Mark Dansack issues Press Release on analysis of BWC

Mark Dansack, Ted Strickland and Chris Redfern

FOR RELEASE September 8, 2006:

Mark Dansack comments on Cleveland Plain Dealer analysis regarding Ohio’s Bureau of Workers Compensation reforms which have actually increased the bureau’s total operating costs since 1998.

Citing a Cleveland Plain Dealer analysis, Monclova Township Democrat Mark Dansack, a candidate for the 46th District House of Representatives in Ohio, has issued a statement decrying the continued waste in the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.

“It’s not bad enough that we have seen the “Coingate” fiasco with insider Tom Noe being entrusted with $50 million of the Bureau’s funds to “invest” in collectibles, and also the MDL investment losses of over $200 million, but now we are finding out that GOP reforms instituted as a cost-cutting measure in the late 1990’s have actually increased the bureau’s total operating costs at more than twice the rate of inflation - since these reforms were instituted”

As a result, according to figures quoted by the Plain Dealer, the bureau has actually spent roughly $1.6 Billion more under the managed-care initiative than it would have had costs been held in check.

“This gross mismanagement of public funds by these self-described fiscal conservatives speaks volumes about what is wrong in Ohio and has been for the past decade and a half. Then, as a response to “coingate” and MDL, we see the GOP majority ram through Senate Bill 7 earlier this year, an attempt to begin to recoup some of these losses created at their own hands at the expense of the very injured workers that the BWC insurance fund was established to protect”

According to the Plain Dealer, the BWC was established in 1913 as a state-run, no fault insurance program for workers injured on the job. It is now funded by premiums charged to public and private employers that are not self-insured, all of which are now required to have an MCO, or managed care organization. Operation of the program is paid for through an administrative fee assessed against all Ohio employers.

Dansack works as a legal aid for Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer and deals daily with injured workers, physicians, managed care organizations, and the Bureau of Workers Compensation.

“It is becoming increasingly more difficult to get these injured workers the treatment they need to get well and get back on the job. We see delays in treatment and testing which in turn only delays the recovery of these injured workers that this system was created to protect. In the final analysis, this only increases the costs as the workers continue to receive weekly benefits while they are fighting the system to get well. Any qualified health practitioner will agree that delaying necessary testing and treatment will delay and sometimes prevent an injured worker’s recovery.”

“What we have created in Ohio is a system that seemingly protects the employers rather than the injured workers, which is a direct affront to one of our most vulnerable populations in Ohio.”

Dansack also commented on the large partisan effort to push though the Senate Bill 7 reform bill earlier this year. “I know my opponent voted for the measure. I know I would have voted against it. Then there is the issue of tacking on the increase in the minimum wage bringing it in line with the federal rate. What kind of political
theatre was that? I also know that my opponent boasts a 100 % pro-business voting record according to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. I may be going out on a limb here, but don’t you think he could have found one opportunity to vote with the people instead of big business?

Dansack, 44, is married to Heather and has two young daughters, Caitlin and Sophia. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and Master’s Degree in Public Administration, both from the University of Toledo. Prior to joining Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer in 2003, Dansack worked in manufacturing with General Mills for eighteen years.

For more information on Mark Dansack and his campaign for the 46th District, visit his blog

:-)

Joe McNamara makes it formal...

Joe McNamara is the second Toledo City Council candidate to turn in his signature petitions to be on the November 7th ballot. I was told that he turned in the maximum number of signatures which is 500.

Joe stated that he got the majority of his signatures going door to door and that he enjoyed having a chance to talk with Toledo residents. He felt that it was one of the benefits of signature process. There was an earlier media release on this if there is Blade coverage I'll link it here in the morning. Several local television stations were on hand, I saw WUPW Fox 36's coverage of this on their newscast this evening.

I know Dave Schulz's campaign was well within the required number of signatures, I have not heard from the Lourdes Santiago campaign but I'm assuming they have met the required number which is at least 250 valid signatures and no more than 500 signatures. It's anticipated that both of those campaigns will submit their signatures tomorrow.

:-)

An Unofficial poll on Toledo City Council race

I wanted to try something a bit different, it's not official nor is it a scentific poll but more to gauge where the majority of you who visit here are on the Toledo City Council race. If it's something that proves of interest, I'll do some future polls on other races.

I've created it so that you can only vote once per day, and I'll leave it on the sidebar for one week. Candidate names are listed in alphabetical order.

As an FYI, I have talked to all four candidates for City Council and each one has tentatively agreed to do a "Sitting down with" interview for the readers of Glass City Jungle in the weeks to come. I plan to feature these interviews in October so it will be a bit closer to the actual election.

I also have a few other local candidates who have expressed interest in being interviewed that will also be featured in the weeks to come.

I'm not crazy about the font appearance of the poll, but I'll figure out how to tweak that for future polls.

UPDATE: Well, it appears my plan to have the poll be to gauge how the regular readers of this blog would vote today has changed a bit. I welcome the new readers who stopped by upon the recommendation of the Lucas County GOP and thank you for complimenting my blog. I am guessing this poll will now be an indicator of who has the best internet/marketing support. So, I hope all of the campaigns have some fun with this.

:-)

Interesting Tele-marking call from the Blade

I just received a tele-marketing call from Lawrence, who wanted to offer me a great deal on a subscription to the Blade. I told him no thank you, that I wasn't interested, he tried a bit harder and I told him even if I was interested I would not consider a subscription while the lockout was going on. Lawrence then asked me something interesting, he asked me if I had stopped my cable tv as well.

Unfortunately for Lawrence that wasn't a good counter point, since I don't have cable tv.

:-)

Toledo alley garbage pick up and tomorrow's hearing

According to the Toledo Blade on September 2:

A proposal to switch from alley to curbside trash collection is set for a public hearing 3 p.m. Thursday in Toledo City Council chambers.

In the meantime, people whose trash has been collected in the alley should continue to place their trash there, said Bill Franklin, the city’s director of public service.

Mr. Franklin said no date has been set yet for the switch from alley to street garbage collection. He said the plan, when implemented, will improve the appearance of alleys and reduce the need for alley cleaning.

I can't attend the hearing since it is so close to the time my daughter gets out of school, however I've gone on record as being not overly fond of the idea of trying to get our garbage to the street. Taking the garbage up one set of stairs on the deck and across the deck then down the stairs to the front yard isn't going to be fun. I understand the hope that people will be more careful about how the garbage looks in the front. I also have to wonder about parking issues in areas like mine. For those of us who don't have driveways it's going to make it harder for the garbage collectors to get to cans and bags and it's not like there are many options of other places to park. However, it was kind of bothersome to read that even before the public hearing that our Mayor already has his mind made up.

Today, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner announced his decision to put the plan into action -- no matter what.

It's bad enough that most people who work during the day or have children that they have to be here for can't attend the public hearing, however couldn't we at least pretend like having the public hearing meant that there was some interest in what people had to say on the issue first?

Today's Blogorama continues, Blog it Toledo and...

Blog it Toledo is up with a day late Happy Birthday to Scott over at Republispin.

This week's Toledo Free Press cover story written by Michael Miller was a hard one for me to read. It brought back painful memories for me of events in my own life. I know from personal experience how hard it is to lose children. I can only imagine the added grief and pain a family goes thru when that child has been murdered.

Then Michael turns to focusing on his pirate days. I remember turning 40...arghhh

My favorite sports blogger, Matt Sussman isn't quite ready to rumble and there is of course many more fanastic articles awaiting you in this week's Toledo Free Press so don't forget to visit on line and pick up your copy this week.

:-)

I should also add I inadvertently did not mention Matt as being also responsible for some of the great posts over on The Infinite Dia(b)louge. I apologize for making him feel left out.

Lourdes Santiago Press Conference on "green" initiatives

WSPD is reporting that Toledo City Council candidate Lourdes Santiago had a press conference today:

Toledo Councilwoman Lourdes Santiago is urging the city's number crunchers to consider "green" initiatives when drafting next year's budget. She laid out a proposal Wednesday hoping to cut energy and fuel costs while retaining and creating new jobs. Santiago says the city could trim its current $14 million fuel costs for vehicles by working with the new biodiesel plant slated to open next spring. She also wants the Barney Quilter Environmental Services Building on Erie Street to serve as a model site by using solar panels, green roofs and rain gardens to promote the "green" concept.

Frank Szollosi Media Release 'Buy Local, Fly Local'

Received from Frank this morning:

Jobs & Investment At Stake In Airport Fight Port study documents $82 million economic hit to community

Seeking to turn around the 16% decline in air travel at Toledo Express this year, as well as recover tens of millions of dollars for local development, City Councilman Frank Szollosi will hold a media availability this afternoon at 3:00pm, first floor, One Government Center to discuss his plans to ask City Council and the Mayor to do more to support our local airport, including requiring official City air travel to utilize Toledo Express.

Szollosi serves as Vice Chair of Council's Economic Development Committee.

He also was kind enough to send the pdf report done for the Port Authority entitled, "Economic Impact of Passenger Traffic Loss".

If you'd like a copy, email me at glasscityjungle@gmail.com and I'll be happy to forward it to you. It makes some very interesting points.

