Did Paul Marion Dis-Honor the Late Congressman Gilmore?

If you heard or read the accounts of the public hearing (Click title, above), where record-setting numbers of Tiffin Citizens opposed the Miami Street Project Ordinance 07-70, you gotta ask at least one question. "Is the President of TU, Paul Marion, trying to dis-honor himself and those who supported him in the past?"

At the end of the public hearing, Dr. Marion declared the many participant's concerns "irrelevant". In an obvious cable-televised attempt to intimidate the citizens and remind our City Officials of his politically powerful associates. He continued his closing remarks by invoking the memory of the late Paul Gilmore, who represented Tiffin, Ohio as a US Congressman. The Gilmore Family Name is on several important buildings in Tiffin. The respected Gilmore Family is indeed one of the most generous influential public benefactors in Seneca County, Ohio, and beyond.

I believe Paul Marion should apologize to the Gilmore family. Why? He has caused their unwitting participation in a project that clearly harms those families who live in the Tiffin University Neighborhood .

We had no idea until March of this year (2008) that TU Officials were trying to use the power of Tiffin City Council to abuse us. Certainly the Gilmores didn't intend their legacy to include a growing number of Tiffin Citizens who scoff at the misuse of power their name might now represent. The Gilmore's do not deserve to have their name soiled in public by certain Tiffin Community Leaders.

The project may well benefit some Citizens. But, the Tiffin University's project and our City government's approval of it is misguided as it disregards the wishes and welfare of neighborhood property owners. (I have written of this earlier, and presented detailed facts at the Public Hearing, that was televised on local cable).

Remember, Congressman Gilmore took Tiffin University's application to Washington D.C where he successfully secured an appropriation of $800,000 for the Miami Street Project. The application (see copy on file at City Council) has misrepresentations embedded in beautifully crafted "word smithing". So, Congressman Gilmore could have no way of discerning for himself that even he was being used to advance the financial interests of Tiffin University Officials while abusing Tiffin Citizens of their right to use Jackson Street. I assume that the late Congressman Gilmore counted as honorable the President of Tiffin University and his Director of Development, Mike Grandillo. Did the betrayal of Tiffin Citizens start with the betrayal of Congressman Gilmore's trust? Why don't I just let it go? Well, I'm trying to make the situation "right", for myself, my family, and my many neighbors in Tiffin. Many, many respond with contemptuous disapproval when I simply mention Tiffin University's Miami Street Improvement Plan.

So, what was so deceitful and misrepresented on the Application that US Congressman Gilmore took to Washington, DC? [So that you don't think that I'm making this stuff up, read a copy I got from our Mayor at this location: http://groups.google.com/group/rctohio/files]

Note 1: In the Congressional Application, Tiffin University's Mike Grandillo clearly documented that the purpose of the Miami Street Improvement Project was "Pedestrian Safety". He made eleven (11) references to "Safety" throughout the formal application. In that 2004 application, the manipulation of public opinion, of our City Council, and that of Congressman Gilmore, started with each "Safety" reference. Why was this manipulative and deceitful? Mr. Grandillo knew fully that there was NO SAFETY ISSUE that would justify spending upwards of the requested one(1) million tax dollars to close neighborhood streets. If there WAS a safety issue that justified such an expensive re-engineering of the neighborhood around TU, the Tiffin City Engineer, the Tiffin Police Department, and the Ohio Department of Transportation would have files describing so many crash incidents, personal injury, and other costs that would make this a real issue. If that was the case, I would concede, and stop thinking up ways to irritate those who I would then have to honor with my sincerest best wishes.

But, NO SUCH FILES EXIST! Our Tiffin City Engineer has said to me in a recent telephone interview that during a walk-by, with ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation), and a Tiffin University Official, he observed NO safety issues on Miami or Jackson Streets. Our Police Chief also was unable to recall any reports of injuries or crashes when asked during a recent Public Tiffin City Council Meeting.

Further, if our Tiffin City Government was to spend $800,000 of taxpayer funds to improve the safety of neighborhood streets in any other part of Tiffin, they would justify the tax-spending based on something other than a "wink-and-a-nod" from each other. To be responsible with our tax dollars, and to avoid unnecessary abuse of any individual citizen's rights, A PE (Professional Engineer) such as our own Tiffin City Engineer would be told by the Mayor to commission a formal Traffic SAFETY Study, including the fully-loaded cost of pedestrian injury, auto crash costs, and property damage. But, why isn't our City Government interested in such a traffic SAFETY study? In other communities (but not likely in Tiffin) such obvious pandering and un-justified, abusive decisions on the part of local government, would get a whole bunch of City officials sued by the more assertive and righteous Citizens among them.

