The City Manager's Blog

Adkins has presented this topic on his City Manager’s Blog … quote:

Congratulations, Middletown Small Business Development Center!
MARCH 24, 20173 COMMENTS
We here at the City of Middletown are thrilled to share that our Small Business Development Center (part of the Butler County SBDC) has been nationally chosen as the 2017 Small Business Development Center of the Year with Director David Riggs at the helm in the Middletown office. This means that not only did your local Small Business Development Center earn the title of the best of 27 centers in Ohio, they were selected as the best SBDC of 1,000 centers across the country. Our SBDC was also the first center in Ohio to ever win the national award. That’s a pretty big deal!
The Small Business Development Center serves as a valuable asset to the public: it is open to meeting with anyone who has a viable business idea for Middletown. The SBDC will sit down with you, listen to your business idea, and assist you in stepping in the right direction in making your business idea a reality.
The Middletown Small Business Development Center is located in the City of Middletown Municipal Building on the second floor. It is open during regular business hours; however, our SBDC is a partnership with Hamilton – if you do not make an appointment, there is a chance David will be in Hamilton when you visit our building.
Way to go, SBDC!

And here are the comments that follow it:

3 thoughts on “Congratulations, Middletown Small Business DevelopmentCenter!”

1. Nancy Pence
March 24, 2017 at 11:16 pm
Well done!
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2. Whistlersmom
March 25, 2017 at 3:27 pm
According to today’s Journal-News, The BUTLER COUNTY Small Business Development Center is the recipient of this award in which Middletown is a very minor player. David Riggs, the COUNTY’S SBCD Director, has his main office in Hamilton. The chances are he will rarely be present “at the helm in the Middletown office.”
The paper also cited this breakdown by the numbers FROM 2015 (the year of the State Auditor’s “warning of a fiscal cliff” for Middletown):
“1,109 counseling hours, helping small businesses generate more than $2.8 million in new sales, creating 115 jobs and retaining 187 jobs, according to the state. The center also served 98 individual long-term clients and connected companies to $3,036,099 in capital.”

Tell us what percentage of these numbers belonged to Middletown in 2015 and show us proof! No talking in circles!
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City Manager Middletown
March 27, 2017 at 12:22 pm
I wasn’t trying to hide the ball. I amended the post to reflect that the Middletown office is part of the Butler County SBDC. Thanks for the comment.

End Quote.

Please note that Adkins did not answer the question “what percentage of the numbers belonged to Middletown?”!!!! Why?? Maybe because Middletown’s numbers were so tiny that he would be embarrassed to say! He continues to ignore any uncomplimentary remarks wherever he finds them. Heads up bloggers! Careful reading of The City Managers Blog on CityofMiddletown.org may contain some revelations hidden in Doug’s own words. We just need to blow the smoke away!!!

Part ONE of TWO   Water and Sewer Rates

Here is an important topic (a Dougie Duck) which begs repeated attention, because this issue could finish us off.   Adkins would like very much for this issue to be put out of sight … out of mind. It’s fast becoming lost among the quagmire of problems which Adkins and Council keep tossing around; in effect hiding their own contributions to our problems. Their solution to any problem always involves extorting more money from the citizens to make up for their mismanagement and misappropriation.

Notice how Adkins chooses and poses a “fair question” for himself so that he can present his solution to “an unavoidable +/- $400M problem.” Note that in the “background” he gives us…. we are ACCUSED of having lower water and sewer rates than 2/3 to ¾ of other area communities. BUT he doesn’t mention the DISAPPEARANCE of the millions of dollars in funds collected over the last 40+ years which would have paid for all of the water and sewer issues. Over time our city officials discovered, then gutted, the GOLD MINE that once was the rich water and sewer funds. Just as Adkins admits, those funds are ENTERPRISE funds (funds for their SPECIFIED use only) and were ILLEGALLY siphoned off by transfer checks to the “general slush fund” for ANY UNSPECIFIED use that city officials might choose. If the sewer separation had been accomplished years ago when the funds were collected (thereby avoiding the increased cost of doing so today) we wouldn’t have this problem now!!   Here’s some bu$$sh!t’ in your own words … “the General Fund does not contribute to utilities, and therefore income tax receipts from new jobs would not be used to support utilities. EVEN IF THEY DID, however, the math doesn’t work….” You are actually presenting an illegal funding maneuver as a solution, just to blow smoke and confuse the issue. It must be pointed out again that the General Fund was the illegal recipient of the water and sewer funds and they should be returned.

