My family and I have witnessed first hand all of the sacrifices my dad, Rob Weisgerber, has made for the betterment of the city he loves and its over 12,000 residents. Nothing he has done in last 20 years has been self serving. He has given up time with family and friends. He has come home early from vacations. He has missed games and practices. Do I wish he were at those events? Of course. But I couldn’t be prouder. I knew he was missing those things because he truly cared about Loveland and what happened to it and its citizens.
He has weathered all of the recent verbal abuse, lies, attacks and back stabbing with such dignity. He is an amazing example of what a husband, father and grandfather should be. My dad is honest and upfront. He has ALWAYS made decisions while on council not thinking “how does this benefit me?”, but “how does this benefit the people of Loveland?”. He is the smartest man I know and the citizens of The Sweetheart of Ohio are lucky to have had him working for them all of these years and for the years to come.
If the residents didn’t want him on council, they wouldn’t have voted for him time and time again.
A common sentiment I hear over and over is that Loveland City Council needs “fresh faces” and a “new start”. In my opinion, I would rather have someone advocating for me that has an established background and has the experience of 20 years of service, than someone “fresh” who doesn’t understand the processes or what has worked (or hasn’t worked) in the past. After all, when starting a new job, don’t we all seek out the people who have been there the longest for help and advice?
I also believe my dad has a lot more to bring to the table than just his experience as someone who has seen the ups and downs of Loveland politics. While having this past knowledge is something no other candidate can offer, it’s not the only aspect of his campaign that should be focused upon. He has, and will continue to come up with new, creative and cost effective ways to serve the citizens of Loveland.
Another common “argument” is that my dad is part of some “political machine” that has had the power to solely run the city of Loveland for the last two decades. Because of this, some think term limits need to be enacted to help give everyone a chance to be on council. If the residents didn’t want him on council, they wouldn’t have voted for him time and time again. Proper credit needs to be given to the people who have been happy with the hard work and intelligence he has brought and will continue to bring to Loveland politics.
My whole life, my dad has imbued a work ethic in me and my brothers that he has shown through and through during his time on council:
“If something is worth doing, do it to the best of your ability”
“Always do what is right, as opposed to what is easy”
“No shortcuts, take pride in your work”
The City of Loveland is lucky to have someone like Rob Weisgerber working tirelessly to improve all aspects of life for those who live, work and visit.
I am so blessed to have him as a role model in my life, and the lives of my children, and I am proud to share him with all 12,000 of you.
“I recently read the guest column written by a local business owner attacking the character of Loveland City Council candidate Neal Oury. Why? Because he filed bankruptcy following the economic downturn in 2008.
Your attempt to assault his character is offensive to me, and I hope it is offensive to anyone else who has experienced difficulty at some point in their lives.
My immediate response to the attempt to impugn Mr. Oury’s character was… that’s it? That’s all you got? He filed bankruptcy during a recession while he worked in the construction industry. I have bulletin for Mr. Oury’s critics, this is hardly news. So many people, GOOD people, were negatively affected by the economy during that time; many weren’t in the housing industry. Those that were, were hit particularly hard. So why is this news?
Who hasn’t heard the saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”? Not only have I heard it, I am a student. I am confident that the very personal and difficult events that have happened in my life have shaped who I am. I am a better friend, mother, and compassionate human being because of the things that have happened in my life.
So to Mr. Oury’s critics, I say this. Your attempt to assault his character is offensive to me, and I hope it is offensive to anyone else who has experienced difficulty at some point in their lives. Your cruel attack has only strengthened my desire to vote for him on November 7th. I want someone on council who has experienced personal heartache and challenge representing me. If you’ve never experienced difficulty, you cannot adequately represent me”.
Loveland Sweets is a purveyor of hand-crafted chocolates, caramels, marshmallows, and ice creams. Our house-made candies are prepared in small batches.
