afraid to talk back to bureaucrats.)

The beat goes on angrily in the Advocate comments, with Ronnie patiently and politely and factually responding to a gaggle of what are likely Heath government employees hiding behind screen names.

At least some of that commenting energy might better be spent writing to State Representative Hottinger and State Senator Tim Schaffer, who should have already outlawed the Aussie invaders and others of their ilk. In fact, they should have been on it when Mayor Diebold first tried to slip the cameras into Newark.

Other links and more background to this outsourcing of “justice” are at this link.

A law to prevent this type of highway robbery was introduced about four years ago and co-sponsored by then-State Representative Dave Evans. Then-State Senator Jay Hottinger voted for the senate version. This bill, which mandated that a police officer operate each traffic camera, or at least be nearby, passed both houses but was vetoed by consistently-anti-citizen then-Governor Taft so this travesty of justice from Australia is still legal in Ohio.

There is one bright spot to all this. At last folks in and out of Heath have heard of Richard J. Waugh, and know who he is. Retired from the insurance business, he is now the mayor of Heath, unaffectionately called “10-Watt” by some angry constituents.

I would love to know the names of all the politicians who are benefactors of traffic-ticketing company lobbyists. There’s a good research project for any and all citizen-soldiers who don’t like aboriginal music.

Thanks for nothing, Big Brother

2009-07-17T08:42:00.003-05:00

For all the posturing governments large and small do over their role in keeping you safe, their aim couldn’t be worse.

Consider, for instance, the newest annoyance to motorists in the name of traffic safety: Ohio legislators recently decreed that you must turn on your headlights whenever you use windshield wipers.

Now you don’t have to determine that you’re not safe, even though there may be plenty of daylight. Columbus rulers have made that decision for you.

There, Bunky. Feel better, now that Big Brother has given lawmen yet one more excuse to arrest you?

Never mind that Ohio still doesn't outlaw cellphones in the hands of drivers, and lawmen refuse to seriously patrol for tailgating - surely the two most dangerous and stupid of driver addictions.

The lights-on law is every bit as worthless to traffic safety as the ticketing machines in Heath - a city I’ve visited only three times since Reflex cameras began making Australians richer.

There are stores similar to Heath’s in many other nearby places and I’m using them. Heath, I’ve learned, is an easy habit to break.

Government greed, intrusion, and profiteering at drivers’ expense operate behind a smoke screen sold as “safety.” So far it’s worked in Heath and Columbus, but that may change. Big Brother, I hope, has misjudged the degree to which drivers want to be “protected.”

Birth of the Fifth Estate

2009-07-15T07:34:00.002-05:00

The Washington Post publisher recently planned to sell seats - for as much as $250,000 each - at a private meeting between lobbyists and federal government officials with some of the paper’s journalists attending.

The thought of such an affair is abhorrent to principled journalists. It guts the concept of the “Fourth Estate,” which is the notion that because the press keeps an eye on government officials they will conduct themselves honorably.

That the Post would stoop to such depths says much about the reality of Big Publishers being in bed with Big Government which has for many decades already been in bed with Big Business. It magnifies the degree to which the news organizations have abandoned consumers, and explains why readers and viewers are jumping ship. We already could sense that Washington and Columbus press corps is a con job under direction of corporate money managers. Here’s Exhibit A.

Exposure of this fiasco was a media milestone, but it has gone virtually unreported. A search of the Advocate and Dispatch archives came up blank. Nor was much if anything made of it anywhere that I saw except Editor & Publisher reports. No big deal to the media.

Once it was so exposed the Post called it off and surprising to me were on-line commenters to follow-up reports (in E&P, I think). Many were media people concerned not by degree of self-serving arrogance in the Post affair, but with advice to the Post about damage control.

Perhaps the most important thing about this is that it was exposed not by the establishment press, but by Politico.com - by bloggers. The 7/2/09 report is at this link.

This apparently means that now we have a Fifth Estate - a machine to keep us aware of how worthless the Fourth Estate has become.

