Archive for the ‘Bedford Now’ Category

Vote May 5, 2009! (plus some housecleaning)

Monday, May 4th, 2009

First some housecleaning. I’m disappointed to say that I’ve had to repost  the page explaining that derogatory commentary left on this blog will be deleted.  Agree, disagree, I truly don’t mind. However, I will mind if disagreements are made in a derogatory or foul manner.

Second piece of housecleaning is this – this blog is fully maintained and supported by me, Keith Godfrey. It is not maintained, created by, or have any creative control from any employee at The Monroe Evening News, Bedford Now, or any other individual. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

Ok.

So big vote tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5, 2009. On the ballot will be decision on the school Sinking Fund Millage as well as the referendum vote for the rezoning on the land commonly referred to as the Whitman Property located at the northwest corner of Lewis and Sterns.

I encourage everyone to get out and vote on these very important issues. I encourage your vote even if it is not in agreement with mine.

For the record I encourage a yes vote on both issues.

Our schools are the cornerstone of our community. If you think property values have taken a hit recently you’ll be stunned what happens to them when our schools begin to deteriorate. Say what you will about needed cuts and things of that nature, I tend to agree there are cuts to be made, but this millage will bring in monies needed for repairs to our schools – not operating budget, not preventative maintenance, etc. This money will be used exclusively to replace old boilers, leaky roofs, and major issues of that nature.  A ‘YES’ vote is mandatory for the continued survival of our schools.

A yes vote on the referendum should also be heavily considered. Individually we must vote with our heads and our hearts and not be distracted by the continued fear tactics that have been employed by a small vocal minority who is against the rezoning of the land presently owned by Jon Whitman.  Just very recently, on this blog, a comment was left with the typical ‘we know who you are’ mantra that has been employed by Bedford Watch. I’ve been informed by several other individuals that they’ve received these same type of emails/comments when they’ve been in direct disagreement with this group.

Well, Bedford Watch, we know who you are too. A completely biased, angry group, hell bent at ensuring that this rezoning does not go through at nearly any cost. Fear mongering, intimidation, placing absentee ballot requests in people’s mailboxes, blatantly publishing mistruths and lies on your website.

If your organization is truly the community watchdog you claim it to be then how come there is no commentary on the Sinking Fund millage for the schools, cutbacks at township hall, the Taco Bell being built right next to residential land, the need for monies for our parks, or any other issues that effect this township. In fact, since the inception of your group you’ve had one issue you’ve dealt with and been focused on. Listen, that is fine by me, however, don’t pretend to be something you’re not – which is a community watch dog group. Honestly, if the rezoning of this land (which presently has no purchaser or developer) is the biggest issue facing this township then we’re in deeper trouble that I thought.

Your vote on the referendum should not be influenced by the fear mongering perpetrated by some. Your vote should be influenced by your conscience and what you think is the best potential land use for the property in question. Is a Wal Mart a possibility, sure it is. However, so are other countless possible commercial businesses and developments that could go into that property.

I plan to vote yes on both issues and I hope that you will too.

Just the facts? No, no it’s not.

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

In an effort to begin supporting a vote FOR the referendum vote coming up this May I took a gander at the newly fandangled Bedford Watch website. They have a section titled ‘Just the Facts’ which is highly misleading – don’t get me wrong as there are some facts but what has been the case more often than not with Bedford Watch is some truths (facts) are stretched or speculative while others are just all together not true.

 Before I get into the ‘facts’ let me preface something – I in no way have an issue with the people affiliated with Bedford Watch who have dedicated countless hours of their time in support of a cause which they truly believe in. I do have a fondness for that type of dedication and love for one’s community (even if community in this sense equates to neighborhood). However, I do find extreme fault with misrepresentations, half truths, no truths, and scare tactics (by which I mean an unhealthy infatuation with Wal Mart).

 Now, nothing but the facts, ma’am.

 Master Plan

Bedford Watch likes to discuss the Bedford Township Master Plan … a lot. One of the issues I have with this is that the group likes to continually bring up that the Master Plan recognizes the City of Toledo as a commerical business center supporting the needs of the township.

