Glass City Jungle

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Councilwoman Webb & Department of Public Service Hold Meeting on Point Place Dike
City continues to work to have dike recertified by federal agencies
Councilwoman Lindsay Webb and the City of Toledo Department of Public Service will host a meeting for Point Place residents affected by [...]

My “Shredding the Curtain” column, Patterns of precedents in this week’s Toledo Free Press is an attempt to raise awareness as to the precedent related to the City of Toledo paying the employee portion of the pension pick up. Some members of Toledo City Council have been advocating for having their own private legal [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell as an FYI for readers of the Jungle:
Bell Joins Presentation Of Donation To Hospice Of Northwest Ohio
Ride For Dignity Provides Needed Funds to Support Hospice Services
Toledo Mayor Michael P. Bell will join representatives of Signature Harley Davidson to present a check to the [...]

All members were present – Appointments were done first:
Downtown Parking Authority
Kenneth P. Wood -requires a residency waiver – reappointment
Michael Brinker – reappointment
George Yakumithis – reappointment
Stephen Herwat replacing John Sherburne
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority
Brian Bucher –requires a residency waiver reappointment
All members present voted yes to confirm.
Resolution – Recognize Toledo Ticket Co. 100th anniversary – Webb and Sarantou [...]

Short story is neither proposed charter change that would have allowed voters to decide how they felt about rules concerning pensions and employment is going to be before voters. There was a very lengthy discussion on this at the July 19 Toledo City Council Committee of the Whole, a brief summary of the discussion [...]

I guess it comes down to how you measure the word “success” though when I read the Blade headline – GOP chief: Reform petition drive a ’success’ (link) for a brief moment I thought that Stainbrook had actually pulled off getting the required 14,289 signatures.
The story doesn’t state how many signatures were collected – the [...]

This in from the State of Ohio and the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Intermodal Yard Upgrade Gets Underway in Toledo
$12.29-Million Dollar Project Gets Go-Ahead from ORDC
Columbus ( Tuesday, July 13, 2010) – Toledo’s role as a freight distribution point for the Midwest soon will be strengthened. An almost $12.3-million dollar project to expand [...]

I understand the symbolic gesture that is the motivation behind Toledo City Councilman Adam Martinez’s resolution, the text of which was shared here before (link). Since the City’s FTP server is still down, I have not yet listened to the three hours worth of audio to determine what was said at the committee meeting [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Bell Joins Supporters to Encourage Help for Disaster Victims
Mayor Michael P. Bell will join the Lake Township Relief Fund committee at a press conference at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 8 at Metcalf Field to encourage help for victims of the June tornadoes. [...]

Both 13abc (link) and WTOL (link) have a story up about a Toledo Police lieutenant and a sergeant who received a letter from the City of Toledo telling them they have to retire either at the end of the year if they signed a memorandum of understanding or by July 2.
According to 13abc the letter [...]

McNamara, Waniewski, Webb, Ashford, Brown, Collins, Ludeman, Martinez present – Sarantou, Steel, Copeland and Craig absent – Copeland arrived shortly after the meeting began.
Resolution – Street Lighting – Ogontz Avenue
Resolution – Street Lighting – A portion of Royer Road
Resolution – Street Lighting -A portion of Belmont Ave. – All three were given SEP
Resolution- [...]

The following piece of legislation was given to members of Toledo City Council on Friday from the Bell administration; it is expected to be discussed at this week’s Agenda Review. If passed by Council the issue would then go on to be decided by Toledo voters at the November 2010 election:
Providing for submitting [...]

I haven’t listened to the audio from yesterday’s Toledo City Council committee meeting yet, I’ve updated this again and re-published to move it up the page since I have now completed listening and writing notes from the earlier joint Economic Development & Neighborhoods Committee meeting. I know this is long, it’s over 4,500 words [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Toledo Fire & Rescue Seek Information On Suspicious Fires
Reward Of Up To $10,000 For Information Leading To An Arrest
The Toledo Fire & Rescue Investigative Unit continues to investigate suspicious fires that have occurred throughout the city and are asking for residents’ help. The [...]

