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| Ohio: Toledo's Mayor to Marines: Leave downtown | |
| 2008-02-09 | |
| A company of Marine Corps Reservists received a cold send-off from downtown Toledo yesterday by order of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. The 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., planned to spend their weekend engaged in urban patrol exercises on the streets of downtown as well as inside the mostly vacant Madison Building, 607 Madison Ave. Toledo police knew days in advance about their plans for a three-day exercise. Yet somehow the memo never made it to Mayor Finkbeiner, who ordered the Marines out yesterday afternoon just minutes before their buses were to arrive. "The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman. "He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area."
Sergeant Davis, who traveled ahead of the five-bus convoy, stepped from his vehicle into downtown about 3:20 p.m. and was told by a city employee that the mayor wanted him and his soldiers packed up and out by 6 p.m. Members of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines have trained periodically in downtown Toledo since at least 2004 and most recently in May, 2006. Past exercises have involved mock gun fights, ambushes, and the firing of blank ammunition. The Marines' buses set a course for their battalion's Weapons Company headquarters in Perrysburg Township as soon as they heard of the mayor's decision. The Reservists' visit was no surprise to Toledo police, who Tuesday issued a news release to media outlets on behalf of the Marines that asked Toledoans not to be startled by the sight of camouflaged soldiers toting M16 rifles. Police officers were awaiting the Marines' arrival yesterday afternoon and had set up a roadblock at Madison Avenue and Huron Street. "There was apparently a break in communication somewhere between the mayor and the police department," Mr. Schwartz said. "Where that break was, we don't know yet." Maj. Jeffrey O'Neill, the company's commanding officer, said he was disappointed by how events played out yesterday, especially because Toledo had been a gracious host for Marine exercises in the past. "You can go to military ranges for live fire [exercises], but there's no way to duplicate the urban jungle unless you actually train inside a city," Major O'Neill said. Mr. Schwartz said the Marines declined Mayor Finkbeiner's alternative offer for them to practice their urban patrol tactics inside the former Jones Junior High School, 550 Walbridge Ave. Major O'Neill said he was not aware of such an offer. A pair of Marines spent the better part of yesterday setting up the Madison Building with generators, heaters, radios, and food to become the unit's overnight headquarters. After receiving the mayor's request to leave, they began the task of moving the equipment back into an armored Humvee. Lance Cpl. Brandon Bukrey-McCarty, 22, recalled taking part in the company's 2006 urban patrol exercise in downtown Toledo. He said he learned skills during that exercise that proved useful during the unit's deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006-2007. "It was extremely helpful," Corporal Bukrey-McCarty said. The training "got me used to looking up on rooftops, looking around every alley, every open door." Sergeant Davis and other company leaders estimated the total cost of the aborted training exercise, including travel, at roughly $10,000. Before he left downtown for Perrysburg Township, Major O'Neill said he was not sure what type of training, if any, his unit could undertake without access to downtown Toledo. "But we're Marines," Major O'Neill said. "We'll adapt and overcome." | |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #19 one of the California state legislators is proposing to cut off Berkeley's roads'n'highways funding because they misused public roads to set aside parking space for Code Pink in front of the Marine recruiting center Yep. Another $2.3 million or so. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-02-09 22:51 |
| #18 This idiot needs run to Kentucky and find a hooker. He can follow the long prestigious line of other Ohio Mayor's. Jerry, Jerry, Jerry |
| Posted by: Beavis 2008-02-09 19:38 |
| #17 since he's been Mayor since at least that 1994 article, I'm assuming the damage to furnishing occurred on his watch. I'd be surprised if he had drunken greco-roman midget oil-wrestling in there, but not much. This tool's an embarrassment and Toledo needs to feel the shame for reelecting such an asshole. Perhaps earmark disruption? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-02-09 19:06 |
| #16 But wait! There's more... Toledo Blade 2/25/06 Finkbeiner defends $9,996 shower stall Figures show city facing $4.5 million deficit Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner yesterday justified the new shower stall in his 22nd-floor office as a way to work more efficiently for the city - despite adding to an unexpected $4.5 million deficit suddenly forecast for 2006. The mayor said he wants to begin jogging during his lunch hour and needs a shower in his office so he can get back to work quickly. The fitting out of a long-unfinished shower stall in the mayor's personal bathroom has raised eyebrows because the $9,996 price tag fell $4 short of the $10,000 threshold at which a council vote is required. Mr. Finkbeiner downplayed the cost of the shower and said it ultimately will pay for itself by allowing him and his successors to make better use of their time. He predicted the cost will fall short of the $9,996 projected by the Reuben Co., which manages the building for the Ohio Building Authority and which controls any renovations in the building. However, Michael Sullivan, the property manager for Reuben who ordered the work at the mayor's request, was doubtful that the cost would decline. "I don't see how," he said. City facilities administrator Dale Raczkowski acknowledged that he asked Mr. Sullivan to cut the original estimate of $10,006 by $10 to get below the $10,000 ceiling. He said it was not done to avoid council scrutiny, but rather to avoid additional red tape triggered by the $10,000 threshold. First Lady Amy Finkbeiner yesterday gave reporters and photographers a tour of the new shower and other improvements to the mayor's office. She had 26 chairs or sofas reupholstered and a table repaired at a cost of $2,531. She showed pictures of other blemishes on mayoral furniture that she said conveys a bad image. "The chairs were torn and tattered and certainly not giving the impression we wanted to give," Mrs. Finkbeiner said. "When the general public comes up to meet with the mayor, we want to provide them with seating that is appealing." In addition to the shower stall, the mayor had a storage area converted to an exercise room. Mrs. Finkbeiner said the shower and exercise facilities will cut the time the mayor now takes to drive to Medical University of Ohio for his workout. The mayor said he plans to start running outside when it gets warmer. He said he is determined to keep up his exercise schedule, having had heart bypass surgery two years ago. He said he would prefer to exercise in the middle of the day than in the evening as he does now three or four times a week."After this surgery of mine, I was pretty fixed in my mind I was going to have a shower that was operational," he said. 10 grand? That's about what the Marines got screwed out of, right? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-09 18:54 |