AND obviously, recouping those funds presents a big problem.   To paraphrase Adkins, “We just have to figure out the … smartest ... most effective way” to get our past and present city officials to repay the citizens of Middletown “without disproportionally affecting either our residents or our business community.”

Remember his phrase and determine for yourself what is, in his words “no longer sustainable.” Now read DOUG’S OWN WORDS from The City Managers Blog on CityofMiddletown.org:

Water and Sewer Rates
January 23, 2017City Manager Middletown 1 Comment
I was asked the following question last week:
“What will it take job wise, corporate tax wise, additional residents income/payroll wise, to stop the notion of increasing water, sewer, garbage and other residential tax that you can think of? … We only have so much discretionary income to give and we are saving very little if any for emergencies.”
That’s a fair question, and I’ll try to answer it.
First, some background on why I need the money. Every year, the City of Oakwood compiles water rates for over 60 southwest Ohio cities.  Middletown has historically been in the lower fourth to lower third of area water and sewer rates.  What this means is that 2/3 to 3/4 of southwest Ohio communities have historically had higher water and sewer rates, year after year, than the citizens of Middletown.
We have reached a point where that is no longer sustainable.   Due to the age of our city, we will have large expenditures over the next two decades to keep our water and sewer system viable.   M in the tables below refer to Millions of Dollars. The early estimates look like this:
Combined Sewers Long Term Control Plan
Downtown Storage Facility    $38M
Barnitz Park Area Storage Facility    $54M
Lakeside Storm Water Redirection Green Infrastructure  $14M
Hydraulic Canal Repairs (Germantown Rd. to river)    $10M
  Total LTCP  $116M
Water/Sewer System and Plant Upgrades
Water Distribution System    $100M
Water Treatment Plant    $25M
Sewer Collection System    $142M
Wastewater Treatment Plant    $67M
Total Water/Sewer Upgrades  $252M
Miller Road/Sawyers Mill Sewer Infrastructure  $2M
Street Paving Assoc. w/ LTCP, Water, Sewer Line Upgrades  $25M
GRAND TOTAL  $395M
We will bid all of these projects over time and the actual amount could be higher or lower than the early estimates. Below is the map (not shown here) showing our water distribution system by age.  The sewer map is almost identical showing large portions of the city with water and sewer distribution systems that are over 75 years old.
So we have an unavoidable +/- $400 million problem over the next 20 years.  That gets us back to the original question.  Why raise rates?  Why don’t we add jobs and families to cover this cost?   The answer is twofold.  First, because water and sewer are enterprise funds, income tax would not be used for utility service, and second because the math doesn’t work.
Enterprise funds are self sufficient funds designed to pay utility expenses with fees collected from users of the service.  The City ordinances establish the funds and set fees.  The General Fund does not contribute to utilities, and therefore income tax receipts from new jobs would not be used to support utilities.
Even if they did, however, the math doesn’t work….
$400 million divided by 20 years = $20 million per year for each of the next 20 years.
At a 1.75% income tax rate, it takes $57,142,857 in new payroll to generate $1 million in new income tax revenues.
$57,142,857 divided by $45,000 per job = 1,270 new jobs to generate $1 million in new income tax revenues.
We need $20 million per year for 20 years.  So that equates to 1,270 new jobs x 20 = 25,400 new jobs at $45,000 per job to create $20 million in new income tax revenues.
To pay for the water and sewer repairs, then, we would need to immediately add 25,400 new jobs at $45,000 per job, and then sustain them for each of the next 20 years consecutively.   While we have capacity for growth, we don’t have enough land available to add 25,400 jobs and certainly couldn’t do it in the space of a year or two.
I’ll ask the follow up question myself:  Why don’t we just stick it to the business community with higher rates and go easy on our residents?
We’ve been fighting the image for a while that we can be business unfriendly.  I’m doing what I can to change that image over time.  Jacking up corporate water and sewer rates will not make it attractive to bring new business here, nor will it help our existing businesses grow and add jobs and taxes to the community.
We do have additional water capacity that is not being used right now.  When NTE comes online, they will become our largest water customer and they will pay their share of this bill.  As we add other businesses and future water users, they will also help spread out the cost to more customers.
There’s a balance between the residents and the business community and the rates we charge.  This is a difficult issue that will require thoughtful answers.  The bill is coming due.  We just have to figure out how to pay it most effectively as a city.
Staff will be looking at how we bill water and sewer during 2017 to see if there is a smarter way to charge for necessary repairs without disproportionally affecting either our residents or our business community.   There’s no easy answer here.

