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.' "

Toledoans will evaluate 2 strong-mayor versions

I went to the Main Library to research why we went from the city manager form of government to a strong mayor. I got a notebook full of clippings. Here are some:

The Toledo Blade, June 30, 1992
by James Drew

"Tom Palmer opposed the move to a strong-mayor form of government in 1988."

"But he supports the issue this year."

"Cities attract jobs and save them when businesses and government work together, Mr. Palmer said."

"When business leaders speak with a united voice, they need city hall to speak with a united voice, too."

" 'In 1988, a number of people in the business community felt the case had not been made [for a strong mayor], ' he explained. 'I have recognized [that] for us to really have effective leadership, we need to make a structural change and create an opportunity for people to provide strong leadership.' "

"Mr. Palmer, a partner with Marshall & Melhorn who is active in several civic groups, was among 75 community leaders who delivered that message at a rally yesterday at One Maritime Plaza."

"The topic: replacing Toledo's present council-manager form of government with a strong-mayor system and electing city council members both from geographic districts and at large."

"In the next few months, citizens will have two versions of a proposed charter amendment to evaluate. Only one, however, is expected to be on the Nov. 3 ballot."

"Leaders of the Lucas County Democratic and Republican parties have developed a plan and are circulating it to business, labor, and neighborhood groups for review and comments."

"The proposal calls for:
>A mayor elected to a four-year term with adminstrative powers. The mayor would be restricted to two consecutive four-year terms.

>An 11-member city council, with 6 members elected at-large and 5 from districts. They would serve four-year, staggered terms and be limited to two consecutive four-year terms.

>A mayor with veto power over ordinances adopted by council. Council could override with eight votes.

>Department heads appointed by the mayor would be subject to confirmation by a majority of council.

>Voters would elect a city auditor with a four-year term (the mayor currently appoints the auditor).

"Council members Carty Finkbeiner, Jack Ford, and Larry Kaczala also have proposed a strong-mayor-district election plan."

"Their version, unlike the one developed by the two major political parties, calls for increasing the mayor's salary from $36,900 to $58,500 and council salaries from $7,500 to $19,500. It calls for electing council members in the same year."

"Party leaders say they expect to combine their proposed charter amendment with the one prepared by the three council members."

"Yesterday's rally attracted a wide spectrum of community leaders, including Ron Skeddle, chief executive officer of Libbey-Owens-Ford Co.; Roy Ocheske, president of the Aluminum, Brick, and Glass Workers Local 9;Frederick A. 'Rick' Deal, chairman and chief executive of Society Bank & Trust Co.; Dennis Harmon, director of Neighbors in Action; Bob Maxwell, president of the Lathrop Co., and Lorraine Kwiatkowski, an elementary school teacher and North Toledo activist."

"The city charter says the mayor is the official head of the city for ceremonial purposes and the city manager is the administrative head. But in practice, sometimes both and sometimes neither is in charge."

" 'I want a mayor to get down and produce, and if the mayor doesn't produce we'll look for someone else to produce,' said Jesse Mitchell, a civil-rights activist."

" 'For the city of Toledo to have any type of influence in northwest Ohio, it needs to change its form of government from city manager to strong mayor,' said George Ray Medlin, Jr., secretary-treasurer and business manager of the Northwest Ohio District Council of Carpenters."

" 'I have observed that communities with a strong-mayor are better able to adapt to changes in economics and demographics of its region,' Mr. Medlin said."

"Council could place a charter amendment on the ballot by passing a resolution with at least six of the nine members in favor."

"The deadline is Sept.4, which is 60 days before the Nov. 3 election, said Larry Brewer, clerk of council. Council's last regular meeting before the deadline is Sept. 1."

"For a charter amendment to be placed on the ballot through a petition drive this year, signature of at least 9,280 registered voters would have to be collected, checked by the clerk of council, and submitted to the council board of elections by Sept. 4."

A Mayor or a City Manager?

"Toledoans blamed the city's mayors for much of the difficulty with relief during the first years of the Depression. Voters rejected four versions of city manager government in 1928 and 1931, but in 1931 they also rejected the incumbent mayor, William T. Jackson, in favor of Addison Q. Thatcher. Both men were Republicans, but neither obeyed the dictates of the party organization. During Thatcher's two years in office the banks failed, unemployment soared, and the city bankrupted itself trying to feed the hungry. Citizens blamed corruption in the city government for the inadequacy of relief for the unemployed."

"In 1933 Socialist (editor's note: things must have been really bad) Solon T. Klotz challenged Thatcher for the office of mayor, and won by fewer than three thousand votes. The city soon complained that Klotz was not capable of leadership (editor's note: sounds like present day). The conflict within the city government, the worsening financial crisis, and the continuing maneuvering of the Republican party 'machine' convinced some of the former Independents that the City Charter should be changed to ensure nonpartisan government."

"The Citizens' Charter Commission drafted an amendment providing for a city manager and a nine-member city council (editor's note: population in 1930 was 290,718 and in 1940 it was 282,349) elected at large by proportional representation. On November 6, 1934, the amendment passed with 54.5 percent of the vote. The Citizens' Charter Commission became the City Manager League, a permanent organization, in January 1935. In May 1935, and again in September 1937, the League helped defeat attempts to repeal the city manager charter amendment. On Christmas Day 1935 local newspapers announced that John N. Edy would be Toledo's first city manager." (A Toledo Profile; A Susquicentennial History, p.87,89)

So maybe we've come full-circle. I would like to research old copies of the Toledo Blade to see if I can find out why there is this perpetual dissatisfaction (or perhaps this is just the "fringe" that is always dissatisfied with the way things "are") with whatever form of city government we have. And I have to wonder if those business men who had the foresight to get new "industries" to come to Toledo also spent their time worrying about whether the mayor planted flowers in the byways.