As a City Council member I intend to keep Blue Ash moving forward in a fiscally responsible manner using our established long range plans as a guide and keeping true to the City’s charter. All plans need small corrections along the way to keep our focus on what is important. My approach is not to make radical changes, but to look areas where we can keep on improving Blue Ash for those who work here, have a business and especially for those that call Blue Ash home. Below are a few areas I think are important.
Redevelopment
There are two basic areas of Blue Ash that is being redeveloped, downtown and residential. In either case redevelopment should be done in a tasteful manner so we can look at it 20 years from now and be proud. It should also be done in a way that is respectful to the nearby community be it commercial or residential.
Downtown
Frankly the redevelopment of Blue Ash's downtown has taken a wrong turn. My opponent, Jim Sumner, leads the zoning board and brought forward and voted for the 4900 apartment project on Hunt road. This project is flawed in many ways, 1) the building corner comes dangerously close to Hunt road as it turns toward Cooper Road; 2) the sheer number of units is going to strain downtown traffic; 3) the lack of respect for the neighboring community behind the project is outrageous. This development may be to code but it is the zoning code that is flawed and is direct responsibility of my opponent.
One last item, the Suburban Press erroneously reported “Blue Ash approves ordinance barring apartments” with the subtitle “Downtown will see no new apartments”. That article is misleading and is simply not true. City council has approved the second phase of the “4900” project for an apartment building right next to “4900” building currently under construction. They merely “CLOSED THE BARN DOOR AFTER THE HORSE RAN OUT” after hearing from Blue Ash citizens.
Residential
A number of our older homes are being torn down and rebuilt into larger homes with all the amenities of a modern home. Redevelopment is not something that will go away. But in the process, a “hole” in our zoning codes has been uncovered concerning this issue.
That “hole” has shown itself in the deep craters that have appeared for 4, 5 6 months after a home has been torn down. (See image taken on West avenue ). A simple change to our demolition zoning codes would be to simply not tear down a home till the builder is ready to start building. If there is some sort of issue that delays the building, then we just should simply require the hole in the ground to be filled in and planted with grass seeds and maintained like any other piece of property here in Blue Ash. But to simply leave a big hole in the ground to collect water and become a mosquito breeding ground is not acceptable nor shows respect for the people living nearby.
Transparency
Transparency in our city finances, business and operations is a fundamental to maintain trust. At the national and state level we have had too many examples of hidden programs and operations that have eroded trust. I am not claiming our city is hiding or engaged in this type of behavior. But there are a number of ways we can help prevent that from taking place. Here are a few examples.
Financial
One of the single most important roles is how tax money is spent. The Ohio Treasurer has intiated a project that gives us where our money is being spent by state goverment. There is a option for local government such as Blue Ash to participate. Please click on the image to see the Ohio Check Book program called OhioCHECKBOOK.
Emergency Ordinances
There are very few example of ordinances that are truly “Emergencies”, but the Blue Ash City Council defines ordinance as an Emergency far too often. Emergency ordinances should be reserved and used sparingly. The use of the emergency designation circumvents the normal process of introduction, public notification, a discussion, and finally a vote. Prior to my first city council meeting, I tried to educate myself on the topic of "Emergency Ordinances". I did a fairly deep internet search, talked with other council members, city officials, and the cities lawyer. I am not going to say I understand it yet, but will share what I learn on a seperate article on this website when I have completed and understand the usage and history.
City Council meetings
Make city meetings truly available to the public by using our video and internet capability to broadcast council and other city meeting. With the technology available today it is really very simple and inexpensive. We are not always available to attend these meeting due to work or personal commitments. Most of the time these meetings will have very low viewing rates, but occasionally they will be topics of significant interest like the discussion of downtown development, Summit Park plans, or moving the Veteran memorial from the downtown plaza.
Please feel free to contact me for areas that I have not yet addressed on this website using my Contact Me menu, my phone number and email are in the image on the Contact Me page, or just drop by my home at 9514 Conklin Ave.
