Marcy campaigning for Lamont?

I wouldn't have believed it had I not read this:

The battle is attracting more and more attention from outside campaigners. While most of Connecticut's Democratic elected officials are in Lieberman's corner, two liberal House Democrats, Reps. Maxine Waters (Calif.) and Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), came here over the weekend to campaign for Lamont.

Yes, I got the memo - all Liberal bloggers are supposed to hate Lieberman. He's an evil tool of the Republican Party and Kos doesn't like him. Personally while I understand the fundraising value that people for some reason place on politicans that are not even from their state, I don't base my vote on a candidate in the state of Ohio based on who someone who doesn't even live in my state supports. Some of us here in Ohio did not like it when out of state officials got involved with Paul Hackett's run against Sherrod Brown. I can't help thinking we have more than enough problems of our own here in Ohio that should be our focus rather than who "we" here in Ohio think CT should have represent them. So just as it makes me shake my head when California bloggers write about who we Ohioans should vote for in our own state, and ask if we Ohio voters are stupid; I shake my head at some of this. Nor am I going to call my relatives in New London, CT and tell them who I think they should vote for...

That's basically what Kos and the others are doing, if you read the ABC News transcript it's in Marko's own words not based on is Lieberman a bad Senator for CT, it's Lieberman's position on the war. Which goes against what Markos first says:

We support every Democrat that runs for office.

So my advice if I was going to give any to my relatives in CT would be to vote for who they think will be the best Senator for them and who will focus on all issues. If that's Lamont for them? Great. If it's Lieberman? Fine with me - I'm not the one who is going to have to live with either one as my Senator, I'll concentrate on Ohio...

What about Phil Copeland's vote?

As I read the above title linked piece over at the Toledo Journal which includes details of a recent Zoning Committee Meeting of Toledo City Council, I wondered. Why didn't anyone talk to Phil Copeland and how is he going to vote?

While I understand Councilman Ashford's position on the Spot Mini Mart, I also think it's unfortunate that a business could be punished for a mistake on the part of the City. It's not as if the owners of the convenience store have had numerous citations or purposely tried to skirt the law in getting their permit to operate.

We will find out later today what happens...

Archives on Larry Kaczala

I realize the title linked Toledo Blade article is a few days old but after reading it I wanted to do some reading into the Toledo Blade archives. This part of the article is what immediately got my attention:

Mr. Kaczala, a Republican, dismissed the charges of exotic getaways leveled by Ms. Lopez, a Democrat. He claimed the matter had been discussed in previous campaigns and that keeping the 150 employees of the auditor's office trained and certified was the reason for any travel.

"If she ever thought of something original, I'd probably faint," he said. "This is old news."

It does appear from going back as far as 1997 that Mr. Kaczala has a flair for making "interesting" comments and it is probably true that it would be hard to come up with new accusations against him given even some fellow Republicans have taken a crack at Larry from time to time.

Here's a few that caught my attention as I read the archives:

Title: GOP COUNTY AUDITOR KACZALA CONTENT WITH HIS GOAL ... FOR THE TIME BEING
Author: FRITZ WENZEL BLADE STAFF WRITER
Date: June 22, 1997

As the only elected nonjudicial Republican officeholder in Lucas County, he has learned that humor is an important tool in his day-to-day dealings with Democrats, and a key to getting ahead.

``They know I watch the books,'' he said of the three Democratic county commissioners, who approve his office budget. ``And I make it abundantly clear I sign their checks. When I first was appointed, I hand-signed all their paychecks so that they knew.

``And we produce the paychecks alphabetically - auditor, board of county commissioners, etc., so if they don't approve my budget, you know, the computer breaks down'' before the paychecks get to the letter B. I can't hand-sign 4,000 checks,'' he says, with half a grin.

Mr. Kaczala says directly that he believes he does not need the local Republican Party to suceed in politics anymore, but he adds he does not run away from the party. ``Honestly, and I'm embarassed to admit it, but no, I don't. I pull for Republican candidates to get elected and do what I can,'' he said.

``If push comes to shove, and I'm at a festival and people say, `Are you Democrat or Republican?' I say `I'm Polish,' and I walk away,'' he said. ``People will let you go with that.''

Mr. Kaczala also understands the value of family and proved that value five years ago, when he donated a kidney to his elder sister, Sharon. Now, he jokes that it was the best move of his political career, half insisting that he had to do it because ``I'm elected, and if I didn't what would people say?''

(He does still list donating his kidney on his campaign website under "Personal Character" and does not list he is a Republican.)

Title: PENNYPACKER RIPS REPUBLICANS COUNTY AUDITOR KACZALA LABELS HIS ACCUSER A `PSYCHOPATH'
Author: FRITZ WENZEL BLADE STAFF WRITER
Date: January 13, 1998

She (Paula Pennypacker) wrote that Mr. Kaczala cast her aside in favor of political unknown Woody Adams for the 1993 GOP mayoral nomination. He denied the charge, saying: ``I have no idea why she would say anything like that. That woman's a psychopath if she believes that.''

Title: KACZALA, STAINBROOK TRADE CAMPAIGN FIRE AUDITOR, ASSISTANT ALLEGE MISMANAGEMENT
Author: FRITZ WENZEL BLADE STAFF WRITER
Date: March 21, 1998

Mr. Stainbrook alleged that Mr. Kaczala ``regularly used the elaborate county computer system and a significant amount of his time on this computer system in an attempt to break the weekly super lottery code. In addition, he also demonstrated this function to groups of county employees on county time.''

He contended that the auditor was using an attractive, simplified 16-page annual financial report of Lucas County finances, paid for by county money, as campaign literature. He said Mr. Kaczala is handing them out to constituents at campaign appearances.

(before you get excited...)

Mr. Stainbrook, who was among those who received a series of lottery numbers, said ``they didn't work.'' Mr. Kaczala acknowledged the numbers were nothing more than a novelty.

(Kaczala also stated he did not use county computers to develop this and accused Jon Stainbrook of using county computers for campaign related usage)

Title: PATRONAGE RUNS HIRING BY KACZALA COUNTY AUDITOR'S STAFF BUILT WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Author: CHRIS OSHER BLADE STAFF WRITER
Date: April 12, 1998

(Where I catch an oops in the long list of those hired and their connection to Larry.)

In 1995, Mr. Kaczala hired his own brother, Gary, when he needed work, but the brother quit after his first day.

``We both sat down at the end of the day and said, `This doesn't look good; let's not do this,''' Mr. Kaczala recalled.

It's a fourth-degree felony in Ohio for public officials to hire family members, or business associates, said David Freel, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Violations can carry up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

It appears Mr. Kaczala has not violated the state law because he has not hired members of his immediate family. (Oops.. Article stated he hired his brother, good thing it was only for one day.)

Title: AUDITOR'S WORKERS GET $24K FOR TUITION
Author: DALE EMCH
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Date: September 16, 2003

At a time when the county budget is facing a possible $4.4 million deficit, Auditor Larry Kaczala has paid more than $24,000 for the tuition of eight staff members in the last two years. Almost one-third has gone to Keith Fournier, head of information services, who is working on a masters in business administration at Heidelberg College.

Will Anita come up with something that will make Larry faint? I guess time will tell. :-)

Democratic Reunion coming...

July 29th is the day most Democratic Party organizations are holding the "Democratic Reunion". Here in Lucas County it will take place at Democratic Headquarters, 6-8pm.

You are supposed to sign up on line at Democrats.org but it's a little tricky to find the link on how to sign up.

If you visit here you'll see a box where you can enter your zip code. Once you do that then you'll see the Lucas County event listed. You can either view details or select sign up.

Flyers for this event were handed out at the opening of Strickland's Lucas County Headquarters but I haven't read much on else on the event. Soooo all you Democrats out there...sign up!

:-)

Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on the local Democrats when it comes to updating their site since it appears the Ohio Democratic site needs some updated information on our county as well.

You might want to watch the 13 ABC 6:00 p.m. news on Monday

It could be that a blogger some of you like just might be a part of an I-Team story on local cemeteries. It probably will only be a small part of the overall report if at all but rumor has it that this person wrote a book on cemeteries and Ohio history and she shared some of the information that she has on some of the destruction she has personally seen. Even if she doesn't make it into the final piece from what I've seen it is one that will def be worth tuning in for.

Some of her new neighbors were curious as to why the 13 ABC news vehicle was at her house...which thankfully was presentable enough for an interview to be filmed.

I'll let you wonder who it might be...

:-)

The race factor in the Ohio Gubernatorial contest

When I first started reading about the concern that black voters in Ohio would select Ken Blackwell based on his race first his politics second; I didn't believe it. In my little corner of suburbia, I can't fathom basing my decision on who I would vote for based on race, sex or sexual preference. I can't imagine my husband basing his vote on a candidate being hispanic as the primary support factor. As this campaign progresses, more and more is being written on this topic; I debated how do I address something that I don't understand. It is not my intention to write something that will insult black voters and I'm not sure if writing this will bring about any clarity. That said, back in June , I highlighted an article written by Jack Ford. To read that article in full now you would need to use the archived pdf version, it contained a warning given by the former Mayor:

Warning to Ohio Democrats: blacks are the most conservative folks in the world. Poll after poll shows 62 percent or better are against abortions and are for the bans on gay marriage. Blacks tend to vote race first, then party. Blackwell will get his share of black votes. Will Strickland? And will Strickland unveil a truly transformative urban policy?

