Dayton, 2025, where everyone wants to get (s)elected

The number of candidates circulating the messed up Dayton petitions for Dayton Mayor and Dayton City Commission is epic this year.

How many will make it through the BOE signature police is always entertaining. My basic rule is, unless you are a party endorsed candidate, you can only count signatures that you get by working off current voting lists, knocking on doors and asking for the person listed. This is slow and long. It is also the only way to get an 80% pass rate. Meaning you need at least 600 signatures to pass the 500 required. Also- make sure you sign each petition, that your nominating committee all lives in Dayton and is a registered voter, and that you get the petitions notarized for each circulator.

That said:

For Mayor of Dayton:

Jeff Mims Jr- the incumbent is running. He’s 78 and a Dem.

Curtis Stratton, a UD Law student, soon to be graduate. He has a website ^[1]. He’s 27 and voted R. Update- 17 Feb 1:22 pm– he announced on Facebook he’s dropping out ^[2]– and the website is history.

Jordan Wortham, former Dayton Cop and son of Judge Mia Wortham Spells. Has run multiple times before. His website ^[3] (which I host- still says for County Commission). Jordan’s 36 and a republican.

And- one possible other…. but I can’t say.

For Commission

2 seats, currently held by incumbents Darryl Fairchild ^[4] and Shenise Turner-Sloss who are both running. I’ve done work for both- and host Shenise’s site ^[5].

Fairchild is a D- and 58, Turner Sloss is 44 and a D. Note, both of them have been treated like unwanted step-children by the insider friends and family Montgomery County (un)Democratic Party.

The party boys- Matt Joseph and Chris Shaw combined with Mims, effectively silence Fairchild and Turner Sloss. As the rule goes- you have to count to 3 to get anything done.

Valerie Duncan- former city employee. Has run multiple times before. I host her site ^[6], but refuse to do any more work for her. Duncan is a D- but voted R in the 2012 primary. She’s 73.

Charles Jacob Davis ^[7], known as Jacob Davis, a lawyer with the Nalls Davis law firm. 1219 Mount Vernon Ave.. UD Law grad 2019. Worked for the city as a “Justice Administrator” Jun 2020 – May 2022 (site up- https://www.davisfordayton.com/ ^[8])
He posted on Linkedin-

Today, I am proud to announce that I am running for Dayton City Commission. As a lawyer, small business consultant, and young professional actively working to make Dayton a city that works for all of us, I provide something different to the commission. I am a proud Northwest Dayton resident and eager to make Dayton a better place to live, work, gather, and do business

We need a new generation of leaders in the city, and it starts with fresh ideas and practical, progressive policies at the local level. My priorities include:

1. People.
Our time and resources need to go directly to workers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and students who are invested in the city of Dayton. Our future is rooted in their collective success.

2. Neighborhoods.
We all deserve to live in clean, safe, and thriving neighborhoods that extend beyond downtown. I want to prioritize neighborhood beautification, development, and sustainability through new land use policies and grant programs. We must create new and affordable housing, but we also need to make it easier to build alternative forms of housing in the city. Finally, removing blighted properties and structures is just the first step. We need a plan and a vision for what comes next. As a real estate and fair housing attorney, I am up to the task.

3. Local Protections.
Protections many of us take for granted have become a bargaining chip for those at the top. Individual, consumer, tenant, worker, and civil rights have been eroded in the federal and state government. Now, more than ever, we need our local officials to work for us, and it starts with adding local protections for vulnerable groups.

Now, I cannot do this alone and need your help. The first step is to get my name on the ballot. I need 500 signatures from registered voters who live in the city of Dayton by March 6th. Sign up at the link below ^[9] to get involved in whatever capacity you can (and especially if you can collect signatures). Let’s get to work!

He’s 35 and voted Dem consistently.

Repeated from earlier post ^[10]: Archibald Magee ^[11], used to be called Arch Grieve, and used to teach at the Dayton STEM school, where he claims that David Lawrence, during his one year stint there, permanently traumatized him. He’s also served on the Xenia School Board. Why he changed his name is a good first question.

There are multiple websites for him:

This one which defies description: Gem City Dudeist Priest ^[12] where he talks about his bipolar disorder book, offers drum lessons, t-shirts, podcasts and more, more, more! The Dudeist Priest thing is explained “a reference to the fact that I am a follower of Dudeism (a “religion” based on the movie The Big Lebowski”)”

https://arch-grieve.wixsite.com/myportfolio ^[13]

The Dayton Conflict Coach (Arch) on Facebook ^[14] Can’t find anything newer.

