Yesterday I heard it three times- “I’m boycotting the Dayton Daily News” – I don’t want to read their site, I don’t want to support their advertisers, I don’t want to talk to them- especially the editorial board.

This wasn’t in a crowd of my usual suspects- it was at the Dayton Regional Summit, hosted by Wright State University President David Hopkins. His annual meeting of the movers and shakers in the region (“Raider Country” as he calls it). The presidents of WSU, Miami, UC and Central State were there, State Reps and Senators were there, as were congressional representatives. It was primo face time. (afterthought- here is the very good video by Kenny Mosher that they showed- he also did the Downtown plan video and the google fiber video and the Blue Sky video…. he’s been busy.)

WSU Regional Summit Video from Kenny Mosher on Vimeo.

Dayton Business Journal publisher Neil Arthur was there- as were many local leaders. But, there were no people from the DDN, Montgomery County, City of Dayton (although someone said they saw Mayor Gary Leitzell in the parking lot). My post about the need for comment moderation on the DDN site was brought up quite often.

But, it’s even worse than just boycotting the DDN- they were also considering the same of sister Cox enterprise WHIO TV channel 7. It seems that people have had enough of the fear and loathing of Dayton from these media outlets. If I was Cox corporate in Atlanta I’d start worrying- and if I was hired as a PR firm to try to turn the tide of public opinion about these operations- I’d think twice about taking the account. It may be time for the Dayton Daily News to do a total rebrand and reconstitution of its internal leadership- before they get run out of town on a rail.

When community leaders no longer care to even argue with the powers that be- it’s a bad sign. With the ease of delivering a message via social media- who really needs the DDN anymore to publish a press release?

I remember when visiting Portland, Oregon, over 15 years ago- that reading “The Oregonian” gave me a totally different vibe than what I got from the Dayton Daily. I even wrote Max Jennings a note about it- suggesting they adopt one of the nice Oregonian touches- the page jumps said “Please see story X on pg 12″- just that little please was a hint that the paper had a good relationship with its readers and respected them. The DDN actually implemented the suggestion- before they decided we were too stupid to read stories like that jump and dumbed down the paper even more.

The collective self-loathing in Dayton comes from somewhere- and it wasn’t the people in the room yesterday.

With the DDN now hawking the price of $10 a month for a subscription- half of what it was, it’s become obvious that the value of the paper is dropping like a rock. Their offer of the “e-dition” which looks just like the paper and has “all the stories” is yet another too-little, too-late move.

When the newspaper hates the community that it covers- it’s not that hard for the community to hate it back. The only question that remains is how long can they continue to publish if every single person they call for an interview declines, and has nothing to say to them? Will it bring change?

Considering some of the people who said they no longer feel it appropriate to talk to the Dayton Daily News- we may soon find out.

Dayton has a highly paid professional who is supposed to lead the city. His name is Tim Riordan. In fact, he’s not paid enough to manage the types of responsibilities he’s tasked with- he makes half of what Jim Leftwich at the Dayton Development Coalition makes, but that’s another story.

Mayor Leitzell is one vote of five, on the Dayton City Commission- the “Board of Directors” for Riordan, the city manager. The mayor’s job is to represent the city at events, to preside over the meetings, and he can perform marriages, he’s a figurehead who has mythical power, but very little real power if the system is working the way it’s supposed to.

Unfortunately for Dayton, the system started breaking with our “rock ’n’ roll” mayor- Paul Leonard- which is right around the time I came to Dayton. Leonard fancied himself as powerful- even though the job paid half of what it does now- and he had the most capable city manager we’ve had since- Rick Helwig. Rick was a class act- in fact, Riordan was one of his protogés. Since then, we’ve had one stumble after another in both offices. Mayors who thought they would be kings and city managers who thought they were politicians. The system breaks when one starts thinking like the other.

Leitzell has taken the low key approach to being the chairman of the board. He’s worked well with a Democratic commission despite his endorsement by the Republican Party (he still claims not to be anything but an independent). He’s worked well with the city manager, and he’s spent time with the priority board chairs and neighborhood groups, business leaders, developers- he just hasn’t made it a circus, with him as ringmaster. When talking with him, he’s thinking about who will run for commission next year to challenge Commissioners Joseph and Lovelace- he’s not even sure if he’ll run again in 3.5 years- that’s not on his radar right now- fixing problems is.

Seth Godin drops pearls of wisdom on his blog daily- and one that hit just before Dayton Daily News editorial board hack, Marting Gottlieb, posted his latest smear job attempt on Leitzell may just be what this city needs to do- vis-a-vis the Dayton Daily Downer:

Critics and fans, passersby and the media crave a battle, a scandal and heroic stories of winning and losing.Want to get written up on a tech blog? Just post a really angry rant about your competition.Want to sell tickets to the hockey game? Just put a few brawlers on the team.The media demands that a politician “get angry” in the face of a conflict or problem that anger won’t have any effect on–but it will make a good story. Your customers demand that you stop doing what’s always worked and race to follow a trend or launch a risky sideline…When you stumble or fall, they won’t say, “sorry, we were wrong.” They’ll say, “what were you thinking!” and talk about it even more. And then the cycle continues.

via Seth’s Blog: Drop everything, we need you to perform in our circus.

It was the comments section on an incendiary piece that attacked Leitzell for fixing his own roof and a letter to the editor attacking Leitzell for challenging the DDN to get their geography right  that were so vile- and so ignorant, that I demanded accountability from the DDN- and even threatened them with a libel suit. Soon after, the DDN blew away and closed all comments on these pieces. However, it seems that Leitzell is taking exactly the right tack by not joining the DDN circus, where if it bleeds, it leads- and if we can draw blood- we will.

This is the total opposite of the media whore we had running the city previously, who would go out of the way to get attention with outlandish hats, funky glasses and speeches at every opportunity. Of course, now that she’s sucking at the government teat for her health care- and working for Ted Strickland- the hats and glasses are gone. Welcome to the closing of the big top Dayton- you have Mayor Leitzell to thank.

Free speech is a wonderful thing- when you sign your name.

