Posts Tagged ‘Bedford Township’

Letter to the Editor (submitted to Toledo Blade)

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

The article I am reacting to can be found here.

After reading the article I penned this response and submitted it to the Editor for consideration to be published in the Letters to the Editor section of The Blade:

I’m disappointed in The Blade’s reporting of the recent referendum vote that took place in Bedford Township. To imply that the measure was resoundingly defeated is disingenuous at best and completely misrepresentative of the truth. The measure was defeated by a mere 289 votes with a very small portion of registered voters actually participating in the vote.

 

More so than the poor choice in verbiage in the article I was aghast at the headline implying that this vote somehow turned down the development of a Wal Mart store. This vote was never about Wal Mart; the will of a small minority made this vote about something it was not. This vote was about appropriate land use and nothing more.  The scare tactics and fear mongering of some made this vote about the possibility of a Wal Mart. Let us not forget the fact that as the property is zoned presently a Wal Mart could be developed without a rezoning request.

 

I’m disappointed in the outcome of the referendum vote – not because I desire a Wal Mart in Bedford Township but because the fears of a few petrified a township of people away from possibly seeing a long time vacant piece of land being developed into something useful.

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Posted in Bedford Township, Whitman rezoning | 8 Comments »

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.

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Posted in Bedford Now, Bedford Public Schools, Bedford Township, Bedford Township Government, Bedford Watch, Whitman rezoning | 2 Comments »

Congratulations Ken Lambert

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

Congrats are in order to Battalion Chief Ken Lambert of our Lambertville Fire Station. Last year Ken was responsible for saving the lives of several children on a school bus whose driver had lost consciousness and was on a path towards collision.

For his heroic efforts Mr. Lambert has been given many commendations and is now up for another award from America’s Most Wanted for his heroism.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Ken for about two years now and he is more than deserving of this award. I truly believe the best part of this story (aside from the children being safe) is that Mr. Lambert has never acted like he did anything other than what he was supposed to.

So, congrats Ken! It’s a great comfort to know that we have qualified and heroic people serving our township in the capacity that you do. And furthermore, thanks to all the volunteer firemen for their time and efforts to help protect and serve us on a daily basis.

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Posted in Bedford Township | No Comments »

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.

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Posted in Bedford Now, Bedford Township, Bedford Township Government, Bedford Watch, Whitman rezoning | 4 Comments »

What do you think Bedford needs?

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Simple question. What do you think Bedford needs? Answer it any which way you like (roads, better parks, better shopping, etc).

I personally think Bedford needs to establish an identity. But how do we get there?

Presently there seems to be two factions in this township – one group feels that Bedford should remain the sleepy community it was 20 some years ago while the other believes that Bedford needs to continue to grow in a way that it represents the growing community it has become.

I think we can accomplish both.  To do so I believe the onus needs to fall on our Township government.

The first step is truly hammering down our Master Plan. To coincide with this I believe that we must explore stricter architectural standards through increased zoning laws. Beyond that I believe more strict site plan approvals will become necessary as a result.

I think beyond this we need to find ways to make our ‘downtown’ areas truly feel like ‘downtown’. I’m not sure what one could do in Lambertville but Temperance and Samaria surely seem like they could be made to feel more pedestrian and friendly. Beautification is a must.  Carr Park and the park off Samaria Rd (name escapes me) could certainly use additional funds to make them even greater.

Furthermore we need to see a greater sense of civic pride. Why not a Saturday and Sunday festival that closes off the streets in downtown Temperance? The festival could feature a ‘taste of the town’, festival rides located at Carr Park, local bands to entertain, etc. Or, why not just throw a huge community bash for a weekend in the summer around the Community Stadium?! I know we have Summerfest at Parmalee Park but let us expand on these ideas!

I want to see an identity but I want to see it include the aspects of Bedford I grew up loving – a town where everyone knows your name, you respect and help your neighbor, a nice, happy, quaint community but also a place where I can have my shopping needs met, where the young men and women of our township have the entertainment they so desperately need, and a place where our kids will want to stay.

I think we’re at a crossroads in terms of what this community is becoming. We should speak our minds about what we’d like it to be. So let us discuss it!

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Posted in Bedford Township, Neighbors | No Comments »

Happy Holidays and New Year

Monday, December 29th, 2008

I recognize this is a wee bit late however conisdering our blog site has been down for an extended period as our server was updated amongst other things and the general running around the holiday brings I am just getting around to it.

