The financial presentation by Mr. Brossart was the opening salvo in the upcoming tax increase campaign. Be prepared to be reminded of some of the things he said quite often in the months to come. Usually it will be taken out of context.

Note that he mentioned that we have “an operating levy coming up soon” and mayor Lawrence P. Mulligan, Jr. quietly corrected him that it was “public safety, yes”!!! (We were fooled on this five years ago, so it appears they will try it again.)

It is interesting that the Finance Committee was unaware that the city already had a FIVE YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN!!!

During Council Comments Mayor Lawrence P. Mulligan, Jr. mentioned that the City Manager briefly touched on Cincinnati State’s latest visit and the progress in her latest newsletter. This newsletter could not be found on the City’s web site as of 8:28 pm this evening, nor was it in my e-mail box at that time. (I am on the e-mailing list for that newsletter.)

The silence in council chambers this past hour and forty minutes is deafening!!!

Methinks there must be some disagreement.

Here’s one of those things that make you go “hmmm!!!”:

City Hall is dead set against billboards and against all kinds of advertising that can be seen from I-75 within our fair city’s corporate limits. They seem to think it is “tacky”, a vexation to the spirit, and has any number of other evil effects. Yet, check out this exact quote from the minutes of the 1/11/2010 Golf Commission meeting (Yes, I DID say 1/11/2010. I guess these folks are so busy golfing it takes them over a YEAR to get around to writing their minutes!!!):

“Advertise on I-75 billboards near SR-123 for south-bound traffic and near SR-63 for north-bound traffic”

File this in the: “Do as we say, not as we do!” folder of our “Good Neighbor Policies”!!!

Great job, city hall.

Another thing that makes you go “hmmm”???:

We will be spending another half million dollars of our hard-earned (make that “borrowed from China”) tax dollars in the name of “Energy Efficiency and Conservation” on an extension of our wonderful BIKE PATH!!!

Well, folks, here it is the wee hours of Monday morning, yet there is no workbook posted on line for Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

There certainly should be a workbook. There are several things listed on the agenda that are normally supported by items in the workbook:

• Board/Commission Minutes:
• Golf Course Commission January 11; April 12; July 12; October 11, 2010
• Airport Commission – December 1, 2010
• Board of Zoning Appeals- January 5, 2011
• Planning Commission- January 12, 2011
• Tree Commission- January 19, 2011
• Tentative Assessments:
• for the 2010 Sidewalk, Curb and Gutter Program

Also on the agenda:

• A MOTION AGENDA item to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with Barry Brown Paving LLC to Construct Section 4 of the Great Connection Bike Path Bike path Contract.
• An emergency Ordinance No. O2011-10, an ordinance dedicating right-of-way and accepting the dedication of right-of-way and declaring an emergency.
• An emergency Resolution No. R2011-02, a resolution to make adjustments to appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures of the City of Middletown, Counties of Butler and Warren, State of Ohio, for the period ending December 31, 2011 and declaring an emergency. (Auto and Gas Fund)

Now all of these things normally have some sort of accompanying documentation in the workbook, even if it is incomplete or filled with gibberish.  I get especially nervous when there is an "EMERGENCY RESOLUTION" making "adjustments" to the Auto and Gas Fund.  (Anyone else wondering if the mysterious but omnipresent "Accounts of 999" will be involved???)

I guess in this new era of pseudo-secret “work” sessions, the new “Openness” policy is to hide everything as much as possible from The People.

Oh well. Liberty and democracy were great…while we had them.