Then yesterday I read a guest column written by Brent Grey over at the Cincinnati Beacon; where Brent relates concern over advertising focused on black radio stations urging voters to make Ken Blackwell the first African American Governor in Ohio. Mr. Grey then relates a conversation with a black voter:

Following the primary, I engaged a prospective voter in conversation and asked the question; “Who do you like for Governor and why?” “I’m going to vote for Blackwell because he represents the Black man,” he said. It became apparent to me that he wasn’t aware that Mr. Blackwell opposes affirmative action but supports educational slots for legacies. He wasn’t aware that Mr. Blackwell does not support an increase in the minimum wage and calls the constitutional initiative an ill-conceived idea. He wasn’t aware that Mr. Blackwell as co-chair of President Bush’s re-election campaign desecrated his position as Secretary of State by disenfranchising voters in highly populated Black/Democratic precincts across the state during the 2004 election. This blatant act of suppression should have warranted his award of a complimentary imperial grand wizard hood and robe.

A few days ago the Cleveland Plain Dealer Open Political Blog highlighted campaign lit that the Ken Blackwell campaign was distributing in a predominately black area of Cleveland. According to the Blackwell campaign, it was meant to be “humorous and informative.” It suggests with the way the picture is done that black voters should be afraid of Ted Strickland.

I can't help but wonder will this work? Will fear be the factor or will it be trying to promote the pride aspect of electing Ken Blackwell merely on his race or will my original premise be correct, that voters will not base their vote on race or sex or sexual preference but on which candidate they feel will be better for all. I realize there are readers of this blog that will vote for Blackwell and I realize that minority voters have been used and pandered too by Democrats in the past as well. I thought that by now we had gotten to the point where it was not the color of the skin of the candidate that mattered, it was not if they were male or female, it mattered not if they were gay or hertosexual...what mattered was their vision, their experience and most of all what they would do for all of their constituents not a selected group. As I remove my rose colored glasses, I'm not sure I like what I see...

Term limits and Ethics Reform in Toledo...

As reported by 13 ABC Toledo City Council has the opportunity to demonstrate they take both of these issues seriously by taking action as proposed by Toledo City Councilman Frank Szollosi and candidate for Toledo City Council Dave Schulz.

This 12/07/05 Toledo Free Press article demonstrates how long the ethics portion has been on the table and the need for clarification on term limits has been needed for quite some time as well. As the Toledo Blade reported in May, this ethics proposal was announced by Frank Szollosi in November of 2005.

Today Dave provided the following for readers of this blog in response to Bob McCloskey's sentencing today and these two important proposals:

City Council candidate Dave Schulz realizes it is time for the city to move on from this sad chapter in its history but issues remain that must be addressed in order to restore faith in our city government.

These include:

1. Term Limits Reform: The Ohio Supreme Court with its ruling, without an opinion, basically gutted term limits in Toledo. Term limits is now on the honor system. Leaving it up to politicians to determine what term limits mean is very dangerous.

2. Ethics Reform: Council seems to be dragging their feet in adopting some simple and common sense ethics reforms that many cities have adopted. It is time for City Council to make this a priority.

City Councilman Frank Szollosi and Dave Schulz agree on the need for these reforms. In an effort to attract the public’s attention to these important issues, Szollosi and Schulz today publicly called for council to act quickly on them. Councilman Szollosi has pushed to have these items considered for the August 1st Agenda Review meeting so that they can get first readings on August 8th. Schulz expressed his appreciation for Mr. Szollosi’s efforts.

The Term Limits amendment is very time-sensitive. Council must act at the September 5th meeting or it will not be eligible for the November ballot. Schulz calls on the Council Committee of the Whole to debate this quickly and declare an emergency if necessary to pass this measure by September 5th .

“As far as term limits go, it is clear to everyone that there is a problem. My amendment addresses this issue and clarifies the intent of the voters expressed in 1992.”, Schulz declared.

Schulz also sees the obvious need for Councilman Szollosi’s ethics reforms and calls for the passage of them as soon as possible. “All these measures will help restore faith in our local government.”, Schulz states.

Schulz adds, “I want Republicans and Democrats on council to come together and embrace these measures. Politics and personalities are getting in the way of progress.”

Schulz also extends his thoughts to Mr. McCloskey’s family during this difficult time.


UPDATE 7/22: The The Toledo Blade has more...This:

He (Rob Ludeman) said the proposal will be considered, but said the Aug. 25 deadline probably doesn't leave enough time for public hearings, legal scrutiny, and review by the charter review committee.

Raises; A) the excuse that will be used so this doesn't make it on the ballot and B) there would have been more than ample time had Council acted on this months ago when it was presented. I'd suggest that if this is important to Toledo area voters they contact their Councilpersons.

Bob McCloskey to serve 27 months in prison..

I expected him to be sentenced to less time however, according to the Toledo Blade:

He had faced one to five years in prison. He was sentenced by Judge James Bates, who ordered that the year sentence be served concurrently with a 27-month prison sentence handed down earlier in U.S. District Court, Toledo.


WTOL, WTVG, WNWO and WUPW all have the story as well.

Former Mayor Ford on some candidates he likes...

In what's almost becoming a regular feature for me to write about, Jack Ford's weekly column for Sojourner's Truth is out. I don't always agree with him but I find his point of view interesting and at times very informative.

This week he writes about the power of a name, "Brown" being one mentioned yet I couldn't help noticing one Brown that was not mentioned...It's also very clear that there are a few candidates he supports, Barbara Sykes being one of them.

The recent flooding is also touched on, where he asks:

Should the City of Toledo have settled with the Federal EPA and picked Black and Veatch long before 2002? The EPA litigation ran on for 11 years – one of the longest running federal-city court battles in the nation up to that time.

Had it been settled around 1990 or 1991, the work would have been completed and the flooding, even with seven inches of rain in a few days, would not have been as damaging.

Someone should ask why Point Place did not have massive flooding this time?

For those new to this particular part of the discussion, this might be helpful.

John McHugh was the Mayor of Toledo until 1993...The City was under the City Manager form of government at that time. It's interesting to me to look back at the 1991 election - Paula Pennypacker was John McHugh's opponent and a few of those who ran for Toledo City Council at that time who's name will sound familiar...Ferner, Finkbeiner, Ford, Kaczala, Pietrykowsk, and Stainbrook.

Michael Goulding's website unveiled...

Michael Goulding who is a judicial candidate for the Lucas County Common Pleas Court, has created an informational website that might be of interest to many of you.

It is linked in the title and will be added to the sidebar listing of candidates of NWO, which is growing.

:-)

The state of my alley....

At first when I read the above linked Toledo Blade article about the City of Toledo stopping alley garbage pick up; I thought, gee it was so nice and easy the few times since we've been here to have our garbage picked up in the alley. The part of the alley I see on a regular basis since we moved in looks pretty good, except it might be hard for a garbage truck to get down the alley with the truck parked next door.



Then I took a walk farther down the alley towards Arlington.



Garbage pick up was Tuesday yet it looks like some of this has been there longer and if you look at the backyard of the residence? Either someone moved or there was one heck of a wild couch party...



So...while getting garbage out to the front will be an interesting adventure with the way our yard is set up, if that makes pictures like the above two no longer happen it will be worth it.

Everyone agrees gardens are nice and another flood study?

The Toledo Blade's Tom Troy covers Joe McNamara's community garden planting yesterday and has the response of the Mayor and the other candidates for Toledo City Council:

Unendorsed Democrat Bob Vasquez said community gardens are a good way for neighbors to meet one another, but he said a higher priority for public safety is putting more officers on the streets with adequate equipment.

Incumbent Lourdes Santiago, the endorsed Democrat, said that Toledo Botanical Garden already has an effort under way to expand the gardens. She said the city provides vacant lots to community development corporations for housing.

Republican David Schulz said Mr. McNamara deserves credit for creative thinking. He said community policing, with more officers in the neighborhood, would have a more immediate impact on public safety.

Mr. Finkbeiner cited the ongoing activities of Toledo GROWS: "We could do more with that."

At least we know we have one issue that everyone seems to be unified in support of, flowers and veggie gardens. It's a start...

The Blade's Erica Blake reports that City Councilman George Sarantou who is running for Lucas County Commissioner would like to see another flood study done. Paid for by federal dollars. Ben Konop who is his opponent in the Lucas County Commissioner race feels the public in this case wants action not more studies.

I haven't gone over the past studies done on flooding in great detail. However after spending a few hours searching Toledo Blade archives thru the Toledo-Lucas County Library's system it appears from everything I've read it's not a matter of needing more studies. It's a matter of needing more money to do the work.

May 22, 2002 - Toledo Blade:

EVENTUALLY Toledoans may get relief from flood-water problems, but given the multiple causes of regional flooding in times of heavy rain - including inadequate storm drainage made worse by topography - a universal fix may be difficult to achieve.

