Strickland Lucas County Headquarters Opening Event

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

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

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

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

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

:-)

More on the dissing of Toledo in Gubernatorial Debates

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Strickland and Blackwell ignore NWO in debates

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

Ohio2006 reports:

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

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

:-)

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

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

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

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

Over use of the concept of an "Emergency"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Section 43. Emergency measures - passage.

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

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

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

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

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

:-)

All the cool people are joining Campaigns Wikia

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

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

:-)

Frank Szollosi no longer blacklisted!

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

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

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

:-)

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

Kevin Milliken in his weekly Toledo Free Press column asks:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Toledo Free Press and Blog it! Toledo...

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

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

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

:-)

Tom Watkins hired as Communication Director for Strickland Lucas County

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

:-)

Questions on the Noe Conduits...

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

This was part of one comment:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our House project...

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

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

before

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

The backyard was pretty much my own Glass City Jungle

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

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

:-)

Ramón Pérez may have a point...

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

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

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

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

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

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

:-)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Toledo Blade's Christopher Borrelli asks....

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

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

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

So...What movie would you pick?

Konop offers Open Software Plan for County

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

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

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

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

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

Sorry Fred, but I can't "grow some"

According to what I read over on Toledo Talk, this morning WSPD radio host Fred LeFebvre urged local residents to "grow some" and demand the resignation of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.

While my email spam box is full of offers claiming that they will enhance and lengthen a male penis and perhaps testicles as well, I'm sorry but I think you would have to have something there to grow first before most of us could "grow some". Nor is some surgical sex change on my list of things to do.

While I'm not trying to trivialize the extreme dislike some of you in this area have for the current Mayor, I also can't help think about a past Mayor, who was not liked by WSPD at times either, and was quite frequently discussed in uncomplimentary terms. He was also targeted by a recall campaign that didn't get enough signatures...That Mayor of course was former Mayor Jack Ford. WSPD is doing what WSPD does best, creating controversy. Controversy creates listeners and callers. Blogging at times is the same concept. You can see it worked, because I'm writing about it. :-)

Any person who is Mayor of T-Town is going to get discussed, disagreed with and at times be very disliked. Anyone who has followed the whole A Team B Team disaster knows that here in Toledo some Democrats do a better job of dissing other Democrats than the local Republicans do. Yes, some of you never believed the whole "kinder, gentler nice Carty" would exist long. Waiting for him to become...Carty.

Yet, I can't help wondering, has Carty broken the law? Has he recently even been charged or convicted of a misdemeanor? Has he been the subject of a federal or a local probe related to wrong doing or a scandal? Ironically several local and state officials have but I don't see any major effort happening to recall any of them. Amazing how selective we are in our demands of who should resign and who should be recalled isn't it?

I don't agree with the way the Mayor handles everything, and I really disagree with some of his decisions especially when it comes to local politics; but I also realize that in the Mayoral primary you all had a choice. I was not a Toledo resident at that time and not that my one vote would have changed anything but I would not have voted for Carty or Jack in the primary.

However, if you are going to hold him to this standard and demand he resign, where's the demand for all of the TPS Board members to resign? Where's the demand for a recall of them? Look how many top administrators resigned last night. What about Toledo City Council? Depending on the whole legalities of this demand for resignation/recall, the person that would take over as Mayor could be the very same person that was selected because:

"What we discussed was who would be in the best position to support the new administration," said Mr. Sobczak, who was sworn onto the council yesterday in a ceremony attended by Mr. McCloskey and the four GOP councilmen but no other Democrats. "We had to look to the greater good."

Sure, it may be quieter if Rob Ludeman were to take over as Mayor, but you guys had that under Jack Ford and obviously not enough of you chose to re-elect him. You also had to the chance to pick Rob during the Mayoral Primary. If you really disagree with the direction the City of Toledo is heading in, how is that going to change when those who supported Rob being Toledo City Council president did so because they felt he would support the Finkbeiner administration best?

To be cynical, I predict if a recall movement happens it will not get much farther than what happened when it was done under Mayor Ford. If it were to come to an election? Imagine the confusion as to who would then take over as Mayor since Rob's term is done in 2007; imagine the game playing that would probably happen to try to overthrow Rob from Toledo City Council President; imagine if Carty survived the recall attempt...The only people that are going to benefit from that type of drama are going to be those who thrive on controversy...like WSPD, other local media, local blogs and even me.

