Chris Myers Media Release on new website...

October 16, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chris Myers, an advocate for accountable, quality, and citizen friendly public education, will be announcing an innovative Web site to help the Toledo Public Schools save money.

"The Internet has evolved into a medium for people to come together to share knowledge and ideas; this is the idea behind Internet 2.0. Government can learn something from sites like digg.com, flickr, myspace, youtube, Wikipedia, even the OpenSource movement and harness the knowledge its citizens possess to assist in solving problems." Chris said. He added, "This site is my attempt to harness this potential of the community to help the district financially."

Chris said, "Toledo Public School administration and even some school board members have said the district can do no more to help the budget. Since they seemed to have thrown up the white flag of surrender, we need to apply more heads to the problem and this Web site will be the forum to do so."

Chris will announce his site and ask the community to participate. He will also detail the reasons behind it at the press conference and answer questions from the media.

The press conference will be held at the Toledo Business Tech Center, 1946 N 13th St on October 17, 2006 at 2 PM.

As an additional note, after the press conference tomorrow I will link the URL for this new website as an update to this post.

UPDATE: As promised - the website: ideasfortps.com - Chris prepared a written statement which I have included in full in the comments.

In Toledo, the new reason is "Pride"

I realized I've watched too many cheerleading movies with my youngest daughter when the first thought that came to me after reading parts of today's Toledo Blade was:

I've got bridge pride, yes I do! I've got bridge pride, how bout you!

I completely understand the safety aspect which requires working lights on the High Level bridge. Here's my problem though and it's one that is repeatedly played out over and over again in our fair city. The failure of these lights did not just happen over night.

For most of us when we know we have a large list of items that need to be done, we prioritize. We do the projects that are the most important first then, we do the other items as our budget allows us to. Just this summer $38,340 was spent on decorative lighting, I'm sure the lighting issue with the High Level bridge was known then, or at least it should have been known. Things do deteriorate as they age, but it would really be nice to see some long term planning as far as required repairs such as the lighting for the High Level bridge. Not only does planning make good fiscal sense but it would also help cut down on some of the discussion that happens when these items come before City Council. Rather than hearing as quoted in the Blade by Frank Szollosi:

"Don't we have all the bridge pride we can possibly handle right now?"

We'd hear:

"Yes, this item is on our list of repairs that need to be completed and it has a higher priority than..."

While it would be nice if someone like the Blade did donate the funds as was done 21 years ago, and if the unions once again donated some of the necessary materials, even doing something such as trying to coordinate private fundraising for a project like this needs planning...

:-)

Lucas County Young Dems and Jason as Tom Noe...

I blogged about our trash collecting adventure on Saturday, and Kevin Cooper was kind enough to send me two photos that he took from the part of 475 he and some of the others were working on. I wasn't on that section of the road so I didn't realize until we met up later that the sign was already up.

Then this morning Jason Hill sent me some photos of he and Murphy in the Sylvania Fall Festival where Murphy was awarded First Prize.

So, here they are for you to enjoy, click on the picture to see a larger image:

Zogby numbers on Toledo City Council race....

This from WTVG at 6:00 p.m. - percentages of when asked if the election were held today who would receive your vote for the one Toledo City Council spot:

0 - David Davison

2 - James Mohn

5 - Dave Schulz

8 - Bob Vasquez

13 - Lourdes Santiago

17 - Joe McNamara

55 - Undecided

More is supposed to be reported at 11 p.m. and in tomorrow's Toledo Blade.

UPDATE - 10/16:

The link to today's Toledo Blade article about the poll results for the Toledo City Council race.

Ohio Gubernatorial Debate (The Excluded Candidates), 2006

With a curtsy to Andrew Warner below is a video of a debate between two of the Gubernatorial candidates. I haven't finished watching it but I wanted to post it here so those of you who are interested have access to it.

A conversation about Ohio, featuring candidates excluded from corporate debates.

Mark Dansack and Mark Wagoner face off on Conklin and Company...

I think we all know I am a political junkie, that said, it would have been nice to have had the segment of Mark Dansack and Mark Wagoner be longer. I would have preferred to not have to sit thru Yonke's promotion of his book, I can't help believing who represents voters in the 46th District of the House is a bit more important than someone trying to profit from a murder. That written, on to my notes:

Wagoner stated that economic development, education and utility costs are the "big three" issues

Dansack stated jobs, education, education, higher education funding, that because of the corrupt activity people want confidence that government and elected officials are spending their money wisely.