Toledo's ancient sewer system is also compromised by the fact that there are places in the city where storm sewers and sanitary sewers (toilet, bath, and kitchen waters) share the same pipes. Flooding is a constant threat in some of these areas, and they deserve attention from the city's pending $400 million sewer project.

May 14, 2002 - Toledo Blade:

"The system we've got is 100 years old," Mayor Jack Ford said. "While they've begun construction on a few projects, it's not going to be an overnight fix."

February 19, 1998 - Toledo Blade:

The flooded basements and streets that have inconvenienced residents over the past two days point to a sobering fact: Lucas County remains hundreds of millions of dollars away from subduing the Black Swamp.

``You're never going to completely get rid of the problems we have,'' said Tim Warren, the chief stormwater expert for the engineering firm of Finkbeiner, Pettis, and Strout.

A 1971 study from Mr. Warren's firm offered a comprehensive plan for modernizing Toledo's storm drainage system. But in the ensuing 27 years, little has been done beyond updating the report in 1984 and 1985.

City officials offer a one-word explanation: money.

June 11, 1997 - Toledo Blade:

If Toledo continues to spend money to fix its sewer system at the present rate, the city system's problems won't be solved until 2297.

(As an FYI the additional surchage for storm water utility was not in place until October, 2000)

It's very well possible that the study needs to be updated but if a money source can not be found to do the actual work needed? This study will be like the ones before...dusted off and updated every so often while the floods still come...

Political gamesmanship versus information...

This bothered me. Yes, I know the never ending candidates should not answer specific questions because it could be used against them blah blah blah – If you want to know more information you are supposed to spend hours sifting thru vote records for candidates that have voting records. Which if anyone has actually tried to get information on voting records that’s much easier said than done. Or rely strictly on candidates campaign sites and that's not an unbiased source of information either. If your candidate does not have a voting record then of course you have nothing to use to compare them against an incumbent in an easy to use format. Which is one of the many reasons Project Vote Smart could be useful if all candidates would care enough about those in the public who want information. Curiosity then hit me and I wondered who in my area that was included in Project Vote Smart participated?

So, I entered my zip code…the results for the current candidates might surprise you:

Senator Michael 'Mike' DeWine
Representative Sherrod C. Brown
Representative Marcy Kaptur
Senator Teresa M. Fedor
Caron Van Deventer
Representative Peter Ujvagi
Ernie Berry
J. Kenneth Blackwell
Representative Ted Strickland

All have a variation of this message:

REPEATEDLY REFUSED TO PROVIDE ANY RESPONSES TO CITIZENS ON ISSUES THROUGH THE 2006 NATIONAL POLITICAL AWARENESS TEST WHEN ASKED TO DO SO BY

Key national leaders of both major parties including: John McCain, Republican; Senator Geraldine Ferraro, Former Democratic Congresswoman; Michael Dukakis, Former Democratic Governor; Bill Frenzel, Former Republican Congressman; and Richard Kimball, Project Vote Smart President

News organizations also urged candidates to provide their responses on the issues through the 2006 National Political Awareness Test.

One candidate…yes One that was asked to do the NPAT did so for my zip code:

Bradley S. Leavitt.

So kudos to Bradley Leavitt who is running against Representative Marcy Kaptur for being open enough to provide voters of our area information on where he stands on key issues.

If you want to check out candidates in your zip code - visit Project Vote Smart.

Podcast of Joe McNamara interview and a Press Release...

If you missed yesterday's interview on Nookular Option you can download the podcast here. Joe covers various topics both related to the campaign as well as some state issues and you can hear me ask Joe a question and then blather on about how much I love Toledo...

This Press Release from the Joe McNamara for City Council campaign came out this morning:

Joe McNamara is “Fighting Crime At Its Roots” City council candidate plants fruit trees with supporters and introduces initiative to promote safer neighborhoods through community gardens.

Toledo, OH – Joe McNamara will hold a press conference and lead a service project at the Glenwood Lutheran Church community garden next door to the Church (2545 Monroe) today, Wednesday, July 19, at 2 PM.

The candidate and supporters will plant a few bushes and fruit trees and McNamara will announce “Fighting Crime At Its Roots,” his plan to promote safer neighborhoods through community gardens.

“You might not recognize it at first glance but community gardens like this one are powerful and cost-effective weapons in our crime-fighting arsenal,” McNamara asserts. “Cutting edge research tells us that a strong sense of community is a neighborhood’s best defense against delinquency and crime.”

McNamara’s proposal calls for establishing a task force to determine what city government can do to promote community gardening, for an inventory of city-owned vacant lots suitable for community use, and for extending the city’s Youth Park Ranger program into neighborhood gardens.

“By fighting crime at its roots with initiatives like this we save taxpayers money, enrich the lives of community residents and children, and add value to our neighborhoods,” says McNamara.

“Service to ALL of Toledo” is the theme of McNamara’s grassroots campaign. In addition to having a legacy of public service in his family, McNamara currently gives back to his community as a Trustee of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system and a Board Member of the Greater Toledo Urban League.

Since announcing his candidacy last month, McNamara and supporters have walked in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, participated in the Greater Toledo Urban League’s Day of Service in the neighborhood surrounding the Frederick Douglas Center and registered voters at the Toledo broadcast of radio host Tom Joyner’s Sky Show. Most recently he organized a blood drive at the American Red Cross Donation Center in Toledo last Saturday.

This week's Toledo Free Press and Blog it! Toledo

Some new blogs of interest await you in this week's Blog it column. The cover story about Toledoans trapped or trying to escape what is happening in Lebanon is a recommended read. It really brings home the point that while the middle east may be far away in miles, many local families are affected by what is happening there. Also of note is this article about Chicks for Charity, I like their style.

On a less serious note, Michael Miller may be tired, but it hasn't affected his writing talent. There is of course much much more awaiting you in this week's Toledo Free Press, including a very interesting look back by Troy Neff.

:-)

Arena and Marina ponderings....

Yesterday's Toledo Blade had another article about the Ice House and what the possibility of a two rink skating facility at the new Marina could do to their business. I'm not sure if this area can sustain an additional ice facility or not, but what I do know is the give a way's that Woodlands Consulting Group is looking for have never been offered to the Ice House:

"Basically, from the city, we are looking for shared parking and the tax abatement, which is crucial. We haven't decided how we are going to do the land, whether we are going to lease or buy it. Certainly, we would like to see the land as a gift. Some of the things we were looking for are low-interest loans and that comes through the state and the city also providing an economic development loan," said Jerry Jones (the main consultant for the investors and chief executive officer of Woodlands Consulting Group ).

One wonders what kind of improvements the Ice House could have made if they had been given such an offer and why one Toledo Business could potentially be sacrificed for another courtesy of funding thru tax payers. If one business is created and thru fair competition results in a closing that's the market and supply and demand, yet when a company who pays taxes in Toledo sees tax dollars spent to create their competition? Understandably the owners of the Ice House are not happy.

Then today, somewhat related to the arena:

University of Toledo alumnus Chuck Sullivan and his wife, Jackie, longtime supporters of UT athletics, showed their loyalty and commitment to the university yesterday by agreeing to donate $6 million, $5 million which will be designated for renovations and planned additions to Savage Hall.

The Sullivans' generosity toward the UT athletics department was motivated, in part, to put an end to any discussion about UT athletics, particularly men's and women's basketball, playing home games off-campus, possibly in a yet-to-be-de-termined sports arena in downtown Toledo.

"I wouldn't have given them anything," Mr. Sullivan said in response to being asked if he would have provided such financial support to UT athletics if future plans involved playing off-campus. "They wouldn't have gotten my money. This [Savage Hall] is a good building here. This building just needs some work. It doesn't need to be torn down."

It would appear any future arena plans that would include UT are now officially over, what affect that will have on arena plans is too early to tell.

Joe McNamara interview reminder...

A quick reminder that Joe McNamara will be interviewed on the Nookular Option today around 2:30. You can listen live thru WXUT (88.3 FM) or via their webstream or you can listen to the interview and the entire show via podcast. Podcasts are normally up the day after the show is on the air.

:-)

Ben, George and Dave on accessibility

The Toledo Blade's Joshua Boak reported on yesterday's Press Release by the Ben Konop for Lucas County Commissioner campaign.

I'm not sure of George Sarantou's position on the internet portion of Ben's plan but he did state he felt, "that government should be open and responsive to voters".

The Blade article also pointed out that Dave Schulz also supports some of these same proposals. The web address listed for Dave in the article is not correct, the one here and on the side bar under "NW Ohio Candidate Websites", is the correct one. (Update - the web address has been corrected in the online version of the article)

:-)

I LOVE this ad campaign...

A very deep curtsy to Ohio 2nd Blog for this link.

