Newark, Ohio Links

Archive for the ‘Editorials And Opinion’ Category

Newark, Ohio’s property code maintenance has been a subject of controversy for years. The end result of the controversy, nothing changed much. The code was selectively enforced and many properties were ignored. A recent report proved that many violations had gone over 3 years with no action. Many of the houses are owned by people on the city council!

Another interesting twist is that these homes are qualifying for federal fix-up dollars. If you look closely at this house, you will see the common strange situation where you have houses ready to fall off of their foundations with brand windows, roofs, and other improvements. No right-minded home owner would invest in these improvements when the house was obviously ready to fall over. This is government funded lunacy here. The landlords get free or reduced cost improvements from grants to save on energy bills and we foot the bill.

The ever-present trash bins stay in front of these houses until you get a mountain of trash. Sometimes, you can’t even see the front porches from the refuse. I’m a firm believer that you should be able to do what you will with your property, but this over-reaches anyone’s common sense. The trash problem is everywhere and there is no code enforcement for these violations either.

You can’t help but wonder what makes someone want to have their name associated with these properties. About $500/month rent is the only reason. Believe it or not, the taxpayers also keep many of these examples of blight standing because they are approved for low-income assistance. It’s guaranteed money in the landlord’s pocket and removes any incentive to remove or repair these eyesores. If they can get the house to pass inspection with “whatever it takes”, the landlord is a winner.

For the record, I did not look up the record of these homes, but you can feel free to find out who the owners are. These homes could be exceptions, but I doubt it. The story is pretty much the same from eyesore to eyesore in Newark, Ohio. The only exceptions I’ve known of were elderly people that have paid the home off, but lack the resources to maintain the home.

What should the citizens do? We can’t ask for new rules, that’s not the problem. The current rules are only selectively enforced. We need to demand enforcement of the city code. We need to vote for people that understand the impact that this environment has on everyone; the renter, the neighbors, and the businesses.

These problems happen in every city. It’s only a matter of time before Newark’s city government finally figures out that you can’t ignore the problem, nor can you keep feeding the problem by not condemning homes where compliance is refused.

These are also GREAT examples of why federal programs for local problems are a huge waste. If left unchecked, we need only look to Detroit’s abandoned neighborhoods.

Lose weight? Alright, what are you trying to sell us? A magic pill, see-food diet, potion, ab machine, what?

Don’t worry, I’m not selling anything here. I’m talking about dealing with a serious problem that we all know about, but fail to act on. I don’t care what the stats are. One trip to Wal-Mart and I know we’ve got  a problem. Oh yeah, I’m part of the problem myself, so don’t get defensive either.

You can find your own diet, and there are some diet centers in the area. I’ve lost it all before and I find them to be nonsense, but if they get you started on the right track, use them. The best thing about losing weight in Newark, Ohio is the vast facilities available to us. You know, that part of losing weight that nobody wants to talk about.

I’ll let the more shy among us in on a secret too. If you’re worried about the unsightly blubber in the gym, don’t be. With they epidemic proportion of overweight people, there are many there with the same problem. Many of the thin folks used to have the problem as well. You’re not there to impress anyone and nobody else is there to care what you look like or what you are doing.

First on the list is the Newark, Ohio YMCA.  It is a great facility overall. Everything I’ve ever wanted to lose weight is there with only a few exceptions. The pool and the indoor running track are the added extras no other facility in the area matches. The problem is that it’s a dumping ground for parents who don’t want to watch your children. It’s great they have a place to go, but they will hinder your ability to workout. Don’t bother asking the management to deal with them either. Just accept that this is a part of the Y, do your best to avoid them,  and get on with your chosen weight loss regimen. If you have a family, there is no more affordable facility than the YMCA.

The Advantage Club is by far the most athlete oriented of the facilities. The staff is very serious and the facilities are top-notch. If you want to pay the extra money for a no-nonsense workout facility this is it. Their staff has every type of training and class you could want to meet your needs. I highly recommend them.

For more on the facilities in the area – you can check the Sports, Leisure, and Recreation section.