Trying to draw the lines between loyalty and basic principles of democracy

Each of us seem to have our own stance on where we draw the line between partianship/loyalty and the overall principles of a democracy. No where has this become more apparent than in the collection of signatures by candidates to get on the ballot. I realize my position on this at times isn't popular because I support the right of third party candidates to be on our ballots as well. Many view third party candidates as "spoilers", I've gone on record several times, especially on my other blog that is more personal in nature on this topic believing that these other candidates can bring issues to the forefront that might not be discussed if it was not for their presence.

Locally in our Toledo City Council race we are experiencing what is not considered the traditional Endorsed Republican (Dave Schulz) up against the Endorsed Democrat (Lourdes Santiago) for one open seat. We have two Democratic candidates (Joe McNamara & Bob Vasquez) who are running against the Endorsed Democrat and the Endorsed Repubican. The two Democrats have not exactly been embraced with open arms by some, because to be blunt, party politics isn't as much about presenting a choice it's about beating the opposing party. Even during the recent primaries we have seen a push to get candidates of both parties to drop out so that only one candidate runs unopposed with a clear shot at a primary victory and more money to be able to go on to a general election to face "the other guys", especially on a State level.

For those of you who are not political junkies some of what happens can seem "mountain out of molehillish" at times, yet there is a larger question that some of this raises. As Liberal Dem wrote about on Politics in Mudville back in June, two popular Democratic Candidates, Ben Konop and Anita Lopez were asked and refused to sign Bob Vasquez's signature petition that was necessary for him get on the ballot. It was stated that Anita later signed one at a different event but it caused a stir and some discussion. Monday at the Labor Day Parade, Teresa Fedor was asked and refused to sign Dave Schulz's petition when asked first by Dave then from my understanding again later from one of Dave's supporters who was also gathering signatures.

Signing one of these petitions doesn't mean you are endorsing or even suggesting that you are going to vote for a candidate. I personally know Joe McNamara signed Dave Schulz's petition, and have been told other candidates/elected officials/campaign volunteers have signed Dave's and other candidate petitions as well regardless of the R or the D or the endorsement or the lack of endorsement. It's obvious the June episode did not prevent Bob from getting more than enough signatures and from what I know both Joe and Dave will have more than enough signatures to get on the ballot as well.

So why blog about it? I read the letter that Dave wrote to Teresa Fedor and I was told Fred LeFebvre read it this morning to WSPD listners. I'll post the letter in full as a comment as I also will if there is a response. I have two problems with what happened, one is personal one is more philosophical.

On a philosophical point, I advocate for voter choice and most of all informed voters. It's one of the reasons why I try very hard to set aside my personal preferences here to provide as much information as I can. I'm not always successful at that but that is the goal that I try to strive for. Candidates who provide me with press release information naturally get more blog space but I still try to cover those that don't. I think people who want to run for office should be given the opportunity to do so. Anyone who has actually followed what these candidates go thru even on a local basis knows it's hard work and many hours of personal committment to run for office. Signing a petition is a gesture that you believe in our political process even if it is a candidate that you may never vote for. It's saying "You have the right under our Constitution to run for office". Ted Strickland demonstrated this belief when he stated he didn't have a problem with the Young Republicans who came holding signs at his appearance at UT.

Now for the personal. Dave Schulz and I became friends back during my blogging on Liberal Common Sense before Glass City Jungle was created and have remained friends. My youngest daughter Aubrey was at that parade too and at one point in time we were with Dave. She understands the whole signature process, and while even at 12 she knows politics is not nice and has had some first hand experience with how deep partisanship can be I know firsthand the first question out of her mouth had she been there to witness the refusual would have been "why?" I've taught her to respect the process even though at times people don't always act respectful of it. I've taught her that it is possible for her to be Governor one day, that it is her right regardless of her sex, her race, her financial or family background to have that as a dream goal and that with hard work it is possible. That with hard work almost anything is possible. Most of all I have taught her that the system works best when all of us make it be what it is supposed to be that despite what happens during the course of some campaigns in the end it's about working together for the common good. While we may disagree on what we think needs to be done, we all share a deep love of our country. So, it is only a few signatures but it's also more than that...

Nookular Option has the low down on Ben Konop Hybrid Car Initiative and more...

The Toledo Blade has coverage of this event but I highly recommend visiting Nookular Option for the full press release and Don was there in person so he has additional information as well as pictures.

Brad Bethel, who is quoted in the Blade article is also going to be a future guest on one of my favorite radio Talk shows, The Nookular Option which is now on WXUT live and via stream every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.

(Tomorrow Toledo City Council Candidate Dave Schulz will be on air around 7 a.m.)

Don't forget if you aren't able to listen to the show live, the Nookular Option is always available via podcast!

:-)

I'd also point out others are taking the lead in purchasing hybrids, Yale, Houston and a few others such as North Hampstead, NY.

Ohio DJFS trying once again to make things "easier"

Back in May of 2006 this was the Press Release from ODJFS:

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is nearing completion of the conversion to an electronic child support payment system, as required by a new law.

"As this conversion continues, more and more Ohio parents are receiving their support payments quickly, securely and conveniently," said Joe Pilat, deputy director, ODJFS Office of Child Support. "The new system also benefits taxpayers with an estimated savings of over $2 million a year through reduced postage and administration costs."

Direct Deposit has been available to Ohio parents for several years. In 2004, ODJFS introduced the e-QuickPay Debit MasterCard program. The electronic disbursement of payments either through Direct Deposit or e-QuickPay, was made mandatory in 2005 within legislation that enacted the state budget. The first counties to convert were Clermont, Fairfield, Franklin, Greene, Holmes and Richland, in December.

I've been using the debit card system for over a year now, since that time customer service issues such as the system not working and issues related to accessing the EPPIC Client portal to obtain information have increased. Today when I logged in I discovered that the previous ability to search transactions has been limited. You no longer have the option of creating your own date range to do a transaction search, as an example if you need to provide verification of what you have received in Child Support for a specific time period that's no longer possible. You are only allowed to access data for one month at a time. Granted it was painfully slow trying to get transaction data most times even with a high speed connection, time outs happened frequently and if you do not have the internet, you of course have no easy access to any paper trail for child support payments deposited or for transactions.

I also discovered that Unemployment payments will now also be done by a debit card system if you do not opt for electronic deposit into a bank account as of last month, except in limited situations:

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services today announced a new, convenient method for Unemployment Compensation recipients to receive their benefits. Starting this week, new claimants who have not designated an account for direct deposit will receive benefits via a debit card.

"With electronic payment distribution, we can now provide payments to claimants quicker and more securely while reducing postage and administrative costs by more than $650,000 per year," said ODJFS Director Barbara Riley.

Except for limited circumstances, checks will not be issued for new claims. Claimants now receiving a check by mail will be given the option to switch to a debit card and receive benefits sooner than waiting for a check to arrive by mail. Currently, checks are mailed to about half of the claimants.

At first I thought it might be the same system - but Unemployment is using a Visa system called "Reliacard". Which is actually a better deal than what we get thru the Child Support System Debit Card, there is a 75 cent transaction fee for every ATM transaction plus any additional charges that ATM might charge thru the Child Support Mastercard debit while those who use this Visa card will not have that first automatic 75 cent transaction fee.

There are advantages to the electronic system, however it's not without problems. My problem is with the mandatory aspect of this, offering it to people that want electronic deposit or the debit card is one thing, forcing them to do so, especially when in the case of Child Support it will subject them to additional fees is what I take issue with. Child support already charges a 2% fee called "poundage" that is supposed to offset some of the costs related to collection and distribution of child support payments. At times I can't help longing for the days when the actual collection and disbursement of funds all happened right here within Lucas County. Each step that is made by the State to make things "easier" actually has made the system harder to navigate and has increased the number of people and places that are involved in the Child Support process.

It probably is less expensive, since I'm sure the call center employees are paid much less than State employees but sometimes I wonder in our rush to do things cheaper how much of our security we give away.

Labor Day Parade In Toledo...

We often hear Toledo is a pro-union town but I don't think you get the full impact of that feeling until you attend the Labor Day Parade. The number of unions and their members who participated today while huge was only a percentage of the people in this area that work and support Unions.

I started out not far from the start of the parade route across the street from Fort Industry Square, the first politician we ran into was Toledo City Councilperson Frank Szollosi and he agreed to pose for a picture with Aubrey. Next was candidate for City Council Joe McNamara as he was doing meet and greet with the crowds. Aubrey was wearing her Joe McNamara for City Council shirt and she was going to be doing her first official campaign activity today but more on that later. Jim Nusbaum, candidate for Judge of Lucas County Common Pleas Court was our next "Hi and Hug" moment. There is a new picture up at Jim's website of him and Ted Strickland. Then I met Bob Vasquez who is also a candidate for Toledo City Council formally for the first time. We later ventured down to where he and his supporters were just a bit farther down on Summit so I could take a picture of Bob and a few of his supporters. Before that Anita Lopez came our way as she was doing meeting and greeting. Bob had quite a few supporters with him and as you can see, they are waving HI! to you:



Right after that we ran into our third Toledo City Council candidate, Dave Schulz, who was out meeting people with a few of his supporters. He posed with Aubrey and then she took one of the two of us. After chatting for a brief bit and exchanging some hugs, Dave went on to do so more greeting and then to later attend a Mud Hen's game. I didn't see our other Toledo City Council candidate Lourdes Santiago, Aubrey told me later that she did, but there were quite a few Santiago signs among the various Unions that were there today. I know Mark Dansack was there as was Ben Konop and I'm sure there were many other politicians/candidates in attendance. I saw some Sarantou supporters and I spotted Judicial candidate Linda Jennings doing some meet and greeting when I moved over to near the end of the parade route.