Visit The Ad Council and their ad campaign to encourage people to pay attention to candidates:

The Advertising Council launched the “Pay Attention & Vote” campaign in July 2006 in conjunction with the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to encourage young adults to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

Featuring multi-media public service advertisements (PSAs) and a new Web site, http://payattention.org the Vote campaign is designed to educate young adults about the ease and importance of voting in the 2006 midterm elections. This target audience, 18 to 24 years old, is the largest group of non-voters in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

My personal favorite? Leaning towards:

Tacky Ceramic Rooster Prepared For Cock Fight

WASHINGTON - Tacky Ceramic Rooster, a candidate in this year’s midterm elections, says he’s ready to fight for a spot in Washington. “We’re prepared. We know what we have to do and how we have to do it. The only problem we have is people with a general dislike for poultry-themed cookie jars. We’ll never win those votes. And those people are crazy anyway,” said Phil Miller, spokesman for the Tacky Ceramic Rooster Campaign.

Thanks Maggie, WSPD and more...

Thanks again to Maggie Thurber for having me on as a guest today while she is filling in for Brian Wilson. Welcome to those of you heading over to visit to see what's going on over here at Glass City Jungle.

As I said on air, my main goal is to provide information, discussion and to encourage as many people as possible to read blogs. I see blogging as a way to compliment media, especially when it comes to candidates and issues. Besides Dave Schulz who I mentioned on air, I also want to mention other candidates who have helped influence what Glass City Jungle has become. Ben Konop who made my introduction to some of the UT College Dems and Lucas County Young Democrats organization possible, and his support of blogging has been important. Frank Szollosi also been not only a resource of information for me but has supported blogging and this site. I appreciate those who have participated in interviews thus far; Mark Bula, James Nusbaum, and Michael Goulding. Also those who are yet to be interviewed, because without the candidate support of blogging I've received some of what I do here wouldn't be possible. I also give lots of credit/thanks to Michael Miller, the editor of the Toledo Free Press for giving me the opportunity to not only live blog debates but the weekly Blog it! Toledo column.

Then of course the people who visit and comment here, because without you it would just be me blathering on. It really is about all of us and while we may not always agree on who we are going to vote for or how we stand on an issue; we all share the desire to make the Glass City area the best it can be. I'd also like to point out a new site that I didn't get a chance to mention on air that you'll see listed in the "Political/Action Sites" section, As Ohio Goes is a new blogging community for all of Ohio that had it's official release date today.

Thanks also for the emails and the phone calls about the interview. I didn't say "exactly" at all but depending on the source I said "um" two or three times.

:-)

As an update...if you are interested in the Townhall article Maggie was referencing it can be found here.

Ben Konop announces four part proposal...

A Press Release from the Ben Konop for Lucas County Commissioner Campaign:

Building on his focus of providing a higher standard of leadership, Democratic Commissioner candidate Ben Konop will be holding a 10:30 AM news conference today, July 17, in front of One Government Center to discuss his four-part proposal promoting openness and accessibility in county government.

Konop will propose streaming live webcasts of Lucas County Commissioner meetings, as well as real-time television broadcasts.

Konop is also calling for an increase in the number of meetings held throughout the county and in the evenings. With one-third of the residents of Lucas County living outside of the city limits, equitable practice would call for a commensurate proportionality in the location of meetings, with two-thirds in the city and one-third in other areas.

Konop is also advocating for the county budget to be placed online to increase accessibility and accountability in spending practices.

Finally, Konop is calling for full disclosure of all campaign contributions via the website of the Lucas County Board of Elections. Franklin County already has such a system in place in order to provide the voters with a clear picture of the sources of funding for each candidate.

Konop hopes these changes will help restore faith in the integrity of elected officials. “In the wake of Tom Noe and backroom bribes in city council, it is important to make government operations as transparent as possible,” stated Konop.“Allowing voters to see for themselves where campaign contributions originate is truly in the spirit of democratic government,” added Konop. “Leaders need to be open and accountable in every way, and this plan seeks to move county government in that direction.”

The four-step proposal builds upon Konop’s ethics pledge to the citizens of Lucas County and his June 29th announcement that as a Commissioner, Konop hopes to utilize open-source software on County computers potentially saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

Good news then some not so good news for NWO

First the "Good" news from the Toledo Blade:

Manufacturing activity in northwest Ohio rose last month for the 33rd-straight time and was stronger than the national figure, according to the Northwest Ohio Manufacturing Index released yesterday by Toledo's Regional Growth Partnership.

The article about The Andersons is also in the "Good" news category.

Aldi's is planning two more area stores.

Now for the not so good news:

New housing construction slipped by a third in northwest Ohio's two most populous counties in the first six months of the year from last year, building officials said. In Michigan's Bedford Township, building also declined, but by a smaller percentage.

The number of unsold used homes in northwest Ohio as of June 30 was 15,705, up 8 percent from a year ago, according to statistics provided by the Toledo Board of Realtors.

For those following the discussion concerning the Minimum Habitability Standard that Toledo City Council is considering, this is something that will most certainly come into that discussion.

Me on WSPD

Maggie Thurber will be guest hosting this coming Monday for Brian Wilson. She's asked me to come on to talk about my blogs and blogging in general especially how it relates to encouraging political involvement and the role of blogs as an alternative news source. It should be a great time so I hope you tune in, I should be on a little after 3:30 p.m. on Monday. For those of you who can't get WSPD via radio they do offer streaming audio. A big thank you to Maggie for inviting me.

For those of you who have listened to me on the Nookular Option; I promise to watch how many times I say exactly...

:-)

Red lights and no not Carty's red lights...

No matter which position you take on the using of red light cameras to fine those who run thru red lights, when reading the above linked Toledo Blade article this jumped out at me as an "excuse me?" moment:

Mr. Kaplan said documents provided by the city show that $279,000 of the nearly $1.1 million collected in 2004 went to the city, and the remaining $800,000 was given to RedFlex.

Yes, that states the company RedFlex is making more from red light violators than the City of Toledo. Seems like more of a funding deal for RedFlex...I haven't gone back into the records to see who approved this but I really have to wonder.

I suppose the bright side is when they are declared illegal Toledo won't be out the money for cameras...The shear numbers aspect that many people ran red those particular 17 red lights to create that kind of revenue is disturbing. Given the number of red lights in Toledo the realization that we have that many drivers out on the road that don't care about safety immediately came to mind. I also can't help but wonder if some attention to making it so the lights were syncronized better to stop some of the stop and go issues that I see on a daily basis might be a small step not only for better fuel usage due to less time waiting at lights but less red lights.

Fedor V Finkbeiner...A team V B team..

Yes, it's gotten to the point that even a "temporary truce" between the seemingly impossible to unite Lucas County Democrats gets media attention.

As the above title linked article states:

"This is bigger than us," Ms. Fedor said she told the mayor.

Not to diminish either sides belief in their importance but...It is pretty safe to say that one little phrase could apply to most of what the A V B team skirmishes are about.

ps...one "A" teamer and one "B" teamer are still missing. I'm beginning to wonder if this is being done purposely so that I'll keep linking the Lucas County Democratic Party website...

:-)

Ben Konop and Former Mayor Jack Ford

Why are they both sharing a title headline?

Because they are both featured in alternative newspapers this week. Ben as mentioned earlier in the week was in the Toledo Free Press and he is also in this week's Toledo City Paper. It's an enjoyable read that I recommend, though I'm hungry for funnel cakes now...

Then we head over to "The View from BGSU University Hall" at Sojourner's Truth written by Jack Ford. This is also a recommended read and contains this bit of information:

The recent salute by the 100 Black Men of America (as reported in The Truth last week) to Ken Blackwell, candidate for governor of Ohio, may be a harbinger of other black-based organizations leaning towards Blackwell. Blackwell is an archon in the Alpha Phi Boule (an fraternity of professional men) and a 33rd degree Prince Hall Mason.

There are 10,000 Prince Hall Masons in Ohio and a thousand Boule members. I wonder if Blackwell can connect the dots.

I can't speak to the issue of race, however I do think it's important to realize how others feel. Chances are very great if Jack Ford is putting this in writing that others agree with him.

Toledo becoming "Big Cheese"

Seriously, I'm not joking, though some could say I was broaching a very "cheesey" topic... I was reading a copy of "Development News" which is published thru Toledo Business Journal and saw this as a headline, "A&M Cheese Co. Relocates, Toledo home to Ohio's largest cheese plant". I can't link to the story because Toledo Business Journal doesn't have that as an option. However, some information from the article:

A&M Cheese Company has moved to a new location on Waggoner Blvd and has started operations. A&M grew from Sofo Foods and they specialize in creating custom cheese blends for pizzerias. The expected increase in production at the new facility is from 31 million pounds of cheese processed to 60 million pounds of cheese processed each year. (That's a lot of cheese.) No new jobs resulted in the move but there is an expectation that as the business continues to grow that new jobs will be added.

Some interesting things I learned in addition to the existance of the plant was that the entire new facility will be kept at 38 degrees. The building is highly specialized and is a USDA plant. Currently the plant makes cheese blends for Sofo Foods, Dairy Fresh and Grecco with some new distribution to suppliers out in California.

In doing just a bit of additional research I found this page over at the Sofo Foods website. They even have a slide show on the new building.

I picked up my free copy of Development News at Beaner's over at Cricket West. I called to verify that it was a monthly publication and it is at various locations within Toledo including our public library system. There are several other articles of interest so I recommend picking up a copy.

