Tt post mar 26, 2017

Back in mid-March 2017, the Lucas County Democrat Party endorsed Mayor Hicks-Hudson.

Mar 26, 2017 - Toledo Blade - Toledo Mayor's race shaping up to be free-for-all

A multicandidate primary contest is shaping up for Toledo mayor in the Sept. 12 primary, with two prominent Democrats the most active so far, two Republicans exploring a run, and five other people collecting signatures for possible filing.

Lucas County Democratic Party made its first pre-primary endorsement for mayor in more than 15 years.

Democrat Wade Kapszukiewicz, a former city councilman and now Lucas County treasurer, is expected to run for mayor too.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz, 44, the four-term county treasurer, is casting himself as the outsider running without obligation to party insiders who’ve endorsed Mayor Hicks-Hudson.

“I’m not a part of city government. I’m not part of that gang that’s having a hard time filling potholes [and] balancing the budget ... and can’t cooperate with their neighbors on water,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said. “But unlike most outsiders I am not a novice when it comes to operating the machinery of government.”

Also exploring a run are Republicans Tom Waniewski, a Toledo councilman, and Jeffery Cook, a retired firefighter who was shot responding to a medical and police emergency in 1998.

Mr. Waniewski is a conservative who has voted against nearly every city union contract that grants pay increases during his nine years on council and the only sitting councilman who consistently refuses to be paid for most of the committee meetings he does not attend. He said he is considering a run for mayor because he sees too much waste.

“We have a lot of redundancy, and I don’t think the city departments work together so that things that code enforcement does have a bearing on economic development or what public utilities does has a bearing on what the neighborhoods department does,” he said.

Mr. Waniewski said the city needs to stop using capital improvement money for general fund expenses such as police and fire salaries.

Mr. Cook, 62, said he won’t run if he doesn’t get the party’s endorsement. If he does run, it will be to reorient the city’s spending priorities and get more police on the streets.

“Taxpayer money needs accountability for every dollar,” Mr. Cook said. “I think we need a couple hundred more cops. I don’t know why they don’t move the classes forward instead of spending the money on other things.”

Five others have petition forms from the Lucas County Board of Elections. They are Arthur Gonzalez, Anthony Kreamer, Janet Craig, Robert Worthington, Anna Spinelli, Sharmayne Ivey, and perennial candidate Opal Covey.

"Back in the day" (10-plus yeas ago), Wade Kapszukiewicz was a member of the Democrat A Team gang.