Newark Ohio Town Hall

Newark Ohio Town Hall Open (respectful) Dialogue Regarding Newark And Licking County Ohio In the end the people must choose and the people must help themselves." -- John F.

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money” ~Alexis de Tocqueville quotes (French Historian and Political scientist. 1805-1859)

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." — Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978)

“Cit

izenship is what makes a republic; monarchies (tyrants and dictators) can get along without it” ~ Mark Twain

"The efforts of the government alone will never be enough. Kennedy

"Every nation gets the government it deserves." ~Joseph de Maistre, 1811

"Today, when the consequences of our actions (and inaction!) reach further into time and space than at any previous point in history, we more than ever need politically engaged citizens." -- Jakob von Uexkull

Once upon a time in America each community had its own Town Hall where meetings were held by the people of the community. The PEOPLE discussed the good, bad, and ugly matters that the community was facing and what needed to be dealt with by those who were in leadership positions. The leaders attended the meetings and heard the people - their opinions - their thoughts - their concerns. They would make their decisions based on what the people had communicated. Those days have been long gone and "We the People" have left the leaders to make decisions based on. . .what the other leaders want? This is a forum to allow those who live in Newark, Ohio, and/or those who consider Newark their home, to discuss matters of politics and policy with each other and share this information as a united voice to the elected leaders in Newark. Granted, no one will agree 100% on any one thing - that's what makes us individuals. However, I do believe that there are many matters where a consensus can be reached that the majority agree upon. It would be wonderful to determine what are the three major issues affecting Newark? Pull together the top three - get a consensus - and work toward getting those who are elected to get on board and working towards the goals OF THE PEOPLE - rather than on their own private agendas. If you would like to be a positive force and an active part of this forum - please join! Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Constitution, Green, Tea Party, Christians, Agnostics, Rich, Poor - all are WELCOME. Fair Warning (by a vote of the members): Antagonists and those who just want to argue in a non-constructive manner will be excused. History. . .I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the REPUBLIC. . ." At one time, the Founders said our country was comprised of many small republics. As defined by James Madison: “We may define a republic to be … a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during [the people's] pleasure for a limited period, or during good behavior. It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans and claim for their government the honorable title of republic.”

Here is a great example if We The People fail:

“What good does it do me, after all, if an ever-watchful authority keeps an eye out to ensure that my pleasures will be tranquil and races ahead of me to ward off all danger, sparing me the need even to think about such things, if that authority, even as it removes the smallest thorns from my path, is also absolute master of my liberty and my life; if it monopolizes vitality and existence to such a degree that when it languishes, everything around it must also languish; when it sleeps, everything must also sleep; and when it dies, everything must also perish? There are some nations in Europe whose inhabitants think of themselves in a sense as colonists, indifferent to the fate of the place they live in. The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved. They are so divorced from their own interests that even when their own security and that of their children is finally compromised, they do not seek to avert the danger themselves but cross their arms and wait for the nation as a whole to come to their aid. Yet as utterly as they sacrifice their own free will, they are no fonder of obedience than anyone else. They submit, it is true, to the whims of a clerk, but no sooner is force removed than they are glad to defy the law as a defeated enemy. Thus one finds them ever wavering between servitude and license. When a nation has reached this point, it must either change its laws and mores or perish, for the well of public virtue has run dry: in such a place one no longer finds citizens but only subjects.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville

To contact your Newark City Council person: http://www.newarkohio.net/government/city-council/council-members

05/03/2023

Loren Barber wrote this on Bridget Fouty’s page. Glad both are willing to “voice” their opinions.

Your opinion?

“Bridget, that is so well written. And it sums it up totally..
I lost sight of the fact that the council can't do anything. But it was valuable interacting with them to show a few of their character.

It is the mayor. He could have stopped this. He sits up there and allows people to continue in pain for over a month.
What a moral leader of people.

Why would a mayor let this continue ?
After seeing three statewide news stations that think it is a leading story... It appears he hasn't even asked himself why.

Because it's outrageous. Because it's small town idiocy.
So he sits there, and allows shame and ridicule to come down on our community.

He witnesses lies told right in front of him, no consequences.Even children walking up to a microphone saying I was lied to.
There is no low bar set for a city Superintendent, obviously.
A gas station would have fired that individual by now.

They don't see...this isn't about someone coming in and improving things. For example, let's get all these bordered areas, a uniform size.