The facilities in the area are great, but what is even better is the free outdoor activities! Newark, has many miles of trails in the park system. Dawes Arboretum has paved roads and wooded trails to enjoy. Lately, the weather has caused me to prefer the padded indoor track at the YMCA, but as soon as the weather breaks, it’s back to the great outdoors.

There are many complaints concerning Newark, Ohio that the average citizen can really do much about. Improving the quality of your life through exercise and maintaining your fitness however is all up to you. Everything is here, accessible, and affordable.

I found this YouTube video about a disgruntled United Airlines customer and his broken guitar. This video pretty much states what an information free-for-all we live in. They broke his guitar, they didn’t make it right, and the disgruntled customer had the talent and know-how to explain his story to the world.

I despise flying simply for this reason. In order to fly, I must place myself into the the care of a company who could care less about my basic needs. Their safety record is good, peanuts are outstanding, and they can get me there, but they’re a bunch of assholes in general. I don’t want to be stuck in their world of assholetivity  and pay for it.

This guy needed to get him and his guitar from point a to point b. A simple task he was willing to pay for. United obviously failed and then put the responsibility on him to prove that they did wrong and he had to follow their very involved process to get the matter resolved. Why couldn’t it have been resolved right at the luggage center? “Hey, I just pulled this guitar off of the belt and it’s destroyed.” “Ok, let me do the paperwork to resolve this for you.” How difficult is that?

Every company, even local Newark, Ohio companies have much to learn from this. Customers in large are not out to get you. They just want just treatment and they have very easy methods to share their case with others through Social Media. Resolve problems and customers are not going to take the time and effort to bash you. Your competitors will be bashing you, but that’s another matter that you can address with Social Media as well.

If your business is on a local level, you are already part of a social network. People talk about you all of the time and your business has no say in the matter. Social Media gives you the ability to let the public know who you are and what you are about. When problems do arise, you have a platform to show what the resolve was. It’s very inexpensive too! What did you spend on the flaky Yellow Book ad? That’s probably enough to cover a few years worth of Social Media, blogs, and websites that are going to be seen by many more people.

Take your traditional advertising money and divert to methods that actually mean something. No, you can’t “measure” results directly, but you will see the difference at the bottom line with happy customers.

Newark, Ohio has it’s problems and the recent flood of news stories keeps helping us out. If there’s no such thing as bad press, the city is doing everything right. In an effort to maintain the flow of attention to our fair city, WNCI comes out with a humorous song, then a few folks and the Mayor decide to keep things going with their own Newark, Ohio song.

I don’t find the rebuttal song that funny, the use of the electronic voice warble is annoying, and much of it reference things that I’m just not getting, but it’s a nice effort and they did a good job with the video.  Here’s the youtube videos.

Big Budget WNCI radio show comes out with this song first.

The rebuttal Newark, Ohio song.

Remember this guy,  David Ball? He had 10 counts connecting him to home invasions on the elderly. I think I would fair to classify the guy as a nasty and dangerous criminal. His 10 counts earned him 17 years in prison. Nobody came to his defense. He was known for leaving the scene on a bicycle.

Today I read that Joseph C. McClain, selected as one of Licking County’s 20 Most Successful People Under The Age Of 40, of Heath, Ohio took $475,000 from 40 people and he was found guilty on 25 counts of grand theft. Was this the success that they were referring to? His penalty, 5 years in prison. Some of the people he stole from were elderly. He was a businessman with investment schemes. He would steal entire houses in his schemes. His victims were many times elderly with money to invest and those wishing to buy houses that had no financial means to do so through normal financing.

Why the great divide in severity of punishment? The first obvious notion would be that David Ball wasn’t nice about it at all. Mr. Ball would go right into a home and risk injury to himself and others as he took his loot. Joseph McClain was not even willing to risk injury as the coward would just use the financial system and the trust of the honest to take the entire house! However, Mr. McClain would have his employees pose as victims and they would console their victims.