I took lots of pictures - they are at the title link, and here, I'd suggest using the slideshow as that is the easiest and quickest way for the photos to be seen. I know I'm not as creative as Miguel is however I did my best so I hope you enjoy the pictures.

The overwhelming support for the Blade Unions was made very clear in today's parade, not just the signs or the t-shirts but even vocally. I didn't even realize that Ted Strickland was at the front of the parade with our Mayor and other local politicians including Teresa Fedor and Peter Ujvagi and Marcy Kaptur until I got home and uploaded the pictures and said "That looks like Ted Strickland", that got me a "Well duh" look from Aubrey who has become pretty good at recognizing local and state candidates.

The bands were great, the people were fantastic and in Toledo, even the Dogs are Union Supporters...



Most of you have visited before know my youngest daughter, Aubrey, accompanies me on quite a bit of the things I do around town. She has become more and more interested in politics in the past few months as well as getting to know some of our local politicians and candidates. She is a confirmed fan of Joe McNamara, a few people have given me flack over this or wrongly assumed that this was something I pushed. When she asked Joe if she could have one of his t-shirts weeks ago at the Democratic Unity picnic, he first asked me if it was okay with me, then told her that if she wanted one she'd have to earn it by helping at some of the campaign events like today. I appreciate the way Joe is handling this and I know this is important to her as well as a very good life lesson in how our political system works. So, she stood with Christine on the corner of Erie and Monroe for an hour holding up signs. When she was done, Joe asked her how she liked it and she said she loved doing that and loved politics. I think all of us were surprised that the thrill didn't wear off even though she was thirsty.



If you haven't stopped by Politics in Mudville, there is an excellent post on Labor Day and Auto-Lite that I highly recommend reading. I don't think we should ever forget what some of our great-grandparents and grandparents went thru to get what some of us now take for granted and what some are struggling to hold on to.

So, to the workers of Toledo, union and non-union alike...I thank you...

Pack the Park, Riverfest and Joe McNamara

As stated below - today was a busy day as far as things to do here in Toledo. Miguel, Aubrey and I started our afternoon by going over to Swan Creek Metropark for the Metroparks of the Toledo Area Pack the Parks event. Thanks to the Andersons $1.00 picnic lunches were served (which included my favorite Loft's cookies) and the parks that were participating each had a different genre of music. We picked Swan Creek because it is the closest park to us and were entertained by Hepcat Revival. After taking the blue walking trail for a little over a mile jaunt thru the park we headed home.

Then a few hours later we headed down to Riverfest, which was organized by Citifest for the Disco by the River. Whoever said Disco was Dead was very wrong, as Disco Inferno demonstrated many Toledo area residents (yeah me too) could still shake their booty. For a second night in a row we ran into Toledo City Council Candidate Joe McNamara who was down at the Riverfest doing some meeting and greeting. It's obvious Joe is putting a lot of hours into getting out there to meet people and that we have the same taste in events to attend. Yes, Aubrey was happy.

Then after some refreshments, me being a fan of Daryl's Ice Cream and Aubrey a Dipping Dots fan, Miguel the handcut french fries, more musical enjoyment, and a very awesome fireworks display by Pandemonium VII Fireworks. The crowd seemed to enjoy both the music and the fireworks. When we were walking to our car, having decided to try to drive down rather than take the bus this time, I heard many people commenting on how it was the best firework display they had ever seen.

Parking was a bit tricky at first with both a game and Riverfest but we managed to find a nice lot that was only charging $3.00 to park. Personally though TARTA seems to be even easier. We actually would have walked a shorter distance to take the bus than we did tonight driving the car.

Miguel took pictures of today but I haven't uploaded them yet, when I do I'll update with a link.

Tomorrow morning Aubrey and I will be at the Labor Day Parade so I will update with a post and photos after we get back home.

Conklin & Company - Pete Gerkin and Dave Schulz and...

It's been a busy day but...I did watch Conklin & Company this morning because I knew Dave was going to be on.

First up was Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerkin, he was on talking about the Arena project. He appears to be very supportive of the idea of the Mud Hen organization handling aspects of this plan. Pete said "Smart people go to smarter people - The Mudhens are working quitetly to get a team and the best thing is we don't have to pay them." They want to replicate the Mudhens two times over. However he did admit Barry Soskin does not appear to support the non-profit angle.

I guess what I found overly simplistic was the way he explains away the cost of the arena - he seems to feel that since almost 42 million can be raised by the increase in the hotel/motel tax that, "We just have another 40 million dollar project". Pete also quoted some survey that I didn't catch that I believe was asked of people who were leaving Mudhens games that led him to believe it wouldn't necessarily matter to Toledo if it ended up being the Storm or not, saying "half can't tell you who won". He feels it's about "creating the place and the experience". On the issue of the 14 million dollars for naming rights he stated that was not out of line but he thought that 14 million also included suite costs and other fees not just direct naming rights. Pete also stated, "some people are not blinking at that (14 million) number."

Then on to the reason why I tuned in, to watch Toledo City Council Candidate Dave Schulz. Dave did an excellent job in pointing out that he is a fiscally responsible Republican and has the goal of smaller government. That's something he has demonstrated in wanting to reduce the size of our current City Council. Dave pointed out that larger Cities, such as Columbus have less City Council members.

He talked about some of his ideas that would reduce fees and taxes for local businesses and when Lee asked how these cuts could be paid for Dave stated that he believes City Council could "find 4 million dollars in budget cuts going line by line". Earlier he came up with well over a million dollars in suggested cuts by combining some departments. Dave would also like to focus on increasing home ownership in the City of Toledo.

Dave also stressed that his work on the term limits proposal that will be up before the voters this November demonstrates that he can work with both Republicans and Democrats and that his focus on this issue for the last 18 months is something that he feels sets him apart from his opponents. That if he was able to accomplish this as a citizen and as a candidate "imagine what he could do if elected".

Then it was time for Sandy Isenberg and Jim Tankersley, they talked with Lee about Frank Szollosi's recent statements concerning the Mayor not flying from Toledo Express but selecting to fly from Detroit. Sandy felt that while it was nicer to fly from Toledo Express that given the lay overs and at times the cost difference that it was understandable that the Mayor and others would fly from Detroit at times. One statement by Jim Tankersley that seems to sum up how he felt about it, "If he (Frank) could find a way to criticize where Carty bought his breakfast he would".

That about sums up what I took down from my notes while I was watching.

:-)

Arti Gras in Downtown Toledo

Well we got a much later start than I had planned to but despite the weather decided to head downtown to see what was going on. Most of the Arti Gras was over but the rain contributed to changing some of the artwork...





Melodies for the Mission was still going strong though, and we ran into Joe McNamara which made my daughter very happy since she is a 100% fan of Joe. Listened to some music for a bit, talked to a friend and then headed home. The layout seemed very well done and hopefully the next three Saturdays will have a bit better weather.

:-)

Blackwell bringing jobs to Lima could cost Toledo jobs

Thursday's Columbus Dispatch reported as linked in the title:

Republican gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell is calling for the reopening of the Lima Correctional Institution, which was closed two years ago in a budget-cutting move.

The Taft administration still thinks the state can't afford the estimated cost of $70 million to $90 million to reopen and operate the facility, but Blackwell is confident he can find the money in the state budget, spokesman Carlo LoParo said.

“It's necessary for the economic vitality of Lima and Allen County and to house our prison population,” LoParo said.

Interestingly enough, back on August 9th, the Toledo Blade reported:

LIMA, Ohio — City Council voted 8-0 Monday night to send a resolution to the state asking the new director, Terry Collins, to restart basic utility services to the closed prison to “reduce any damages that would result from the lack of such heat and maintenance,” to have the overall facility reviewed to determine the cost of reopening it, and to reopen LCI to help alleviate Ohio’s crowded prisons.

And...you won't read this as a part of the Dispatch article but Toledo's WUPW adds:

Democratic candidate Ted Strickland says he was opposed to the decision to close the prison.

The Akron Beacon Journal wrote this in June:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio's prison population increased 6 percent in the past year, adding to concerns among some public officials about overcrowded conditions and tensions between inmates and guards.

In June, there were 46,356 inmates in 32 prisons that were built to house 35,730, according to state records. The Lorain Correctional Institution in northeast Ohio was the most overcrowded prison with 1,983 inmates. It was designed to hold 756.

However the State is not at it's highest number:

The Ohio prisons system reached its highest point in 1998, when it had more than 49,000 inmates.

