Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Now is the time for all the fine people who initiated petitions, carried petitions, signed petition, delivered newsletters, campaigned in the fall and or spoke at city hall to come together to make the final push for Pickerington. With the absolutely huge victory of Pickerington over the BIA in round one of what will be one of the most publicized court battles we have seen since McAuliffe, we will need to pull together and join forces again.

Reference page B3 of the March 25 Columbus Dispatch. The summary judgment against Pickerington by the BIA was dismissed. What does this mean to us? We have won round one of the battle with the profit mongering BIA. What does this mean next? We need to prepare to inundate the court system and local media with barrages of letters and other correspondence detailing what we overwhelmingly supported the issues that resulted in the 2 lots per acre and the moratorium. The BIA says that these are unconstitutional and denying them excessive profits. Be ready to tell the courts why we passed the issues. The BIA says their inundation of homes in Pickerington does not hurt the schools or create more traffic. Be ready to dispute that claim. The eyes of all central Ohio outerbelt communities are upon us. We are the leaders of this epic David and Goliath confrontation. We lead and they will follow. We can defeat the BIA before they wage this war all over central Ohio. They will join our coalition against BIA.

We are the people who the BIA says they are not hurting. Our children in the schools are not suffering by overcrowding, reconfigurations, middle schoolers jammed in with kindergartners or kindergartners with high schoolers. The pay for play, in their opinion is fair and just. The cuts in academics, sports and other extra curriculars are reasonable in the BIA?’s mind. We are not affected by the continual onslaught of school levies, Taj Mahals, leaking roofs and inadequate heating and cooling for our children. Portable classrooms are the best option for our kids according to the BIA.

Tired of sitting in traffic in the mornings, afternoons and on the weekends? Well the BIA feels this is exactly the way it is supposed to be. How dare we challenge their right to year after year of record profits for the substandard offerings? We do not have the right to speak out or vote to determine the fate of our own city. Only they are right. Only their shareholders deserve to profit. We are noting after the sale. We are sheep who should be herded away and kept silent.

Get ready to fight. Get behind your Mayor and Councilmen as they head into battle with the BIA. Be prepared to rearm, feed and house the troops. Support this city and its leaders. Stand for your rights. Defeat the BIA and take back control of the growth in Pickerington.

Pickerington will triumph, but without grass-roots citizen support in the war, it will be a hollow victory indeed.


By Rally the troops

YEAH!

Well said and I'd like to give a hearty AMEN BROTHER to your statement!

Get out to city council mtgs and tell your city leaders to continue the fight and that you are supporting them!

Maybe the township will hear the rally cries of slow growth and realize they are also part of the problem.

We have just begun to fight

The BIA suit has not been won by Pickerington. The judge's ruling only delays the action until a court trial is held and that delay is on Pickerington's side. The more time given to the new council will allow them to do and find more evidence that can be presented to the court to prove that our claims and reasons for a moratorium of 100 homes per year was justified and not arbitrary. The second part of that suit will deal with the two lots per acre. I believe the city voters supported that initiative by over 75%.

As this year goes by you will see even more pressure on the BIA to negotiate and it will test the courage and will of our Mayor and our Pickerington City Council members.

I hear that we have NOT been getting very good attendance at the most recent city council meetings. It is extremely important that we, the citizens, start to pack the council chambers and for our citizens to speak out. I need to also attend because I seem to always find sometime ''more important.'' You should demand that our Council and the Mayor control our rate of residential growth. You should demand that they fight this suit all the way to the Ohio Supreme court if it goes that far.

Some of you have worked very hard to help elect a responsible and responsive city government. They need to hear your support please plan to attend a meeting soon. The April meetings are on the 6th and the 20th.

The council is working on the sewer plant expansion and that will determine what our minimum rate of residential growth will be for the future. There is postings below talking about rates of growth please review it and look closely at what our council is doing.

Please determine what you think a responsible rate of residential growth is. Let the members of council know what you think. Should we buy more time and wait to determine what our city finds out with their growth management study?

Do you think the council should extend the current housing moratorium to give the City time to develop a growth management plan? They say it will take more than a year to complete a plan. Do we let the builders put another 600 or so building permits and homes into Pickerington before that plan is completed?

Citizens don't fall back into the same old routine we had before with no one attending the council meetings and the builders control everything. Our government is a work in progress. That work never ends for the citizens. You must stay vigilante.

By Slacker