Between 1990 and the 2006 estimated population Bedford Township has experienced nearly a 32% gain in population rising to nearly 32,000 residents making the township the City of Toledo’s largest suburb and the largest city or township in the County of Monroe (by population). It is no longer reasonable to expect the City of Toledo to continue to be a commerical center for Bedford Township.

 Property Taxes

Under this heading Bedford Watch lets us all know if a big box store was built in the township we’d all have an increase in property taxes (yet elsewhere in the same document argue that our property values will decrease) because we will be forced to hire more police and fire personnel.

 First of all this is purely speculative and completely lacks any legitimate proof.

 Second, Bedford Watch fails to take into account the fact that beyond the deputies that the township pays for there is a larger police presence in the township as the County Sheriff can deploy more deputies to the township and the State Troopers also patrol the area as well. 

Roads

Actually this section was rather factual. Unfortunately the section was finished with a statement about the roads leading to this area are 2 lanes (while Lewis is actually 5 at that area) and not 5 lane highways. This is, like I said, largely true. However, what is not mentioned is that during site plan approvals the developer could be made to agree to improve the road surrounding the area during development, up to and including widening the road, installation of traffic lights, etc.

 Traffic

Bedford Watch wants you to believe that if a big box store was built an additional 76,000 vehicles would travel on our roads weekly. This figure is based on an average derived from the development of other Wal Marts from throughout the country and not through any impact study done on the development of the property in question. Therefore, this figure is strictly speculative at best and most certainly doesn’t take into account the fact that there are two other Wal Marts, two Home Depots, a Meijer, a Menards, a Lowes, an Andersons, and a Costco all within 10 miles of the proposed development site.

 Of course what is most speculative is that a big box store is definitely going to be developed at the property in question.

 Police

This particular section got my blood boiling the most. The stretch on these statistics was so egregious that the  skew on these statistics is sickening.

 Bedford Watch states that the township has a population of 32,000 (accurate) and an additional 76,000 shoppers per week would visit the township should a big box store be built at the property in question (speculative both in the amount of shoppers and the development) creating a total weekly ‘population’ of 108,000. The group then sites the 10 full time police officers guarateed for and paid for by the township through our levy. They then make this statement:

 That is one police officer for every 10,800 people

How do I put this politely …. no. Figures for police representation are based on 1) population and 2) daily figures not weekly.  However, to play ball I’ll allow for the addition of the 76,000 additional shoppers which equates to 10,857 people daily. Therefore the daily ‘population’ of the township would become 42,857 making the representation of police per resident 1:4,286 (notice that is more than half of the figure Bedford Watch presented).

 The part that made me most sick in my stomach was when the group makes a comparison to the City of Toledo and their police presence. They state Toledo has a police force of approximately 600 and a population of around 300,000 making their police to resident ratio about 1:500.

 Do you see what was done there – Bedford Watch attempted to make the development into such an issue with police protection that they first added to the population of Bedford by assuming the presence of shoppers and then used a weekly figure to make it seem so statistically out of whack with Toledo’s figure that you would be beyond frightful of any development. If you’re going to add statistics like shoppers into the equation you must do it for both examples. To make a fair comparison to these figures the representations should appear as this:

 

Toledo – 1:500

Bedford Township – 1:3,200

 I have long said the police presence in the township isn’t enough (same goes for fire protection); however, these issues shouldn’t preclude the potential for development. In fact, the potential for development ought to create the debate to expand the services we already require!

Crime

Oi vey here we go again.  I’ve touched on this subject on numerous occassion on Bedford Now’s Chatter. Once again Bedford Watch searches out the means to give you the highest figure in order to frighten you and again the word Wal Mart shows up.

 Bedford Watch states that they did a study on the police reports made at the nearest Wal Mart to Sterns and Lewis (they state its the Wal Mart located at  Central and Holland-Sylvania Rd in Toledo while it is actually the Wal Mart on Navarre in Oregon, OH). I, naturally, found a couple of issues with the way they reported their findings.

 First, they stated that over a 5 year period that the Sylvania Township Police Department made 741 reports inside or outside the Wal Mart on Central. 741 sounds like an awful lot doesn’t it? Well let’s break that down over 5 years - 5 years multiplied by 365 days equates to 1825 days and then we add one day for leap year and get a total of 1826. Dividing 741 reports in 1826 days gives us a daily average of 0.41 reports. Doesn’t seem as concerning now does it?