The Toledo angle:

To alleviate crowding, Collins said he is looking to add nearly 1,300 more beds in six prisons - Pickaway, Ross, Warren, Toledo, Mansfield and Marion - by opening cellblocks that were closed several years ago or were built but never used.

I wasn't aware we had cellblocks in Toledo that were closed or that were built but never used, I was able to determine from this pdf that Toledo Correctional Institute has a capacity of 1,000 prisoners and an additional 186 at the minimum security camp that is on the same grounds. It's stated there are currently 807 prisoners as of last week at TCI. Which means it doesn't appear this facility is over-croweded. Nor was it at the time of the pdf report that was done in 2005, there were 801 prisoners there at that time. In October of 2005 it was stated there were 44,783 prisoners thru out Ohio's prison facilities. In further reading of the 2005 pdf it states C block which can hold 288 prisoners is empty.

That means in October of 2005 the Ohio Prison system using the maximum number of 35,730 was 9,053 over and in June of 2006 was 10,626 over. Lorian is listed above as being Ohio's most over crowded prison with 1,983 inmates. In 2005 it had 1,768. Which makes one wonder why Toledo has been under utilized when compared to Lorain.

If C block at Toledo Correctional Institute is opened it will create more jobs at that facility. Lorain is closer to Toledo than Lima so transportation costs would be less. Opening C block will not relieve all of the overcrowding issues that has been faced by the Ohio Prison system for many years prior but it would be a start, I'd like to see research on which would be more cost effective - opening the blocks that are currently not use in prisons that are currently open or re-opening Lima Correctional Institute.

Strickland visits are more than just about the money...

Even though I've learned alot about the whole political process and I realize that money is an important factor in most successful campaigns, I think voters should have as many opportunties to meet with candidates without having to pay to do so as possible.

Take yesterday's UT visit, that was not a fundraising event and it gave people the opportunity to hear Ted Strickland in person. Unless you have access to a video tape of the entire speech or it's put online as a transcript being there in person is the only way you will discover what a candidate has to say. Sure, if you attend enough of these events you can hear what is a standard stump type speech but most times candidates focus on different parts of their plan rather than repeat the same one over and over.

One statement Ted Strickland made yesterday that I think should be stressed:

I was talking with Mr. Dan Slane, not too long ago, Dan at that time was the President of Ohio State University Board of Trustees and he said to me in that meeting, "Congressman" he said, "We are getting to the point in Ohio where class matters in the ability to get a College Education". That is intolerable, and unacceptable and it must be changed.

While I don't want this to appear that I am picking on Ted Strickland because this does apply to many other candidates and both political parties reading this from the Toledo Blade article made me think:

Organizers said they were shooting for $20,000 per fund-raiser, which they called a rough minimum figure for getting Mr. Strickland to appear in person.

The article then continues down just a bit:

Still, the money raised was well below the $165,000 that Republican Ken Blackwell received last week during a single South Toledo event.

Are we getting to the point in Ohio were class matters in the ability to personally hear or meet candidates? I can't help thinking of the millions and millions of dollars that will be spent in Ohio alone for this upcoming election. The majority of the money raised will go directly into the pockets of the Media. Rates have almost tripled since the primary especially when it comes to television advertising rates from what I have heard from local candidates. Why has media advertising become so important? That I guess can go directly to us. The majority of us don't go out there and seek information or try to meet these candidates to hear what they have to say. We sit there in front of the television and let our decision on who we are going to vote for be influenced by campaign commercials. Given that, campaigns must concentrate on raising funds to be able to reach voters, which creates the whole series of fundraising events like Ted Strickland attended here yesterday that the Blade article focused on.

When people wonder what blogs bring to the process, I think our greatest contribution is the ability to share with you what we hear directly from these candidates. Being involved in conference calls, getting press releases, going to events and reporting what we saw, what we heard. Money has very little bearing on how we cover candidates, especially for the smaller individual blogs that don't solicit advertising dollars from candidates or political causes.

Back to the Toledo Blade article, I have to disagree with:

Fred Cooper, 21, a political science major and president of the university’s college Republicans, said it was a “typical” speech. “It was full of rhetoric and little on facts,” he said.

He chided the candidate for directing reporters to his Web site for answers to some of their questions.

Ted gave out quite a few facts during his speech, while of course rhetoric is a part of all speeches, even Ken Blackwell's, I wouldn't award yesterday's speech the most rhetorical one I've heard or even close. I also didn't have a problem with the use of Ted's suggestions that the reporters get the information from his website. He had limited time and if that information was there? Makes sense to direct people there so that he could take more questions. Nor do I think anyone would be surprised that the President of the University of Toledo's Young Republican club doesn't appear to be complimentary towards Ted Strickland. If he was? That would be extremely newsworthy. That said I applaud him for clearly identifying himself and for the Blade in making that clear, in other parts of the State people who have commented in articles turned out to have a bit of a more personal bias/connection to a candidate that was later discovered.

I hope there are more events like the one at UT from all of our State candidates, I also wish they would schedule some of the future events at times when a greater number of our residents could attend. However, there will continue to be those of us who blog about it.

:-)

And the winner of the Press Release Extravaganza is...

Bob Vasquez!

Though the Toledo Blade did write an article yesterday about Bob's press conference, it appears from my non-scientific evaluation of column size that Bob got the least amount of space. Next up was Dave Schulz who also had his press release on his latest campaign proposals written about. Joe McNamara got the most coverage today with a front page picture featuring him and Ted Strickland as well as an article about his plan to combat brain drain.

Being a blogger of my word, let's talk about Bob.

Bob Vasquez ran for Toledo City Council in 2005, he missed winning a seat on Toledo City Council by a little more than 900 votes under Mark Sobczak. When Bob McCloskey stepped down, many of us (this blogger included) assumed that Bob would be a logical selection to be appointed to finish McCloskey's term. That of course did not end up happening, Lourdes Santiago was the choice of the Lucas County Democratic Party and City Council approved Lourdes being appointed. However, Bob decided he was going to run despite the lack of the endorsement of the Lucas County Democratic Party. Yesterday as his press conference and the Toledo Blade article stated he turned in his signatures as required and will be on the November ballot facing Lourdes Santiago who is the endorsed Democrat; Joe McNamara, who also appeared before the Screening Committee and made the decision to run as an unendorsed Democrat and Dave Schulz who is the endorsed Republican.

Some bio information:

Bob is the grandson of hard working immigrant farm workers. His father is a WW II veteran who was widowed as a young man, raising four men of public service. Bob's three brothers are Toledo Police officers. Bob grew up in East Toledo, graduating from Waite High School. He earned a bachelors degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in public administration from The University of Toledo where he is a part time instructor. Bob serves on the Community Block Grant Citizens Review Committee, Northwest Ohio Criminal Justice Advisory Board, and Hispanic Affairs Commission, City of Toledo. Bob is Director of Special Projects at The Twelve Inc., a statewide nonprofit child welfare agency for children and families.

What the Toledo Blade article on Bob's press conference yesterday did not mention was that according to the formal press release; Toledo City Council members Michael Ashford and Mike Craig were going to be there with the Vasquez supporters when the signatures were turned in to the Board of Elections.

While I haven't met Bob in person, he is a reader of blogs, including this one. Maybe depending on how busy his day is he might even stop by to add some additional points, or to say "hi".



:-)

James Nusbaum for Judge campaign website announced

James Nusbaum, a candidate for Judge of Lucas County Court of Common Pleas has announced the creation of an informational website for his campaign. Jim is the endorsed Democratic Candidate for this term.

www.jimnusbaum.com

It is also now listed on the sidebar with the rest of the Candidates from Northwestern Ohio.

The site contains information voters will be interested in as far as Jim's experience as well as additional details about him. He also has an email address created for those who have questions or would like to volunteer for his campaign.

Glass City Jungle had the opportunity to sit down with James Nusbaum back on June 13th, if you have not read this interview it can be found here

So, head on over and check his new website out.

:-)

Tom Noe co-stars in this cartoon

I know not everyone will like it but, it reminded me a bit of some of the cartoons I've watched on JibJab.

Click here to watch

:-)

Curtsy goes to The Ohio Twenty-First for my seeing it.

It's a Press Release Extravaganza!

Joe McNamara released his "Ten Ideas for Retaining our Best and Brightest" and had a press conference prior to the Ted Strickland event. Dave Schulz had a press release on his business plan as well as unveiling something new. Bob Vasquez sent out a press release and had a press conference this morning announcing the formal turn in of his signatures to run for Toledo City Council. Bob collected the maximum number of signatures which is 500.

So, we are going to do something a bit different here on Glass City Jungle. Who ever gets the least coverage in tomorrow's Toledo Blade on their press release/press conferences will get the most blog coverage here tomorrow. All of the other candidates will of course be mentioned and any additional information I think might be of interest but I think this is the fairest way to cover today rather than post all of the complete releases.

(As a clarification - candidates who did not do press releases don't count.)

:-)

Ted Strickland, Young Democrats and some Young Republicans

Pictures up at the title link, I was able to tape Ted Strickland's speech and will transcribe some of that later probably tomorrow after all of the media coverage so that I can compliment what is being presented. What I wanted to focus on was the more human interest aspect of what happened between the Young Democrats and the Young Republicans at today's event. No there was no violence nor was there any strong words exchanged.

