Glass City Jungle

Well actually it could be said she took quite a few dunkings…I headed over tonight to my old elementary school, Beverly, to watch Toledo Public School Board Member Lisa Sobecki take a turn in the dunking booth for charity…It was Beverly’s yearly carnival and it appeared a good time was being had by all. Video after the fold…
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You know that song, this is the song that never ends….the questions surrounding when if ever the Lucas County Republican party will meet to have their Central Committee Meeting is almost becoming that. I was sent this link by email, Judge orders Lucas County GOP central committee meeting postponed.

Judge William Skow of the Sixth District Court of Appeals Friday afternoon issued an order postponing the meeting until legal disputes involving whether 21 people qualify to be on the party’s central committee can be resolved.

So…here’s how I predict it. Whoever loses will file another appeal, then appeal it to the Ohio Supreme Court and then maybe…all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

Perhaps by then there will be another primary where it is strongly advised that people that actually want to be members of the Republican Party? Actually vote republican.

In reading about the Mayor’s latest attempt to bring film making to Toledo I was surprised to learn that the Mayor had an art liaison:

Mr. Finkbeiner yesterday said he and Marcia Helman, arts liaison to the mayor, had spoken of creating a film commission for northwest Ohio.

Marcia Helman is involved in the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, she’a also the owner of one of my favorite spots to get ice cream, Lickity Split.

The Mayor and a few others have dreams of more…
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As per the Toledo Blade, Stainbrook wants 2 off GOP panel Jon Stainbrook has filed yet another lawsuit:

Mr. Stainbrook filed a new case aimed at removing two members of the Republican Party central committee who were not part of his slate.

He also is seeking to have his recruits - Erin Thacker and Greg Goettner - reinstated because their opponents did not qualify as Republicans.

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Yes, the lawsuits and court filings just keep coming today…Jon Stainbrook is now stating that he does not feel the Court has the power to decide if the eleven who did not vote are Republicans or not:

“In my opinion, it’s not up to the court to decide somebody’s constitutional right to vote. And to me, voting at a party meeting is their same right,” Mr. Stainbrook said. “The board of elections certified them, and that’s the entity that does it.”
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Scott A. Ciolek of Ciolek & Wicklund have reported via email that they filed an injuction in Federal Courty today on behalf of the Midwest Retailers Association asking for:

…a preliminary injunction against Defendant City of Toledo, prohibiting the City from implementing and enforcing Toledo Municipal Ordinance 797-07. Accordingly, Plaintiff Midwest Retailer’s Association respectfully requests that this Court grant their motion for a preliminary injunction, thereby preventing enforcement of Toledo Municipal Ordinance 797-07 pending outcome of this litigation.

The Toledo area is once again making national news with the University of Toledo firing Crystal Dixon and it appears we will have another lawsuit:

Ms. Dixon’s attorney Tom Sobecki, who is working with the Thomas Moore Law Center in Ann Arbor on her case, said they are investigating legal action, including the violation of her First Amendment right as well as religious and racial discrimination. Nothing was filed as of yesterday.

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If you read this week’s Toledo Journal there is an article written about Richard Brown, at the time the article was written the City had not announced their intentions though it was fairly well known that Council President Mark Sobczak wanted Brown’s employment terminated. While Council President Sobczak stated he did not want this matter to be in the media, nor did he confirm that Brown was indeed terminated, Councilman Michael Ashford raises the issue of misdeameanor convictions:

Councilman Michael Ashford said the city has many employees with misdemeanor criminal convictions. He noted that the mayor hired a man with multiple drunk driving convictions and that Councilwoman Betty Shultz was convicted as a ”conduit” in a money-laundering scheme by convicted felon Tom Noe. ”Look, the mayor, Carty Finkbeiner, can hire a guy that had nine DUIs. We have a city council person, Betty Shultz, who was convicted of a misdemeanor, who was indicted in federal court. So why should it be any different for Richard Brown?” Mr. Ashford said. ”If Richard Brown was found guilty of a misdemeanor, that does not impede him from working in government. He should be given the same opportunities and second chances as most – as most—city employees [get] who have that type of record.’

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This in via the email from the Governor’s press office:

Governor, Attorney General to Provide Statements Today

Columbus, Ohio – Governor Ted Strickland and Attorney General Marc Dann will make statements today at 4:45 PM at the Ohio Statehouse.

Wednesday, May 14

WHO: Governor Ted Strickland
Attorney General Marc Dann

WHEN: 4:45 PM TODAY

WHERE: Ohio Statehouse
Governor’s Office, Cabinet Room
Columbus, Ohio

Updated: in watching live - Dann has just resigned effective immediately.

Fox Toledo has video…

Today’s Blade reports on what was discussed yesterday at Toledo City Council’s agenda review meeting.

Councilman Joe McNamara has proposed an ordinance prohibiting a convenience store from operating within 2,000 feet of another convenience store, or within 1,000 feet of a school, public library, or other places established for minors.

Establishments that do not sell tobacco or tobacco products would not be affected, Mr. McNamara said.

“In 1993, spacing requirements were added to the Toledo Municipal Code and, in 2004, it was taken out as a comprehensive rewrite of the zoning code,” he said.
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I wanted to offer my congratulations to Ohio Daily Blog who was selected as the Ohio blog for the DemConvention State Blogger Corps by the DNC earlier today. I’ll look forward to reading what Jeff reports is happening in Denver.

As almost the final update to the story that the blog posting written about in November of 2007 is still receiving comments on, former Springfield Middle School teacher Louis Kovin was found not guilty because the judge felt he was insane at the time the offenses happened.

For those of you who knew there was more or wondered if there was more as to how this could have all started?

