Wilkowski responds to Bell comment on “Good Old Boys Club”
This in via e-mail from the Wilkowski for Mayor campaign:
Democratic Mayoral Candidate Keith Wilkowski reacts to attack by Mike Bell in a news release issued today, Oct. 1.
Statement from Keith Wilkowski:
There is a Good Old Boys Club in Toledo that has had too much power for too long. It’s called the Mike Bell for Mayor campaign and it is run by Tom Noe Republicans like Bob Reichert and disgraced Finkbeiner Democrats like John Irish. That’s not what I call “independence.”
Mike Bell’s desperate political attacks serve only to distract voters from the paper-thin substance of his platform. Mr. Bell has no plan for jobs and his only solution to the city budget crisis is to raise taxes on hard-working Toledoans.
I’m running for Mayor with detailed plans to create jobs and help middle class families. Toledoans want to hear real ideas about how we’re going to address the challenges our community is facing and work together for a better future. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Bell has
chosen not to participate in that conversation.
NEWS FLASH FROM THE AP.
C/C: Keith Wilkowski Mayoral Campaign press release!
To sum it up: The pot calls the Kettle Black!!!!
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October 1st, 2009 at 9:53 pmChad – Looks like Keith, what with all the Good Old Boy talk, is going for that coveted Konop vote!
Seriously – Keith certainly is not new to politics, but I’m glad he has finally called Bell on this crap. Bell is hardly a breath of fresh air either, and he has no platform to speak of. At least Keith has a meaningful platform and the required experience in law and municipal and regional government to get it done.
October 1st, 2009 at 10:14 pmBell is an empty suit Sujay, I will give you that! Thing is with Wilko (there’s that moniker again)I have heard the platform thing before. Gonna work to get jobs, gonna work with business and labor, etc, etc. And the past 3 mayors McHugh, Carty, Ford, have all been severe failures. Carty was fine his first two terms, but then went way off the deep end. In his defense Toledo probably was DOA the night they elected Ford.
But if Keith can do it, more power to him. I just hope he gets out of the way and allows businesses to run and do their thing, and cuts some of the red tape.
October 1st, 2009 at 11:00 pmI doubt if the burbs will allow the “regional government” to steal money to continue the the farce that is toledo. Keith will have to succeed on his own, and not steal from the adjacent communities.
October 1st, 2009 at 11:39 pmWell, if Jimmy Carter won’t be held accountable for saying, “I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African-American”, then just maybe Wilkowski’s animosity toward Bell *could* also be motivated by race.
Early on, it’s clear that Wilkowski has been trying to run on Obama’s coat tail. And let us ask exactly how Obama got elected? By the epitome of all Good Old Boys Club is Acorn & the Good Old Boys Clubs of Chicago.
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:30 amIs Keith W using J.C.Rendell of the Blade to write his comments now. The old Noe Republicans, c’mon people move on past Noe will ya. maybe he can borrow one of the special investigators from the GOP to see how these Noe people are helping Bell.
October 2nd, 2009 at 6:21 amWe should be focusing on on ideas and plans instead of the behind the scenes games. Both men are being supported by people who have been in politics in Lucas County for a while. It is however wrong for the Bell campaign to imply that their campaign would be a change from the past when it comes to politics, it’s also wrong for the Wilkowski campaign to trot out the “Noe Republican” brush – I’ll never understand why we can’t just be honest and say even within the local Democratic party there are those who have different philosophies, Wilkowski as the endorsed Democrat shares more of the values/beliefs of the current party, that neither man or their supporters are “bad” they are different. They have different management styles, different ideas on how they think Toledo should be governed.
Bell saying as quoted in the Blade “He (Wilkowski) has surrounded himself with the same faces that have been in charge for years and led us to where we are today,” Mr. Bell said.
Is not accurate, because the exact same thing could be said for Bell. Bell was part of the administration for longer than Wilkowski was and more recently. Toledo did not pick a mayoral candidate that was new to Toledo politics. If the campaign now starts to go negative, more voters will be turned off, a further demonstration that this is nothing more than typical politics in Toledo.
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:29 amI don’t think regional government will ever happen in Lucas County. If it did,I would not be surprised if there was a mass exodus of people out of Lucas County’s suburbs. Then what do they do? Try regional government with Wood or Fulton counties? Those people there would never let that happen.
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:31 pmStainbrook and the NEW GOP MUST be backing Wilkowski! They seem to be the only ones who trot out the Noe crap every time their feelings get hurt. Glad I don’t have a decision to make in this race, how ridiculous.
October 2nd, 2009 at 6:32 pmI agree meghan, I think the stain is a wilkowski supporter too. I does make sense.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:56 pmChad (#3) Let’s not be too hard on McHugh. Remember his term preceded the switch to strong-mayor form of government. He was basically a councilperson and, thus can’t be blamed too much for Toledo’s woes.
And Ford, while hardly dynamic, was not a “disaster.” Remember, as the national economy was spiraling, Ford managed to maintain a balanced budget with no municipal layoffs and paved a lot of streets, to boot. He was also behind some pretty forward-thinking things like Care Net, a lead-paint abatement program and Ohio’s first big-city smoking ban. Plus I used to see him at Thackeray’s all the time. That stands in stark contrast to the number of prominent local Republicans I ever saw there: that number would be ONE (former judge Mark Schmollinger). The rest were probably at NASCAR events and world wrestling contests.
We agree on Carty’s first stint as mayor. He did some pretty good things, especially in the second term (1997 – 2000). Plus who were you gonna vote for in ‘97? His opponent was a gravedigger with no city government experience.
As for regional government, it probably WILL come, gradually, with one service at a time. Our libraries have regionalized, as have the health dept. and planning commission, among others. As folks recognize the increased efficiencies and tax savings, more services/commissions., etc. will either merge or at least join forces to avoid duplication, etc., especially if revenue-sharing arrangements can be forged. I can see possible mergers in road maintenance and public utilities, for instance. This is why it is important for Wilko to win: he has actually gone under the hood and done this revenue sharing and joint enterprise stuff. Bell can assemble all the people he wants,
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 amform committees until he’s blue in the face and get all the people in the room he can. But Wilko’s where the rubber meets the road on this stuff.