Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: What Kind of Jobs Does West Liberty Need?

West Liberty as we all know is in desperate need of JOBS! If West Liberty had jobs that paid well and were promising then you could not ask for a better place to live. As I have said before most people who live here and have been raised up in this area don’t want to leave but are forced to. I think the kind of Jobs that West Liberty needs are jobs that people have went to college and worked for. They are a lot of jobs around here such as fast foods jobs but those aren’t what people who have come out of 4 years of college want to get. They want good paying jobs that are promising and that have good benefits. After 4 years of college or more the last thing people want to worry about is getting a job that seems to be a good one and then the company shutting down. I could not think of a worse feeling then to have something you worked so hard for being taking away after you have put so much dedacation and hard work into getting it.The kinds of jobs I think we need are jobs such as: Accounting Jobs, More job opportunities at the hospital, more jobs in agriculture, and more promising jobs in the school system. Those would all be ideal jobs for people with college degrees. But as for jobs for people who don’t have college degrees West Liberty could really use some factory jobs with some good benefits. Also I think that the people who do have jobs around here deserve more pay and benefits than what they are getting.

How Can West Liberty Engage Our Young People?

The Young People of West Liberty can easily be engaged but just feeling like their opinions matter. I really feel that if we felt like what we had to say mattered we would step up and would want to help more and want to do more to improve our community. I really think most of us feel that if we don’t have a good name or don’t have a family member that is a public official that our ideas will be shot down and not even be considered. While attending a New Cities meeting Tad Long really gave me the impression that he does value the thoughts and ideas of the youth of this county I really think that if more of our Public Officials here gave off that impression the youth would step up and enlighten people with their ideas and opinions. The ideas that do get consider mostly come from the older people from this area who already have children that are grown up and moved away from here. But it would make more sense to me to want to consider youth ideas more because we are the younger generation who have been growing up here and possibly raising family here within the next 10 years. If Morgan County is still in the shape is in now 10 years from now I know that I will not consider staying here at all. And I’m sure others my age feel the same as I do. West Liberty has a lot of upsides and is a good place to live, but no jobs and nothing to do is not a very promising thing to keep people here. If youth ideas are took into consideration I think it will keep most of us from moving away.

What do West Liberty Residents Want to Change?

I think that the Residents of West Liberty would like to see more jobs, more activities for children and families to do and more tourist attractions. By having more jobs in West Liberty people would not have to move away from their families and go so far away to work. A lot of people from this area who have went on to college and have got degrees are not able to work here and are forced to move away to be able to provided for their families or themselves. The majority of the ones that do move away really don’t want to go but have no other choice but to. More activities for families and children would keep people from driving so far away to have something for their families to do. Although we do have a movie theater here you really don’t have much of a choice of what to watch so people travel to places like Morehead, Mt. Sterling and Winchester just to watch a movie, not only is it costing people a lot in gas to travel to these places but it’s also taking money and putting into to other communities when that money could be used here. If Old Mill Park had more things to do other than just walk around I really think that families would spend a lot of time down there. Yes, they are a playground but there isn’t much to it and it’s not very big at all when 5 kids are down there playing all at once it’s crowded. Tourist attractions would not only give the people of West Liberty to enjoy but, it would also bring people from other places into our county and would bring in money and possibly some jobs. Morgan County has a lot of good past history here a museum could easily be put together here to show off how proud most of us are of this county. It’s just simple little things that can really make people appreciate their community.

New Cities in West Liberty: My Perspective

To me The New Cities in West Liberty is an excellent idea and has some wonderful plans that I would really like to see all fall into place and work out for West Liberty. After attended the meeting and discussing the issues in class I really think that what all has been talked about would truly make West Liberty an even better place for the people of this community to live. I feel that the ideas that have been talked about are not ideas that would be impossible to complete although I do see them taking some time to finally come together and be put into play.
I think the best idea out of all the ideas talked about are the following: 1.) Cleaning up West Liberty (making down town look better, planting flowers, painting the buildings and fixing up the sidewalks), 2.) The new bathroom facilities at Old Mill Park and 3.) The best idea of them all in my opinion a recycling center.
I think by cleaning up West Liberty and fixing little things up down town it would make West Liberty feel more homely and would make people even more Proud to call West Liberty their home. By fixing up or making a new bathroom facilities better it would bring a lot more people to the park and would make the park an overall better place for families to come to and spend time together. And finally a recycling center in West Liberty would be one of the best things to happen to West Liberty it would help keep trash out of the dump, off the roads and would also bring in some jobs which is another thing West Liberty is in need of.

