We want our mayor to bring some enthusiasm to downtown development.
Well, there's a tipoff that this is a giant joke. No one in the history of Toledo politics has ever expected Jack Ford to show enthusiasm. The most excited he ever gets is when he cracks one of his painful and forced half-smiles.
And for being a list of endorsements by pissed off voters, it seems to endorse a lot of incumbents...
posted by thenick at 10:00 A.M. EST on Fri Oct 28, 2005 #
Interesting catch, thenick! :)
Do you think Jack Ford helped pay for this little booklet?
posted by alexandra at 10:20 A.M. EST on Fri Oct 28, 2005 #
we know big money equals big problems when it comes to elections,as it stands elections go to the highest bidder. Issue 3 reduces the influence of $$ by significantly reducing campaign contributions.
Guess they also don't think of union money as "big money" or that the highest bidder may be a union...or that the influence of union money is not reduced in any way...
posted by intrepid at 11:45 A.M. EST on Fri Oct 28, 2005 #
I'll be voting NO on all of the issues and will be trying to get rid of as many incumbents as possible.
Jack Ford seems to lack a sense of urgency about anything. (How about a few trip reports)
Copeland and Hancock setting a very poor in taking care of their tax obligations.
Szollosi is really more interested in a State position than he is in the day-to-day problems here in Toledo.
School Levy- We're still waiting for the itemized list of where the money will be spent?
posted by AmericanPie at 01:38 P.M. EST on Fri Oct 28, 2005 #
I'm always shocked that anyone can opine Karen Hanock as being the kind of person one wants to represent them. I think her old man is tops, but the little apple named Karen fell far from the tree.
By the way - Besides sharing a last name and hairline with a fellow who was a fixture on counsel, what did Mr. Copeland do to warrant the admiration of anyone?
posted by jimavolt at 06:11 P.M. EST on Fri Oct 28, 2005 #
I thought Phil was a clone of Bill; shows what I know. :-}
Here are who I am not voting for on council (no surprise):
Betty Schultz - term limits are term limits, Betty, plus the Noe "conduit" connections make you (in my opinion) unfit to represent us any more.
Bob McCloskey: Let's see - extortion, billboards, term limits, general sleaze, would-be goon - take your pick, but Bob's gotta go.
Karyn McConnell-Hancock: Sorry, Karyn, but the parking fiasco showed the city that you think you are above the law (by the way, I was late for an interview last week on the 22nd Floor, and I rolled the parking dice by snagging a spot in the restricted zone for police on Erie St., and one hour later I returned and....NOTHING! It was my lucky day! However, I have no influential father, so I would have been screwed had the parking enforcement peeps gotten there in time).
So, these are the three I have crossed off my list.
posted by Subcomandante_bob at 06:50 P.M. EST on Fri Oct 28, 2005 #
We may have to cut the young pissers some slack. They might be too young to really know what the hell is going on. From that Blade article:
"Katie Duris, a 22-year-old downtown worker and a contact for the group, said it got $200 from the League of Independent Voters Political Action Committee in New York City to produce the guide. She said about 300 copies were distributed. "Pretty much it's a bunch of young voters that are annoyed with a lot of stuff that happens in Toledo, so we put out our own slant on how we see things, and our own take on politicians," she said."
I'm surprised her words weren't littered with "like" and "you know." The group is also called The Toledo League of Young Voters. Young probably means 20-something. Looking back on my 20's, the word "young" also meant "stupid."
posted by jr at 11:17 P.M. EST on Fri Oct 28, 2005 #
Firstly, it's obvious that this vote guide is itself misguided by the assumption that you are constrained to vote for one dysfunctional candidate or another.
SO WRITE-IN! I wrote in "Rick Grafing" during the primary. He was the man whom I actually wanted in office. I was not constrained.
