Inuaguration Day and the start of 2012 in Pepper Pike

No matter the weather yesterday, a lovely crowd of residents attended the swearing-in of Mayor Richard Bain, two new Councilmen - Tony Gentile, Jim LeMay and the incumbent, Gail Mayland.  Here's what it looked like outside:

 And here's Mayor Bain giving brief comments afterwards:

One note about this coming year that I've yet to see mentioned in the media: the merger study timeline has been extended by one year.  According to at least two people who were present at the meeting where this decision was made, the quantity of information demanded by the study and the possibility that the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission will apply for Local Government Innovation Fund money to help pay for the study factored into the decision.

What this means practically for residents of the four communities (Moreland Hills, Orange Village, Pepper Pike and Woodmere), is that there will be no vote in relation to the merger concept in November 2012.

Being an information-hound such as I am, I completely appreciate the desire to be sure that there is adequate time and effort put into the study. However, given the focus placed on the June 2011 announcement of the merger study, I hope we all see some equally remarkable demonstrations of government transformation before August 2013, the time into which the merger study process has now been extended.