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Mohamed Al-Hamdani to challenge John McManus for County Treasurer

Posted on November 29, 2023 @ 5:39 pm by David Esrati

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Because Mohamed Al-Hamdani is incapable of leading the local dem party, he’s decided to place his name on the ballot to challenge former Democrat John McManus for County Treasurer.

Note, the last person Al-Hamdani backed for Treasurer was Russ Joseph, who had been appointed to fill the remaining term of Carolyn Rice. Joseph got his butt kicked, just like when he was appointed to be Clerk of Courts, and lost to Mike Foley before that.

The Democratic bench is limited by the fact that they only endorse and support people on the “Friends and Family Plan” and shush any newcomers away. They have a history of telling people to “wait their turn” as the Monarchy backs their own. Or the flip-side, where the people in the back room think they should pick one democrat over another- or ignore the outcomes of primaries because someone hasn’t kissed the ring (personal experience, after a long line of others suffered the same fate).

Ask Dayton City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild about how he waited for his turn- and got stabbed in the back.

The fact that lifetime Democrat, Trotwood Mayor Mary McDonald switched parties Monday to run against Debbie Lieberman for County Commission is just one more example of how this local party has alienated leaders and played favorites.

Having watched both McManus and Al-Hamdani on the Dayton School board, it’s absolutely clear who will win this election- McManus by a landslide.

I’m going to share two videos- which should tell you all you need to know about these two candidates.

McManus- running a meeting:

Respect is earned by John McManus.

Al-Hamdani running a meeting:

Note, Al-Hamdani was involved in School business before he even was sworn in- breaking the law from day one.

I don’t expect the Dem party as it’s currently run, to EVER get out of it’s own way- and actually work to strategically win elections and to develop the grassroots power it should have until enough of the “Friends and Family” get beat and sent packing. And that shouldn’t mean going from dumped by voters to a cushy federal job and then a BOE job like Russ Joseph. Or Rhine McLin.

Hopefully, the Republican party will find someone to run against Matt Heck- or some brave Dem will run against him and end his reign of favoritism.

Turn in deadline for most races is Dec. 18, 2023.

Stay tuned.

McDonald switches parties to challenge Lieberman for County Commission

Posted on November 27, 2023 @ 12:02 pm by David Esrati

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Republican party HQ on Linden Avenue was packed with people of color, a rare occurrence, I’m guessing, as Republican Party County Chair State Rep Phil Plummer, announces that Mary McDonald and Kate Baker will be the party candidates to take on Debbie Lieberman and Judy Dodge next year for Montgomery County Commission.

McDonald, a lifelong democrat, made the decision after losing her Trotwood Mayorship to the dem party endorsed Yvette Page in a volatile meeting in September.

Video of Dem party meeting where they jump through multiple votes to not endorse Mary McDonald.

Lieberman has been on the County Commission for almost 20 years, Dodge slightly less. There has never been a Black elected County Commissioner in Montgomery County, although one has been appointed in the past.

The Dem party blamed their un-endorsement of McDonald on her willingness to work with Republicans as she occupied a non-partisan position in a Republican dominated State. McDonald said she worked for the people, as best she could, and was proudest of bringing back a grocery store to Trotwood.

Baker, a Huber Heights Council Woman for Ward 3, was first appointed to the seat when Seth Morgan moved out of Huber Heights in a divorce in 2020. Baker later won the seat in 2021, and would have to vacate it if elected to County Commission.

Lieberman hasn’t faced many formidable challenges in her race, although virtual unknowns have come very close to beating her without too much effort. Her husband, former Montgomery County Dem Party chair, Dennis, was recently soundly defeated in his re-election bid for Clayton Council.

Dodge and Lieberman were frequently seen together like 2 peas in a pod at area restaurants and events- making a questionable quorum if they discussed County business with anyone. They would always blow off any questions of improprieties with “we’re just old friends.”

The last major candidate to switch parties was current County Treasurer John McManus who ran for State Rep against Jim Butler as a D, then turned around and ran for Treasurer as an R.

The danger of inviting headhunters into your zoo

Posted on November 6, 2023 @ 10:29 pm by David Esrati

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The community input meeting was set to start at 5:30 pm at Riversedge Montosori today. It started at 6. Mama Nozipio was very unhappy- she thinks it’s disrespectful to not start on time and I’m right there with her.

It’s almost deja vu- the same room where 7 years or so ago, the board presented their three choices from their “national search” for a superintendent to replace Lori Ward who they’d made miserable. Of their 3 choices, one has had his superintendents license revoked, the one internal candidate left the district asap, and the third, who they hired, Rhonda Corr, didn’t make it 18 months before she was shown the door. That meeting was where David Lawrence didn’t make the cut, thanks to the incompetence of the board then- which included a guy who didn’t even live in the district (Adil Baguirov) who had an undue influence on the others on that board.