Folks, you're being shortchanged in this election to nearly an unprecedented fashion. The mayor's "Race" shows this most clearly of all. There's no rational difference between Ford and Finkbeiner. Both are overspending elites who have no fiscal discipline necessary to downsize the Toledo government to survive the still-developing collapse of the real economy in the area. Both run crony governments. Both use spin to placate the public when real actions, disclosures, even mea culpas are required by sense itself. And finally, both have serious mental problems -- Finkbeiner is clinically nuts, and Ford is a racist.
Secondly, this vote guide is very obviously sourced by an urban elite who obviously believe that the collapse of the blue-collar workforce in Toledo is of no concern whatsoever. These fools actually believe that Toledo can become some sort of tech-sector center that will somehow (i.e. mythologically) stop thousands from losing their homes, wealth and minds. Nothing can be further from the truth, but this class of person (WELL expressed by "So Lousy" (i.e. Szollosi)) will promise uncovered millions in public funds in order to pursue this unattainable yuppie wet dream.
Toledo isn't just the downtown area. Furthermore, the downtown's current expansion (note: we're overlooking the actual contractions by layoffs and moves) is fueled by an unsustainable credit bubble. Things like the Bartley Lofts and Monette's Market can't survive the coming rationalization of their pricing. The Re-Fi boom is over, and overall prices of homes in Toledo started to fall in 2003. And there is still a long fall to go. You cannot continue raising prices on people who are either out of work, or will be out of work soon enough.
P.S. Anyone who thinks that Toledo will see a thin dime of the Issue 1 money really needs to seek some therapy. The Ohio economy has been contracting for some time, and the elite in the Three Cs (Cincinnati, Columbus and to some extent Cleveland) have to now steal wealth from somewhere to keep this "shareholder value" fraudonomy going. We Ohioans voted down Issue 1 years ago since it was such an obvious grab at the common-wealth for uncommon-profiteering. The procedural changes won't change that at all, since the issue's sole reason for existing is to privatize Ohioan prosperity and concentrate wealth. The people of Ohio should never surrender to the rich. If the rich want to steal everything, then MAKE THEM FIGHT FOR IT!
posted by GuestZero at 12:42 P.M. EST on Sat Oct 29, 2005 #
GZ - as Issue 1 this year is combined with the Issue 2 of the past - which brought in state tax dollars for road constructions projects - I predict we will see some of the Issue 1 money, but it will be our continuing share of the road money and none of the tech money.
However, this combining will allow state government to tell us how much Issue 1 money went to northwest Ohio....
posted by intrepid at 06:53 A.M. EST on Sun Oct 30, 2005 #
Anything that gets young people voting and interested is a good thing. I may or may not agree with thier picks, but I'm all for involvement in the process.
So far as being young and stupid, you can find stupid people in any age group.
posted by Bruno at 06:53 P.M. EST on Sun Oct 30, 2005 #
Look, as illustrated here:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/ElectionsVoter/results2005.aspx?Section=1054
... I can clearly see that once again the Republican welfare wh*res in Columbus are making a grab for public money in order to hand out money to their corporate pals.
I can never authorize this kind of thing, considering that I'm watching it happen all the time around here. It's inherently bad for society to collect taxes on everyone (since taxes are what are eventually used to pay off bonds) and then hand the proceeds directly to a minority (i.e. businesses). But it's worse than that. This minority is itself quite wealthy and is not in "need". But it's EVEN worse than THAT. Corporations and the wealthy are now consummate tax evaders. The share of national (and particularly Ohio) government revenue by corporations has shrunk precipitiously. This can only leave the working class to pick up the slack.
Issue 1 is built from the ground up to take money from the working class and give it to wealthy business owners who for some reason are unable to invest in their own operations anymore.
On top of the singular outrage of the SCOTUS authorizing theft of individual property to give it to the wealthy and corporate, I'm making my stand HERE. I'm voting NO on Issue 1. The working class cannot sustain any more confiscation of their wealth without being truly relegated to the working poor.