Up over 24 hours on the DDN site

When you don’t- and can hide behind a nom de plume and spew garbage it’s not free speech- it’s hate speech, and the Dayton Daily News is helping propagate it daily.

On the DDN site for over 24 hrs attacking the Mayor of Dayton

So- let’s explain it: Ellen Belcher is an inexpensive courtesan, and a bad dancer. The first part- calling someone a cheap whore, is slander if spoken or libel if printed, the second is a matter of opinion. Either, without the force of attaching my true name-is just a cheap shot at the Editorial page editor of the Dayton Daily News. Please note, this entire post is a matter of political satire- and protected under the First Amendment, or at least under the same rules that the Dayton Daily News must use to allow this garbage on their site.

Yet another comment- up over 12 hours

The denigration of Dayton has become sport for the paper- and as practiced by some commentators on the newspaper’s website- an art form. Even when you “report abuse” it’s often a long time before the comment comes down- if at all. These examples that will be used have been up for at least a day.

Why use your real name?

Mayor Leitzell called the paper out in a letter to the editor for using the region’s name in bad news stories, is- “Firm leaves Dayton” when in fact, they were leaving Harrison Township.

Responses to Mayor Leitzell's invitation to meet

The comments there have been relatively sanitized. Then, Oakwood resident, attorney and former Oakwood Council member, Jeff Ireland, castigates Leitzell for writing a letter to the editor.

I read Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell’s letter chastising the Dayton Daily News for reporting — inaccurately and misleadingly, in his view — news about businesses leaving “Dayton” when they were actually located in Harrison Twp. and Springboro.

Leitzell criticizes the paper for “bashing” Dayton because it suggests to the public that businesses are leaving “Dayton.”

The DDN is reporting facts that are neither inaccurate nor misleading. The mayor’s reaction, however, is troubling. Dayton is the center of our region. To suggest that the newspaper should refer to Dayton only by its geographical boundaries is nonsense.

via Mayor’s parochial, short-sighted view of Dayton is troubling.

The comments on that letter, would make a solider blush- and did I mention that the Dayton Daily News has a National Socialist on their Editorial Board with a Hebraic name- and that Martin Gottlieb sexually molests infants?

even when the Mayor offers to meet...

The Dayton Daily News sells it’s website as an advertising platform- running ads that generate revenue with every “viewing”- so it is in their best interest to garner as many page loads as possible- leaving garbage like the comments on this letter seem to help generate more views- as the same losers keep returning to add to their pile of manure.

Other publications have dealt with these issues by requiring signing in under a verified profile- or allowing the community to vote comments up or down (as we do on Esrati.com). The Dayton Daily News has a “REPORT ABUSE” button that takes filling in 3 fields for every single instance of crap.

Don't try to reason with us.

The Huffington Post went as far as to buy a comment moderation company. Read more- in this piece on APR Marketplace:

Jeff Horwich: In Internet culture, the tendency of online comments to head for the gutter has a name: “The Greater Internet Jerkwad Theory.” OK, it’s not really “jerkwad” — but what do you think this is, the Internet?

Eva Galperin with the Electronic Frontier Foundation defines it:

Eva Galperin: The theory posits that the combination of a perfectly normal human being, total anonymity and an audience will result in a cesspit.

Read the original theory here

Online comments are a magnet for name-calling, political screeds — nastiness that turns off web surfers…
With 3.2 million comments in June, the Huffington Post didn’t hire a company to moderate. It bought one. This summer, the politics and news site acquired Adaptive Semantics, and its proprietary software called “JuLiA.”

Arianna Huffington is the site’s editor-in-chief.

Arianna Huffington: You can program JuLiA to look for whatever you don’t want on your site. For example, we don’t like people comparing either Democrats or Republicans to Nazis.

But JuLiA is way smarter than that. Its algorithms look for patterns that indicate anyone disruptive — veering off-topic, ranting like a zealot, using insulting language. Even mild terms like “moron” or “empty suit” can flag you for a look from a human moderator, who gets final say over whether to ban your comment.

Huffington is also trying to take on the bad seeds by deputizing the best commenters with digital “badges” — like “Level 2 Networker” or “Level 3 Superuser.”

via ‘Comment cops’ help manage websites | Marketplace From American Public Media.

Instead of dealing with the “jerkwads” the Dayton Daily has resorted to closing comments on many articles after initially allowing them (deleting all comments posted). This is often used on crime articles- or those concerning African Americans- as the comments come straight from the local chapter of the KKK. Their other technique- of late, has been to allow comments on Facebook- where identities must be verified (for the most part)- however, they are giving up viewers from their URL and handing the traffic to Facebook (that then gets to make money on the ads).

There have been pleas from readers to clean this mess up, however Kevin Riley, the editor of the paper has failed to respond- probably because he’s a soiled personal sanitary device and a convicted felon.

It would seem that the Dayton Daily News’ refusal to address the communities concerns about the drivel being posted needs an elevation in priority- maybe calling the education writer, Scott Elliot a pedophile online will make it a more immediate concern for those involved, however I doubt it.

The paper also seems to think retribution is OK as well. Right after they published Leitzell’s letter they wrote a tabloid style trash article about Leitzell taking time away from being a part-time Mayor to fix his roof, knowing full well that he is only required by charter to rule over one meeting a week. They made sure to glorify Paul Leonard and Rhine McLin for their dedication in making the position full time- but left out Clay Dixon who held a job with the Dayton Public Schools (that he was forced to resign from when it was finally disclosed that he had claimed sick time when traveling on City Business) and no mention of Mike Turner who was busy working as a corporate counsel for MTC during much of his term. You can read the Mayor’s response and story of his roof on his blog here.

It gives me no joy in writing this editorial- with these sick accusations published for all to see, but it seems that the Dayton Daily News has zero concern for the issue by allowing it to continue for years without an adequate response. Of course, they have been involved in character assassination of this writer  for years without a single acknowledgment of my right to run for office without personal denigration and embarrassment.