Halie S. Rebeccaschild is the Secretary, Loveland Community Heartbeat Political Action Committee
by Halie Rebeccaschild,
Neal Oury has offered to dedicate himself to the good of the Loveland community though public service as a city council member over the next four years. He has fought to remove those who have sought to exploit our city, selling it off without your input, and for that, he’s facing serious backlash. Many people might not have had the courage to do what he did, standing up to Mark Fitzgerald this year. People are afraid, and we can see why from the character assault on Neal Oury. It takes tremendous character to bravely face down those with very little themselves.
Many people might not have had the courage to do what he did, standing up to Mark Fitzgerald this year.
Now, he’s being accused of hiding financial difficulties he faced nearly a decade ago. Let’s talk about that.
Neal Oury filed Ch 13 bankruptcy years ago and has continued to pay his debts, overcoming a serious financial setback. That’s exemplary! His family has a proven track record of overcoming obstacles. When asked, he has responded with openness, honesty, and humility about a painful time in his life.
Previous life lessons do not necessarily create bad people.
Previous life lessons do not necessarily create bad people. In the case of Neal and Lynn Oury, it’s created warm, compassionate, community-minded survivors whose record of volunteer service in the last ten years right here in Loveland would put most people to shame. They served this community even as they worked to overcome their financial difficulties of the past.
Neal Oury is an honest and humble community-minded, public servant who has overcome challenges, which is exactly what we need leading our city going forward. He’s proven that he has the life experiences and fortitude to lead us out of the mess Mark Fitzgerald and his majority voting block on city council created. More, he’s pledged to give residents a voice by driving neighborhood representation.
I say, bring on Neal Oury for city council. Let’s see what he can do to help move Loveland forward and out of the mess of the last 2 years.
Vote Oury on November 7 with pride!
Best regards to you, Loveland neighbors.
Halie S. Rebeccaschild B.A., M.A. is the Secretary of the Loveland Community Heartbeat Political Action Committee
RP Diamond is the exclusive retailer of LOVELAND HIGH SCHOOL SPIRIT WEAR Welcome to RP Diamond Printing & Embroidery located at 370 Loveland Madeira Road.
Loveland Chamber and Loveland Magazine partner to bring you Meet the Candidates for Loveland City Council Night
Loveland Middle School Media Center
801 South Lebanon Rd.
Thursday, October 26 at 7 PM
Doors Open at 6:30 PM
by David Miller, Publisher
Will City Hall be demolished? One, two, or four-story? Who will be Loveland’s next Mayor? Who will be appointed to fill the remaining two-year term vacated by former mayor Mark Fitzgerald? Will pro-growth or slow growth protect our values and environment candidates be elected? Which candidates will be more transparent? Which candidates will have the best temperament when their actions are brought into question? Who will shorten your commute time? Who has the thickest skin and a pleasant disposition? Will new bosses be just like the old bosses?
What would you like to ask those who want a special seat of trust at City Hall for the next four-years?
I am pleased that Loveland Magazine can partner this year with the Little Miami River Chamber Alliance to bring the candidates for Loveland Council together in one room to face voters and their questions. Voters will have the opportunity to meet the candidates at 6:30 PM and at 7 PM the candidates will begin presenting their case and asking for your vote.
LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV will be broadcasting the forum “live” on Loveland Magazine’s Facebook page, so, people that cannot be at the forum to meet the candidates in person, can watch it wherever they are. Folks can watch on their smartphones, tablets, computers, or even on the widescreen of their smart TV in their family room. Organize your own watch party.
The forum will be rebroadcast on both our Facebook Page and at www.lovelandmagazine.com so folks can watch at any time leading right up to election day.
Residents can comment in “real-time” on the Loveland Magazine Facebook page during the live broadcast or afterward by watching the re-broadcast.
Judge Brad Greenberg is the Presiding and Administrative Judge for the Hamilton County Municipal Court.
