Well, what did you think?
I sat here and watched the entire city council meeting, and just a few observations:
- It was interesting that 2 of the 3 speakers in favor of RiverPlace were from outside Findlay. I like to think big, but Indianapolis (population: 785,597) and Fort Wayne (population: 223,341) are hardly comparable to our community or what we can accomplish and support.
- I would have been more comfortable with Lynn Child's comments if we knew who she was exactly speaking for. Was she speaking for GFI, the board of trustees of The University of Findlay or the Findlay Downtown Area Association? Just curious.
- Sharinda Welton came back with more signatures; I guess there were actually people who weren't happy with this project.
- There was more discussion from council members AFTER the vote, then took place before. It may have been procedural and not appropriate to bring up when debating legislation, but it seemed like everyone who spoke were trying to put this behind them.
- The 'duh' statement(s) of the night were uttered by one of the public speakers and Ron Monday - paraphrasing, "I already know how city council is going to vote on this tonight". Uh, really?!?
- The only thing I had a problem with was the lecture the community received from Tony Iriti at the end of the evening. It may have been the volume of the microphone, but it sure sounded like he had a tone to his voice, and the words coming out reminded me of someone who was tired of being questioned.
Here is how city council voted (7 in favor, 2 against), and their addresses/phone numbers if you would like to communicate your support or concerns:
Randy C. Ward -
AYE
Council at Large
424 Hillshafer Drive
Res: 419-422-7439
James P. Slough -
AYE
Council at Large
304 Greenlawn Avenue
Bus: 419-423-0001
M.A. (Andy) Peters -
AYE
Council At Large
449 Strathaven Drive
Res: 419-425-5980
J. Michael Slough -
AYE
First Ward
148 Laquineo Street
Res: 419-423-1935
H. Richard Rowe -
AYE
Second Ward
2533 FoxFire Lane
Res: 419-422-3573 Bus: 419-425-4300
K. C. Collette -
AYE
Third Ward
1128 S. Main Street
Res: 419-420-9594 Bus: 419-424-7873
R. Ronald Monday -
NAY
Fourth Ward
332 West Sawmill Road
Res: 419-422-8646
Michael F. Eier -
NAY
Fifth Ward
227 Lexington Avenue
Res: 419-424-4019
William J. Schedel, Jr. -
AYE
Sixth Ward
1708 South Main Street
Res: 419-423-5725
No matter your opinions leading up to tonight's vote, it is now over. If things did not go your way, it does no one any good to hold any sort of resentment or be upset with the results. We will know eventually whether this was a good or poor idea, and everyone is free to make comments along the way. If you feel that council members acted appropriately, keep them in office; if you think they made the wrong decision, keep that in mind in May and November of 2009.
Maybe there are some community members who feel strongly enough about what is going on to run for office in the future (I would like to see a lot more people from across the political spectrum on the ballot). The important thing is that this city comes together and we support each other as we move forward. As always, your comments about this evening and how we move on are welcome and appreciated, by myself and others.
-RSKnopfJr


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