Endorsements in the Dayton City Commission race- and more

Housekeeping issue: For the last month, people with AOL, Outlook, Yahoo, and a few assorted other email providers have been getting their post notifications blocked. Please, mark [email protected] as a legitimate sender in your email app.

Along the same lines, certain commentors make up emails for their comments. This is causing issues as well- as there actually may be someone with that email address you are making up. From now on, you can make up a single fake name, but use a legitimate email- or don’t comment. Read all the rules here: https://esrati.com/instructions-privacy

---

In the Dayton City Commission race, I have to disclose that I’ve done work for 4 of 5 candidates, the only one I’ve not worked for is Darius Beckham. Therefore, I’m kind of biased, and also, probably know these folks pretty well. So, instead of me giving you my endorsements, I took the essays each of them submitted to the DDn which ran on Sunday and ran them through ChatGPT and asked to grade them- after asking the app to decipher what Dayton’s real issues were from commonly available sources:

Here’s an unbiased evaluation of each Dayton City Commission candidate’s platform based on their published statements, contextualized against Dayton’s key challenges: population decline, poverty, youth disengagement, blight, economic inequality, inefficient land use, and lack of transparency or civic trust.

? Darius Beckham – “937 Day”

Plan Summary:
Beckham proposes creating an annual citywide celebration on Sept 3 (937 Day), focused on community pride, supporting small businesses, showcasing local artists, and raising funds for youth programming. He positions this as a grassroots, joy-based unity effort that reinvests proceeds into youth support systems.

Strengths:

• Positivity and civic pride are powerful tools in rebranding Dayton’s image.
• Supporting small businesses and artists aligns with boosting local economic participation.
• Proposal encourages community-led ownership and engagement.

Weaknesses:

• Lacks structural reform proposals or hard policy solutions for entrenched systemic issues like housing, crime, or poverty.
• Fundraising through a single event likely won’t meet the scale of youth support needed.

Letter Grade: C+
Uplifting and community-centered, but doesn’t address root causes of Dayton’s deeper socioeconomic challenges.

---

? Jacob Davis – “Neighborhood-Centered Urbanism”

Plan Summary:
Davis advocates for a Public Works division dedicated to litter cleanup, better use of vacant lots, new affordable housing types (barndominiums, tiny homes), modernized zoning, and the adoption of the “15-minute city” urban model.

Strengths:

• Tangible, implementable policy ideas with clear city-level jurisdiction.
• Modern zoning reform and alternative housing models match the city’s affordability crisis.
• Focuses on long-term urban planning and environmental quality of life.

Weaknesses:

• Would benefit from a deeper plan for how to fund or incentivize this vision.
• May underestimate political resistance to zoning reform or “15-minute city” infrastructure upgrades.

Letter Grade: A-
Comprehensive, forward-thinking, and tailored to Dayton’s urban decay and housing problems.

---

? Valerie Duncan – “Equity in Investment”

Plan Summary:
Duncan emphasizes her long civil service career and pledges to bring the same level of development focus from downtown to the neighborhoods. Her top priority is improving Dayton’s housing stock and stabilizing neighborhoods.

Strengths:

• Understands internal bureaucracy and how decisions are made—useful for leveraging systems.
• Advocates for equitable resource allocation—aligns with Dayton’s major investment disparity issues.

Weaknesses:

• Lacks specifics on how to create affordable housing or drive redevelopment.
• Uses generalities (“new leadership,” “impact equally”) without actionable detail.

Letter Grade: B-
Experienced and equity-focused, but too vague on execution or bold reforms.

---

? Darryl Fairchild – “Youth Asset Infrastructure”

Plan Summary:
Fairchild centers his campaign on building the 40 Developmental Assets for youth through structured working groups, collaboration with DPS, afterschool programs, and mentorship. He aligns with existing programs and calls for broad partnerships.

Strengths:

• Youth engagement is crucial in Dayton, where children face poor outcomes and violence.
• Plans to coordinate existing programs rather than create redundant ones.
• Offers a vision that is humane, urgent, and structurally sound.