If you believe that the Dayton Daily News should be held responsible for the destruction of our communities collective soul through piecemeal attacks and wholesale negativity- please consider signing your name to a comment on this post in support. Please be aware that this site doesn’t allow ad hominem attacks, and is moderated fairly regularly by me- and that readers have the option to vote your comment off the visible comments. Also know, that if you try to impersonate any of the named people who work at the DDN- I will double check and hold those comments.

Thank you

Addition Aug 25, 2010 7:49 am I sent a note to the Editors asking them to address this issue in an editorial on a Sunday. I sent them a link to this post. They deleted all comments from Mr. Ireland’s letter- and then when the jerk showed back up- they deleted it quicker (under 12 hours).

However- they’ve allowed comments to move onto another thread- and they have been up since their post times until now:

Screen shot taken Aug 25 at 7:48 am

And- to make Bob happy- yes, this entire post was authored by David “knobhead” Esrati

When Marvin Olinsky retired, his deputy- Charlie Shoemaker took over Five Rivers MetroParks. When Charlie Shoemaker retired, we’re hearing that the organization is doing a national search.

The Dayton Daily News weighs in with its typical “Let the community in” BS- of course, they don’t let the community sit in when they pick their endorsements for office (and get pissed when I publish a podcast of the actual interview)- and they talk about regionalism- but when push comes to shove- they endorse the same old BS.

Here is a snippet from Ellen Belcher’s editorial:

Mr. Shoemaker’s successor has to have thoughts on all these issues and more. And the park district’s three commissioners need to make sure that the public hears the applicants’ pitches. Specifically, the commissioners need to create a committee of stakeholders to help vet candidates. And there need to be opportunities for the public to put questions to the finalists.

via Vet Metro Parks’ new chief publicly | A Matter of Opinion.

Now, let’s see- the board is three people, Irv Bieser, Alan Pippenger and Karen Davis. All three were picked from the community- not from a “National Search.”

For the last four years- the Deputy Director Carrie Scarff has been working as the second in command. If she’s not prepared to step into Charlie’s shoes, why is she still the deputy director?

There are other superstars in this organization, including Nate Arnett- the director of Adventure Central. Surely- someone inside this large and diverse organization is capable of leadership? If not, we should be replacing the board first.

There are very few regional park systems as diverse in programming as Five Rivers Metroparks. Anyone stepping in from out of town would face a steep learning curve. Then there is also the local politics- remember what happened to Bill Estabrook- and how fast did Valerie Lemmie run out of town once her sugar daddy’s days were over? National searches bring opportunists and carpetbaggers- and a steep learning curve. One estimate from someone connected to the organization who is well respected said five years. Can we really afford that?

Five Rivers Metroparks has grown with locally grown talent, into one of the ONLY regional cooperation success stories. Listening to the Dayton Daily News editorial board- or wasting time and money on a national search would be a step backward as well as a slap in the face to the people who have worked hard to grow MetroParks into the success it is.

When can we, the community, vote on the qualifications of Ellen Belcher and the rest of the Editorial Board? Remember, these are the people who endorsed Rhine McLin and Joe Roberts. And, when they’ve hired people after a national search- what happened? Eddie Roth, Leigh Allan, hello? Hypocrites.

I can’t make this up- official internal memo:

From: “Cooper, Brian (CNI -Atlanta)” <Brian.Cooper@coxinc.com>

Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 12:10:19 -0400
To: All Cox Media Group Ohio <>
Conversation: Media Center Flea Update

Subject: Media Center Flea Update

We’re continuing work on the problem with fleas in the Media Center.

We’ve spoken with the exterminators, and we’ve decided to make a major effort tonight to eliminate the fleas. Many of you will be affected by this. Here are some details:

*       We will close our building from 8 p.m. Monday until 5 a.m. on Tuesday so that the entire building can be treated during that time. No employees will be permitted in the building during those hours.

*       We are working on a plan for the newspapers and web sites to be produced from other locations. If you normally work at night, talk to your manager about where you should work.

*       We’ve been assured by our exterminators that the process and materials used in our building are safe.

*       We’ve made cans of  insect repellant available throughout the building. Some of you have asked for that, especially when you leave the building.  Please use it in a well-ventilated area.

We will be obtaining more information and sharing it with you as we get it; you can expect another update later today. We appreciate your help and patience with this.

If you have any other questions, please talk to your manager.

Thanks, Brian

______________________________________

Brian G. Cooper
Senior VP – Operations, Cox Media Group Ohio
Work:  937-225-2321

Cell:  404-697-8xx3

Now- not even safe to line birdcages with.

The wise ones at the Dayton Daily News, the ones who endorse Mike Turner every time (even though they don’t agree with him), have chosen a 25-year-old college dropout who has “been involved in political causes for a long time” to go head-to-head with Turner for Congress.

Yes- the same people who endorsed Rhine McLin, want to send a lamb to a lions’ fight:

Joe Roberts also lists education as his top priority, seeking an “overhaul” of “the system.” He points to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown as a role model, and expresses general support of the Democratic “platform.”

He is a political consultant, saying he has worked for such low-profile candidates as Stephanie Studebaker and Dr. Mark MacNealy (who each briefly put their names up to run against Rep. Turner). Dr. MacNealy is the fellow whose withdrawal resulted in this special election.

Mr. Roberts has been involved in political causes (immigration reform, Barack Obama, Israel) for a long time, or at least long for his age, 25.

And of course, they couldn’t resist trying to pigeon-hole me:

Mr. Esrati wants to be known not simply for running for election repeatedly, but for his blog, which he says fosters public discussion of issues and offers his views on them.

He mentions Rep. Dennis Kucinich, of the Cleveland area, as a political role model. As a presidential candidate, Rep. Kucinich took positions to the left of then-Sen. Obama and everybody else.

Mr. Esrati’s thinking continues to be hard to track. At the editorial board meeting, he said he favored the Obama stimulus, but would oppose a second one on constitutional grounds. (He invoked the 10th Amendment and the commerce clause.) Given that the Constitution hasn’t changed, there’s a disconnect in his logic.

Known for a confrontational temperament, he is unsuited to public office, better suited to gadfly status.