:-)

Call and Post domain site suspended...

From excite's search engine:

Call and Post Home Page
The Call and Post Newspapers, Ohio's largest and oldest African American Newspaper ... Our History. Showtime. Call & Post. Contacts. Site Index ... Arana Lynch. Call and Post Sports writer ...
www.callandpost.com

From Tuesdays Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland had tentatively agreed to a proposed debate sponsored by the PD, The Columbus Dispatch, and the Dayton Daily News, but pulled out after the papers rejected their demand to include the Call and Post, a weekly aimed at black readers, as cosponsor.

Call and Post editor Connie Harper said the paper now wants to organize the Cleveland debate and is searching for its own co-sponsors, which may include the Urban League.

“We are working on it today,” she said.

I haven't gotten any confirmation yet but typically "Account for domain www.callandpost.com has been suspended" means the bill wasn't paid.

Doing a who is:

Registrant:
Angela Publishing
11820 Shaker Blvd
Cleveland, Ohio 44120
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: CALLANDPOST.COM
Created on: 16-Mar-01
Expires on: 16-Mar-07
Last Updated on: 07-Mar-06

Technical Contact:
DeVore Technologies
466 Northfield Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44146
United States

However, Devore Technologies doesn't have Call and Post listed on their Client List

I waited one day to see if this was some sort of a glitch but this morning the same message:

Account for domain www.callandpost.com has been suspended...

I have no idea if this will affect debate organizing for the Cleveland event or if this is a sign of larger problems at Call and Post.

Toledo not feeling the love from Ted Strickland...

It's bad enough that NWO is not going to be included in the Gubernatorial Debates, not even from a media partner aspect. Yes, Ted Strickland was here for the official opening of his campaign office in Downtown Toledo, however, I picked up a copy of La Prensa on Monday. The July 5th edition, which was the same week that Ted opened his campaign office here.

On page 27 there is a half page ad. For those of you who don't normally read La Prensa, it has a Toledo location, and it is billed as "Ohio and Michigan's Oldest and Largest Latino Weekly".

The top of the ad reads:

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Mayor Michael Coleman, Mayor Frank Jackson, Mayor Rhine McLin, Mayor Marcia Fudge & Mayor Mark Mallory

Endorse

Ted Strickland for Governor

I realize that La Prensa is viewed as a "minority" newspaper, however how many of those above Mayors are Hispanic or Latino? How many of them are from NWO? If you are not a political junkie, and you see that ad you might not realize that our own Mayor, Carty Finkbeiner endorsed Ted Strickland. Not recently, but quite some time ago, before a majority of those pictured and touted on this ad did. Ted Strickland right after he had announced he was running for Governor came up to Toledo to attend Mayor Carty Finkbeiner's inaugural ball. From Strickland's own website it states, "Carty showed strong support for Ted" and this was even before the primary. From that Toledo Blade article, dated January 15, 2006:

Returned to Government Center with 68 percent of the vote in November, Mr. Finkbeiner campaigned for someone else during his own party.

As he guided Mr. Strickland to the clubhouse’s ballroom, Mr. Finkbeiner introduced his prospective ally to his major supporters, who quoted Bible verses and pledged to support the congressman, a former pastor...

Mr. Finkbeiner, who previously served as Toledo’s mayor from 1994-2002, then made a request of his guests on behalf of the congressman.

“I want all of you who are going to work for him to shake his hand,” he said. “Give his aides your name.”

Of course this ad or the debate issue is not going to make residents of NWO turn their backs on Ted Strickland but it's not quite the way to encourage support. Here's my advice for the next time an ad is run in a local paper; include the Mayors of those towns the newspaper serves that endorsed you or if you are going to try to highlight minority support? There are quite a few well known Democrats in this area and in Ohio who are Hispanic/Latino and that would have more of an impact than ignoring those who do live, work and most importantly vote here.

Blog it, Toledo, Carty, Ben and more....

This week's Blog it! Toledo is online as well as another online exclusive by Traci Curth on Friendship. Michael Miller focuses on "The fast and the spurious", making me realize that I really don't miss that part of driving at all. :-)

This week's cover story is on Our Mayor, it's a highly recommended read as well as a guest column by Ben Konop in response to a guest column done by George Sarantou last week. Tom Richard has another very informative article in the Business Link section.

That is just a few of the many great reads awaiting you in this week's Toledo Free Press...

Sitting down with Michael Goulding, Judicial Candidate...

There is some basic biographical information on the web about Michael Goulding in the Toledo Blade, the Toledo City Paper as well as few other publications so I set out to find out more than what I had discovered in doing research before meeting with him. I knew from our email exchanges in setting up this interview that he is a new father, and is very proud of not only his wife but his baby daughter, Abigail Marie. I anticipated from reading the Toledo City Paper bio piece, when he ran against Peter Ujvagi after Steve Goldman had withdrawn from the race, that Michael had a good sense of humor...he does. I also knew from that same article that drummer Neil Peart of Rush is a favorite of his, however, I did not know that Michael is also a drummer as well as a bass guitar player. His home was in one of the South Toledo areas that flooded, thankfully his drums were not damaged but there was some water damage that they have had to deal with.

Michael takes his committment to public service very seriously. He served on the board of the Mildred Bayer Clinic until it became a part of the Neighborhood Health Association and then joined that board and is the current Vice President. He is still the Legal Advisor for the Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and also served for a brief time as Juvenile Court mediator. He took several classes on mediation as well as attending training sessions specific to Juvenile Court mediation. Michael also served as a page for in the House of Representatives, under the sponsorship of J. Barney Quilter. He also was involved with campaigning for Pat Kennedy for the Toledo Public School Board and was at one time her campaign treasurer. It was this experience that led to Michael deciding he felt more compatible with being a Republican. I did not ask him any questions related to Republican party platform issues because while he is running as a Republican, I also know that in the end when it comes to Judical matters personal beliefs or political party issues are not supposed to be a factor. Just as I would not ask a Democratic or an Independent candidate for judge questions that I would ask a City Council Candidate as one example.

As is stated on some of the other media bio information on Michael Goulding, he is licensed to practice law in both Ohio and Florida and in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. After passing the Ohio Bar on his first attempt he studied while working full time to take the Florida Bar exam. Michael stated that at the time the Florida Bar exam was in some ways more difficult than the Ohio Bar because it included a test section on the Florida Constitution. He flew down to Tampa and passed the Florida Bar the first time as well. Being able to practice law in both states has been a huge benefit to clients that live in our area and also live in Florida, or those who live here who have relatives in Florida, especially when dealing with probate issues. As an attorney he specializes in employment, probate, civil litigation, and real estate; Michael feels his experience in civil litigation, contract disputes as well as his past mediation experience gives him the level of mediation skills that he feels is critical for a Judge on the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas. He has also had experience with criminal cases at a Municipal Court level.

His first experience with running for office against Peter Ujvagi was a situation where the odds were very far against him winning. As he jokingly stated in the Toledo City Paper piece when asked what was the first thing he'd do if elected; "The first thing I’ll do if elected is worry about a recount." This campaign for the former term of Judge Zouhary is in some ways different yet in some ways similar. Michael's entrance into the race was again due to a last minute withdrawl of another candidate, this time Larry Kaczala. Due to some signature issues, Michael had to run a write in campaign to get on the November ballot, which he was successful at. This time he is running against Stacy Cook, who has the benefit of name recognition. However, Michael is not facing an established incumbent for this race. I'd say he appears cautiously optimistic as to his chances of winning in November.

When I asked the question of what he would do if elected, he stated he would like to "spearhead an effort" related to online filing and online access of case filings in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas. This could a huge benefit to not only local attornies but to the public as well as far as access of information. While there is some information available online now, Michael would like to see this expand more in the nature of what the US District Court offers. This is an issue that will be a key component of his campaign for election. Michael realizes he cannot meet this goal alone, but feels if elected he can garner support on this issue.

In closing, Michael Goulding is warm, friendly and has a great sense of humor. I had a very enjoyable time doing this interview. Yet, not to sound cutesy, I could picture him as a Judge. He does have a proven record of legal experience and it is obvious he has the work ethic one would expect from a Judicial Candidate. He will be updating me with information such as his official campaign kickoff and other similar noteworthy press release updates which I will share with you here. I thank him for taking the time to meet with me and allowing us to learn more about him.

(This article will also be featured in the weekly Carnival of Ohio Politics brought to you by Paul Miller of Northwest Ohio Net where every Wednesday some of the best bloggers in Ohio feature their work.)

Looks like Learn and Earn made it

In this Toledo Blade article about the deceptive nature of the signature gathering process, we discover something that I expected:

As of last weekend, Mr. Hopcraft said the effort already had garnered more than 402,000 signatures. It has until Aug. 9 to continue collecting signatures in hopes of surviving review by county boards of election and a potential court challenge that could drag the effort below the 323,000 threshold.

Granted a majority of those 402,000 probably had no clue it involved gambling but evidently it's legal to be deceptive in collecting signatures for petitions to change the Constitution in Ohio. Considering they are still collecting signatures at this point they have a cushion of 79,000 signatures. Even if they don't make their goal of 500,000 as it stands right now this will probably be on the fall ballot.