Finally, if you talk to ANY of the more honorable members of Tiffin City Government, or those who know Tiffin University best, they will recount to you that at least one Tiffin University Official has, in private, gleefully admitted that "...of course there is NO safety issue. How else were we to get the public and City Council to approve of our plan?" ...wink...wink...wink.

Note 2: If you read the 2004 Application to Congress, at a certain question it asks whether TU Officials expect "...any opposition..." to the proposed plan. They marked this "NO". If they marked it "Yes", they would have had to explain in the space provided. So, they marked it "NO".

Well, who could have known they might want to oppose anything? How could I know my family home, and the neighborhood streets were about to be "captured" in a grab for real estate? That Jackson Street would be closed to through traffic? Except for only a few of the privileged, the Miami Street Project Plan, that was quietly funded through confidential efforts of TU Officials, wasn't seen by anyone until March 2008. I went to the City Engineer's Office and asked to see "the designs and specifications" that Dr. Marion referred to in the Advertiser-Tribune as "Approved...by the City Engineer...". It took a half hour to find the documents that the Assistant Engineer said were only preliminary plans and would NOT yet be in the "approval" stage. Should someone be held accountable for hiding and misleading everyone from the US Congress to the Tiffin Citizens the project is to benefit?

Did Tiffin University soil the good name of the late Congressman Gilmore, who certainly would NOT have approved of the abusive parts of TU Official's Miami Street Project Plan?

What happened to the concept of "Honor"? Who among us, with local political power, and a belief in decency, will step forth to do the right thing, only because it is the right thing to do?

You can help set the record straight by joining us on November 4th to vote 'NO' on Ordinance 07-70 Miami Street Project Referendum.

Joe Monaco
Tiffin, Ohio Voter

Did Tiffin City Council Members Ignore Citizens at Meeting?

On March 24th after politely listening to the many Citizen objections on the Tiffin University's Ordinance 07-70, Tiffin City Council concluded the meeting by again allowing Paul Marion, President of Tiffin University to have the last say. By saying "You can't please everyone", Dr. Marion dismissed the concerns that neighborhood property owners expressed:

• Neighborhood property owners lose the use of Jackson Street and parking will be eliminated.
  

• There are NO safety issues on file at city hall, and even the Tiffin City Engineer agrees that his observations conclude "NO SAFETY ISSUES", but TU keeps saying "Safety of pedestrians is the primary reason for the ordinance".

• The Private Monaco Family Home will be land-locked into the Tiffin University Campus, thus encouraging Tiffin University to force another Eminent Domain Action in the future.

• Eleven (11) large, mature, shade trees will be destroyed.

• Tiffin University's Miami Street Improvement Plan (2005) still includes closing the Wall Street Railroad Crossing Intersection.

• Council Members (such as Arron Montz) assert publicly that TU's project should take precedence over the few individual citizen rights because it "benefits" Tiffin as a whole. If this is true, why won't City Council or the Mayor say publicly the EXACT "benefits" Tiffin Citizens would receive?
  

So, as the meeting broke up, I asked council "How does a normal citizen have any influence with City Council?" Both Paul Elchert, President of Council and Lori Ritzler, 3rd Ward Council Member, chided me. They both asserted that Tiffin "Citizens are not interested enough to show up at Council meetings, so why should we listen to people who are not bothering to come?" They said that the turn-out for council meetings is seldom more than one or two normal citizens. Mr. Elchert said he would be over-joyed to see so many citizens that he'd "have to rent the Columbian high school auditorium." So, using my cell-phone, within 30 minutes of the meeting's close, I already had a pledge from 10 people to show up at the next meeting and speak-out. My prediction is that having even one or two dozen people speak out will have NO affect on council voting. If I can get a lot more people, will Council be influenced by them? Or, did Paul Elchert and Lori Ritzler spout empty rhetoric? Will Elchert, Ritzler, Cline and Montz be approving of Paul Marion's intent to ignore the neighborhood citizens? Who benefits from such actions such as Tiffin University's Miami Street Project? I'm interested in an answer.

Joe Monaco
Tiffin, Ohio Voter