Tonight, the ringleaders were the Alma Avisory Group, who’ve been hired out of Chicago to bring a process to hiring the next Superintendent for Dayton Public Schools. They are the headhunters. We’re the zoo.

I don’t have time to upload the video of the intro, with their slides, but after the unprofessional late start, they immediately told us, we’d break down into two groups in separate rooms, and that they’d prefer if the media stayed out “so people could be free to speak their minds.”

So much for an open, transparent process. Public meetings, about public issues, in a public building, and, we need to close the doors. I went into one of the two break out rooms and asked if participants would prefer or mind if I filmed- and they unanimously believed in transparency and were OK with it. Turns out the Alma Group rep wasn’t- so I put away the camera and sat and listened to an hour plus of a community coming together to say “we’re happy with David Lawrence, but can you do something about our board?” The Alma Advisory Group was only there to listen- and then report- not advise, to the board, what the next Superintendent should look like. There were lots of complaints about how this board has had a lousy track record of oversight of their past choices of Superintendent- going back as far as Dr. Williams. But, most of the vitriol was directed firmly where it belonged, Dr. Libby Lolli. Her constant re-arranging of the deck chairs at DPS be it the principal shuffle where she moved 24 principals around the 28 schools one year, to her absolutely insane policy of NOT promoting an assistant principal to the principal in the same building, to the mass exodus of experienced teachers who were sick of being micromanaged and told how much screen time their students should have.

It was unanimous in my breakout room- give Dr. Lawrence a chance to do his thing, because so far, he’s about 1000 percent better than Lolli in just 3 or 4 months.

The other room, well, that’s another matter. Apparently disgraced state rep Clayton Luckie came late and took tensions between him and former Board Member Mario Gallin to the boiling point- and then some. One of the participants, had a seizure and had to be taken out in an ambulance. Luckie isn’t a fan of Lawrence, blaming him for the dismissal of Luckies cousin who used to be the district athletic director, Jonas Smith.

Otherwise, that room was also unanimous in backing Lawrence.

But, here’s the thing. The board will do what the board will do, no matter what we say. The fact that the election tomorrow will possibly name 3 new board members or at least 2, doesn’t even matter, we’ve already contracted to waste $65K- and we’ve disrespected the Superintendent by tagging him interim and paying him less than what the double dipping Lolli was making.

And, we’ve invited beelzebub into our house. I’m pretty sure the Alma contract wasn’t written to guarantee that they won’t take what they’ve learned about our homegrown hero Lawrence, and market him to every other big urban district looking for someone competent. Now, they know we’ve got a superstar, and we’re not smart enough to see it and protect him.

And that, is this incompetent school board is doing, because, they won’t listen to us, they don’t care about us, and they shouldn’t be the ones running this district. After Lolli’s abject failures here, they all should have been removed and sent packing. They not only hired her, but kept giving her raises and extending her contract- despite so many warning signs that there was something wrong in the gem city.

And this is why our kids can’t read, write, or have nice things.

BTW- I’ve been documenting this dysfunctional district for a long time, and while I’ve got a greatest hits of the failings of the district, that’s not what we need right now. We need a new vision- and that’s what I crafted in this video “There ain’t no “F” in Dayton” long ago. Take a watch, and remember what Einstein said “Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results”- here’s some ideas not from the Alma Advisory Group, that nobody paid me for:

And by the way, the Alma Advisory Group wants you to fill out a survey to weigh in on this clusterduck, here’s the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DaytonSuptSearch

Dayton Voters Guide Nov 7, 2023

Posted on November 4, 2023 @ 1:25 pm by David Esrati

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There’s a few reasons you’ve not heard from me as often, and it’s not because there’s a lack of things to talk about. I’ve been swamped with work, life and a fork in the road. But, this post is to share some insight on the upcoming election this Tuesday, November 7, 2023.

First off- disclaimers: I’ve done work or printing through my business The Next Wave, for the following candidates: Bryan Suddith for Kettering Council, Bob Matthews for Miami Township Fiscal Officer, Valerie Duncan for Dayton City Commission, Norman Scearce, Mary McDonald, Denise Moore, all for the Trotwood council. Some are Dems, some are Republicans, but none are endorsed by the Montgomery County Democratic Friends and Family Party.

If I’d been doing work for them, I’d have made a fortune just on mailers for Matt Shaw and Chris Joseph (interchangeable names intentional). The number of mailers and money being spent to re-elect these two should tell you that the Culture of Corruption is still alive in Dayton, and powerful people are putting money into their campaign (more on that AFTER the election) to keep the gears going for the church of demolition worshippers. We’ll find an excuse to tear down anything so we can funnel money into the hands of demolition contractors or provide work for construction companies.

