Posted on 09/10/2004 9:22:15 PM PDT by staytrue
Controversial for years because of thefts from its mayor's court and a reputation as a traffic ticket-trap, New Rome has been on a path toward dissolution since 2001.
* Nov. 6, 2001: Jamie Mueller is elected mayor of New Rome. He receives six votes and is unopposed. A West Side business owner, Mueller vows to reform the police department, which raises more than $300,000 a year ticketing motorists on a 1,000-foot stretch of W. Broad Street.
* Jan. 8, 2002: Mueller takes office despite threats by the police chief to arrest him on a charge of election fraud. The Franklin County prosecutor later rules that Mueller is the mayor.
* May 8, 2002: State Auditor Jim Petro recommends the town dissolve itself after an audit finds that 82 percent of the village budget goes to police ''whose primary purpose appears to be writing traffic tickets.''
* Aug. 6, 2002: Councilman Ed Anthony, the town barber, presents a petition with five signatures calling for a vote on dissolving the town.
* Feb. 4, 2003: In a special election, New Rome voters turn down the proposal 21 to 11. It is the largest turnout in a New Rome election in memory.
* May 2003: The General Assembly approves a bill that allows the attorney general to seek to dissolve towns that have fewer than 150 people and recurring electoral and financial problems.
* June 2003: The New Rome Mayor's Court is suspended. The police department shuts down, and Chief Larry Cunningham resigns. The town's traffic light is set to flash yellow.
* Dec. 1, 2003: Now Attorney General Petro files a complaint asking the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas to dissolve New Rome.
* Aug. 9: Judge David E. Cain declares the village dissolved but gives the council 30 days to hold three public meetings and vote to appeal his ruling.
* Today: Thirty days later, council members have made no move to appeal. New Rome officially reverts to Prairie Township.
Source: Dispatch archives Time has finally run out on New Rome.
Today is the deadline for the village defenders to file an appeal contesting a Franklin County judge's order to take away its government powers.
But Common Pleas Judge David E. Cain specified that no appeal would count unless the four who had been serving as council members decide on the issue in public, at three separate meetings.
That has not happened.
"I've got no instructions to file an appeal,'' Nelson Genshaft, the lawyer old-guard New Romans hired to defend the village, said yesterday. "I think they've given up the ghost.''
Former Councilman David Tisler said yesterday that even if his colleagues were to mount a last-ditch effort, he would not participate.
"I'm not attending any more meetings,'' Tisler said during a short break from his job fixing cars at New Rome Towing.
The eight-year New Rome resident has moved to the South Side. Councilwoman Patricia McCormick, with whom he lived, relocated to West Virginia two weeks ago, he said.
"It all fell apart,'' Tisler said. "We lost.''
But to countless others, this is a long-overdue day of celebration. For decades, New Rome carried a national reputation as a traffic-ticket trap where fine money disappeared and police were encouraged to write more tickets.
Clerks were caught and convicted of stealing thousands of public dollars. The New Rome Police Department generated about $300,000 a year in citations along a 1,000-foot stretch of W. Broad Street.
But now, New Rome is just another part of Prairie Township.
Attorney General Jim Petro, who prosecuted the case, said yesterday that he's pleased there will be no appeal.
"New Rome made government look bad,'' he said.
Fears that the police could return are now over.
"For anybody located there, we won't have to worry about our customers receiving tickets any more,'' said Bill Saxton, whose real-estate business has a branch in the former village.
"I won't miss the police,'' said waitress Margo White while serving customers at Tony's Coneys on W. Broad Street.
Barbershop owner and former Councilman Ed Anthony, who favored the end of New Rome, figured that defenders would fold after Cain ruled that village officials couldn't collect unpaid traffic tickets.
"They wanted to use that money for this case,'' Anthony said. "When the money must come from their own pocket, it's a different story.''
The town's debts now fall onto Prairie Township.
"It's like a bankruptcy situation,'' Prairie Township Administrator Tracy Hatmaker said yesterday. "They have a lot of debts. I guess you can't dismantle a government overnight.''
Just ask Jamie Mueller.
He and a group of area politicians and businessmen got New Rome's wheels spinning toward oblivion three years ago.
In November 2001, Mueller collected signatures for candidacy in the mayor's race without attracting notice from the old guard, which had become accustomed to bypassing the ballot and appointing allies.
By the time the power base in New Rome learned of Mueller's candidacy, it was too late to put up a challenger and Mueller won a two-year term with all six votes cast.
Then he fought to dismantle the town's police department until last year, when Petro filed suit to dissolve the town and Mueller decided not to run.
"It's a wonderful day for Prairie Township, the greater Westland area, and I think things will only improve from here on,'' a jubilant Mueller declared yesterday.
Meanwhile, parties are being planned. One is to be held at Saxton's real-estate office on Sept. 16, manager Della Lambert said.
Jim Bussey, creator of newromesucks.com, said he and others are planning another party on Sept. 18.
His site now shows a tombstone that reads "New Rome, Traffic Trap, 1947-2004: Rotten for Years, Buried at Last.''
krichards@dispatch.com
Sounds like a Coen brothers movie...
More info here: http://www.newromesucks.com/
"Sounds like a Coen brothers movie..."
Indeed, it does. Esp. that last bit, about the tombstone.
You'd think the cops, who are now out of work, or the clerks, who looted the coffers, would have at least appealed. Sounds like a cool place to drag race now.
I can't believe this little burg has generated so much national interest. I graduated from Westland High School in 1976 which is across the street from the western edge of New Rome. Had a friend who lived there years ago and another friend today who is a Prairie Township trustee, He's been in favor of shutting down NR for years.
Control freaks do what they do.
If we let them.
NewRome sucks? LOL! I know of a few Free Republic members who would readily agree with that sentiment.
Seriously, though; I had no idea this racket-that-called-itself-a-town existed until long after I made the name up. By all accounts it's good riddance to bad rubbish.
Thanks for the ping, Seamole. That's a good one.
...........
It's Official: NewRome sucks.
"I wish to thank all the little FReepers whose ire made this dishonor possible.
You hate me (sniffle), you really hate me!"
I think I'm jealous!
P.S. Go ahead, vote for Kerry.
Hope you guys have a good weekend.
Bump.
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