I'm going to make a wild guess and say Maumee doesn't have a budget deficit. Maybe they do. I have no idea. But if Maumee has 25k for umbrellas, then the books must be in good shape. So nice job Maumee. These projects improve the community and make Maumee a nice place to live. I'm looking forward to the old theater opening again.
Toledo has or had a budget windfall and had to cut jobs. Two different cities, yeah, I know.
I think a term we'll here more about in 2004 is unigov. Toledo City Councilman Pete Gerken supports unigov or regionalism.
http://www.regionalism.org - "The winners in the New Economy will be the regions that learn to work together to relieve traffic congestion, build affordable housing, preserve open space and promote economic development. If government is going to be effective in this new age, it is going to have to start thinking regionally."
I don't know much about unigov, yet. Supporters constantly bring up Indianapolis as a success story, but Toledo borders another state, and that's a problem. Bascially, I think it's one form of government for all of Lucas County, instead of separate government for each community. There are some exceptions within all of this, but I haven't looked into how it applies to Lucas County.
When Gerken or other supporters mention unigov, they speak in high-level vagueness and give no details. And it's always in terms of how it helps Toledo. I never hear how it helps other communties in Lucas County. Why would Maumee, Sylvania, etc. want unigov? This should be a topic for another day. Does Gerken or Toledo have a unigov manifesto somewhere that anyone can read?
Maumee's Arrowhead Park has been a business thorn in Toledo's side for years, and I think unigov would help Toledo recoupe tax revenue when a business moves from Toledo to Maumee or elsewhere in Lucas County.
"Since the 1970s, Toledo has lost thousands of jobs to the suburbs, such as to Arrowhead Park in Maumee."
"Mr. Sarantou, chairman of the finance committee, said the fact that the losses began in the middle of a booming economy tells him it is due to employers shutting down their Toledo addresses and relocating to Arrowhead Park in Maumee, Michigan, or other locations."
And with unigov, I assume laws like the smoking ban would apply to all of Lucas County and not just Toledo.
posted by jr at 06:13 P.M. EST on Sun Feb 01, 2004 #
Maumee citizens honored.
"Each year Maumee residents are honored for their continued community involvement and leadership roles in helping to make Maumee a better place to live. Members of various civic groups recently met to select the recipients from nominations submitted by friends, relatives, and co-workers."
posted by jr at 11:13 A.M. EST on Thu Mar 04, 2004 #
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