No. This is someone coming in, and trying to wipe out a whole culture and tradition with nothing left showing the practices that have occurred there for 89 years.

That's why Columbus news thought this was a lead story. Another example of Newark's ignorance.
And guess who is Lord of the flies?

So ask again, why would a mayor allow such shame and embarrassment on our city, all over a pinwheel or a poo statue?
When a month ago he could have said, hey this is a little over the line, let's find something short of gutting the whole cemetery.

Only two answers. Either he isn't fit to be mayor anymore, sanctioning pain that people are experiencing over such trivial BS.
Putting others interests over the will of the people he is supposed to be serving.

Or there is some major contributor to his campaign, having him do the puppet dance?
Some favor owed that he is willing to shame this city across Central Ohio? Who knows.

But either of these two reasons are unacceptable and call for a new leadership.

He showed his honesty when he told the media that this is about "safety and maintenance."
After both those issues were resolved by using basic intelligence.

Once the city was presented with a simple solution to this...borders that isolate the decorations and make it faster to trim past, he should have put a stop to it all.

It's pathetic they overpay two people with the superintendent titles, and neither of them are capable of simple problem solving like the paragraph above.

Yeah there's something behind this. The administration is supposed to be the deepest part of the intellectual gene pool in Newark.
I don't see that it's even deep enough to need a lifeguard.”

05/02/2023

Thank you to Republicans Jake & Sabrina Warner for State Central Committee for putting this together. 👍🏼

05/02/2023

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY!
MAY 2, 2023!
MAKE A CHANGE!

05/02/2023

The Cedar Hill Cemetery decoration policy has been revised, but it may not be enough to please those upset about removal of items placed on graves.

As a forward, believe me, I sincerely wish this had been resolved four weeks ago. Unfortunately, it’s only gotten worse....
04/29/2023

As a forward, believe me, I sincerely wish this had been resolved four weeks ago. Unfortunately, it’s only gotten worse.

This was/has been preying on my mind, again. So at 5:30 a.m. I started writing. . .

Imagine, if you will, receiving a phone call informing you that your child, your only daughter, was shot by a crazed lunatic and she is dead.

Anybody? Can you imagine? There are only two men, that I know of on here, who’ve received such a call. One is my classmate and friend, Loren Barber.

Seven years ago I got a message asking me if I thought the young girl who was murdered was Loren’s daughter? Unbeknownst to me, this story was all over the news. I looked at an article, at the picture of this beautiful young lady - went and looked at Loren’s profile to find a photo of his daughter. It was her, Jaime, his only daughter.

It’s not like being on the internet is noisy, but this hush, like a heavy fog, descended down over our class. We sadly waited on Loren to “say” something. Many of us stared, in silence at his page, not wanting to invade his privacy at a time such as that.

The murderer had shot and killed his mother first. Then he shot Jamie, twice. A big part of what haunts Loren is knowing his precious child heard that man coming for her and he wasn’t there, to stand in the gap, to protect his child. Can you imagine?

For three days the murderer evaded the police. He was finally caught and put behind bars.

Then came two years of a trial with a lazy prosecutor who only wanted this criminal faction behind bars for 12 years on each count - for slaughtering his own mother and Jaime.

Loren stepped up and did not, would not, back down in his quest for real justice. He fought like a warrior for his child, got some powerful help from Cuyahoga County, and the killer was eventually sentenced to life in prison. Rightly so.

In the midst of the initial chaos, Loren had laid his daughter to rest at Cedar Hill Cemetery. He had a beautiful stone made, with her picture carved in it. As a multitude of others did at their loved ones gravesites, Loren put special items at Jaime’s grave. The one special item that was a major comfort to him, was the little light over her resting place, so she wouldn’t be out there in that vast darkness, alone, without a light. Can you imagine walking away, leaving your child alone in the haunting silence and vast blackness of the night, in a cemetery, without a light?

Now comes Newark City Service Director, David Rhodes, and the newest policy changes. These changes are, in my opinion, a direct slap in the face to those who had hope that the City would negotiate in good faith with its citizenry. Quite the contrary - this was a completely bad faith deal entirely emanating from the officials of the City of Newark.

Since when do Americans have to buckle under to a dictatorship? That’s what is happening at our cemetery. We have tyrants dictating seeming edicts and trying to force the public to take a knee and OBEY!

