The Clintonville Area Commissioners & Clintonville Zoning & Variance Committee members wish Paul Bingle a happy retirement after an amazing 36 YEARS of service to the Clintonville community!! With a pending move in a few weeks, Paul resigned on June 24th and ended his tenure with one final Zoning & Variance Meeting! We will miss his wisdom and insight.
Paul’s long term contributions to the neighborhood offers a good overview of where the neighborhood has been in the last three decades. Paul was mentored by Clintonviile’s earliest advocates. Martha Trout, Helen Gross and Phil Jastram. Diane Hayford, a long term CAC committee member notes that ” Paul was an important bridge between them and now. His institutional memory is vast and our neighborhood has relied on it so often through the years. I cannot conceive of how many committee positions he has held. By-laws, Elections, Zoning, etc., he was always just a phone call away. I cannot recall a time when he said “no” to our community. His good nature and wisdom will be missed”..
Paul’s notable projects were:
The dreaming, design, fundraising, and dedication of the Reading Garden at the then new Whetstone Library (1984). His journey included an initial appointment to the Clintonville Area Commission, facilitating his involvement and leaving of a mark with the City’s Project 2020 street lighting program. multiple community park improvements with a focus on Whetstone, residential tree plantings, and the early phases of the new fire station and the High Street Commercial Improvement District project. Paul enjoyed serving as the Clintonville Area Commission’s Election’s Committee and as the District 7 Commissioner, as the Physical Service Committee Chair and the CAC’s Secretary/Treasurer and Chair.
Paul co-founded the Clintonville July 4th Celebration, Inc. when the long time hosts walked away. Poking at the community’s history, on a whim, he facilitated the Clintonville Sesquicentennial event via Strategic Clintonville, Inc., which later morphed into the creation of the Clintonville Community Fund. Paul had served as Chair of the Clintonville Homes Tour event for many years. He was a part of the Whetstone Initiative that lead to the expansion of the Whetstone Recreation Center. With other area friends, Paul also co-founded the Stewards of Metro Parks, which is now Friends of Metro Parks.
Paul noted one of his funniest memories as ‘mouthing off’ during a Zoning Committee meeting that the plans for the expansion of the Whetstone Library lacked a viewing connection to the High Street lawn. Being a collector of stained glass windows, he suggested that the placement of a large window, with a community commemorative stained glass window, be added to the plans. Paul states “When the plans were presented to the CAC at the regular meeting a few days later, to my surprise, the architect had added the floor to ceiling window and made provisions for an art glass window to be included if the community could raise the funds to do so. That is when I learned the power of our words as influencers during the zoning review processes. And then understand that it required an action commitment on our part to follow through!”
We wish Paul & his wife Linda many HAPPY years as they relocate to their new home in Delaware county! Your generosity and commitment to the Clintonville community will be missed!