That’s right Mr Adkins, there’s no easy answer but all of YOUR ANSWERS TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT … FOR YOU.   You and Council have backed yourselves into this self described impossible, untenable position!!! Your garbled description of the past and present purpose and use of funds, enterprise and/or others makes no sense … and neither does any of your proposed solution. You are blowing smoke to cover your A$$. “The bill is coming due.” You just have to figure out how to get the average resident to shoulder the maximum $ burden juuust before breaking his back. Will the funds from the continually pumped up water bills really be used for the sewer separation or take their historic route to the “general slush fund?” How can you and Council EVER be trusted?

The question which should be posed to Doug is:   Why not use the sewer separation fund that has been COLLECTED FOR 40+ YEARS? … And use the storm water sewer charge that was added to our water bills about 10 to 12 years ago, by falsely stating that it was a federally mandated charge … which IT WAS NOT! The enterprise funds that can only legally be used for sewer separation have disappeared … been misappropriated.   Also, we VOTED to use half of the INCOME TAX to subsidize water, sewer and trash to keep rates low and to make Middletown more attractive to businesses and citizens.   Can’t use that, it’s ALL GONE … MISAPPROPRIATED!!   And that’s CRIMINAL! In Adkins own words: “We have reached a point where that is no longer sustainable.”

Also, money was taken from the enterprise funds (a million dollars at a time) and transferred to Capital Improvement Fund (a non-restricted fund), to cover up misuse of water and sewer money to pave streets, buy real estate (on Hook Drive), etc. The water and sewer funds have proven to be a GOLD MINE for funding everything except water and sewer. It’s NOT that we’re paying too little for water, sewer and trash; it’s that these are the only rates that council can raise without a vote by the citizens. That’s actually a hidden, illegal tax!    COUNCIL … just because this ROBBERY has been perpetrated in the past, does NOT make it right or legal to continue.

Regarding the combined sewers:   What is the purpose of the storage facilities? Have the storage facilities and other band-aid measures been approved by the EPA?   Are you going to spend millions of dollars on storage facilities and still have combined sewers?   Will the combined sewers still have to be separated? Why not JUST DO THE REQUIRED SEPARATION OF SEWERS and finally be done with it? There is NO NEED for his EXPENSIVE, $116M Long Term Control Plan band-aid which is ¼ to 1/3 of his Grand Total Cost of $395M which would be down to $279M.   The money should already be in city coffers. OOP’s, forgot we were robbed! Now we need a REAL AUDIT to see where the money has gone. A budget balance sheet will no longer do.

Now that city administration has been forced into fiscal transparency, anyone can view what’s called the “check book” in the Financial Transparency Portal, OpenGov, on CityofMiddletown.org. The actual checks can be viewed if you click in the right spot. In the records of 2015 you will find numerous checks paid from one fund to another with no real explanatory notes (looks like a laundering maneuver).   One pair of checks in particular had the payer and payee reversed for the exact same large amount on the exact same date.    Are they calling this shell game accounting??   It’s a very scrambled mess and difficult to decipher (purposely??).   Present and previous councils and administrations can and should be held PERSONALLY responsible for any missing money.   Remember the expression “ignorance is no excuse.”

If Adkins wants to change our “business unfriendly image” to promote financial growth; why does he let his historical bureaucracy prevent the building of new legitimate businesses on the fringe of the downtown area?   Middletown is reduced to a beggar level but the historical snobs walk around THEIR downtown with noses in the air.   That’s a friendly image?? That will promote financial growth?   Not too long ago we voted for a safety levy which was to prevent layoffs of police and fire ... and then immediately there were layoffs which resulted in less protection with fewer officers (with top heavy pay grade sergeants & lieutenants). We pay higher taxes for our schools but are academically rated among the lowest. What is really (in Adkins own words) “no longer sustainable” … is the misappropriation, mismanagement nonsense and continual down right CORRUPTION in the city building.

Vivian Moon wrote: ORDINANCE NO. O2017-12 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A PROCEDURE FOR AND AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT FOR THE TRANSFER OF CITY OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1200–1204 FIRST AVENUE TO MJK MANAGEMENT, LLC FOR REDEVELOPMENT. At the last council meeting an ordinance for the transfer of city owned property located at 1200-12004 First Ave in the amount of $11.39 to MJK Management. Will this property restoration be held to the same standards by the Middletown Historic Commission?

