LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

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Since 2004

Tag: neal oury

  • Campaign Statement of Neal Oury

    Campaign Statement of Neal Oury

    EDITOR’S NOTE:
    Neal Oury is a candidate for Loveland City Council and provided this Candidate Statement to Loveland Magazine.
     

    Loveland Magazine invites all candidates for public office in the 45140 zip code or within the Loveland City School District boundary to send a similar Candidate Statement for publication. Send to lovelandmagazine@cinci.rr.com

     

    Neal Oury aspires to serve our community

    After being asked many times by several people, I have decided to run for Loveland’s City Council. It is time to give back to the community where I was raised and currently live. I remember Loveland before I-71 or I-275 existed. Loveland was rural, quaint, quiet and residents were involved in their community. Today, Loveland is still quaint, with many changes. The railroad track is now the Bike Trail, Rolke’s is now a multi use development, the Crist Theater is now the Loveland Stage Company. The current Loveland Early Childhood Center was Lloyd Mann School, where I attended starting in the 2nd grade.

    My father worked at the railroad tower that was located behind today’s Cindy’s Tavern. I remember going to work with him, watching him pull large wooden levers in order to switch the tracks. We saved cardboard milk cartons for Harry Andrews to make the bricks to build the Loveland Castle. As a child; I played LYO baseball, enjoyed Eats & Treats candy store and shopped at Millitzer’s that was our “mall” located where Pizazz’s is today.

    My wife Lynn of 34 years and I have lived in our Loveland home for thirty years where we raised our two children. We are parishioners at St. Columban Parish where I served on Parish Council and as Chairperson, Spiritual Director for the Christ Renews His Parish program, coached girls & boys basketball and volunteered with the HANDS program. I have maintained a Real Estate Brokers License since 1980 and started my business in 1984. I served as Secretary, Treasurer, President, Past President for the Greater Cincinnati chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management. I have served on the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Apartment Association. I have managed portfolios in excess of 7000 units, as well as, for Fortune 500 Companies. I served on the Loveland Finance Committee, volunteered with the Loveland Farmers Market, The Loveland Amazing Race, the Loveland Stage Co. and Lowe’s Heros. I was awarded the Business Enhancement Award from the City of Loveland in 2005. My company rebuilt Loveland Stage Company after the devastating fire in. 2008.

    Communication with people is important to me. Understanding your concerns and opinions on issues, programs and development will help move our community in the direction WE desire. Together we can make it happen through dialogue and resident engagement. Transparency will be visible as we openly discuss future development and other priorities. I envision neighborhood meetings to openly listen to what’s on your mind. I want to get to know resident and personally inviting neighborhood representatives to attend council meetings.

    If elected, as a member of Loveland’s City Council, I will listen and respect the opinions of all council members. I will bring to this body a skill set of organization, rational decision making and a inclination to detail with honesty, common sense and integrity.

    I ask for your vote November 7th.

     

    Pizazz Studios and Gifts in Historic Downtown

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  • Loveland Council Voter Poll

    Loveland Council Voter Poll

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  • Loveland Magazine’s Voter Poll

    Loveland Magazine’s Voter Poll

    Loveland Sweets is a purveyor of hand-crafted chocolates, caramels, marshmallows, and ice creams. Our house-made candies are prepared in small batches.
  • Business group seeks transparency during election

    Business group seeks transparency during election

    Loveland, Ohio – Businessman Tim Canada placed a four-inch thick binder on the shelf under the speaker’s podium before speaking at the Loveland Council meeting on August 22 saying he represented several local businesses. He said that since there was so much said during the campaign to recall former Mayor Mark Fitzgerald charging him with not being transparent, he was putting all candidates on notice. He said, “Going forward every candidate and council person will be under scrutiny for transparency.” He said their efforts would also be directed at The Little Miami River Chamber Alliance and the Loveland Community Heartbeat PAC. He said the business people would be speaking for the next eight weeks about transparency – going back to 2007.

    Canada said that Halie Rebeccaschild had used two different names on campaign finance reports submitted to the board of elections that were submitted by the recall campaign committee. He inferred it would be election falsification and that it would be a fifth-degree felony to do so.

    Canada continued saying, “It bothers me to do this, but I am going to do it anyway.” He then went on to talk about a candidate for Council, Neal Oury, outlining past law suits he has been involved in and his personal bankruptcy.

    After Canada made the public statements that were aired on the live Facebook feed of the council meeting by LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV, Rebeccaschild and Oury were asked if they would like to respond to the things said about them by the business group.