Wagoner - on Economic Development, we have to innovate our economy giving the example of the third frontier, mentioning one product as ethanol. Reported there is 8 million dollars in a private capital fund - we need to be outfront in developing new ideas.

Dansack on Education, public funding of schools is still unconstitutional and after years of Republican control of government we still have the education funding problem. He suggests reducing the property tax burden on seniors, replacing this with other forms of taxes. Possibilities of sales tax or income tax. He then brought up what he referred to as "Sleezy flyers" from the Ohio Republican party that claim that Dansack is going to raise your taxes. He stated to reduce property taxes going to have to make up funding some place else. That is not increased taxation.

When asked by Conklin on the topic of Education and the statement that funding for public education was still unconstitutional, Wagoner stated they have made progress. He stated that they have doubled the money we spend on public education - seeing test scores improving. Wagoner stated we need to continue focusing our resources - medicaid is 38% of our state budget - restrain spending in those areas so it can be spent on funding. He stated Ohio needed to be disciplined and make hard decisions that he would not increase taxes.

Dansack reponded that of the three sitting there that Wagoner is the only one who voted to increase taxes, he pointed out the commerical activities tax on small business permanently and voted to increase the state sales tax. Dansack continued that Wagoner should publicly "repudiate this garbage coming out saying that I'm going to raise their taxes." Dansack stressed his proposals would replace not increase tax dollars.

On the Issues:

Minimum wage - Dansack - Yes. Wagoner - No, he felt minimum wage should be addressed thru the legislature.

Smoking bans - Wagoner supports Smoke Free Ohio (4). Dansack supports Smoke Less Ohio (5).

Slot Gambling, Issue three - Both are against. Dansack stated we're not prioritizing our budget in Ohio for education.

Then on to Bill Hormann and Jim Tankersley for the political expert portion of Conklin and Company.

Lee just said 502 respondents to the Zogby poll, which Tankersley confirmed so it could be WTVG reported the information incorrectly in the video news story.

On the LCC race, Tankersley said that Konop started as the underdog in the primary - Ben has worked very hard and has targeted his message to those who vote. It's a really bad year to be a republican in Lucas County.

Hormann - Ben is an agressive candidate and Strickland - Sarantou is banking on independents but not in the numbers that he needs. George really believes come election day his community support will help him get votes that republicans don't normally get. He wants experience to be the issue.

On the Auditor race Tankersley stated it's a bad year to be a republican bad year to be an incumbant that Kazcala was the best liked, best known candidate in the poll but you need to be over 50 if you need to win. Anita Lopez is encouraged by the poll results and we have a dog fight on our hands.

Hormann stated on the topic of Noe that Republican candidates are hoping people separate Tom Noe from them.

Tankersley added that Ben Konop had clubbed George Sarantou with Tom Noe, will voters make that separation.

Those are my notes written while the show was on - yes I should probably get a VCR.

:-)

On a personal note, whenever I hear a candidate state that we need to make disciplined, hard decisions it usually means those who can least afford it take the hit. While I am sure there are costs related to Medicaid that can be cut that one comment was of particular concern.

Blade and WTVG Zogby poll releases some information

Well, I was either one of 619 (as reported by WTVG) or one of 502 (as reported by the Blade) who participated in the recent Zogby poll.

Last night's release by WTVG and this morning's article by the Toledo Blade focused on the Commissioner, Auditor, Gubernatorial, Senate, Zoo and COSI ballot issues. The video included with the WTVG article is where the number of those participating is stated.

Information on the Toledo City Council Candidate race is expected tomorrow, no mention of the other questions asked such as the one related to if the Mayoral race was held again, or how those asked feel about the direction of the City and the County but that could be included in future reporting.

:-)

Ben Konop and George Sarantou on the new arena project...

As I read the article in today's Toledo Blade and from prior encounters with both Ben Konop and George Sarantou they both do have similar beliefs when it comes to support of the plan for a new arena downtown. After I read this section of the article:

Despite the new restaurants and businesses that have sprung up near Fifth Third Field in Toledo's Warehouse District, a 2003 survey of academic research on new arenas and stadiums by economists Dennis Coates and Brad Humphreys undermines claims by politicians of job and income growth.

