The Dan Picard file
Occupation: Attorney
Age: 57
Residence: 4th Ward, Middletown
Previous political experience: Four years on city council, serving as vice mayor since 2012
Website: None
COMPLETE, BALANCED COVERAGE
This is the fourth of four interviews conducted by the Journal-News of the candidates seeking your vote on Nov. 5 to serve on Middletown City Council. An interview with the remaining candidate will run Friday. An interview with candidate Dora Bronston ran in Tuesday's Journal-News, an interview with Councilman Josh Laubach ran in Wednesday's Journal-News, and an interview with Councilwoman Ann Mort ran in Thursday's Journal-News.
COMPLETE, BALANCED COVERAGE
This is the fourth of four interviews conducted by the Journal-News of the candidates seeking your vote on Nov. 5 to serve on Middletown City Council. An interview with the remaining candidate will run Friday. An interview with candidate Dora Bronston ran in Tuesday's Journal-News, an interview with Councilman Josh Laubach ran in Wednesday's Journal-News, and an interview with Councilwoman Ann Mort ran in Thursday's Journal-News.
Dan Picard believes in Middletown and sees success in every corner of the city.
He routinely touts how in the past four years the city has seen tremendous growth where hundreds of jobs have been retained and around 1,000 new jobs have been created, or are expected to be created.
Picard, who has served as vice mayor since 2012, is looking to retain his seat on Middletown City Council. He is one of four people competing for two open seats.
Q: The city has been pretty active in economic development in recent years, from tax incentives for industrial businesses along Yankee Road to buying buildings for Cincinnati State's downtown campus. But there's also been interest in the city from the new owners of the Towne Mall, companies expanding or planning to expand into the city, and a proposed business park in the East End. Where do you see the next great push of economic development in the city?
A: "I think it's a continuation of what we've been doing. All these items have been a result of the city moving forward, partnering with public or private sector individuals, and I believe we need to continue that. And if anything we need to speed it up. In terms of where's the next area of development? It's all over the city. The sale of property to Henkle Schueler is one, the Towne Mall is developing — not as fast as we like, but it is. And if you move through the city, in regards to the industrial sector over the last four years you've seen an investment of almost three-quarters of a billion dollars by the industrial sector of Middletown in Middletown, which resulted in the retention of over 800 jobs and the creation of 1,000 new jobs. I think we need to continue what we've been doing over the last four years."
Q: The community image in the past has been, according to the 2008 Forbes article, a dying city. Why is that not the case anymore? Or is that still the case?
A: "It's absolutely not the case. All you have to do is look around. The private sector's invested three-quarters of a billion dollars in our city, that's more than any other city in Butler County in the last four years (outside of Oxford which most is due to Miami University development). Middletown is absolutely growing, it's coming back to life. The downtown is coming back to life. Just look around at all the restaurants that are being opened downtown, again the (former Middletown) Journal building is being rehabbed, so is the (former) Fifth-Third building. Cincinnati State just reported that its enrollment is just over 600 students which is way over where they planned to be at this time. It's obvious just from driving around town that this town is coming back to life."
Q: The city has either purchase or acquired buildings downtown over the years. What can the city do about those buildings?
A: "The ones that are on the west side of Main Street that the city owns, frankly, they're going to have to be torn down. I don't believe there's any use for those buildings and I don't think anybody is interested in those buildings, and I don't know if they can be rehabbed. In terms of the Manchester and the Sonshine building, we're continuing to market those and we've had them listed for sale. I believe we're moving forward with a (request for proposals) to see if there's any interest there. We're continuing to market those and I believe one way or the other we'll be able to deal with the Manchester and the Sonshine building."
Q: Where do you see downtown going in terms of development in the near and not-so-near future?
A: "I see downtown continuing to be a center of education and the arts.Once the SORG people get (the Sorg Opera House) renovated, that's going to bring more people downtown. And we have an entertainment district as well. Obviously, theater, restaurants, the arts, Cincinnati State is continuing to grow. It's developing now, and five, 10 years in the future I see a bustling downtown with a lot of activity. I really do see downtown returning to a great business district and entertainment district in the future."
Q: Towne Mall has been a point of contention about the lack of development, and now we hear some tenants frustrated with the new owners not coming through after they bought the mall and some of the outlots. What can you do to help move that project along?