In the Dayton City Commission race, I can’t vote for the corrupt, or a carpet bagger with a questionable past. That leaves me with only voting for Valerie Duncan. If everyone does this, it breaks the stranglehold of the party on the commission and it gives us 3 independent voices on the commission. While Valerie may not come across as the brightest bulb in the box, there is no question about her motivation and her desire to represent the people, not the contractors/demolishers. Valerie drives me batty, but has a heart of gold. She’s raised her niece and a friend of the family into fine young ladies- and you can tell she has a good moral compass.

The only vote for one person, or “Plonking” is so you don’t cancel your one votes effectiveness at pushing her above the threshold of the other candidate.

On the Dayton School Board, we’re left with 4 choices for 3 seats. And, while electing Ken Hayes is a no brainer, he also has his idiosyncrasies in his approach to campaigning. He doesn’t believe in doing anything the conventional way. So you won’t have seen signs, or flyers or much more than his blog. He’s got a PhD in English and teaches at Central State. He’s run before as a write in. He is everything we’d hoped Dr. Gabriella Pickett was supposed to be, but wasn’t. He’s an easy vote yes. And, he doesn’t push the PhD and want to be called Dr. Hayes- which scores bonus points with me.

William Bailey is the only candidate who said that a prior felony should disqualify a candidate from being a candidate at the NAACP candidate forum. The reason the question was even asked was probably caused by one of his opponents (coming up next). While he’s another one who likes to call himself “Dr.” – he has a divinity degree, I’ll give him a hall pass, mostly because I have to vote for someone else. He seems to have an idea of what needs to happen in the district in terms of discipline and interpersonal relations on the board- and should be a good replacement for Dion Sampson.

While I like Will Smith, and voted for him with high hopes, he’s disappointed me more times than I can count- never calling Lolli out for her incompetence. He was there through multiple votes to keep her- and for that alone, he shouldn’t ever be allowed back on the dais. He was part of “Hoodie Gate” where they blew $68K without going through proper channels. The rap, where he’s talking about smoking blunts, was unfortunate. But there’s one more thing- the simmering accusations by Jocelyn Rhynard of sexual improprieties by Smith to her, have been an elephant in the room for over a year. While no lawsuit has been filed- I have good reason to believe Rhynard. The likelihood of Smith losing is slim and none- and Slim’s out of town, but I can’t vote for him.

The last candidate is Eric Walker. Which isn’t his full name. Considering other candidates have had to battle the BOE to use a different name on the ballot, Walker, who’s voting name is Eric Dion Walker Mabry, has a history that hasn’t made the paper (again).

While running for school board, he’s been arrested for driving under suspension. Never mind the other cases:

DUS VIOLATION OF SUSPENSION

Location MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OH

Court Date 05/17/2023

Court Case Number 23TRD00892

Court Case Description COURT CODE: 5720

NO DRIVERS LICENSE

Location MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OH

Court Date 05/17/2023

Court Case Number 23TRD00892

Court Case Description COURT CODE: 5720

RIGHT OF WAY

Location MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OH

Court Date 05/17/2023

Court Case Number 23TRD00892

Court Case Description COURT CODE: 5720

TINTED GLASS, OBSCURED VISION

Location MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OH

Court Date 05/17/2023

Court Case Number 23TRD00892

Court Case Description COURT CODE: 5720

SPDNG OVER 35MPH IN SCHOOL ZN

Location MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OH

Court Date 06/21/2022

Court Case Number 22TRD01222

Court Case Description COURT CODE: 5720

Court Disposition GUILTY

Court Plea GUILTY

STOP SIGN VIOLATION

Location MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OH

Court Date 11/02/2020

Court Case Number 20TRD05888

Court Case Description COURT CODE: 5720

Court Disposition GUILTY

Court Offense STOP SIGN VIOLATION

Court Plea GUILTY

Court Fines $144

THEFT BY DECEPTION

Location GREENE COUNTY, OH

Date of Offense 01/29/2019

Court Case Number 19CRB00587

Court Disposition NOT AVAILABLE IJ REPORT Status:CLOSED

Court Statute 2913.02A3

Name on record ERIC DION WALKER-MABRY

THEFT BY DECEPTION

Location GREENE COUNTY, OH

Date of Offense 01/29/2019

Court Case Number 19CRB00587

Court Disposition NOT GUILTY AJ REPORT Status:CLOSED

Court Offense THEFT BY DECEPTION

Court Statute 2913.02A3

Background check through beenverified.com

I can’t verify the Greene County case- or find reference to it, but, this is a guy who speeds in school zones, drives without a license, and thinks he exhibits better judgement than a kindergartner. We already have children on the school board- and although I’ve always had pleasant experiences with Mr. Walker- this is the last person I want on the board.