Despite this:

Spokesman David Hopcraft said Learn and Earn has heard complaints about the radio spot, and said the spots are designed to introduce Ohioans to the Learn and Earn brand.

The commercial does provide an Internet address for voters to find out more about Learn and Earn. The Web site, www.ohiolearnandearn.com, states on its home page that the program would be funded with slot machine revenue and provides a link to the full language of the proposed amendment.

He said the organization will be more explicit about the gambling connection during the fall campaign, assuming the proposed amendment is certified for the Nov. 7 ballot.

I'm not overly optimistic that future commercials will be more factual in content. However, I'm sure the organized opposition will then start and they'll hopefully be more factual as to what Learn and Earn really is about. Gambling...with a side benefit to entice you into supporting a constitutional change to allow it by dangling the promise of college funding that many more than me question from a numbers stance.

It's said there is a sucker born every minute, there could be some truth to that. It's amazing to me that so many people would sign a petition to change the Constitution for our State without bothering to get details. Or the attitude toward legalizing gambling in this state has changed dramatically since the past failed attempts. Unfortunately I'm leaning towards the first statement...

Now, back to moving...

Between moving trips into Toledo notes...

The dsl at the new home of Glass City Jungle (finally in the Glass City) isn't up and running yet, so a few things of note while at the old place that still has a net connection. Yes, my computer is the last thing to go.

First, if you haven't seen the Toledo Blade article on Frank Szollosi, I'd recommend reading it. Personally I think what Frank is doing with Szollosi Listens comes first from his desire to find ways to connect and help his Toledo constituents rather than politics though I'm not naive enough to think that politics is not a part of it as well. For as long as I have known Frank he has tried to do what he can for Toledoans and even before I became a FOF (Fan of Frank) he responded to requests for information/questions. We don't always agree but we respect each other and he has been a huge help to me in supporting my blogging both here and on LCS.

Incase blogging is light tomorrow, don't forget to tune in Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. to WXUT either by stream or live on the air to hear Nookular Option. Mark Dansack is one of the scheduled guests that Don and Anthony will interview. I'm not sure of which hour he will be feaured, Nookular Option might update that information between now and Tuesday. Also for those Mark Dansack Fans, he has an upcoming Campaign Kickoff this month.

Tomorrow I'm meeting with Michael Goulding, who is running against Stacy Cook for the Lucas County Court of Appeals term beginning 1/02/07 (The former seat of Judge Zouhary.) That interview will be posted Tuesday afternoon/evening, and the list of candidates that will be highlighted in this weekly feature is growing. As promised when I started this, both Republicans and Democrats will be included. If you are a candidate and we haven't made contact yet and you are interested? Drop me an email.

On the Tuesday City Council agenda, Joe Birmingham did contact me (Thank you Joe!) and let me know that the lawnmower purchases some of us had questions on are indeed heavy grade commercial mowers and they will have service maintenance thru Maumee. The purchase was done outside of NWO from Joe's understanding because of the requirements of being on the state approved purchase list. No updated information is available on the Eminent Domain case posted about earier which is also on that agenda, as of the time of this posting.

Now back to more box moving I go. We slept at the new house for the first time last night, having moved all of the heavy items yesterday. It was so quiet not living that close to the train tracks it was almost hard to sleep at first. Having a wonderful cross breeze rather than what exists here was amazingly awesome and our puppy has somewhat conquered her fear of going down steps as well has having a blast in her nicely fenced in back yard. My new modem is supposedly at Maumee's UPS hub so if all goes well dsl might be up and running at House by tomorrow.

Strickland Lucas County Headquarters Opening Event

It didn't look like we were going to be able to attend because we are moving tomorrow but we took a break and headed downtown to be there for the Strickland/Brown Lucas County Campaign Headquarters opening. My husband, Miguel, took the pictures for the loop that is above. Yes, there are a few of me in there and a few of my youngest daughter with Ben Konop and the Mayor.

Quite a few people turned out, politicians, candidates and democratic supporters. I had a chance to meet Lourdes Santiago, Anita Lopez, Darlene Fisher and Taylor Balderas for the first time in person. I re-met the Mayor and greeted some that I do know, Ben Konop, Alan Konop, Jim Nusbaum, Peter Ujvagi and Karen Shanahan. A few others that I saw but didn't get a chance to talk to, Judge Osowik, Bob Vasquez, Edna Brown, Teresa Fedor, Wade Kapszukiewicz and Mark Sobzac. I'm sure I missed listing a few others that were present so my apologies for not listing you.

Mayor Finkbeiner gave a speech that was heavy on the unity message. He loudly stated it was time to "Bury the A team and Bury the B team", that the majority of the public was tired of the division and that it was time to unite to help elect Ted Strickland and then the next President of the United States. Ted Strickland though running a bit late received a very warm welcome and focused on Jobs, the cost of College Education, Elementary Education and the minimum wage.

According to a few people I talked with the turnout was larger than expected and most that were present were vocally supportive. Lots of Strickland T-shirts and stickers in the crowd, followed by Konop t-shirts and stickers, Anita Loopez t-shirts and Jim Nusbaum stickers. My youngest proudly donned the Ben Konop sticker first then a Strickland sticker a Sherrod Brown pin and a Jim Nusbaum sticker, those four are the "Aubrey approved" candidates. A warm thank you to those in attendance who talked to her, especially one kind gentleman who overheard her state that she wanted to be governor one day and gave her some advice on how to start planning for a life in politics. I think I have some competition on covering political events when she gets a bit older...Except for when she asked if Ken Blackwell was going to show up. That got some chuckles from those around us. I didn't get a chance to meet Ted Strickland in person, he was of course the person many wanted to meet but I am glad that I went and you can look forward to some future interviews with a few of those that I met tonight who have agreed to be featured on this blog.

I have some future interviews with some Republican candidates coming up as well. More details on the interviews in the very near future.

:-)

More on the dissing of Toledo in Gubernatorial Debates

I was reading this Columbus Dispatch article about the disagreement with the Dispatch, the Plain Dealer and Dayton Daily News on including Call and Post as a part of the media invited to co-sponsor the Strickland v Blackwell debate in Cleveland. I got to this part of the article:

The campaigns said hosting organizations for three of the debates made adjustments to accommodate the candidates, but an agreement has not been reached with three of Ohio’s largest newspapers.

It is a no brainer to believe that the Cleveland Plain Dealer is one of Ohio's largest newspapers, and possibly the Dispatch, but I wondered is Dayton Daily news one of the three largest newspapers in Ohio?

So, you all know what happens next, yes, I started to research. And I came across this...

Using the Sunday circulation numbers as an example since they are traditionally the highest:

PLAIN DEALER, CLEVELAND (CUYAHOGA CO.) SUN 450,875
DISPATCH, COLUMBUS (FRANKLIN CO.) SUN 352,510
ENQUIRER, CINCINNATI (HAMILTON CO.) SUN 293,151
AKRON JOURNAL, AKRON (SUMMIT CO.) SUN 170,870
NEWS, DAYTON (MONTGOMERY CO.) SUN 168,645
BLADE, TOLEDO (LUCAS CO.) SUN 167,686

You might think...maybe Dayton Daily News is in the top three for weekly numbers.

PLAIN DEALER, CLEVELAND (CUYAHOGA CO.) AVG M (M-F) 343,163
DISPATCH, COLUMBUS (FRANKLIN CO.) AVG M (M-F) 231,881
ENQUIRER, CINCINNATI (HAMILTON CO.) AVG M (M-F) 201,979
BLADE, TOLEDO (LUCAS CO.) AVG M (M-F) 129,291
BEACON JOURNAL, AKRON (SUMMIT CO.) AVG M (M-F) 128,442
NEWS, DAYTON (MONTGOMERY CO.) AVG M (M-F) 128,192

Nope, look the Toledo Blade is above Dayton News for weekly numbers and is not that far behind in Sunday circulation numbers. Not to mention the Enquirer and the Akron Beacon Journal are ahead of Dayton on Sunday Circulation numbers and the Average Daily numbers.

So this is not being done on circulation numbers as far as the determination that the "three largest" Ohio newspapers are involved in this debate. These newspapers that are above Dayton Daily News should be raising a huge stink. Not to diss the Call and Post but if newspapers that have higher circulation numbers than the Dayton Daily news are not being included, there is not going to be fair coverage. Issues that concern NWO are not necessarily going to be the same ones that concern other parts of Ohio. Considering we are not going to be included as a debate location, we should at least be included in that debate as a media partner.

UPDATE: Redhorse over at Psychobilly Democrat has an excellent suggestion.

UPDATE 2: Michael Miller of the Toledo Free Press stated on Toledo Talk that:

Toledo Free Press partnered with WSPD and FOX Toledo to invite the candidates for a debate, 24 hours after the primary. We learned yesterday there would be no Toledo debates.

So it appears numerous Toledo media sources were rebuffed in their offers.

Strickland and Blackwell ignore NWO in debates

Interesting news on the eve before the official opening and rally for Ted Strickland's Lucas County Campaign office.