At the Forum, residents will be putting their questions into a “hat,” and all questions will be screened for duplicates by Pastor Bill Hounshell. Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge and former Loveland Mayor Brad Greenberg will be the moderator for the evening and ask as many questions as time allows.
CeeCee Collins, President of the Little Miami River Chamber Alliance said, “I feel it is important to allow the residents and voters to meet and ask questions prior to going to vote on November 7. Our intent is to provide the community the opportunity to ask questions and make an informed choice when voting.”
There will be a similar Meet the Candidates Night for voters on, October 25, at 7 PM at the Loveland Middle School Media Center. The School Board Meet the Candidate Night will be moderated by former Board President Dr. Judy McClanahan.
Ohio School Report Cards give your community a clear picture of the progress of your district and schools in raising achievement and preparing students for the future. The information measures district and school performance in the areas most critical to success in learning. Ohio School Report Cards data shows educators, school administrators and families where their schools are succeeding as well as areas where they need to improve.
Schools and districts report information for the Ohio School Report Cards on specific marks of performance – called measures – within six broad categories or components. The components are Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation Rate, K-3 Literacy and Prepared for Success. The Department gives letter grades on each of the six components and most of the individual measures. This will help give Ohio parents and schools an even more complete snapshot of the quality of education they are providing their children.
Click to read the Report Card for Loveland City School District
2016-2017 Ohio School Report Cards Data Spreadsheets
The spreadsheets below contains all district, school, community school, dropout recovery and prevention school, career tech school and third grade reading guarantee grades.
Once again the citizens of Loveland were denied, by three council members, the right to undertake the business of the city. This is the second meeting of 2017 where, from my perspective, the same three council members failed their oath to the citizens of Loveland. Loveland Charter outlines that two council meetings are required to occur, on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.
In researching the absences of councilmembers during the last four years, there has never been a time where three council members were missing for a monthly meeting.
There were only 3 times that 2 council members were out for a required charter council meeting
I also looked at what percentage of meetings councilmembers missed during their time on council (this specific calculation is the only way to determine what affect their absences has had on council) because a straight numbers calculation over different periods is not meaningful.
Two council members have missed almost 17% of the required charter meetings, only one is currently on council – Steve Zamagias
One council member has NEVER missed a required charter council meeting – Kathy Bailey
Another council member has only missed one meeting in the last four years, the one where that absence caused a lack of quorum- Vice Mayor Angie Settell
Rob Weisgerber has missed 10% of meetings, Ted Phelps has missed 7.78% while Pam Gross has only missed 5.56% of required charter council meeting during the previous four years.
Based on this review I can am left to believe that only Politics played into the absence of three council members for one required by charter council meeting. Loveland fails when the business of the city is disrupted by officials who sign a pledge to follow the Charter of our city and then fail to live up to that pledge.
Shanda Gentry is a twenty-year resident of Loveland
Only one conclusion can be reached – that their absence was intentional
by Rob Weisgerber
I recently attended the September 26th city council meeting with council members Ted Phelps and Kathy Bailey. This was a scheduled meeting and had been on the calendar, as per the charter. Unfortunately, the meeting never took place due to a lack of quorum when the other three members of council did not show up. (City council no-shows: “Alignment of planets” or “Act of political cowardice?”)
To cancel a meeting requires a vote of the council – there is no unilateral authority by any one member to cancel or reschedule a planned meeting.
Most importantly, I did not find a case where there was a lack of quorum to do the business of the City.
If and when an individual member of council cannot make a meeting, it has not been an issue. However, In my history on council I can’t remember a time when 3 members had last-minute plans come up which caused a lack of quorum, halting a regularly scheduled meeting.
Council members do sometimes have to miss meetings. Almost always council votes to excuse him or her. The fact that people miss meetings is not disputable or even in question in my opinion. As a matter of openness, I have missed roughly 18 meetings over 7 years (that is about 165 meetings). This is about an average of 2 to 3 meetings per year. With legitimate reason or cause, being excused is appropriate for any member of council.