 Also, Bedford Watch’s study isn’t a fair assessment for another reason as it completely negates any sort of geographic comparison. By this I mean finding a community that is similar to Bedford Township that presently has a Wal Mart, finding a Wal Mart that would be similarly situated (cross roads, expressway access, etc.). My example in the Chatter section was Oregon, OH. The median income in comparison to Bedford was similar, the crime concerns in the community are similar to Bedford’s, and the location to crime areas in Toledo are fairly close.

 The issue I take with using the Central Avenue location is that it is located less than a mile from a major expressway and located literally in the backyard of a high crime and drug area within the City of Toledo. The comparisons are simply not fair and again used to put fear in the minds of township residents.

 Home Values

Bedford Watch is saying that home values in the area would immediately drop $40,000. A quick perusal of the Township’s Land ans Property Search function on the Township’s website shows that homes were recently bought in the $130K-$150K range. You expect me to reasonably believe that these homes, overnight, would all of a sudden sell for $90K-$110K? Too hard to believe.

My next endeavour will be to attempt to determine if there was any decline in home sale prices in the Colonial neighborhoods around Secor and Sterns after the Kroger development. Anything greater than a 19% drop (the estimated drop in home values in the township due to the economic downturn) will lend credence to this argument. To give you an idea a $40,000 decline on a home that was previously valued (sales value) at $140,000 would be about 28%, on $150,00 about 26%, $180,000 about 22%.

 Tax benefit

Bedford Watch states that the tax benefit of a big box store would only be about $0.66 per resident.  This figure is based solely on property tax fees that would be paid directly to the township. This excludes property tax fees paid to the county and the state.

 It also excludes sales tax, business tax, income taxes, etc. Unless you have lived in a cave the past few years you’re aware that our economy is tanking, quickly, and our state is crippling due to a lack of money to operate.  Commerical growth ought to be viewed as a good thing as it increases the state’s revenues. Since the township and our schools largely depend on the state being financially strong we ought to be pushing for solid development than can increase our coffers! For crying out loud the governor just announced plans to scale back per pupil funding to our public schools!

 There are many more subheadings in this section of the website – several of which could be left alone. The word Wal Mart shows up frequently as does the continual ripping of Jon Whitman.

 Here are some closing facts:

1) There is no tangible proof that if the rezoning sticks that a Wal Mart will be built on the Whitman property.

2) Jon Whitman has every right to seek this rezoning and to sell to whom he wishes and for the highest price if he so desires.

3) Bedford Watch has skewed figures and statistics to place fear in the minds of what a potential development of a Wal Mart might mean to this township. In fact throughout their website they don’t claim the development to be a possibility they actually call it a ‘proposed development’. Interesting since there’s been no sale!

4) Many issues and concerns can and would be addressed during site plan approval – including the roads around that area.

5) Lewis Ave. is the commerical corridor for Temperance much like Secor is for Lambertville.

I will continue to research this subject and continue to fight for the passage of this referendum .. the zoning should stand.

Congratulations Michele Sheppard

Monday, February 9th, 2009

I’m a little late with this as I had a fun weekend safely celebrating my 30th birthday.

Congratulations to you, Michele Shepard, for being named Bedford Now’s Citizen of the Year. Your contributions and dedication to this township shall serve as inspiration to us all.

And to all the other nominees, whoever you may be, a thanks to you too. I am proud to live in a township full of so many great people. Continue to make your voices heard.

Silently Amazed ….

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

No more.

A few months ago, around election time, I wrote a blog regarding civility in this township. Apparently said blog fell on deaf ears.

I have sat back in astonishment at the behavior of some; mainly on the forum at BedfordNow.com where certain individuals simply cannot post anything positive or without negative connotations/attitudes.

Now obviously there are some hot button issues here within the township – Whitman rezoning and the potential upcoming referendum vote, the sewer dispute on Secor south of Smith to the state line, school funding, etc. Lots of different individuals have differing ideas on what to do in these situations or are otherwise on opposite sides of the argument. Some are classy and respectful whilst participating in debate regarding these subjects while others are degrading, demeaning, and otherwise unkind.