Our Mayor Carty Finkbeiner made a statement telling those who came bearing Blackwell signs basically they were welcome but to behave. There were more Strickland supporters present than Blackwell supporters, at first the Blackwell supporters were more to the back with their signs then a few moved up to the front, then more Democrat supporters moved up. The crowd even chuckled when one Blackwell supporter went to the very front towards the middle of the crowd and then a Strickland supporter went right in front of him holding her Strickland sign in front of his.

Ted did not appear to be bothered by the whole situation, he said "I want to thank all of the young people for being here, and I really don't mind the Blackwell signs, so you don't have to worry about that. This is a free country and what we are doing today is an exercise in that right as a freedom and so everyone is welcome and everyone has a right to express their opinion and I think that is good and is healthy for our democracy."

I haven't had the opportunity to get to personally know many of the Young Republicans, I have come to know and really like some of the Young Democrats since the birth of this blog. I'm not sure of this whole cross protesting thing as far as what it does as far as promoting a message but I agree this is a free country. I'd much rather have people be able to do what they did today than be blocked or barred from events where they are merely trying to express their opinion. The only thing I disagreed with was one particular message written on the sidewalk in chalk. When I arrived there were several messages written in chalk down the length of the sidewalk in front of University Hall. I did not witness it being written, and the majority of the messages were things like "Vote 4 Blackwell". What I think draws the line between civil and uncivil was done by whoever wrote the message "Ted Strickland is a Baby Killer". Yes, there is a photo of that particular sidewalk taken so those of you who were not there have the ability to see it. It didn't upset anyone from what I could tell but I thought it was a bit tacky and I think we are all old enough to be beyond chalk messages on sidewalks. I debated how I was going to cover it, but in the end decided it was better to write about all of it, both the good and the not so good.

I realize campaigns and opinions of who you support can be polarizing. So, I applaud all of those who disagree but do so in the same manner of how they would want their own preferred candidate to be treated no matter which political party they are a part of.

Fomer Mayor Jack Ford on water and a few things I disagree with...

This week's column in the Sojourner's Truth by Jack Ford has some interesting information and a few things I disagree with. You can read it in full here, the former Mayor starts out on the Berkey water issue but that's not what I'm going to focus on. It is these two parts:

I thought that the Democratic road show in Toledo protesting Blackwell’s sale of the turnpike was undermined by the next day’s story that the Indiana governor was cashing $500,000 each day in interest payments from the $3.8 billion sale of their road. You can fix a lot of problems with an extra half a million a day coming into your state coffers.

On the other hand, Blackwell’s plan on health care for the uninsured is intriguing. This will resound with a lot of groups from business leaders to the uninsured. Blackwell is quickly becoming the guy with ideas while Strickland so far has just coasted. But, it looks as if he is sledding uphill with The Blade. In his front page picture with Republican mastermind Karl Rove last week, Blackwell has his back turned and The Blade published a photo very reminiscent of the classic Richard Nixon/Sammy Davis Jr. “hug.”

I strongly disagree with the sale of the Turnpike, nor do I believe no matter how much the State coffers might benefit that the Turnpike should even be for sale. It is supposed to have already been bought and paid for by the tax payers of this state and if the law was being followed? Would not even be a toll road anymore. Even though the Turnpike has stated the majority of those who drive it are not Ohio residents it creates another unwelcoming thing about Ohio. Especially if Lucas County gets the increase in the motel/hotel tax to try to fund the arena project it will make us not only one of the highest tax rates for putting heads in beds but for getting those heads to us.

I understand that Jack Ford has always been a strong supporter of providing health care to all local residents and residents of the State. He may be correct that some business owners will like Blackwell's plan for health care however, if the same Ohioans currently can't afford health care how they are going to come up with the money isn't something Blackwell's plan addresses. Smart Business people should realize, creating a situation where Ohioans have even less to spend is not a win/win situation for them.

Directly from Blackwell's website on his "Health Care for the Twenty First Century":

Insuring the Uninsured

Blackwell proposes the “Buckeye Health Plan” to provide health insurance coverage to currently uninsured Ohioans. The program would require all Ohioans to have some form of health insurance: individually, directly or indirectly through their employer or through a new marketplace sponsored by the State of Ohio for the uninsured – the Buckeye Health Connection.

The Buckeye Health Connection would match uninsured individuals with private health insurance coverage and facilitate those relationships as described below.

The insurance coverage offered through the Buckeye Health Connection would be paid for through individual contributions, employer contributions, Medicaid contributions or any combination of these.

The Buckeye Health Connection will be a facilitator of health insurance coverage and not replace existing relationships. The program will ask all Ohioans to participate in their own health care as a matter of personal responsibility.

The majority of people right now who don't have health insurance are not doing so because they are irresponsible, it's because they cannot afford it. Realistically how many people would decide to not be able to receive preventive health care? The majority of people I know that don't have health insurance would love to be able to afford health care, however their employers either don't provide it or provide it at such a high cost they can't afford it. In a fantasy world it would be great to believe that health insurance costs would magically decrease and I realize that in Massachusetts they are also claiming that this will reduce insurance costs however, that has not yet happened.

Even Standard and Poor's has concerns about the Massachusett's plan:

Our greatest concern is that the bill will not effectively curb the overall cost of covering the uninsured. If the funding for H. 4850 is insufficient to cover the cost of the uninsured, any additional financial burden on providers could damage their profitability, thereby potentially affecting credit quality.

They also state:

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services believes that a new Massachusetts law that aims to provide health care coverage for all of its residents could have a neutral to positive credit effect on certain of the commonwealth's hospitals and health systems depending on how the law is implemented. We also believe, however, that the law in its entirety would not likely be viable in other states.

I realize it's a silly suggestion, but shouldn't we see if this actually works before Ohio joins in?

Tappin’ for Tuition

I was sorry to have not been able to attend this event, however it looks like a good time was had by all and it also appears we have some well known Toledo residents who know how to trip the light fantastic.

So, head on over to the Sojourner's Truth and take a look at some of the pictures they have from this fundraising event sponsored by Toledo College Advisory Board.

Congratulations to Fire Chief Mike Bell and his partner Karen Medina who were selected as the winners.

:-)

George Sarantou unveils his "Four Point Plan"

The Sarantou campaign does not include me in their Press Conference releases, so I can't provide the release in full for yesterday's press conference. However, according to the Toledo Blade as linked in the title he offered several ideas yesterday as a part of what was stated is his "Four Point Plan".

One idea mentioned was the creation of a "Tax Free Day", which several states do offer, typically prior to school starting so that parents can buy necessary items for their children's back to school needs while enjoying a tax break. It would be more appropriate for someone like Mark Wagoner to offer that as legislation but George could support it under the "bully pulpit" principle.

I do agree that is a good idea and one that no matter the outcome of this election hope someone proceeds with.

Ben Konop's response to George's press conference is also included as a part of the Toledo Blade article.

For some further information on states who have considered a sales tax free day, several interesting articles, one on the increase of states that offer this, and from New Mexico, and from Arizona where legislation to create a similar day failed.

Blog it Toledo, Anger management and more...

The 31st Blog it! Toledo is available for your reading and surfing pleasure and this week's Toledo Free Press contains much more such as Traci Curth is angry... Michael Miller is almost pensive... Justin Kalmes writes about Toledo residents memories of an early time on Dorr Street in this week's cover story, and Tom Richard goes for emotion...

And there is of course many more articles and features waiting for you in this week's edition of the Toledo Free Press

Ted Strickland to be at University of Toledo tomorrow...

From a Young Lucas County Democrat information release:

Ted Strickland at the University of Toledo!!!

Please join the Democratic Candidate for Governor Ted Strickland as he speaks about the importance of keeping the best and the brightest in Ohio.

Thursday, August 31 at University Hall (Bancroft) at 1:00 p.m.


:-)

A tale of two alleged abusers...

In May, Darryl Richardson was charged with felonious assault after he repeatedly punched Ms. Rivera in the face and body, fracturing her facial bone, according to court records. Prosecutors dismissed the charge against Mr. Richardson on June 2. Court records indicate that Ms. Rivera twice failed to appear in court; the state was out of time and could not prosecute without the victim, and the detective who filed the charge could not find Ms. Rivera.

Mr. Santonio Holmes faces domestic violence and assault charges in connection with a June 19 incident involving LaShae Boone, his Columbus girlfriend and the mother of one of his three children.

She has told the prosecution she wants the charges to be dropped. But the prosecution still has the 911 call she made that night and a statement she gave police in which she accused Mr. Holmes of “choking (her), throwing her to the ground, grabbing her arms, and slamming her into a door, leaving her with bruises, pain, and a torn shirt.” “We would subpoena her and place her on the witness stand,” said Mr. McIntosh. “How strong a witness she would be for us would be the issue. Then we would have to debate the issue of contempt.”

Darryl Richardson as stated above, walked away with out facing prosecution for domestic violence against Lori Rivera in June. Now, in August he is in jail having been charged with the beating death of Lori Rivera on August 18th. The prosecution has not dropped the charges against Santonio Holmes, yet it's been stated he will probably not get any jail time.