In defense of the city law director

2009-07-07T10:01:00.001-05:00

In an earlier comment to “Rhonda4thWard’s page” blog entry entitled “When a lie breaks the law,” I suggested that the Advocate should be interested in “the rationale of the city law director in defining this (letter of resignation by Judith Carr) as outside the realm of public records.”

Law Director Doug Sassen responded to that comment to me directly by e-mail but, because of the word limit on Advocate comments, I have to make this a separate blog entry. This is what he said regarding that matter:

“...I should clarify for you that I have never defined Ms. Carr’s resignation letter as being “outside the realm of public records.” If, in fact, the letter was written and if, in fact, the Mayor received the letter, at that point the letter became a public record. As such, it should not be destroyed unless such destruction was in conformity with an approved RC-3 Retention Schedule.

“I have never seen such a letter. I do not know if the Mayor ever received such a letter. Nor do I know if the letter still exists. Knowing these facts is critical to determining what, if any, violations may have occurred.

“If the Mayor has made conflicting statements to people about the resignation or anything else, that is for him to justify. Rest assured, however, I will not “spin” the facts in any direction. At the same time, I will not jump to conclusions until the facts are known. And simply stating something to be a fact does not, in and of itself, make it so.

“I tell you this only because I think we have developed an understanding on such issues and I respect your opinion and would not want any mis-information to influence that understanding.”

Law Director Sassen also mentioned to me that he released to Council and to the Advocate the final paragraph of the Crites Report to Council on the city Building Code Department (reported by the Advocate on 6/19/09). This is what it says:

“For the reasons set forth above in the Law and Application section, the conflict of interest allegations involving Greg Keeler should be referred to the Ohio Ethics Commission for their review and consideration.”

The reason Mr. Sassen held it back was “...until such time as the Administration decided upon a response to the report both internally and pursuant to paragraph six, I felt it was inappropriate to release this paragraph pursuant to the on-going investigation exemption to public records disclosure.”

2009-07-06T05:41:00.002-05:00

What? Newark Schools superintendent makes
more than I do?

I quit!

WCLT - Now, for the rest of the story

2009-07-05T07:57:00.003-05:00

When I wrote about WCLT news reporting effort by Bill Clifford and his 2.5-person staff, I tacked on a riff about local owners. I mentioned the Spencer family but omitted Bob Pricer, who owns 51 percent of the corporation and has been the WCLT kingpin for longer than I’ve lived in Newark.

On reconsideration of how my essay might have been improved regarding WCLT’s who’s who, I asked Bill Clifford a few questions and he wrote such a great response - and threw in many extras - that I’m letting him tell the story in his own words, almost verbatim ...

“I didn’t know any of the Spencer’s had any shares. But your info proves they are minority stock holders. Bob’s wife, Dottie is not a Spencer. Tom Rogers was the first President of WCLT, he was married to Marian Spencer. Tom died in about 1976 or so, and he was the majority stock owner from 1947 to his death. Marian gave Bob her proxy so he controlled (and still does) the stock ownership. With that proxy, he paid Marian off over a number of years. As far as I know, Bill Rogers is still alive...and living in Virginia or Maryland. (Tom Rogers was Woody Hayes football coach at Denison) (Tom was also Gerald R. Ford’s commander in WWII). Tom died while Jerry was President.

“Bob Pricer was here on day one - August 2, 1947. Have you ever heard of anyone staying at the same place for 62 years?

“We’re not planning anything big for WCLT FM at age 62, but I will be writing a little tribute to Bob and WCLT FM. Bob has been a second father to me for about 50 years. I started after graduating in 1968, by rewriting news headlines in the afternoon. Ray Luther was news director back then. Ray died a few years ago. I have worked for WCLT five different times for about a total of 18 years.

“... Bob has done every job there is at WCLT in 62 years. His commitment to improving education within the Newark School System has been unwavering. He served as President of the Newark School Board back in the 60’s and 70’s.

“Bob is now 86. His mind is sharp. He still drives, and is at the station, along with Dottie, at least a couple of times a week. He keeps up with everything that’s going on.

