I called Rumpke

I called Rumpke after receiving a bill today 6-12-06 for $56.28 the months of June,July & August. I have not been able to make it to the meetings and didn't know of the special meetings. Rumpke told me that I could not ask them to remove my name from the pick up list, that the person in charge at the village hall was the only one that could do it. I have written a letter to Tom Watkins to remove my address from the list of pick up with a copy of my Rumke bill and I personaly feel that as a resident we should have had a flier handed out prior to Rumpke starting and told that if we did not want a pick up to send a letter to the Major to be removed from the list.
I hope that my letter will take care of this matter ASAP.
I stopped my pick up from Waste Managment months before they even stopped doing pick up here.
Angie Jones
511 Eldon Ave.

What Else is New?

Maybe the Westsie Messenger was told not to cover council meetings.

Newspapers cover what is news worthy. Maybe they feel that since everything in Valleyview is rubber stamped by council and no one objects to anything, it is a waste of their time.

It appears that anyone worth a grain of salt decided to quit council instead of stand up for the residents.

Nothing is as smooth running as the powers want people to believe.

Watkins could have asked the Messenger to run an article on the trash pickup.

When I was on council a line item was taken out, because Waste Management said just to put all trash together and we wouldn't be charged extra. This was said at an open meeting not behind closed doors.

The people on council now are the same ones who supported Russolilo in his fraudulent practices.

It appears the people of Valleyview shot their own foot when they voted for the current mayor. The mayor doesn't have a vote but he sure can object to high heavens if council tries to put something over on the residents. But as Russolillo, Watkins is letting council do his dirty work.

Not All What Is Happening

Irene wrote ''Maybe the Westsie Messenger was told not to cover council meetings.''

I have spoken with the Messenger. They do not have the manpower to get a reporter to the meeting. Valleyview meets the same night as the City of Columbus, guess who gets the coverage. Valleyview is not news worthy anymore because there has not been the turmoil as before.

Irene wrote ''Newspapers cover what is news worthy. Maybe they feel that since everything in Valleyview is rubber stamped by council and no one objects to anything, it is a waste of their time.''

I do not believe that everything is rubber stamped, but I do believe that the members of Council are not doing their jobs as they should be.

Irene wrote ''It appears that anyone worth a grain of salt decided to quit council instead of stand up for the residents.''

I have to agree with you to a point Ms. White. I would have liked to see people finish out their term in office.

Irene wrote ''Nothing is as smooth running as the powers want people to believe.''

I do not think people believe that everything is all right or running smoothly. I have heard quite a bit of grumbling around the Village, but unless residents attend a meeting and speak up the message will not get to the Council.

Irene wrote ''Watkins could have asked the Messenger to run an article on the trash pickup.''

The Messenger did run announcements. The two previous weeks before Rumpke took over it was announced in the Messenger. I have to commend Ms. White for her efforts when the switch was made to Waste Management. I have to say that a better job was done for that transition than this one.

Irene wrote ''When I was on council a line item was taken out, because Waste Management said just to put all trash together and we wouldn't be charged extra. This was said at an open meeting not behind closed doors.''

Nothing with this current contract was done behind closed doors. Your vote to remove one of the line items was wrong then. You voted to remove a line item that was at no cost under the Rumpke bid which was the cheaper overall bid. It would have been better for the environment and the Village probably would have received better service over the past three years.

Irene wrote ''The people on council now are the same ones who supported Russolilo in his fraudulent practices.''

That could not be further from the truth. I believe that there is only two of the six council members that even lived in the Village while Russolillo was Mayor. It would be tough to support someone that you could not have voted for since you did not even live in the Village.

Irene wrote ''It appears the people of Valleyview shot their own foot when they voted for the current mayor. The mayor doesn't have a vote but he sure can object to high heavens if council tries to put something over on the residents. But as Russolillo, Watkins is letting council do his dirty work.''

The members of Council should be watching their backs. They have been placed in the position to be the bad guys because they are not doing their homework. It is sad that the Council does not take a more active role. Would the Village be better off if the mayoral vote had gone differently? No! In my opinion the Village would have been in disarray and possibably beyond repair if one of the other two candidates had won the election. The Council needs to play a more active role and do their jobs.

I Agree

Better communication from the Council would have been preferable. We did receive a letter from Rumpke the weekend right before they were beginning the pickup.

Council and the Mayor have done an exceptional poor job keeping the residents informed about what is going on about anything in the Village. Laziness seems to be the only answer.