Change*nch believes that Matt Miller-Novak is the stronger candidate for Mayor this year. With his innovative ideas on property maintenance, his excellent relationship with many local businesses, his Business District mural projects, and his fresh perspective and energy, he will provide us with the active Mayor that North College Hill deserves.

First, a healthy Business District is vital for a healthy city. Our current Mayor addresses our diminished economic vitality by employing an economic development firm with little accountability. He has neither properly marketed NCH by utilizing contemporary communication methods nor worked well with the Business Association. Miller-Novak has developed an excellent working relationship with many local business owners. If elected Mayor, he will strive to get government and business working as a team to utilize innovative marketing strategies to create a new vision for our Business District.

Second, our City must make property maintenance a top priority. Miller-Novak will work to create stable neighborhoods with attractive, well-maintained properties and ones in which potential new homebuyers will want to invest. Our current Mayor is addressing this problem with a part time Code Enforcement Office that is sadly overburdened by a tide of poorly maintained, blighted properties. If elected Mayor, Matt will make property maintenance a much greater priority by working to create a full-time Code Enforcement Department as well as utilizing willing volunteers to assist that Office in this cause.

Third, we have great concern in finding our current Mayor distracted by his other interests to the extent that he has attended less than 58% of council meetings in the last couple of years. When he does attend the meetings, he frequently leaves early, missing the “remarks from the audience.” In addition, he very rarely attends the resident forum that was created so people could come and talk to him. We believe that a Mayor has a responsibility to listen to the people and be there for the citizens. Would you attend church if your minister or priest only came to half of the services? If you owned a business, would you keep an employee who only came to work every other day? Matt Miller-Novak will be there for you and listen to you!

While we respect and appreciate that our current Mayor has governed the city for 28 years, he has not been providing the city with the enthusiasm that he once had. He has been maintaining a status quo that he created decades ago and has not been evolving to handle North College Hill’s new challenges. Miller-Novak and his wife, Jamie, are younger professionals and, as such, they represent the New Generation of North College Hill families. We need young, hard-working families to purchase homes in NCH and, just as importantly, we must create a climate to convince our more “veteran” citizens to find real value in staying in NCH. Our next Mayor must have a better understanding of the needs and concerns of both types of families. While Dan Brooks was the person to do this in 1984, we believe that Matt Miller-Novak is the person to do it in 2012 and beyond. Matt has a fresh perspective on how to spruce up the city for new homebuyers; a new vision of how to market the city for young families and new businesses; and a much better understanding of today’s communication technology that our current Mayor has not properly utilized.

Some in the opposition refer to Matt Miller-Novak as too young and too busy to perform the duties of Mayor. However, he is roughly the same age as Mr. Brooks when he first ran. Matt is a full time law student, husband, and dad and part time community volunteer. But rather than apologizing for that, he pledges to dedicate his time and energy to benefit the City. Our current Mayor runs his own business, has government jobs in both Reading and Harrison, and travels frequently, all of which contribute to his poor attendance at Council Meetings. Vote for Matt to get the energy, dedication, and innovation you deserve in a Mayor!

Mayor Brooks and the Tom Graves-led City Council majority have shown a consistent tendency to use short-term fixes for long-term problems and fail to provide our citizens with acceptable levels of service and safety in favor of promoting politically motivated “pet projects.”

For example, they recently “raided” the Street Levy Fund to the tune of $60,000, moving that amount to a Fund that pays certain day-to-day expenses. Had they retained those dollars in the Street Levy Fund, the City could have attracted as much as $180,000 additional dollars in matching funds from County, State, or Federal agencies. A statement in a Mayor’s Newsletter reported that the City has been successful in attracting roughly $3 from such agencies for every $1 used from the City’s own Street Levy Fund. Furthermore, once the $60,000 was transferred to the other Fund, it became impossible to trace.

The City also has a Fire Equipment Fund that receives all its income from fees paid for service rendered by our Fire Department. Many years ago when forward thinking elected officials created this Fund, it was meant for use in purchasing expensive vehicles and equipment for the Fire Department. That has worked well for many years since. Our current Administration had City Council transfer $100,000 of Fire Equipment Fund income to the General Fund for day-to-day expenses and, of course, there is now no way for us to track this money either. Since that transfer to the date of this printing, there have been no ordinances proposed or passed to pay for Fire Equipment or Department related expenses. The City seemingly has no problem paying large amounts of interest on loans it must take out to purchase expensive Fire Equipment it might have been able to buy outright had that money been kept in the Fire Equipment Fund.

