• Carty's Mission

Carty Finkbeiner's 2005 Mayoral Campaign Promises

(Content from a May 2008 Toledo Talk post.)

• Dec 15, 2005 ToledoTalk.com comment
• Carty's 2005 campaign Web site http://CartyGetsResults.com no longer functions normally.
• Archive.org contains a copy of Carty's mission.

Carty Finkbeiner's announcement speech - June 30, 2005

Thank you for coming on this rather steamy day to the riverfront of the city we love. Sixty-six years ago I entered this world at Toledo Hospital. A few years later I began my formal and street education. Eight years were spent at Nathan Hale Public School, followed by four years, on scholarship, at Maumee Valley Country Day School. Then on to college at Denison University. Summers I worked on construction jobs and played baseball for the Downtown Merchants, where Ron McDole, a friend and former all-pro defensive end for the Washington Redskins, and I were the only two white �boys� on an otherwise all-black baseball team.

Another summer I played for the East Toledo Merchants under the watchful eye of Bob Yenrick, who I believe is here today. After college, Frank X. Lauterbur, the athletic director and head football coach at the University of Toledo, hired me to coach the quarterbacks. Today, coach Lauterbur, coach Jack Murphy and our first quarterback, Dan Simrell, now the head football coach at the University of Findlay, are three of my honorary co-chairs. I learned so much about people those four years at UT.

That was followed by two years working for the anti-poverty program in Toledo�s central city. Under the inspiring leadership of the famed Wayman Palmer, I learned of the challenges facing minority families. Like my UT experience, I learned so much that has served me so well during my years of public service in this city.

Ten years as a councilman and eight years as mayor make me a veteran in the ongoing effort to uplift and grow this city along the banks of the Maumee River. Because I love this city and its people, today I enter the race to become Toledo�s next mayor.

Toledo is poised on the doorstep of a new century, but we must look ahead to the possibilities of the future while dealing with the challenges of the present. Toledo must fight its way out of its current stagnation, and the only way that will happen is by bringing all Toledoans together in a united effort.

Elected officials and private citizens must not only use every resource available to them, but must also ignite a spirit of hope and excitement that things can and will change for the better. Companies and non-elected community leaders must give of their time, their money and their influence to generate this momentum. Citizens can contribute in ways big and small with their initiative, their ideas and their involvement.

The talent, the brainpower, is here. It must be mobilized and energized.

Toledo has too much history and too much potential to �settle� � for mediocrity, for the status quo. �OK� is not good enough!

A mere 25 years ago Toledo was the wealthiest city in Ohio. But the past is past, and while we can remember it and honor it, we must not be bound by it. We must have forward-thinking leaders who create a new Toledo, with technology as the driving force.

In short, Toledo needs a renaissance, built from the bottom-up and the inside-out.

Toledo must once again be a pro-growth, pro-jobs city, one that takes advantage of the marvelous resources already in place while looking for new ways to insure a strong and vibrant future.

Toledo needs a mayor who will lead. Toledo needs a mayor who is an advocate and an optimist. Toledo needs a mayor with the personality and drive to bring the community together with the single goal of making Northwest Ohio a cutting-edge region for the 21st century.

Carty's Mission

The Finkbeiner administration will unite and promote, in every way possible, a clean, green, and safe city with vibrant colors everywhere � a city that inspires our citizens to improve our neighborhoods, educate our children and create jobs that offer a future in their hometown.

To accomplish our mission, we will:

1. Work with the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, Medical University of Ohio and Owens Community College to develop a “technology corridor,” creating the jobs of the future.

2. Develop the marina-housing-restaurant-entertainment project on the east side of the river that voters approved in September, 2001. The Marina District project will act as a complement to The Docks, which we built in 1995.

3. Seek private-sector developers to build a new sports arena in the city.

4. Meet with the ownership of Southwyck Mall to forge a compact leading to a revitalized mall in 365 days.

5. Meet with the ownership and property owners in the Westgate-Cricket West district to define the future redevelopment of this area.

6. Nurture small-business development, and establish a 25-person business advisory council, consisting of our best and brightest small-business leaders, to advise the administration on how it can help business develop in our region and eliminate government obstacles. This advisory council will review council legislation passed during the last 25 years, and we will rescind any laws that have hampered job creation.

7. Work with Ann Arbor and Detroit public and private leaders to create an automotive R&D corridor linking our cities. The purpose – job creation.

8. Fill the vacancies and voids in the Central Business District with new entrepreneurs and businesses, using tax breaks and incentives..

9. Encourage and promote a regional government to include, city, county and suburban governments all under one roof, in as many ways as possible.

10. Establish a grass-roots neighborhood program, in which every neighborhood has representation in City Hall and will be involved in decisions impacting them. This will be modeled after the Dayton program.

11. Develop a “neighborhood pride” program to encourage home ownership, civic pride and urban beautification. This program will include neighborhood competition to honor outstanding efforts to improve properties.

12. Restore the urban beautification program on main streets and in city parks while expanding these efforts into neighborhoods. We will raise $250,000 annually from the private sector to accomplish this.

13. Revitalize the urban-blight program, and return the demolition program for blighted housing to 300 demolitions annually.

14. Commit to hiring more police officers, so Toledo will no longer have the fewest police per 1,000 residents of any major city in Ohio.

15. Will actively and personally work to restore the Erie Street Market as a centerpiece of downtown revitalization.

16. Implement a city Gateway project that will utilize the resources of the city as well as the private sector to improve the appearance of the main entrances to the city.

17. Increase emphasis on repairing potholes more swiftly and permanently.

18. Commit to prioritize city Capital Improvement dollars to resurface city streets, with a target of 40 miles per year.

19. Commit to return every phone call to citizens within 24 business hours, and respond to specific concerns within 7 business days.

20. Establish monthly “Meet the Mayor” nights that will rotate locations throughout the city.

21. Establish a City Hall mentoring program that will pair city officials with young people seeking such guidance.

22. Establish privately funded, summer youth-development programs in city parks.

23. Develop a summer-job program for high school students, working with the Chamber of Commerce.

24. Seek commitments from our local companies to hire college students as “interns” during the summer months.

25. Develop job training and retraining programs for the unemployed and underemployed while working with corporations, labor unions and our universities.

26. Work with public and private school leaders to assure that new and/or improved academic campuses become the stimulus that creates family oriented neighborhood living opportunities around the academic setting.

27. Encourage adaptive reuse of vacated school properties into neighborhood community centers.

28. Monitor the levy requests of TPS to assess that the taxpayer is getting his money’s worth from their product.

29. Work with county officials, local civic leaders and regional organizations to seek ways to share resources, reduce costs and improve economic conditions in Northwest Ohio to the benefit of all.

30. Pursue further discussions on establishing a regional water/sewer authority to serve our area while ensuring Toledo residents a reasonable return on their infrastructure investments.

31. Will appoint a health and fitness honorary chairperson to promote a “healthier lifestyle” in Toledo.

32. Establish a courageous and bold committee to define how utility rates can be reduced in Northwest Ohio.

33. Restore the minority health commission to improve the life expectancy and general health of those impacted.

34. Seek “loaned leaders” from the business and union sectors to seek ways to reduce city costs and implement modern systems to promote increased productivity.

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