Ohio2006 reports:

The Strickland for Governor and Ohioans for Blackwell campaigns have met three times over the past few weeks in a good faith effort to coordinate gubernatorial debates. Both sides have compromised, and we have agreed upon mutual venues and dates to hold four debates, one each in Youngstown, Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.

The dates were not announced...That's pretty much one constant no matter who is Governor, forgetting we are up here. Anyone want to see if Michigan is still interested?

:-)

UPDATE: It appears Jim Tankersley at The Toledo Blade is having some similar thoughts:

Ken Blackwell campaigned near Toledo yesterday, and Ted Strickland plans to open an office here today, but Ohio's two leading candidates for governor will skip the city when debating time rolls around.

There is also a map that is self-explanatory...

UPDATE 2: Ohio 2006 has updated information that it appears there is some problem with one of the Debates. It appears the three newspapers that were to sponsor the one debate do not want to include the Call and Post.

Over use of the concept of an "Emergency"

Okay, so now a week after hearing about the lights being installed downtown according to the above linked Toledo Blade article it's a problem. Personally there are other items on the July 11th agenda that concern some of us as well. I still have not gotten an email response from either Joe Birmingham or Betty Shultz on the two agenda items I had questions on.

But let's address something that has bugged me for quite some time, the over use of the "Emergency" concept by both the Mayor and by Toledo City Council.

Most of us when we hear the word "Emergency" think of:

A serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action. Or, a condition of urgent need for action or assistance: a state of emergency.

If you stop by and read just a few of the City Journal's you'll see how often our City is experiencing an "Emergency". I am happy to report it does not appear there were any "Emergencies" at the Council Meeting of July 1st. Yet on June 24th here are just a few taken directly from the City Journal (They are in caps because that is the way they appear on the PDF not because I am yelling):

AN ORDINANCE NO. 420-06 REPEALING RULE 19 OF THE RULES OF COUNCIL AND ENACTING A NEW RULE 19 REGARDING COUNCIL COMMITTEES; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

AN ORDINANCE NO. 416-06 AUTHORIZING THE EXPENDITURE OF SEVENTY-ONE THOUSAND AND 00/100 DOLLARS ($71,000.00) FROM DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, CONTRIBUTIONS TO OTHER AGENCIES, FOR PAYMENT TO TOLEDO SISTER CITIES INTERNATIONAL (TSCI); AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

AN ORDINANCE NO. 243-06 AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT WITH RIVER EAST ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION CORPORATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING MANAGEMENT OF THE MARINA DISTRICT PROJECT; AUTHORIZING THE APPROPRIATION AND EXPENDITURE OF $64,000 FOR THESE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

AN ORDINANCE NO. 362-06 LEVYING SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS FOR SPRINKLING, SWEEPING, CLEANING AND SNOW REMOVAL SERVICES FOR THE MUNICIPAL STREETS, ALLEYS AND PUBLIC WAYS IN THE CITY DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR 2005; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

AN ORDINANCE NO. 363-06 LEVYING SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF CERTAIN STREETS, ALLEYS AND PUBLIC WAYS OUTSIDE OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA OF THE CITY BY PROVIDING STREET LIGHTING DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR 2005; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

AN ORDINANCE NO. 364-06 LEVYING SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF CERTAIN STREETS AND PUBLIC WAYS IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA OF THE CITY BY PROVIDING STREET LIGHTING DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR 2005; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

I could continue as there were many more "Emergencies" on June 24th, and remember this is just one recent City Journal. Declaring of an Emergency happens on a very regular basis. Why and how do they do this? For that we have to turn to the Toledo City Charter:

Section 43. Emergency measures - passage.

No ordinance or resolution shall be passed as an emergency measure unless a statement of the fact and nature requiring such ordinance or resolution to go into immediate effect shall be set forth in a separate section of the ordinance or resolution. The determination of the Council that the fact and nature set forth in such section requires the ordinance or resolution to go into immediate effect shall be conclusive. In the event that the inclusion of an emergency section in an ordinance or resolution receives the two-thirds affirmative vote required by Section 40, then such ordinance or resolution shall be an emergency measure and take effect immediately even though it receives on the vote on passage of such ordinance or resolution only an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of Council. No measure making a grant, renewal, or extension of a franchise, or of a special privilege, or regulating rates to be charged for service by any public utility, shall ever be declared an emergency measure.

Now to be fair, I realize that some of these "Emergency" ordinances are sent to Council by the Mayor's office. Yet as we can clearly read above, two-thirds of City Council has to vote yes to agree that this is an "Emergency", and while not all "Emergencies" pass, quite a few of them do. Nor is this something new, I picked a City Journal at random under the Ford Administration and found this:

AN ORDINANCE NO. 816-05 DECLARING IT NECESSARY TO IMPROVE CERTAIN STREETS AND PUBLIC WAYS IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA OFTHE CITY BY PROVIDING STREET LIGHTING;PROVIDING FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF COSTS OF THAT LIGHTING; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. (There were several more "Emergencies" that day including one related to Westgate. I selected this one to demonstrate how many "lighting" emergencies the City faces.)

The problem is we don't pay enough attention to what is going on and even the media doesn't give us a clear picture as to how these "Emergencies" happen so often that they really are not even emergencies anymore, they are a way to pass legislation thru faster and it would be very hard to argue that the majority of these are truly emergencies.

It reminds me of the expression; "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

:-)

All the cool people are joining Campaigns Wikia

So, you should too! I read about it earlier on Personal Democracy Forum then after I joined I saw JR had a post about it on Toledo Talk and Jill from Writes Like She Talks joined.

Angela wrote me a very nice welcome message and asked that those of us who are bloggers let others know about the site. Now you know, and I hope since it sounds like such an awesome concept that it is very successful. Which if many of you join? It could be. To quote t-shirt pictured on the site...What better place than here? What better time than now?

:-)

Frank Szollosi no longer blacklisted!

In reading comments over at Politics in Mudville, Waterville Democrat mentioned that Frank's name was returned to the list of Lucas County Elected Officials. I quickly headed over for a visit and...Yes...there was Frank's name listed above his brother Matt (who is running for District 49).

However my moment of joy is not complete, though I am glad that after all of this time and quite a few posts on the topic; that Frank has been returned to the list, one person is still missing.. I checked the list three times to make sure, thinking perhaps there was some mess up in the alphabetical listing.

Don't worry Mark, while I'm not a fan of yours as I am of Frank, I promise to continue to visit the Elected Officials List and I promise to not drop this until you are placed where you should be...below William Skow and above Larry Sykes.

:-)

Is the recall procedure for Elected Officials in Toledo "Herculean"?

Kevin Milliken in his weekly Toledo Free Press column asks:

Is it a stacked deck? Are citizens that angry at Finkbeiner in six short months to really mount a serious effort?

So I decided to take a look at a few other Ohio Cities and see what their charters stated as requirements for a Recall effort.

In Lima, you don't have to wait for a year to start gathering petitions, however you do have to have at least one hundred electors of the City, not less than ten of which shall be from each ward of the City, to file the petition with the Clerk of City Council. Rather than the 90 day time period, in Lima: (Petition must be) filed with the City Clerk within thirty days after the issuance of the original petition papers...(with) signatures of electors of the City equal in number to twenty-five percent of the total vote cast in the last preceding regular Municipal election of the City. Lima last amended these rules in 1963.

Flashing back to the late late 1970's, it would be remiss not to point out Dennis Kucinich's adventure with a mayoral recall election.

In Cleveland, there is a three month time limit after election for a recall to take place and six months if there has been a prior recall. Twenty percent of those who last voted in the last municipal election is required and there is a 30 day time period for the signature collection period.

Dublin, Ohio has a 6 month waiting period before an elected official can be recalled. The petition shall be signed by at least that number of electors equal to fifteen percent of the electors voting at the last preceding regular municipal election and they have a 30 day time period to gather these signatures.

In Columbus, the petitions for a recall can only be signed at specific city locations with a 30 day time period to collect signatures. ...and the city clerk shall cause one copy to be placed in each of the several fire engine houses of the city, where the same shall be in the custody of the captain of the house, who shall provide facilities for their signing the same. Fifteen percent of the voters of the last municipal election is the minimum number.

Cincinnati's Charter is even more difficult to navigate than ours. Searching recall comes up with no terms for elected officials. Looking at the charter on the office of the Mayor it mentions removal as one of the reasons a Vice-Mayor would take over but no specific recall petition information was easily located.

Akron states a six month time period must pass before a recall can take place, they also give a 30 day time period to collect 20 percent of the voters of the last municipal election.

Dayton also has a six month time period before a recall can take place. They also have the 30 day requirement for signature gathering and 25 percent of the voters is the number required.

So, what can we say when comparing Toledo's recall requirements to these other Ohio Cities? It does appear that the one year waiting period is one of the longer ones I've discovered on this quick jaunt around Ohio City Charters. Yet all of the other Cities have the signature period limited to 30 days, some require the same 25% of voters, most are less yet Toledo's Charter gives a 90 day period to collect signatures. That appears to be the longest time period (especially considering Toledo like the other cities have an additional time period to re-collect signatures if some are proven invalid almost all of the Charters looked at give an additional 20 day time period for this including Toledo).

