MERGER ON TRACK

On February 21, 1997, the Court of Appeals ordered certification of the Clayton/Randolph merger vote, meaning a larger Village of Clayton will be established on January -1,1998. Officials of both communities have created a six member Merger Transition Commission which meets publically to work out the details. Commission members are Mike Schubert, Max Haney, and John Beanie from Clayton with Ted Gudorf, Don Imbus, and Dave Evans from Randolph.

Hundreds of items are on the agenda. A large, community wide, celebration is also planned.

Meanwhile the cities of Englewood and Union have scrapped their plan to form a Joint Fire District with each other. Apparently, "it wasn't legal" said the Englewood Law Director.

But Englewood and Union have not given up their mischief. Recently they filed court papers attempting to DROP their lawsuit in favor of a scheme to create 'paper townships' beneath Englewood and Union. This is an attempt to get the Montgomery County Commisssion to slice up Randolph Township and 'award' most of the assets to 'Englewood and Union Townships.' Of course, this has nothing to do with the Fire Department and everything to do with money.

"Obviously," say papers filed by the Township, 'having failed in court to stop the merger, this is merely an eflort to punish the Township."

And every day, as these 'battles' continue, expenses continue to climb. This reduces the revenue available to fund services to the public.

It is time for all this nonsense to stop. The waste of public tax dollars has escalated into hundreds of thousands dollars. These dollars should have been spent on the needs of the community.

We must recognize that we are all neighbors. There is NO feud with the Fire Department or with each other. ft is just political wrangling. Citizens of Clayton Englewood, Randolph and Union can end this problem if we agree to work together as friends to find a solution that is fair and equitable to all parties concerned!

ON THE HORIZON

Here is a schedule of events:

NOVEMBER, 1997 - At this election, a new statutory village government will be elected. There will be a Mayor, a Clerk Treasurer and 6 council members elected at large.

JANUARY 1, 1998 - Merger of Clayton and Randolph takes effect and 'new' Village of Clayton is established.

MAY, 1998 - In the primary election "Shall a Charter Commission be formed?" will be on the ballot. If so, 15 Commission seats will also be voted at this election.

NOVEMBER, 1998 - Election for Governor of Ohio. After this election the Ohio Secretary of State certifies enough Clayton residents voted to assume City status.

May, 1999-If a Charter commission was formed in 1998, a proposed City Charter would be on the ballot at this time. "Shall the proposed Charter be adopted?"

NOVEMBER, 1999 - Election of new City Officials in accord with the adopted Charter. If the Commission was rejected (May '98) or the Charter was rejected by voters (May '99), a Statutory City Goverment is elected.

JANUARY 1, 2000 - The new (charter) City of Clayton is established.

HOUSE NUMBER
SIGNS AVAILABLE

In response to several requests, I found that Brookville Lawn and Garden Center (833-4065) sells a highly visible "911 Reflective Sign" package consisting of a reflective green metal plate and reflective white adhesive numbers. The package sells for $10 and uses the same materials as the Ohio Highway Department.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns my phone is 854-2929. Please feel free to give me a call any evening from 7pm to 9pm.