"No retrospective econometric study found any evidence of positive economic impact from professional sports facilities or franchises on urban economies," it reads.

The study notes that government subsidies, which would cover about 70 percent of the Toledo arena's costs, often come at the expense of police, street repairs, and education.

It attacked "economic impact" studies on arena proposals.


So I became curious as to what else did this study say. In searching for a 2003 version, it became clear that both Dennis Coates and Brad Humphreys have written previous studies that make similar claims. In 1998 they released a study entitled, "The Growth Effects of Sport Franchises, Stadia and Arenas". The abstract for that study states:

This paper investigates the relationship between professional sports franchises and venues and real per capita personal income in 37 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States over the period 1969 - 1994. Our empirical framework accounts for the entry and de- parture of professional football, basketball and baseball franchises, the construction of arenas and stadia, and other sports related factors over this time period. In contrast to other existing studies, we find evidence that some professional sports franchises reduce the level of per capita personal income in metropolitan areas and have no effect on the growth in per capita income, casting doubt on the ability of a new sports franchise or facility to spur economic growth. We also find evidence that results obtained from estimating reduced form relationships, a common practice in the literature, are not robust to alternative reduced form specifications.

I then located "Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises and Urban Economic Development" which was written in 2003. The abstract for this report states:

Local political and community leaders and the owners of professional sports teams frequently claim that professional sports facilities and franchises are important engines of economic development in urban areas. These structures and teams allegedly contribute millions of dollars of net new spending annually and create hundreds of new jobs, and provide justification for hundreds of millions of dollars of public subsidies for the construction of many new professional sports facilities in the United Sates over the past decade. Despite these claims, economists have found no evidence of positive economic impact of professional sports teams and facilities on urban economies. We critically review the debate on the economic effects of professional sports and their role as an engine of urban economic redevelopment, with an emphasis on recent economic research.

I suggest reading the information, especially the 2003 report and making your own conclusions. I think there are some valid concerns about this arena project that doesn't mean it should not be built but that looking at all of the information presented on both sides can be helpful.

LCYD demonstrate a real clean sweep..

This morning a group of us gathered to pick up trash along the exit and entrance ramp of 475 off of Airport Highway that was sponsored by the Lucas County Young Democrats. Here's some of us at the very beginning getting our cute safety vests and garbage bags:



Here's a picture of a certain Toledo City Council candidate who put in a few hours work:



Over fifteen large bags of garbage, a tire and other assorted items were picked up. The live mouse that Aubrey discovered when she went to pick up a plastic bag was left there to scamper off to find another home...

:-)

Rich Cordray joins the You Tube revolution...

Quite a few of our candidates local and state alike are seeing the benefits to putting campaign commercials online. Democratic Candidate for State Treasurer Rich Cordray has joined in:

watch here

:-)

Toledo Free Press website back live and...

It appears the Toledo Free Press is back in action after a brief period of downtime due to some technical difficulties. Blog it Toledo isn't back yet on line but it should be again soon. Meanwhile, this week's edition has several very good articles about last year's riots that I highly recommend. Michael Miller has a very thought provoking opinion piece and I also recommend Keith Bergman's article.

If the Toledo Free Press alone and their numerous other articles aren't enough to demonstrate why it's so important to have a varied print media, anyone who is skeptical only needs to visit some of the other media sources linked on the side bar, such as Toledo City Paper and their political information and Sojourner's Truth who in addition to Jack Ford's article has an article about Bob Vasquez's being given the Toledo Police endorsement. There is also an article I recommend about Sherrod Brown.

I very strongly believe that having access to many different viewpoints makes us all more informed and a better community.

:-)

Speaking of Former Mayor Jack Ford....

Since one of my anonymous commenters asked if Jack Ford would be suggested by Joe McNamara as the "Gang Czar", it reminded me to stop by Sojourner's Truth and see what was the topic of Jack's weekly column. Our former Mayor is reflecting on the riots of last year. I recommend reading the whole article, a few selected parts are below:

A year later, I can reflect on that day’s activities and see some patterns and raise a few remaining questions. The National Socialists had a constitutional right to march in Toledo. As repugnant as the ideology of that group may be for many Americans, the National Socialists have a guarantee afforded them by our Constitution, the supreme law of the land.

I was also surprised that no press publication ever looked to see whether there was any link between the call for the march and the political campaign going on at the time. I do not believe in coincidences in politics but no one lifted the covers on this one.