Why? What is there to gain to your cause by acting in such a manner? Do you honestly think people will alter their frame of mind or thinking if you belittle or demean them? You’ve got to be kidding me.

Continuing to act in these manners will only serve to further divide our community. Facing the issues that we are this could have serious and detrimental side effects. While we don’t always need to agree on issues we should be able to seek out common ground, compromise, or at least engage in respectful and civil conversation.

I will continue to engage in this type of conversation on the forum, with my neighbors, and on this blog. I certainly hope that others will join in with me. And while we’re at it .. please take the time to join the forum at BedfordNow.com and engage in the conversation there.

Civility, Bedford Chatter, and the nature of our township

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Civility is defined as polite and/or courteous behavior. Recently my father asked me what ever happened to civility, common courtesy, and respect for others. It gave me something to seriously ponder and think about and all I could muster was …. I don’t know.

I’m certainly aware that I am not always the most civil person in the world but it is something that I am certainly working on and strive towards being a more well rounded, positive, respectful person. I never mean ill will towards anyone but I have certainly not done the best job in decision making and word choices in the past.

But the issue doesn’t reside solely in me. I see this lack of civility everywhere I go. At work, at home, in the community, on the Bedford Chatter.

At work a few weeks ago I had a woman screaming at me that she was going to smoke in the rental, make sure her dog shed it’s hair all over the place, and not replace the fuel in the vehicle. All this because her car had broke down which is clearly NOT something I had anything to do with. Now granted she had every right to be frustrated because she has had mechanical issues with her vehicle but did this give her the right to act towards me this way? I didn’t build her car nor have I ever worked on it. Finally, I was able to get her into a vehicle (which she complained about the type of vehicle she was given) and she squawked the tires as she drove away. This is one example of many that have happened recently. I suppose what made this particular story great to me was that later that day I found out her car stalled and broke down because it was out of gas!!

At home I see things happen too. We’re a young family and we don’t see much of each other. My wife and I generally work opposite schedules so that one of us is always with the kids. Sometimes cooler heads don’t prevail. And having kids … well if they’re not behaving we all know our blood can boil a wee bit quicker. Every family goes through this and ultimately it makes you stronger. I love my wife and my children more than anything in this world and I wish and hope the best for them.

In the community .. this is something that bothers me more so than the others. My father was telling me that he had an opportunity to speak with George Welling, the republican running for Township Clerk. My dad informed him that we (as a family) were longtime friends of Bob Schockman, the democrat running for the same position, but my dad allowed Mr. Welling his opportunity to speak. One of the things that George shared with him was the countless horrible things he has been called on the campaign trail – words including m’effer and more. How disappointing and terrible. While I won’t be voting for Mr. Welling he deserves to be commended for his time and efforts and desires to be a part of our township government.

And finally I mentioned the Bedford Chatter. Perhaps its the anonymity of the internet which makes people ’stronger’. I don’t really know what it is. I have been repeatedly assailed on the forum itself. The newest member has a moniker of NOMOREKEITH. I have had my college degree compared to a worthless piece of paper, been told that because of the amount of time I spend on the forum I must not have a family. I even had someone, before I came out and announced who I am, figure out who I am and where I live and mail me township memos to my home; something I didn’t ask for.

I have seen people say unsavory things about public officials, other poster, folks in the news, etc. For what? Why? I don’t know and I don’t have an answer for it. I do know though that if I hadn’t grown up here its this type of behavior that may make me wish to move to a different community if I were looking for somewhere to live in this area. I love Bedford and that is a large reason as to why we moved back here. I know it to be a safe community, great schools for my kids, and it is a place I want to live and be an active participant within the community.   

To my community I want to let you know that I am trying to change my ways and lend my positive voice. I hope you’re noticing a changed tone when it comes to me. I will continue to challenge those that wish to challenge me and I welcome the opportunity at sprited and respectful debate. I hope that all of you will find it within yourselves to join me in leading the charge back to civility. We may not always agree and we may not always see eye-to-eye but I hope that we can at least chose to do so respectfully.