We have some amazing voices in this community- and they opened their meeting in song. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the recorder going for the opening.

There were no strict time limits. When I arrived on time, only Joe Lacey of the Dayton school Board and Charlie Shoemaker, executive director of Metroparks were there. We were invited to the table- excuses were made for a candidate who said he could be there by 1pm (Gary Leitzell- but he wasn’t named). Then the Mayor with Nan and Joey popped in about fifteen minutes late.

The Mayor was given the podium first, then Whaley and Williams. I was at the end. I didn’t do the normal stump speech if you take the time to listen. I think I made a few friends.

The questions were pointed- and the moderator, Reverend Stewart, cut off the question on the candidates’ support for the casinos- listen and you’ll hear.

The issue of the step increases/raises was asked- the answer from Commissioner Williams and “the team” was evasive.

I don’t usually make speeches like this one. It’s worth a listen.

Please note, if elected, I’ll keep providing you with insight and recordings of events and meetings that affect you. That’s my job.

Excerpt for Will- just my parts (14:18):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Candidates night at c[space hosted by upDayton and the League of Women Voters. Candidates from left to right, Gary Leitzell, Rhine McLin, Nan Whaley, Joey D. Williams and David Esrati.

A few thoughts:

• Good lighting makes for better video.
• Don't expect candidates to speak from their seat when there is a HUGE POLE in front of them. Podiums, or a single mic work best.
• Combining questions into mega-questions by combining them, makes it easier for politicians to pick and choose answers
• Don't use a 1 hour Flip Cam when it goes over an hour (and don't try to record the levy people first).

So, the end is cut off- I took out my iPhone and made an audio recording of the end.

There is a bit of a gap.

Thanks to Gary Leppela for running a tight ship and announcing each speaker- which saved me subtitling.

Why don’t all the other candidates supply video for you? Why didn’t upDayton make their own? Why am I the candidate and the news team- all in one? Is it because I’m the only one who believes in democracy and an informed electorate. This is one of the best examples of what to expect if you elect me. No more secret meetings.

It was nice to see that my moving around- and standing behind the “team” spooked them enough to ask the League of Women voters to change the rules- as you can see by the instructions handed out last night at Ruskin School.

The "Esrati rule" for candidates forums

Sorry it took so long to post- still figuring out the best workflow for the Flip Cam to Youtube. That the lighting was horrible made for some bad compression artifacts, bringing Final Cut Pro to it’s knees.

UPDATE 9 oct 09: upDayton posted their video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Since the Mayor decided to finish off the last candidates forum saying that the Commission didn’t hold illegal secret meetings, I thought I’d post the actual language from the Charter and the Sunshine Laws:

Meetings of the Commission
§ 39… the Commissioners shall meet at such times as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, except that they shall meet not less than once each week.  The Mayor, any 2 members of the Commission, or the City Manager, may call special meetings of the Commission upon at least 24 hours written notice to each member of the Commission, served personally on each member or left at his usual place of residence.
All meetings of the Commission shall be open to the public in accordance with the Ohio Sunshine Law presently codified in Ohio R.C. § 121.22.  The commission shall determine its own rules and order of business and shall keep a journal of its proceedings. (Amendment adopted by voters 11-20-89)

City_Charter.pdf (application/pdf Object) PG 16

What part of “they shall meet not less than once each week” does she not understand? The “Special meetings” – or as they like to call them, “work sessions” are not meant to happen every week.

From pg 90:

Discussing Public Business:  With narrow exception, the Open Meetings Act requires the members of a public body to discuss and deliberate on official business only in open meetings. In this context,  “discussion” is the exchange of words, comments or ideas by the members of a public body; “deliberation” means the act of weighing and examining reasons for and against a choice.  One court describes  “deliberation” as a thorough discussion of all factors involved, a careful weighing of positive and negative factors, and a cautious consideration of the ramifications of the proposal, while gradually  arriving at decision.
In evaluating whether particular gatherings of public officials constituted “meetings,” several courts have opined that the Open Meetings Act is intended to apply to situations where there has been actual formal action taken, such as deliberation upon official business.  On the other hand, meetings strictly of an investigative and information-seeking nature that do not involve actual deliberations of public business have been found by some not to be “meetings” for purposes of the Open Meetings Act.

Considering all the 5-0 votes with no discussion, either the commission is not doing it’s job, or it’s doing so outside of the required public meeting stipulated in the Charter.