The best choice is Mr. Roberts, though, like Mr. Fogle, he would be a better choice for a lower-level job.

via Editorial: Joe Roberts best Dem bet in 3rd District primary | A Matter of Opinion.

And, of course, they are welcome to their opinion.

But, they aren’t allowed to do it in secret anymore. I’ve had it with the high-handed treatment- so I recorded it for you to listen to. Why not? They had their recorders (2 of them) going.

You can listen and form your own opinion.

And- as a final note: If you believe in something, and keep trying to accomplish it, why would you be mocked for trying and failing? Thomas Edison, Michael Jordan and many other successful people will tell you- true winners don’t give up.

Guy Fogle looks like a politician. Joe Roberts sounds like a politician. And then, there’s me.

That’s my take from the screening by the Dayton Daily News editorial board of the three candidates for the special democratic primary for OH-3 which takes place on Tuesday, July 13, 2010.

The questions were softies- as if the editors felt sorry for us running to run against their favorite son, Mike Turner.. Martin Gottlieb had to explain what a “Blue dog” Democrat was to Guy. I had to explain what instant-runoff voting was to Martin. Roberts was waffling on what campaigns he’d worked on- and what he’d done.

When asked what elected official we’d compare ourselves to- Fogle said “Capps” and couldn’t even give her first name: I’m assuming Lois Capps of CA.

Roberts chose Sherrod Brown. And, of course, I picked the abrasive one- Dennis Kucinich – because he stands up for what he believes.

One change- Jim Barrett from WHIO radio was there and taped the whole thing. It would be great if he put the whole thing up as a podcast- so you can hear for yourself.

Ellen Belcher had a problem at first with Ice Bandit’s endorsement letter- but as I explained, you allow anonymous comments on your site galore- so why not the ol’ bandito’s.

I think she’s actually going to run it.

Of course, she still doesn’t understand why I’m running, nor measures my increased number of votes per dollar spent with each election as credible.

I’ll reserve my judgment on the other candidates for after the League of Women Voters forum this Wednesday night at Montgomery County Democratic HQ, 7:30 pm. I’ll run tape and have it on youtube for you as well.

While the Dayton Daily News has everything you need to know about Touchdown Jesus, a major lawsuit was filed on the 11th of June that not only attacks the dirty world of Dayton’s political monarchy, but also the State of Ohio’s insane laws that create huge barriers of entry for Independent or third-party candidates.

C. Ralph Wilcoxon, II may be one of my new personal heroes. A magistrate working under Tony Capizzi, (who has no problem employing his family) who chose to challenge the boss for his job found out the following things:

1. Independents have to file a ton more signatures than Dems or Reps to run
2. You lose your job
3. The partisan board of elections will crawl through your signatures to disqualify as many as possible- until you end up 1 short.

So he does what a lawyer does, he sues the Board of Elections. Of course, this is kept quiet from the public- but here is the writ of mandamus Wilcoxson VS Board of Elections PDF that is on the expedited docket. Case #CA24095 on the PRO system.

I highly recommend reading it. I’ve OCR’d it so it can now be found via Google- and is ADA compliant- something our current Clerk of Courts should be in JAIL for not doing.

Ralph’s conclusion is the basis of my complaint with our entire state of affairs when it comes to ballot access and the inviolate “Two-Party System”

CONCLUSION

The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, yet onerous requirements and extensive administrative problems work to disenfranchise voters further compromising the rights of candidates to gain ballot access and voters to select the candidate of their choosing are both burdensome and unlawful. These barriers make it difficult for minor parties and independent candidates to gain access to the ballot. The clear goal is to freeze the status quo and diminish free speech and the democratic process. The political machines will do everything and anything to intimidate, entice and cajole opponents of their party controlled candidate to drop out of the race.

Our Founding Fathers envisioned a country where successful citizens would leave their chosen professions and answer a call to serve their country in the Judiciary and legislature as a patriotic duty. The republic was supposed to be run by people of varied experiences and passions who joined together from a wide array of fields to solve problems. But somewhere along the way, the lust for money and power corrupted the process. And now the government is increasingly run by those who choose the blood sport of politics as a profession, where the only priority is to keep control at all cost. Election laws are built by and for the two parties that have taken turns running the state. The state has gone to extreme measures to keep independents and third-party candidates off the ballots. Application of the statues and the respondent ’s failure to accurately count and validate signatures has resulted in irreparable harm to the Relator. The totality of the circumstances has made it nearly impossible for Relator to gain access to the ballot. If the court does not intervene the status quo will remain frozen and make it impossible for independent candidates to gain access to the ballot.

A few of the facts: Judges aren’t allowed to state political positions when campaigning. And, while they can get backed by political parties, I’m forgetting the rules on if they can identify themselves with a political party (I think the answer is NO) and their party affiliation doesn’t appear on the ballot.

In Montgomery County- this almost always means that deals are done- and most judges run un-opposed.

Our laws about “Independent Candidates” and ballot access are totally bogus. Only this year, thanks to Jennifer Brunner, can independent candidates list their party affiliation on the ballot- without the required 15% of the Gubernatorial ballot.

If Wilcoxson had been a D or an R- he would have had to turn in 50 signatures. As a minor party- only have to turn in 25. His standard was 1893! He turned in 2,200 before the BOE went to work as graphologists to judge signatures. Please tell me your signature is the same on a clipboard as on a desk…. yeah right. Maybe now you’ll understand why I was taking video of my signers on my last petition drive.

What this comes down to is the right of the people of the County to choose from a slate of candidates has not been given them by the political elitists who believe they have the right to choose who runs and who doesn’t. Isn’t that what elections are supposed to be for?

