The Dora Bronston file
Occupation: Retired. Part-time director of Solid Rock Bible college, president of Middletown Unit of the NAACP
Age: 62
Residence: 3rd Ward, Middletown
Previous political experience: None
Website: None
COMPLETE, BALANCED COVERAGE
This is the first of four interviews conducted by the Journal-News of the candidates seeking your vote on Nov. 5 to serve on Middletown City Council. Interviews with the remaining candidates will run daily through the week.
Dora Bronston is a lifelong Middletonian and, like her political opponents, is passionate about the city.
Bronston is one of four people running for two open seats on Middletown City Council.
She said the economy has taken its toll on the city, just as it has with other cities, but her hometown is turning the corner.
Q: The city has been pretty active in recent years in Economic Development over the years, from tax incentives for industrial businesses along Yankee Road to buying buildings for Cincinnati State's downtown campus. But there's also been new 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 people are now in a sense of expectation to see who's going to be moving into that space out (in Towne Mall). There's plenty of parking. Depending on their interests, you have to ask the people what they're interested in and what they're willing to go out and support or purchase and spend money. I would like to do some kind of survey in the city with the people because that's what council does, that's the role: find out what the people want and represent the people. I think if we bring something at the Towne Mall, there's going to be more activity out there and it sits at the gate of the city, it will draw people from neighboring communities. I'm in this sense of expectation as to what the new owner will be bringing into Towne Mall that will bring more people into Middletown, and also more jobs. That's just one thing I have going right now. We need companies expanding, yes, but we also need to draw new companies to the area. And of course tax incentives will do that."
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: “I’ve never lost hope in the city of Middletown and so it doesn’t matter what Forbes says, or said a number of years ago. I think there is hope in the city and you have people that are willing to ban together and be creative in the way we care about Middletown. It’s like a catalyst for things to happen. In us banning together as a city, as citizens, as staff, as higher education, I think we’ve pretty much started this wheel turning. I do think the city is slowly recovering — we had a recession and some people even say we had a depression — so we’ve slowly been able to turn that corner and I don’t believe we’ve bought into that story that Middletown is a dying city. We just can’t believe that. That’s not a part of who Middletown is. We are a we are a strong city, we have residents here who have been here most of their lives, like myself, and we’ve never given up on Middletown. Middletown is not a dying city, we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Q: Where do you see downtown going in terms of development in the near and not-so-near future?
A: "What I think what we need to do still is to be creative in attracting investments, new families and attracting people that are willing to take a risk and invest in the city. We have in downtown new restaurants, we have the school (administration), we have the arts, which the heartbeat of downtown is centered around art: the Pendleton, Middletown Arts Center and BeauVerre and all the studios there, Art Central Foundation. But unless people have money to spend, they can't support even the arts. We need more businesses coming in and we need more investment and we need more families moving in. All the people that were at that Cross Cultural Bash saw families, they saw the elderly, they saw children, babies. It was a nice blend of music that attracted all walks of life. That Cross Cultural Bash told us a lot. The complexion of the city was there. It was all 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 have to continue what we started. There's quite a number of developments. I think the East End will be like a magnet and draw people into our community. The focus on the East End has been really strategic. What's established there has taken years, but it's about done. At this point, I think more medical facilities will come there with all what Atrium (Medical Center) supplies. We're right there on that medical path where it's easily accessible."
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: "We have always had those things. Middletown has always had industry, we've always had the arts. We've always been, I would say, an upscale kind of a town. Middletown has its own personality and it was great growing up here, until we had so many economic turns. There was a lot of activity always here in Middletown. Looking at the history of Middletown, we've always had the arts here, had recreation here. We've been a city that's full of buzz, full of vitality, full of life. We were like that. Now, since we went through that slump, that economic turn and time has taken its toll on some of our buildings, I think now we are on an upswing again. For me, though, it's not new."
Q: It looks like Middletown will spend upwards of $2 million for the second straight year on roads for 2014. But for the previous few years, mainly because of the economy, roads weren't given that much money to be repaired. Where does the city's infrastructure rate in your priorities?
A: "I'm not dealing with the budget because I'm not on council. So in my personal opinion, I believe as a tax payer, and I've talked to people here in town, and most of us believe we need to maintain the main thoroughfares — those streets that move us around and also direct our police traffic, our fire traffic and our bus traffic. Those are the main targets. We have to be strategic and we have to be objective to cover the streets. We should have a plan in place to keep the main thoroughfares relatively safe."
Q: The 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: "There would have to be justification in that in saying what you are going to do with the money. The citizens would want to know if this is permanent, and we're paying our tax dollars for this, we have a right to know where our money is going. Why are you laying people off when you have this money. It's a valid question for people to ask and have a response. Tax payers want to know."
Q: The dynamics of council will be changed for at least a decade — as that's when the charter review commission next meets — when it drops to five council members from its current seven. How will this new-look council be good for the city? Or won't it help the city?
A: "It could work either way. It could be very helpful or it could be pretty detrimental because out of five people it would take three people to swing a vote. It could be detrimental if there were three people that were so close to each other and everything that was voted on could potentially lead this whole city. I think with a seven member body of council, you have more diversity, you have different thinking, you have different strategies, more brainstorming. There's more potential for more creativity. It is so important that those five members think objectively and independently of one another to bring to the table creative views. We're going to need some creative ways of moving the city forward, and we're going to have to put our minds together and work in a close-nit manner because there are only five people."
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