After listening to her on the radio, as well as reading her posts here, I can't think of anyone I would rather have as mayor of Toledo. Just my .02.
I Wish Maggie was Mayor
Comments ... #
but spelled correctly.
posted by jhostetler on Mar 03, 2008 at 04:32:39 pm #
Yeah, the frauds that currently exist in Toledo government, Lucas County government, and the Toledo Public School system are not a problem. Glad they're there. Where would we be without their leadershit?
Great choice. Until she's selected again to do some of the republican's dirty work and whores herself out to the party's wishes.
Although anyone but Carty would be an improvement.
I'm curious - not being a Toledo native, I'm completely unfamiliar with any involvement (alleged or proven) that Maggie may have had with any local scandals. Anyone recommend any factual links that I could read?
I enjoy reading her online postings...even the ones I don't necessarily agree with still make me think. But I'd be curious to read a little more background.
I wouldn't mind a lottery, Shirley Jackson style, where everyone enters their name and where 1 person gets the requisite proverbial stoning bequeathed to whoever wins the masochistic mayorship of this humble burgh. All men, women, children, house pets, farm animals, rare precious moments (and precious moments knock off) pieces would be eligible.
I would rig it, Diebold style, so my puppy would win. Even when she does something foolish you can't stay mad, plus she's a testament to living debt-free on $36 a year. She also has pretend listening down to a science. On second thought, she could probably win in a legit campaign.
Here are some of the achievements by the uncouth individual with a clean record that assumed the throne as Toledo emperor for a third term. From the Controversy section at Czarty's Wikipedia page :
- Toledo restaurateur John Skiadas filed a law-suit alleging that Finkbeiner physically and verbally assaulted him at the Erie Street Market in 2000. The lawsuit was dismissed by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Charles Wittenberg in 2004.
- Finkbeiner was the focus of a segment on the Daily Show poking fun at statements he made suggesting that Toledo could be the next Hollywood. During the interview, Carty expressed his ideas while the camera fixated on Toledo's most rundown neighborhoods, contrasting them with the glitz and glamor of Hollywood. The segment aired during the 1997-98 season.
- On July 1, 1998, Carty was fined $400 and court costs after pleading guilty to ethics charges when he was Mayor, realized a $10,000 profit from Owens Corning's purchase of his condo, and his failure to publicly report the gain.[citation needed]
- He plagiarized a single line in his KICK-OFF speech in 1998.
- Finkbeiner suggested relieving the problem of noise complaints from neighbors of Toledo Express Airport by selling homes nearby at low cost to deaf people.
- In early 2006, political adversaries scoffed over the Mayor spending $9,996 of city money to complete the installation of shower facilities in his City Government building office. The project was considered "controversial" in part because the shower quote was originally $10,006, six dollars over a threshold that requires approval from City Council. The contractor was able to shave $10 from the project, thus avoiding a Council vote on the proposal.
- In May 2006, he called Toledo's African-American Fire Chief Michael Bell “King Kong” at a staff meeting. Finkbeiner later clarified his remarks as relating to the Chiefs physical stature, and Chief Bell has acknowledged in public that he took no offense to the remarks.
- In June 2006, Jack Smith resigned from his brief tenure as Chief of Police after what he described as a near-physical confrontation with the mayor after they exchanged words.
- In January 2007, Finkbeiner claimed that both he and wife Amy were treated unprofessionally by Ottawa County sheriff's deputies when they tried to visit Amy's son, an inmate, on separate occasions. Amy Finkbeiner claimed she was not allowed to use a ladies' room at the jail, while Finkbeiner said he was denied a chance to visit after visiting hours had concluded. Sheriff Bob Bratton said the deputies were only doing their jobs.
- Also, in January 2007 Finkbeiner and his press secretary were sued by radio station WSPD, claiming that First Amendment provisions regarding freedom of the press were violated when the press secretary forcibly kept a station employee out of a public press conference. Finkbeiner's objection to the employee is that he produces opinions and editorials, and is not in fact a reporter on behalf of WSPD. On January 31, a federal judge granted the station a permanent injunction requiring Finkbeiner and his staff to admit station personnel.
- Finkbeiner has also suggested a cafe be built on the Martin Luther King bridge so city employees could eat there while the bridge was undergoing construction.
- In August 2007, Finkbeiner was confronted on two occasions by reporters because he parked in a handicapped spot and left his dog, Scout, in the car during a hot spell. Finkbeiner was ticketed and fined, but denied mistreating the animal.
- In February 2008, Finkbeiner refused to let a company of Marine Corps Reservists engage in urban patrol exercises on the streets of downtown as well as inside the mostly vacant Madison Building, 607 Madison Ave. Toledo police knew about the event three days in advance, but it wasn't until the Marines arrived that "the mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman. Finkbeiner defended his decision to cancel the exercise, but in an e-mail to Marine Corps officials, he expressed support for the Marines and the military and invited the Marine unit to return to Toledo for training, but not downtown.
Last week, Brian Schwartz filed a lawsuit against Carty and Bob Reinbolt for rights violations.
And Carty is in trouble with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission for which Carty has hired a private attorney to fight the OCRC's February 2008 ruling that Carty "retaliated against three black employees last year by firing two and laying one off."
Councilman Michael Ashford said : "[Carty] was found guilty of discrimination in his first two terms. There were many lawsuits filed against him."
How many lawsuits has Carty been involved in as mayor?
Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates said a criminal investigation of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner would be appropriate to determine if he violated a state law by trying to raise funds to supplement the salary of Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Eugene Sanders.
I think Czarty came out clean on the Sanders matter.
I don't like Carty either jr.
However, as much as I've liked Maggie's perspective on things her involvement in the Noe Scandal did disappoint me.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060627/NEWS02/606270354
P.S. I do find the whole Brian Schwartz legal action against Carty to be ironic given his previous position as his "spokesmodel."
I didn't vote for Carty, either.
posted by jhostetler on Mar 04, 2008 at 01:51:08 pm #
I was duped. I voted for Scout, not Carty. I thought I was making the smarter choice, and I was.
cute
posted by jhostetler on Mar 05, 2008 at 12:05:36 am #
Ah, Carty stories. Where to being...
Once Carty tried to steal a bag of chips from a Churchill's. The drunk-as-a-skunk Carty grabbed the chips and headed for the exits. When the store manager asked if he was going to pay for the chips, Carty said to tell the General (Churchill) that he would stop back to pay for the chips.
Carty also used to jog to the same store every Sunday to pick up a paper. He'd pull a drenched dollar bill from his sock as payment. Every week his sweat-logged bill would sit on the cigarette rack to dry.
Oh, Carty. You silly goose.
Nothing against Maggie, but for crying out loud. Why can't Toledoans elect someone to public officer that hasn't held just about every other public office possible in the city/county? The problem is people in Toledo and NW Ohio love recycling their politicians and don't expect much in return. The best thing that could happen would be Government Center to magically lift off and fly into outer space with every every local political head in it.
posted by JustaSooner on Mar 06, 2008 at 04:52:18 pm #
Yea lets elect maggie for mayor.... then what? Tom Noe as Commissioner?? So your tellin me you'd rather have a thief in office over carty??
I'd rather have someone with a slighlty cleaner record.
posted by jhostetler on Mar 03, 2008 at 04:32:26 pm #