FORT MITCHELL RESIDENTS PLEASE READ AND S-H-A-R-E IF YOU ARE SO INCLINED. THANK YOU! Having served the City of Fort Mitchell as Mayor, Member of City Council, City Administrator, and volunteer fireman for 46 years I feel compelled to respond to the claims being made by a candidate for mayor who has only served on City Council for 2 years. That person, Jim Hummeldorf, has criticized his opponent Jude Hehman and others who have gone before him. He appears to be taking credit for everything that was ever done in the city, especially the recent purchase of a new fire truck and an addition to the city building that will be completed without any debt being incurred by the city. Let’s take a look at the facts that Mr. Hummeldorf has failed to disclose: For almost 50 years the city has had an equipment replacement fund, now called the Capital Projects Fund, that has been funded following a thirty-year projection of equipment needs so that the monies will be available when the time comes, even providing for the cash for a new aerial truck for the fire department costing in excess of $1,000,000 when that time came. So, Mr. Hummeldorf, don’t take credit for that. You are full of yourself! Now, let’s talk about the construction of the city building expansion. How were the monies provided to do that without any indebtedness? Let’s look at how funds were manipulated to do that. First of all, in the 2015 budget the carryover in the General operating fund was $1,500,000 less than it was when Mayor Wiest first took office. That carryover was there primarily to fund city operations until the various tax revenues started to come in during the budget year. That is not money the current council provided, but money that was carried over throughout the years. Secondly, the Capital Projects Fund that had a balance of $2.9 million when Mayor Wiest took office is projected to only have a balance of $1.46 million at the end of the current fiscal year. That’s a reduction of $1.44 million. Thirdly, in the past $300,000 has been transferred from the General Fund to the Road Tax Fund to help with the replacement of streets in the city following a promise that was made to the residents back in 1988 when the residents approved the special road tax by a 70%-30% majority. Yet this year you are only making a $100,000 contribution to the Road Tax Fund. So as you can see, Mr. Hummeldorf, you are not the magician that you claim to be. It appears that the vast majority of the funds for the expansion have come from funds that were resulted from officials of the past who had the courage to plan for the future so that the monies would be there when needed, and not by you, Mr. Hummeldorf! Mr. Hummeldorf, did you also construct the original Fort that prevented Cincinnati from being attacked during the Civil War? Please VOTE FOR JUDE HEHMAN FOR MAYOR. He will do a job and not discredit the many people who have served over the years to help make Fort Mitchell the city that it is. Thank you.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 04:45:01 +0000