| #15 perhaps collective punishment, Gaza-style, is in order, not just for the injustice and inconvenience to our Marines, but for the city of Toledo repeatedly electing a Mayor with the name Carty Finkbeiner. To get away with that name, he'd have to be hyper-qualified, and it's apparent he shouldn't even be restocking tp in city hall restrooms, ethically, and probably technically. I'd bet he's from a long line of Finkbeiners, who've reached the end of a family fortune due to poor genetics, but perhaps, I'm taking it too far.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-02-09 18:39 |
| #14 Well aren't we learning a lot about Carty Finkbeiner... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-09 18:36 |
| #13 It's not just the deaf he dislikes. It's also the handicapped and dogs. "Mayor Finkbeiner speaks out Tuesday, August 07, 2007 | 5:42 PM He says he did nothing wrong WTVG--August 7, 2007 (WTVG) -- Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner is still catching flak for parking in a handicapped space and for leaving his dog in the car while it was still pretty hot. Now the Mayor is speaking out. Mayor Finkbeiner is sticking to his story and that is, he parked in the spot to keep his dog cool in the shade. There's no arguing the ticket. Last Friday, it was on the car of Toledo's Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. It was there because his car was parked in a handicapped spot. The Mayor admitted fault and agreed to pay it. But then, attention shifted to what was in the car Finkbeiner's dog, Scout. All of the sudden the issue became one of Scout's maintenance." Thanks to the 90-degree weather, the mayor started taking heat from radio call in shows and websites." |
| Posted by: Beavis 2008-02-09 18:27 |
| #12 the man's a |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-02-09 17:50 |
| #11 C'mon now, folks. Our man Carty's a...visionary. New York Times November 6, 1994 Mayor Carty Finkbeiner suggested at a staff meeting that a way to resolve complaints about airport noise would be to move deaf people into the neighborhood. On Friday, after the remark was publicized, Mr. Finkbeiner wept at a news conference and said he had meant no disrespect. "Nobody intended to be insensitive," he said. "My only words were that it was an interesting idea." Advocates for deaf people said the Mayor's original remark was an insult. A deaf woman who attended the news conference, Delores Lisac, said that deaf people could feel the vibrations from the jets. Dave Wielinski, chairman of Barrier Free Toledo, a group for disabled people, likened the Mayor's suggestion to "saying let the blind work at night because they can't see." |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-09 17:47 |
| #10 Aww, not that shit again! Pity that we can't eject these localities like Laputa floating islands of Gulliver's fame... Or fence it good and give a 3 years lease to Taliban (or Khmer Rouge if they prefer) to do as they please (then shoot the leasees at the end of lease [undisclosed clause]--hopefully the populus will be cured by then). Dunno, WTF is wrong with he sizable portion of people? |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2008-02-09 17:08 |
| #9 Instapundit, Blackfive, Roger Kimball, et al are on it. Da Mayor's gonna get famous, for all the wrong reasons, and what a special name to have in Wiki, LOL. From Instaguy: And a reader from Toledo emails: "The really rich part of this is that our downtown still has many vacant buildings. One of Carty's 'arts' initiatives was to get artists to paint scenes that would be put up inside the windows of the vacant buildings so they wouldn't look so 'vacant'. Oh, and did I mention that the City and County were pleading with the Feds a couple of years ago not to move the local Air National Guard Base (and its jobs/payroll taxes) out of Toledo Express Airport? Pray for us." This won't help with that |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-02-09 16:47 |
| #8 oops, ok mods, fix dat. thanks |
| Posted by: www 2008-02-09 16:18 |
| #7 We've got some useful members of Congress here in Ohio. I wonder what undiscussed earmarks for Toledo were in that latest federal budget thingy -- and how quickly a bill to remove them can be submitted to both House and Senate. I read a squib last night on Lucianne.com that one of the California state legislators is proposing to cut off Berkeley's roads'n'highways funding because they misused public roads to set aside parking space for Code Pink in front of the Marine recruiting center. These little political games can be so amusing for those with the right temperament... and contacts. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-02-09 15:54 |
| #6 Mayor Carty Finkbeiner is a donk. Toledo has been a donk stronghold forever. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-02-09 15:51 |
| #5 Two comments: 1. Guess the mayor's party affiliation. Just take a wild guess. 2. In the 1830s, Ohio and Michigan fought a border war over Toledo. (Not much of a war, really: no casualties due to hostile fire on either side.) Obviously, Michigan won. |
| Posted by: Mike 2008-02-09 13:51 |
| #4 You can e-mail the Mayor. Look in the upper right-hand corner. Hurry, before Code Pink shuts it down. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2008-02-09 13:45 |
| #3 Toledo is home to one of the largest mosques in the US. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-02-09 13:33 |
| #2 Trying to out Berkley Berkley. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2008-02-09 13:29 |
| #1 Carty Finkbeiner? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-09 13:05 |