YOUR INFORMATION NEWSLETTER FROM NORTHFIELD CENTER TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE
PAUL G. BUESCHER
~ KEEPING NCT RESIDENTS INFORMED SINCE 2005 ~
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#501 MONDAY OCTOBER 09, 2017a
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CABLE 9 CANDIDATES DIALOG 2017 SCHEDULE FOR AIRING: WATCH ON SPECTRUM CHANNEL 15
Tuesdays, Oct. 10, 17, 24, 31 ……………………….10:30am
Fridays, Oct. 13, 20, 27 & Nov. 3 …………………… 4:30pm
Sundays Oct. 15, 22, 29, & Nov. 5 …………………..10:00am
Mondays, Oct. 16, 23, 30 ……………………………… 9:00pm
CANDIDATES DIALOG 2017 REVEALING PREVIEW & HEADS UP!
All four NCT candidates were invited to participate in Cable Nine’s “Candidates Dialog 2017.” This is the same program that Cable Nine and the NewsLeader have been hosting since at least 2005, for all candidates in Northern Summit County. Our taping was scheduled for September 13th but once again, Russ Mazzola was a no show just like he was before the last election in 2013! We were really hoping that he would have shown up because we wanted all the viewers to see for themselves, the real Russ Mazzola instead of being subjected to all of the propaganda that he’s been dishing out for the last four years!
The program allowed a 3-minute introduction for each of us and then four questions with a 1-minute response followed by a 1-minute closing statement. This did not allow any opportunity to respond to allegations made, especially when Pepera had the last closing statement. The following are some excerpts from the taping and our later responses. Please watch the program from the comfort of your own home and listen for the quotes that we have referenced and you will hear the facts and the lies for yourselves!
MARK PEPERA STATED:
“Under my previous leadership we’ve made great progress and those initiatives have withstood the test of time.”
OUR RESPONSE:
Mark’s initiatives have indeed withstood the test of time. Brent Sommer and Paul Buescher spent their first four years in office undoing the mess that Pepera left all of us. There was near mutiny on our Northfield Center Fire Department under his ‘leadership’. He verbally abused many of our employees on numerous occasions. He ignored the Butternut residents over their flooding concerns and even stated on his campaign literature that he “was not aware of any water issues on Butternut.” Brent and Paul fixed those flooding issues permanently for $175,000! Vendors and contractors began submitting purposely high bids for jobs because they did not want to put up with Pepera’s interference in the process. They actually wanted to be outbid so that they would not have to deal with Pepera. There’s no doubt that this cost the Township thousands of dollars! Pepera’s administrative bufoonery goes on and on but the most noteworthy “test of time” was when he countermanded the engineers by demanding that the berms of our streets (mainly in the Wicks area) be ‘strengthened’ with tar and gravel over grass. This made a complete mess of resident’s lawns and generated the highest number of resident complaints in our history and still generates complaints and anger to this day.
MARK PEPERA STATED:
“Prior to and while I was Trustee, we not only had the customary public comments segment at the beginning of the meeting but entertained orderly and constructive public comments during Trustee discussion. This changed dramatically in 2006”
OUR RESPONSE:
This is a DOCUMENTED LIE! Prior to Brent and Paul’s very first meeting as newly elected Trustees, THEY directed the Township’s Administrator to change the meeting agenda by putting the public comments at the beginning so that residents could make comments BEFORE the Trustees votes. All of Pepera’s meeting agendas had the public comments portion at the END of the agenda so that residents had to wait until the end of the meetings to voice their comments. Just request a copy of any meeting agenda during Pepera’s reign (2001-2005) and see for yourself! As for the rest, “Trustee discussion” is just that, not the public. They brought order back to the public meetings to allow the conducting of Trustee business. That is the purpose of a TRUSTEES MEETING!
MARK PEPERA STATED:
“I can think of no better way to tap our residents’ collective knowledge and involvement in the decision process than to let them speak during Trustee discussion”
OUR RESPONSE: Really? Is that why Pepera abruptly adjourned and walked out of a 2005 meeting that was packed with firefighters and TV news cameras looking for answers to their very serious concerns? And Pepera is sure to remember the public comments portion of his Trustee meeting held on November 4th of that same year when a resident produced proof of a lie that Pepera was spreading. Pepera would not say a word so the resident stated to Pepera’s face, “You’re a liar. You lied to all the people in this room and you lied to all the people in the Township!” The packed audience erupted into applause and since then, Pepera never challenged that statement because he couldn’t. This is all documented on the public record!
PAUL STATED DURING THE TAPING:
“We are looking at the property south of the townhall to add to parks and parking spaces and even a new townhall sometime in the future and/or a new fire station.”
MARK PEPERA STATED:
“Now tonight we’ve heard that Trustees are floating plans for a new townhall and a fire station.”
OUR RESPONSE: We’ve both been wrongly accused many times by both Pepera and Mazzola of not planning for the future. Here we have a prime opportunity to purchase over 3 acres of land next to our Townhall with the property abutting our other properties along Rt. 82 for POSSIBLE FUTURE use as Paul stated. Within minutes, Pepera completely ignored what Paul said and completely twisted the facts by making you think that we were in the immediate planning stages for a new Townhall and Fire Station. He was then hoping that nobody would catch his distortion of the facts! We are planning for the future whether that future is 5, 10 or 25+ years down the road. At least we would have the land for any expansion and at a bargain price! And remember that Sagamore Hills purchased this property for a new future fire station during the first year of our now defunct Fire District partnership. Without the Fire District, Sagamore has no use for the land and is offering it to us with a ten-year, no-interest mortgage!
