Toledo TV Mayoral Debate - October 2013

(My Oct 8, 2013 comment in ToledoTalk.com thread.)

I missed it, but according to the Twitter feeds of Taylor Dungjen and Nolan_Rosenkrans, it does sound like they were "swinging hard" at each other. More interesting tweets at The 22nd Floor.

Apparently, Bell discussed crime or gangs in Toledo.

TD tweet :

Mayor says there is a gang problem only b/c there are some people in gangs who, sometimes, do stupid things. Not all gang members are bad.

????

During last night's tussle, did Mayor Bell imply that the gang maps published by the Toledo Blade and/or released by the city are responsible for an increase in crime?

TD tweet :

Because we keep blaming the gang map for shootings, I'll refer you all to this blog post from June. http://bit.ly/11Fxl4I

June 2013 - Mayor claims gang map causes uptick in shootings :

“When that map went out that they created, the shootings in the city of Toledo for the next week went up 300 percent. It was a public safety issue that we were attempting to protect, OK?” the mayor said.

????

WNWO - First televised Toledo mayoral debate gets heated - includes a 54-minute video of last night's debate. A text transcript would be faster to consume.

"Councilman Collins has always been the first to put a stick in the spokes of a bicycle wheel and stop it. He's never ever come up with solutions to be able to fix those problems," said Mayor Bell.

The last four years experience have proven that this city is not going in the direction the Mayor says it is," argued Councilman Collins.

Just the last four years?

Throughout the debate, Councilman Collins accused Mayor Bell of leading Toledo into a downward spiral and said murders and other crimes have risen during the mayor’s term. “Homicides are up 69.6%...rape is up 23%...robberies are up 2.6%,” said Councilman Collins.

Mayor Bell said he pulled Toledo out of a $48 million deficit and has helped make the city more attractive to new businesses.

Toledo Blade - Toledo mayoral contenders Bell, Collins spar in first televised debate of general election

Mr. Collins said he would not go on international travels without specific expectations of having it converted into jobs in Toledo, and repeatedly attacked Mayor Bell over the lack of progress in the Marina District.

“We are engaged in a war. It’s called the jobs war,” Mr. Collins said. He said population has dropped, the city is not safer, and the community is less attractive than it was four years ago.

Toledo's population has been dropping for over 40 years.

Mr. Collins accused the mayor of exaggerating the deficit he encountered and read a letter from the city auditor, a position that reports only to city council, stating that the deficit was less than the mayor claimed.

The mayor accused Mr. Collins of refusing to believe his $48 million figure because it developed during his term as councilman, and called Mr. Collins’ claim that he will introduce new ideas “a lot of horse malarkey.”

“One of his biggest consultants is former Mayor Carty Finkbeiner,” Mr. Bell said. “We were in a $48 million deficit and the people who are following him helped put us there.”

Mr. Collins accused Mr. Bell of not being transparent, bringing up the scandal that came to light early in Mr. Bell’s administration that led to a house-cleaning in the Department of Neighborhoods.

He also alluded to the fact that Mr. Bell’s niece won contracts with the city to renovate houses even though she had no such experience, and the administration’s acquisition of two luxury-style SUVs - one of them under the heading of a street sweeper.

Toledo Blade - A bare-fisted mayoral debate - "Both men, the ex-firefighter and the ex-cop, came out swinging in first televised debate"

Is there a gang problem? The mayor's position seems to be that we don't have much of a problem but that it got worse when the newspaper revealed it.

On the marina district and a lack of information, [Mayor Bell] said, “When the Chinese are ready to tell us, we will know.” He said that's how economic development works: When any business is ready to tell us, we know. In short, we are at the mercy of plutocrats.

Mr. Bell was standing tall at the end of the fight and Mr. Collins looked tired. Was he using the old “rope-a-dope” tactic? Don't try to beat the other guy on points, just keep moving and wear him out.

This was fun, but not very enlightening or dignified.

Was more expected?
#toledo - #politics - #election - #debate - #mayor - #blog_jr