Infact in an earlier Pittsburg Tribune review article Holmes attorney Sam Shamansky tried to downplay the episode:

"These are two young people who don't have a negative history," Shamansky said. "As (domestic violence) cases go, this one is not World War III. This is not a woman with her eye swollen shut."

It's been announced that Marcy Kaptur has gotten a $197,446 grant to help study what more can be done to combat domestic violence for Lucas County.

It's pretty obvious what part of the problem is, we have the public as well as attorney's who downplay domestic violence. It doesn't matter if it wasn't World War III this time, it could very well be the next time. Lori Rivera let Darryl Richardson get away with abusing her and she ended up paying for that decision with her life. LaShae Boone either lied about the 911 call or she was a victim of domestic violence. If she lied then she should be prosecuted, people who make false domestic violence claims hurt those who really have been victims. Even if she wants to drop the charges it either happened or it didn't happen. I applaud the prosecutor's office in Columbus for not dropping this and I wish that it would happen more often.

Toledo strip center construction up but is it needed?

(And is it really up...)

At first when you read the article in this morning's Toledo Blade it sounds like some good news:

After a slowdown because of poor economic conditions since 2000, strip shopping center construction in the Toledo area is heating up again.

At least six centers of 10,000 to 20,000 square feet have opened since the first of the year or are nearly completed. Four other projects are planned, and others are in the initial market test stages.

Plus, several centers are getting makeovers to compete with the new projects.

"There is a demand for new retail space in the market," said Duke Wheeler, a commercial real estate agent with CB Richard Ellis/Reichle Klein in Maumee. "We're not seeing a lot of the big users fighting for space, but we are seeing new smaller users looking for space."

A CB Richard Ellis midyear report on local retail found increased demand ended an 18-month period where average asking rents were dropping.

I remembered hearing some discussion when the retail vacancy rates for Toledo were released after the first of the year, so I went looking. I found this February 2006 article that is titled:

Retail vacancies in area soaring

So which is it? If the mid year reports showed that there was an increased demand, how could in February it be reported that retail vacancies in 2005 were soaring?

The February 2006 article goes on:

Retail vacancies in metro Toledo last year rose to levels not seen since the last recession in a market best described as feast or famine, a new industry report shows. The percentage of empty stores and other retail buildings shot up to nearly 14 percent at year's end, according to the commercial realty CB Richard Ellis, Reichle Klein, of Maumee.

At the end of 2004, vacancies were at 11 percent. They last topped 13 percent at the end of 2001, just after a recession.

While population in the metro area has not increased, retail construction has boomed over the past five years. The amount of space rose 13 percent to 18.3 million square feet, CB Richard Ellis said. The biggest gains were made in Perrysburg and Northwood, where retailers have added 1 million square feet for a 66 percent increase.

Still, there is conflicting data about the number of empty stores and in key corridors.

CB Richard Ellis said vacancies range from 9 percent in Perrysburg and Northwood to 16 percent in West Toledo and Sylvania as well as east Toledo and Oregon.

Going back to February of 2005

"The market took a breather," said Dave Long, a retail specialist at CB Richard Ellis/Reichle Klein, of Maumee.

"In 2003, we had a ton of new construction come on-line and a ton of vacancies, especially with the Food Town closings. In 2004, the market corrected itself and settled down."

Studies by two commercial realty agencies point to lower retail vacancy rates last year. CB Richard Ellis claims the number of empty stores and restaurants fell to 10 percent of available space from 12 percent at the end of 2003.

Preliminary figures from rival Michael Realty Co. of Toledo also suggest that two percentage points were shaved off the retail vacancy rate. But Michael, which bases its estimates on a different mix of properties, maintains that the overall retail vacancy rate in the market was 8 percent.

These are some of the same companies reporting different information. If we had a "ton" of new construction in 2003 then today's report isn't accurate in claiming that "After a slowdown because of poor economic conditions since 2000, strip shopping center construction in the Toledo area is heating up again." If there was a record high 14% vacancy rate in 2005, then how six months later could there be magically an increased demand?

Should we celebrate? Should we wonder why it seems like neither the reporters or the indviduals asked to comment goes back to read the previous stories to see what was written before? If today it's being stated:

The new strip center activity, Mr. Wheeler said, could add 40,000 to 60,000 square feet to the nearly 18 million square feet in the area.

And in February of 2006 it was stated:

The amount of space rose 13 percent to 18.3 million square feet,

How much of a net gain are we really getting with these new strip shopping centers...18.3 as quoted earlier is larger than "nearly" 18 million with the new centers. Wouldn't that mean that there was actually a larger increase in the years prior than what we are seeing now?

If the vacancy rate is that high all we are doing is what is mentioned in today's article:

Leasing in such centers generally is by tenants in older strip centers,

Which means tenants go from older buildings to new buildings which leaves the old buildings vacant and does not have a positive impact on the overall vacancy rate. While the increase of construction jobs is good news, after the new strip centers are built all that is being done is shuffling rent money so that the new buildings gain and the old buildings lose.

Nor does that address any of this conflicting information...I do know of one additional increased benefit to Toledo from this though, increased purchases of headache medication...

Dave Schulz gets the nod...

Last night the Lucas County Republican Party Screening Committee met and recommended that Dave Schulz be the endorsed candidate for the open Toledo City Council spot. According to the Toledo Blade, two other men who were interested in the endorsement were Dave Davison, a retired Toledo police officer, and Jonathon Rodebaugh, a quality manager for a manufacturing company.

If you'd like to learn more about Dave, his website is a recommended visit.

:-)

Toledo Pride - Arts & Life

Toledo Pride - Arts & Life

An article I read that I highly recommend, if you haven't registered to read the Independent Collegian, there's no better time than the present.

:-)

A uniformly unpleasant experience....

As most of you know we moved from the burbs into Toledo which means my youngest will be attending TPS. The initial experience in enrolling her went fine, and by luck her teacher happened to be there that day getting the classroom ready so they had the chance to meet.

I'm not a pro-uniform person, I fully admit that and I knew the uniform policy at TPS was going to be a major downside to me but I forged ahead hoping for the best. I also hate shopping. The first bit of misinformation was about the uniform voucher policy. I was told where I needed to go and what I needed to take but I was told the voucher was given that day. It's mailed and by the time it will be received school will already be in session. Several other parents who I've spoken with have stated this is not uncommon.

So we set out to buy the required clothing items for Toledo Public Elementary Schools. If your child is a 6X you are in luck, however my soon to be 12 year old is not a size 6X. Three Wal-Marts, Target, Meijer, Sam's Club and Kohl's were visited. The Wal-marts did not even have tops in her size. Meijer had nothing. Sam's Club did have the polo shirts in White, 2 in her size, which I purchased for $7.60 each. Target had nothing. I'd point out that we not only checked the girl's department but the junior's department looking for skirts in the required material in Khaki at each store. At Kohl's we found one skirt that looked "uniformish" and was in her size. One...Thankfully it was on sale, normally priced at $34.99 it was $14.99. So for a little over $30.00 we have two days worth of school clothing wear. An amazing fact that TPS doesn't seem to realize is not everyone has a washer and a dryer.

Realistically we are going to have to purchase more clothing items before the voucher arrives. That's if we can even use the voucher since I was told at least at the time we were shopping the size I needed was not available where the voucher can be used either.

So, a very uniformly unpleasant experience that has not saved me time, nor money and has been more stressful than what I normally go thru in trying to buy school clothing each year. Worse yet is I know this has to be repeated and soon. I couldn't help wondering if there was an opt out procedure, which I'm looking into.

I'd also point out I'm not alone on feeling that this is not such a uniformly great idea Random Thoughts on TPS weighed in earlier this month on this topic and over on Toledo Talk it's being stated it's not even being "uniformly" enforced.

:-)

UPDATE Tuesday: Well from the looks of the student population - the dress code is not even close to being enforced. Not even the whole "must have black or brown dress shoes". Nor the colors of the shirts so looks at least at the beginning it's pretty lax.

Three more Unions locked out at the Blade and...

From reading what Berserker posted over at Toledo Speaks Out and Scabbard for the Blade it appears there are several employees who don't want to be a part of a Union anymore and are trying to get a Decertification vote to happen.

This adds another factor to the current situation with the Blade and the Unions. How many employees want the Unions out isn't clear. Yet it has to have an influencing factor in the ongoing negotiations.

The Blade, reporting on the new lockouts doesn't address the main claim of the Toledo Newspaper Guild which is that the Blade is trying to undermine the Unions and to destroy the rights of its employees to participate in union activity

One wonders if the Toledo Newspaper Guild and a Graphics Communication local of pressmen will be locked out. The Guild represents reporters, photographers, copy editors, advertising sales people, and circulation workers, and the Graphic Communication union represents people who run the machines that print the newspaper. Or if the lock outs will only happen with employees that the Blade feels they can replace with temporary workers. It has to be stressful on these Blade employees to not know if they are going to have a job on a day by day basis.