Respectfully,
Paul G. Buescher John J. Romanik
Trustee, Chair Trustee, Vice-Chair
LEAF COLLECTION INFORMATION – YEAR 2017
Northfield Center Township will begin the fall leaf collection Monday, October 30, 2017, weather permitting. In order to contain costs and maintain services, there will be only two scheduled pickups for each road, one in each Round. Unless there is weather delay, leaf collection will cease after each road has had its pickup in Round 2. We will be using two crews this year: our Service Department (East of Olde Eight and Nied Garden Center (Olde Eight and West). This operation can be more effective and efficient if the following policies are followed. Failure to comply could possibly result in no collection.
1.) Please rake leaves in 3 ft. to 4 ft. wide rows or piles alongside the road starting at the road edge, and not to exceed 15 ft. from the road. If your property has ditches keep leaf piles between the ditch and the road. If you are unable to place leaves between the ditch and the road, pile the leaves on the “house side” of the ditch as close to the ditch as possible. Do not put leaves in the center of the ditch since it can cause flooding.
2.) Keep storm water systems clear of leaves to insure proper flow. Do not cover catch basins or culvert pipes.
3.) Do not place leaves in the street, behind trees, mail boxes, or over rocks. Piling leaves anywhere on the roadway could result in slippery and hazardous road conditions.
4.) This is a leaf collection only. Do not put sticks, branches, stones, mulch, grass clippings, ornamental grasses, trash, garden debris, etc. in the leaf piles. These clog our machines and can cause extensive and costly damage. Piles containing debris will not be picked up.
5.) Do not block leaves with vehicles because we cannot pick them up. If your leaves are blocked during Round 1, they will have to wait until Round 2. If they are still blocked in Round 2, you will have to dispose of them yourself.
6.) Your leaves must ready before October 30, 2017 and before November 20, 2017. There will be only one pickup per Round per road. Any leaves remaining after the 2nd pickup will have to be bagged by the homeowner and placed out with the rubbish.
7.) Every evening the list of completed or partially completed roads will be available on the “Leaf Collection” link on our web site (www.northfieldcenter.com) and on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TownshipGazebo/).
Do to unforeseen circumstances, such as severe inclement weather or equipment breakdowns, we may at times fall behind schedule. With everyone’s cooperation the Leaf Collection will run smoother and quicker. Direct your questions or comments concerning leaf collection to the Town Hall by phone (330-467-7646 ext. 5) or email: townhall@northfieldcenter.com.
Leaf Collection Start Dates for all Dedicated Roads, Weather Permitting
Round #1: October 30, 2017 Round #2: November 20, 2017
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Q >>> – I moved from Akron to nfc a year ago and was not aware of the soccer stadium that you wrote about. Other than the things that you wrote about, didn’t you think about all the income tax that our community could have received from the hundreds of potential employees? Akron would’ve gladly welcomed tax income like that. Just asking, I’m curious.
A >>> – Of course I thought about income tax, among all the other issues concerning the stadium proposal. As a new township resident, you might not be aware of the fact that unlike cities and villages, townships can NOT collect income taxes. There was simply no benefit for our Township unless you consider noise, light pollution, crime, traffic congestion and additional taxes for added emergency services as ‘benefits!’
YOUR GENERAL COMMENTS
NOTE – If you would like your name to appear under your
Comments, please type the word “Signed” next to your name
Paul I would be pleased to display your campaign sign as well as John Romanik’s on my property as they become available. I am also glad that you Trustees did not waist your time and effort chasing down another source of police coverage as insisted by Lou Leguardia at the last township meeting. We are all quite content with the job the sheriff’s department is doing. As they say, “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it”. Lou needs to get a life other than being a continual political pain in the ass.
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As they say, “All politics is local” and the most important since it is the “root” of our “democratic franchise.”
I once had a long time Republican friend and Statewide Office holder tell me that if ever I ran for office to remember two things, “Yard signs don’t vote” and “People want you to knock on their door, shake their hand, ask for their vote and then listen.”
Over the 25 years we’ve lived in the Township that has happened no more than a half dozen times. The present candidates for Township Trustee’s election is a prime example. Four candidates running and only two have bothered to “knock, shake, ask and listen.”
My vote, and time to vote, is a precious commodity and one that I don’t give casually or because I run in the same groups or clubs as the person running. In fact I don’t have to agree with you 100% of the time to give you my support.
Out of four candidates, only two have made an effort to be personally in touch and I thank Trustees Paul and John for taking the time to stop, listen and for not taking my vote for granted. I wish our other Trustee was as “hands on” and concerned about all the residents of the Township.
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Thank you,
Paul G. Buescher
Northfield Center Twp. Trustee – Chairman
330-467-9451
TrusteeBuescher@aol.com
www.northfieldcenter.com
AMATEUR RADIO STATION N8HHG