What's Great About Our Community?

In my personal opinion I think what is great about the community of West Liberty is that the majority of the people in West Liberty are very close the people here work together to make West Liberty a better place. When something tragic happens the community will work together to do whatever they can to help a family out. In most communities you don’t see people working together like this most people just hold their own and don’t really worry about anyone else but themselves in some cases that’s not a bad thing but, when you know you have people around you that care it always seems to make a situation easier.
Another thing that makes West Liberty such a great place is they are not a lot of crime that goes on around here of course they are little things that do occur but it’s not nearly as bad here as what it is other places. I really like the thought of not feeling the need to worry about someone coming in on me and my family and stealing everything we have. In places that I have lived before I would never ever go to bed without making sure my house was locked up good but, here I feel like I don’t need to worry and it’s a good feeling to feel secure.

The final thing that makes West Liberty such a wonderful place for me to live is the fact I have such wonderful neighbors. The people that live next door to me are the most trustworthy people I have ever met in my life. Anytime that my family and I need to be out of town my neighbors are wonderful about getting our mail and making sure that our house is safe. Also ever since my grandmother has been sick she has received countless numbers of cards and gifts from our neighbors and it always makes her feel so much better. I think that West Liberty is just the right size and they are just the right amount of people here. If this place was any bigger it probably wouldn’t be as great as it is.

New Cities and Gov 141: A Great Experience

To all I have had the pleasure to meet and work with in this class it has been a wonderful experience. I am glad that I took this Government class and that Mr. Gay encouraged us and gave us the opportunity to get involved with our community. It has been a real learning experience.
I have enjoyed the time I have spent working with my fellow students. I plan to keep involved with the park program. Although my main concern is to be a help in any way for the restructuring of the playground for special needs children. I will try to be as involved as possible with the other goals we have set for our events as well. But as always the subject nearest and dearest to my heart will be the childrens' personal area.
I am glad to have met you my fellow students and glad to have had the opportunity to have worked with you on this wonderful project. Good luck to everyone in their future endevaors.

Let's Stay in Touch

Forgot to mention this in the last blog but figured Id just post another. Anytime anything needs updated on the facebook group someone just send me an email or a facebook message about it. I work some crazy hours at work but its an amazing job so I should be available when needed. Also if ya just need me for anything just send me an email. dave_bolin@hotmail.com for referance.

David Bolin: A Note on Moving Forward

h Nso its 3am just got off work and figured Id blog a bit. Im hopefully going to be able to stay helping with things with New Cities since the semester has ended. Not sure on how my class schedule is gonna be with work and such but more to come on that I suppose. I really think with effort and help this can get major things done in West Liberty.

Old Mill Park

Our group is highly wanting to make the Old Mill Park have more equipment to serve the Handicap Children and other children all in one. Such as fixing the swings so that handicap children can have as much fun as other chilren as well as making to appearence of Old Mill Park better. I really hope that this group of citizens will be successful in their plans and ideas for the community of West Libery and the citizens as well.

Join the New Cities in West Liberty

The New Cities Group is still welcoming any citizen that is interesting in coming to our meetings. They are usually every month if not twice a month. If you are interesting in our meetings then please come and join us in our meetings. We would greatly appreciate your appearance to our meetings.

Ditto Melissa on Special Needs Kids

I strongly agree with what Melissa M. says about the park, when she talks about the swings and play mats for the special needs children, everything she said in her blog I hope we can get pushed forward and start making the park a better place for everyone. Its not right to be leaving the special needs children out, I think we really need all that stuff for them, it would make all them so happy that they can finally be included in on something.

Stay Active With New Cities

Even though our government class was over today wed. 6, 2009 i hope our new cities group stays together and still tries to make this county better for each and everyone here.

Stay With New Cities

Make our community a better place come to our new cities meeting and let us here your ideas on what we are doing...

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MEETING ! !