In looking at the community response to October 15, we see that not much has been done save for some modest funding by United Way for the Caldwell Center and some changes at the Zablocki Center. There remain vast depressed areas of north Toledo that are ripe for something untoward to happen.

Bob Vasquez declines endorsement screening with Toledo Blade...

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

Dear Mr. Walton:

I write today to thank you for the opportunity to screen for the Toledo Blade’s endorsement; however I must respectfully decline your offer as I will not enter your building so long as your workers remain locked out. It would be unconscionable to me to cross the locked-out workers’ informational line to seek an endorsement.

My campaign has been, and continues to be, about the working families of Toledo. Each day as I meet the voters of the city, the dire economic situation that we face as a community remains the main point of discussion. Men and women of all backgrounds are concerned for their jobs and worry about their children finding jobs when they come of age.

I have the honor of being endorsed by many labor unions that together represent thousands of individuals. Those men and women go to work each day to make better lives for themselves and their families. They are not looking for a hand out—they are looking to make an honest day’s wage in exchange for an honest day’s work. My first job as a citizen and as a candidate for office is to keep their interests at hand. By not crossing a fellow worker’s line, I believe I am accomplishing just that.

I urge you to go back to the negotiating table to get these men and women back to work. They belong at the table, not on the other side of a locked door.

My thoughts remain with the employees of the Blade and my fervent hope is for a quick and just resolution to the lockout.

Sincerely,



Bob Vasquez
At Large Candidate
Toledo City Council

Auditor Debate tomorrow!

This email just in from David B. Cohen, Ph.D., so sharing it with you:

Dear Ohio Bloggers—as many of you know, the only debate for the Ohio State Auditor position will take place tomorrow (see info below). I wanted to alert you all to the fact that the debate will be live-streamed over the internet. Feel free to post about the debate & post a link for the webcast on your blog. The video from the debate will be archived there so anyone can watch it at anytime.

The candidates for the office of Auditor of the State of Ohio, State Representatives Barbara Sykes (D-Akron) and Mary Taylor (R-Green), will debate at The University of Akron Martin Center, 105 Fir Hill. The luncheon debate is co-sponsored by the Akron Press Club (http://www.akronpressclub.org/) and the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics (http://www.winningpolitics.com). The luncheon will begin at 11:45 a.m., followed by the debate from 12:10 – 1:10 p.m. Abe Zaidan, VP Akron Press Club, and Dr. Stephen C. Brooks, acting director of the Bliss Institute, will be co-moderating this debate.

Can’t Attend the Debate?

Time Warner Cable will broadcast the debate locally (tape-delayed) and make the broadcast available Free on Demand through Time Warner Digital Cable. The debate will also be live-streamed over the Internet. The Bliss Institute website (http://www.winningpolitics.com) will contain information and instructions on linking to the webcast. As of now, the link will be: http://www3.uakron.edu/dds/events/bliss/10_13_2006_auditor.htm.

:-)

Blackwell stops ads till October 30th...but the real news...

The real news as far as the local political front is also contained in that Toledo Blade article:

Democratic county commissioner candidate Ben Konop has reserved more than $60,000. Democratic auditor candidate Anita Lopez has reserved $50,000. Their GOP opponents, George Sarantou and Larry Kaczala, respectively, have no time reserved.

Two Toledo City Council candidates have slotted time: Democrats Lourdes Santiago ($30,000) and Joe McNamara ($40,000).

Backers of a COSI levy have $30,000 on the books for ad purchases; zoo levy supporters have nearly $75,000.

:-)

McNamara proposes "Ceasefire Initiative"

This from the Joe McNamara for Toledo City Council campaign:

Democrat Joe McNamara Proposes "Ceasefire Initiative" To Confront Gang Problem

City council candidate calls for appointment of “Gang Czar” to lead coordinated intervention and prevention efforts, reiterates need to put more police on the street
Toledo, OH – Democrat Joe McNamara will hold a press conference today, Thursday, October 12, at 1 PM in front of the Public Safety Building in downtown Toledo to announce his “Ceasefire Initiative,” a series of steps the city can take to stem the growth of gangs, reclaim our neighborhoods, and empower young people.

Central to McNamara’s proposal is his call for the appointment of a city “Gang Czar” to coordinate existing community efforts relating to gang intervention and youth crime prevention. Additionally, he is calling for taking tangible steps to strengthen the city’s Blockwatch program, for putting more police on the street, and for developing a Youth Master Plan for the city of Toledo.