Weaknesses:

• Focuses narrowly on youth issues, which, while vital, is only part of the city’s larger puzzle.
• Collaboration-heavy approach may move slowly without strong executive direction.

Letter Grade: B+
Deeply meaningful youth-focused plan with system-level thinking, but limited in addressing the city’s economic or land-use crises.

---

? Karen Wick – “Business and Common-Sense Governance”

Plan Summary:
Wick highlights her background in small business and school board leadership, citing Welcome Stadium’s renovation as an example of impact. Her top priority is cutting red tape and helping businesses thrive.

Strengths:

• Pro-business stance aligns with a key need: economic growth outside of downtown.
• Emphasizes real-world experience in both business and governance.

Weaknesses:

• No housing, zoning, youth, or neighborhood policy proposals—huge gaps.
• Uses vague “bring people together” language without articulating an actual policy vision.

Letter Grade: C-
Experience in leadership noted, but proposals are underdeveloped and miss Dayton’s systemic challenges entirely.

---

? Overall Ranking (Best to Weakest Plans):

1. Jacob Davis (A-) – Most robust urban vision with actionable, future-oriented reforms.
2. Darryl Fairchild (B+) – Strong youth-centered plan, grounded in proven frameworks.
3. Valerie Duncan (B-) – Equitable investment stance, but vague delivery.
4. Darius Beckham (C+) – Inspiring, but event-based celebration is not a structural fix.
5. Karen Wick (C-) – High on anecdote, low on actionable governance policy.

Amazingly, ChatGPT pretty much ranked the candidates the way I would have- although, let’s be clear, I’ve also been to candidates nights, looked over their websites, and know the inner workings of our Commission.

The only reason to vote for Duncan is to possibly displace Wick or Beckham. She’s been a client I’ve tried to escape for years. She doesn’t understand websites, email, social media, or the list goes on. I had told her after the last election that we’d no longer do work for her, but she’s incapable of getting her website moved- and we finally capitulated that it was easier to just set it back up than deal with her.

As to Beckham and Wick- if you vote for either of these two party puppets, you guarantee at least 2 more years of a 3 person majority of the old guard- where demolition companies, landfill operators, and who knows else gets to run our city. Even if Mims were to lose in the Mayoral race to Turner Sloss, she won’t have 3 votes unless Davis and Fairchild rise with her.

To be clear, Fairchild and Turner Sloss haven’t challenged the trilateral commission of Mims, Joseph and Shaw enough over the last 4 years. They should have introduced legislation- just to get them to be on record voting against good policy changes. They just keep their tent folded most of the time, knowing they won’t win. I don’t respect that approach- but the old adage is the correct one- you need to be able to count to 3, or you are wasting your time.

Speaking of a waste of time, why we even do this primary to reduce the number of choices is a stupid and expensive exercise. The separate Mayoral race is a costly remnant from another time. The proper way would be to elect 3 commissioners one cycle and 2 the next- and whomever has the highest vote total is the mayor. Simple.

Also, the commission has failed to fix the charter and the petitions which aren’t technically valid. Read more in these two posts:

• https://esrati.com/montgomery-county-board-of-elections-places-esrati-on-may-ballot-says-no-to-jo-love/19639
• https://esrati.com/board-of-elections-to-meet-tomorrow-morning-to-decide-fate-of-2-candidates-for-dayton-city-commission/19632

Or, read all the posts on the flawed petition process on this blog.

---

The turnout will be very light, and despite that, I still don’t believe in early voting. Sometimes, at the last moment, we find out something about candidates that would make us take our vote back- but we can’t. Read this post for a reminder: Why early voting is a mistake in Ohio.

The only other thing on the ballot is Issue 2- which will be the last confusing issue with the same number for a while. It’s granting the state the ability to issue bonds for projects- some of which I don’t agree with, but, for the most part, it’s a necessary housekeeping thing- so vote yes on Issue 2.

