I almost titled this article, "I don't like politicians".  I have made myself a calendar reminder for the 2019 elections because of that feeling.  







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I think residents would benefit if during the discussion of the Annual Sidewalk program our read ahead material pointed to a webpage that showed how well it worked during the previous years.  This could be done by publishing a table like the one below that included every address in the previous year’s program and a short paragraph that explains the Max Invoice and Deduction column’s:
 
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Two items came up in the discussion of the Energy Aggregation  Plan and Governance that I believe needed more supporting documentation before council proceeded.  First, we finally got a copy of the contract we signed with the consultant and nowhere in that agreement does it address the .005/KWH fee we thought the consultant would receive for their services.  Second, the Plan and Governance tells…

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In this article I 

 
 
Last election the residents of Huber Heights confirmed they know a Chief Administrative Officer that lives in the city will be invested and committed to making that…

I just returned from visiting my parents on Father's day.  My parents still live in the house they bought in 1969.  Saturday night we were out on their back porch and we could hear music coming from a house a mile away.  It was the exact music I would be listening to when I was in high school.  I am not one that reminisces very much, but sitting there looking out on their back yard, I could not…

You can find the Brandt Pike Revitalization Plan Final Report here.
 
There are many interesting parts that we can use going forward and many scary parts that we need to put a stop too and many parts that are good ideas but suggested for the wrong part of town or wrong timing.
 
I will start with the scary parts.
 

Traffic Calming

Divert Traffic from Brandt Pike to Troy Pike

Advocating

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In my response to complainants that will be discussed at Monday’s council meeting I included a section entitled “Issue of Bias”.  The last sentence of that section reads “I have spent 45 minutes trying, without luck, to compose this section in an appropriate way for this document, so I will move on.”  I wrote that sentence because I know there are a lot more considerations that I wanted to be able to tell you about but could not figure out how to do it in a non-political…

Every year our local VFW post provides us an opportunity to remember the solemn reason for this holiday.  The service takes place at Shearer Cemetery, across the street from the post office on Fishburg Rd, from 1 to 1:30 pm.

I recommend voting no on Issue 11 because it reduces resident’s ability to check the actions of Council.  Currently, if residents do not like a piece of legislation they can challenge that legislation through the referendum process.  If this amendment passes…

The question on Issue 7 is whether you believe the person running the city should be a resident of the City.  In Huber Heights, the Chief Executive Officer is the City Manager.  Currently, the City Charter requires the City Manager to be a resident within six months…

Rick Stan is the best choice for Council at Large because of his knowledge of finances.  Since my appointment of current Council Member Nancy Bryge is the worst decision I have made on behalf of the residents of Huber Heights, it should not come as a surprise that the best result of the May primary would be a November contest between Chase Warden and Rick Stan.
 
Even though Mr. Stan has been…

Council needs to have a long discussion on how much money the city has before they authorize any money for a Parks and Recreation Master Plan.  There is good evidence that spending money on this plan will cause us to lose the ability to pay for more important priorities such as maintaining the park facilities we already own and bring our fire fighter/EMS manning levels closer to an efficient and effective standard.…

In the upcoming primary race for Mayor of Huber Heights, the most promising outcome would be a general election race between Mr. Wilson and Mr. Griggs. 

I had the opportunity to talk one on one with each of the three candidates earlier in the year.  Here are some of my considerations that lead to my desire to see Mr. Griggs and Mr. Wilson advance to November. 

I had a nice hour long conversation…

The Huber Heights Mayoral Debate was 6:30 April 20th at Weisenborn Middle School.  I missed the first 30 minutes because I went over to the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting to hear the discussion on the Parks and Rec Master Plan.  The part of the debate I saw was a good reflection on the LWV's and I am glad they did the work to put on this event.  As always though, it would be nicer if these…

I started writing this more than a month ago.  The ultimate objective is to advocate for more transparency by advocating for fewer executive sessions and better read ahead materials.  The last parts were difficult to write.
 
