Our Top Five Stories of 2024!
We End This Year Looking Back at the big stories that got our residents thinking
We are picking up from where we were yesterday by looking at the top five stories of 2024; yesterday we looked at six through ten and when we looked at the five stories that garnered the most traffic here, there might be some surprises.
No. 5 - What is the Ohio Public Works Commission? - Published July 13, 2024
This story ended up being the fifth most read story at Civic Capacity, and it is one that gets read to this day, largely because it has been shared hundreds of times throughout the state. Back in July, we took an in-depth look at one of the most interesting state agencies out there - the Ohio Public Works Commission. What does it do? How does it work? Why does it partner with local communities? This is a great primer on this agency and proves that this newsletter is providing a well-rounded perspective on all things local government.
No. 4 - Explaining Statutory and Charter Communities - Published March 24, 2024
This is another one of those newsletters that continues to be read throughout the state to this day. And like the post above, it isn’t so much about news, as it is about explaining some of the nuances of local governance. In a nutshell, Troy is not like it’s other municipal brethren in this part of Ohio, as it is a “Statutory” community and does not have a city charter. What does that mean? We tackled it.
No. 3 - What will the Public Square look like in the future? - Published April 24, 2024
On April 17th, the City held a public meeting in the Redman’s Club with local stakeholders talking about making changes to the downtown traffic circle. This publication talked about those changes and of course the city needed to “correct the narrative”. A second meeting was held earlier in the spring in front of a packed house at the Hobart Arena. Of course, since that time, the plan has changed significantly. This goes to show the power of citizen input.
No. 2 - I Have Come to the Conclusion That This City Government Can’t Communicate - Published March 21, 2024
Of course, all our readers knew that the debacle that was the street closing of the IOOF Building would inevitably make our Top 5 list, and here is the first of those such posts. This point basically points out that when local government leaders say contradictory things, trust is eroded.
No. 1 - BREAKING NEWS: City's New Lawyer Requests Judge to Stop Work on IOOF Building - Published March 11, 2024
I had just stepped out of the shower, enjoying a late winter bike ride of 20 miles. I came downstairs and noticed a letter taped to my front door. It was a letter sent by a legal firm, quietly hired by the city, asking a local judge to stop the stabilization work on the IOOF building and ordering the building to be torn down.
It was shocking, to say the least.
What Do You Think?
What was the top story you think we covered this year? Our paid subscribers are more than welcome to leave their favorite story in the comment section.
As always, if there is something in our community that you want to bring attention to and want to write a full opinion piece, without the limits of word counts or paywalls, this publication has a policy of publishing all submissions. Just send your ideas and insights to pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
Check out our New YouTube Channel!
Our goal with the Civic Capacity YouTube Channel is to be a centralized location where residents can watch videos of local government meetings in action and also provide comments and insights. You can check out the channel here!
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