New version of Toledo Talk

Goodbye, Jay Black - As reported by most of the local media, the mayor of Toledo accepted the resignation of chief of staff Jay Black, Jr. yesterday.

Black, as you know, pretended to be someone other than Jack Ford's pit bull when he called into a Newstalk segment of WTOL-TV to debate Gregg Harris, President of the Toledo Patrolman's Association.

So: was this a one-time slipup by a dedicated public servant, or has Jay been making crank calls from the 22nd Floor of Government Center for years?

My vote for weirdest Toledo story of the year to date. At least Noe had a motive: greed. Black's actions are just bizarre. Maybe this was an audition for an expanded Jerky Boys troupe.
posted by historymike to politics at 10:12 A.M. EST     (7 Comments)

Comments ...

I'm not what you would call a Ford fan, however I think this stemmed from frustration because our local media does seem to have an "anti-Jack" focus at times. Especially when it comes to the often emotional issue of police numbers in Toledo.

So it was a stupid move, and if there was a more secure feeling about the next election think Black could have survived it.
posted by psyche777 at 11:57 A.M. EST on Fri Jun 17, 2005     #

Jay Black is only guilty of making a bad name choice for his alias, and maybe taking bad advice (or orders) from his boss. It also seems particularly sad that he (or his boss) felt the need to disguise Jay's real identity. After all, Jay had every right to make the call.

If Ford WAS behind “the charade” in the first place, and Ford felt the need to have/make Jay make the call, he should have had the cojones to make the call himself in the first place….

The message that Jay (or Ford) was trying to convey has now become lost. People will only remember Jay’s subterfuge and subsequent resignation…

hisgtorymike,
Re: "So: was this a one-time slipup by a dedicated public servant, or has Jay been making crank calls from the 22nd floor of Government Center for years? "

I understand what you’re asking, but I would question the use of the words "slipup" and "dedicated," only because I have no personal knowledge of Jay’s activities or "service" (before Ford).


And, re: "At least Noe had a motive: greed."

May I offer some other possible motives?

Ambition
Ego
Fame
Hate
Love
Lust
Passion
Recognition

And, there may be others :-)


As usual, time will tell ;-)
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 01:16 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 17, 2005     #

...was this a one-time slipup...or...

This is a an indication of the man's character and, as such, an indication that other actions of his may have been less than honest.

Short of someone having a gun held to their head, people of honest character do not "slip up" and call a television station to impersonate someone. There is too much involved in carrying out that kind of activity to be a "slip up".

I heard someone call in to Denny's show and go on and on about how long and well they knew Jay and how out of character that was.

Seems to me they didn't know him as well as they thought. And that could be an indication of how good Jay is at impersonating.
posted by babbleman at 02:11 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 17, 2005     #

I agree babbleman. Honesty is the simplest way to operate (although usually not the easiest).

I am curious why he chose that particular venue. Seriously. We're talking about a show that airs between 5 and 6. While WTOL owns the airwaves for that time slot how many actual people are watching?
posted by thinkingwoman at 06:45 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 17, 2005     #

babbleman,
"Seems to me they didn't know him as well as they thought."

The same cam be said about a certain local coin dealer.

:-(
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 07:17 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 17, 2005     #

Russ Lemmon says:

"A five-day suspension was an appropriate punishment for Jay Black, Jr., who called a local television program and used a false name on the air. To resign as Toledo Mayor Jack Ford’s chief of staff — a job that pays $92,500 a year — was a bizarre twist to a story that would have been forgotten within a month. Have at it, conspiracy theorists."

I wish there were conspiracy theorists here who could answer this riddle. It does seem strange. I don't think what Black did was cause for resigning. Maybe Ford told Black to resign or be fired. Kind of a weak conspiracy theory, but that's all I've got. Someone help the Lemmster out.
posted by jr at 03:05 P.M. EST on Sun Jun 19, 2005     #

The same cam be said about a certain local coin dealer.

Absolutely.

The difference between the two is that the coin dealer didn't get an article dedicated to how his dishonest and fraudulent actions "perplexed" his friends while at the same time describing how great of a guy he is. Nor did the coin dealer get another article of testimonials that justify his lying as being based on "good intentions".
posted by babbleman at 08:55 A.M. EST on Mon Jun 20, 2005     #

<< Older Growing Power    |    So You Wanna Play Pro Basketball... Newer >>

This is an old topic and is no longer allowing comments.