I've never gone on record as being a rabidly pro-union person, and I do believe that workers should have the right to Decertify if they feel their union representation is not needed. Yet, if this is going to happen it should be because that's what the employees truly want as opposed to being pressured by Management to do so. In this case we have at least three different views as to what is happening. All we can predict is that it doesn't appear this is going to end any time soon.

Toledo isn't the only part of Ohio with newspapers making the news. From reading Pho's Akron Pages, the Arkon Beacon Journal just laid off quite a few of their staff. Also as Pho pointed out, the Cleveland Plain Dealer is offering buyouts to cut staff.

If you are supporting a candidate as a citizen and not a minister...

Then one wonders why the group would use the name "Clergy" as part of the title.

In reading this Akron Beacon Journal article this made me pause:

Bill Owens, director of the conservative Coalition of African-American Pastors, said he believes people can distinguish between his job as minister and his support for Blackwell. He said the coalition represents 20,000 pastors nationwide.

"I'm speaking as a person and we have that right to speak as an individual," Owens told The Associated Press. "Because I'm a minister, it doesn't take away my right as a private citizen."

Johnson said Thursday his support for Blackwell is as a citizen, not a minister.

Yet the group is named:

"Clergy for Blackwell"

It's obvious religion is going to play a role in the Gubernatorial race, from both Strickland who's clergy supporters have formed the group "We Believe" and from Blackwell.

Flashing back to 2004 a topic of conversation was termed the "religion gap". Interestingly enough this 2004 article states:

There are exceptions to the pattern. African-Americans who often attend church are as reliably Democratic as those who don't. Frequency of church attendance seems to have limited impact on the voting patterns of Hispanics.

Also written in 2004 is a piece by Amy Sullivan that it would appear some Democrats have taken to heart.

Something even more interesting from 2000 was when the ADL warned Lieberman and provided this as a part of their faqs:

Excessive religious discourse in public risks alienating some of the American people. While many Americans do feel comfortable with such speech, ADL is not satisfied if even one person is made to feel outside the political or electoral process.

Infact part of what they wrote to Senator Joe Lieberman:

...in particular, we were troubled by your suggestion that, "As a people we need to reaffirm our faith and renew the dedication of our nation and ourselves to God and God's purpose" and your argument not to indulge the supposition "that morality can be maintained without religion." To even suggest that one cannot be a moral person without being a religious person is an affront to many highly ethical citizens.

So, as individual citizens? Everyone does have the freedom to decide for themselves, but if you are truly speaking as a citizen? Then take off the minister collars, take off the minister garb, come out from behind the pulpit and? Be a citizen and if you are a candidate? I think the ADL's advice to Joe Lieberman might be worth taking a look at.

:-)

Press Release: Bob Vasquez - Erie Street Market

This just in from the Bob Vasquez for City Council campaign:

A press conference is being held today at 1:30 p.m. at the Erie Street Market.

Candidate Bob Vasquez says Toledo is Rudderless in Economic Development--Calls on Council to act immediately to reign in problem

Bob Vasquez, At-Large Toledo City Council candidate, will hold an afternoon press conference to discuss the Erie Street Market and how it affects Toledo’s economic well being.

Mr. Vasquez will demand that Council take action to Toledo’s economic development department forward. He will discuss the hiring of Don Monroe as the Erie Street Market’s interim manager and why that move is detrimental to the city.

Mr. Monroe is also in charge of the City’s largest economic development project, the Marina District.

PAID FOR BY THE VASQUEZ COMMITTEE. 2156 PLUMLEAF LANE. TOLEDO, OH, 43614

UPDATE: The following additional information was provided by the Bob Vasquez for Toledo City Council campaign:

• Council should not approve one cent more for the Erie Street Market until there’s been a complete audit of the true financial picture of the market. We have to ask the question—why are we doing this? What is our goal? Most importantly, what is the plan? Why are we continually spending money on a project that hasn’t worked?

• As a member of Council, I need to make the case to the citizens of Toledo that we are spending their tax dollars in the most prudent manner, considering the loss of tax base that the city has incurred.

• Don Monroe was brought on to manage the Marina District project. He is also the president of River East. Now he’s taking on yet another major project for the City and still is working—and being paid—without a contract. Don Monroe is a talented individual but to put all of these projects on one person is unrealistic. It’s a setup for another failure at the Erie Street Market and it’s not fair to Toledo taxpayers who have already sunk millions of dollars into the facility.

UPDATE 2: Politics in Mudville has additional background information on this story.

:-)

Brownstones on Dorr Street

Why it's great to have alternative media sources is clear when it comes to this story, The Toledo Blade and then Sojourner's Truth.

The Blade has this information from Councilwoman Wilma Brown:

District 1 Councilman Wilma Brown said the project is part of a long-term effort at fulfilling the promises of urban renewal that were made in the late 1970s when buildings that once housed black-owned businesses were torn down.

"Everything was wonderful until 1966 and we had a mini riot with the Black Panthers. Business started to move out of the area, as well as families," she said.

Recent improvements have included repaving the street from Reynolds Road to downtown and replacing the sewer lines. She said another goal is to restore the former Ira Apartments building at Dorr and Parkside Boulevard.

Soujourner's Truth has this from Councilwoman Wilma Brown:

"This is the beginning of pride and rebirth of our heritage as an area that is the heart of the African-American community,” said Brown who has been the driving force behind the new development.

The “Brownstones on Dorr Street” is the latest in a series of projects Brown has in mind for the revitalization of Dorr Street. The housing units are also the first new homes that will have been built on Dorr, said the councilwoman, since the 1930’s.

Brown has been instrumental in urging existing Dorr Street businesses to clean up their properties, in bringing new businesses to the area and in getting vacant buildings along the corridor demolished.

“As I said 10 years ago when I ran for Council, Dorr Street will be reclaimed,” she said Friday. “I just didn’t know how I was going to do it. Jackson McDaniel has made that possible.”

The Sojourner's Truth article also contains quotes from Mayor Carty Finkbeiner:

“If Toledo does quality projects,” said Finkbeiner, “we won’t have to worry about population loss.” That remark was in reference to a U.S. Census report earlier in the week that placed Toledo’s population as under 300,000. “This housing project is going to be first-rate.

“The African-American community should be very proud,” continued the mayor. “I look at Collingwood going out Dorr and I see solid, strong African-American middle class neighborhoods. We’ve got something significant going on here because Wilma Brown has been an advocate for her neighborhood.”

So, don't forget to read Toledo's alternative media, it's a great way to discover more information or a differing viewpoint at times that is important.

:-)

Lucas County Democrats website re-design...

The Lucas County Democratic Party website is being re-done and it looks very nice. I especially like the way the information on local Democratic Clubs is listed. I almost hesitate to write the one problem I have with the website given the obvious amount of work that went into updating it.

Mark and Mike are still missing from the list of Office Holders...

Once they are added? We are on the way to perfection...

:-)

The MDL cover up and what doesn't make sense...

Earlier this month the Toledo Blade had an article that implies that had the information on MDL been leaked it could have had a difference in the outcome of the Presidential election that would have helped John Kerry.

In a motion filed last month requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed, attorneys representing Mark D. Lay of MDL Capital Management accused state officials of "covering up the bureau's investments and investment losses in 2004 just before a presidential election."

"State officials have left little doubt that the timing and substance of their public disclosures, as well as their entire litigation strategy, have been manipulated and planned for political purposes," attorneys for Mr. Lay and MDL wrote in the motion. Eric Kuwana, a Washington attorney representing Mr. Lay, declined to elaborate on the allegation of a cover-up.

Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, said last week that if the MDL losses had been revealed in October, 2004, it "would have been national news" and would have had a significant impact in Ohio, where 120,000 votes separated President Bush and John Kerry, the Democratic nominee.

"This had to do with the election of a president and obviously the facts are that Conrad and the rest of his group were willing participants in a widespread conspiracy in the Bureau of Workers' Compensation," Mr. Redfern said.

Yet in today's Toledo Blade the information is presented differently:

(Mark Weaver, a spokesman for state Auditor Betty Montgomery) Mr. Weaver said the news about the MDL losses should "have come out very quickly" and that the reports would have been harmful to Democrats in the 2004 election because of MDL chief Mark D. Lay's ties to Democrats.

Mr. Weaver declined to comment on the content of Mr. Conrad's e-mails.

"Why Mr. Conrad would do what he did, he'll have to answer for that," Mr. Weaver said.

So who's right? Why would Conrad cover up information that would have been harmful to Democrats? If that was true why would the Democrats be claiming the release of the information would have helped John Kerry? What will be the response from the Democrats as to Mark Weaver's statement?

Press Release: McNamara Proposes “Toledo Heritage Initiative”

Latest press release from the Joe McNamara for Toledo City Council campaign:

McNamara Proposes “Toledo Heritage Initiative” To Lure Back Native Toledoans
Central to marketing push would be annual “Toledo Heritage Festival”

Toledo, OH – Toledo has experienced detrimental population depletion.

According to a recent survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, the City of Toledo’s population has dropped below 300,000 for the first time in sixty years. City council candidate Joe McNamara thinks the city should reach out to former Toledoans and entice them to come home.