Happy holidays to all and I wish you all a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year.

The year 2008 has certainly been an interesting one. My family moved back to Bedford in April 2007 after buying a home and spending a few months remodeling it. After roughly a year of getting settled in (there’s much more to do still) I found myself getting involved in MonroeTalks.com and from there began writing a blog for blogsmonroe.com titled Out of the Shadows of Woody and Bo (which I longer write). About the same time I began commenting on news and events happening right here in our township on the Chatter section of the Bedford Now. The chatter section is a place where I have likely made friends and for lack of a better term enemies. Then in the summer of 2008 I was asked by then Editor of the Bedford Now, Dan Shaw, to write a blog concerning all things Bedford which if you are reading this you have figured out I accepted.

It has been my involvement on the Chatter forum and through writing this blog that has made 2008 an interesting year.  It has developed a certain levelof name recognition int he township as from day one I have not hidden behind the anonymity shield of the internet. It has brought with it a level of responsibility as when I write I certain wish to not only share my opinion on certain matters but when writing I only hope to share fact. It has also brought with it a sort of burden that was unexpected … phone calls, anger, spite. The phone calls have rarely bothered me as they have largely come from respected and respectful individuals whom I have already known or wished to know. This past election certainly provided that opportunity as I got to speak with Aaron Wiens who ran for Trustee in the primary, Dennis Steinman during the primary race, and George Welling while he was campaigning against Bob Schockman in the Clerk’s race. I’ve got to speak to other concerned citizens through this blog, through the Chatter forum, and some have actually called the house. It has been a rewarding and unique situation. What hasn’t been rewarding and unique is those who wish me nothing but ill will. Someday I am certain that even those people will grow an appreciation for the fact that I only do all of this out of my immense pride in this community. A pride I think we all share while opinions we may not.

So it is my wish that 2009 become a more cooperative and civil year here in the township. We have some issues facing us that may cause spirited debate, however, without working together to solve these issues we will only fail to move forward. So Happy New Year to all and I wish us all the best 2009 possible.

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Posted in Bedford Township, Neighbors | No Comments »

The Whitman Vote and thoughts

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

This past Tuesday’s vote was very likely one of the most watched votes in the history of our fair township. It seems everyone has an opinion on the rezoning of the land owned by the Whitman family at the intersection of Sterns and Lewis. Not surprising to anyone is the fact that I have many opinions to share; opinions not just over the rezoning but also of some individuals.

The vote on the rezoning went as I had thought it would with the approval of five of the six parcels; the one parcel, parcel number six, that was denied rezoning was the same parcel that was not recommended by our township planning commission for rezoning. This is the parcel that sat nearly dead center of the piece of land in question and was about 8 acres in size. Whitman was requesting the zoning be changed from R2-A single-family residential to C-2 commerical. The concern of the board was that completely rezoning this parcel would not allow for a sufficient buffer for the homes adjacent to the west side of the property from the potential commercial land use to the east side of this property.

I’m not entirely sold on that particular theory in that a lot of the ‘pollutions’ of commercial zoning can be hashed out in site plan approvals. A simple look at the approval process for Bedford’s largest commercial development at this time, Kroger, shows that the developers and representatives of Kroger were more than accomodating with the type of lighting installed, delivery times, where docking stations would be located, and the even moved where a dumpster was proposed to be placed to eliminate the threat of disturbing neighbors with early morning trash pickup. Living close to the Kroger development I have spent some time monitoring the lighting issues, the truck issues, the roads issues, etc. I don’t see the issue with this particular commercial neighbor.

Yes, I understand had the rezoning of that eight acres gone through one would be looking at a considerably larger commercial development. However, I am not convinced that size and scope automatically equate to bad commercial neighbor.

Honestly, in this man’s opinion, the biggest issue with the vote and the reason I feel that those eight acres were honestly turned down was due to the possible sale of the land to one Wal Mart. The big bad ,local business destroying, will leave empty boxes allover our township Wal Mart. Again, a notion I do not completely agree with.

