Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Dear Skeptic

So little faith in your newly elected officials, assuming you're in the city limits that is. Otherwise I'm assuming your sputtering on either because you're a township trustee or a friend of one.

Let's wait and see what happens.



By Oz

Township Initiative Petition ??

Can citizens petition for Home Rule?

Average Joe - are you willing to do more than talk on this site?

How many signatures would we need? It's 10% of the last Gubernatorial election if I'm thinking correctly.

I think it would be an easy sell to taxpayers and bet Gary Weltlich would publicly support it.

Beyond this we need Trustee Candidates that favor Home Rule to run in 2 years. These guys need to be taken out.

By Concerned Parent

Elections next year

Dear Concerned Parent

I want to remind you that the elections for the Violet Township Trustees (Terry Dunlap & Harry Meyers) are next year not two years from now. If you want a slow growth trustee you need to act now. We need to find two candidates that understand that the trustees do not have the authority to control this uncontrolled growth that is occurring.

I believe that an initiative could be circulated to require the township to convert to a limited home rule township. I also believe the required number of signatures is 10 % of the last governor's election. I believe the township trustees could convert to home rule with a vote from them.

It might be easier to find two slow growth trustee candidates.

However I have heard that Terry Dunlap is dead set against home rule. He has tunnel vision in how he is looking at the township expenses. Property valuation is the township's only source of revenue. They can't raise taxes nor can they create or pass ordinances or laws. The home rule law will continue to give townships more power once more trustees are willing to challenge the law in court.

Cities can enact income taxes. That is a great advantage for commercial development and for preserving revenue for the area. These taxes can be shared with the schools and with the township. In a CEDA agreement like the one between Canal Winchester and Violet Township the township receives part of the income taxes charged the employees of these businesses within that CEDA area. However it would require the city to annex these areas that both governments want to develop commercially.


I think the new city government has had enough time to understand their relationship with the Trustees and like wise the trustees should be working with the city. My point is that many in the community think they are done and we can now just sit back and relax. WRONG!! It is time for even more public evolvement and to put your pressure on these candidates and officer holders not only in the township but in the City Government. I will be at the Wednesday zoning meeting and I plan to challenge the trustees and their never ending rezoning to higher density. I also think we need to look at the next Pickerington City Council meeting and address where they are heading.





By Average Joe

Dear Joe

Joe,

Thank you for being so articulate in you observations here. If I may, I would like to address some of those observations.

I wholeheartedly agree that it is time to replace Harry and Terry. The time has come and gone for their management style and mentality. Again, you are correct in the fact the now is absolutely the time to seek replacement candidates. The reason for the early start is so they can have time to become familiar with the rules concerning Home Rule, CEDA and JEDD. They also need to become familiar with the new administration in the city and their vision and direction. Lastly, they need to research and study where Harry and Terry?’s votes are coming from and work those areas early. It also wouldn?’t hurt a candidate to seek the involvement of the Republican Club of NW Fairfield County. They certainly have a remarkable and proven track record.

As far as the new city government having enough time to understand their relationship with the trustees, I beg to differ. There is simply no relationship to understand. The aforementioned trustees have no intention of getting familiar with the city. They believe they are the know-all, see-all oracles of local government. They think the city administration is a bunch of rookies. You won?’t need to address where the city administration is heading. They will be explaining this to the public routinely. I have been in conversation with some of them and they are adamant on getting the word out to the community about where they stand and where they are heading.

Lastly, I have to wonder about something that came up several years ago and wonder if it is a better idea not than it was then. What are the pros and cons of a merger between the city and township? Put aside the income tax issue for now and look at it objectively. If the township continues to whine about not being able to control growth and whines about not being able to put up stop signs in the Bentwood Farms Motor Speedway, then maybe the residents deserve better. The city is controlling growth as we speak. They have enacted a moratorium that has passed its first muster in court. I have no doubt that is will be extended and modified to incorporate closing all the holes that the BIA thought it had. The city sewer plant is nearly at capacity. The expansion won?’t be complete for 2 years or more depending on what the paper says about pending litigation on the award. Guess what? If you can?’t flush them, you can?’t build them. Moratorium or no, BIA lawsuit or no, we will very soon see the housing construction in Pickerington come to a screeching halt. All the city has to do is nothing and building will soon stop.

The trustees cannot and will not control growth. The city does and can. Why not merge? You could even make an argument that the city drop the income tax as the loss would be offset by the income from the property values in the township.


By Regular Guy