    Here are their responses:

    – Halie S. Rebeccaschild

    Loveland Community Heartbeat has amended the filing to correct the error. The mistake was in part due to a name change and the treasurer referencing an account not current with the name change at the time of entry to the ledger. Contrary to Mr. Canada’s suggestion, a filing error does not equate to a felony. According to the Hamilton County Board of Elections Campaign Finance Department, amendments to filings are quite common.

     

    – Neal Oury

    During August 22, 2017, Loveland City Council meeting business owner Tim Canada raised concerns over law suits in which I have been named and my experience with personal bankruptcy. Regardless of Tim’s motive in bringing these to light, I do recognize that as an individual seeking public office, such matters are up for public scrutiny and I will address them directly.

    With regard to the lawsuits mentioned… I’ve spent thirty plus years in the property management and the building and construction business, and sadly, law suits are a reality of these industries. Six of these cases were dismissed due to a lack of grounds; in one action, six suits were filed for back taxes and I was named only as the mortgage holder for properties that I had sold on a land contract. Two suits were decided in my favor. The remaining suits were related to the bankruptcy.

    With regard to my filing for personal bankruptcy… I will be honest it was an extremely difficult time for me and my family, and a situation which I am not eager to talk about. The culmination of the economic downturn in 2008-2010, the housing market and remodeling business depleted to nothing. My mortgage on my business property was with 5/3 Bank who called my mortgage due. Unfortunately, the economy did not recover and the lack of business led to a situation where I was not able to meet my financial obligations. However painful the experience, I took responsibility, made reparations, and continue today following through on my commitment to pay that debt. It has been a long and difficult road, but as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

    To the degree that Tim felt it necessary to bring these events to light for the sake of transparency, as was demanded of Mark Fitzgerald during the recall drive, I will point out some very relevant differences. First, I have never been accused of fraud, as was the case with Fitzgerald; I have never been fired from a job due to issues of integrity. It appears Fitzgerald has been accused of misusing public funds, my financial hardship affected no one but my family. I have never walked out of nor been booed at any meetings. I take pride in my integrity to do what is right.

    When I declared my candidacy for Loveland City Council, it was not with any pretense of my being perfect or not having experienced failure in my life. That decision was the result of my lifelong desire to make Loveland a better place, with city leadership that is inclusive, responsive and respectful of its citizens and to have an open dialogue with the community. With my candidacy comes a promise that I will work tirelessly for Loveland and with Loveland.

    Respectfully submitted, Neal Oury

    Below are excerpts from the speech Canada gave at the Council meeting.

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  • Recall of Mayor Mark Fitzgerald is “On” again

    Recall of Mayor Mark Fitzgerald is “On” again

    Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald did not attend the meeting he called for at the Hamilton County Board of Elections challenging a decision to allow a recall election to go forward (File Photo)

    Mayor has until midnight Monday to either resign or face a recall election in November

    Fitzgerald and his attorney are no-shows for appeal hearing they requested

    Norwood, Ohio – LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV was live this morning from the Hamilton County Board of Elections when those wanting a recall election of Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald received a unanimous 4-0 vote ruling their petition sufficient. The recall vote will be on the ballot in the General Election this November.

    After Sherry Poland, Director of Elections ruled on Tuesday that the recall petition was sufficient, giving Fitzgerald five days to resign or face the recall vote, Fitzgerald filed an appeal of her decision. The appeal hearing was this morning in Norwood.

    Fitzgerald has until midnight Monday to resign or face an opponent in the November election who seeks to serve the remaining two-years of Fitzgerald’s term. The presumptive candidate if the Mayor does not resign is Neal Oury who says he has enough signatures on a nominating petition to run head-to-head with Fitzgerald, but will not submit his signatures if Fitzgerald resigns. He will instead allow the petition he has already submitted to run for an “open seat” on council to stand.

    The Board expressed that Fitzgerald may further challenge. Speculation from many in attendance was that Fitzgerald may challenge “when” the election would take place. Neither Fitzgerald nor his lawyer was in attendance this morning to defend their appeal.

    Fitzgerald appealed partly objecting to the address Rebeccaschild used as a signature gatherer, however, Oury said that even if the signatures she gathered were all disqualified the group had more than enough valid signatures.

    Both Oury and Loveland Community Heartbeat PAC spokesperson, Halie Rebeccaschild spoke to Loveland Magazine after the decision and their interview can be seen in the rebroadcast of the hearing below. The PAC was not itself responsible for the recall petition drive, however, Rebeccaschild has been a spokesperson for both groups. Fitzgerald nor his attorney were present at today’s hearing, thus not available for comment.

    Read this background about the recall election to understand the implication to the community: Fitzgerald files appeal on recall decision

    [This story was updated 8/11/17 at 6 PM.]

