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As far as I am concerned the Christmas Parade or any other activities based on peoples religious beliefs are pretty sacred to me and I am not just talking about Christian events either. I’m talking about Yom Kippur, Ramadan and all other holy days of all religions. The Christmas Parade should be a time of celebration of the birth of Christ. Sacred to all Christians. It should be a moment in time when we all forget our differences and gather in harmony, in peace and love. But this year that harmony, peace and love was shattered by an individual calling himself John who turned the Christmas Parade from a celebration of the birth of Jesus into a political forum by walking along with the participants passing out a flyer titled "SAVE OUR SERVICES - SAVE OUR VILLAGE". Now John did not identify himself which is rather cowardly especially since he made accusations against a "small group of citizens" that are simply not true! Some of us in the “small group” tried to email him to set him straight but as far as I know no one received a reply. Now my name is John also. Just so no one gets us mixed up I will refer to the unknown John as John “C” and I am 27 W MAIN STREET AMELIA, OH 45102 513-943-7249 43 year resident of Amelia You should be able to tell the difference now. John”C” says we are a small group! Ellington received 267 votes when he ran for Mayor. We gathered over 500 valid signatures to get the issue on the ballot! Who has the greatest support? And besides that how on earth can John “C” possibly know how many people we have working on this issue? John”C” has never been to any of our meetings! What John “C” says is simply ignorant diatribe. John”C” states that we are trying to eliminate events such as the Christmas Parade. This is so utterly ridiculous I should just skip it but I am going to say that I have never heard anyone in the dissolve Amelia campaign ever say "we need to eliminate the Christmas Parade". John “C” has done more to ruin the parade than any of us! John “C” then says we are trying to jeopardize our current level of important safety services. Of course John “C” does not say what these services are does he? As a matter of fact John “C” uses 308 words in his political forum flyer to describe the parade, the Easter egg hunt, the movie night out and all the rest of the other things "hosted" by the Village and he follows this up with 15 words to describe the "important services". We know what John “C”’s priorities are don't we! Heck, he doesn’t even know much about the events either! For example he defines the "Family Movie Night Out" and a monthly event! I would like to know what movies are being shown this month, last month, Christmas Parade day month! He must be tied in to the Village Administration! They us the same sort of rhetoric to make things look bigger than they are. He says "the Village has presented a free Village Concert.... and booths providing food and beverages...." then at the end just to make sure that you understand that the Village is not using your money to pay for these "important services" John “C” says "The costs of this event are covered by sponsorships of local businesses." Do these local businesses reimburse the Village for the cost of the man hours of the employees, council members and staff that go into executing this event? How about the cost of the Police that attend the event? One of their duties they had this year was to follow Ellington, who has a beer in each hand, around and throw out people who Ellington does not feel comfortable about. I wasn’t there to see it but I was told by the people who got thrown out. Do the police volunteer for this duty? Who cleans up after the event is over? Is that a cost that is paid for by the local businesses? If the local businesses want a Concert in the Park they can have one themselves. How about the E-Funk Band that plays at the concert in the Park? Their band leader is Leroy Ellington( click here to review). They have a tie-in with the Ninjas who do our web site because Amelia Village and The Havana Martini Club are listed, short list, as customers and it just so happens that the E-Funk band performs at The Havana Martini Club as well as the Concert in the Park".! Something here stinks I just don't know what is is quite yet! Then there is a matter of the Easter Egg hunt! Does John "C" realize how easy it is to organize an Easter Egg Hunt? Let me tell you that anyone with half a brain could do it and those who participate in the current Hunt could still participate in a Easter Egg Hunt that is not "hosted" by anyone but is organized by the citizens who want to do it. Show of hands by the people who currently assist with the Easter Egg Hunt JUST BECAUSE THE VILLAGE HOSTS IT! Uh, that would be zero! So in other words John "C" believes that we are to stupid to do it ourselves and that what we really need is a 3 million dollar pile of chicken droppings just for the purpose of "hosting" an Easter Egg Hunt! Absolutely and utterly rediculous! By the way if any of you reading this would not help in doing an Easter Egg Hunt just because it is not "hosted" by a Village then we don't need you anyway, just go home and do your own! Last but not least there is the "National Night Out" which John "C" knows absolutely NOTHING about. He thinks it is "where our residents, local scout groups, churchs and businesses turn on their porch lights lights and go out to meet and and greet their neighbors". Well just as the Village Administration does, John "C" doesn't have anything to say about what the "National Night Out" is supposed to be so let me show you by taking you to the "National Night Out" official website. Certainly does not appear to be the same as the one John "C" has described does it? It is a great idea, just too bad John "C" doesn't have a clue as to what it is all about. Now lets think about it for a moment. Amelia is divided into 5 chunks. Old Amelia down 125 and about a block in each direction North and South. This was Amelia when I moved here. Then Quail Creek, Tall Timbers, Sedona Woods and Amelia Drive. Now I don't think anyone from Tall Timbers sees anyone from Sedona Woods on "National Night Out" day. Same for Amelia Drive and Quail Creek, same for Quail Creek and Tall Timbers, etc. So if the Village is dissolved there is nothing to stop any one or all of these sub-communities from joining the "National Night Out" organization and having the event in their own neighborhood without missing a lick. We sure don't need the expense of an old archaic village that costs us millions just to have a "National Night Out". That takes care of the 308 words so we are down to the last 8 described as excellant police, fire and public works services to protect and serve our families. John "C" obviously believes that we don't care for or own families and want to be without such protections otherwise we wouldn't be trying to dissolve the Village. Well John "C" let me assure you that your opinion may well be that you need a village to maintain your way of life but our opinion is that the Village of Amelia dosen't do anything that Batavia and Pierce Township will not do except the townships have the resources and manpower to do it better and at less cost! Especially after the income tax is imposed. I say imposed because it will NEVER be voted in in my lifetime! Still there is light at the end of the tunnel. If we dissolve Amelia we will still have everything we want without the expense of the Village and the debt that continues to rise due to their incompetence and greed. Plus we don't have to listen to John "C" anymore! __________________ |
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