The Old Downtown - What would you do?

drumford wrote: Mr. Presta, FYI there is no "s" in Rumford, many people associate our name with a previous secretary of defense which we would hope to distance ourselves from.

Once again, I sincerely apologize. I assure you that it was nothing more that a careless, stupid--but honest--mistake on my part. No association with Secretary Rumsfeld was intended or implied.

drumford wrote: So I have heard that there have been many initiatives by the city of Middletown to do something about the downtown and using tax payer dollars to do it. Things like the mall and Lake mistake which I am sure you have valid reason to be critical of. I wonder if either of these initiatives were successful what your position would be?

drumford wrote: I don't believe this older downtown will ever be the "center of commerce" again and wasn't under the impression it would need to be. The center of commerce today is the Interstate or the Internet so you can see the city's desire to promote the east end is supported by financial data that makes sense.

drumford wrote: Yet there is still this older downtown area that has some great resources going unused. Other communities are in the same situation that don't have half the resources this downtown has but they like ours have found other ways to make it useful again.

First, MOST (with very few exceptions) of the successful reborn OR revitalized downtowns have one or more interchanges with at least one MAJOR freeway within a few blocks. Middletown does not.

Next, most downtowns that have been revived have a “draw”--something that brings a large number of people there other than the downtown itself. This would be something very unique and interesting to masses, a large employer (or many smaller employers), unusual sports or entertainment venues, and the like, or even a hospital. Middletown does not. (Note: The Halls and their Sorg Theater may be on the right track, but they alone have not been able to draw enough people often enough to be “THE draw.”) “THE” draw must be something that brings enough people, often enough to “carry” other businesses such as restaurants, taverns, hotels, shops, etc., between other events.

A large employer would, of course, be ideal. Kaiser Engineers’ downtown office in the 1965-70 era was a good example: salesmen and other businessmen coming to town kept the hotels full; one could usually not find a seat in any downtown restaurant at the lunch hour; the taverns were full during happy hours. Even commuters from Cinci and Dayton often did their shopping here, before going home in the evenings. Unfortunately, the former downtown Middletown does not have a “draw”; we are “drawn FROM”, not “drawn TO”.

Lastly, City Hall can NOT be the ones to “decide” on either “the DRAW” or the other businesses!!! This has been proven over and over!!! Most of their “plans” begin with “Hey, I’ve got an idea…” and end with “using taxpayers’ money.” Good examples are Lake Mistake and City Centre Mall. If “FoCHs” (Friends of City Hall) suggest it, City Hall charges forward with no analysis, no worry about ROI, no business evaluations of any kind.

drumford wrote: You will need to educate me on where the city is pouring money into the downtown these days, there is a new park but that was also federally funded. The city owes it to its constituents to promote growth all over the city through the use of creative financial incentives or tax breaks but not through direct investment. Who is the city investing in that our grand children will need to be paying for? What store fronts were invested in by the city's money and not federal grant money?

First, I am unsure to which “park” you are referring. While there may have been a few federal dollars involved, (I believe even Butler County kicked in a million or two) nearly EVERYTHING “new” downtown--starting at the intersection of Central and Main, going south on Main to First, east on First to Clinton/Verity, North on Verity to Manchester, west on Manchester to Main, and south on Main back to the start--was paid for as a part of a project known as Crossroads 2000!!! This was paid for mainly using short term paper, was converted to long term and was just in the last year or two (I believe) again re-financed to LONG TERM NOTES that will be paid for by our children and grandchildren (and possibly THEIR children, if they have to re-fi again)! Now I don’t have an MBA, so I might not have gotten the exact financial terms correct, but THAT is the crux of it. The taxes paid directly by MIDDLETONIANS will be used to pay for this. Tax money has also been used for the other schemes--mostly all one version or the other of the “Let’s play ‘Olde Tyme Shoppe‘ and stroll around the Towne” game. This also includes opening, closing, and rerouting streets, and “guess which street is one-way and which-way today”.

The “storefronts” to which I am referring are each and every storefront along both sides of Central from Main Street to Verity Parkway (EXcluding the pawn shop); And along both sides of Broad street from the parking garage to midway between Central and First Avenues. This includes both the first floor storefronts, with doors and locksets and other appurtenances, and windows, and new facades up to and including the second stories. All of this was paid for with MIDDLETONIANS’ tax money under the same Crossroads 2000 project, as were all NEW roads, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, underground utilities, street lamps (the expensive “Olde Tyme” ones) and everything else that they could sweep into the project, including some repairs to parking lots and the parking garage, and relocating the MERCHANTS that the CITY FORCED TO MOVE!!! (Also haz-mat removal from some buildings, also some demo.)

drumford wrote: If you say this is still your tax dollars being spent on downtown then I say I would rather it gets spent here than in someone elses city.

drumford wrote: The only city issues I am aware of are those mentioned by Ms Scherrer which would be light industry being denied. I wonder how ANY business could be denied in this ecconomy so if they are then you should protest this and make it an issue for the next election. Then elect people who will do what is right for the city.

drumford wrote: You mention those reasonable commercial rates, I wasn't aware the city was responsible for this, I purchased this building from a private individual and the only involvement by the city was approving our variance request so we could live here. I believe this is the same situation with Ed and Debbie who purchased the Sorg Opera house.

drumford wrote: The rates were reasonable because no one wanted to buy property here. So if there is a lot of city dollars being invested they aren't being invested here.

drumford wrote: As far as city officials being in our business, there has only been ONE who has ever set foot in our studio although more have visited Ms Adrianne. I do respect your concerns Mike and enjoy the dialog and the respect shown there. But the taxpayers did not help me with reasonable property prices, the exodus from Middletown did that. The tax payers on a national level provided one $5,000 grant to assist us (not city money).

drumford wrote: Thier rate of return has already been payed back in personal and business taxes many times over. This grant is available to you as well if you want to do what we did. I do hear you when it comes to keeping bureaucrats out of my business so if they ever show up I will call you.

drumford wrote: If you know of the city investing in anyone's personal business please let me know as I too would like to know how that works.

By the way, you seem like a nice guy. You don’t have to wait for City Hall to “attack” to call me. Any time you want to know about the city (I lived here nearly 40 of my 62 years) or otherwise chat over a few beers or Diet Pepsis, give me a call. I’ll probably even buy!!