Commitment to Open and Transparent Government? My Arse!

I was recently purusing the County's website when I stumbled upon the following on the Commissioner's page: "Your Commissioners are committed to maintaining an open and transparent government." I nearly choked. They are as open and transparent as a lead wall.



In an earlier post (May 28, 2007) I mentioned the full assault the Commissioners, by their lack of action, engaged in on an adjoining property owner who lives next to the Mills of Miami in Miami Township. I believe their behavior is best described as malfeasance.


If the Commissioners were commited to maintaining an open and transparent government they would follow their own rules and regulations, those of the state and of the U.S. Constitution. Due process apparently doesn't apply here in Clermont County.



The process for approving subdivision plans works like this: the County Planning Commission approves it (or not) and then once the construction is nearly complete, the plan goes before the County Commissioners for the record plat. The record plat essentially subdivides the land so the developer can sell individual parcels to builders.



Imagine incurring thousands of dollars in legal fees combatting a corrupt county government, and a developer who sits comfortably in their pocket. The three stooges were ready to approve the final stage of the development when the project did not go through the proper channels. The commissioners did not allow adequate public notice via agenda to let anyone know what they were doing. Central to this nightmare was the fact that in order to appeal a decision of the Commissioners (or any governmental body) you must have standing. Generally, to have standing you must have particpated in prior meetings and or hearings about the development. What the county does is pit the ordinary citizen against the deep pocketed developer who can write off his legal fees. The county massively screws up, gets sued by citizens and then slithers out so that the developer can pound the ordinary Joe's head into the ground.



Imagine, attending the planning commission meeting where the Clermont County Planning Commission approves the subdivision plan and then the very next day by 1pm the Crooked County Commissioners lug out their rubberstamp and approve the record plat. The neighbor attended the Planning Commission hearing but was never advised of when it would be heard by the County Commissioners. The neighbor checked the County Commissioner's agenda the next morning and the agenda item for the approval of the Mills of Miami was not on the agenda, yet the was a case heard by the Commissioners. The developers attorneys argue that the neighbor does not have standing because he did not attend the County Commissioners meeting. Duh! Do the Commissioners send out public notices telepathically?



Meanwhile, Dan, Dan (Rolfes) the Red Tag man runs an ordinary citizen in to the ground, or should I say, floods him out. Although, it lists his daughter Carolyn as head of Potterhill Homes. They certainly must be proud of themselves being upstanding community members and all.



All that I can say is that it must be a mighty big bed over there in Batavia in order to fit the Commissioners and all the developers they whore themselves out to.



This is a specific example, but there are more general examples. So called public hearings were held on the stormwater management fee proposal, yet they were never taped or televised. Honestly, I think the County Commissioners received way more resistance than they ever imagined. It was relayed to me that one Commissioner bemoaned the fact that there was actual opposition and that they wished they had never gone throught the public hearing process. The commissioners later decided to not act on the fee proposal. My guess is that it will mysteriously reappear unbeknowst to the public until it appears on their tax bill.



The next item that really did not see the light of day is that of the revisions to the County Subdivision Regulations. There was a public hearing or was it not a public hearing - there was some debate on that - at a Planning Commission meeting. This quitely went away, just like the stormwater issue, I read where the commissioners decided not to act on this item either.



I am sure that one County Commissioner would just love to show you, the Clermont County taxpayer, the payments the county has made to her husband's engineering firm for work the firm did preparing plans for the County's projects. The total over the past one to two years ranges from $500K to $700K+. Now, ain't that just butterin' yer own bread?