McNamara will hold a press conference on Thursday, August 24, at 10 AM on the steps of Sacred Heart to announce his Toledo Heritage Initiative. McNamara is proposing the establishment of an annual “Toledo Heritage Festival” and a marketing campaign urging Toledo “expatriates” to move back. Sacred Heart is McNamara’s grade school alma mater.

“Toledo is a great American city with big city amenities and a small town quality of life,” McNamara said, who attended school in Ann Arbor and New York City and also lived and worked in Chicago. “We have safe and friendly neighborhoods, a rich cultural life, very affordable housing, and short commutes.”

The Toledo Heritage Festival would feature a job and educational opportunities fair as well as downtown and neighborhood housing tours. Events like concerts, pub crawls, art gallery tours, a Zoo Day and Mud Hens Baseball and Storm Hockey Fantasy Camps would highlight the city’s first-rate cultural amenities. McNamara said he and other “repatriates” could act as volunteer ambassadors, talking up the city to natives and other visitors during festival week.

Additional marketing efforts could include direct mail, web site advertising and outreach through University of Toledo Alumni clubs in major cities.

Similar efforts are currently being pursued in cities around the country, including Buffalo, New York and Omaha, Nebraska.



Paid for by Friends of Joe McNamara
4619 Cranbrook Drive, Toledo,
OH 43615, Kevin Pirozek CPA, Treasurer


UPDATE Friday:

Toledo Blade has more as well as the response from the other City Council Candidates.

Will candidates boycott the Toledo Blade? Should they?

According to the news, the Toledo Blade has locked out a second union. In today's edition of the weekly Free Press, and all out boycott is being called for:

The Toledo Council of Newspaper Unions responded to a lockout The Blade issued Aug. 20 against one of its unions by declaring an “all-fronts” advertising and subscription boycott against the newspaper.

Larry Vellequette, council spokesman, said the boycott included all holdings by Block Communications Inc., The Blade's parent company, which also owns media outlets in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Locally, BCI owns a cable company (Buckeye CableSystem) and WLIO, Lima's NBC affiliate.

This places candidates in a very difficult sitauation, do they cross picket lines or do they support the boycott and not advertise their campaigns on any Blade owned media outlet?

What about the debate that was just announced yesterday? Will Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown cross picket lines?

If the Blade and the Unions don't resolve their differences soon, questions surrounding the call for a boycott will have to be answered...

I guess those dead people want slots in heaven...

I was emailed the link to this Cleveland Plain Dealer article on Learn and Earn's problem with some of the signatures they collected. Then I came to this paragraph:

The Summit elections board referred a number of petitions to the sheriff for investigation of fraud. One petition held signatures in the same handwriting. Another bore the names of dead people, officials said.

It is so stupid to do that kind of thing with petitions, they aren't going to get passed thru. No, I haven't changed my mind on Learn and Earn or my feeling on how they misled the public during the "branding" period. There also seems to be some concern they won't have enough signatures:

Elections boards across Ohio are checking signatures now, to validate that they came from registered voters. Learn and Earn has reason to be worried - little more than 4 in 10 signatures, an unusually low rate, have been validated in Summit and Cuyahoga counties, elections officials said Tuesday.

There also seems to be some concern as to the actual numbers...they don't add up:

On Monday, Learn and Earn asked Blackwell and six boards of election across Ohio to investigate why the number of petitions and signatures they have reviewed is less than what Learn and Earn said it gathered.

Summit, for example, reported it got 5,365 petitions with 57,160 signatures. Learn and Earn said it gathered 5,373 petitions with 60,631 signatures.

Learn and Earn says up to 13,000 signatures are unaccounted for. It fears that petitions were mixed with those for other statewide issues or were sent to the wrong counties.

It would seem no matter your feeling on Learn and Earn that the process of collecting and validating signatures could use some serious evaluation. That is important to address, these types of errors shouldn't be accepted as common place.

It also appears if Learn and Earn does have enough signatures to get on the ballot there will be no doubt at the polls as to what this proposed change to the constitution is about.

Blog it! Toledo, heads in beds and more...

This week's Blog it, Toledo covers some of my favorite places for research and information and the cover story for the Toledo Free Press is very highly recommended, it's entitled "Heads in Beds".

While we are still on the topic of the Arena, Michael Miller has some suggested names, though I have to say I think Glass City Jungle Arena has a ring to it. James E. Hanley has an interesting guest opinion article that I recommend.

I also recommend reading an article Justin R. Kalmes wrote about Anita Lopez. Not only can you learn more about Anita's ideas but a reason I had not yet heard as to why Larry Kaczala decided to run for Auditor again after changing his mind on running for Judge at close to the last minute. He wants to be the one to replace those who are retiring soon...

As always there are of course many more articles to select from in this week's Toledo Free Press.

:-)

Ted Strickland Conference call with Ohio bloggers

Cindy from the highly recommended, As Ohio Goes has a great summary of the conference call that myself and several other Ohio bloggers participated in today with Ted Strickland. Cindy also has links to some of the other bloggers that have written posts on the conference call. From my notes, it was stressed that Strickland and Sherrod Brown want Ohio to be a cutting edge state when it comes to renewable energy. It was stated one of the reasons we are in a war right now is that we are reliant on foreign oil.

On the topic of the response to some of the Republican ads thus far it was stated that they are using fear and hate to campaign against the Democrats. Ted Strickland stated he preferred the message of Hope and Optimism for a better future. On the topic of college education the cost is a factor attending a four year college in Ohio costs 45% more than the average in the nation and 52% more for two year colleges. Strickland would like to create a post secondary savings account for parents and would keep college tuitions costs down by using state funding as a leverage. Tuition predictability was felt as important so that students would have an idea as to what their costs would be. Ted Strickland stated that if elected when he is asked to swear to uphold the constitution, he will mean it when he swears allegiance to that oath to make Ohio constitutional in it's funding of public schools. Ohio must come up with a system that is more equitable and resources are more adequately shared.

He'd like to see Ohio be a blue state in 2008 restoring maturity and credibility back to the presidency. If he is elected governor he will remain governor in Ohio. (That was in response to Russell of BSB's question on Ted being a possible vice presidential candidate.)

I thank the Strickland campaign for doing this conference call, and for inviting me to participate.

:-)

The real answer to Domestic Violence...

When I read about the death of Lori Rivera I flashed back to my own personal experiences and those of others who I have known who have faced domestic violence. While I understand what Lourdes Santiago was trying to do with her press conference yesterday, I also have to point out that the reporting of Domestic Violence statistics is alone not going to be the answer. It states in the Blade article that:

Sherrie Johnston, owner of University Security, said Ms. Rivera complained to her officers repeatedly about Mr. Richardson, but the security company was let go because the building's owners could no longer afford to pay the bill.

Even if that is true, complaining to a Security Company is not going to end Domestic Violence. Like many victims Lori Rivera did not follow thru when it came to the prosecution of Darryl Richardson and now she's dead. Is it possible that the public humilation factor of having domestic violence stats released to Block Watch groups so that the neighbors know will reduce domestic violence? Even if details are not released, chances are neighbors probably already have an idea of what is happening behind closed doors. Flashing back to I believe a Dateline program that had hidden video of a spouse being physically /threatened abused in a public location and noting how many people just walked by without responding as well as the few that did that suggested not to stop but a public location was not the "appropriate" place for such a dispute makes me wonder at how willing people are to call the police.

Then, even if the police are called, it is up to the victim the majority of the times to follow thru and it's been suggested statistically that just leaving may increase the chance of being abused and/or killed. If you stay with a spouse or partner who has beaten you, chances are that behavior is not just a one time occurrence. Your choices are not easy if you are in that situation, especially if you have children and even if you don't? You want to believe that it won't happen again, some even blame themselves, "If I did this better maybe then...". Ms. Santiago suggested:

Ms. Santiago said reporting domestic violence incidents at Block Watch meetings would make neighbors more alert, which might provide police with witness testimony they can use to prosecute an assailant when a victim fails to appear in court.

"If a neighbor hears an argument getting out of hand, that neighbor can play a big role in the case not being dismissed," Ms. Santiago said.

Witnesses came forward with information regarding various aspects of Ms. Rivera's assault, said Toledo police Sgt. Tim Noble.

How many neighbors are going to want to testify against another neighbor, especially if the injured partner refuses to testify? In an ideal world, of course people would, but we don't live in an ideal world. We live in a world where the whole attitude towards Domestic Violence is part of the reason it exists. It also appears there were other people who knew that Lori Rivera had and was being abused.

There are no easy solutions, but the real answer to ending or reducing domestic violence lies with reaching out to the victims. Helping them to somehow have the courage to not only follow thru with pressing charges but to realize no one deserves to be abused and no one should allow it to happen to them. I'm not sure if the death of Lori Rivera should become a campaign issue or as a press conference by a candidate, as I'm pretty sure none of our Toledo City Council Candidates are going to come out in support of Domestic Violence. However, I would suggest that programs in existance like the Domestic Violence Taskforce be supported. Perhaps better communication with Block Watches with the Task Force would help to let not only victims but neighbors know what is in place as far as assistance for those who are abused might help. Perhaps public education from the Task Force as to the real facts concerning Domestic Violence might help. Perhaps the Domestic Violence Task Force could also update their website...