A: "I think part of the delay in new business coming to the Towne Mall is the new (proposed) Liberty Twp. center development that's going to occur right out on Ohio 129. That is a gigantic development that's planned, it's been in the works for development for a lot of years. From what I'm hearing, that center and the stores that are going to locate in that center are having an impact on all of the shopping centers in the area. Stores are competing to be a part of that center, if they want to be there as opposed to Towne Mall or Tri-County Mall or what used to be Forest Fair Mall. I think that is a big part of the problem of the re-development of Towne Mall. In terms of what we can do as a council, I think we need to be ready to partner with whoever wants to move into that area, to figure out what kind of help we can be whether its tax breaks or other incentives. Certainly the Towne Mall area is vital to the city and we need to get it on board with the redevelopment that's going on all over the city. We just need to be open to ideas. I'm not suggesting to be a partner, we don't need to be an owner in that and we shouldn't be. But we should be in position to offer whatever tax incentives that we can for businesses to locate there."
Q: There's the proposed Mad River Business Park, and Henkle Schueler recently purchased property in the East End. There is also the Renaissance area and a newly revamped interstate interchange. Where does the East End development go from here?
A: "We've had discussions, and we have a deal on the table to put a new movie theater out there, and I think that will help spur future development. When that was originally planned, the city had planned for that (area) to be health care or business. This opportunity with the movie theater presented itself, and I don't see it deviating from the original plan. But everything north of Ohio 122 I think we need to remain true to what we've planned in terms of office buildings and health care and technology and things of that nature. All of the land along (Interstate) 75 is quickly being eaten up. This tract of land out there is one of the few remaining larger parcels of vacant ground along 75. I think it's taking longer than anyone would think, but I think we need to remain true to our plans in that area."
Q: Middletown has been known as a steel town, an AK Steel town specifically. In recent years, the city has had an influx of other interests, including arts and entertainment and the medical community. To an outsider, how would you describe Middletown?
A: "Middletown is a city in the midst of a rebirth, rebirth of its downtown, the creation of an entertainment district in that area, the expansion of technology and health care in the East End. And at the same time supporting industry. In the past AK Steel dominated our city, but I don't believe it does any longer. The city still has a very serious and strong manufacturing sector which provides support, which provides outstanding jobs to the people that live in Middletown. I see the city continuing to support those. Looking back at the past four years, three-quarters of a billion dollars have been invested by industry within our city, it certainly shows manufacturing is growing and that is beneficial to our city."
Q: It looks like Middletown will spend upwards of $2 million for the second straight year on roads for 2014.Where does the city's infrastructure rate in your priorities?
A: "In terms of the streets and the structure of the city, there is unfortunately not enough money to maintain them at the level that would satisfy me. This year is a prime example. We're talking about laying off 15 firefighters ultimately, yet still spending over $2 million in roads. I agree spending $2 million isn't enough, but there isn't enough money to go around. So when you have to set priorities, my priorities are public safety, and if that means the roads are going to be in sad shape for a period of time, then that's what's needed at this point. I don't know what more the city can do other than to tax the city more to improve the infrastructure, and I don't think the citizens are willing to do that."
Q: A public safety levy was just approved in August 2012 where it would supplement about $3 million to the public safety budgets. Can the city justify proposing cuts in public safety for the 2014 budget after asking the voters to renew that levy to avoid just that?
A: "It can't, and I'm totally opposed to it. It's certainly a budget that I will not vote for. There have to be other changes made to preserve the firefighters and the police officers, and again it comes down to priorities. My priorities are public safety. That's where I want to go, that's what I'm going to push for during this budget process. The fire department has been under attack, I believe. In the four years I've been on council, it seems like anytime we need to cut something we cut firefighters."
Q: The city is about partnerships, especially recently with the school district moving into the city building, and historically with businesses and the chamber. What other areas of partnerships will you pursue?
A: "We have to pursue every opportunity there is to provide more services to our citizens at a lower cost. When I first was elected, I thought it would be possible to partner with our neighbors, like Franklin, Trenton, and Monroe, and the townships, to combining police departments, fire departments, public works departments to try to save costs in those areas. And I learned that our neighbors are not willing to partner with us (in those specific ventures) for various reasons. We have pursued partnerships that have worked, but we need to do more. We need to reach out to the county to see what we can do in regard to our police department, if more can be done to provide service to the city, and of course I'm referring to dispatch to see if that's a possibility with dispatch just as Hamilton had done last year. We need to explore every opportunity there is. I think there are more potential partnerships. For example, the water department, we basically have an unlimited supply of water and we could be partnering with neighbors to provide water to those other entities which would provide additional revenues to us. I think we need to be open, thinking out of the box, of ways to expand our partnerships with not only the surrounding entities but anyone who is willing to do so with us.
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