Did everyone get Mr. Gays E-mail? There will be a
Chamber of Commerce meeting at Patties Place Noon
on The 14th. I hope everyone comes out to attend if you
can. I am going to do my best to attend and bring with me
my proposal for the play area. If anyone wants to come
I encourage you all to do so. We need voices and support
of our ideas and thaughts. And if anyone has anything
they want to add or new ideas to talk over with our group
this would be a great time to do it. Lets show everyone
how commited we are to seeing our improvement plans
progress into action plans!
We need all that can attend to attend. Lets show everyone
we are serious and that we are going to hang in there like a
hair in a biscuit! Lets prove to them that we want our thaughts and plans to be
taken seriously and that we take them seriously as well.
So come on out and join the rest at Patties Place noon on the 14th!
Hope to see you there.....................................................

My Proposal for Park & Special Needs Kids

And again hello to all. I have a wonderfull Idea!
What other kind could I have? Just kidding! Please
stick with me for a moment so that I can share this
with you.
I propose that we keep our small childrens play area
and just extend it slightly to accomodate the special
needs equipment. We would cover the whole area with
the same surfacing that is found on pre school play grounds.
This surface is a rubber type matting that is very durable
and can accomodate wheel chairs and walking aids. Our
small play area would include all the same features it has
now just adding swings along with handicap accessable
swings, and a wheel through arcade. Lets not forget the
ramps!
The small play area is so very well suited for this as it
is also shaded by the line of trees just behind it and close
to the water fountain. I will be taking this proposal along
with my research for the grants to the next city council
meeting. Wish us luck.

For the Children

Hello all. I'm Finally a contributor! Horray Horrah!
Now to get to the point. Celebration over.
During my visit to the last city hall meeting, I had
the chance to speak to the council about our group
and our plans.
I must say that they were warm and welcoming.
I expressed to them our interests and they were
very recieving. I spoke to them about our event plans
and about the permenant concession stand. I also spent
some amount of time on the issue nearest and dearest to
my heart and that is our kids.
The council was very interested and I invited them to
come to our next meeting on May the 14th. I plan to stay
in touch with the members of our city council about the
design and progress of our play area. My main focus was
the handicap accessable swings and ground cover for the
small play area.
I will be talking with them and contacting the Americans
with Disabilities Act commision to check on the available
grants for our park. The city has some money for this expansion
but they need not dip into it till we see how much we
can obtain by adhearing to the ADA standards and recieving a
grant by doing so.
So wish us luck and lets improve the park for everyone
in our community.

Don't stop now!

Here we are its finals week! The semester is ending and so is our project. Does that you mean we are done with new cities? I really hope not! A projcet like the new cities needs as much participation and support as it can get and if its at all possible I think we should all continue to partcipate in and support new cities. It would be very benefical to future of our city to have its youth involved in keeping it going and revitilizing it. Keep that in mind as you start your summer.

Moral Dissonance

Being a part of New Cities did give me a little hope for my community. Unfortunately, I can no longer participate in such an endeavor. It's no secret that my Gov 141 grade played a huge factor into my participation, and since the semester is ending, it is time for my involvement to end as well. It's not that I don't care. In fact, leaving like this makes me feel more than a bit guilty. No, I have another reason entirely.

The fact of the matter is that I can't drive. A mix of fear, procrastination, and the intimidation of the real world resulted in me waiting to get my permit (which I received only last December). Therefore, I've depended on my Papaw to get me from place to place within city limits. Unfortunately for him, he isn't in the best shape in the world. He has emphysema, high blood pressure, and diabetes, just to name a few of his problems. This summer, I will attempt to get my license in order to lessen his burden. (To go off on a tangent here, maybe we can do something in the future to aid the elderly and disabled). Until then, however, he has to drive, and I don't want to force him to come to subsequent New Cities meetings and/or events when it is not necessary to sustain my grade. Once I receive my license, though, this may change.

Although I may not actually go to any meetings, I will still try to do the best I can to help. If any of my classmates still want to continue with New Cities and want suggestions, feel free to e-mail me at the address shown on Facebook.

Amberlee

We have recently held meetings on how to improve Old Mill Park in West Liberty, we have brought up a lot of good ideas & are hoping to start on them as soon as possible. Some of our ideas were adding in swings for special needs children because their isn't really anything for them to do at Old Mill Park (which isn't fair). Also we are thinking of trying to put the park to better use by putting on concerts and plays. We came up with the idea of maybe getting the band Stitch Rivet to play first, so that many people would come out. Hopefully more people will come to the meetings so we can officially get this started.