“The one thing I like to tell people is this: WCLT FM, with 50,000 watts of power remains independently owned and operated by Newark people on the fringe of the 16th largest metro area in the USA. WCLT AM is part of this operation too as a talk-radio and news station. AM is 500 watts and the signal covers the Newark-Heath and Granville areas.

“In December of last year (2008) I sent an e-mail to Doug, reminding him, January 21, 2009 would be the 50th anniversary of the Great Ohio Flood 1959. He asked me to write some stories which I did. Doug asked me to be a stringer for WCLT. Which took me about 10-sec to say yes.

“One thing led to another. The afternoon news editor moved on to a job in county government. That job was open, at around Christmas time 2008 and I told Doug I was interested. He and news director Eric Brown were set on hiring me. I went to Doug again, and to be upfront with him, I advised him I was a diabetic, and spent about $1,000 on medicine out of my own pocket every month, and becoming part of their employee health care plan would cause a steep rise in their health care costs, and employee costs.

“So Doug said to me, how about if you run the news department. His plan was to pay me as a consultant, and I would pay the Social Security and Medicare taxes at the end of the year. There was still one little bump in the road. Since 1986 I have been a stringer with the Dispatch. Neither Doug nor the Dispatch had any problems with it, in fact both ends thought that’s a winning combination. So I started - February 2 - Ground Hog Day.

“I do my story writing from home. I am at the station 4-5 times a week. I am not on the air regularly because with diabetes I cannot talk as well with a dry mouth at times, and a very light stroke or heart attack in 1997. I recorded all of our April Fools stories for this year. And, record a couple of stories a week.

“Eric Brown is news director and Glenn Forbes is news editor. They both work for me. And as you have noticed things are changing. I hear about our improved news operation several times a week. I have also been working to establish a link with stringers and tipsters.”

Relief for oppressed cart pushers

2009-07-04T17:17:00.003-05:00

I could hardly wait for Walmart to open its first store in Newark. Other big grocers were driving me nuts.

Grocery marketing zealots shoved merchandise into pathways of customers under the misguided assumption, I suppose, that we’d be more likely to buy if we had to wrestle cans and boxes to get past them. Many aisles were so narrow that two carts could scarcely pass and the odds were lessened several hundred percent by unattended stock carts strewn about many, if not most, aisles.

Mine was a sincere effort to help alleviate such nuisance-shopping when I called one of the store managers about it. Apparently he assumed that I didn’t know my asparagus from a hole in the swiss: He offered no excuses and nothing changed.

When Walmart opened it offered more roomy cartways - for a while. It didn’t take long, however, for this grocer to start shoving everything in my face as was the local custom, and it no longer mattered which equally bad store I chose; all were perverse in their ability to inconvenience customers.

Then, lo, the Age of Reason struck 21st Street Walmart. Hooray. This store manager at last listened to customers. You want room to push a cart past someone else pushing a cart? You want a well-organized, comfortable, well-lit, newly painted, spectacular retail environment? You’ve lived long enough to see it, Bunky.

Grand opening is July 8th - this Wednesday - according to my most recent Walmart cashier. If you haven’t already seen it, you’ll be amazed at what transpires when a big retailer listens to oppressed cart pushers.

WCLT prospers under family ownership

2009-07-03T08:21:00.004-05:00

A few decades ago the competition for news between the Advocate and the radio stations was pretty hot, at least as viewed from behind the walls of the newspaper. Fur was bound to fly on rare occasions when Advocate reporters got scooped.

All that faded, at least as far as has been evident to newspaper readers. The Advocate apparently gave up on being timely when the deadlines and press times shifted. WCLT wasn’t offering much news anyway, judging by its on-line news summary.

The return of Bill Clifford, WCLT reporter from the old days, may turn up the heat on the big boys at the Advocate. Bill is now the station’s News Operations Manager and since his return I’ve noticed a change in the number of local stories being broken on radio rather than print.

Bill’s many years of news experience and community involvement also place the station at an advantage in recognizing trends and the historical backgrounding of current events.

