News archive

Mayor's Vision: North of Taylorsville Road

Some people like to discuss Huber Heights as having two parts; one north of I-70 and one south of I-70.  The line that would show the most difference in thought probably would be the county line.  The different schools and different mailing addresses lead to markedly different community identities.   Consider the city from an economic perspective and the natural line becomes Taylorsville road

Citizen Patrol Academy - Ever wished you could drive a police car?

The Huber Heights Citizen Police Academy is a great introduction to your police department and the work they do.  It is meant for every day citizens and consists of a good mix of interesting classes with many guest speakers and hands on drills and demonstrations. The CPA will begin Wednesday Feb 8th.  Register by Feb 1st to get your spot.  You can pick up your application and program packet at the Huber Heights Police Division, 6121 Taylorsville Road, between the hours of 9am to 4pm.  

Mayor's Vision -  Part .4 - What makes me tick?

Mayor’s Vision and 2017 initiatives; part .2 - .4  Continued from: Mayor's Vision - Part .2  
 
Depending on your background and interests getting the best value for our tax dollars will mean different things to different people.  I start this section of the essay by pointing out the things that attracted my wife and I to Huber Heights. This will help you understand some of my current positions

Mayor's Vision - Part .2

Mayor’s Vision and 2017 initiatives
 
Introduction:
A couple of the council members recently challenged me to provide a vision for the city.  I used the word “challenged” in the first sentence on purpose because, admittedly, initially I internally scoffed at the request as being insincere.  From my personal view my vision and goals have never changed and they should be obvious to anyone that has

At least one of the proposed amendments should be rejected.

Last year a member of council resigned.  In the table below you can see how many council meetings Ward 5 residents went without representation under the 1983 version of the City Charter.  The table also identifies who was responsible for Council Member attendance / appointment at each of the missed meetings.
 

Responsible party Council Meetings without Representation Total
Council Member

Salary increases and Campaign reform;  Could this bring in better c…

Item Q on Tuesday’s agenda is a discussion on Council and Mayor pay.  Currently the Mayor makes $620 a month and a council member makes $300 a month.  Look at the read ahead and you can see some research Councilmember Shaw provided that compares this to cities like Kettering and Centerville.  From my perspective, I ran this first term for reasons that did not involve the pay.  After three years’

Do half the job now.  Do half later.  Costs 2 times as much.  

We have a member of council that tells us "By passing legislation at last night's City Council meeting, Council moved forward to begin the process to increase and level the water pressure in Huber Heights, in the portion of the city North of Interstate 70."  During the council meeting he also told us he wanted to fix the water pressure problem for all of the city.  The first picture shows the area

If council messes up your water pressure will you pay to fix it?

This article is a call for you to help me find council members capable of critical thinking.  Before I get there let me explain the headline. 
 
Monday, council will vote to get started on the water pressure project (this is NOT the water softening project).  After the project is complete the average water pressure in this new pressure zone will be 80 psi [1].  The typical water pressure for a home

Christmas Tree Lighting - Historical Society Nov 28th

The Wayne Township Christmas Tree Lighting will be 6 pm Monday November 28th at the Huber Center.  The Monticello and Rushmore Schools will provide music.  There will be Free Horse Drawn Wagon Rides and Mr. and Mrs Santa will be there.   See the brochure below for more of the program.  


Historical Society Christmas Tree Lighting

Should Brandt Pike be reduced to a two lane road?

The Brandt Pike Revitalization project is being documented on http://www.discoverbrandtpike.com 

On November 17, 2016 there was a role-up briefing given.  You can find the Power Point Slides here.  I found the slides to be very useful in creating ideas.  I obviously will be advocating that the next time a brief like this is given that a video to be made so those that do not get to go to the original

Should Thomas Cloud be baseball only?

There are those that hope to claim Huber Heights Thomas Cloud park as a Baseball facility.  Currently the park is used for multiple sports, including baseball.  Soccer is the biggest and most successful user of the park.  Our two major soccer organizations work together as well as two organizations competing for talent can.  One of these organizations puts on two nationally recognized tournaments a year drawing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the area.

Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week

 

Hunger and Homeless Awareness week

Charter Amendments other than Issue 29

I have not posted about the Charter Amendments other than Issue 29, until now, because of the importance of making sure Issue 29 is defeated.  I have always judge the current charter as being very well written with only Section 5 needing a re-write.  It is a shame that I have to actively campaign against Issue 29 and the proposed changes to Section 5.  

Mayor's Thoughts:  


Issue 28 -   Currently

Help Wanted - Defeat Issue 29

Vote no on Issue 29 yard signs are now available.   Send me an email if you will put one in your yard.  issue29@huberresidents.org Also read the article Vote No on Issue 29

Mayor Tom McMasters recommends Vote no on Issue 29

Help me make sure all Huber Heights residents know of Issue 29 before they go to vote

Don't trust politicians - But don't shoot them either!

Even though Council and I will be in a political battle the next couple months over Issue 29 where they will be trying to convince you that politicians should be trusted and I hope you can see we need a system with checks and balances, that doesn’t mean that you should get frustrated or turn to extreme measures.  Unless that extreme measure is to go out and make sure your neighbors are aware there is a political battle and they should be engaged (by the way Vote

Great time at Stuff the Bus

I had a great time again at the stuff the bus event.  Looking forward to next year. 

