The editorial entitled `Get it together in merger dispute' in the
Daily News this past Sunday, 25-AUG-96, correctly summarizes the
local scene. However, it mixes a dream with stark reality.
The dream of a unified Northmont community is NOT new. Randolph
Trustees met with the Englewood Mayor and other officials about a
merger in the Spring of 1994 and received a "we'll annex the land,
you keep the citizens" response. Combining governmental entities
requires mutual cooperation. Interested parties must have the will
and desire to sit down and resolve their differences.
I have attended Randolph Township Trustee meetings, Merger Commission
meetings, and Englewood City Council meetings. I can honestly say the
vote to merge Clayton and Randolph would NEVER have been necessary
had the Englewood administration been willing to treat their
neighbors as equals. The record speaks for itself: Englewood prefers
to dictate and litigate rather than negotiate.
The reality is that Union wants to be an independent community and
one can respect that. The reality is that Englewood is more intent on
expanding their own prosperity, than in worrying about the Northmont
Community as a whole, and that is their prerogative.
The quest is for tax base. If left unchecked, Randolph Township, with
its rural flavor and neighborly identity, will be devoured by
annexation into Trotwood and Englewood. The Village of Clayton will
become an enclave, with failing economic resources, surrounded by
large economic growth and receiving NONE of the benefit. A merger
ensures residents of Clayton and Randolph their fair share of that
prosperity by giving greater local control over future development.
That's why the Merger of the Village of Clayton and Randolph Township
makes sense. It clearly protects the interests of both communities.
n my opinion, the merger is the first step towards equality and
unity in the entire Northmont area. If this first step is not taken,
I am certain the dream of an eventual unification of the Northmont
community will never occur.