Though Bill heads a 2.5-person news department, it is very aggressive, he says. “I love competing in the news business. As long as I am at WCLT, my friends at The Advocate should look over their shoulder now and then ... we’ll be there.”

I like that.

I also like the fact that Spencer family members are among owners of WCLT. Brothers Frank and John Spencer who owned the Advocate when I worked there, started WCLT in 1947. Frank died and John sold the Advocate to Thomson Newspapers, which sold it to Gannett.

But the family held onto WCLT, though they’ve had numerous offers to sell to big corporations, which would likely cut staff and expenses to the bones. This is the link to an FCC report that lists WCLT owners.

WCLT FM is number-one position in listeners in Licking, Muskingum, and Knox counties, according to Clifford. WCLT sales are about $3 million according to Manta.com.

I can’t locate the official Aribtron ratings for WCLT as compared to five years ago, but the Advocate’s circulation went from about 22,000 copies a day five years ago to 15,585 as of 3/31/09, according to Clifford and the Audit Bureau of Circulations. It was more than 25,000 in the early 60’s, when I first worked there.

I’m glad Bill came back. Not only can he find the news, he gives us information we don’t get elsewhere.

Citizen journalists, please step forward

2009-07-01T06:28:00.001-05:00

This morning’s E&P report that Gannett is set to lay off another 1,000 employees could bode badly for Advocate readers. Local managers likely won’t/can’t announce who’s to get axed, if anyone, and what that will mean to its already-bare-bones but ever-more-costly printed product.

I sympathize with middle managers and staffers, and I get no pleasure from writing about how the Gannett machine has strangled a once-fat, family-owned, rock-solid community newspaper. Maybe the Spencer family couldn’t have dealt today’s economy either, but their money would have stayed here, not gone to feed demanding stockholders and expensive corporate machinery.

Will the Gannett/Advocate survive? Or will we see a replay of local shops cranking up small presses and peddling them on Main Street? Whatever the outcome, I believe the urge to report and read printed local information will never diminish.

Meantime, there has never been a better opening for citizen reporters with on-line journals. I am reminded of that by bloggers who already write informative - albeit biased - reports on public meetings. The information provided is often the only report available and almost invariably adds dimension, whether you like that particular dimension or not.

Though it may not be likely, it’s not impossible for a cadre of civic-minded writers to arise and fill the cracks where professional reporters can’t go. County Commissioners’ meetings, court proceedings, township trustees’ meetings, school board meetings, city council committee meetings, Heath council and its committee meetings, public hearings of all categories, and the list extends to the boundaries of public affairs.

Such a movement could be facilitated by adult-education-level courses designed to help would-be citizen journalists learn to sift fact from opinion while building confidence.

Does Newark Council have to stay in public view?

2009-06-29T08:03:00.002-05:00

That’s the question behind the balloon sent up in today’s Advocate from Newark Ways and Means Committee. “Without additional funding, the future of televised Newark City Council meetings is uncertain,” the balloon said.

What city council is asking is: Do we have to remain in public view, or will citizens allow us to return to the shadows?

While council could easily provide television coverage of its meetings for very little investment, it continues to make it sound like a big challenge because it still searches for an out.

I wrote about the need for televised meetings many times before it happened. June 21, 2007 I wrote “Council ignores chance for opening government to citizens.” If you go there, you’ll also find links from 5/14/07 and 4/19/07 that give more background.

You’ll also find an off-putting statement by Councilman Uible about the prospect of Council’s coming into the sunshine, along with a statement from then-Council President Marc Guthrie urging Council to step out of the shadows with televised meetings.

Rules are only for those who like them

2009-06-25T07:07:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I labored through no fewer than 906 words of an Advocate “report” regarding a family complaining about Cedar Hill Cemetery rules. Then I read most of the on-line comments because I wanted to learn why this family believed that decades-old rules shouldn’t apply to them. I wanted to find out why the newspaper would blow this much space on a story that was captured in its entirety by the headline: “Family wishes conflict with Cedar Hill Cemetery rules.”

