I’ve never been a fan of the so called “silver bullet” solution to anything. There is no magic wand that you can wave and all your problems go away. I believe in systems, in total quality control, in outstanding customer service, in the balanced scorecard- in comprehensive solutions to problems. In a planning retreat yesterday- one of the questions that I asked was if our organization’s meeting place was an issue that was holding back our attendance- it was something no one else had thought about.

LeBron James was supposed to be the silver bullet solution to the Cleveland Cavaliers. While the team improved, the number of fans went up, the ultimate goal of winning a championship failed. Basketball is a team sport- and there is no silver bullet- with one exception: Phil Jackson.

I believe that great leadership is able to take any organization to new levels- if they understand one thing: you don’t believe in silver bullets. Sure, Phil has had great players to work with- but, he’s also taken on Dennis Rodman and tamed a problem child and turned his problems into strengths. That’s the key to making it all happen. Understanding how to make systems work- no matter what hand you are dealt.

Dayton has tried a whole slew of “silver bullets” to turn our community around. Urban Renewal in the sixties that tore down all the grand old theaters downtown with the exception of the mediocre Victoria (comparatively), building Sinclair where houses once stood, I-75 and all the workers it would bring, U.S. 35 and the same, Courthouse Square, The Convention Center, The Arcade, The Arcade Tower, The Schuster Center, Baseball, Riverscape, Tech Town, ED/GE fund investments… you get the picture. Lots of silver bullets shot, problems still alive and kicking.

Systemically we’re sloppy. No one person in charge, no vision, no plan and now no money left. When we had room in our “salary cap” we were busy placating the current assets and playing shell games, instead of investing in the future.

There are a few exceptions of organization that have had a plan and executed well: Five Rivers Metroparks, Sinclair Community College (up to the expansion into Warren County), University of Dayton, MVH and KHN (both of which may have grown bigger than they should have). All have had exceptional leadership- that had a vision and followed through.

The Cavs will survive after the departure of the “chosen one” just as any organization will that shoots the silver bullet randomly into space. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about silver bullets- they are very rarely used for suicide- probably because unless you’re a vampire, they’re not any more lethal than the regular old lead ones, and vampires don’t exist- except in our wildest imagination. The same wild imagination that gives rise to the myth of the silver bullet in the first place.

The Dayton Development Coalition held a “Dayton Region Rally” today- and everybody who is somebody and still wears a suit to a job paying six figures or more was there. Not exactly the people who make up the “Dayton Region” where unemployment is still around 12% (unless you are a minority where it’s way higher).

I’m not going to report the guest list, but, I was barely through the door when I had seen more of the “powers that be” than I saw during my election campaign. Yep, they were all ready to hear what the messiahs of good fortune (at least for their friendly congressman’s wife with her no-bid contract) had to say. The “political leadership” wasn’t on stage- this was the business community beating the drum, with a good dose of the base and higher ed thrown in. Noticeably absent were the hospitals from the standard of Feds, Meds and Eds routine that has become the rally cry.

The 1,000 or so people in attendance were treated to one scripted speech after another. Delivered like lectures to schoolchildren. Not sure where DDC head Jim Leftwich got the idea he should be MC- but, I kept looking at his deadpan delivery and thinking Jack Parr had risen from the grave (and that was from before my time).

It was an expensive production. Just the AV alone had to run $15 to $20K with three big screens and at least three cameras- plus the channel 7 interviews from the concourse (why?) thrown in. Figure the t-shirts and all the staging and coordination- handled by Real Art (of Get Midwest fame) and you have another $15 to $20K thrown in. All this for an event that was done during regular business hours so only those who can make their own schedules could attend.

There were exactly three people who made presentations that moved the cause forward: Bruce Langos, COO of Teradata, who got the biggest rise out of the audience when he talked about their successful divorce from NCR and their enviable cash position and market strength. We need to hear more from both Bruce and Terradata to put this city back on track. And, in my mind, the real icing on the split from NCR would be for Terradata to move back to Dayton- into NCR HQ and show Bill Nuti how it’s done.

Charlie Shoemaker, executive director of Five Rivers Metroparks, brought a whole parade of people in “outdoor attire” to reinforce his position as the outdoor recreation chief of the region. The only thing I wonder about is giving away $5 coupons to use at the 2nd Street Market to people who don’t need $5 coupons- is that really why you just asked the taxpayers for a levy? To give away some of that money to people who can afford to take a few hours off to listen to the cheerleaders?

The final speaker, was Kellen Winslow Sr. – the Athletic Director for Central State- who did a great job of representing Central State and was using the new “Change is Central” slogan. He didn’t need a script to know that people were stiff (and bored) and got everybody who was still in attendance up- and out of their seats, at least to make sure no one was asleep. If I were looking for someone to coordinate a regional sports program, I’d be sitting in his office asap.

The finale of celebrity painter Michael Israel, was too little too late. People were even trying to head guests off at the top of the concourse, trying to keep people in. I’m not going to guess how much it was to bring him in, but the real question was what was he adding to our message of Dayton? That we have to import talent?

The real question was what was the point? What was the call to action? Could you do something with $7oK+(low ball estimate of how much this cost) that would actually have an impact? The back of the program wants you to go take a two question survey.

The questions:

1. What declaration of possibility can you make that has the power to transform the community and inspire you?
2. What are you prepared to do to make this possibility a reality?

I don’t make declarations of possibilities- whatever that means. You want to inspire people to transform the community- there is an answer- and it doesn’t involve committees, group think, rallies or surveys- it involves leadership.

