The latest tussle is over controlling and funding the Mason-Deerfield Joint Fire District that protects both communities. Warren County commissioners waded into the fray this week threatening to dissolve the township. That made residents even madder. The argument over the fire department is the latest in a series of confrontations over power and tax money between the city and township. Things got very heated last year when Mason annexed Kings Island from the township so the city could profit from the amusement park's tax revenues.
Money can heat things up.
But after driving around the township's farms, homes, businesses and construction sites yesterday, I think the conflict runs deeper, especially for the long-time farmers and suburban newcomers who live in and run the township. The conflict is getting personal. It's about their sense of place and way of government. In Deerfield Township, government is neighbor to neighbor. That's why they get so mad when city or county bureaucrats take their land or tell them what to do.