The Journal-News article on 3/8/17 about O’Reilly Auto Parts store downtown said:
“Downtown Middletown Inc. attended the Historic Commission meeting to speak specifically on behalf of the new Downtown Master Plan, she said. The new downtown plan has is currently under review and has not yet been approved by City Council.”
The Journal article also said “One aspect of the plan is bringing buildings close to the street with no parking lots in front, complementing and extending the existing urban development pattern, and minimizing the negative impact of parking.”
Am I reading this wrong?   Is Downtown Middletown Inc. trying to enforce the new Downtown Master Plan that “has not yet been approved by City Council.”???   Is the new plan MAKE IT UP AS YOU GO ALONG for SELECTIVE enforcement? How can council take this seriously?   Will Dan Picard be the only council member to notice that something was wrong?   Unless you’re a buddy or a crony of someone in the city building, you will find it very difficult to establish a business or bring jobs into Middletown.   Therefore, under Adkins and the existing council, our downtown will continue to be plagued with empty storefronts and our bombed-out look. This sort of misguided thinking has gone on for too many years.   Council, are you going to allow some hired or appointed bureaucrats to promote the downward spiral of our city, OR … are you going to wake up and actually do something constructive, OR ... will you get out of the way of others who want to be constructive????
Downtown moochers won’t like being compared to investors with real money. The scary thought of someone actually using their own money seems to terrify would be revitalizers of THEIR downtown. That just might be an impossibly high standard to meet here in Middletown.
Also, the Journal article said that Mallory Greenham, executive director of Downtown Middletown Inc. was one downtown business leader who spoke against the new business development. The Journal quoted her : “The prospect site for O’Reilly’s is at the main entrance to the downtown Middletown historic business district, . . . . “What is built on that lot will serve as an unofficial gateway to downtown Middletown and will also set the tone for future infill development.”
Ms. Greenham, do you really think that the current condition of your newly described “gateway to downtown” of overgrown empty lots, empty buildings or empty storefronts is better than a successful business?   WHEN did the bureaucracy arbitrarily decide that the area of the 1800 BLOCK OF CENTRAL AVENUE is the main entrance or unofficial gateway to downtown and is suddenly under scrutiny by the Middletown Historic Commission??   ANSWER: When they wanted to CONTROL, manipulate, extort fees from and harass a legitimate prospective business.!!!! Just who are the Historic Commission and when did that come into being???? And where are their natural stone facades???

Vivian Moon has reminded us so many times about a City Council meeting a few years back when Mr. A. said, "Give me the power and I will make things happen."  Since then, Judy G. has retired and Middletonians are still waiting for those unnamed things to happen!

Could someone actually be taking note of citizen concerns that our city government is not conducting business openly and honestly???    Adkins touched upon the sunshine law in council meeting 3/7/17, when he said that the Planning Commission’s meetings could be recorded, same as the Council’s meetings, at the very minimal cost of $500 to $1000 per year (if I heard correctly).   I believe it was Mr. Moon who spoke up in favor of “being more transparent.”   Kudos, Mr. Moon!!!   I hope this independent thinking is contagious (and also that there is no punishment for the good deed).   BUT, (and here’s the spin) Adkins’ further comments indicated that HE THOUGHT the continued recording of the Planning meetings should be on a trial basis and depend upon the number of viewings by the public. Just how the viewings could be counted was ACTUALLY questioned (no question about why they should be counted).     The REAL question is: What does the number of viewings have to do with being more transparent???   Any meeting of any government body should be as available as possible for public consumption especially when it costs so little to do so.   Wouldn’t Adkins just love to discontinue the recording of Council meetings using the premise that the number of viewings was insufficient?!!! Oh, that WAS nearly accomplished with the exit of TV Middletown (due to Adkins’ strategic mismanagement) !!! And, with less public oversight maybe that’s why Doug’s ducks were so easy to get rubber stamped.

To our dear down trodden citizens: Do not lose hope!!! Let’s continue to make inroads. Keep the pressure on!!! Not only CAN we make a difference, we MUST. Survival depends on your participation!!!

Never have understood this logic on property owner responsibility. Your property ends at your property side of the sidewalk. They are asking you to take care of property you do not own. You do not own the piece of grass between the curb and the sidewalk, nor do you own the sidewalk. That is city owned. I'll give them the cost of the drive-way apron even though it falls on city owned property as well. If you want to get technical about things, the property owner actually maintains the city owned property between the sidewalk and curb by mowing, edging and applying lawn chemicals (assuming most do that is). If we use the criteria of the city charge program, we property owners should be sending the city a bill for the maintenance of THEIR property just as they are now gouging the property owner with this nonsense.