---

So this wouldn’t be Esrati.com if I didn’t say something confrontational, or give the MAGA crowd something to harp about in the comments. I asked ChatGPT to go through my 2 websites, electesrati.com and this one, and come up with my plan for Dayton and grade it. It got confused between national issues and state ones – and overwhelmed by so much content.

After asking it to filter out the national issues- it came back with this. My detractors will dwell on one of the weaknesses it identified and jump up and down with glee:

? David Esrati – “Truth to Power”

Plan Summary:

David Esrati’s platform emphasizes transparency, accountability, and systemic reform within Dayton’s local government. Key proposals include:?

• 24/7 Childcare as Economic Development: Advocating for round-the-clock childcare services to support working families and attract businesses by ensuring employees have reliable childcare options.?
• Divestment of City-Owned Properties: Proposing the city fully divest from its inventory of vacant lots and buildings, which are currently underutilized and contribute to urban blight.?
• Government Transparency: Championing open meetings and increased citizen participation, challenging the erosion of public comment opportunities in city governance.?
• Support for Small Businesses: Suggesting reforms to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and create a more level playing field for local entrepreneurs.?
• Community Engagement: Emphasizing the importance of involving residents in decision-making processes to rebuild trust in local institutions.?

Strengths:

• Innovative Solutions: The proposal for 24/7 childcare addresses workforce needs and economic development in a novel way.?
• Asset Utilization: Divesting city-owned properties could reduce maintenance costs and stimulate private investment.?
• Transparency Focus: A commitment to open government aligns with the need to rebuild civic trust in Dayton.?

Weaknesses:

• Implementation Details: While the vision is clear, specific strategies for implementing these reforms at the city level are less defined.?
• Political Polarization: A confrontational approach may alienate some constituents and hinder collaborative efforts within the commission.?

Letter Grade: B+

Esrati presents a compelling vision centered on transparency and innovative solutions to Dayton’s challenges. To strengthen the platform, more detailed implementation plans and strategies for building consensus would be beneficial.

---

I don’t shy away from being confrontational. These are two quotes that I live by.

• “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for” ? John A. Shedd
• “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” ? George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

I listened to a speaker at Dayton Pecha Kucha on Thursday night talking about “Upstanders” in the effort to save Jews from Hitlers holocaust. It was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and it hit home with me. If you don’t know what an Upstander is, there’s a whole Upstander Project online. Their definition:

An upstander is a person who takes action in defense of those who are targeted for systemic or individual harm or injustice. An upstander is the opposite of a bystander. Upstanders confront injustice in many ways, some more public than others. Activists can be upstanders, so is a child who protects someone next to her at lunch from being bullied. Policy makers who ensure new laws are equitable are upstanders. Educators who ensure every child feels welcome in their schools are upstanders.

You can be an upstander. We all can be upstanders. 

America is in desperate need of more upstanders right now.

---

Reminder, this Thursday, 6:30 to 8:00 PM Michael Harbaugh and I have organized the first of what we are calling “Dayton Debates” (website coming soon) where issues are discussed in a town hall format. This one will be at the Main Library in the main theater, to discuss if America should be in NATO – or if NATO should be dissolved. Hope you can make it- but if not, it will be livestreamed on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBxVYNPK-5g
We’re also planning on having it broadcast on WRCX CH 40- over the air- but you may need an outdoor antenna to get it.

---

This has been a very challenging week for me. I’ve shared some of my story of my 8 year mission to help a mentally ill veteran- and how it came to an abrupt ending by the stroke of a magistrates gavel about a year and a half ago.

For those of you who don’t know- here’s a few refresher posts:

• Mental Health Care Gets A Pink Slip in Dayton Ohio
• When probate court and an incompetent psychiatrist kills a friendship

There’s another post out there- written by DDn Sports Writer Tom Archdeacon, but it has names in it and so I’ll leave it out.