Eleven stories, two editorials on the lightning strike on Touchdown Jesus in the Dayton Daily News- or should I say the “Touchdown Jesus News”

Here is the complete listing of stories about the lightning strike on Touchdown Jesus:

1. Sculptor: Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it
2. Jesus statue fire damages estimated at $700,000
3. Some say there is meaning behind destruction of giant Jesus statue
4. Meltdown of statue elicits worldwide awe, response
5. ‘Big Butter’ song adds death verse after fire
6. Rebuilt Jesus statue will be fireproof, pastor says
7. Should Solid Rock rebuild its giant and costly statue?
8. News of fire at church spread quickly through social media
9. Comedian updates song after demise of ‘Big Butter Jesus’
10. Drivers stopping to see statue remains cited
11. Some ‘mourn’ loss of Jesus statue

and the two editorials:

1. Editorial: In life and in flames, it grabbed eyes
2. Put a headline on “Touchdown Jesus”

The last link, actually asks for headlines, and some are quite funny.

However, this is more coverage than the BP Oil Spill and probably equal to the coverage on the first day of 9/11.

Look to see a special supplement with a “poster” of the before and after, with the ad department calling it a collectible.

The Desperate Daily News has reached a new low. However, I’m sure that this is nothing compared to the public burning they will give me at the candidates interview on Monday, June 28 when I meet with their editorial board (the one that has to ask their readers for help with headlines).

And for the record, God apparently does have a sense of humor, or takes the part about making no graven images even more seriously than we thought.

Of course then again- everyone’s a critic.

[addition for reader Drexel Dave]

Touchdown Jesus speaks

I wrote this this morning with the idea of sending it to the Dayton Daily News as an op-ed piece. However, I know that they’ll hack it to pieces- or run it on a Monday when nobody reads it. If you think it’s worthy- send a note to edletter@daytondailynews.com and suggest they publish it.

I’m not feeling the love for them right now- and I’m strongly in favor of them moving to a registration system for comments on their site to at least prevent multiple identities online. I’m pretty sure most of you agree that the time has come to clean that mess up.

A friend commented to me the other day that Daytonians consider themselves an inferior race. Yet, when looking over comments on the Dayton Daily News article about ministers asking to extend public transit to the mall doors- it would seem that Dayton is full of racists who believe that owning a car gives you rights to shop at a mall. One person even signed their name “Archie Bunker” – which probably has zero meaning to people under the age of 40 (for the youngsters, it was a name of a racist character in a politically incorrect sitcom from the Seventies).

I doubt many of these people would spew such filth if they had to sign their name to what they say? The problem is, as a community, we seem to be terrified of those who openly hold strong opinions. Our idea of “leadership” almost always equals “consensus builder” and “moderate” or at least the appearance of it. We shy away from debate, instead, always forcing moderated panels and forums with strict rules of engagement.

In my many campaigns for political office, I’ve yet to have an opportunity to ask my opponent what they actually would do, instead, having to rely on questions from an oft naïve audience to challenge the banality of what passes for political discourse. When in the secretive confines of the Dayton Daily News editorial board screenings, it’s considered bad form when I asked how Ms. Whaley can explain a $5,500 donation to her campaign from a demolition contractor from Westerville. I get labeled “abrasive” she gets a hall-pass. These types of questions are standard practice in politics anywhere else but here- and if confounds me.

We’re also fond of holding “Summits” – where the public is invited to come write on big pieces of paper on the walls of a room, then go around with sticky little dots and place them next to ideas they like. Then the “best ideas” are “ranked” and our job is done- and yet another “plan” is championed as the will of the people.

This kind of circus is antithetic to how game changing works. Most “big ideas” are those that don’t garner wide support, or are simple to grasp. They usually involve, as Ross Perot once called the kind of people he liked to hire, “a monomaniac on a mission” or a champion. Great ideas often take time to develop, and require a good vetting- open debate, with pros and cons weighed out by true experts- not by whoever showed an interest and showed up that day.

Former City of Dayton Planning Director Paul Woodie once said to me “in Dayton you need a herd to be heard.” This kind of group-think, and the idea that only popular ideas are good ones have done our community no favors. We tend to push plain vanilla ideas as solutions, and only if tried and tested elsewhere.

We’ve hired in consultants from out of town to do our thinking for us on how to keep our young people here. We’re about to have another cattle-call for ideas on how to change our community for the better so people will stop leaving.

Here’s my idea: stop being boring. Stop demanding safe. Stop hiding behind sticky dots and anonymous postings and say what you really think.

Sure it will be messy, uncomfortable and feelings may get hurt, but if you want to make this a colorful community, we need to stop working with simple vocabularies and voices that continue to lead us with shades of gray, because we are afraid to speak in terms that are colorful.

For the last four years I’ve published my ideas online and given the world the ability to comment on them. My blog is well read by Dayton “leadership” – I know, because so many of them have told me so. What’s sad is that they’ve also said that they wish they had the freedom to say what I say, or use the kind of language I do.

Is that really the Dayton we want? Maybe it’s why we have the Dayton we have.

One still torn by the effects of racism, hurt by the resulting economic segregation and being subjugated by fear of the power of ad individual with a strong voice.

Our country was founded to protect the rights of the individual. Dayton is barely surviving because we fear to champion outspoken individuals.

It’s time to start over, without the anonymity of the sticky dot and to give up on the group-think.

In my last post we talked about the failings of “You Betcha, Belcher” and her crew at the Dayton Daily News editorial board. The competency of questioning and the actual accuracy of their statements border on  libel. But, that never stopped them from actually presenting information that would be useful- no, that would be up to the readers in the comments- that, of course is why Cox publishing pays Ellen the big bucks.

They slammed Virgil Vaduva in their endorsement editorial, and to some degree, probably rightfully so. Here is Vaduva’s response in their comments:

By Virgil Vaduva

April 13, 2010 3:42 PM | Link to this

I want to thank the DDN Editorial folks for meeting with me. But for the record, I would like to correct a few glaring and I hope, inadvertent errors: I do not live in Cedarville; I live in Xenia, I mentioned this several times during the interview. Dayton Development Coalition is involved in local backroom political deals which are highly questionable, and there is no evidence that DDC has brought in any jobs or has directly benefited Greene County; I mentioned this in the interview. Defending them is not something Alan Anderson should be proud of. I specifically mentioned during the interview that school district taxes are a big part of the “high taxes” problems in Greene County. Most SDs are run by Republicans, which illustrate my point, namely that Greene County Republicans have abandoned their principles of small government and low taxation. I mentioned this during the interview as well. I made the Children Services 2007-2009 budged public – I will let the readers decide and wonder why Dayton Daily News thinks this is an appropriate budget and how they can justify this unheard-of level of bureaucracy. Sincerely, Virgil Vaduva

via Editorial: Anderson is better Greene County pick | A Matter of Opinion.