Mr. Phillips said in an interview after the trial that Mr. Kovin was under doctor’s care for bipolar disorder and was given new medication that made him more depressed. “On top of that, he received the news that he was being terminated. I think that pushed him over the edge,” Mr. Phillips said.

Mr. Kovin returns to court on July 8th, at which time the Judge will decide his status as to psychiatric treatment.

Seems earlier reports of his resignation could prove to not be quite that fast, Dann apparently seeks deal to quit:

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann apparently is trying to negotiate the terms of his resignation, offering to quit in exchange for legislative leaders killing a bill that would authorize Inspector General Thomas P. Charles to investigate the scandal in Dann’s office.

Sources said Dann told a number of legislators that an investigation by Charles “would cause all sorts of problems” for him and he offered to leave office if the bill is scotched.
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This in via email from Lucas County Republican Party Chairman Bob Reichert:

Regretfully, I have accepted the resignation of Joanne Wack, Executive Director of the Lucas County Republican Party (LCRP), effective immediately.

Joanne has worked for the LCRP since December of 2005 and has done an outstanding job. Joanne has worked at my side since I became Chairman in May of 2006 and has performed her duties in a professional and efficient manner. Joanne has given us 100%, 100% of the time.
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As a breaking news update from the Blade, Articles of impeachment filed against Dann by fellow Democrats:

COLUMBUS — House Democrats Tuesday accused Attorney General Marc Dann, a fellow Democrat, of ‘malfeasance” and ‘gross neglect of duty” in a resolution seeking their fellow Democrat’s impeachment.

The move came just as the Republican-controlled House was preparing to pass a bill to give Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles one-time authority to conduct a broad examination of the attorney general’s office. Republican legislative leaders have said they want the results of such an investigation as they consider the first-ever impeachment of a statewide official.

Columbus Dispatch also reporting as well as I’m sure most of the media outlets will be on this issue. I’ll update with links as I come across them.

Updated! It’s being reported that Dann is expected to resign this afternoon….

I’ve followed some of the previous situations that involved Elsebeth Baumgartner, she’s also contributed here in the comment section on a variety of topics. I realize there are two sides to every story, and that when you violate the terms a judge states there are consequences. Yet, I can’t help feeling that sentencing someone to an eight-year prison sentence because they filed a lawsuit is an overkill.

The court has ways of dismissing suits that are felt to be without merit, I believe all of us are entitled to equal access…Or at least we are supposed to be. As the above linked Cleveland Scene points out, Baumgartner is one of now 60 people who are barred from filing lawsuits in the State of Ohio, for being a “vexatious litigator.” It’s clear from reading some of the cases that the court system using the example of Gregory Howard here in Lucas County is instructed to ignore any filings from that him.

Which again leads me to a similar question as asked in the article, while she could have received 112 years in jail, should Elsebeth Baumgartner serve 8 for what she’s done?

This in via email from the office of Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop:

Commissioner Konop Proposes Openness and Transparency Reform for County Government
Resolution would force disclosure of campaign contributions for those receiving government contracts

In a continuing effort to increase openness and transparency in local government, Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop will today propose that all companies receiving contracts from the county disclose campaign contributions to any Lucas County elected official within the last year. Konop’s openness and transparency policy will be voted on this morning at the 9:30 a.m. Commissioner’s hearing at One Government Center.
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It should come as no surprise to anyone following the story of the Chris Rock joke gone bad involving Craig Franklin and Eric Wlodarsky the two troopers who were fired at the demand of Governor Strictland after the local NACCP became involved would file a grievance to get their job back. It was reported prior to this that the reason the men were not terminated was because their union contract allowed them to stay employed if they had no further disciplinary issues in the next two years.

After the men were terminated, their union made their position clear:
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When reading the Blade’s second article on the problems that came up creating a scenario were some of the absentee ballots were not counted, Lucas County Elections Board tries to address ballot problem it’s stated:

According to Mr. Williams, the reason cited by the secretary of state is that the voter signs a statement that he or she inserted the ballot inside the envelope and sealed it. If the ballot isn’t inside the envelope, then the statement is false, and thus the ballot is invalid.

“The form on the outside of the envelope says, ‘I personally sealed the ballot in the envelope,’” Mr. Williams said. “Because that could not be true, the secretary of state has advised us the affirmation was false and therefore we could not count the ballot.” He said Ms. Brunner’s predecessor, Ken Blackwell, had the same rule.

Yet in Wood County they stated:

When Wood County receives a ballot that is outside the identification envelope, a board employee contacts the voter to verify that the voter submitted an absentee ballot, and then simply inserts the ballot in the envelope and seals it, said Terry Burton, elections director.
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This in via email:

Jobs Stimulus Package Introduced in the Ohio House & Senate

COLUMBUS – The two-part, $1.57 billion bipartisan economic stimulus package first unveiled by the Governor and legislative leaders in April has been officially introduced in the Ohio House and Senate, with committee hearings slated to begin in both chambers this week. Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) and Speaker of the House Jon Husted (R-Kettering) are committed to passing the bills before the end of May.

State Senator Mark Wagoner (R-Toledo) and Representative Barbara Sears (R-Sylvania) have introduced companion resolutions – Senate Joint Resolution 7 and House Joint Resolution 5 – that will place a $400 million bond issue before Ohio voters this November to renew the successful Clean Ohio program. To date, the program has resulted in the preservation of more than 27,500 acres of Ohio farmland, the development of more than 223 miles of recreational trails, and the revitalization of 1,896 acres of brownfields, all while leveraging private and federal investments totaling more than $2.7 billion and creating more than 14,770 jobs, according to statistics provided by the Ohio Department of Development.
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