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Time for a New Rome Lover update! I haven't had one of these for a while. Funny how they NEVER give their name and yet they will defend New Rome.

THIS SITE IS PATHETIC

1- New Rome is only a speed trap, nothing else. Most of this is an exception, not a rule. In most places, there probably are also tales of woe. Also, some of these stories sound fictitious, like someone wanted to make people hate New Rome and want it gone, JUST SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO SLOW DOWN TO 35 MPH FOR 1000 FEET. It would take MORE time to go around New Rome then it would to just slow down. Also, the well-enforced 35 mph zone probably makes some drivers slow down from 50-55 mph down to 35 mph. East of downtown on Broad Street, it's not uncommon for people to drive at speeds exceeding 60 mph, in a 35 mph zone. If New Rome were dissolved, then it would probably be worse here.

2-Of course the vote to dissolve New Rome failed! While a large police force for such a small place may seem to be overly present, it does keep away crooks. Many areas of the west side, closer to the downtown area, have drug dealers, prostitutes, panhandlers, rapists, kidnappers, robbers, murderers, gangs, etc. New Rome does not. In fact, someone else writing to this site said that New Rome is a peaceful place, and it is. It is because it has its own police whose job is only to patrol New Rome, and it's crap to say that they wouldn't do their job for crimes like this? They would if given the chance. This is precisely why New Rome should have been able to expand more into Prairie Township. Then the New Rome cops would have been able to be real cops, and may not have spent so much time patrolling Broad Street.

3- Also, quit whining. It's reasonable to assume that a cop would pull someone over in a 35 mph zone for going 42 mph. New Rome wouldn't suck so much if you everyone would slow down. How can so many people be dedicated to essentially raising the speed limit to 45 mph for 1000 feet to save a minute. It's ridiculous, and raising the speed limit is all that eliminating New Rome would do for you. As for those who actually live in New Rome, it would mean that they would no longer have police protection, and crime rates would increase.

As for those protests, GIVE UP! Protesting like that by walking up and down Broad Street isn't going to get rid of

New Rome, whether it should be gone or not (and it shouldn't). OPOC ought to find something better to do than write songs about how much she hates New Rome.

To whoever stole the signs-Stealing the signs will only make people view anti-New Rome forces as being vandals, and no you should not be allowed to have the signs either because the village shouldn't be dissolved

IF YOU REALLY HATE NEW ROME, STAY OUT! The people on the side streets that you would cut through probably won't appreciate it though.

Also- I am NOT related to Nancy Chapman, or any other members of the village council, or to Larry Cunningham, or Mueller, or anyone else in the government.

Jim says:

1 - New Rome is a TRAFFIC TRAP. They FIND reasons to pull people over. Not just for speed I'm sorry to say. As for the 35MPH speed limit, why did ODOT rule that it was illegal? Funny that.

2 - It failed because not enough people live there to do the right thing. Not because people feel safe. You must be really deluded if you think they could do real police work. It's been said time and time again how they have to call the Franklin County sheriff whenever REAL crime occurs. They don't have the facilities or know how to do real police work. Not to mention Prairie Township is very content with what they have! Why would they want hundreds of police?! For Columbus to equal a police force in per person like New Rome has it would have to have 150,000 police!

3 - Reasonable? Funny all the other law enforcement people I have talked to said it's insane. Not to mention I proved their sign was wrong and according to law you can't enforce a speed limit if the sign is wrong. Oh wait..I guess New Rome can. Crime rates would increase. Indeed. Last I checked New Rome didn't have anything to steal. How would crime rates increase?! Only criminals New Rome has are the ones running it and dipping into the funds.

Stay out if we don't like it? Ok, how about getting New Rome off the major section of High Way if YOU don't like what's happening to it.

Ok maybe it's not the trial of the century for most people, but it's pretty big for us New Rome Sucks supporters!

It started yesterday and it's already getting good. I wish I could have been there.

"Among the charges was a claim that Police Chief Larry Cunningham lives outside the village in violation of state law.

But because Cunningham resides in Fairfield County, charges must be brought against him there, O'Neill ruled, dismissing him from the case."

Any lawyer types out there care to explain this? If I commit a crime in Michigan they don't send me back to Ohio to answer for my crime. Something seems odd about it.

At any rate Tisler is running off the mouth. Would be funny for him to be put in his place by the judge. Say spend a couple days in the pokey.

Melissa Garay looks like an intelligent woman. I don't understand why she wants to get involved with that group. Sure helping family is one thing, but going down with the ship is another.

Not too much happening in the news with New Rome. There was an interesting article about Pete Beagle in the Dispatch.

Greetings out to all our Australian readers! I got a couple letters that 20/20 with New Rome was recently aired there.

Well I hope everyone enjoyed my little Aprils Fools joke. I know I got at least a few people with it.

Well the meeting last night was by far the most entertaining I have seen it in a while. There was yelling, naming calling, laughing, and also what I thought would turn into a brawl at one point.