We congratulate the NCH School Board and Administration for taking advantage of available State matching funds, convincing citizens of the School District on the notion of more modern, centralized and energy efficient school buildings, and ridding themselves of out-dated and inefficient buildings. In the process, they also convinced our City Administration and the Tom Graves-led Council majority to cede to them important space (once the site of the City’s Public Works Department) to use for new parking. The City not only agreed to take ownership of one of the out-dated schools but also had to spend over $300,000 (it didn’t have) to build a new Public Works Department it really didn’t need except for this deal. So now we have a $300,000 loan to amortize as well as all the expenses required to relocate Departments comfortably and securely to the old school building. In what originally was described as a “Recreation Center,” then downgraded to a “Community Center,” and most recently described as a “City Center,” we find ourselves with an old school into which the Administration plans to eventually move its own offices, the Tax Department, and the Postal Station. The NCHPD was a part of the Mayor’s plans for the City Center up until just a week or two ago based on an ICRC TV show and newspaper accounts. The “Recreation Center” has now become a place where Mayor Brooks says that students can come for quiet study, a place where Senior Citizen volunteers can teach teens to cook, sew, and do “checkbook mathematics” since Home Economics is not typically offered in schools any longer. The Mayor planned for all this, we assume, while police march suspected felons into the building and sex offenders report as ordered to the local Police Department, just a matter of feet away from our kids! It took many months for the Police and City Manager finally to get the Mayor “to see the light,” at least on that issue! Can we trust the Mayor’s future planning for our children? 

Mayor Brooks and the Tom Graves-led Council majority approved an Economic Development Consultant for NCH. She spends little of her time in the City of North College Hill. Her reporting of her work on behalf of the City is spotty at best. And her immediate “supervisor” for NCH happens to be the City Manager who is also her husband! Since her hiring by the City at $40,000 per year or more 4-5 years ago, we are still losing decent businesses and occasionally getting others of questionable value or enhancement to the Business District. Certainly, there are a few rare exceptions such as Van Zandt Restaurant and Tavern. But we have lost a major bank, a pharmacy, a cleaning service, a lawn and garden store, a hair and beauty supplies outlet, and a music supply business. In their place we have a relocated existing business, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, and a beauty shop (the most recent of 20+ such businesses in NCH alone!). One of our two largest business tracts, the former Thriftway store has been empty for a decade or more and the almost $200,000 investment in an Economic Development Consultant has brought us a steady stream of hair salons, discount stores, empty lots, parked trailers, and even an adult sex shop while maintaining a “healthy” number of empty storefronts. We all agree — the economy is horrible! So was the decision to hire a costly consultant during a time when even the most commercially attractive Communities are struggling. We need better leadership in North College Hill.

Have you ever seen a City Budget or at least a simplified version of one? Has anyone from City Government ever asked you what you think the priorities should be in the budget of a mostly residential/small business community? Do you think the Police presence in your neighborhood is sufficient? Do you know the average number of officers on patrol at a single time in our Community? Did you realize that NCH was one of the last three Cities in the entire SW Ohio area to lack a full-fledged Paramedic Unit, a rather large step up from an Emergency Medical Squad (EMS) unit? Did you know that the City failed to open its Municipal Pool for the third consecutive year, this time for financial reasons rather than school construction? Change*nch does not think that truthful answers to the above questions reflect a City Government that is fully aware of the nature of the City it is supposed to be governing. Ours is a City of families, modest homes, and mostly small, independent businesses. We need sufficient Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical protection for our family and property. We need good streets and sewers to further protect our health and safety. We must have an effective Property Maintenance Enforcement Unit to make sure our property values remain high and our neighborhoods remain attractive and safe. We need a Government that consists of elected and appointed officials who seek out and listen to the will of the people. You will get that type of Government by voting on November 8 for the Change*nch team:

Jason Foley, George Hilleary, and Renee Stiles for City Council

And…

Matt Miller-Novak for Mayor

Two things are very evident about NCH City Government:

#1) The average citizen of North College Hill has little or no information about how City Government works and for what City Government is responsible.

#2) Local Government officials do little to make contact with our citizens in an effort to learn their wants, needs, goals, and objectives.

Thanks to the willingness on the part of our Fire Chief, Brian Fels, the City’s website is much improved over its former condition. It is more informative and very easy to navigate. But a website is only as good and effective as the information and news that is given to the Webmaster for publication. This is where our website could be improved. In addition to easy-to-read and -understand financial reports and budgets, regular reports from the Administration and Department Heads, profiles on City employees and appointed and elected officials, and postings of the dates, times, locations, and descriptions of interesting up-coming events throughout the Community, Change*nch believes that there should be a way for citizens, business operators, and others to communicate their suggestions, comments, and questions to City officials through the website and make them known to others via an active on-line City blog.

Change*nch also believes that other means of communication by our City’s residents and business operators with City Government Officials are being missed by Mayor Brooks and the Tom Graves-led Council majority Party. These include: the Hilltop Press, the twice-weekly Your Hometown Enquirer, the use of ICRC (of which the City has been a member for decades) to broadcast important City meetings over public access TV and the Internet, and the scheduling of old-fashioned Town Meetings. We would also encourage the creation of an Advisory Committee for City Government, a majority of its membership consisting of citizens and one or more members of the business community with one representative from the Administration and another from City Council present as ex officio (non-voting) members.

Finally, in order to make City meetings more visitor-friendly, Change*nch would suggest the immediate purchase of a sound system so that people in the audience can actually hear and understand the proceedings at such meetings. 