Since the magistrate handed over the Guardianship to a Centerville lawyer about a year and a half ago, there’s been very little contact- despite him living 2 houses away. I’ve gotten updates through friends and neighbors- and generally- the consensus has been he’s not been doing nearly as well under this new court ordered arrangement. I’ve also been told over and over- that my life is better without him in it.

I struggle with that. Veterans who can help other veterans- and don’t- well, to me, there’s a special hell for them.

Two weeks ago- Tuesday, the 15th, he called, something that he’s not done since the court hearing. I answered “John, are you OK?” and got dead air. I sent my “little brother” over to check on him- and all was OK. That night- after midnight – I got a VM accusing me of messing with his TV- and having some kind of big boss power over him.

I called his Guardian that day- and let him know. On Saturday- I called his son, and filled him in- and got some other updates. I suggested that sometimes, when he’s spiraling, if you ask him to self-admit, he will. His son came up- suggested it- and took him to the hospital. I got his dog to watch, since his brother was also in the hospital for mental health issues.

The dog went back last Monday- when they both were let out of the hospital.

The dog came back this Wednesday, after an eventful day. First, he called just before 2- and wanted to talk. He was racing, he was crying, then he wanted to come see me. He was winded just walking half a block. He’s heavier than I’ve ever seen him- and it was more racing, crying, admissions of drinking. I said we could talk this weekend some more- but, that was just the beginning. I called his Guardian- who said he would look into things.

By 7:15 as I was getting ready to head to the rink to play hockey, my phone rang, first his son, then a woman in the Oregon District who was sitting with a drunk John. He’d lost his keys and shouldn’t have been driving anyway. I picked him up- asked if he wanted to go home or to the VA? To the VA was his choice. I was late for hockey. Shout out to Matt Miller of Carl’s Body Shop for helping me and the Guardian in recovering the car before it was towed.

Discussions with the guardian, the Veterans Benefit Administration coordinator, and friends ensued. The Guardian was more than willing to pay me for my time spent on this. He’s always said that he’d never provide the level of care I did and has been up front that he believed that John was in better hands. I used to see him a minimum of 2x a day to administer his meds- and usually another time to just check in.

I went to see John today at the hospital. He’s thinking about what he wants- and if my help is something he needs. He told me over and over on Wednesday that he needs help with his meds. I’ve known this all along- but apparently Magistrate Wiseman ignored that part. He claims he’s been hospitalized a lot more often since I stopped taking care of him. I can’t verify anything he says- nor can I figure out what to do- other than be there for him- and give him a hug when he feels alone in his battle.

He’s one of the lucky ones with mental illness in this country- he has health care and benefits. So many do not.

We’re in desperate need of structured living facilities for those who have a daily battle inside their heads. I’ve wanted to build supportive group housing clusters with “tiny houses” for a long time. I was happy to see that someone is doing this in Columbus recently: Check out Vista Village.

---

In the end, this is a long post. It’s several topics. It’s not my normal style. I don’t know if my readers will like it, or hate it. I’ve got 12 days and a wake up before I get a new hip. It may crimp my writing for a bit.

I’d like to thank those of you who “subscribe” and donate to support my writing. I was told by an elected official yesterday that if it wasn’t for me doing what I do- we wouldn’t have any source of truth in this town. It was humbling. I am working on two major stories, but have been waiting on Public Records Requests and on a judges ruling. I’m also in early stages of discussing a new media alternative to the local corporate media- to do more in-depth discussions about the issues of Dayton.

One last thing, I sent an e-mail to DDn Opinion Page editor Nick Hrkman, asking him if it was now AP style to allow lawyers to call themselves Dr.? Of course, he didn’t respond- and when I asked him in person, he was kind of evasive. No matter how hard both Chrisondra Goodwine and Stacy Benson-Taylor try to elevate their stature- getting a J.D. isn’t carte blanche permission to anoint yourself Dr. and neither is a doctorate of divinity (Mr. William Bailey, I’m looking at you and your predecessors on the DPS board Rev’s Walker and Harris).

I welcome, as always, your thoughts on what I post in comments. Thanks for reading.

Song: We Don’t Bow by David Esrati