:-)

UPDATE: According to History Mike Fred also compared Carty to Hitler several times this morning in addition the call to "grow some".

Almost all TPS top administrators resign and...

How is our media covering it? The Blade has a short piece, WTOL has a the video from last night, WTVG lists nothing (evidently what happens to Harry Potter is more of a pressing issue to be one of the top four stories).

According to the Blade, Barnett doesn't waste an opportunity to try to blame it on the new School Board members:

Board Vice President Deborah Barnett said “a change in philosophy on the board” could be one reason for the retirements and resignations.

NBC24 gives more of a hint than the Blade article as to Sanders being the reason:

Daniel Burns said, "I'm sad to leave after 30 years here. I have several options, and yes, I've talked with Dr. Sanders, but I'm not announcing my decision yet."

One of the employees told NBC24 that an official announcment will be made in the upcoming weeks about who will be joining Dr. Sanders in Cleveland.

Fox 36 also mentions the Sanders angle:

But why are ten people all stepping down around the same time? Well, Dr. Sanders just left to take his new position as superintendent in the Cleveland Public School System and many think Sanders recruited his former staff in Toledo.

A few of those leaving say they have had conversations with Dr. Sanders but will not say if they are leaving TPS for Cleveland.

I wonder if the top administrators in Cleveland Schools realize their days are numbered? It appears a Toledo invasion is headed your way....

Once the announcement is made, it will be interesting to see how much additional money was offered and to see Cleveland's response to this.

Blog it! Toledo goes a bit political and more...

This week's Blog it, Toledo covers what I feel is a fantastic Disaster information source and then heads off into covering some local political blogs that if you haven't visited, I recommend. While I don't think Michael Miller could top his article written last week, this week had me laughing rather than crying.

Tom Richard's piece in the Business Link section is another good read and has a great statement that I hope proves true...Find what you love, and the money will find you.

There is of course much more in this week's edition both online and in the print version.


:-)

Toledo Police Chief steps down due to verbal abuse

Well, things are not looking good for Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner at the moment.

WTOL is reporting:

Smith says he had a meeting on Wednesday (I'm assuming that's a typeo) morning with Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner to discuss the gang problem in the city. In that meeting, Smith says Finkbeiner verbally abused him, and didn't show him the respect he thought he deserved. After that meeting, Smith says he decided to quit.

The Toledo Blade states:

“This was very close to being physical,” Chief Smith said. Another staffer stepped in, averting contact.

WTVG is having a live interview in a few moments...

This is not what our area needs as far as publicity, I'm sure more details will follow and even those who are not critics of the Mayor could have a hard time trying to justify this one.

UPDATED: According to the Mayor, this was not close to a physical altercation, Mayor Finkbeiner stated that Chief Smith stood up from his chair first then the Mayor stood up. Words were exchanged but the Mayor appeared to have no bad feelings towards Chief Smith. Former Chief Mike Navarre has been or will be reinstated to his former position according to WTOL

Eminent Domain in Toledo and the frustration in information seeking

The House above and the land it is on is evidently involved in an eminent domain situation here in Toledo. I read about it on the upcoming City Council agenda for July 11, 2006

Proceed with eminent domain vs. Robert M. West at 250 Dulton for Holland-Sylvania widening

I started trying to look to find more information, as to how much land is going to be taken, etc, the current lot size is 100 feet frontage and 160 feet in depth. Then I discovered an Agenda Summary update from May 9th

Res. - Declaring eminent domain for purchase and easement at 250 Dulton for Holland-Sylvania Improvements

It then states: Adopted

Adopted by who? It lists on the Index

Dulton, 250, eminent domain R-295, 552

However, I could not find the City Journal information on this. Lourdes Santiago is listed as the person on the July 11th agenda, I'm assuming because she is the Chair of the Environment, Utilities & Public Service Committee but she doesn't have a city email address on her webpage. So, I contacted Betty Shultz since she is the Vice Chair.

I wanted more details such as how much land is being taken as well as what type of financial consideration is being given to Mr. West. I'd also like to know Mr. West's position on this. I was unable to contact him but will continue to try to reach him to see if he wants to go on record as to this situation.

This one incident demonstrates how difficult it is to get information on what City Council has adopted or is considering. It shouldn't be this hard to find out something that City Council is going to act on or has acted on. Personally I believe much of the concern and at times controversy that surrounds possible City Council actions would be extremely diminished if people could easily access more information about these agenda items.