Bedford Watch, a local ‘community activist’ group was adamant against this rezoning and their focal point was that if the land is rezoned then it will be sold with absolute certainty to Wal Mart. Don’t believe me? Check out their website where the group is seemingly obsessed with Wal Mart and it’s hell bent nature of destroying small towns. Wal Mart would destroy our roads, put a further pinch on our police and fire protection, would put 100 local businesses out of work, and would quash commercial development throughout the township.

Remember those old T-shirts that said Fear This? I was fully expecting to see a mock shirt of these old T-shirts from Bedford Watch – Wal Mart: Fear It! I’m not trying to be crass as that is an honest opinion. The Bedford Watch group it seemed purposely tried to play on people’s fears and to their heart strings; they were selling people on the fact that because Jon Whitman had a deal with Wal Mart before that he did now.

Bedford Watch said our roads would deteriorate and that an additional 76,000 cars per day would drive on Sterns and Lewis. How did they arrive at this figure? Is it because it’s a national average and we’ll assume that national averages equate to the consumers in this area? I do not know the answer but 76,000 additional vehicles is an awful lot of vehicles and a figure I find to be highly unlikely.

I agree with Bedford Watch that our roads would deteriorate; there is not a sane person with any level of understand on this that would disagree. However, I don’t believe that this reason alone should preclude commercial development. First, I am certain prior to development an impact study would be performed on what type of impact the development would have on the infrastructure in that immediate area. This impact study would then allow for our Site Plan committee to instruct the developer that they will be responsible for the upgrades in that area as a part of their development. This is a common practice, not only in Bedford Township, but everywhere. For example in Monroe when the Wal Mart was built the local government required Wal Mart to pay to repave the road (expand?) and put in traffic control systems in that area.

Bedford Watch said that a Wal Mart would put a further pinch on our police and fire. They used scary figures like 714 calls to the ‘closest’ Wal Mart in Toledo on Central Ave in the past two years. They failed to qualify a couple of things. First, this particular Wal Mart is located on the corner of two very busy streets that allow for simple ingress and egress from the store location and that it is located less than 1 mile from a major expressway cutting through the area. Two, they failed to mention that this particular Wal Mart is located within walking distance of some low income areas of the City of Toledo.

Bedford Watch failed to consider a lot of things in their Wal Mart and crime argument. One of the biggest I found was that the particular Wal Mart they used as their example isn’t the closest to our township. I used the Lewis and Sterns as the epicenter of this argument of mine and found that the Wal Mart in Oregon, OH is actually a full 3 miles closer than the one used in their examples.

I found this to be intriguing for a couple of reasons. The location of the Oregon, OH Wal Mart is much more synonymous with the type of development that would occur in our own township. The size of the community the store resides in is similar to Bedford as is the median income. The Oregon, OH store is approximate in location to low income and crime areas to what a development at Sterns and Lewis would be. Why do I mention all of this? Because according to an anti-Wal Mart website that Oregon, OH store has only had 53 police complaints from 2002-2005.

Finally, Bedford Watch wanted you to believe that Wal Mart would put all of our local businesses out of business. I thought Mr. Gene Stock made a wonderful presentation and point at the township meeting about the first ‘big box’ that ever came to Bedford and the actual economic boom that came with it. One could point not only to the Oregon, OH Wal Mart as an example but also to the Wal Mart located on Glendale in the city of Toledo. Commercial development sprang to life on Glendale Ave. in an area that previously was a big empty open field that previously had shown no signs of life.

I do not wish for this entire argument to revolve around Wal Mart as it never should have to begin with. The point I am trying to make is that Wal Mart is not necessarily some scray Godzilla like monster that could come into our township and kill it’s make up and charm.

For the record I am not pro-Wal Mart whatsoever but that has more to do with their support of Chinese and foreign products than it does anything else.

Back to the point – this whole mess never should have involved, revolved around, and had anything to do with Wal Mart. As Supervisor Walt Wilburn said the rezoning votes are based solely on land use and the speculative nature of what that land use could become. I’ve previously tried to say that but did do poorly on the Bedford Now Chatter. I think once everyone has a firm understanding of that then this issue will go away peacefully.

Now some other random thoughts from the vote night:

- I can appreciate Ms. Sherri Meyer’s no votes on the parcels with the exception of the parcels due north and south of the dealership. These parcels would have little to no effect on the day-to-day lives of the residents of Indian Acres of they were rezoned (which they were). It creates the thought in my mind that all of these no votes were simply no votes for political posturing. If memory serves me right Mr. Jim Goebel voted no on all of the parcels with the exception of the two due north and south of the dealership. Please correct me if I am wrong.