He’s voted D consistently since 2016. He’s 39

Karen Wick- there was someone circulating petitions for her and Mims inside the door of the Kroc center for the state of the city. If it had been me- I would have been ushered off the property by the police. She has a website https://karenwick.com/ ^[15], it cracks me up that the portrait was one I shot for her (update 16 Feb- all the photos are now gone- back on the 17th). My ad agency used to work for her and I considered her a good friend, for over 20 years. We did the branding for her restaurant Coco’s. We stopped working together when she was elected to the Dayton Board of Education- and our friendship suffered. If I was asked to rate her performance on the school board- all I’d say is anyone who hired and continued to promote and pay Libbly Lolli-shouldn’t be a public official. She’ll have big bucks in the race- possibly some of her own. She’s 64 and voted D except in the 2016 primary where she pulled an R ballot.

Michael White ^[16] 237 E. First St. (I can’t tell you more) has pulled petitions. Works at CareSource as a “Enterprise QI Advisor II” I met him at the State of the City address- and I’m hoping to learn more. He’s 58 years old ad has voted D in the past. He’s married to Demarus Crawford-White ^[17] who is executive director Ohio- of NPower ^[18].

Ebony Hastings, is also a client, and has started circulating petitions. She is a mobile notary and works out at the base in property management. She’s voted consistently, but is an independent. She’s 45. (informed me the next morning that she’s not ready).

Again, nothing counts until the Board of (s)elections vets the signatures which are due by 4pm on Mar 7 2025.

That makes 3 2 possibly 4 3candidate for Mayor. Top two advance. The election is non-partisan, and party names don’t appear. Wortham and Stratton are Republicans.

For City Commission the top 4 will advance of the 8 7 possible candidates. Nick Brusky has said he dropped out- I’m taking his word on that. There could still be others out there hustling signatures.

There’s been rumors on the street that some major developers want to get rid of City Manager Shelley Dickstein sooner than later, and see this election as their chance. On the other hand, word is, she’s retiring next year anyway. Anything to hasten her leaving is a great thing in my book.

This whole primary process and splitting the Mayor’s race separately is a huge waste of time, money, and enough time to learn about the candidates. Plus, turnout at these off-year primaries is insanely low. A much better option, would be ranked choice voting, where the top three in votes- become the new mayor and commissioners in a single election. And, if in the race in 2 years, one of the candidates gets more votes than the one selected Mayor in this election- they move to the center seat. This would prevent jockeying for Mayor – and save time and money. Getting 500 signatures in the dead of winter sucks. That number is also insane- remember, Mike Turner only needs to turn in 50 to be your congressman…

We won’t know who’s signatures are good until March 11. A few things about this process- no one needs to fill out the ward and precinct- and the date isn’t required in the Charter- so the BOE can’t fuss about it- or use it to judge who got a signature for someone first. Their method of counting that you haven’t signed more than one petition for Mayor and 2 for Commission is by who turned in first- so if you sign 2 for mayor or 3 or more for commission- they won’t count if your candidate is the last to turn in. This may not be legal either- but I forget the details of my last fight with them to get on the ballot.

Remember, the BOE is made up of complete party hacks- getting the ultimate patronage jobs. This is where they think they control the outcome of elections (and probably do). I’ve been pretty sure since I wrote this post Database 101 for Board of Elections ^[19] where is became obvious that someone was playing games (my mother and father were in different precincts- in the same house). When Jordan Wortham somehow beat Carolyn Rice- and then all the absentee and late ballots came in and were overwhelmingly for Carolyn ^[20]– something smelled pretty bad. I may be bad at statistics, but the landslide difference was statistically improbable.

Who we elect should matter more than it does. The only way things will change is if Mims is dumped- which no one thinks is possible. Of course, Dixon didn’t think he’d lose to Turner, Turner didn’t think he’d lose to McLin, Mclin didn’t think she’d lose to Leitzell…

In reality, in every previous election that I’ve been around for, the people have always lost, because we’ve never had 3 independent thinkers on the commission- at best, two with Fairchild and Turner Sloss- but for Leitzel, Turner, Orrick, Lovelace- it was always a voice in the wilderness.

Song: “Rigged from the start” by David Esrati, calling out the political games, backroom deals, and the broken system in Dayton Ohio.

Your thoughts welcome in the comments.