The old is new again in Toledo government

(My comments posted in a Nov 2013 Toledo Talk thread titled Carty should be Collins' Chief of Staff )

It would be good for Toledo if DMC avoids having a book like this created about him someday.

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justread posted at 06:41:56 AM on Nov 16, 2013:

Collins' transition team will pretty much consist of the AFL-CIO and UAW leaders, JaFo, and all of your favorites from the Finkbeiner administration, including Carty, Reinbolt and Tom Kroma.

Big thanks to union members for getting out and voting Bell out of office. One step forward, three steps back.

I thought you were joking, but it's more true than I could have imagined. But then again, nobody should be surprised. And it's who the Blade editorial board endorsed.

Remember, this is Independent Mike Collins.

Nov 15, 2013 Toledo Blade story

Toledo Mayor-elect D. Michael Collins announced today that his transition team would include two former mayors, two labor leaders, and several former city administrators.
Former mayors Jack Ford and Carty Finkbeiner will be among several co-chairmen on the team.

Bob Reinbolt - who has a consulting business in Toledo, was an adviser to Mr. Collins during the campaign, and served as chief of staff for Mayor Finkbeiner - will be director of the transition team.

The transition team committees will include labor relations, which will be run by Toledo City Councilman George Sarantou; neighborhood and safety, which will be run by Tom Kroma, a former Finkbeiner administration official; business development, run by Patrick Kenney; parks, recreation, and urban beautification, run by William Franklin, also a former Finkbeiner official, and media relations and special events run Matt Zaleski, who worked on the Collins campaign.

Former Toledo Councilman Betty Shultz is the honorary chairman for the transition team.

Holy Hell.

What is Collins transitioning the city into?

Incredibly, Collins said:

“I think we have a transition team with a dynamic blend of experience and new ideas,”

New ideas from that group???

It takes a demented imagination to associate phrases like "dynamic blend" and "new ideas" with anything that consists of Carty, JaFo, Betty Shultz, Sarantou, and former Fink officials.

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Classic photo. If we didn't know better, this could be a meeting from 1992 and not 2013. (Nov 17, 2013 Toledo Blade story about the transition team meeting, which contained the following photo.)

Mr. Finkbeiner and Mr. Ford recalled that they were the co-sponsors of the city council legislation in 1992 that led to the strong mayor form of government.

... a major change under which Mr. Finkbeiner was the first mayor elected and Mr. Ford was the second.

The two men wrote the charter amendment over several nights at the kitchen table in Mr. Finkbeiner's South Toledo home. Mr. Ford said the pair's hours of work were fueled by sugary grape juice, which eventually had to stop flowing because of Mr. Ford's Type 2 diabetes.

Voters approved the strong-mayor charter change and Mr. Finkbeiner narrowly beat Mr. Ferner in 1993 to become mayor. Mr. Ford, meanwhile, won the city council presidency.

That's awesome. And nothing exciting happens in Toledo, eh?

20 years ago, who would have thought that Czarty would rule Toledo for 12 years and JaFo for 4 as city mayors? Kudos to the dynamic duo and the voters.

And now in 2013, JaFo is back on Toledo city council, and who knows what Czarty will be in 2014?

In the fall of 2005, Opal Covey told Toledoans:

"I’m warning you, if you don’t change this government to God’s government, destruction will come, just as it did in New Orleans.”

I don't know what God's government is, but academia could debate what's worse between Katrina aftermath and Toledo government. Obviously, one is more long-term than the other.

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I forgot to include this gem from the 2001 Blade story, linked to in my previous comment. Carty said:

"We've got Toledo percolating again. We've got Toledoans believing we're moving in the right direction."

2001. Believing and percolating.

And now 12 years later, the King Percolator is bubbling with 'new ideas' to help transition Toledo's new, independent mayor. Nothing can go awry with this.

This has to be a dream for editorial cartoonists.

I wonder if Forbes has ever created a top 10 list of the best percolating cities.

Hopefully, Collins, Cedar Creek, and ToledoRegion.com never use the word "percolate" to promote Toledo. I brew or steep coffee. I don't percolate. Percolate sounds like an intestinal issue.

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