Those in attendance when the meeting began Ashford, Craig, Webb, McNamara, Waniewski, Ludeman present
Collins was in attendance but is not a committee member
Copeland, Sarantou were not present when the meeting began
Sarantou and Steel (who is not on the committee but attended) arrived after it began.
I’ll cut to the chase for those of you not interested [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Due to the high temperatures expected on Saturday, June 19th Willys Park Pool will be open from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. Admission to the pool is $1 for kids under 12 years of age and $2 for those 12 and older. [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
City of Toledo Marks Unofficial Start of Summer
Toledoans can beat the heat at city pools beginning Monday
Monday, June 21 will mark the unofficial start of summer when the City of Toledo begins to open six aquatic facilities across the city so residents can beat [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Mayor Bell Joins In Support For Hospice Of Northwest Ohio
Ride For Dignity Commemorates The Spirit Of Life
Toledo Mayor Michael P. Bell will join the leaders of Hospice of Northwest Ohio at a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16 for the upcoming Ride [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
2010 Ohio Police and Fire Games Kick-Off in Toledo
Opening ceremonies for the 2010 Ohio Police and Fire games will be held at 7 p.m., June 14, 2010 at the Lighthouse at 2605 Broadway. The City of Toledo’s Police and Fire Departments along with the [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Bell Announces Revised Utility Policy for Overdue Accounts
Mayor Michael P. Bell today announce a revised policy for Department of Public Utilities (DPU) collections as a follow up to citizen concerns regarding the lien process previously employed by the city.
DPU staff developed the procedures with [...]

All members of council were present, a moment of silence was offered because of the death of Larry Kaczala.
Resolutions were offered…
Resolution – Recognize Heroes In Action
Resolution – Recognize 2010 Cotillion winners – Tessa Scott, Santoria Sawyer, and LaKale’a Wilson
Lease of riverfront property from Norfolk Southern Corp. for salt pile, $44,500 Assessed Services Fund
Passed by all [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Bell Calls on State House and Senate to Act on Casino Legislation
Failure to meet constitutional requirement further delays job creation for Toledo
Toledo Mayor Michael P. Bell today joined the mayors of Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus in calling on the Ohio General Assembly to [...]

To make it easy for those of you looking for complete details, the proposed rules and regulations can be found on the blog here. Initially Toledo City Council was to be given until the end of business day today (June 2) to make comments with the rules going into effect in a little more [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell:
Bell Urges Ohio Legislature to Oppose HB 400
Legislation would deplete Toledo’s local government revenue sharing by $18 million
Toledo Mayor Michael P. Bell will hold a press conference Wednesday, June 2nd at 1:30 p.m. at Fire Station #5 urging members of the Ohio Legislature to [...]

More on these stories later but earlier tonight at Toledo City Council the trash fee debate ended with the Mayor’s promise kept as to what the fees would be, $5.00 for those who qualify for a Homestead exemption, $8.50 for those who recycle and $15.00 a month for those who do not recycle. But…Karen [...]

A statement in support of Issue 5 sent out by Toledo City Councilman George Sarantou and posted here, (link) on April 22, makes it pretty clear what was promised and when:

At the March 30th, 2010 City Council meeting, I asked Mayor Bell to commit to lowering the new trash fee of $15.00 and I [...]

Notes from the May 18 Agenda Review, this will not be the complete discussion tonight, but it’s the beginning part of what took place. All members of Council were present.
Amend TMC Sec. 963.03(b) to reduce the monthly Refuse Collection Fee to $10.00/$5.00 for seniors
18,800 residents would qualify for the homestead exemption ($5.00)
Collins [...]

It seems to have gotten lost in the area’s Bowersox Bonanza, but according to the Blade, (link) State Employment Relations Board staff helped the administration and the police union representatives reach a tentative deal. It would have to be agreed upon by the members of the police union and then voted on by [...]

Councilman George Sarantou announced this information at last night’s Toledo City Council meeting, it was referenced in the typed notes from that meeting on the blog, the following release was just received via e-mail from the office of Mayor Mike Bell that provides more details:
Toledo Receives New Ratings From Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s
Two [...]

This in via e-mail from the offices of Mayor Mike Bell:
Mayor Bell to be inducted into BGCA Alumni Hall of Fame
Mayor Michael P. Bell will be inducted into Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s (BGCA) prestigious Alumni Hall of Fame (AHOF) this evening at a ceremony being held at the Marriott Marquis in New [...]