Tax Split
Welcome to Tom McMasters' blog about local politics & life in Huber Heights
Because we are still interested in moving the city forward!
Many of you may have gotten to this page because I mention my Facebook page with the same title as this url. I post much more often on the Facebook version because it is easier to get out quick thoughts and share public events. The audience is also a littel bigger. Most of my posts here are longer important articles that need more space than makes sense on Facebook. Check out the articles below and also follow or like HuberResidents.org on Facebook. Tom McMasters |
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As important as I'd like to think this website can be, if you really want to keep up with City government regularly look at the agenda items found on the City's Meeting Information & Audio / Video page
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News
Will annexation be approved again without due diligence?
Monday City Council will vote either to verify or not verify that the city is able to provide City Services to property that is proposed for annexation. This article addresses the lack of due diligence by the city in verifying that adding these properties will not cause bigger deficits than we already experience.
Remember the city originally provided this certification back on Sept 13, 2021. …
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City Attorney implements improved Executive Session Procedure
Many of you probably didn't know that I withdrew my lawsuit against the city after the judge made a decision on my motion for summary judgment. Even though my effort did not result in a clear and unambiguous legal ruling about the Open Meetings Act I am pleased to see the the City Attorney adopted one of my contentions and implemented a useful change during the last work session.
The…
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What to know about the two coalitions
If you didn’t realize it, there are two coalitions fielding candidates in the City government races.
Is there an advantage to backing one of the coalitions?
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Mayor Gore Honest? or Smart? [candidate comparison part 2]
Jeff Gore and I got into a Facebook back and forth the other day. Here is the Readers Digest Version (I post the whole conversation with analysis later so you can confirm this version is accurate).
The original post asked why we don’t get better police enforcement.
I respond because council decides to spend money on Veteran memorials instead of police officers
Jeff Gore says that even if council…
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Rating the 2021 Mayoral Candidates part 1
It may come as a surprise to some but a reason I went to the Marigold Festival this year was because I wanted to let Glenn Otto know that I planned to write an article that said he was not as good a candidate as his opponent. Before I got to tell him, we started talking about my desire to have him attest that the videos of the City Council meetings on the City Website are more accurate records…
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Older news
Recent Comments
Inappropriate Executive session leads to more wasted money


I wonder if we could get an injunction that requires City Council to get court approval before being allowed to go into executive session. The number of times they go into executive session in violation of the law is so frequent this requirement makes sense.
Would anyone else be interested in helping pursue this kind of action?
Could this illegal flyer get me to vote for Otto?
I would like to see the candidates talk about issues. For instance Council is discussing the Lexington Place TIF. Staff gave them an estimate of $5.1 million dollars. When I look at this I see the possibility of over $10 million or getting as little as $2 million yet no member of council asked questions that would help determine what is a plausible expectation. Nor did they ask questions that show they understand the details that would change the amount the city will get. Glenn missed his opportunity to show he is voting on the plan that maximizes our revenue. But I would give him or Dana credit if they were to discuss it now.
Thoughts on Signing of the 18th Amendment

In regards to your first objective… I think it is reasonable that you ask those types of questions. But I also think you should ask yourself this… why should the city get to sit back and provide nothing, but reap all the benefits? TIF is a pretty common thing used all across the country and in the rest of the world. The whole purpose of it is to encourage develepment.
As for your suggestion to slow down development…. this has already been going on for how many years now and still has many more to go. How long exactly do you want this to last?
Have you considered what happens if the city stops contributing and the developer pulls out? The developer is currently paying millions in debt on behalf of the city are they not? If DEC pulled out…. the city would have to start paying that debt again? Or find a third developer at that point to take all the risk because the city doesn't want to help.
Your second objective is basically just to prove a point that you have power or to get some revenge on what some council members told the news in the past? Tell me I didn't just read that. You should be less concerned about what some PAC is doing and more concerned about the city. That is just politics. That PAC failed to even get enough signatures to support their movement 2 years ago.
Site Purpose
I've found that when people talk to our current city council they listen. I also believe council both needs that scrutiny and they don't like it. In fact, they proclaim they want public input but then their actions discourage it. I’ve been trying for a year and a half to get more people to learn about what council is doing because I know with our feedback the city will end up with better government. This website is new online and I have a great vision on where it can go! Right now you can review the beginning of the Aquatic Center or “The Heights” or you can create a profile and start adding content to this site. This is a great project and I look forward to working with you to ensure we get good government here in Huber Heights.
Tom
Flier
If you've come to this website because of a flier you probably want to see the City Lawyer's opinion paper first. At the very bottom of that page you can find a link to the flier for you to download it and pass it out yourself.
Tom McMasters
Announcements
Web Designers, Authors, Ideas Wanted


This website theme has great potential especially since it is open source and free but I can see I'll need help to make it work. If you believe in the vision and you can write code for a website as sophisticated as this contact me. As useful as this site seems it loads pretty slow so if you know of another open source theme that does the same things contact me.
Also, I think if there are 8 of us willing to rotate through the committee meetings and then write about the key events we can improve this city. Contact me if you are interested.
Finally, if you have pictures of City events, construction, public areas or services I'd like to show them. Send them to me and I'll incorporate them into the site.
Tom McMasters
Keep Republic


There probably are a couple more years on the City's trash contract with Republic but I do not think it is too early to compliment the job Republic is doing.
This week the garage got clean and I had a lot of items out front. This morning Republic came and took it all away. I have said it before, Karen Kaleps did a good job organizing the RFP and Jim Borland did a great job in choosing the right…
Robbery - the police and citizens shine


Narcan Training at HH Library


The Huber Heights Library will be holding a Narcan training session. 7 Pm Tuesday Feb 6 2018. Advance registration is required. The training is free.
Narcan is the antidote used during an Opiod oveverdose.
Register online at DaytonMetroLibrary.org/Events or call 937-463-2665
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