It all started with the Mayor handing out the agenda for the meeting and Nancy and her old guard saying they already had an agenda. Jamie quickly pointed out that the Mayor sets the agenda for the meeting. They didn't like that. They kept saying "Is this a council meeting or a mayors meeting?" Funny. Last I checked a council meeting INCLUDED the Mayor since the Mayor is part of the whole council! Morons. So after the Mayor stuck to his agenda and they quite whining about it they went on to talk about the minutes of the last meetings. In particular the "Special" meetings that the old guard has all by themselves where they elected a new council member, gave themselves $22,000 to use for an attorney, and decided to remove Jeannie and Ed. Jamie kept asking Connie about things missing from the minutes and she wasn't happy about that. We really need to start video taping every meeting. Would be good evidence that she doesn't do her job.

Several times during this point they wanted to adjourn the meeting and walk out, but I think they knew that would be a bad idea. Nancy and the old guard kept wanting to bring up issues and Jamie would put them in their place and tell them to wait until New Business.

They got through Old Business where the Mayor read to them parts of the guides on special meetings and how things are suppose to be done properly. I don't think they liked it, but they were pretty quiet. There was one point when Jamie brought up recovery of the $56,000 that was missing in 1997 report. Nancy asked why he was so concerned about it and he pointed out that they should ALL be concerned about recovery of the funds. David started on Jamie about if that money was the same money that was missing in the 1992 report. Jamie told him over and over he couldn't answer that and he would need to talk to Betty. David kept on though and was getting more and more angry. I thought he would jump up and throw punches.

When New Business came up things got more fun. Started with Nancy saying they wanted Jeannie and Ed's seats to be declared vacant because they had missed the last two meetings. Even though they do not have the authority to do this they made it a motion and passed it and then started going on about removing them from office because they didn't think they were residents. Since John Galasso resigned they had Bob Head acting as village solicitor. Of course they had to vote on this too and it passed, but Jamie said he would NOT sign off on it. Nancy asked if Bob would be their village solicitor at the next meeting and he said he would. She then said she would like to have him be village solicitor until this was all done. He refused. Smart guy!

So as Nancy, Connie, and Melissa sat and complained about how things we going Patricia made the motion to adjourn. It was seconded by Ed or David I think. Jamie took a vote and Ed, Jeannie, Patricia, and David voted for adjournment. That was that. Nancy sat flabbergasted. She started yelling that the meeting was NOT over! It was NOT over! I got up and left along with Jamie and some of the others. The old guard stayed inside for a while. I don't know if Nancy was spanking them or they decided to go ahead and continue the meeting without anyone else.

At one point of the meeting everyone in the room was cracking up laughing at it all. It was like actors not being able to maintain themselves in a funny bit.

So that was the April 1st meeting. Steve Stephens was there and wrote a good article in the Dispatch about it.

Good stuff! I really like the one where it talked about John Galasso resigning if he was removed as a defendant in the lawsuit! At least he understood there was trouble brewing and the winds of change are in the air!

On a side note: Someone stole the wooden New Rome Corporation sign! As much as I dislike the people who run New Rome I really don't condone vandalism. Not to mention I was hoping to get that sign when they are dissolved!

Today it was announced that New Rome has given up and decided to willingly disband! What a joyous day for us here at New Rome Sucks!

I'm going to start a New Rome Sucks pictures section! If anyone has New Rome Sucks clothes, a New Rome Sucks sign, or anything like that mail me a copy and I'll put it up for the world to see! Creativity is a plus! I'll have to go find one of them McDonalds on a bench and put a New Rome Sucks shirt on him! ha ha ha

How great is that? I can't wait to go to the meeting Tuesday! Still haven't heard back from the Attorney Generals office.

"I was victim of a punk new rome cop a year or two back (exhaust too loud).
I just bought some new rome sucks apparel including bumper stickers. Can't
wait to paste em on drive thru, repeatedly. Great job man!"

Thanks for the support! I certainly wear my New Rome Sucks shirt whenever I get a chance to be out in public. People who don't know about it usually ask and people who do usually say "New Rome Sucks!" and I simply reply "Yes they do!"

New Rome Boundaries

Actually the lines are MORE than what New Rome is, but close enough for me.

As you can imagine not much in the news about New Rome with the war going on. I did get a couple letters from supporters in New Zealand. Seems that something was on TV there talking about how much New Rome sucks. If you see New Rome or our site mentioned somewhere let me know. I always like to know how far and wide word has spread.

Michael sent me a mention of New Rome in The Columbus Dispatch - Road signs will drop some signs. It talks about ODOT removing some signs of small towns to "reduce confusion for motorists." We have mailed ODOT a couple times asking why New Rome has it's own signs on I-70. Just doesn't make sense!

I got an email from Greg who mailed some government agencies. In his letter to ODOT he asked

"why would I ever consider bringing my family to Ohio when you let a town like New Rome operate like this?"

