Take Back Toledo turns in petitions to remove mayor (April 9)

Toledo Blade ^ | April 10, 2009 | Tom Troy

[NDJeep]

Article published April 10, 2009 Take Back Toledo turns in petitions to remove mayor Group says it collected 45,500 signatures Photo Tom Schlachter, left, and Andy Stuart, principals in Take Back Toledo, a group seeking the recall of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, carry boxes of petitions to the Lucas County Board of Elections. ( THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH ) Zoom | Photo Reprints By TOM TROY BLADE POLITICS WRITER

Organizers of the effort to recall Mayor Carty Finkbeiner yesterday turned in what they said were 45,500 signatures - more than twice the number needed to put the recall question on the Sept. 15 primary ballot.

Now it's up to the Lucas County Board of Elections and City Clerk of Council Jerry Dendinger to determine if at least 19,753 of those signatures belong to registered Toledo voters.

The elections board has until April 20 to verify the signatures.

If the recall campaign is successful, Mr. Finkbeiner would be forced out of office with about three months left in his term.

Tom Schlachter, one of the backers of the recall committee Take Back Toledo, said the goal of the recall drive is to prevent Mr. Finkbeiner from being elected again - even though the mayor can legally run for and win a new four-year term regardless of the recall outcome.

"If this is daunting to him and he doesn't feel perhaps he can fight the fire on two fronts, a recall and a primary, yeah it's worth it, sure it is," Mr. Schlachter said.................

[Road Warrior ‘04]

It took about 12 paragraphs, more than half way through the article, to identify the mayor as a democrat. I’m shocked and surprised.

[Pontiac]

Tom Schlachter, one of the backers of the recall committee Take Back Toledo, said the goal of the recall drive is to prevent Mr. Finkbeiner from being elected again - even though the mayor can legally run for and win a new four-year term regardless of the recall outcome.

I don’t know if the group used paid petition circulators or not (they almost all do) but it seems like waste of money.

The money may have been better spent on campaigning for a opponent of Finkbeiners’s.

The only advantage to this is that perhaps you might get some help from Democrats in ousting Finkbeiner.

Regardless of recalling Finkbeiner or not it is unlikely that Toledo will elect a Republican.

If electing a Republican is the goal a better strategy may have been allowing Finkbeiner to remain in office and lend support to a rival.

[PurpleMan]

Even though he would not be able to run again, only three months are left on the term.

Who is the candidate these people WILL support?

IMHO It seems a waste of effort more towards “we know who we don’t like” than “we know who we like.:

[Pontiac]

Ping

[Pontiac]

Even though he would not be able to run again, only three months are left on the term.

You read it wrong.

He can run again in three months. The idea is to weaken him by making him run two campaigns at once.

He has to fight the recall and run a primary race at the same time.

[Mark was here]

This is the guy who did not allow a National Guard unit to train in Toledo because they may scare people.

[MamaDearest]

This is the guy who did not allow a National Guard unit to train in Toledo because they may scare people.

Anyone who's traveled through Toledo on their way to other Ohio destinations via Detroit Metro can see Toledo is clearly Detroit South. Houses there have lost phenomenol value, police have lost jobs and the city is deteriorating rapidly with malls, shopping areas and places of business almost completely devoid of business. Carty Finkbinder has done little, if anything, to change that. This is another case of voter angst after electing a politician who has done much to publicize Toledo in a negative light.

[PurpleMan]

I’m an idjit.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Ohio Pings!

To be added to the Ohio Ping List, please freepmail (works best)
both TonyRo76 and LasVegasDave.

[Faith]

This is the guy who did not allow a National Guard unit to train in Toledo because they may scare people.

Yep. I'd say the petition drive is a good way to draw a line in the sand. If it's successful in removing the Fink from office, that's a bonus. The message is that people are watching what you do, elected officials.

[NDJeep]

The purpose of “Take Back Toledo” had three prongs. The first and most immediate was to remove Carty, or at least prevent him from running for re-election in the Fall. He as yet to declare if he is running again. Equally, if not more important, was having him eliminated as an option to be named as president of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority - a job he desperately wanted. As he appoints half the Board and the Democrat county commissioners appoint the other half, he would have been a shoe in. So fay, our efforts have been a huge success. The final two prongs are (a) revisit the newly drafted city charter that has essentially neutered City Council and eliminated any checks and balances, and (b) start a PAC that will actively support business friendly candidates.