Later that day, a school-aged pedestrian crossed the street in front of me, against the traffic light. I had to stop to let him by. His convenience conflicted with the rules of the road and therefore did not apply.

Same principle.

Advocate closes gate on masturbators

2009-06-21T16:08:00.002-05:00

My own comment to my own essay entitled “Advocate rubs our noses in homosex” published at the Advocate site was strangely offensive to the moralistic editors who routinely publish lush homo-promos as family fare.

I had responded to the comment of NerkBuckeye when he suggested that the Advocate should publish “sexual preference announcements. Then anyone could contact the Advocate and they can announce whether they are gay or straight - or if they are ‘switching teams.’”

My response took that idea to a new level when I suggested that such announcements should also include masturbators - who is and who isn’t. Further, I opined, that if we happened on a Newark City Schools board president who masturbated openly as a means to “new freedom” (in the manner of the former NCS board president who came out of the closet on Page One) then the Advocate could likewise feature the masturbating school official in another Page One story.

Does anyone find it telling that this comment was trashed by Advocate gatekeepers?

Advocate rubs our noses in homosex

2009-06-21T06:24:00.004-05:00

In commemoration of the Advocate’s recent 28 column inches about a former Newark City Schools board president finding new freedom by announcing to the community that yes, indeedy, he really is a homosexual; in commemoration of the Advocate’s 20 column-inch very-biased report about homosexuals getting too few tax-supported benefits from President Obama; in commemoration of the Advocate’s 56 column inches of poorly written garbage promoting a homosexual parade in Columbus - and in honor of this once-long-ago family newspaper that has gone belly-up homo-wise, I give you a view from the other side, reprinted from Observations 7/8/08:

Pride Parade: Flaunting raunchy junk
The Columbus, Ohio "gay pride" parade has been accurately defined as a "burlesque show" which lacks "consideration of the general public" and "emulate(s) mostly false values about the gay community."

That was written by a homosexual as a letter to the editor of the Columbus Dispatch, published 7/5/08.

The letter of John A. Rovenolt demonstrates that not all homosexuals believe it necessary to shove into society's collective face the implications of what homosexuals do with their sexual organs. Folks like me who are puke sick of reading about people flaunting their sexual preferences and who object to having this raunchy junk showcased where children can see it, will find a lot to agree with in what Rovenolt says.

Consenting adults can do as they will in private, and I certainly don't care what it is, but homosexuality as such is neither news nor is it important nor is it to be celebrated in public, and it's past time when the Dispatch and other mass media understand that.

Robo-cop ticketing demands citizen scrutiny and oversight

2009-06-17T09:18:00.005-05:00

At issue in the Heath robo-cop traffic-ticket caper is far more than who’s going to get caught running red lights and how. No. At issue is who is making government’s decisions about guilt or innocence and about whether those decisions could be based on profitability.

At the center is Redflex, a company headquartered in Australia, a company with revenue of $88.2 million and a net profit in 2007 of $15.3 million. How it operates has been best described in a USA Today article of 7/5/06. The article should have inspired more media attention and citizen concern. Now, three years later, Redflex has its own little money factory right here in Heath Ohio and local citizens will begin making contributions to the corporate net worth and the Heath treasury will take a percentage as reward for being the facilitator.

Yesterday (6/16/09) I published an essay in Observations from Newark Ohio based on an Advocate blog post of 6/13/09 by RonnieMicheal - “Questions for the Heath Mayor and City Council,” the recent Heath City Council meeting, and the resulting Advocate report, which elicited many reader comments.

The questions raised by Ronnie will affect more than just the Heath community because if citizens of, and visitors to, that city give permission for a company headquartered in Australia to oversee or even participate in local traffic enforcement, then all of Licking County won’t be far behind. Heath is where that battle will be played out.

This is about accountable, open government - and justice guaranteed to be just. It is about the principle of criminal justice for the sake of corporate profit, foreign corporate profit at that.

The issues are not easily understood and my essay yesterday didn’t help much. Today, I attempt to boil it down a bit by paraphrasing Ronnie’s original questions and explaining why they are important. They are:

1, 14, 15 - How was the study made and by whom?