Give a leader a mission, hold them accountable, measure progress and evaluate their progress- and guess what?- we may actually have some.

If the people in the room would only learn to march together, instead of to the beat of a hundred drummers, we may actually get the choir to sing together. The first step is to get serious about regionalism- and start referring to us as Dayton- without the word “region.”

Yep, I said it. Time to own your heart Dayton, and it may start beating again.

The recent Kettering Health Network move in Greene County had me thinking of what impact a new health campus might have on Montgomery County. What happens when doctors, who work at Kettering- want to move to Beavercreek- so that they won’t have to pay income taxes? A giant sucking sound? Possibly.

One of the reasons we see both the Greene and the Mall at Fairfield Commons right on the edge of Montgomery County is because RTA doesn’t extend service to either. It’s a racist way of keeping “bus people” away from the malls. That also means RTA, which depends on sales tax revenue, misses out on all that retail sales tax.

Most of the talk of “Unigov” or “Regional Government” has been about merging cities within Montgomery County for efficiencies. However, communities like Oakwood and Kettering just don’t want to play along. We have all these different taxing districts, with so many different tax rates. We have over 20 police chiefs- the whole thing is what happens when evolution is left unchecked- freaks of government emerge.

Maybe we should be considering merging Montgomery and Greene County instead? Expand Five Rivers Metroparks across the two counties, one street maintenance organization, one sheriff, and, maybe even a prosecutor that believes in handing out justice (and no, Mat Heck, I’m sure not talking about you). We have one sales tax that covers RTA, the Arts, and Parks and Rec. We have one income tax über county wide- that is divvied up per capita, with a kicker to any community that buys more services from the county- ie: building inspection, code enforcement, street maintenance, “economic development,” police, fire. As time goes by, we have at least one strong regional leader to project a sense of direction. Plus, our MSA becomes significant.

I don’t think anyone is as connected to County government the way they are to Municipal government- and that could be our ace in the hole. Your thoughts?

Income tax revenues are down. Population is dwindling. Services are being cut. Size remains the same.

Convert the above to a business: sales down, customer base shrinking, support staff is cut and we haven’t reduced our expectations for sales. Not exactly a turnaround strategy, and bankruptcy isn’t an option for the City.

In the boardroom (the Commission chambers) there is zero discussion of what can we do to attract customers. The CEO (the City Manager) isn’t asked to present options except when the board asks (a total under-utilization of the position). While this is going on, a bunch of fan clubs (other “economic development” authorities- Citywide, Downtown Dayton Partnership, Dayton Business Committee, Dayton Development Coalition, UpDayton, and to a lesser extent- Montgomery County and Five Rivers Metro Parks) are running in circles like loose electrons, causing secondary explosions (Austin Road plans, BRAC) that distract the core (City of Dayton) from focusing on steps to regroup.

If anything, we need a strong hand on the rudder right now- with a direction that is clear- a turnaround specialist, a czar, a benevolent dictator. Someone who understands the strengths and weaknesses of the City and can focus on building on the strengths. It’s not an overnight plan, a silver bullet or a wave of a magic wand. It’s also not going to be achieved by committee.

Over the years, I have pointed out Dayton’s strengths and weaknesses (everything else on this site - and may ideas on how to capitalize on the inherent good of our community. Right now, we need to take bold steps to change our course, and the first one has to be to believe that we are changing.

Much has been said about our negative attitudes and internal Dayton bashing. I used to give the local media a pass, but no longer. It’s time we held them accountable. We’re more than the crime and failed business report.

The local political party infrastructure has also disenfranchised change agents. New voices not welcome, don’t even think about running for office until you’ve kissed the ring. This may explain why the level of rhetoric rarely raises beyond a whisper. The Dayton Tea Party that’s happening this Wednesday won’t even let candidates speak- for fear of breaking the rules (more on that in a future post). So much for revolutionary thought from revolutionaries. It would seem we’re having a tea party of the English manor sort.

Can we turn Dayton around on a twenty year plan? That was the group-think 20/20 vision process almost ten years ago- and yet, not much has changed.

What would a plan look like? It’d have to be really short and succinct to really be effective. Ask any winning coach, simple game plans work. Complex ones have too many opportunities for failure.

1. Dayton Public School perception must be fixed before we can expect to keep families of higher wage earners in town. Starting a city wide subsidized day care for City residents and employees would give people an opportunity to get familiar with DPS and help give kids a true headstart. We have new buildings- and we’ve always had teachers that want to teach. What’s been missing is the connection to the community – thanks to court imposed busing.
2. We have inexpensive housing and assets to train any workforce (Sinclair). It should be a no-brainer to get companies to consider relocating here based on cost of doing business. If we sounded like we had our act together- instead of so much partisan bickering between our many municipalities, we might do a lot better at recruiting.
3. Regional government is inevitable- we need to work toward it and “Best practices.” It’s hard to do business when there is no consistency between jurisdictions. The latest news that their are businesses that can’t figure out which county to pay sales tax in should be a clear indication. Regional government isn’t just about government either- it’s also about regional parks systems (like 5 Rivers Metro Parks) and libraries (Dayton Public Library is a good example) and other “public infrastructure” (to include ice rinks and even arts organizations – Culture Works is another great example). Regional thinking has to be on all our minds.

Looking back at the post of strengths- it seems we really should be one of the coolest mid-size success stories in the country. The only thing holding us back is us.