It was years ago when City Commissioner Idotha Bootsie Neal came out to her city-supplied car, thought someone had tampered with it, drove to City Hall, and then called the bomb squad, forcing the evacuation of City Hall.
Now, we have the Mayor, sending her “aide” (who I’m assuming is on the public payroll) to her vacant business to “pick up mail.” Excuse me? Is that why a part-time Mayor, needs a full time aide?
From WHIO-TV:
DAYTON, Ohio — Dayton police call for assistance of the Dayton Bomb Squad when a suspicious package shows up at the former McLin Funeral Home.
Police along with the Dayton Bomb Squad responded to the 1100 block of Germantown Street.
An aide for the mayor found a towel inside the mailbox with something wrapped inside.
Lt. Bob Chabali, from the Dayton Police Department, said the incident was unusual and so they took extra precaution.
The bomb squad did use a robot to check the suspicious package out.
Police said the suspicious package was simply a porcelain pig wrapped inside a towel and no detonation was needed.
via Bomb Squad Called To Old McLin Funeral Home – News Story – WHIO Dayton [1].
Maybe we wouldn’t need staff cuts if the Mayor actually picked up her own mail. I hate to tell you how much it costs the City for a bomb squad run.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it looks like the DDN has taken down the story.
Wassupwitdat?
Still there…. stories fall off the front page as new ones are added.
Click the “Earlier…” button and you’ll see it,
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/dayton-bomb-squad-removes-statue-from-mailbox-321274.html
got it. Thanks.
Anyone know what the law says about public officials using public employees and/or resources to do private business? And the penalty?
I’m mostly interested in the “pig in a blanket” part.
There has to be a really good one-liner there, somewhere….
DDN has an update or follow-up to story focused on why this aide was collecting mail for McLin. The reason: People send complaints (like potholes) to the mayor at this address. Hmmm…
Hey, at least the DDN asked the question !
@Hall and it you believe that story….
She hasn’t lived there for years. The place is turning into an eyesore, and even if people did send her mail there- hasn’t she heard of forwarding? It’s not her aides job.
^
turning into an eyesore? Tell me more.
I’ll have to go take pictures. Last time I remember going by and thinking it’s looking abandoned.
BOTH should be closed – per the Board of Embalmer & Funeral Directors for State of Ohio – one location is officially closed due to new ownership. The other according to the SoS has been SUSPENDED/On HOLD due to non-payment of francise taxes. Not like she or her father ever did ANYTHING above board with the business. Ask any Bateville Casket driver from the 1960’s.
@Sarah is there a link to the status at the Secretary of States office- where we can see this…
Thanks
I like the narrative possibility. Unkempt property contributing to Dayton’s lack of curb appeal….owned by the Mayor, vs self-help vintage home restoration by the challenger. That’s a powerful symbolic story (for me, at least)
@ David
http://www2.sos.state.oh.us/reports/rwservlet?imgc&Din=200909760644
Sarah, I don’t personally know any Bateville Casket drivers from the 1960’s, so please dish :)
@Jeff, note- Nan didn’t even own a home in Dayton until: Aug 29, 2008.
I ‘d rehabbed 2 before she was even out of high school.
@Sarah- thanks for the link, although I’m not quite sure if it’s indicative of much. It just means that corporation is gone- and they may be operating as a different one? I’m not a lawyer.
I don’t know who Lloyd OHara of Oakwood is- Donald Huber owns that property. According to Watchdog.net- He’s just the lawyer- he used to work at Chernesky Heyman Kress
Hard to say what those McLin sisters are doing. But, getting official mail at a closed down building on the taxpayers dime doesn’t cut it.
Don Huber the developer? He owns the McLin funeral home? Well I’ll be! Huber was involved in Newfields/Brookville new town and the Madden urban renewal project in West Dayton. There is mention in a book on Newfields that Huber paid McLin (the father) in order to grease the cities approval of Huber’s federal application for money for his new town. So years ago Huber had dealings with the McLin family. If this is the same Huber.
@Jeff- Huber owns the building that O’Hara is using as a mailing address. All the rest of it- interesting, but, at this point the voters just don’t get how things were and are still done.
@ Allison – the truck drivers used to have to arm themselves as they were constantly robbed for their loads. Now I wonder who would want a bunch of caskets?! My understanding it got pretty violent a couple of times. There is one way to reduce a business “overhead”…
@ David – there is no other Corporation at SoS for the name “MCLIN”. If they are operating as a different corp then that (to my understanding of how funeral homes must be registered @ SoS) is illegal. Big no-no.
Reader Hall, points out, that McLin’s campaign finance report- lists this address as her campaign HQ.
http://esrati.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Rhine-McLin-Pre-election-09.pdf
She was sending a city staff person to pick up her campaign donations on City time.
RC. 3517.092(D)(1) prohibits all public employees from solicitiug contributions from anyone while the public employee is performing his or her duties or is in the areas of a public building where official business is transacted or conducted.
R.C. 3517.092(D)(2) prohibits anyone from soliciting contributions from any public employee while the public employee is performing his or her duties or is in the areas of a public building where official business is transacted or conducted.
These were the closest Ohio Revised Code viloations I could find, someone who knows the law better…please post the correct code violations & a link to them.
Her aide was Kery Gray.
[…] An internal Email from Russ Joseph and guest list made their way over to Esrati.com today. From Russ Joseph- who is Commissioner Matt Joseph, to Nan Whaley and CC’d to Kery Gray who has the title of “Executive Assistant to the City Commission” which is a $90k a year position created by former Mayor Rhine McLin before she left office. (before that, the City Commission only hired the City Manager, the head of the Human Relations Council and the Clerk of Commission- this position was set up as a perk for being a loyal servant, since Mr. Gray used to go to Rhine’s “house” to pick up campaign donations on city time- we know this because of the porcelain pig/bomb episode) […]