The reply to him from Todd Neilsen in the Office of Legislative Services at ODOT went something like this

"Thank you for your comments regarding the Village of New Rome. As Ohio is a Home Rule state, a village does have authority to enforce to the extent they see permissible speed limit and other traffic violations. The controversy surrounding New Rome has focused on how local law enforcement and various council members have allowed such a high degree of enforcement."

Being the ever concerned citizen and pain in the ass I asked the following of Todd:

"Hello Todd,

I run the web site www.newromesucks.com and was in the past told of how
New Rome is able to operate under Home Rule. It was recently
discovered and admitted by New Rome that they do NOT have a charter. So
will they continue to be allowed to operate without a charter and still
be protected by Home Rule?

Curious people all over the world want to know.

Thanks,
Jim"

"Dear Sir -

I suggest that you contact the State Auditor's office or the Ohio Attorney
General's office for more information regarding the New Rome issue. The
Ohio Department of Transportation has no jurisdiction in these matters.
Todd Neilsen
Office of Legislative Services"

I guess this irks me most of all because no one wants to come out and fight New Rome. Is it because they don't think it's worth it? He says that ODOT has no jurisdiction in these matters, but if Todd is in the ODOT Office of Legislative Services I could only assume that means he has some sort of legal expertise and that if New Rome in fact does NOT have a charter he would be able to do something. I did mail the Attorney Generals office though. Still waiting to hear from them. I will certainly keep everyone posted!

I gave testimony to the Senate Committee yesterday. It went well, but I think everyone was tongue tied because we were asked to make it brief due to an upcoming caucus. So we were all skipping around our prepared speeches. Mine was close to what the first one was with a few updates. I'll post it at the bottom of this update for anyone who wants to read it.

This is just so great! Listening to all these people speak out against New Rome. I wonder at what point they will crack. A part of this bill not mentioned, but was brought up is it would remove mayors court for any village under one hundred.

Sorry, I can't seem to stop smiling! Talk about getting what's coming to you. I love it!

Good afternoon. I started a web site called newromesucks.com almost two years ago in response to the injustice I received in New Rome. At first, my work was for my own vendetta against the village, but as stories of physical, mental, and financial abuse started pouring in from all over the nation, it became a personal cause to see New Rome removed from the maps.

New Rome has existed for over fifty years and much of that time it has been a traffic trap and source of government corruption. The corruption has become a joke to a lot of people who have learned the hard way that you have to drive around New Rome or risk being ensnared by their trap, but as with most humor, there is an underlying tone of anger and frustration. I have felt this anger and frustration as I tried to fight their system and lost to their corrupt ways. With my web site I am attempting to stop New Rome’s trap through sharing mine and other stories on my web site. Though I am but one man, my message has reached over one hundred thousand people across the world through the Internet, radio broadcasts, newspapers, and national television with the hope that through the sharing of knowledge I could make a difference. Of the hundreds of letters of support I receive there is a reoccurring question: “Why hasn't the State done something to stop New Rome?” To get the answer, I emailed the Office of the State Attorney General and was told of "home rule" which state that villages (such as New Rome) should be able to correct any situations that arise itself without State intervention. While the concept of “home rule” is great for large villages with a lot of residents, sadly, it does not work when dealing with a handful of people, who happen to be part of the problem.

It was assumed for many years that the speed sign height and placement was correct until I proved them wrong, and even more recently it has been proved that the actual speed limit is wrong. It was assumed for many years that the council was running things correctly until recently they were proved wrong. And even more recently it was discovered that New Rome does not have a charter, it had just been assumed so, but even this has not stopped them from running things as they see fit. With this track record, is it just assumed that New Rome is a real village? I would not be surprised if we find out that New Rome started with just a group of people who broke off from the now defunct Rome, many years ago, and thought that they could run things better and it has just always been assumed that they are a legal village.

Current laws lack the ability to clean up a corrupt and undersized village such as New Rome, since only residents can vote to elect officials or dissolve the village. With just twenty-one residents deciding against dissolution, the fates of thousands of others are decided and a situation described by our State Auditor and Department of Transportation as wrong and illegal is allowed to continue. The will of the people of Ohio is cast aside because no law gives us a voice to tell New Rome “We do not want your community as part of our State any longer!” No matter how many millions in the State might say New Rome should be dissolved, it continues to hide behind a State made blanket of sovereignty and self-administration. It is like allowing a group of children to run things as they want and tell them to punish themselves when they break the rules.

I understand that this bill concerns some people because it can override the will of the people in a village, but this is only because to date no laws have been created to deal with corrupt and undersized villages that are not capable of governing themselves. This sort of law is exactly what our legal system is based on. The ability of the judicial system to determine what is best for the people. Senate Bill 25 is a start to this process and will give Ohio what it needs to deal with the corruption that has plagued this great State for far too many years.