Mr. Ball had no supporters and nobody came to his defense. It was reported that Mr. McClain had more supporters than victims in the courtroom. How does someone like McClain find supporters? People from his own profession and his own circle of friends, who should have been ashamed to know him at all, were more than willing to give support. The supporters assure us that Mr. Mclain is a very nice person and that he just made some bad choices. McClain also stated that he was just following what he had been taught to do! The large number of supporters that do not dispute McClain’s actions are a red flag to anybody that the real estate and financial investment business is tainted and corrupt. If you’re in these professions, don’t be surprised when people are suspicious of you. You may not deserve the accusations, but after a trial like this, all of you are suspect.

Licking County, Ohio’s Judge Spahr sympathized as well by saying that McClain’s problems stemmed from “bad choices”. Apparently, when considering sentences, judges make some bad choices also. I’m sure Mr. Ball is wishing that he had caught the judge on a “bad choice” day too! In my opinion, Judge Spahr’s bad choice to only give 5 years for 25 counts is a worse choice that than the criminal made.

The argument is made that McClain should not have received any jail time because he cannot earn money to make restitution if he is setting in jail. Can you imagine that argument for Mr. Ball? McClain deceived people out of huge amounts of money 25 times. He is a pattern criminal. How do you think that a pattern criminal will approach earning $475,000? He’ll commit more crimes! He is not a businessman, he’s a criminal. McClain even has an army of supporters who are probably willing to assist in his next misdeed as he did 25 times before.

We see white collar criminals getting a free ride and  maintaining their respect, dignity, and support of their peers. We see the other side of “entitlement” with the wealthy professionals. I would be certain that Mr. Ball knew he was stealing and he fit the stereotype of a thief. McClain’s plight is somehow different. As our economy nosedives, many wealthy feel that they are still entitled to their ill-gotten riches. McClain wanted to continue his style of living even though his chosen profession would no longer support it. It was reported that his methods were the only methods he understood. Do you see the climate of entitlement?

Neither Ball or McClain ever had the thought that there lack of skills may require them to work for a living. It was far easier to victimize an unsuspecting. There is no difference between the two other than McClain was more deceptive. Far be it from our justice system, to not understand McClain’s claim to entitlement. The lawyers and the judges are well known for similar sentiments of entitlement in their profession.

For those of us who understand that there is no real entitlement in America, it’s time to stop giving trust freely. Most of us understand that we must produce goods or services in order to maintain our standard of living. You have the right to withhold trust on professionals you rely on. Don’t let the suit or the smile deceive you. Real Estate Agents, Lawyers, Insurance Agents, Politicians, Bankers, and Investment Professionals are proving to be a bigger threat than street punks and they have no law to fear.

I’ve been a Newark resident for 16 years and I have always been curious to the Newark/Heath relationship. My first question is, “Why do we need to cities?”. If it wasn’t for the city limits signs, a visitor wouldn’t know that they are separate cities. Until the red light controversy, I never gave it much thought as to where I would go to do business. Yet here sits 2 city bureaucracies that could have costs reduced by combining them into one.

I realize that big cities have subdivided and that it all makes sense, but those divisions grew from center-out increase, with land use as the primary divisive factor. Newark/Heath is just 2 nearly identical cities that are side by side.

To add to the mystery, we are now starting to turn into twin cities. This must be a good thing for business because virtually everything Heath has is now being duplicated. The only business Newark seems to be missing is a mall and a movie theater.

I like having the options to have everything closer and I suppose that the proximity even creates inter-regional competition among a franchises businesses. For example, have you ever been to the McDonald’s in downtown Newark and compared it to the restaurant in Heath? Same business, totally different service, and that’s just from the most generic hamburger restaurant ever known.

The red light camera controversy really showed the power of the twin city effect. We could vote with our feet and in the end it shut down the red light camera. Regardless of your support for the camera’s, you could not dispute the power that this has on other issues. People were more willing to put up with the 21st street driving nightmare than to risks $100 fines from a questionable unmanned camera system.

I hope that as the 2 cities evolve, our choices will be as to which one is better and not which is the lesser of 2 evils. I really like the Roosters or Leghorns choice as opposed to a dangerous traffic area or a big-brother traffic area.