Missing where Vaduva lives is a pretty basic journalism. Vaduva first came to my attention when he filed suit against Xenia for hiring the political consulting firm (lobbying firm) Avakian Consulting, to do “marketing of the community” with tax dollars- when it was really money to research a chance of a property tax increase. You’d think this would be mentioned in the editorial? Of course not.

The editorial focused on which candidate would suck up most to the Dayton Development Coalition- an organization already well known for handing out no-bid contracts to congressman Turner’s wife for the pathetic “Get Midwest” branding campaign that had insane cost overruns.

And while Vaduva’s opponent talks about wanting to make sure Greene county gets high speed internet access- he doesn’t sound like the highest bandwidth candidate either. Maybe this is a race where the editorial should say- “we wouldn’t endorse either for anything.” Yet, they do say Vaduva is “pleasant” and think he should be running for some “legislative seat” while at the same time claiming he says taxes “are a “violent means” of taking people’s property.”

The reality is, there probably will be a democrat facing these two (a useful news item that’s missing from the editorial) that almost has to be a better alternative (we would hope). Or, if you think about it- since the Greene Commission is a three person board- how bad can it be to have one elected free-thinker/alternative thinker? In Europe having third, fourth and fifth party voices never seems to get in the way of having something happen- why is it so feared here? He can’t pass a thing on his own- without getting at least one other vote.

However, the most interesting part of the DDN editorial- is something posted in the comments on the letters of support: a link to a site claiming to unmask the real Virgil. Posted by “Dan”

Learn all about Virgil Vaduva:
http://cedarvilleheart.blogspot.com

6:12 PM, 4/13/2010

Interesting stuff, but not any more legitimate than the Dayton Daily News editorial info.

This is why candidate blogs, straight from the horses mouth, are so critical in online reputation and policy positions. You’ll find enough stuff on my site to form an opinion, one way or another about me (although it might take you a while to read through it all). Why isn’t this a basic requirement for all candidates? And while Vaduva has his own site (or sites as the Cedarvilleheart site claims) – why can’t we see a video of the DDN endorsement meeting- or listen in on a podcast from it? What does the DDN have to hide?

I made every attempt to post candidates nights to YouTube- to provide access for all. Why aren’t other candidates doing the same?

Shouldn’t voters be able to make up their minds based on the actual words of the candidates- instead of through the “Belcher filter”?

Straight up- I’m no fan of any members of the Dayton Daily News Editorial board (past or present). After at least 6 or 7 sessions with them (who’s counting anyways) I can tell you, I’ve faced tougher, more insightful questions from school kids.

Ellen Belcher took some of her valuable time and editorial space a few weeks ago to lament on her tough job of screening people for you- so you won’t have to engage your brain:

One task we on the editorial page take seriously is making judgments about people who run for office. Maybe that sounds arrogant. But think about it: How many people have time to make it their job to look into the qualifications and backgrounds of the individuals who decide our tax rates, make our laws and even send people to jail for life?

Do you have time to do that?

Voting requires a certain amount of homework if you’re serious about making informed choices. I’ve made decisions about whom not to vote for based on commercials. But I can’t think of a 30-second spot that has sold me on somebody.

via Ellen Belcher: Us vetting candidates might help you make choices | A Matter of Opinion.

Once again, the Dayton Daily News clearly states that they don’t think you are smart enough to think for yourself- or do the research. Of course, doing the research is incredibly hard using their attempt at “journalism” because of, well, time for the bullet list:

• The newspaper search tool on their site makes it impossible to do any kind of research on past articles.
• The content they now publish online and offline don’t match- so it’s really hard for you to quote their quotes- to establish positions of these candidates when push comes to shove.
• The articles themselves have shrunk in length, and often have to include more background than actual story to make sense- so that you don’t get enough information to make a good decision.
• Often times political coverage isn’t “Fair” or “Balanced” or even objective- often editorializing- like the accomplishments of Gary Leitzell as Mayor in his first 100 days.
• The comments, which can often provide additional information- opinion, or insight are unreliable at best (to be valid, or to remain online) thanks to their haphazard management. The 500 word limit tied to “no html” policies limit public discourse on the matters.

As to the actual information the editorial board cares about- the main ones almost always come down to:

1. Who is endorsing you?
2. How much money did you raise?

Integrity or ideas be damned. We’ll never see the DDN endorse a maverick, firebrand, or someone who doesn’t color inside the lines- because the editorial board isn’t to be trusted with crayons yet. Their analysis and opinions seem to be rooted in what is safe, trusted, conservative and reads more like a call from central casting for a non-descript actor to put in a position to play a role.

Even when the election of a candidate should have zero tangible outcome on a 5 person body- they will always opt for the closest to “tried and true.” Or what worked before, should continue to work- without ever defining what “work” should “achieve.”

In fact, we ask too little of our candidates, and expect less. That a candidate can even be considered serious without an active blog or social media connection to constituents should be an automatic ding.

Accepting large donations from lobbyists from out of town- should be another- but, alas, I’m wandering now.

Here is the Dayton Grassroots Daily Show discussion- which meanders, as only Greg can, on the subject: Enjoy:

The Dayton Daily News just blew away about 50 comments on its article about Gary Leitzell’s first 100 days.

What gives?

The new mayor earned praise for making city commission agendas more transparent and he has kept a campaign promise to curtail the practice of pushing through legislation as emergency ordinances, which gave little time for public scrutiny.

via A look at Gary Leitzell’s first 100 days.

And, I hate to say it- both of these were my issues – from years ago- and on the campaign trail. I never heard Gary mention either of these issues while campaigning. I do respect and appreciate the fact that he has acted on them. It’s more than can be said for the other 4 commissioners who have little to point to in terms of procedural change- in 4 years- never mind 100 days.

