BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT B1 Your Community Recorder newspaper serving the communities of southern Campbell County E-mail:kynews@communitypress.com
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B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
T h u r s d a y, J u l y 3 0 , 2 0 0 9
Council considers spending clause
Volume 4, Number 40 © 2009 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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By Chris Mayhew cmayhew@nky.com
Welcome back
Cline Elementary School is preparing to roll out a red carpet to welcome students and parents back to school with a Hollywood star treatment. Cline’s 6:30 p.m.7:30 p.m. Aug. 6 Hollywoodthemed open house, albeit one of the flashiest, is one of many open houses and orientations in schools around the district in the run-up to the return of students Aug. 10. For more on this and other back to school events see inside. SCHOOLS, A6
Riding with dad
CHRIS MAYHEW/STAFF
Brett Ruschman, above, of Alexandria takes his 2-year-old daughter Leah on a cycling trip along Washington Street in Alexandria Sunday, July 26. Allen Morris of Milford, below left, and Alex Kerman of Fort Mitchell pedal south along Licking Pike, heading toward Tollgate Road and through town in Alexandria as part of an about 50 to 60 mile bicycle ride through Campbell County Sunday, July 26.
Collection time
In the next few days your Community Recorder carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s Alexandria Recorder. Your carrier retains half of this amount along with any tip you give to reward good service. This month we’re featuring Luke Spradlin, a student a Campbell County Middle School where he is on the cross country team. He likes to play video games after school. For information about our carrier program, call Allison Hummel, 442-3460.
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Alexandria City Council is considering a new rule that will require the mayor to receive prior council approval before moving money around in city accounts or city spending overruns in excess of $1,000. The ordinance is unique, and officials from cities including Fort Thomas, Bellevue, Dayton, Cold Spring and Southgate say they have no similar ordinance. The proposed ordinance was introduced by council member Lloyd Rogers. It’s expected to be voted upon at the 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6 council meeting, Rogers said. Rogers said before the budget cycle that was recently completed the mayor came to council with changes that needed to be made to amend the budget including an extra $16,000 in spending for public works staffing. Rogers maintains that council needs to know about cost increases as the year goes along so there are no surprises at the end of the year. “When we pass a budget, we want that budget to be adhered to,” he said. Rogers said council does receive quarterly reports of how money is being spent, but that more financial transparency is needed whenever a change needs to happen. “If it isn’t going to be enough money he should come back say I want to change this,” Rogers said of the mayor’s job. “He should ask
Police will text, e-mail safety alerts By Chris Mayhew cmayhew@nky.com
The Alexandria Police Department is fighting back against the spread of rumor mill information with a new neighborhood-level direct text messaging and e-mail alert system. Anyone can sign up to receive messages from the department on their cell phones or e-mail accounts through a link for Nixle at the top of the city’s Web site www.alexandriaky.org. Police officers will only be sending out important updates including notices of car break-ins in a neighborhood, missing persons, and traffic advisories hazards, said Police Chief Mike Ward. “In years past we have always enjoyed being able to control the
• KIDS MEALS • BEER • DESSERTS
information, and that has dynamically changed with the Internet,” Ward said. When there were reports of a man trying to entice children into a black pickup truck in southern Campbell County in late March and early April rumors abounded, he said. Ward said someone had even walked up and asked him about an e-mail they had received that a suspect had been arrested by police in Alexandria. “There was such disinformation that was going around about that,” he said. Ward said if people sign up for the neighborhood-level text message and e-mail service that they will only receive messages when the police need to notify residents of an issue.
The police department is also working with the Alexandria Fire District to provide firefighters with direct access the system if there is a safety issue firefighters need to communicate. The system allows the police to send out notifications in as little as a quarter-mile radius to up to 20 miles based upon the addresses or road intersections people use when they register for the service. The service is provided free to the city through the International Association of Chiefs of Police and www.nixle.com. Part of the reason the department chose to work with nixle.com is because they have a policy to not sell their e-mail or phone lists or send out advertisements, Ward said. “We don’t want people to get
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to move money around.” Council has a right to ask for that level of detail and authority, he said. “We are the guardians of the budget, he is not,” Rogers said. “He is only the one who spends it.” The ordinance is not necessary, said Mayor Dan McGinley. No budget that’s ever been written is followed exactly, he said. “They’re just plans,” he said. The ordinance is introducing politics, he said. “It’s just stupid,” McGinley said. A couple of years ago when gas went through the roof it’s not like the city could stop filling up the cars because the cost of fuel was more than was budgeted, he said. The same was true for salt this year when the city had to buy more salt to keep roads clear than was budgeted for because of heavy snows. McGinley said if the ordinance is approved, the city will find a way to get things done still. “You can’t not buy salt, you’ve got to do it,” he said. “And if it takes an act of Congress I think that’s what we’ll have to do.” Council member Scott Fleckinger said he thinks the ordinance will give council more notification of day-to-day operations. “I don’t see any harm of it,” Fleckinger said of the ordinance. “And I think it might help us understand what is being spent where throughout the course of the year.”
Sign up for alert system
The Alexandria Police Department will send out text message and e-mail alerts through the Internet-based service www.nixle.com. To register, look for the nixle.com link at the top of the city’s Web site at www.alexandriaky.org. Because of re-addressing southern Campbell County in years past the database may not recognize all addresses. Alexandria Police Department Chief Mike Ward said his advice is to choose the closest road intersection to their home when registering. so inundated with text messages and e-mails that they want to turn it off,” he said. “But when there are concerns that the public needs to know and we need to get out correct information, and now we have a vehicle to do that.”
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