One way street in their view.....property owner pays for replacement concrete work for the sidewalk slabs AND, now, but never before, they are asking for us to replace the curbs as well? Good luck with that city officials. The curb replacement should be included in the street fund......but wait, that fund was used for another purpose in the 80's and never replaced by the ones who asked the voters to approve a one time only usage outside the realm of the fund's intentions. This was in the Bill Becker administration while he was attempting to be a city manager.

Now, Adkins and company, knowing this is a poor community, as they are partly responsible for it being so, still want to tax the crap out of us at every given juncture. Do you not understand? Most don't have the money for this.

Council and Adkins, you know dam good and well most people don't have the money to cover this additional tax. What part of "we can't afford this" don't you understand?

This crap goes hand in hand with the failed "we'll pave your street if you get most on your block to buy into the cost" program. Were there ever any takers on this idea?

The leaders, including council, are grossly irresponsible and have not fulfilled their obligation to properly fund the street repairs, so, they ask the people to make up for their negligence.

Incredible.

Because of the a scarcity of current internet information on the H.O.M.E. Program as funded by HUD for the city, the following is cited for the city for PY 2015-16:

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Thomas Jefferson

Now let’s see...how many more feathers can we pluck from Doug Adkins’ self described ducks?

And dear media, if you have enough pluck to do some investigative reporting, this blog is a good resource! Let’s stop aiding and abetting the city’s misguidance.

Oh, and dear past and present council members, who do you think will ultimately be held responsible for the dire consequences Middletown has suffered? Not Judy Gilleland! Not Doug Adkins! You hired him(them). You are the governing body. And you can bet they will say that they were only carrying out your orders. I would not want to be under that cloud of pressure and responsibility!!!

Back to plucking feathers. Here’s a continuation of the list of Doug’s suggested legislation which council has rubber stamped for him.

(4).   Many of our non-profit programs that were benefiting our city have disappeared as a result of funding being confiscated. Because non-profit funds must pass through a government agency, Adkins seems to think any or all of that money is subject to his and Councils discretion. At Adkins direction, city council further curtailed the funds which came from the cable company monopoly expressly for the public access channel, TV Middletown. The city was already retaining the majority of this fund but council and Adkins said “out of the goodness of our hearts we will pass on some of it” to TV Middletown. What happened to the remaining funds?? As a result, for lack of sufficient funds, TV Middletown could no longer function, was dismantled and the public lost an important access to city council meetings. Public oversight of council meetings became more difficult or impossible for the majority of citizens who can not attend in person. All the better for Adkins to keep the public in the dark! Is the cable company still sending funds for the defunct TV Middletown? Probably not. Did PAWS move to Monroe for similar reason? Did we lose the non-profit funds for historic Middletown Cemetery this way?

(5). Citizens passed a safety levy that assured the citizens of no lay-offs in safety personnel. So why are our streets now patrolled by State Highway Patrol? Was money siphoned from this fund or is the highest paid police department in the state unable to do the job of protecting the citizens? Are the special police/inspectors who may be looking for abandoned properties to raze, paid from the safety funds more important than law and order police? Being one of the highest crime areas in the state is another reason for the steady decline of Middletown. For years there have been complaints that the police department is not answering their phone when called to report non-emergency crimes/problems. (Are they screening their calls with caller ID?) This does not lower the reported crime rate, it just means they don’t take crime reports.

(6). It appears that Weatherwax Golf Course was illegally sold to an investor who turned around and sold it to Metro Parks at a profit. It took our legal department, perhaps months, to transfer the deed because there were restrictions not allowing the sale to a private owner. How did this suddenly become legal and who in the Butler Co. office expedited it? Where did the money from this “deal” go? The land (which included Sebald Park) was gifted to Middletown and the deed originally said that it would all remain in public hands and remain green space. Since Council failed to make a profit did they ever think to get a professional golf course management company to run Weatherwax? Selling Sebald Park, giving away Bicentennial Commons and destroying our swimming pools are also all mistakes from which Middletown can never recover. Now we pay ever higher taxes for lower performing schools and no amenities. Know any prospective business or resident who finds this attractive?

Yes, a full business day has passed since this was posted.  Old news.  Sad!