The Dayton Daily News has been inconsistent about allowing comments on articles. There doesn’t seem to be rhyme or reason to which articles allow comments, which ones don’t- and on more than a few occasions- they’ve blown the comments away and closed them.

Today Greene Party Tea Party candidate Virgil Vaduva pointed out that they’d taken down a post about his lawsuit against Greene County for hiring Avakian Consulting with tax dollars to prep a levy, or pass it, or do “marketing.” The post may return 404 errors- but, the wonders of the internet do provide access to it still via cache.

The last comment on it in my cached version was my own:

If you are interested in reading more about Burges & Burges who have the Dayton Public Schools no-bid contract: http://esrati.com/?s=burges
And more about the Greene County lawsuit specifically: http://esrati.com/now-political-con…
It would be interesting to see what “deliverables” were actually delivered to Dayton Public Schools over the last 15 months- and to note that the contract was just as long as the superintendent’s stay (Burges recom. Stanic)

David Esrati
2010-03-25 06:58:44.091

People have made death threats against me on the DDN site. They removed the comment after I flagged it (actually, they closed comments altogether if I remember correctly).

Although there has been community support for better moderation- including a facebook group and a discussion on Dayton Most Metro- nothing has happened. And although I allow a lot of you to post under the cover of a screen name, I only allow one- and try to keep it honest. I also prohibit nasty name calling- unless it’s at me (at least here- I can respond- on other site, I may or may not be able to).

The Dayton Daily News has been asked to put in some kind of community moderation tools- but has ignored all input from the community.

There is a mess up in Cleveland- with the Cleveland Plain Dealer and its Cleveland.com site at the center. Apparently when you make comments about the mental competence of a Plain Dealer employee- that reveal private information about the mental health of an employee’s relative – you’re fair game for being exposed investigated and then exposed-  but, not if you libel public officials incessantly.

This may end up in the courts- and rise as high as the Supreme Court. It will take years to get something definitive on the books, but when it happens it will have far reaching implication for the Web 2.0 world.

I highly recommend reading the whole story- but here’s the brief cut:

By unmasking an anonymous poster at its companion Web site, The Plain Dealer finds itself in an ethical quandary, stirring a debate that balances the public’s need to know against the privacy concerns of online participants….

Until this week, “lawmiss” was known only as one of thousands who, often known only by nicknames, share views on news blogs and stories reported at cleveland.com.

But after investigating a comment directed at the relative of a Plain Dealer reporter, editors learned that lawmiss had the same e-mail address as Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold. A closer look revealed that the user had offered opinions on three of Saffold’s cases, including the capital murder trial of accused serial killer Anthony Sowell.

via Plain Dealer sparks ethical debate by unmasking anonymous Cleveland.com poster | cleveland.com.

It’s my position that we’d be better off if people signed their names- or at least used a verified account and were held responsible for what trash they post. I don’t put near as much stock in comments that are unsigned. If you have something to say- especially if it’s calling someone or some organization out- I believe a spine is prerequisite.

Could the DDN do a lot better with its comments. Absolutely. Could it actually increase traffic to its site by doing it correctly- absolutely. It’s actually in its best interest. However, it seems to like maintaining a grocery store checkout gossip rag online instead of a newspaper.

Keep your eyes on this Cleveland.com story- it’s only bound to get better.

Regular readers will know this subject is nothing new- we’ve got too many chiefs for a shrinking number of Indians. Not only that, but the Indians aren’t getting enough work since paying for all those chiefs costs business a bit more than it does in other states. But, it’s not just a matter of too many chiefs, it’s a question of are any of them any good?

If they want to keep trying to work with the system we have, the answer is simple: Nope, none of them are worth even the time it would take to think about recalling them (another issue in Ohio is it is almost impossible to depose anyone- no matter how incompetent). Of course, no one listens to local logic- nope, we have to wait for some out of town consulting firm or thinktank to tell us the obvious (in this case it’s the Brookings Institute):

School districts are not the only thing Ohio has in spades. It also has some 3,800 local government units, including 250 cities, 695 villages and 1,308 townships. The result is that “total local government payroll in Ohio is 10 percent above the national average and 17.5 percent above the peer state average,” according to Brookings.

None of this government is free, which leads to another finding: Ohio residents have the ninth-highest local tax burden in the country, compared with the 34th highest for state taxes. To know that fact is to understand that concentrating all the political fights about taxes in Columbus — as if state taxes alone define our competitiveness — is missing a big cost of doing business and living in Ohio.

via Editorial: Ohio’s rebound depends on cities | A Matter of Opinion.

But then again, even with reducing the numbers of fiefdoms, we’d still have to have someone to run the show. In Montgomery County, that job falls to Deborah “Teflon” Feldman, our County Administrator. She’s the “CEO” of the County- one that’s been hemorrhaging jobs and property value over the last 15 years. Of course, no one wants to blame Deborah, because she’s so good at what she does- mainly, keep the County Government out of the limelight and letting the city of Dayton sink or swim on its own. Not her problem- and not one she wants to take on. Of course, the problems she faces seem to get to be someone else’s fault every time- the buck never stops with her. Read what the DDN editorial written by her friend Ellen Belcher says:

Lesser embarrassments have cost people their jobs. But no one in high places is pointing a finger at Deborah Feldman, Montgomery County administrator. In fact, quite the opposite, they defend her fiercely and say they’re heartsick that she’s had to do most of the explaining publicly for the SCLC debacle.

The support for her stems from history, relationships and capital built up over almost 30 years.

via Ellen Belcher: County’s Feldman will weather SCLC storm | A Matter of Opinion.

Of late, even though we seem to have a bi-monthly scandal, no one wants to look at the top. The SCLC getting handed Federal funds without follow up, the Sheriff and his sister, the 911 dispatch system, the attempt to sneak in a vote to raise the hotel/motel tax to pay for a hockey arena at Austin Road, the big donation to the Dayton Development Coalition so that it could hire Congressman Turner’s wife on a no-bid contract- nothing seems to stick to her or her very slick aide de camp, County Economic Development Director Joe Tuss. No one is asking the hard questions about how this brilliant ED/GE fund is working at turning our community around. Nope, none of it is her fault, although she’s the second highest paid public employee in the County (after Dr. Stephen Johnson at Sinclair).