There was no give and take, no compromise, no negotiations, no talks, no nothing. In fact, behind closed doors their “policy” got worse! They’ve essentially given themselves carte blanche to pillage these final resting spaces - at will.

One targeted blow, in my opinion, is the addition of, “Artificial decorations” that “are NOT permitted. . .”? “Lights.” No light for Jaime - Rest In Peace, dear child, in the darkness. Unconscionable.

Too, while many cemeteries allow 12” to 18”, the City employees led us to believe that they’d yield a mere 8”, with a border around said 8”. Within this space special items, tokens of love could be left at the graves. Nope. They’ve doubled, tripled down. No borders, EXCEPT the wholly cost prohibitive, (especially for the poor in our community), “12-gauge stainless” or “14-gauge powder coated steel” border, that has to be “flush with the ground”. All of this, but FIRST! the despots MUST grant you >written permission

Update on Cedar Hill Cemetery:
04/22/2023

Update on Cedar Hill Cemetery:

NEWARK, Ohio (WCMH) — Licking County’s largest cemetery, Cedar Hill Cemetery in Newark, has had a sign for decades that bars artificial flowers from spring through summer. Residents sai…

04/15/2023

We need people to show up Monday, April 17th, 7:00 p.m. at Newark City Council chambers.

There are many items that need addressed and revisited.

If we don’t continue - everyone loses. Let’s keep on until there is a reasonable compromise on the “policy”.

Cedar Hill Cemetery. There seems to be a running theme with Platznick and Hall: they “care”, about >the cemetery
04/15/2023

Cedar Hill Cemetery. There seems to be a running theme with Platznick and Hall: they “care”, about >the cemetery

This is mind boggling.Loren Barber sent me these photos today from Cedar Hill Cemetery’s dumpster area. Dozens of Americ...
04/08/2023

This is mind boggling.

Loren Barber sent me these photos today from Cedar Hill Cemetery’s dumpster area. Dozens of American flags, most of them new, not faded, not tattered, in great shape - in the trash cans or laying in the dirt around the trash cans.

People have asked if the American flags/veterans graves would be affected. Here is the answer.

Desecrating the graves of children and adults was bad enough. Desecrating our Stars and Stripes is over the top. Too many of our family and friends fought and died for our flag. I can’t ignore this one. When I saw those flags laying in the dirt. . .🔥😡🔥

Doug Stout - could you ask the veterans to save these flags and reuse them or do the respectful disposal of them, please?

Please contact the city powers that be. Again, you can just leave a message or send an email any time.

Thank you, again. 🇺🇸♥️🇺🇸

Mayor Jeff Hall: (740) 670-7510

Service Director, David Rhodes:
Phone: (740) 670-7707
Email: [email protected]

Cedar Hill Cemetery: (740) 670-7775

City Council:
Don Ellington (President)
(740) 344-8160 (C)
(740) 366-5533 (W)
[email protected]

Jeff Harris (At Large)
(740) 403-0481 (C)
[email protected]

Spencer Barker (At Large)
(740) 877-1770(C)
[email protected]

Michael Houser (1st Ward)
(740) 304-4810 (C)
[email protected]

Beth Bline (2nd Ward)
(740) 258-8659(C)
[email protected]

Jeff Rath (3rd Ward)
(614) 893-1023 (C)
[email protected]

Mark Labutis (4th Ward)
(740) 527-0825 (C)
[email protected]

Jonathan Lang (5th Ward)
(740) 527-0052(C)
[email protected]

Doug Marmie (6th Ward)
(740) 366-4318 (H)
[email protected]

Colton Rine (7th Ward)
(740) 310-5608
[email protected]

Ward map: https://www.newarkohio.gov/ward-map/

04/08/2023

Just an FYI - if your vocabulary isn’t extensive enough that you have to resort to offensive language: 1. Get a better education. 2. Your comment is automatically hidden.

From Ernie Castle: “For those who were unable to attend the council meeting here is a link to read the mniutes of the A...
04/07/2023

From Ernie Castle: “For those who were unable to attend the council meeting here is a link to read the mniutes of the Apr. 3rd council meeting and the comments. Click the link below and select minutes and then the drop down box. Select 2023-04-03 minutes.”
https://www.newarkohio.gov/council-meeting-minutes/ #31-32-meeting-minutes

Thank you, Ernie!

The Newark, OH website posts written records from past City Council meetings online. All meeting minutes are in PDF format and will require Adobe Reader to open.

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