Talk:Salem, Ohio

Is Salem Politically separate from Perry Township?

I emailed one of the Columbiana County Commissioners. I doubt they're going to check it what with the Holiday but I'm fairly Certain that once a Village reaches City Status They tend to sever their ties to the township . mostly to stop having to share property taxes. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Captainkang (talk • contribs) 17:52, 23 December 2006 (UTC).Captainkang 17:53, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

As I understood it, Salem is a city. Perry Township is a township, and not under the jurisdiction of the city of Salem. See City on the link indicated. It may be the case that much of Salem's "population" lives in Perry Township, but they are not city residents. Likewise, Perry Township students may attend Salem City Schools, but they still live in Perry Township, not the City of Salem. To be a city, as the definition goes, Salem cannot be part of a "township," it stands alone. Salem is bordered by several townships listed here, and is IN Columbiana County, but it is nonetheless separate from Perry Township politically. The entry should be changed accordingly.

County Lines and Other Confusions

The ever-controversial and popular Wal-Mart that keeps popping up as a reference point in this article is located in Mahoning County. (There's a sign that reads "leaving Columbiana County, entering Mahoning County" a few feet from the store's parking lot.) This is interesting, and confusing, as Salem is located in Columbiana County, and the author (who has no Wiki account name and does not identify him- or herself) insists that this area is part of Salem. Could the author (or someone else who has a Wiki account) please explain this to me?

Further, the Ordinance cited as reference to the aforementioned edit only provides that the City of Salem will provide SERVICES (fire, snow removal, water) to the 82.24 acres annexed from Salem Township. This does not mean that those acres became part of the City, and does not address the Green Township issue. The previous edit (now restored) about Green Township and census purposes should be restored. It had nothing to do with Wal-Mart, as far as the citation is concerned, and should remain as-is. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.247.246.109 (talk) 15:50, 3 April 2007 (UTC).

I keep re-editing the article because as a resident of Salem, I know that the city annexed that particular land from the township so that it could offer Wal-Mart all the services it needed to open a store there (this edit is not informed by my political views with regard to Wal-Mart). The city welcomed Wal-Mart with open arms, even giving them a tax abatement, I believe. However, because the Salem News and the Morning Journal -- the local papers in the area -- refuse to keep any material longer than seven days in their archive, it's nearly impossible to get any online information about it more substantial than the ordinance already referenced.

The store is actually on the south side of State Route 14. You're right -- as the road curves to the left in front of Wal-Mart, the road enters into Mahoning County and Green Township (where Home Depot is situated). However, Wal-Mart, and most of its parking lot sits just south of the county line (which actually runs straight through the Dunkin' Donuts in front of Wal-Mart). If you need to check the boundary, go to the Columbiana County Courthouse, or download Google Earth, which has a "county line" feature.

The city also annexed territory from Green Township in Mahoning County to entice Home Depot (again, it would be easier for Home Depot to secure a cozy tax abatement and certain services if they built in the city limits instead of in a township).

All of this is why I contest the assertion that the annexation of township land into the city limits of Salem was for "census purposes." The city doesn't care to have more people; instead, they did want more jobs. To keep Wal-Mart and Home Depot interested in those sites, they needed to provide them the services they needed (which would best be provided by annexing the land into the city).Salemquaker 01:25, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

You live in Salem, so you must be familiar with the microfiche, microfilm, and other archival records available for all local newspapers at the Salem Public Library. I welcome your references from sources other than the internet. I do not have physical access to these records, but I think the article would benefit greatly from them. Have you considered asking Dick Wooten or any of the other Salem historians about their documentation on the subject?

Moreover, the facts from the City of Salem webpage must be correctly interpreted. The site does not indicate that "a vast majority" of the city is in Perry Township, and I believe that most of the city is actually not in that region. If you can find a real citation that proves your point, it is welcome, but the citations listed do not do so. The "census purposes" information comes directly from the United States Census Bureau. That reference directly refers to Census department actions. While there may have been other land transactions in the same year in that area, the statement about census purposes is accurate, and should not be removed in favor of Wal-Mart-related text. The Wal-Mart construction was probably part of something else, but the census information comes from the Bureau itself.

I know current residents of Salem, lifetime residents of Salem, and was --until fairly recently-- myself a resident of Salem. I don't recall anyone welcoming the store with "open arms," but I can see your position quite clearly.

It might be helpful if you included images from these maps you cite in support of the assertions listed above. It could certainly add an air of dynamism to the page!

You might want to check your facts on why people choose tax abatements. Thankfully, that is not a part of the main article at the present moment, and it is best left out due to a clear personal opinion your comments reveal.

Finally, do we need to include the Wal-Mart store in the opening paragraph about the city? Salem is a lot more than (a relatively new) Wal-Mart, and this seems like information that could be included in another section, perhaps one on "retail offerings" or "new development" or "changes to the city." --After all, there is no section on history, the town's place in industrial fabrication, or its famous residents. Seems like the information on a couple of "big-box" stores could go in another location than the opening statements.

BFDhD 21:24, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

The issue doesn't seem to be WHY they annexed into Green Township. but DID they annex into Green township. Even if no one lives in the territory; if it was in Mahoning county the,n the city is Bi- CountyCaptainkang 17:47, 23 April 2007 (UTC)