I could not remember in my history on council when we have had 3 members of council miss the same meeting or, even worse, not having a quorum to conduct city business. Nor could I find any request to move a meeting because a couple of members could not make the meeting. This is the real issue. Looking back through the last 8 years of records, I could find about 4 or 5 meetings where 2 members missed the same meeting. No meetings in that time had 3 members missing a meeting. Most importantly, I did not find a case where there was a lack of quorum to do the business of the City.
Several times while on our family vacation, as happened this year in August, I flew home at my own expense to make the scheduled meeting.
The first I had received any information from Vice-Mayor Angie Settell was through the city solicitor, about 60 hours following our last regular meeting. The email stated that there may be a problem and she wanted a special meeting the following week. This discussion should have taken place at the council meeting just 2 and 1/2 days prior. My schedule is very busy and full and I could not accommodate her request. Council members Bailey, Ted Phelps, and I did propose other dates but I received no feedback regarding our offer. I did make it clear that priority has to be given to the scheduled meetings as we all know they are coming and can plan. If I make plans that I can control I schedule them for non-council weeks. Several times while on our family vacation, as happened this year in August, I flew home at my own expense to make the scheduled meeting. There are times outside of my control when I can’t make a meeting due to work commitments.
I did not receive Ms. Settell’s email claiming to be a press release. I also noticed a real issue with the date of the notice being September 19th as meeting alternatives were offered following that date.
In the last several months we have now had Pam Gross, Steven Zamagias, Settell, and former mayor Mark Fitzgerald vote to schedule a meeting where Bailey, Phelps, and I could not attend, a walk out meeting where Gross, Zamagias, Settell, and Fitzgerald created a lack of quorum to do the business of the city by abruptly ending it and walking out. Now we have the same members not showing up so no meeting can occur. Only one conclusion can be reached – that their absence was intentional – again.
While I have missed meetings before, not once did any absence of mine preclude the business of the city getting accomplished. I take my commitment to you and the city seriously.
Rob Weisgerber is a member of Loveland City Council
Pocket released their first music video on Tuesday
by David Miller,
Loveland, Ohio – Loveland 2016 graduate Ryan Mangan and his alternative rock band, Pocket, released their second album in August. The Things You Think At Night is available on Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music. Mangan self-produced, wrote and performed nearly the entire album. In collaboration with Loveland senior and Loveland Magazine writer, Sam Smith, Pocket released their first music video on Tuesday.
The Delusion music video is a mix of live action, digital and practical VFX and 3d computer renderings. The video tells a story through hands, statues and falling actors.
2017 Loveland graduate, Jacalyn Parsley is featured in the music video Delusion
The video was shot over the course of only two days on a shoestring budget and with almost no crew. The Delusion music video stars 2017 Loveland graduate, Jacalyn Parsley and was produced with help from Loveland High School seniors Ricky Vilar and Stone Taul.
“Delusion is about all the unwanted anxiety that comes when you’re falling for someone. You start to wonder if they like you back, if they feel same. After a while you kind of just get to this point of ‘let’s stop thinking about this stuff, I’m not going to figure it out right now’,” Mangan explained.
Sam Smith is a photographer, videographer and writer for Loveland Magazine and award-winning independent film producer
The video is largely based around looping, long exposure stop-motion sequences created with a device called a Pixelstick. The Pixelstick works by “scanning” across individual pixels of an image in succession and are captured by moving the device laterally in a long exposure. Smith created images and sequences that were loaded onto the tool, and then it was moved laterally hundreds of time, displaying slightly varied frames. This created the illusion of movement and a holographic-like effect that is easier seen than described. Smith said, “Yeah, it was two months of spending most of my free time editing since it was so effects heavy.”