(How the study was made and by whom and for what reasons is directly connected to the validity of these studies. Also, since the studies were made on an Ohio state highway, it seems that ODOT should have been a participant and should verify any such studies and also give its approval for installation of cameras, being as they must be, placed on a public highway right-of-way. Maybe ODOT was a part of it, maybe not.)

5 - Was the contract for the red light/speed cameras put up for competitive bid?

(State laws in many/most cases require competitive biding for purchases over a certain amount. Are those laws applicable to this agreement, and if so, were the followed?)

6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 18, 24, 60 - Content of the Redflex contract.

(This contract should be published on the Internet.)

17, 33, 35, 38 - Will the amount collected in fines become public record? Who maintains authority over timing of lights and how and by whom is that timing determined?

(How much, if any, oversight to this program will citizens be allowed? How much control will be maintained by local officials over Redflex?)

19, 27, 28 - Will citations be issued from Heath or Arizona?

(According to USA Today, “Redflex checks images for quality and turns them over to the city's traffic law enforcement agency, which reviews it for a violation and mails a ticket to the vehicle owner.” This implies the possibility of loopholes by which the tickets could be passed along to drivers without a thorough or meaningful review by police. So how are we guaranteed this will not happen? Must we simply accept the word of the Heath mayor and police chief both of whom will eventually be replaced by their successors? How are limitations on personal information gathered by Redflex guaranteed, if at all?)

This is the last trench, a final battleground where the power of the electorate will be heard - or not. Those who care must offer input and demand answers.

Issues with robo-cop tickets have not been laid to rest

2009-06-16T09:26:00.002-05:00

Potential problems and injustices connected with installation of red light cameras by the City of Heath have not been laid to rest, notwithstanding an Advocate report that would seem to make it so.

As background to a Heath council meeting last night, there has been a continuing show of dissatisfaction in blogs and comments to news items about robocop traffic tickets ever since the idea was announced.

Two blog entries in particular should have drawn followup by the media. The first was a reproduction of an article that appeared in thenewspaper.com “A journal of the politics of driving.”

The article, entitled “Red Light Camera Studies Roundup” was reproduced by Advocate blogger “nekekami’s page,” 6/2/09. It listed nine legitimate and important studies that cast doubt on the value and trustworthiness of robocop traffic enforcement.

Full reports by University of South Florida, the Virginia DOT, the Washington Post, and others of that stature are available for download. Findings, in part, were: "Comprehensive studies conclude cameras actually increase crashes and injuries, providing a safety argument not to install them;” “The cameras were associated with an increase in total crashes;” “No change in angle accidents and large increases in rear-end crashes and many other types of crashes relative to other intersections;” and “The cameras are correlated with an increase in total crashes of 8% to 17%.”

That much pertains only to the studies on one page. There are many other noteworthy articles at that web site regarding worrisome topics such as improper enforcement by governments seeking maximum revenue from these cameras.

The second blogger who should have earned some respectful attention from media is “RonnieMichael's page,” when on 6/13/09 he presented a list of 61 questions that concerned him about Heath’s robo-cop cameras - for instance: how the contract was negotiated, what the contract with Redflex says, and what opportunities, if any, will the public have for oversight.

Though his blog entry “Questions for the Heath Mayor and City Council” contains questions - such as the timing of the yellow light signals - already spelled out in Ohio law, there are many that are legitimate concerns not just of motorists, but of citizens interested in good government. Making Ronnie’s case considerably weaker is the fact that he failed to provide links to factual information which inspired his questions.

The Advocate article said the Heath Mayor answered many of Ronnie’s questions, and maybe Ronnie is satisfied with that; if not, likely we’ll hear about it in another blog entry. But whatever went on between the Heath Mayor and Ronnie, the fact remains that many of Ronnie’s important questions have not been publicly answered, at least not in the reports I’ve read.

For instance, Question 1: “What safety studies were used to justify installing the cameras? Who conducted the traffic study completed March 9, 2009? Was Redflex involved in any way with this study?”