You may have to wait a year to recall a Toledo Elected Official, but at least you aren't bound by a specific location where signatures have to be collected or a thirty day time period requirement which to me sounds to be much more "Herculean".

Toledo Free Press and Blog it! Toledo...

This week's Blog it! Toledo column is out at the above linked title address, and as always there are many more great features/articles to read both online and in the print version of the Toledo Free Press. As I mentioned in my column this week, I really do enjoy the emails that I get from all of you, those who are happy to have been featured and those of you who enjoy reading Blog it; as well as those of you who find blogs or have started blogging. I really am grateful to the Toledo Free Press, especially Michael Miller, for giving me the weekly space in both print and online to promote local blogs. I'm also looking forward to the Lucas County Commissioner's Debate and live blogging that as I did during the primary. While local media does give blogging attention from time to time, the Toledo Free Press has made it a point to embrace blogging and bloggers.

Maybe someday I'll become a paid journalist, maybe not, either way more of you have read blogs and I've found some awesome bloggers since this all begain 23 weeks ago which to me is priceless.

Michael Miller's column this week is another great one. I had the opportunity to hear Michael read this when he was filling in for Brian Wilson on Monday. If you didn't tune in you missed what I felt was a fantastic show. There are also many more articles in this week's edition that you don't want to miss, like Justin Kalmes piece on Toledo Hospital as well as a special segment on the 22nd Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic just to name a few. George Sarantou even has a guest spot this week.

:-)

Tom Watkins hired as Communication Director for Strickland Lucas County

Towards of the end of the Russ Lemmon piece linked above that focuses on WSPD's "grade-school route", comes this blurb:

POLITICS: Former WSPD news director Tom Watkins has been named communications director for Democrat Ted Stickland’s gubernatorial campaign in Toledo and Lucas County.

It could be a temporary arrangement. Watkins said it’s agreed that if he lands a full-time job, he can walk away.

Tom Watkins was the former news director at WSPD until his job was terminated by Brian Wilson. According to Ohio Media Watch back on May 10th:

OMW hears that long-time WSPD/1370 Toledo news director Tom Watkins has left the Clear Channel talk station after 7 years.

The Clear Channel Toledo cluster recently hired Cassie Wilson to oversee news at all of the company's stations. Wilson is the wife of WSPD program director and afternoon drive host Brian Wilson, and also anchors newscasts in afternoons on WSPD.

As Ohio Media Watch states, Kevin Milliken is doing the news spots, at least from what I've heard when I tune in.

My best wishes to Tom Watkins in this new position, and maybe since he's the new Communication Director he'll drop on by.

:-)

Questions on the Noe Conduits...

Earlier in the week, Serial Lurker, brought up some valid questions/concerns on the investigation/prosecutorial conduct in situations like the investigation on the Noe Conduits.

This was part of one comment:

This special prosecutor racket just has to stop. It's going to take a large article in a major newspaper to get people to start talking about it - and then from there we'll need a blogstorm to keep the pressure on. The Free Press is probably enough to get the ball rolling, but they have to understand that this problem permeates all prosecutor's offices across the state. The "office" of "special prosecutor" is a pivotal device on obtaining a specific case outcome. All 88 of them (county prosecutors) will fight against giving up control over picking their replacements in politically sensitive cases, but public pressure has to mount in order to stop it. Allowing a prosecutor to pick their own replacement - or to even SUGGEST who should take over - violates the purpose of even having a special prosecutor assigned. Once the populace thinks about this issue, they're going to get more and more mad because it's just so damn unethical. It's a wonder nobody puts a stop to it.

Today's Toledo Blade goes into some of this. While it doesn't go into much outside of the Noe investigation, it does provide some information that is a recommended read.

Serial Lurker had a point about the way this system is designed and as stated in the Blade article:

But critics wonder if more could have been discovered, if more questions about politics and fund-raising could have been answered.

Ms. Turcer, the legislative director of Ohio Citizen Action, said the lack of charges against conduits - on the federal and state level - is a failure of the system.

"It is astonishingly painful to imagine that this kind of monkey business is happening and the judicial system does not seem to care," she said.

While I don't think this article goes far enough into addressing some of the concerns that were stated here, it is a start...

Our House project...

Part of the reason I have been blogging less as some of you know is we have been working on moving from an apartment in Springfield/Holland into a house in South Toledo. We didn't purchase the house, it belongs to a friend who has let us put some sweat equity into it. He is the one who had contractors do all new windows and doors and some of the major repairs. We've done the "grunt work". If all goes well ownership is in the future :-)

To give you an idea of how much has been done (as well as how much still has to be done later) Here is a picture of the house from Areis online before any work was done:

before

Last night, this is how the House now looks. New siding is next for the outside as well as eavespouting.

The backyard was pretty much my own Glass City Jungle

Last night, this is what the yard now looks like. Still have some weeds and more work to do but? We're getting there.

I have a few more shots, including interior ones posted over at Liberal Common Sense for those who want to see more, that's where I've focused more on my "House Adventures". I really should have taken some before pictures of the inside but it was pretty bad. Bad enough I really wondered if was going to be possible to get this done. I guess this goes to show you even after years of neglect it's possible to get things where you want them to be or at least closer as long as you don't give up. I grew up in South Toledo, I'm looking forward to going home...

:-)

Ramón Pérez may have a point...

When reading La Prensa, I came across this article, “You know you’re a pendejo/a when…”

While his article is directed at Latino organizations, one part states:

It’s mostly intellectuals mental-masturbating. Sorry if I offended anyone, but these national organizations need to close the gap between their conference organizers and their real constituents, the grass-roots folks. It’s the Juan’s and María’s who never get a knock on their door that are missing at these conferences again, and again, and again. We have become what we have criticized the government of doing when it comes to the census under-counting—we walk right pass our gente’s neighborhoods. Shame on you!

Many people feel disconnect from these national organizations and political parties on non-Latino issues as well.

It reminds me of a Cleveland Plain Dealer piece that was written several months ago, that I found when I was visiting a website for Ray Ku, who is running for election in District 98, on middle of the road americans, giving this group the name Levelheads. A "You might be a Levelhead if you..."

I could very well be a Levelhead, but hopefully most don't feel I'm a pendeja.

:-)

Former Mayor Ford says it's the Water...

In this week's "The View from BGSU University Hall" in Sojourner's Truth, Jack Ford suggests:

Current office holders say it is the loss of jobs and poor schools that drive folks away from Toledo. I disagree. I say the main culprit is H20.

There is of course more at the title link. While Jack does a have a point that these long term water agreements might have been done differently, now it almost seems like water under the bridge...

The Former Mayor is still a proponent of regionalism as you can see as the article continues. While I agree in principle that it does make financial sense, the greatest fear I have heard expressed over and over again from those not in Toledo is that regionalism would create a situation where Toledo controlled everything.

Regional economic growth benefits all of us, and it is possible for even more to be done in that regard in the future. I'm just not sure all of the 22 jurisdictions would benefit from becoming one.

Toledo Blade's Christopher Borrelli asks....

What film from the past decade or so best reflects American life, for better or worse?

I had to think about that and to be honest, I still don't have a movie that I could pick. Though I couldn't help thinking My Big Fat Greek Wedding...It's probably a good thing Chris didn't ask me isn't it? lol However several area residents did come up with an answer, you can read all of them at the title linked article. One person I know was asked:

Dave Schulz, Republican Toledo City Council candidate: “I would say mine is Apollo 13. To me, it showed America and Americans come back from adversity. It depicted our ingenuity and perseverance.”

So...What movie would you pick?

Konop offers Open Software Plan for County

A Press Release I received from Ben Konop's campaign for Lucas County Commissioner:

Democratic Commissioner candidate Ben Konop will be holding a 10:30 AM news conference today, June 29, at 413 N. Michigan to discuss and demonstrate his proposal to switch the county's computer system from Microsoft to open source software. At the press conference, Konop will personally demonstrate the open source software that he hopes to have the county utilize when he is Commissioner. The Konop campaign is already utilizing open source software in its daily operations.

Currently, the County purchases and uses software products like Microsoft Office, Corel, and LotusWorks. In addition to the costs of the software, the county pays licensing fees and upgrading fees of hundreds of dollars per computer. In comparison, open source software is available for free and performs very similar functions. In addition, open source software is less susceptible to viruses, eliminates inaccessibility of public documents, and allows for greater customization.

And best of all, it's free! Based on estimates by the State of Massachusetts, which recently developed an open source software plan, switching to open source could amount to savings of $300 or more per user within the county. Thus, Lucas County taxpayers stand to save millions over the next several years with a new round of licensing and new products entering the market.
"I'm not a computer expert, but I know a good deal for taxpayers when I see one," stated Konop. "As Commissioner, I look forward to moving Lucas County into the 21st Century and saving taxpayers money in the process," added Konop.

As a personal addition to Ben's Press Release, if you are not that computer/tech saavy and would like to learn more about Open Source, I suggest this wiki as a start.