- Where were all the people who supported rezoning all six parcels? Was it really only Mr. Stock?!?

- If I heard the words Northtowne Mall one more time I think I was going to throw up. Yes, there were crime problems over there as that area is notorious for issues with crime because its located in a hot bed for it! Sure, our township is only a short drive from there but don’t you think if all the miscreants were going to come here and cause trouble they already have?

- The very public excoriation of Mr. Paul Francis by Bedford Watch leader Doug (unknown last name) and Mr. Dennis Steinman were uncalled for. Mr. Francis has no legal conflict of interest in this case and there was no need to recuse himself from the vote or abstain. He stands to receive no financial gain from the rezoning or eventual sale of this land. Nor does he have any fiduciary ties.

I am certain this is not the last of this issue. Bedford Watch will move their fight to another arena, Jon Whitman could likely take the township to court again over the denial of parcel number six, recall efforts, who knows?!?!

All I hope for is that Bedford Watch becomes who they say they are .. a group of citizens who are concerned for their own investment and their own property. There is nothing wrong with that … nothing at all. I can respect that just don’t represent yourself as a community watch dog when you’re only watching out for yourselves. Also, drop the fear mongering and deliver a proper, consistent, and legal message don’t play on speculative fears give me a real reason for concern.
Reports from those physically present at the meeting (I viewed on TV) was that Mr. Steinman showed up more than halfway through the meeting, paced around until public commentary time, made his statement and then left. Mr. Steinman had to be reminded to speak towards the Supervisor repeatedly and was waving his finger around and making a mockery of the system he was a part of for 28 years. He knows better than to act like that at a public meeting.

Reports also say that when Mr. Francis made his apology to Doug from Bedford Watch that Doug was seen rolling his eyes.

I suppose I should bump my blog on civility back to the top of this page?

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Posted in Bedford Township, Bedford Township Government, Bedford Watch, Whitman rezoning | No Comments »

Lessons of American Importance (Jr. High)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Well, I finally had the opportunity to reach out to school administrators and business leaders via e mail today; next up is our township leaders (I just need to decide in what fashion I would like them to help contribute as I am not looking to make this blog overly political in nature).

The first individual to respond to me was my old junior high principal, Mrs. Mary Zaums. She was always an excellent administrator and I am glad to see that she is still over there leading a great group of young people as well as an excellent staff. Hopefully she is still there when Meghan, my oldest, finds her way there in 4 more years.

I found out that enrollment is indeed down at the junior high – 840 students – and less are expected next year. We, as a community, must find a means in which enrollment stops declining. I’m not sure if it is a lack of affordable housing for young families, the struggling economy, or a combination of the two. Regardless of the problem we need to fix declining enrollment as it is one aspect that could help our declining school budget.

Mrs. Zaums shared with me two great stories both of which I found to be very exciting and important lessons.

The first story came from an American History class (which I believe we took in the 8th grade) where a teacher was playing the Auction Game. The premise of the game is the teacher acts as the Treasury and controls the value of the play money with which he auctioned off desirable goods. When the teacher would decrease the value of the money the demand for the goods would then increase. Eventually the supply of the goods decreased because the teacher began gradually removing money from circulation.  The point of the lesson was to bring the current economic struggles of America into focus for these 13-year-old students. Mrs. Zaums stated that it worked very well because the teacher was a master as knowing students and being able to bring everyday practice to their level.

What a neat lesson. A focus on improving the economic struggles facing this nation is real and effects all of us; including these 13-year-old children. Imagine what a great opportunity these children have to go home and share this new experience with their families. Furthermore, imagine the opportunity to learn more at home and maybe even the parents could learn something from their child’s experience.

The second exciting story Mrs. Zaums shared was that she was taking four students to the Government Center to meet and talk to Bob Schockman, our Township Clerk, and to ask him to come over and register students to vote in a mock election this November at the school. Only those who registered would be able to vote in the mock election.

Again, what a great lesson in civics. I don’t recall being presented with this type of opportunity at that age. I do recall during the 1996 election, my senior year of high school, having some elected officials, or those running for office, come and speak to the Government classes. Bev Hammerstrom was there and I think Bob Schockman came to speak as well. Mr. Med Barr, a former township official, was our government teacher and I am sure this played a role in things.