Stuff the Bus


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I will be the last person in the dunk tank tonight (Tuesday August 23) for the Every Warrior Plays "Back to School Bash".  A…

Energy Aggregation - An important lesson on gathering and documenti…

----------------- Update - 4 Sept, 2016---------------------
The resolution passed on a 5 to 3 vote.  I vetod the resolution.  Part of that process requires I let council know the reason(s).  The read ahead on the work session agenda contains the required written objections.
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The discussion on Energy Aggregation continues with the second reading of

Vote No on Issue 29 - Fix the Emergency Legislation Problem, Don't…

The problem with Issue 29 is simple.  Politician's judgement can't always be trusted so the City Charter needs to be written to make sure resolutions are on the agenda for more than one meeting before they become law.  I ask you to vote No on this amendment to the City Charter because it reduces the number of required public readings from 3 to 1.  This significantly reduces your opportunity to learn

City Property For Sale - Possible Recreational Facility?

Update Aug 2, 2016  -  See below the ------------ line for the original post

The City acquired the 80 acres pictured below for about $12,500 a year or so ago because the owner was more than $350,000 behind in taxes.  Yesterday, it made the news that the Fair Board was interested in this piece of property.  Here are my thoughts on making sure the city gets a good value for that piece of property.

Pokemon Go, Tennis and Volleyball at Thomas Cloud

Thomas and I went over to play tennis tonight.  Even though it was nearly 90 degrees, I was happy to see others using the park.  There were quiet a few trying to play Pokemon Go.  A couple of the players stopped for pictures.  You can see it is a game for all ages.  There were others playing tennis and volleyball too. 

Are there any tennis players out there that have organized a tennis ladder or other group method for getting a game?

Community Dialogue:  Judicial Reform  Thursday, July 14, 2016, 7 -…

Here is an event that I look forward to attending this Thursday here in Huber Heights.  As part of my Congressional Campaign I've been meaning to write about some changes in the Ohio Judicial system I would be willing to work to achieve.  Since Lawyer logic is nonsensical, my proposal would be to eliminate the requirement that judges have a law degree.  In fact, my proposal would limit the number

Mayor's Mailbox; IHop, Outdoor Instruments and Arrive Safe this 4th…

I thought I would share some of the items I pulled out of the Mayor's Mailbox this evening.

First I was looking at "The Prosecutor" the newsletter from the Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck Jr. and found this announcement about free cab rides from July 1st at 6:00 pm until July 5th at 6:00 am.  The program is meant for those that drink too much to drive and the phone number is…

City issues or Summer Fun?

Anybody else thrilled they have tomatoes and peppers in their garden?  Marylin took me out golfing for Father’s day and it turns out I’ve developed a hook.  The parts for the go cart are in the mail.  Wouldn’t it be nice to clean the garage?  With all the summer activities it would be easy to forget your city representatives are making decisions that affect your lives.  Thankfully, we live in a

How is the City Code on Out Buildings interpreted and enforced?

Recently the pictures below were shared on Facebook. I’m sure I’m not the only member of council that hears questions and discussions about out buildings.  In my couple years as mayor I've heard discussion by residents who believed they were only allowed one shed and that it had to be 8 foot high or less.  This conclusion is very understandable if a resident used the Search Feature found within

Water Pressure North of Rt 70

Quick Thoughts on the proposal to Increase the Water Pressure North of 70:

  • I don't know how most members of council decided they have enough understanding of the issue to say that it definitely is needed and they are willing to spend more than $2 million dollars to fix it.
    • I believe council needs a complete report on the scope of the problem for residents
    • I believe council needs a complete analysis on how it effects possible development and current businesses

Thoughts on Signing of the 18th Amendment

 
Last Monday Council passed another supplement for the developer of Carriage Trails.  There are two points that could be made if I decided not to sign that legislation.  The first is that I’m still looking for staff to provide more information about the economic input this development provides for the City.  The second would be to address some deceptive information people keep bringing up whenever they want to say the mayor is wrong.

First Reading of the Ballot Measures for November:  Chickens, Water…

Monday evening will be the first readings of 3 possible ballot measures for November's election.  Read the chicken ballot measure.  Look and see if this covers everything you think a chicken measure should cover.  No, we won't take your suggestion to allow roosters.  We already know this will ensure the measure is voted down.  

The water pressure measure is the one I think will get the most discussion

Missing page that recently made the news

Below is the email message that I sent regarding the missing page that made the news yesterday.  The original email was composed by Councilmember Lyons.  There is quite a long email trail that I did not copy and paste but would be available as a public records request.  In the email below the date referenced in this sentence "Without checking the record, I believe that meeting was the May 3, 2016

  Huber Heights Mayoral Recall of Thomas McMasters

I've read through the first posting of the recall team and pasted it below.  My initial read is they won't actually ever give any specific examples of the allegations they make.  This is because if they do it will allow debate within the community about; the facts on how items actually made the news, the circumstances that cause the conflict, and the progress we made in the city these past few years.  

Vice Mayor Starline missed the point in his opinion

If you hadn’t heard Council Member Smith got mad at me because an agenda item she requested didn’t make the agenda.  I’ve posted her complaint below.  The issue I’m going to discuss first is Vice Mayor Starline's conclusion that the rules of council don't allow me to require Council members to provide written background information about what they want to discuss.
 
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