Lets elect another Mayor.Whalen not fiscally responsible

[PushinTin]

This year I hope we can all agree she has to go.All the wasted tax dollars on legel fees and catering to certain folks,but not helping the people and their neighborhoods.Streets and sidewalks need alot of work.I invite all to go to Ky website KREF to look at who is giving to candidates.Four of Florence councilmembers give to Whalen.Wow,Ithought they represented us.City attorney and engineer also give.Scandal after another and she just smiles and says Oh,we have recouped all the money. I hope this year we can give someone else a try.

[Jared Whalen]

Broad based comments on the happenings within the city without knowing all the facts surrounding them shows ignorance on your part. If you have doubts about my mother's performance as Mayor or concerns about campaign contributions, perhaps you should call her up and discuss them with her. Her number is listed and she is always willing to listen to anyone in the city. Get the facts and talk to someone before bashing them in an anonymous online setting.

[PushinTin]

I presume from your comments that you know all about the city.Boy,am I stupid.Young man,I never got a call from the Mayor when my house was being destroyed by the city.I always got calls from little people.I would never discuss with her things I am looking into myself as far as ethics and dealings with council and contractors.I found this comment by accident tonight and have never read it.The baseball stadium is starting to re-appear in the papers.Birds of a feather flock together and I think Hildebrandt is about to start whistling.

[Jared Whalen]

I'm not sure what you base your accusations on or why you insist on bashing people while hiding behind a keyboard. Talking to someone face to face in a civil manner is always the best approach. I wish I had seen this response sooner but I'm glad that it has been long enough to prove your statements as nothing more than the ramblings of a coward with an agenda, rather than those of someone credible concerns about local government.

[local lady]

i just read the comments about our fine mayor of florence and i have a few things i would like to ad....first she is not at all like her father
and thats a shame....anyone who knew what he did for the city would understand what im talking about

calling our mayor does nothing she says she understand so she really doesnt or doesnt care either way when we had the windstorm i know about 15 familys called her and wanted her to do something about duke energy she ask one of my neibors what he thought she should do are you kidding me we had several older very sick disabled people in our neiborhood that needed electric and she did nothing....you would think she could organize a shelter because half of florence had power and half didnt....we called with our concerns we seriously needed a shelter needed our mayor to stand up for us and she did nothing to help....she has moved and stoped the florence yall celebration now for how many years? really what is she doing? its time for a change

[suggestion]

Perhaps Mr. Whalen should get off his high horse, as his opinion on the matter may have slight bias for mommy.

[Max]

All they are currently doing is approving building building building, brand new buildings and leaving lovely abandoned ones all over Florence. That Clark Station on Dixie has been there for over 15 years. Now we have the abandoned Remkes, adandoned Dr's office, etc etc etc.

[SleeplessinFlore nce]

YES...Florence needs a NEW MAYOR....Enough damage has been done to this city since she was elected..
Time for a change and time to get rid of the sweep it under the rug politician's in florence's government offices....They need to realize we pay their salary's......If the the citizens of Florence fully realize the back room goings on with our local representives it would shock them..They say dishonestly never pays off..but,in Florence it makes you a Star!!!

[The other Whalen]

Yes, my brother and mine's posts might be "biased toward mommy"...but maybe that is because we know her better than any of you. She is not one to do back room deals. She is one of the most ethical people I know. We see how much she cares about this city and how much she wants to see it succeed. You can disagree with the things she has made a priority in her tenure, but do not make false claims against her. And since when is it bad to have the support of council...better than all the bickering that goes on with Cincinnati City Council where nothing gets done.

And Local Lady...my grandfather would be proud of what my mother has accomplished. I'm sorry that you had issues during the wind storm...but so did hundreds of thousands of other people. And as for the Florence Y'all festival...it was no longer feasible to do on Main St and other locations did not provide the attendance.

And like my brother said...if you want to question her or know why she has done things the way she has...then CALL her and talk to her instead of talking you know what on an anonymous forum.

[Max]

Not to argue, but possibly was it no longer feasible because Main St. is surrounded or close to the many abandoned building left standing? Just wondering since that was not addressed. I myself do not know anything about back room deals. I just want her to address the garbage we are dealing with in this part of Florence. We are sick of looking at the abandoned Remkes, Clark Station, Dr's offices, and on and on. Trust me, it has been addressed to the city by many. That Clark station has been fought since at least the late 80's. So sad. I guess before a new skyline goes up next to the old Fuddruckers in Florence, we should have thought about the ABANDONED Fuddruckers. It's only a matter of time before the outskirts look the same. That many ice cream places within 5 miles is ridiculous.

[The other Whalen]

It was no longer feasible because they re-did Main St. When they added the new sidewalks, curbs, medians, parking, etc it narrowed the street. The booths just didn't fit anymore and it was too cramped. They held it there one more year after reconstruction was done and it just didn't work.(I'm not 100% sure, but I think this was done or in the works before she became Mayor).

I know that the abandoned buildings on that side of town are depressing and unpleasant. The thing is, if a piece of land is zoned properly, a business does not have to consult council or the city before building...so they really don't have a say. Maybe you could convince council to offer incentives to businesses who fill abandoned or for sale buildings?

[Max]

Those are some good ideas. I will talk with some of our neighbors who have been complaining about the Clark station for over FIFTEEN years. I'm not sure they will want to jump on board. They are tired. Tired of calling, tired of complaining about people not taking care of their yards, tired of complaining to the school board to stop zoning our schools into becoming inner city. Unfortunately, more of us just continue to move out. What a shame. Depressing is not enought of a word for it. Good thing we annexed all of 42 going into Union so we can see the repeat of what happened out here. Give it 15 years.

[Max]

Also, I did forget to mention, but most of the complaints I hear from people living near me all the way out to Union and Burlington, is that they feel the Mayor is allowing all of this build up to go on, including leaving empty buildings. Sounds like this is not the case from your post. I certainly hope she gets that info out there, because many many people believe it is definitely on her and the council. I will not pretend to know as much as you apparently do about local government, but never the less, this is the mindset of many in Boone County. I hope I get to hear enough info about what they will do to fix this before elections. I certainly did talk about this at one of the park night outs this past summer.

[The other Whalen]

Max, you definitely have some valid points and I will pass the info along to her. I can assure you that she does care...she grew up on that side of town (42 and New Uri) and she certainly doesn't like to see it going downhill. I too hope that she addresses this issue in the upcoming year.
I also appreciate your ability to have a civilized conversation and your ability to listen rather than just throw out insults and unfounded accusations...it's a refreshing change from the other people that post on stories.

[Max]

Thank you, and thank you for your comments and help in understanging how these things work. All we know, is that we just want to see it cleaned up. Hopefully we'll see some good changes. I do not care for the insults etc either. It gets nothing done unfortunately.