In the studio shooting Delusion
“Honestly I don’t know much about videography, but I had seen some videos that Smith had done before and he’s just flat out amazing with that stuff,” said Mangan. He gave Smith some ideas for what he wanted the video to be like, and then he took it from there and beyond, is how Mangan described the collaboration.
“The video goes past my wildest dreams honestly. Shooting was a lot of fun as well, I’ve never done anything like this before so seeing it come from the start to the end was a very cool process,” Mangan said.
“Shooting the music video was an incredible experience. It was a lot of run-and-gun, shooting from the hip and making things up as we went along,” said Smith who added, “It was a pretty ambitious project for our resources, so we tried to embrace the flaws and go for a little bit of a low-fi look.” Smith said it was his first time doing something like this and he felt that he was able to put a lot of his own style and aesthetic into the piece. “Working with Ryan was wonderful– he gave me a great song and pretty much total creative freedom. I’m really excited to see where his career goes,” Smith explained.
In addition to being a photographer, videographer, and writer for Loveland Magazine, Smith is president of the Loveland High School Film Club, Overture Award recipient and has had work shown at festivals such as NFFTY, AAHSFF, Vidcon and Nashville Film Festival.
The video is available on the Pocket Youtube Channel. Keep up with Mangan’s new releases on Spotify, Apple Music, and Twitter. You can follow Smith’s work on Instagram and Vimeo.
Sample other songs on The Things You Think at Night:
It’s been a minute, aye? I’ve been more than a little tied up with school, I’ve been working on music constantly, all while writing for both Scarlet & Game and Pippen Ain’t Easy.
So, on what I’ll consider to be one of the most gut-punching days in recent memory, with a nasty cocktail of Puerto Rico’s devastation, the deadliest shooting in US history occurring last night in Las Vegas, and the complete lack-of-confidence I feel in the people running our country to do anything about anything in particular, I need to take some time and talk about Tom Petty… because he wasn’t one to stand for any of that shit.
So, here I am, sitting in my room, wearing my David Bowie t-shirt (another hero), and spinning that debut record with the Heartbreakers, and fittingly I’m heartbroken. Tom Petty will live on forever, because his music is undeniably going to outlive me, and outlive the generations to follow; he’s a titan, an icon, and a hero.
Tom Petty died today at the age of 66. That sucks.
It’s kind of hard to recall everything Tom Petty means and has meant to a 21-year-old, life-long dreamer.
When you’re a kid, you’re obviously very impressionable, and for me, what my parents played in the car is a lot of what I’ve become. With my mom, we listened to a lot of Phil Collins and Fleetwood Mac. With dad, you could hardly go a day without hearing the Who or Elvis Costello.
However, there was this quirkily-voiced guy who really introduced me to the way a hook sounds. See, my dad was sort-of old school in the age of the CD; he’d burn about 15 songs onto a CD, which would turn into this crazy catalog of mix-tapes. I’d estimate about 90% of the mix-tapes possessed the quirky voice.
So, eventually I catalogued some of the lyrics, and while my brother and I sat in the back seat on the way to a bonfire at one of their friends’ house (I couldn’t have been more than five or six), the lyric, “awh yeah, awwll right, shake it easy bayybay, make it last all night,” stuck in the back of my brain… and it stuck in the back of my brain for good.
Years later, probably right around the time I started high school, I emerged from a long phase where I’d only been listening to stuff from the pop-punk factory (see Green Day and Fall Out Boy), dabbled with rap (Eminem and Kanye West), and found a home in rock’n’roll.
This metastasized in numerous Pandora stations, where I learned all the classic songs I’d known nothing and everything about; those songs from my dad’s mix-tapes creeped back into my life. Among those songs, I found one of my all-time favorite cuts, “American Girl”.
I set Petty aside until I was about 15, where he found me, lifted me, and helped propel me to be a lot of what I am today.
It was here where I started learning to play guitar, in a high school class, from a teacher who clearly (insert F-bomb) loved music in a lot of the same ways I did. It was here I learned the first song I learned (it’s the first song everybody learns on guitar… credit this note to Mr. Win Butler) “Free Fallin’”. A simple tune, but nevertheless completely and totally profound.
