From: Daniel Bell
About: Taylor Mill city commissioner race
I read with great interest the letter to the editor written by Matthew Martin who is campaigning to be elected as City Commissioner for the City of Taylor Mill. In response, I have a few suggestions and comments for Mr. Martin if he truly wants to be a knowledgeable Commissioner. The first suggestion is that Mr. Martin should actually attend a City Commission meeting and view first-hand what transpires at the meeting and learn how City operations actually work. As of this correspondence, I have never had the privilege of seeing Mr. Martin at any Commission meetings during my six (6) year tenure as Mayor, nor my six (6) years as a City Commissioners. Mr. Martin should participate in City Government and form his own opinion not solely accept information from others who are motivated by their own financial gain.
Mr. Martin takes sharp aim at Mr. Holland, owner of the Trifecta Building, and makes outrageous claims about preferential treatment and special favors he received while building and investing approximately 10 million dollars in a development which houses a Skyline Chili, LaRosa’s Pizzeria, and Graeter’s Bakery and Ice Cream Shop. This facility is also home to the Golf Exchange and three (3) Independent Accounting firms which occupy space on the second floor. Mr. Holland also is moving his Company’s Corporate Headquarters to Taylor Mill. In all Mr. has made a significant contribution to the overall economy of our community, and he has followed the established zoning guidelines for the downtown Taylor Mill DTM zone area. He embraced the true vision and concept of our proposed downtown development area and built a quality development that will positively contribute to our community for many years to come. Many professional developers who have approached us pursuing development opportunities have been unable to acquire property in the downtown area at rates reasonable enough for them to move any projects forward. The property in question is all owned by local residents who will drive development, as the current City Commission is not interested in pursuing eminent domain for property acquisition.
Additionally, It was suggested that the city must work with our first responder team to attract and retain top talent. There were false claims that Taylor Mill is a training ground for first responders but he fails to acknowledge that the City has many Paramedic/Firefighters and Police Officers who have been employed with the city for many, many years. Recently, we raised the salaries for all the staff without raising taxes in an effort to keep our staff intact and be more competitive in our retention and recruiting efforts. I found Mr. Martin’s correspondence to be confusing as he first chastises the current City Commission for raising taxes, but then claims we need to increase taxes to keep our employees and perform local services. When it comes to taxes the City Commission reviews the budget each year expense by expense then determines what revenues the city needs to maintain and improve upon our service level. If monies are needed, we take only the necessary amount to provide the services the citizens of Taylor Mill have grown accustomed too. The current City Commission has a goal of remaining debt free.
Instead of choosing to learn more about the community, Mr. Martin has chosen to listen to a few people who are driven by financial gain instead of looking at our community as a whole. He has embraced the thought that a UDF gasoline station is the answer to all of our community’s needs and wants and is perpetuating inaccurate and untruthful information in an effort to cast a negative light on those currently in office. The citizens of Taylor Mill do not need a City Commissioner who grandstands from afar never attending a meeting, never volunteering for any city events and/or functions, and not understanding how local government operates.
The current Taylor Mill City Commission is comprised of educated, talented, and dedicated individuals who have moved this community forward in the following areas:
1. Created and funded Advance Life Support hiring paramedics on a 24/7 bases.
2. Supported our Police to become CELEA accredited only two in the state of Kentucky
3. Instituted the Senior Citizens Group “Taylored With Time”.
4. Upgraded our Web Site which now contains budget information with plans to provide line item expenses
5. Created a Face Book page which is used to provide community event information
6. The Mayor’s newsletter which go out quarterly to update citizens on what is going on in the city.
7. Created a future Park Plan which is a must in order to apply for grant opportunities.
8. Provided for lighting on Pride Parkway as well as a stop light for Honey Drive
9. Created a Gateway Plan for our city in order to provide our citizens a sense of place
10. Set up files on every street in the city to measure repair needs.
As you can see our current commission is prepared not only for the present but always thinking of the future. As prepare to cast your vote on November 8th please vote to for Mark Kreimborg, Ed Kuehne, Dan Murray and Roger Reis for your local Taylor Mill City Commissioners. We need knowledgeable, and dedicated people who will work for the good of our ENTIRE Community.
* * * *
Scott Kreimborg
About: Taylor Mill City Commission
I’m writing about a person I know a lot about, Mark Kreimborg. He is running for Taylor Mill City Commission to continue a vision that was set forth in 1985 when he first became a member of counsel. For you newer/younger residents, Taylor Mill was much different 30+ years ago:
– The now Nationally and State Accredited Police Department was mainly a department of part-time officers.
– The Fire Department now boasts a full-time ALS Life Squad, which is a significant improvement from the Volunteer Fire Department that was in place in the 80’s.
– Taylor Mill Water Department was sold to the NKY Water District which paid off all the city’s debt. Taylor Mill still boasts that they are one in a handful of cities in the tri-state that remain debt free.
– Pride Park/Park Place Community Center were acquired/constructed during Mark’s 20+ year stint as Mayor.
– Sidewalks were nowhere in the budget back in 1985, significant strides have been made and more are budgeted for in the upcoming years.
As you now know, this city was built on volunteers. It’s evident if you’ve attended an event at Pride Park for an Easter Egg Hunt, a Tasty Tuesday, Movie night and the countless others. Or if you remember the old Halloween parties at the Firehouse or a Scott High School Parade. If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve seen him there. Shivering in the cold, riding around in the back of a pickup truck when “Santa Comes to Town” or cutting the ribbon on a new Taylor Mill business that has just opened.
Here are a few past roles Mark has served:
Deputy Judge Executive – Kenton County
Park Fest volunteer
Halloween, Christmas, and Easter event volunteer
Kenton County Mayor’s Group, Charter Member and Treasurer
Board member for NKAPC, now known as Planning and Development Services of NKY (PDS)
Chairman of the South Kenton County Working Group
Chairman of the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force
Board Member of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center
Presently on the PDS Management Board
Presently on the Board for the NKADD Revolving Loan Fund Committee
If you’re unfamiliar with some of the other candidates running for office or haven’t heard of them before now, you’re not alone. It’s easy to have an opinion, but a distinguished track record stands on its own.
A few ‘candidates’ have banned together to incite a great deal of public upheaval against the current administration in an attempt to get a majority vote on the commission voting row, to change zoning for their own personal financial gain. One candidate, who is currently in dispute with the city over zoning changes to build a gas station, has recently acquired a large farm in Northern Kentucky where he is also attempting to change the zoning.
Is this the right candidate for Taylor Mill?
Will this person be around to serve the cities needs beyond their own personal agenda?
Has anyone ever seen some of these candidates lift a finger to help support the city or volunteer for an event?
Taylor Mill residents are smart enough to see through fabricated Facebook pages attempting to represent the best interests of the citizens. It’s very clear that such pages like ‘The People of Taylor Mill” were created to mislead residents and that the main purpose is to get certain candidates elected to office for their own personal interests.
Taylor Mill has come a long way in the last 30 years and continues to evolve. It needs experienced leadership that is looking out for the best interests of the public and not just a small subset of people only concerned for themselves. It needs leaders that aren’t attempting to fool residents with social media. It needs leaders that are trustworthy and don’t appear to be transient residents who will leave the city after they benefit from their own commission voting privileges.
Taylor Mill needs Mark Kreimborg, Roger Reis and Ed Kuehne.