I’m voting for just Hayes and Bailey and urge you to do the same.

I have no business telling the people in Trotwood on who to vote for, since it won’t affect me one iota. However, way way back, when I was hired to help an out of town investor try to save the Salem Mall, I ran up against Mike Lucking and Rhonda Finley, who were working behind the scenes to make sure that the investor would fail so some demolition company could make a small fortune tearing it down. I wouldn’t vote for Rhonda Finley for dog catcher- even though I get along with her too (up until I press publish on this post). Seeing as the sides have split, and the Monarchy of Montgomery County endorsed Finley and Page, that should be enough for every Trotwood voter to know that McDonald, Moore and Scearce are their best choices. You really need to watch the video of the Montgomery County Dems just trash McDonald and Moore to fully understand how crooked the party is.

On Issue 1 and Issue 2 vote yes. There is no confusion about what Issue 1 is. It’s whether a bunch of White Male Republicans get to tell women and doctors how to deal with personal medical issues. No exceptions for rape, incest or even when the life of a woman is at risk. If we want to go backwards to back alley abortions pre-Roe, anything but a yes vote is turning back the clock and endangering women.

As to recreational marijuana- vote yes. There has been illegal recreational marijuana as long as I’ve been alive and I’m old. The fact republicans are against this giant tax generator is odd- they always like sin taxes, and even stupid taxes like the $200 a year electric car tax. The amount of money this will generate for the state is huge, the money saved on arresting folks (mostly of color) for pot charges will be huge, and the only real problem we’ll have is more judgement impaired drivers on the roads with no way to blame pot for their bad driving (cell phones are a bigger problem- but, I personally don’t think Cheech and Chong were better drivers when high).

As to all the local tax levies, school levies and other stuff- sorry people. Because we don’t believe in regional uni-gov, we’re going to be screwed for years to come with some of the highest effective tax rates in the State of Ohio.

The cruel reality is, we could get rid of all these local banana republics like Jefferson Township, Trotwood, Moraine, etc really quickly if we had one county wide government that is run more like Kettering. We don’t need 18 police chiefs, or 30 mayors/administrators/city managers etc. Our population hasn’t grown or shrunk considerably in Montgomery County for the last 50 years. We just keep re-arranging the deck chairs, but that’s a whole other story and why Reconstructing Dayton exists.

Please vote this Tuesday. Even if you don’t agree with me.

Save the Legacy Pancake House

Posted on October 19, 2023 @ 8:46 pm by David Esrati

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Hearing that the Legacy Pancake House burned down this morning was hard to take. It’s been one of my favorite places to go to breakfast for decades. Easy parking, great service and the blintz’s you couldn’t get anywhere else.

At one time, it was part of the Golden Nugget family, but there was a split- and they went their separate ways. Big Greek families sometimes do that. If I remember right, some new owners took over not too long ago (since I’ve been diagnosed diabetic- I’ve not been out to eat near as much, especially breakfast).

So the question is, what now? Rebuild? Or move into a place that’s almost ready to go? I asked the hive mind on Facebook for recommendations after I suggested they take the old location of the Golden Nugget at Dorothy Lane and South Dixie back. Unfortunately, a major chain of gas stations thinks that location is better off with 50 pumps instead of pumping out pancakes and has it under contract. Last I heard, the zoning wasn’t approved for the gas station- so maybe there’s hope?

But if not- a few other locations came to mind.

There are two closed Bob Evan’s restaurants waiting for love. One is across from Stebbins high school on Woodman near Valley. The other is in Englewood.

The recently closed retro Frisch’s at the corner of S. Dixie and 741 needs a lot of love- but would be an awesome spot for a Dayton institution.

The old Frishes on Needemore by Hardee’s and 75 isn’t that far from your current location.

The former O’Charley’s on Miller Lane is vacant.

The old Christopher’s at the corner of Woodman and Dorothy in the Woodlane shopping center has great parking, and had a steady customer base as well.

There was a Ponderosa at Airway shopping center that’s had a bunch of restaurants in and out- considering the Legacy was an old Ponderosa- maybe? I don’t know if that Airway location is currently a going concern.

There are a few other spots that could work, but may not be as easy to access for their older clientele- like the recently closed Lock 27 by the ballpark and the Flyboy’s deli spot across the street from the ballpark. I don’t think their parking works for the elderly crowd I see coming in on Sunday mornings.

The old Diner location on St. Clair also has accessibility and parking issues- and the kitchen was taken out long ago.

I’m looking for something that could be open again in a month, not a year. Any other ideas, please share in comments.

Let’s not lose another Dayton institution for lack of creativity and support.

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