My teenage brain was driven to seek out more of Petty’s music, because the way such simple, brilliant lyrics could create these perfect rock-pop hybrids.
So, when I go home and tell my parents that we’re learning Tom Petty songs in school, being like the coolest parents in the world, they insisted I listen to Damn the Torpedoes, because I was listening to a lot of John Mayer and the two kind-of make sense in terms of taste pairings.
Photo of Tom Petty by Larry Philpot – http://www.soundstagephotography.com
I go on YouTube. Then I listen to Damn the Torpedoes. And from there, my mind is blown. Never knew you could kick off an album with “Refugee” and “Louisiana Rain”, but it turns out it’s like best way to do an album.
All of the sudden, I’m one of ten guys walking around the hallways of high school humming the lyrics to, “You Don’t Know How It Feels” having never consumed a drug… and I felt cool as hell, because I got to know about something no one else was doing.
I took some time off from Mr. Petty, until a few years later (we’re talking like 17), I found out my favorite band (Foo Fighters) do a cover of Petty’s “Breakdown”, so I listened to that… and then it was on.
Petty entered cardiac arrest early in the morning of October 2, 2017, and died later that night at a hospital in Santa Monica, California. Source Wikipedia
I don’t think I’ve made a playlist in the last four years that didn’t include some Tom Petty cut; his music is so unanimously lovable, but so personal that it fits any moment in the world.
Hell, one of the first records I ever purchased on vinyl was the first record he’d done with the Heartbreakers back in 1976 and there’s not a bad song on it. So many great songs on that thing. It starts with “Rockin’ Around With You”, it stabs you with “Breakdown”, ravages you with “Mystery Man” and then teleports you to a half-drunken July night with “American Girl”. I bought it brand-new (unfashionable for 2015) from Everybody’s Records in Cincinnati on my first college winter break as a Christmas gift to myself.
Four times in the last two years, I’ve had a chance to see Tom Petty in one form or another, or at least he’s been close enough to where I thought about it. One time last summer at Bunbury Music Festival, where he performed with his first band, Mudcrutch. Then, he played Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus this summer with the Heartbreakers, but the tour was a little out of my budget.
I got the chance to sing-along to a Petty song once, when The Shins hit an “American Girl” cover this summer at Lollapalooza, which one of my favorite moments in life ever, but it was perfect, because shortly there after, Arcade Fire kicked my dancing shoes to smithereens. I can’t help but know “American Girl” made the air in Chicago a little lighter, and brought that crowd a little closer.
I got the chance to sing-along to a Petty song once, when The Shins hit an “American Girl” cover this summer at Lollapalooza, which one of my favorite moments in life ever, but it was perfect, because shortly there after, Arcade Fire kicked my dancing shoes to smithereens. I can’t help but know “American Girl” made the air in Chicago a little lighter, and brought that crowd a little closer.
And it’s only been a few months since then.
So, here I am, sitting in my room, wearing my David Bowie t-shirt (another hero), and spinning that debut record with the Heartbreakers, and fittingly I’m heartbroken. Tom Petty will live on forever, because his music is undeniably going to outlive me, and outlive the generations to follow; he’s a titan, an icon, and a hero.
Alive or dead, Tom Petty will continue to be a personal hero and what I view to be an American Icon.
In summation, we lost one of the coolest (insert F-bomb) today. His long, blonde hair, his cherry red Rickenbacker, and his dorky, but potent voice are totems of rock’n’roll.
Rest easy, Tom.
Willie Lutz is a student at Ohio State and a former writer for Loveland Magazine. You can follow his other writing here:
ON WILLIE’S MIND – Expect the expected, I guess. You knew what you were getting into.
by Peter Weisgerber,
by David Miller, Publisher
by Shanda Gentry,