Also, Questions 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19* (see below), 24, 27, 33, 35, 38, 60.

Question 19: If citations are issued from issued from Arizona, then also germane are questions 21, 22, 26, 30, and 50.

The dialog needs to continue.

NCS is getting another grade of F

2009-06-12T08:40:00.002-05:00

People involved in selection of this city’s school superintendent see it as a job for themselves and not for citizens. This is evident in today’s reports about the status of the search through the eyes of the Ohio School Boards Association.

In the Advocate’s report and the WCLT report, there was never a mention about any avenue for public input to the selection process.

Apparently it will all be decided by our “experts.” Even the tenor of the WCLT report hints of that. Check it: “OSBA search consultant Kathy LaSota talks about what she’s looking for. ‘Most importantly for Newark, ...’”

What I want to know is: Where was the NCS school board when Judge Hoover was publishing on-line the resumes of the school board candidates? Where were they when the Judge required these candidates to get up in front of the folks they wanted to serve and tell why they would do it well? Where were these folks when the Judge invited public comments which became part of his selection criteria?

What were they thinking - and where was Ms. LaSota - when the school board issued its “transparency” promises?

“Transparency” to them apparently is defined as a single and very late news release from the offices of OSBA.

NCS school board is about to get another in a long series of failing grades by a weary constituency.

Questions on gasoline prices for Obama

2009-06-12T07:02:00.003-05:00

What determines the price of gasoline is a question that for years I've been asking media representatives, public agencies, and government officials, including the Bush administration. I have yet to receive an answer or a show of interest.

I hope President Obama's policies of government transparency don't stop where the interests of energy profits begin.

If they don't, I will receive answers to the questions I asked of him today:

What and who determines oil prices?

How does lack of anti-trust-law enforcement affect those prices?

Who is in charge of setting prices at the pump?

What influences traders in the futures markets and who is guarding against price manipulation at that level?

NCS transparency begins with executive sessions

2009-06-10T08:44:00.001-05:00

Last evening - the evening of my post “Untransparent search for the NCS superintendent,” the NCS board met, and in regard to the search for the superintendent it was announced, according to the Advocate, “the board will meet in executive session June 24 to review the applications.” That was just before the board adjourned last evening to executive session for a discussion of the public’s business.

Untransparent search for the NCS superintendent

2009-06-09T07:37:00.003-05:00

The search for a new superintendent for Newark City Schools began May 13, 2009, in cooperation with Ohio School Boards Association and its consultant, Kathy LaSota.

The search, according to an Advocate report, would be “transparent.” LaSota said “community members should have input and see the process as it happens ... We want this whole process to be as open and transparent as possible,” she said.

Mark Christenberry, NCS board vp, concurred. The Advocate quoted him as saying: “We’re really trying hard to make this an open process ... There will be no transparency issues.”

Really?

With the deadline for applications 10 days from today, and the decision scheduled for less than one month from today, to my knowledge there has yet to be the first shred of an update on the search and the candidates, and the first word yet to be published at the NCS web site about any of this.

So how is NCS defining “transparency?” So far, this just one more ham-handed disappointment delivered by NCS to an already disillusioned and disbelieving constituency. This, even though a perfect example of what is meant by “transparency” was demonstrated to the NCS administration in Judge Hoover’s selection process for a new board member.

NCS still marches to the beat of its own drum.

Untransparently.

Who owns public information?

2009-06-06T08:55:00.004-05:00

Journalists love to thump their stumps with self-righteous proclamations about “the public’s right to know.” They consider themselves the fourth arm of government (legislative, administrative, judicial and - journalism) - because, supposedly, they use their journalistic power on behalf of citizen-taxpayers. They hammer home at every opportunity that their freedom to pry facts from government equates to citizens’ right to know what government is doing and that better government is the result.

A few decades ago this was true; today it is not.

A few decades ago, for instance, the Advocate maintained, as best it could, an extensive file of clippings. A long and impressive row of filing cabinets occupied an entire back wall of the newsroom and it was the job of the clerical section to keep news articles clipped, mounted to cardboards, and indexed. Along another wall were large cabinets for the storage of microfilm.