The Power of the 'Net

It is amazing what technology can do these days. With the advent of the Internet, the flow of communication is much faster than anyone could have ever imagined. Want to send a letter, but hate physical limitations and/or the post office in general? Send an e-mail. Need info fast? Google is your best friend. Got something to say to the world? Simply create your website to share information or create a blog in order to mouth off about issues. Want to discuss topics with like-minded individuals? That's what online forums are for. Want to keep in touch with your friends? Your prayers have been answered by MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. This and more can be accomplished through the Internet with amazing speed...without leaving the comfort of your home. Indeed, the world is literally at your fingertips (which have likely been used recently if you're are reading this) as long as you have a computer with Internet access.

Such communicative power has endless possibilities. Some may be good, and others shady. Therefore, I urge whoever that stumbles upon this blog to use it for the common good. In order to accomplish great things, people must be brought together. As the old saying goes, two heads are better than one. With the Internet, however, those heads may be multiplied exponentially. This kind of raw manpower is just what we need to improve West Liberty...and communities all over the world. So don't waste the power of the 'net or allow it to succumb to less than noble causes. Flood it with noble ambition!

Old Mill Park, Next Meeting

In the new city initiative group we have been talking about improving the old mill park. We have brought up ideas such as making the facilities better- adding things for the special needs children, and having concerts and theatrical performances.
We recently just had a metting on April 30, 2009. Our next meeting will be on May 14, 2009. Hopefully we can get more people to participate on making these ideas better, and get started on them soon.

Jackie's 2 New CIties Institute Comment...

Many of the people in the community doesn't really realize what shape that Morgan County is really in. Most of Morgan County is in good shape overall but just needs alittle improvement. Such as our Institute Group is trying to accomplish. We really would like to put Handicap swings and more equipment into Old Mill Park because we really don't have any equipment in Morgan County for Handicap children. We don't need to let them feel left out so we are really pushing for that new facility. We also are really wanting to be able to put on plays and have concerts at Old Mill Park to involve all the children in Morgan County to participate. They have been other ideas that other groups have had that are also very important to myself for our community such as the neighbor helping neighbor idea, and the idea about a medical professional workforce. If anyone is reading this that hasnt come to these meetings before need to realize that everyone's ideas are very interesting and important. If you are interested in these meetings please come to them and express your ideas for our community.

Jackie's New CIties Institute Comment...

I have been working with the New Cities Institute Group with improving our community. I enjoy working with this group to help improve our community such as we are trying to get more jobs, recreation activities improved, overall just improving what Morgan County already has. Our short term is to create opportunities for local talent to perform regularly, and expand the parks. Our long term projects is to build an amphitheatre, and help improve Old Mill Park with better playground equipment. Our class have come up with these projects to help improve our community and also to try to get the surrounding communities to come and participate in our facility.

Evolution of Ideas

Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain but death and taxes. To that, I would add one more thing: change. It never ceases to amaze me to see how much things can change in so little time. As most parents would say, a child becomes an adult in what seems to be an instant. In the grand scheme of things, it truly is. Children becoming adults is only one of the nearly infinite changes this planet has undergone during its existence. Indeed, change is a constant in this world of ours, and that rule applies to everything, including ideas. Don't believe me? Let me showcase my experience at April 30's meeting as exhibit A.

Our initial plans for New Cities included expanding the restrooms, building a concessions stand, and making sure that there is an event every Friday night. At the aforementioned meeting, however, most, if not all of these ideas, were given a major overhaul. Upon finding out that the restroom construction would cost over $60,000, the only realistic improvement could be renovation and better care for the restrooms we have. Instead of building a concessions stand, we will more than likely borrow one...for only two events: a movie night in June and a concert at the beginning of August. Apparently, doing a event every Friday night is unfeasible at this point. On top of that, we are now going to expand upon theater in this community and do a play. Sounds a little bit different than originally planned, doesn't it?

The point here is that ideas are limited by reality. You can have a great idea, but sometimes there may be no reasonable way to realize it. After all, ideas only exist in the mind, which has no limitations. The real world does. Therefore, in order to get anything close to what you want done, you have to revise the idea so you can adapt it to real world standards. It may not be what you expected, but that doesn't mean that it is worthless. Change can be a good thing, as even the simplest of ideas can make the community better.