Help win funds for the Valley!

[northside lurker]

I also voted last year and didn't notice a difference in spam/junk email.

This year, I voted before I saw the instructions to leave the 3rd choice blank.  What is the purpose of leaving the 3rd choice blank, if our votes are ranked?

My third choice was "D."  While I voted for that because I see the value in GIS technology, I also noted that Columbiana was one of the partner communities.

[Towntalk]

I gave them everything but my phone number.

[Rick Rowlands]

I wonder if votes would be disqualified if information is not available to verify the identity of the voter.

I voted in the first round last year, and I did not notice any increase in solicitations or unwanted emails.

[irishbobcat]

Vote for Youngstown.....

[Towntalk]

Thanks for the information. It was very helpful.

As I told Rick my vote was accepted without having to give out some of my personal information, so contrary to his assumption I did vote for both projects.

[DefendYoungstown]

The competition was created by a non-profit called Advance Northeast Ohio (http://www.theplus.us/advance.aspx).

It is sponsored by the Fund for Our Economic Future which is an organization that combines regional philanthropies to promote collaborative economic development initiatives in northeast Ohio ( http://www.futurefundneo.org/)

For more information on the competition, go here: http://www.efficientgovnow.org/

Youngstown won this competition last year. We need to win it again. Please vote for "H" and "C" ONLY...and spread the word (we need at least 10,000 online votes).

More the on competition inself in today's Business Journal:

Campaign Seeks Votes for 2 Valley Projects
May 7, 2010 6:48 a.m.
By George Nelson
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Mahoning Valley once more has two projects among 10 finalists seeking funding in a competition to promote regional collaboration, and Dan Mamula says the goal is to go "two for two in '10, again."

But civic leaders on hand for Thursday's launch of the campaign to rally votes for the local projects caution that other Northeast Ohio communities aren't prepared to simply let the area repeat its performance from last year, when area projects placed first and third in the balloting.

A press event Thursday afternoon at the Youngstown Club, organized by the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, kicked off the effort to urge Valley residents to vote for the two local finalists among the projects being considered for funding. The Fund for Our Economic Future is offering a total $330,000 for three projects, with the fund reserving the option to grant a fourth award to a collaboration involving small communities.

The two Valley projects among the 10 finalists are proposals to establish a collaborative land bank for Mahoning County and to create a coordinated geographical information system in Trumbull County. Balloting is under way through May 31 on the 10 proposals, which are posted at the EfficientGovNow Web site, and where Northeast Ohio residents can cast ballots on behalf of projects. Ballots can also be cast by phone or by using paper ballots that are available through the Regional Chamber, MVOC and entities sponsoring the two local proposals.

"Last year we raised a lot of eyebrows in Northeast Ohio by stomping the competition in the first round of EfficientGovNow," said Tony Paglia, vice president, governmental affairs, of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. "We did it first and foremost because we were really ahead of the curve in Northeast Ohio. We had started the ball rolling on local government collaboration."

The game plan this time around is similar to last year's effort, said Phil Kidd, a community organizer with MVOC. "But we're going to spend an extensive amount of time actually out in the community -- neighborhood meetings, chamber events -- and using the networks from our local county officials all the way down to church leaders to get out the vote on these two projects," he said.

"It's going to be tougher this time," Paglia added. "A lot of people are going to be gunning for us and quite frankly a lot of people in Northeast Ohio aren't quite sure that we're for real."

Work is continuing on the top vote-getter in last year's competition, a Web site by the Mahoning River Corridor Mayors' Association that will detail properties available for development along the river corridor. The site should undergo a preview launch in June followed by a full launch in September, said Mamula, manager of the project.

Work is also progressing on the Mahoning/Youngstown Regional Information System, which will provide high-speed connectivity to local governments. Connections have already been established between Mahoning County's data center and Oak Hill Renaissance Place, and connections with collaborative partners will take place over the next 30 to 60 days, said Mahoning County Auditor Michael Scortino.

[Towntalk]

Rick:

The problem is that I don't know who these folks are. I'd have no problem if I knew them. For example if you were to be applying for grant funds and asked for support, I'd gladdly give the information that this group requests.

Organizations like this pop up every day and we end up on mailing lists ... our e-mail box gets full of unwanted messages.

By the way Rick they did accept my vote without all the personal information. 

[Why?Town]

Deciding what to fund based on popular vote seems strange to me. Is the populace completely familiar with each project in order to make an informed decision? Are the projects prescreened by someone that is informed (and unbiased)? Are the votes weighted to allow communities with smaller populations a fighting chance? Where does the money actually come from?

[Rick Rowlands]

Name, address and phone number.  How unbelievably unobtrusive!  I guess its all TownTALK and no TownACTION, even if it means hundreds of thousands of dollars for the valley.

[Towntalk]

I would be happy to but they are asking for information I give out to no one. I don't know these folks or how secure their data base is.

[Steve Novotny]

Visit http://www.efficientgovnow.org/Vote/ and vote for projects H and C to help secure funding for these very important projects here in the Valley. The winning projects will be determined exclusively by popular vote! Vote and spread the word!