As it is now, most NCH people would probably not recognize the voices, names and faces of most NCH City Government Officials. Considering the fact that these people are making decisions daily that directly affect the lives and welfare of our citizens and business operators, that is a condition that Change*nch wants to improve. We can do that with your votes on November 8 for:

Jason Foley, George Hilleary, and Renee Stiles for City Council; and

Matt Miller-Novak for Mayor

The following represents the second of Change*nch PAC’s Issues (Platform Planks) for our 2011 Election Campaign

Proper maintenance of our homes and businesses in the North College Hill is a key factor in enhancing our quality of life. By keeping our buildings and grounds attractive and in good working order, we will all feel a true sense of pride in our own homes and businesses and in the Community overall. Proper care for our building and grounds will also insure a higher return on our investments and improve our impression on visitors to North College Hill.

Fortunately, many residents and business operators in NCH already show proper care for their homes or businesses. But there are those who do not do so, and it is the City’s responsibility to make sure that they do. The Candidates of Change*nch PAC propose the following steps to make sure that your property or business is not negatively affected by the poor maintenance practices of others:

We propose to use some of the money saved from our other initiatives to be used to extend the part-time hours of our Property Maintenance Enforcement Officer(s).

We further propose to update any current job description and laws of Property Maintenance Enforcement to ensure that they meet the current needs of our City.

We intend to push council to create a Property Maintenance Committee of Council while combining the work of the Community Development and City Development committees. This would keep the number of Council Committees at four while boosting our property maintenance efforts.

We will also work through local Community groups to solicit volunteers to form a “Fight Blight” on-going process that will identify chronic property maintenance violations and report them officially to the City’s Code Enforcement Office for decisive remedial action on the problem.

We will review the current practices of the Property Maintenance Code Enforcement Office of the City to discover any inefficiencies and make recommendations for improvements.

We also challenge the use of the Public Works Superintendent to serve as general contractor of a street construction project, perform duties of the former Service Director, and also help out Property Maintenance Code Enforcement effectively. One must wonder how he can be expected to do each of those jobs totally efficiently when he must spread his efforts so thinly.

Understand the will of the people

Encourage their input through interaction at the City’s website and at Town Meetings where the people set at least part of the agenda; by making people part of the process through membership on a formal and meaningful Citizens Advisory Panel; and by giving our citizens easier access to news about the City by bringing City Council Meetings into their home through both the Internet and Public Access TV and better utilizing the Hilltop Press, the Enquirer’s semi-weekly “Your Hometown” section, and the City’s own website.

Develop, and announce to the people, a list of weighted priorities

The City simply does not do this now! As a result, the people have no way to measure how well our elected and appointed officials are keeping their promises and spending our tax dollars wisely. Once the basic needs of our people are insured, only then should our elected officials consider the providing of amenities such as a Community Center, upgraded city buildings, etc,

The safety of our citizens and their property must be the highest priority

For that reason, we must establish a base level of acceptable Police, Fire, and Paramedic service that must be available to our residents and businesses 24/7/365. Change*nch set SAFETY as its highest City priority in its 2009 campaign, and argued at that time for our City to finally join the ranks of all but three County municipalities with a full Paramedic Unit. Perhaps our prodding has been the spur the City has needed to bring us a few months closer to achieving that level of service!

Expand the Code Enforcement service currently provided by the City

While our Mayor agreed with visiting Bosnian mayors who stated that Code Enforcement was among their top priorities, he has overseen an era where it has shrunk to a part-time afterthought. The vast majority of our residents take care of their property in such a manner that it is both attractive and free from health-endangering threats. Unfortunately, those that do not do so are risking the welfare of their neighborhoods in terms of both property values and quality of life.

Treat the FINANCES of the City responsibly

At the present time, the City simply does not do this. The current Mayor and Council majority find no fault with moving money designated for one Fund into other City Funds. Instead of attracting over $180,000 of additional grant money for major street construction, $60,000 was transferred from our Street Levy fund to another fund used for day-to-day expenses. While borrowing a considerable amount of money to upgrade the current Administrative building, the current Mayor and Council majority have decided, even before completion of the current upgrade to their existing offices, to move the offices to the former Clovernook School Building. The new site will require many similar upgrades and will cost the same, if not much more, to bring up to speed. Another example of wasteful spending was the building of a new Public Works Department for over $300,000 that does not satisfy the same needs as the old one in some regards. Wouldn’t one think that there would have been exhaustive planning used to insure that such an investment would meet all of Public Works’ needs?

Change*nch endorsed candidates…

MATT MILLER-NOVAK for MAYOR

RENEE STILES, Incumbent, for CITY COUNCIL

JASON FOLEY for CITY COUNCIL

GEORGE HILLEARY for CITY COUNCIL

…pledge to the citizens of North College Hill that they will use every means possible to determine the will of the people prior to setting priorities for spending the taxpayers’ money. They will do this by creating ways to give the people easy access to information about the City and additional ways to provide input on significant issues.

Furthermore, the above Change*nch candidates promise that they will: 1) utilize extensive planning in the performance of their duties; 2) avoid the need to spend large amounts of money more than once to achieve a single goal; 3) guarantee that they will provide basic services to the people of North College Hill that will help to insure their safety, health, property values, and quality of life; and 4) make the people of North College Hill an integral part of decision-making in City Government matters instead of treating them as though they are sources of most of their problems!