The definition of “Work Session” is from page 91:

a.  Work Sessions:  “Work sessions” or “workshops” are “meetings” where public business is discussed among a majority of the members of a public body at a prearranged time.  Accordingly, these work sessions must be open to the public, properly noticed, and minutes must be maintained, just as with any other meeting.

A prearranged time, is not an “emergency” and the use of the “emergency” or “special meeting” notification process on a weekly basis is a purposeful skirting of the law. Again, the charter stipulates “one meeting per week” and that meeting is for this very purpose. Note- all minutes of these “work sessions” must be maintained, and should be entered into the public record at the regularly scheduled meeting for approval.

Special Meetings:  A “special meeting” is any meeting other than a regular meeting. A public body must establish, by rule, a reasonable method that allows the public to determine the time, place, and purpose of special meetings.
•  Public bodies must provide at least 24 hours advance notification of special meetings to all media outlets or individuals who have requested such notification. PG 94

It’s time we stop hiding behind closed doors and having two commission meetings per week- the well publicized, televised public meeting- and the very quiet work session where the real decisions are being made. I can guarantee, that if elected, this practice will stop.

McLin’s closing comments:

The patron saint of South Park is coming to Gilly’s next Wednesday, Aug 26. (8pm) If you aren’t familiar with Buckwheat Zydeco, aka Stanley Dural Jr. you are in for a treat. Nominated for four Grammys, Buck and the band put on a show that guarantees you’ll be jumping out of you seat and dancing.

Back in 1995 or so, I went to hear him at Bogart’s in Cincinnati, just as we were embarking on doing the video “South Park Soliloquy” for the neighborhood as a marketing piece. It seemed to me that if Buckwheat could make people get up and dance, he’d energize potential home buyers as well. After the show, I got back to the dressing room and asked if he’d be interested in letting a neighborhood use his music for the soundtrack. He gave me the number to his manager and off I went.

We worked a deal, if The Next Wave would do Buck’s website (and parts of it still exist today) – they’d let us use songs that Buck wrote and owned the rights to. However, we’d still have to clear this with the record labels. The day before the debut, we got our final letter in granting rights- and the video was a huge success.

We also worked on the poster and postcards you see at right- which was later used as the basis for a cover to a later album.

The last few times Buckwheat has come to town, at the Fraze and Canal Street Tavern, I could always count on seeing a whole bunch of South Parkians dancing their butts off. Most of them, all fell in love with the music about the same time they fell in love with the neighborhood, and that’s why Buckwheat Zydeco will continue on as our patron saint of good times.

Hope to see you there. Advance tickets are available at Gem City Records- so get them while they’re hot.

While everyone seems excited about getting Federal Stimulus dollars, spending them on existing infrastructure doesn’t really stimulate much for very long. Real change means changing the infrastructure to make Dayton a more desirable place to live.

The idea of the free bike isn’t new, and it’s not out of reach. It’s working in Paris, and it’s being rolled out in small communities across the country and a few big ones. To appease the old school thinkers in Dayton- remember, the Wright Brothers were bicycle builders first.

Watch this video about the B Cycle, a big idea from Crispin Porter + Bogusky (an ad agency- with visionary leadership)

Click here to view the embedded video.

The video doesn’t get into the specifics – so I found this description from Time Magazine that explains it a bit better:

To borrow a SmartBike, users have to be over 18 and have a credit card. An annual fee of $40 lets riders tool around on a three-speed bike as often as they like for up to three hours at a time. Better be punctual: your second tardy return gets you booted from the system. The program keeps track of the bikes via tiny rfid chips, the same tamper-proof radio-frequency devices used to monitor everything from clothing inventories to office ID badges. Riders use a swipe card to unlock the bikes, and if they fail to return them–or if the bikes are stolen on their watch–they’ll be out $200. SmartBikes will soon be outfitted with independent wire locks so that cyclists can make pit stops wherever they want. No need to worry, though, about wheels getting pilfered. They’re not quick release and are too small for regular bike frames.

via Bike-Sharing Gets Smart – TIME.

The B Cycle site where the video came from, provides a really great way of seeing the impact of the B Cycle program- but, unfortunately, you can’t copy and paste the benefits elsewhere. If all of my readers would go to the site- and plug in their zip code, pick Dayton, I’m sure we’d be at the top of the list really quickly: http://bcycle.com/b_effect/

Sure, we could pave a few roads–or buy 2,000 bikes and 200 stations. Years from now, the roads will be in worse shape–but with the bikes–you’ll be in better shape. With our system of bike ways–and talk of complete streets, I think this is a better stimulus to our economy by far.

Help out- click on that last link.