Finkbeiner: Strong-mayor talks being 'steamrolled'

The Toledo Blade, July 23, 1992
by Larry P. Vellequette

"Toledo councilman Carty Finkbeiner says that community development corporations and at least one other council member are trying to stack the deck to alter a proposed charter amendment seeking to drastically switch the way Toledo is governed."

"Last night was the second in a series of five town hall meetings on a proposal to switch Toledo to a strong-mayor form of government and at least some district-elected city council members."

"During the 2 1/2-hour meeting, a number of speakers urged council to amend its charter change to include even more than the proposed five districts. But Mr. Finkbeiner says that most of the speakers are being put up to their positions by organizations trying to get a stronger voice on council."

" 'There's a group of neighborhood men and women, probably not at the moment more than about five or six groups where the community development corporations are in place,' Mr. Finkbeiner said. 'They're acting as neighborhood activists, as they should, and they have gotten organized early on this.' "

" 'I think some of the statements are being orchestrated. I think they're attempting to start a steamroller -- to switch the main argument away from strong mayor toward district council members.' "

"Mr. Finkbeiner said he believed councilman Mike Ferner and his supporters were making an attempt to significantly alter the charter amendment proposal. But Mr. Ferner said he had no such intention, and hadn't done any significant organizing on the issue."

" 'I did send a mailing to some people who had expressed an interest in developing a system of citizen participation for the city, and I sent along a copy of a news release I had prepared on the city needing more than five districts,'Mr.Ferner said last night. 'But I didn't see any of those people [who got the release] speak at all last night.' "

"Mr. Ferner did take the opportunity last night to urge his fellow council members to severely limit the amount an individual or corporation can contribute to a mayoral race. He wanted caps of $250 for individuals and $1,000 for organizations so contributors could not 'buy' the mayor."

"Mr. Finkbeiner said that the charter amendment proposal -- which presently includes provisions for an 11-member council comprised of six at-large members and five others elected from districts -- was suggested by business and community leaders in four other cities he visited in the last several months. He said the balance allows for council to 'look at the big picture' rather than looking for pork barrel projects for their own neighborhoods."

" 'Most of the cities we visited, though they had district election representation, most of the private section leaders felt that at-large leaders were able to see the picture of the whole community,' Mr. Finkbeiner said. 'They cautioned us not to abandon our present system, to strike a balance.' "

"A number of speakers urged the five city council members present during the meeting in the Central-Lagrange Senior Center in Polish Village to increase the number of districts, and therefore make their representatives 'more accountable' ".

" 'The district council plan will return political power to the people of the districts,' said Art Wilkowski, a supporter of the amendment brought by Mr. Finkbeiner and councilman Jack Ford and Larry Kaczala. 'But without one, or two, or three at-large councilmen, this thing won't pass. It's a compromise,' he said."

"Community activist Jess Mitchell, who was also asked by Mr. Finkbeiner to speak last night as a supporter of the proposal, said he also advocated the addition of several districts to the proposed five. But, he said, if anything was going to help the city, it was the switch to the strong mayor."

" 'We need accountability. We need the type of mayor who does more than just going around handing out glass goblets and keys to the city,'Mr. Mitchell said. 'We need someone with a vision and then we have to give that person a chance to make it work.' "