I am perfectly aware of the problems of the Village of Covington and agree with the perspective that the last few years of the village administration have been unacceptable. I said "don't make something out of nothing" in reference to your criticism of the recent secrecy about the audit results. The Village is currently complying with the Auditor’s request to not talk about the finding until they are officially released. What this Village really doesn’t need right now is someone fueling a lynch mob. Things are moving the right direction and this unauditable mess really helped the momentum of those wanting change. Change is happening and is gaining support. But lynch mobs never solve anything. In fact, they many times turn off those whose support you are trying to gain because they don’t want to be affiliated with the conflict.
The Village Council in the past passed an ordinance creating a Village Manager position. The Citizens of Covington did not agree with that and placed it on a referendum ballot and the Citizens voted that they did not want a Village Administrator.
Dear “Also concerned”
I stand corrected. We have had some good council members in Covington. The ones you speak of had good foresight. I hope our current council has good hindsight. Things are very different now and our need for a person to run our Covington Corporation has never been greater.
Dear “It isn’t that easy”
What’s so hard? You don’t see any other villages in this situation. If our past mayors and council members were doing their job, (or if we had a City Manager) this “Unauditable”, “Deficiency in accounting practices” would not be happening. You say that discussing this current situation is going to “Fuel a Lynch Mob”. I like to refer to this group of people as Covington Citizens that are concerned, about the capabilities of those we elected, to run our village. Our council’s days of intimidation and shooting the messenger are over. It’s time the Covington elected officials start listening to the people in this community.
I said this earlier, until Covington has a City Manager to properly manage this Corporation we will just be floundering. We need someone, full time, working with the Township, County and State. We need someone establishing a five year plan, budgeting for purchases of new equipment, sidewalk maintenance, street maintenance, water tower painting and on and on. Our council should be looking at the forest, not the trees.
I have a good feeling about the current/2010 mayor and council. I think we have a good group that will be able to direct a City Manager and get the maximum benefits for our community and those that live and work here. Learn from the past, don’t re-create it.