The roads and bridges across Ohio will still need repairs in the future as they have in years before. So Issue 1 doesn't "need" to be approved to get that particular stuff done.
posted by GuestZero at 04:06 A.M. EST on Mon Oct 31, 2005 #
GuestZero said:
"P.S. Anyone who thinks that Toledo will see a thin dime of the Issue 1 money really needs to seek some therapy. The Ohio economy has been contracting for some time, and the elite in the Three Cs (Cincinnati, Columbus and to some extent Cleveland) have to now steal wealth from somewhere ..."
The question is, why should Toledo see any of the money from Issue 1? Giving money to Toledo/Lucas County would be a waste.
Comparisons between Toledo and Columbus.
And remember that story from back in August about a 1998-2003 study:
"Toledo's home county, Lucas, is the only one of Ohio's major urban counties to lose private-sector professional, scientific, and technical services jobs over the latest five-year period."
The % change in employment in these types of of high-paying jobs:
Summit (Akron) +45%
Montgomery (Dayton) +16%
Franklin (Columbus) +15%
Hamilton (Cincinnati) +14%
Cuyahoga (Cleveland) +2%
Lucas (Toledo) -11%
1970-2000 percent change in central city population:
Columbus +31.9%
Toledo -18.3%
If Toledo doesn't get one dime from Issue 1, the only people to blame are those who have ruled Toledo and Lucas County for so many years. If Issue 1 benefits every major urban center but Toledo, what's wrong with that if that's where the jobs and the growing economies are located?
In 2003, the rural areas of Ohio were adamantly opposed to Issue 1. Uh, note to rural communities like the little town in eastern Ohio where I grew up, the jobs aren't going to your quaint towns. After education, relocating is the best thing a person can do to improve his or her economic status.
Friends of mine who grew up in the Toledo area have lived in Columbus and Cincy for years. Who knows, maybe I'll be living in one those cities next year or the year after or in a few years. If Issue 1 improves my possible future home city, I don't see a problem with it.
posted by jr at 12:40 P.M. EST on Mon Oct 31, 2005 #
Well, Jr, the text of Issue 1 sure seems like it's aimed at ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, and that sure seems to be lacking in Toledo. You'd THINK that Toledo is the perfect beneficiary for such a program. After all, the text seems to be aimed at NEED, not MERIT. (I make this distinction carefully.)
However, since it's Ohio, I know Issue 1 is complete bulldada. The funds will be used by the primarily Republican administration in Columbus for issues of MERIT ... which means in practical terms corporations, and specifically corporations tied to the political process there. This effectively puts Toledo in the deep freeze ... yet Toledoans are still on the hook for paying off those bonds like everyone else, through future tax proceeds.
Even if Toledo were to be a beneficiary of Issue 1, I still wouldn't vote for it. "Economic development" is a scam perpetrated upon the American people by a union of corporations and politicians. Issue 1 is "economic development". Therefore, it's a scam.
The working class of Ohio is under a vicious assault by the nearly-Fascist enterprise of government+corporations. Relocation is not the only thing a person can and should do to improve his lot in life. It's also his duty to stop the systematic destruction of the working class.
posted by GuestZero at 12:20 A.M. EST on Tue Nov 01, 2005 #
Issue 1, in part, is to local municipalities and townships what Issue 2 was, specificaly grant money for paving roads, resurfacing bridges, sewer and sidewalk projects etc. Communities with small tax bases but large paving needs will be greatly hurt if Issue 1 doesn't pass. Issue 1 was deliberatly written this way to help increase its chance of passing. Sadly, I will vote no one 1, even though it means there won't be many roads repaved in a lot of small communities. One project in particular will be shelved, probably forever. The county and TMACOG want a grade separation on McCord Rd. to eliminate the bottle neck at the train tracks. They planned on using grant money obtained through Holland and Springfield Township, a $7 billion dollar project. It will never happen without substantial grant money from the State.
posted by holland at 01:46 A.M. EST on Tue Nov 01, 2005 #
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