“It’s time for a ceasefire,” says McNamara. “We need to aggressively confront Toledo’s gang problem and provide youth with positive alternatives.”

Toledo City Paper goes all political...

Can't say I agree with Hildo on some of his thoughts, especially when it comes to the Issues section but...I recommend taking a look especially the section on some of our local candidates and worth pointing out to those of you who are interested in the judicial races that the recent Toledo Bar rankings are listed there.

:-)

Zogby is doing a local poll for the Blade...

I just got the phone call from Zogby.

The typical questions such as if the election were held today on the senate race and the gubernatorial race, (only choices were Strickland or Blackwell). Then if the election were held today on some of the local races, Commissioner, Auditor and Toledo City Council (all six candidates were given)

An interesting question as to if the election were today would you vote for Carty Finkbeiner or Jack Ford.

Then your rating on only the local candidates for Commissioner, Auditor and Toledo City Counci to somewhat or very favorable or not at all favorable. Carty was included in this question.

Next was did you think the City was heading in the right direction or on the wrong track, the same question was then asked about the County.

The Zoo Issue and Cosi were the only two issues that were asked if you supported or did not support.

There was also an additional question as to if I or any member of my house belonged to a union.

How I know the Blade is involved is I was asked if I would be willing to talk to a reporter about my responses, when I said yes, I was told if a reporter was interested in talking with me they would be from the Toledo Blade.

So...it will be interesting to see when the results come out what they are.

:-)

Ohio Channel and copyright violations...

Yesterday Progress Ohio pulled their newly released video on Tom Noe and Republicans at the request of Daniel Shellenbarger of the Ohio Channel.

I'm a big fan of the Ohio Channel, that's why it's been on the side bar here at Glass City Jungle for quite some time as well as having been written about in the past here. It's a site I really recommend.

I'm not really a fan of the "cherry picked" statement or video clip, but what I do think should be made a very large point is, when asked to pull the video, Progess Ohio did so. I know they weren't happy about it but they did pull it. Ohio Channel has the following information listed on their website in regards to copyrights:

All website design, programming, text and graphics are Copyright © 2006, The Ohio Channel. All rights reserved. Any use of materials on this web site including reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication, without the express written consent of The Ohio Channel is strictly prohibited.

Yet, the Ohio Republican Party refused when they were told their use of a clip of Rep. Barbara Sykes was prohibited. I double checked just a few moments ago and they still have not honored the request of Ohio Channel...

So...in the Lisa book of Kudos, Progress Ohio gets some from me for doing what I think was the correct thing.

:-)

Sorry Sheriff Telb but those are not "kids"

I've been following the story on the three Lucas County corrections officers who were charged with aggravated burglary and felonious assault, yet when I read today's Blade in an article entitled, "Telb ducks blame in weekend fight", I had some thoughts.

First, of course we are not all perfect and even corrections officers are going to make mistakes at times. I don't think Sheriff Telb "ducking blame", but I do take issue with the impression the quotes give in the Blade that this is some type of youthful indescretion:

...was just some kids and whatever is going on in their personal lives, they let it get out control.

"If behavior patterns show that the individual doesn't fit, we need to get rid of them," the sheriff said. "But these kids had no records."


These are not children who are under the age of 18, they are not even under the age of 21 and given the fact that there were several of them involved in this, you'd think at least one of them would have demonstrated some common sense in saying "hey, this is a really stupid thing to do". While they of course have not been found guilty, the way the information is presented is rather troubling:

Police said the men fought with Mr. Rodriguez a short time after he arrived home to find Brian Wise at the house with Mr. Rodriguez's housemate, Kimberly Boswell, 28, who also is a sheriff's corrections officer.

After the argument with Mr. Rodriguez, who does not work for the county, Mr. Wise left the house and called his brother, Matthew, who was with Mr. Holzemer and brother Pat Holzemer. The three men met Brian Wise outside Mr. Rodriguez's West Toledo home, police said.

Pat Holzemer stayed in his vehicle while the others went inside, pulled Mr. Rodriguez from his bedroom, and beat him with their fists and feet, according to statements to police from Ms. Boswell and Mr. Rodriguez.

I'm sure more information will come out, but no matter what...these are not kids, they are grown men.