Although I intend to write about all the Charter Amendments in different articles, this article gives me the opportunity to tell you I recommend voting No on Issues 4,…

I received this public service announcement from the Miami Conservancy District 

 

Private wells – Test for a silent killer  By Mike Ekberg, Manager for Water Resources Monitoring and Analysis There may a silent killer lurking in private wells used for drinking water. Recent groundwater studies in our region show that drinking water in up to 20 percent

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House Bill 154 went into effect March 21, 2017

Read it for yourself here.

The interesting parts are provided in this summary.

- The new law requires a motor vehicle that is overtaking and passing a bicycle to provide a safe passing distance to the left of the bicycle of not less than three feet. The law states that when a bicyclist is in the roadway or riding on the yellow line along the shoulder,…

I received this request from the RTA.
 

Dear Mayor McMasters:

As a trusted community partner we are seeking the City of Huber Heights’s assistance to help us identify candidates for professional bus operator positions at RTA.   These include both CDL and non-CDL positions which are full-time with excellent pay and benefits.  If you know people with a good work ethic and desire to improve their…

The 19th Amendment to the DEC development agreement will be discussed at Tuesday's work session. 

This is one consideration / analysis that I feel is important in order to be able to judge the “goodness” of the 19^th amendment.  One of the points of trying to write this out is to give you an idea of the kind of information that I am looking for in open meetings so that those with an interest…

Below you will find two emails that point to a very trying episode during my time as Mayor.  Recently, I allowed myself to go through that emotional time again and initially intended to use these emails in a series of articles hoping to get individuals to correct fake news they continue to spread.  Then I thought they would be useful in an article that I hope will finally cause the leaders of…

There are a number of possibilities for good discussion at Tuesday's Work Session.  

There is the 19th Amendment to the Carriage Trails Development Agreement.  I see the calculations of the projected split of TIF revenue the contract formula suggests might be expected were not provided in the read ahead.  These calculations are important in helping to frame how much of a supplement the city…

Last week I detailed a current incident that shows why PS&E should not be considered a viable candidate as the law firm employing our law director.   Some people think that only the individual who was the law director was responsible and the firm should not be held responsible.  They make this argument even though in the next breath they talk about all the knowledge and support the rest of the firm…

Pickrel, Schaeffer and Ebeling (aka PS&E) put in a bid to act as the firm that employees our next law director.  The Schaeffer in PS&E was our former law director.  For the three years I have been Mayor, and the two years I observed council prior to being elected, Mr. Schaeffer provided dubious and politically motivated opinions that promote behaviors that soil the reputation of the city, cost the…

During the work session meeting the other night I was cut off before getting the opportunity to advocate again for the Huber Heights City Schools:

Follow the links from the agenda and it will take you to the 2025 PLAN AND UPDATES / ASSOCIATED REFERENCES AND DOCUMENTS page. Once there you can find a listing titled "TIF Examples and Estimates" 

Look on page the 14th page titled "Montgomery County…

Mayor’s Vision: South of Taylorsville Road
 
Good day.  I was recently asked by Council to provide my vision for the city for this upcoming year.  This is the fourth of five planned installments.  In this section I start with the pragmatic and then allow myself to explore the romantic.
 
The pragmatic Tom:
 
Anyone that has been paying attention to the politics in this city knows that I always…

There is a significant issue with the proposed ballot language for the Section 12 Charter Amendment that requires prompt action.
 
According to the City Attorney, resolutions passed by council can currently be over turned by residents through a ballot referendum.  He tells us the result of the Section 12 Charter Amendment is to take away this right from residents[1].
 
This May, it will be up…

After the Council meeting this evening Council Member Campbell and I had a conversation that lasted until midnight.  That conversation contained about the best news that I could have heard.  Checking the Upcoming Candidate list on the Montgomery County website and seeing who has filed for council seats it may turn out Mr. Campbell will be unopposed this upcoming election.

I am looking forward to…

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…

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.  …