Considering that the young people, my generation included, of this nation seem to not take their voting rights seriously I think any exposure at any age is important. I applaud Mrs. Zaums and those at the junior high who took this step to teach such an important lesson.

Hopefully this is the first of many posts that will focus on positive and exciting things going on at all of our wonderful schools. We truly have top notch facilities with top notch individuals leading our school system. I look forward to communicating with all of the administrators and others throughout the community to share stories like this with all of you.

Thanks to Mrs. Zaums for taking the time to communicate with me today and a thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read. You all make this worthwhile.

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Posted in Bedford Public Schools, Bedford Township | 2 Comments »

Parks, youth, growth, and how they can tie together.

Monday, August 18th, 2008

I like to think I know a lot about everything when in all actuality (and I do truly realize this) I only know a little bit about a lot of things. I’m not always right and contrary to some people’s beliefs I am not always wrong either.

So here is something I don’t understand ….infinitely. Why can the parks levy in Bedford Township not pass? There has been some great commentary on this on the Bedford Now Chatter and I can appreciate a lot of the comments on both sides of the argument.

Such as the commentary made by those opposed to the levy:

  • It only seems to be Ohio residents at the parks (Carr Park’s parking lot was used as an example)
  • While it isn’t a lot of money many of us don’t have the added expendable income.

And some of the commentary for the levy:

  • On a house with a taxable value of $100,000 the levy only increases taxes $17.50/year. How can you not come up with a little more than a dollar a month?
  • We live in a great community that deserve better parks.

This past levy was specifically for the upkeep and maintenance of our parks. I think there is still significant backlash occurring in the township due to the purchase of the land where Lewis Anstead Park will(may) stand.  I lived outside the township’s limits at that time and admittedly don’t understand the backlash. I also think, but don’t know, that the township used to have money set aside in the General Fund for the parks however due to the economic struggles that money has been diverted.

The issue that bothers me, outside of wanting my children to be able to enjoy the parks in Bedford, is that increasing the number of parks and maintaining them properly is probably the least expensive cost to us as taxpayers to increase our property values. Studies have been conducted to show that parks, green lines, golf courses, et cetera can all have a positive effect on our property values.

Another issue is far different and it’s that of a stigma – that stigma is to be the best. I am proud to live in Bedford Township but we lack in so many things. Parks, for one, are laughable when compared to some of the other suburbs such as Sylvania, Maumee, and Perrysburg. I once envisioned a Pacesetter Park type setting where they’re building the Summerlyn development at Secor and Smith roads. There would be other economic benefits to this type of development in the township including bringing softball and baseball tournaments to the area. The fact that we have no lighted baseball/softball facility in the township is depressing as well. Off the top of my head I know for a fact that Toledo, Bowling Green, Sylvania, and Maumee have these facilities.

Another huge issue facing this township is the lack of things to do. Outside of ForestView Lanes and the volleyball courts there what is there for young adults and teenagers to do in this township? This is not largely different from my youth.  About the only difference is the construction of the Francis Family YMCA (and thank God for that).

Recently some young residents of our township, who have allegedly not been in trouble before, were arrested for vandalizing property and making Molotov Cocktails. Now, I am not trying to excuse the poor judgment that was exercised here by these individuals but I am almost willing to bet that these poor choices and lack of judgment partially result from an infinite sense of boredom.

We, as a township, must develop ways to encourage and promote businesses that cater to the youth of this township to invest here. Our dollars are clearly being spent elsewhere! In places where those dollars could easily be spent here. These are places like Maxwell’s (a coffee house), various concert venues like Headliner’s and Club Bijou, movie theatres, etc. Bringing these types of businesses to the township increases jobs, increases the money flow in the township, and presents a more desirable image. We’ve done a wonderful job bringing in businesses that cater to the adults of this community; it is now time to step up for the teenagers and young adults.

And yes, I think parks are a piece of that puzzle. It may seem silly and considering our current parks it may be. However, we have to think on a larger scale – something like a Pacesetter. Perhaps a place where people can ride and race dirt bikes (like in Delta, OH) or any other number of things that people enjoy. I know this could be an economic benefit not only to the township but to all of us.

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Posted in Bedford Township | 7 Comments »