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  • Fitzgerald files appeal on recall decision

    Fitzgerald files appeal on recall decision

    Loveland Magazine will broadcast live (Facebook) Friday morning from the Hamilton County Board of Elections at 8:30 AM as Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald challenges and appeals the decision of the validity of petitions submitted for his recall from office.

    Loveland, Ohio – After the Hamilton County Board of Elections on Tuesday gave Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald five days to resign or face a recall vote this November he filed an appeal of the Board’s decision. The appeal hearing will be this Friday at 8:30 AM at 4700 Smith Road in Norwood.

    On August 5, the Loveland Community Heartbeat Political Action Committee (LCHPAC) returned to again submit petitions to place the recall of Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald on the November ballot. Fitzgerald has two years remaining on his four-year term and the group wants Neal Oury to run head-to-head with the Mayor so Oury can serve the remaining two years.

    Slightly more than 1,800 signatures were gathered in a week on a revised petition after their first signature drive proved unsuccessful because of insufficient language on the petition. Previously, more 2,054 signatures were gathered and submitted on July 22.

    In a statement to the Loveland Community Heartbeat PAC Tuesday, Sherry Poland, the Director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections said, “On August 4, 2017, the Hamilton County Board of Elections received a petition for the recall election of Mark J. Fitzgerald and an election of a successor. We have completed the review of the petitions and determined the petitions to be sufficient.”

    Poland said that if Fitzgerald does not resign within five days, an election will be held at the next general election on November 7. She also informed the community group that attorney Doug Holthus, on behalf of Mark J. Fitzgerald, has requested a protest hearing on the validity of the petitions and that the board has scheduled a Special Meeting on Friday, August 11th at 8:30 AM to hold a hearing.

    Halie Rebeccaschild, Secretary, and spokesperson for LCHPAC said on Tuesday, “Obviously, the first part of this correspondence contained excellent news, and the second part contained expected news, that Mark Fitzgerald challenges the merit of this recall petition.” She also said that although 1800 signatures were obtained within one week, Fitzgerald challenged it on two frivolous points that disregard the signers of the petition.

    Fitzgerald through his attorney Holthus claims the title of the petition “Petition for Recall” should say “Petition of Recall and Replacement.” He also claims in the appeal that circulator Rebeccaschiid does not accurately identify her residence in the Circulator Statement on the Petition, and the signatures contained in documents verified by her should be invalidated.

    Rebeccaschiid counters that her permanent address used for circulation is, “Indeed, correct and neither challenge appears to have ground, legal or otherwise.”

    Fitzgerald’s attorney told the Board, that Rebeccaschild has, during at least one open meeting of the Loveland City Council, indicated that she does not live at the address on the petitions she circulated and that her residence and point of contact is, instead, located on Lyons Avenue.

    William Durnette, the attorney for the recall committee members said in a letter to the Board that in state or local law there is no requirement for headings on petitions. He also said that the permanent residence address Rebeccaschild provided on the petitions she circulated is, as the Board can confirm, the same address that is with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles for both her automobile title and driver’s license, and with the Board of Elections.

    Loveland Magazine asked Fitzgerald Tuesday night if he had any response to the decision the Election Director made and if he would resign if he receives an unfavorable decision on his appeal. He declined to comment.

    According to Loveland’s Solicitor, Joe Braun, Fitzgerald must resign or face the recall election and he must do so on Saturday, August 12 if he receives an unfavorable decision on Friday. Braun also said that if Fitzgerald decides to face the recall election and he wins, City taxpayers will have to pay 50% of Fitzgerald’s campaign expenses. If he loses, taxpayers will be off the hook.

    Neal Oury has told Loveland Magazine that he has enough signatures on a petition to go head-to-head with Fitzgerald in a recall election and he will file the petition depending on Fitzgerald’s decision on Saturday. Oury has already filed petitions for one of the open Council seats this November and will withdraw it if Fitzgerald does not resign.

    Also read all of Loveland Magazine’s reporting on the recall and other area election news HERE.

     

  • [VIDEO] Interview with Halie Rebeccaschild after turning in Fitzgerald recall petitions for 2nd time.

    [VIDEO] Interview with Halie Rebeccaschild after turning in Fitzgerald recall petitions for 2nd time.

    by David Miller

    Norwood, Ohio – LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV broadcast live on Friday from the Hamilton County Board of Elections when the Loveland Community Heartbeat Political Action Committee returned to again submit petitions to place the recall of Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald on the November ballot. Fitzgerald has two years remaining on his four-year term and the group wants Neal Oury to run head-to-head with the Mayor so Oury can serve the remaining two years.

