Section 8

City officials will be asking for emergency legislation from Middletown City Council at its Tuesday, April 7, meeting to extend its current contract with its Section 8 housing administrator for another three months so that a three-year contract can be completed.

I know that u r, Ms.Moon

$85,000 PER MONTH to CONSOC !!!!!! $11.5 mil from the budget for this!!! Couldn't it be done any cheaper by hiring their own admin. people and placing them under the DIrector of the Section 8 program? What would be the minumum number of paper shufflers, inspectors,senior coffee drinkers,assist coffee drinkers, supervisors,senior assist. directors, assistant directors, team leaders, asst. team leaders and other pork salaries, etc. the city would need to handle 1600+ Section 8 housing clients? (Hopefully reduced later to the correct number in the 700's.) This monthly cost seems ridiculous. And just what does the city get for this seemingly exorbatant cost?

Ok, I will schedule my recorders for 5:30. We will post on this site Wednesday.

Government knows best is the mantra of senior city staff and some elected officials.  The future of Middletown is bleak at best without a thorough house cleaning.

Mike you are being Obsessive, please stop.

Mr.P--we can take care of Section 8 and MMF simultaneously in one day.

This entire Section 8 contract situation has turned into a bad novel.
Over the years it is evident that the City Manager, Council Members, Mr. Kohler and other department heads have not been keeping their eyes on this ball.
They admitted that over the years they had many problems with CONSOC but they continued to use this vendor. Why didn’t they solve the problems along the way? Why did they OK an increase in Section 8 vouchers? Why did they choose CONSOC with the highest bid? Then the City Manager hires an outside firm for $30,000 to negotiate a 3 year contract that now seems to have some serious problems. And you can bet that we haven’t heard the end of this problem.
Before we vote this year we really need to demand answers from all the candidates to all the questions and problems that we have discussed here on this forum.

Vivian; You go girl. Tell it like it is.

April 7, 2009 5:30 P.M.    Middletown City Council Meeting

I am here tonight to speak for the 7,000 people who can no longer speak for themselves: those 7,000 souls and 233 veterans, who rest quietly in the Middletown Cemetery. I represent them—and those who may be buried there in the future.

During the past five years I have spoken to city managers, mayors, council members, the police department and many more city officials in an effort to preserve and improve the condition of the Middletown Cemetery.

In 2005, I met Marty Kohler at the cemetery to discuss the critical condition of the vault.  He told me Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds could be used to restore the vault if City Council declared the cemetery historic. In 2006, Council made that declaration; however, Mr. Kohler has not set aside a single dollar of CDBG funds for the vault restoration. The stone work continues to deteriorate, and still the CDBG budget does not include funds to restore the vault.
I requested that the City strap the vault to keep the stone walls from collapsing; the City ignored my request.
I requested that the City put a tarp over the roof; again the City ignored my request.

In October 2007, the Middletown Community Foundation awarded a grant of $11,000 to help secure the stone work until the vault could be completely restored. In 2008, Don Thompson came before this Council and requested additional funds to save the vault. Council denied his request. If the monies are not used this year, the Foundation will rescind the grant and retain the funds.

This past September, about a week after Hurricane Ike hit, I asked the Public Works Department to clear the driveways enough to allow access to the back section of the cemetery for a funeral. There were three days until the funeral, but city staff told me they were too busy clearing other areas of the city. The funeral home staff and I had to clear the drives so the funeral procession could get to the grave. After several months Woodside Cemetery sent 5 men for 2 days to the cemetery to cut up the downed trees and large limbs. The City has still not sent a crew to finish clearing the cemetery. As I stand before you tonight the cemetery is still littered with damage from last September’s storm. WHAT IF THIS HAD BEEN YOUR FAMILY MEMBER? Again with your INACTION you have shown A TOTAL LACK OF REPECT for those buried in this cemetery

In November and again in December 2008, the Public Works Department contacted me about hurricane-related damages at the cemetery so they could prepare their reports for FEMA. Both times I told them there was damage to about 23 stones.

In January Pam Banks of the Finance Department contacted me about damage at the cemetery; it seems that Public Works had told them there was no damage. The Finance Department asked if I would meet Mr. Priest, the FEMA Representative, so the City could file the claim. I met with him at the cemetery to verify the damage and got a quote for repairing the stones.
CLEARLY THIS WAS NOT THE RESPONSIBILTY OF A VOLUNTEER.  

I have tried to work with the City to restore and maintain the cemetery. I find it strange that the City is able to find funds for other historic projects, but Council is unwilling to allocate funds to save or care for this historic cemetery.

 

HOWEVER…it really isn’t a matter of whether you think this is a worthwhile project,
or whether you want to fix the fences and close the gates to secure the property,
or even that you just can’t seem to find the funds to restore the vault.
Ohio Revise Code 4767.06(H) clearly states that you MUST.
It is your legal obligation to care for and maintain this cemetery.

In 2005, after the cemetery was vandalized, I spoke with then-mayor, Noah Powers and told him that the city was in violation of Ohio Revised Code. It is clear during the past five years Council has consistently ignored my message….not because funds were not available, but because you simply don’t care. 

I’m here tonight to inform you again that the City Government’s apathy and neglect of this cemetery over the past 60 years puts you in direct violation of Ohio State Law. The law clearly states the city MUST have processes and funding in place to properly manage, maintain and preserve a city-owned cemetery.

 

I respectfully request Middletown City Council establish a dedicated board to oversee the management, maintenance, and preservation of our historic Pioneer Cemetery. 
I request that the Vault and all fences be repaired and cleared.
I’m also requesting any and all information, including donations and expenditures, regarding the Middletown Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund—an account which now seems to have vanished.
 
Other citizens and I have made various attempts to encourage you to address the condition and problem issues of the cemetery; perhaps you would rather respond to a formal complaint as to why you continue to ignore and violate Ohio Law for basic cemetery regulations and cemetery maintenance.
Please be advised… that if Council can't agree in the next two weeks to address Middletown Cemetery’s problems, I will file a formal complaint against you with the State of Ohio.

 

As of tonight, there are fourteen days for you to respond with a realistic plan for addressing the needs at the Cemetery….and the clock is ticking.

The Middletown Cemetery and the 7,000 souls that rest there will no longer be silent or ignored.

 
Vivian Moon

Vivian;  You did a wonderful job at City Hall tonight. Keep up the good work you have people backing you 100%. I thought it was so stupid of our mayor to say we are not here for questions and answers. That is the problem down there they never give any answers to anything. What the hell good are they?