These were tools of journalists, a prehistoric forerunner of the computer search engine. Additionally, all this information was available to the public. Anybody could enter the newsroom and, with the assistance of an employee if needed, use these files for research. We considered it their right to use it and our duty to facilitate it.

But then along came corporate “journalism” and today access to the Advocate’s morgue bears a price tag. An obscenely high price tag, as advertised on its web site:

The Advocate Archives Pricing Options
To allow for greater flexibility and ease of use, we now offer article packs, in addition to the single-article purchase option. You will be offered payment options only after you select to download the full-text of any article.

Single-article purchase - $2.95
Future purchases will require a separate charge to your credit card.
24-hour pass, 10 articles - $9.95 (65% discount)
3-article pack - $6.95 (20% discount)
Good for one week from purchase.
10-article pack - $21.95 (25% discount)
Good for one month from purchase.
25-article pack - $49.95 (30% discount)
Good for one month from purchase.
40-article pack - $79.95
Good for one month from purchase.
Doing long-term research?
500-article pack - $995 (33% discount)
Good for one year from purchase.
1,000-article pack - $1,995 (33% discount)
Good for one year from purchase.

.....

The archives contain most, but not all, of the articles published by your newspaper, and cover only the more recent years of publication. These archives are a self-service system. Currently, our staff does not provide a service to help locate articles. If you need to find an article which you believe was published but is not in the database, your newspaper may provide additional search service at an hourly rate. Please contact your newspaper for details.

Gannett, while it calls itself “your newspaper” and while it may espouse “freedom of the press,” and “the public’s right to know,” and while it seems to expect readers to come to its aid in these causes, assumes ownership of this information and tries to turn an obscene profit for access to it. The public’s right to know is now predicated on the public’s willingness to pay Gannett stockholders for the right to use it.

Nothing is farther from the spirit of the public’s right to know, nothing is farther from the spirt of the Internet, nor is anything farther from service to the community Gannett claims to serve.

Only in government: Paying unneeded employees

2009-06-05T07:43:00.003-05:00

There are only three things wrong with the proposal to cut jobs in the city building code department - it didn’t happen when it should have, it hasn’t happened yet, it may not happen until November.

Nobody wants to see more people loose jobs, but for too long city taxpayers have been paying wages for what are essentially unemployed employees. The job cuts should have been made when individuals’ services were no longer used. This is what would have happened in the real world where where justification for paychecks is required; only in government could it be otherwise.

This is a good time to review a bit of the history of keeping unemployed city workers employed, as I wrote about it 1/9/09 Bend over Bunky, here comes Mayor Diebold again.

Well, here it is, almost exactly six months later, and a few guardians of the public’s city purse appear at last to be admitting the folly of paying the unemployed for being unemployed.

But wait. Even if the shucking off of unneeded employees is approved by Council, apparently it will not happen until November, which is the present plan, according to the Advocate report.

Obama - World statesman

2009-06-04T07:57:00.001-05:00

President Obama mesmerized me with his speech this morning in Cairo. His brilliant eloquence was matched only by his depth, decency, fairness and honesty. He wasn’t throwing punches or politically charged air balls. I am proud of him and for the fact that he demonstrated that - for the first time in decades - America has picked a man worthy of world leadership.

No sooner did he finish and the first news reports hit the Internet than the crazies began hitting on him, twisting his words and belittling the level of statesmanship exhibited this morning - world statesmanship that no other U.S. President in my adult lifetime has ever aspired to.

Likely, Christian zealots will also take aim at the man who would dare to recognize the rights and validity of other religions.

I agree with the person (Roger-356271) who commented on the MSNBC report:

“Just as our own (citizens) will now distort what was said, other Countries will experience the same ... (but) we do not have to look at other Countries to find ignorance. Both those that are paid to distort, and whose job depends on division, will find a fault in wording or party politics ...”

Those who agree with our President should take a moment to let him know. Write to him at this link.