    Slightly more than 1,800 signatures were gathered in a week on a revised petition after their first signature drive proved unsuccessful because of insufficient language on the petition. Previously, more 2,054 signatures were gathered and submitted on July 22. In a press release issued earlier in the day Spokesperson Halie Rebeccaschild said, “It was a significant setback, but it didn’t last long. An astounding 1,800 signatures were collected over the past week.”

    The release elaborated, “To put that in perspective, the initial round of 2,050 recall signatures was collected over a nine-week period, for an average of 225 signatures per week. The second signature collection averaged more than 225 signatures per day. “In the end, residents will have their voices heard at the ballot box in November,” said Rebeccaschild.

    Fitzgerald was given an opportunity to comment on the second set of petitions being submitted to the Board of Elections but did not respond. He has also not responded to questions Loveland Magazine emailed to him about the allegations being made about him.

    This interview with Rebeccaschild was conducted just after she turned in the new batch of signatures.

    You can view the “Live” broadcast of the petitions being presented by going to Loveland Magazine’s Facebook Page.

    Aslo read:

    [Video] Fitzgerald Re-Call Petitions delivered to Elections Board

     

     

  • Loveland Magazine will broadcast this event “Live” on Facebook today

    Loveland Magazine will broadcast this event “Live” on Facebook today

    Loveland Magazine will broadcast this event “Live” on Facebook today at 2 PM from the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
     
    “One week after petitions for the recall of Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald were rejected due to issues with the wording on the petition, Loveland Community Heartbeat PAC (LCHPAC) will be back at the Hamilton County Board of Elections to once again submit recall petitions. This round of petitions includes approximately 1,800 signatures of Loveland residents collected in just one week.”
  • What you should know about recall elections

    What you should know about recall elections

    This “Law You Can Use” consumer legal information column was provided by the Ohio State Bar Association.  It was prepared by Philip C. Richter, Executive Director of the Ohio Elections Commission.

    Q:  What is a recall election?
    A: Recall is a method that can be used to remove an official from a public office before the end of his or her term.  A recall election is a right reserved to the people served by the official. It can only take place after a petition signed by the required number of qualified voters is certified.Q:  Could an Ohio governor be removed through a recall election?
    A: No. Neither the Ohio constitution nor the Ohio Revised Code (ORC), Ohio’s collection of written laws, provide for recall elections for statewide offices. For this reason, Ohio voters cannot use recall to remove a governor.

    Q:  Can a city official be recalled in Ohio?
    A: Yes. The ORC provides that any elective officer of a municipality may be removed from office by qualified voters as long as that official has served at least one year of his or her term. Although state law allows cities to hold recall elections, any particular city’s charter may either allow or forbid such an election. The wording of the city charter determines whether recall is an option.

    Q:  Assuming a city’s charter allows it, how can a city official be recalled in Ohio?
    A:  In Ohio, a petition must be signed by qualified voters. By law, the number of signatures required must equal at least 15 percent of the total votes cast at the most recent municipal election. In the petition, the voters demand that the city official in question be removed in favor of another official to be chosen by the voters in a recall election. This petition must be filed with the board of elections. If the board of elections finds the petition to be valid and the official in question does not resign from office within five days, then the lawmaking authority in that city may set a day for a recall election. The recall election is held 30 to 40 days after the petition is validated.

    Q:  Would I be voting for one person over another in a recall election, like in a regular election?
    A:  No. You actually have two separate votes. The first vote asks you to decide, with a “yes” or “no” vote, whether you wish to remove the official from office. The second vote asks you to select, from a list of qualified candidates, a successor for that official. The second vote is considered only if the first vote results in the removal of the official. The official who voters are being asked to recall may not include his or her name as one of these candidates to be considered.

    Q: How would a successor candidate qualify for the ballot?
    A: In a recall election, there is no primary election. Rather, a candidate who wants to replace the incumbent must file his or her intent to run for office with the board of elections at least 20 days before the special election. Each candidate must provide a petition with signatures equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast at the most recent regular municipal election. Call your local board of elections to get the exact number of signatures required.

    Q: How many votes are needed to recall an official?
    A: If a majority of voters decide the official should be removed, then the official will be removed. Whoever is chosen to succeed the official will then hold office for the remainder of the recalled official’s unexpired term.

    Q: If the official is not recalled, can he or she be compensated for recall election expenses?
    A: Yes. If the voters decide to keep the official in office after a recall election, that official is entitled to be repaid his or her actual and legitimate expenses from the city treasury, up to 50 percent of allowed campaign expenses for any regular city election.

    12/2/2015

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