I’d still like to see an investigation into how the City of Dayton bought the old Sears building downtown from an investment group including Feldman’s husband and father in law at an enormous premium to put up the Riverscape fountains (and btw- how did that work out for us?).

The Dayton Grassroots Daily Show discusses both of these editorials and hopes that after reading and watching this- you have questions of your own.

Enjoy:

If a single tax dollar from an Ohio resident goes to a company that’s planning on manufacturing $200,000 flying cars, it’s time for a revolt.

Sure 11% unemployment is an issue, but so is delivering the basic services like police and fire to the businesses that you already have. Using your tax dollars to help launch a business just because it’s  somehow vaguely connected to “the invention of flight” in the name of “economic development” isn’t how to spend time or money right now.

We could invest in simplifying and streamlining government, so as to make the tax burden lower on all Ohio businesses and to make it easier to do business here. Start out with building a much better business registration, fee and tax portal- one stop for the entire State.

Instead, the Dayton Daily News makes an editorial endorsement of chasing after flying cars- talk about a strangely bad idea:

At this stage, Terrafugia only employs about 10 people. How many it might want to hire is another unknown. Economic development officials in Dayton weren’t aware of the company’s plans when the story broke. That’s no reflection on them. Every indication is that Terrafugia’s obsession at this point is with capital.

Since the news broke, the Dayton Development Coalition has been in touch with the company.

Comparisons with the Wright brothers arise. They weren’t the first to get into the air, but they were the ones whose work led to airplanes becoming practical.

And they were able to proceed largely on their own — up to a certain point. Eventually war and the military became crucial in the development of flight. ..

Dayton and Ohio shouldn’t be obsessing over the obstacles now. Just having the effort here would be a good thing. Flying cars are already an object of public fascination. The closer they come to reality, the more attention there will be. That’s the kind of attention Dayton is looking for.

via Editorial: Soaring sedans worth a look for Dayton, after the jokes | A Matter of Opinion.

The whole government involvement in cherry picking businesses for government support is already absurd. For those who complain about reforming health care as “socialist”- when it’s an attempt at providing a level playing field for all with a minimum standard of health care- but, aren’t up in arms about these decisions by government to plan and support some businesses and not others- you have totally missed the point.

Government needs to get smaller and more efficient fast- just like every business in America has been forced to. Even thinking about tax incentives for flying cars is a colossal waste of time and a pie in the sky waste of tax dollars.

It’s time to place a Federal ban against any tax dollars being used to provide support for “economic development” type deals. Tax dollars must go to delivering universal services only.

Bonus- video from Dayton Grassroots Daily Show

There are the bankers on Wall Street who carry home cash in a wheelbarrow, without ever having to sign on a line for anything.

They run the bank into the ground, get multimillion-dollar bonuses- get bailed out by the taxpayers and then “retire” with a big fat golden parachute and a pension for life.

Then there are real people, like:

Dayton City Commissioner Joey D. Williams, president of Chase Bank in west Ohio, has been named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Fifth Third Bank and faces a financial judgment stemming from the default of a small business loan…
The loan was for the Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuit restaurant at 5800 Wilmington Pike in Centerville, which is closed.

The lawsuit was filed in late 2009 in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. A Dec. 1 judgment awarded the bank $850,000, which includes court costs of $113,039, according to court records.

via City commissioner named in loan default case.

I’ve known Joey well for over twenty years. I’m sure this is quite embarrassing to him- as well as a financial burden. But, the reality is, at least he actually put his own money up in starting a small business, that employed people. I’m pretty sure that 5/3rd took special pleasure in making an example out of a competitor, instead of working out a deal.

To me, this just says that Joey’s more like us than like the political slime that goes into office driving a Dodge Shadow with a Bush I bumper sticker- and ends up a multimillionaire congressman driving Cadillacs (Mike Turner).

Times are tough. Welcome to the club Commissioner Williams.

It’s sad- that a “young professional” who just left Dayton and finds himself in Phoenix- is now publishing a site to allow the comments on articles the DDN closes them on:

this site was built by a former daytonian who still cares about the old hometown.

daytondailyfail.com, or ddf for short, exists to provide an alternative place for people from Dayton, OH to write and comment on the news of the day in their region.

it was built in less than an hour as a result of frustration with the Dayton Daily News website’s terrible commenting system on stories.

here, comments are free and uncensored (as long as it’s not illegal) – and users are free to rate, comment, and reply to comments as they please. your email will not be viewable to the web, it’s just needed to comment, and i promise to never sell you out to spammers. have at it, and try to have fun.

via daytondailyfail.com » about daytondailyfail.com.

It’s time the Dayton Daily News had a discussion with the community about how it chooses what stories to allow comments on- and how it moderates the comments. Putting stories online without commenting is dismissing the intelligence of the few remaining readers they have.

If you read the troll boards on the Dayton Daily News site, it would seem all you need to do is to be from here, have a nice suit, no earring and send your kids to Dayton Public Schools and you are qualified to be Mayor. Oh, wait, Mike Turner didn’t wear an earring, had a suit- was from here, and, uh, moved out of Dayton the moment he could- and put his kids in private schools.

People have scoffed about Gary’s English accent as well- so for today, I have a guest who also isn’t from around here- Sherif Hedayat, a greek born, Egyptian American comedian (he’s filling in for Greg- so we needed someone funny)- to talk about what Dayton is like- when you aren’t from here.

Some of us, who’ve lived elsewhere (I’m in that boat- born in Celina, raised in Cleveland with a short stint in Toronto, and then on a US Army tour of military bases along the East Coast) actually think Dayton has a lot going for it. And, maybe Gary’s accent could work wonders for us.

There are things to do in Dayton, if you look for them. If not, you can be like us- and create your own daily TV show.

Enjoy!