Home > Blogs > Middletown News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > May > 06
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Following through
Earlier this year, state Sen. Gary Cates said he would be introducing legislation to prohibit people who have been convicted or have pleaded guilty to a felony from holding public office following Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers pleading guilty to two felonies before resigning the office.
Cates did follow through on what he said and introduced such a bill. That piece of legislation has been assigned to the state Senate’s Judiciary and Criminal Justice Committee.
Prior to her resignation, Rogers was permitted to remain in office until she was actually sentenced by the court. This legislation, if approved by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by the governor, would close that loophole.
Rogers has yet to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Middletown
Lots of email for council on rezoning issue
Members of Middletown City Council have had a lot of reading to do over the past few days.
The Chamber of Commerce sent an urgent notice to members Friday to contact council members and give their support for the rezoning of 157 acres of land off of Ohio 4 (Hamilton-Middletown Road). The land is being targeted for a $340 million state of the art, heat recovery cokemaking and electric generation plant.
Council is expected to hold a public hearing and vote on an emergency ordinance to confirm a March decision by the Middletown Planning Commission today at its 6:30 p.m. business meeting. The meeting will be held in the Council Chamber on the lower level of the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza.
Council Clerk Betsy Parr said the city council office has received more than 300 emails and more than a dozen phone calls from proponents and opponents of the issue.
City officials have two overflow seating areas with television monitors for spectators to observe the meeting once the Council Chamber reaches its room capacity. The city’s fire marshal will be there to enforce the room capacity.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Middletown
Latest from home ownership front
The Middletown Planning Department is continuing to work with LifeSpan and the Middletown Homeownership Partnership with its home ownership courses that help qualified people obtain down payment assistance.
Nelson Self, a senior planner, said nearly 150 people have participated in the program and so far in 2008, the effort has doubled the number of participants over 2007.
Another set of courses will be scheduled for the last two Thursdays in May, Self said. He said during the summer months, the focus will be on post-purchase counseling efforts.
In addition, as part of June being National Homeownership Month, the Middletown Board of Realtors and the Middletown Homeownership Partnership will be hosting a Homeownership Expo from 4 to 8 p.m. June 5 at the Manchester Inn.
It’s an opportunity for Realtors and homebuyers to meet lenders, title companies and others that can help potential homebuyers with their first home with down payment and closing cost assistance.
For more information about the expo, call (513) 423-3445.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Middletown
