How dumb can we be in Dayton?

This isn’t going to be a long post. When my local pardoned 6J criminal is complaining about lack of posting, I know I must look like I’m slacking. Reality is, I’m working on a really big story with a complicated video to produce, and a post about Trump- that keeps getting longer and more complicated, and a plan about how to properly organize for 2026 since our local political party is run by a sycophant who is clueless- yes, Mohamed Al-Hamdani, I’m talking about you.

Right now the last thing the Democratic party needs is a leader who shushes people with the line “you’re not a member of this party” at meetings- despite that person having received over 100,000 votes to be the congressional candidate. It’s why no one comes to the Montgomery County Democratic Party meetings- unless they are either related to the Monarchy or Employed by them. Patronage and Party Hacks is not ever going to win elections, never mind field candidates. One just has to look at the candidates list from the BOE ^[1] to see how many positions don’t even have opponents… and if you know your D’s from your R’s- you’d realize Mohamed isn’t an effective party chair. But, if what I heard is true, he’s going to let non-party insiders have access to the Ohio Democratic Party’s mailing discounts for the first time (this may be a new ruling by the ODP- and not a decision he’s made). Yes, the recognized political party candidates get to mail for less through the post office- and your congressman, he gets to mail for FREE- just another reason why changing your congressman is so hard.

So the final tallies are in, and there won’t be a Mayoral Primary this year. We’ve got until November to decide if we want to move forward with Shenise Turner Sloss or stay stuck in the “culture of corruption” with Jeff Mims. However, this also means that we need to elect Sloss plus two non-party folks to change it up. Mims is allied with Karen Wick and his aide, Darius Beckham (who better have resigned to run- per the city rules). If you vote for any of these three- you still have 3 votes of the unimaginative do-nothings on the commission with Matt Joseph and Chris Shaw. The battle lines are clear- it’s Sloss, Darryl Fairchild, Valerie Duncan or Jacob Davis ^[2] in the primary. Full disclosure- my firm ^[3] has done political work for Duncan, Fairchild, Sloss, and used to do work for Wick commercially. Also note, I’ve tried to divorce Duncan as a client multiple times due to difficulties in basic communication.

It seems like Fairchild and Sloss will be running together with Davis. I hope to host livestreams with candidates before the primary.

My questions for these “leaders” are no longer high level strategic ones- I’ve sort of lost hope of intelligent cogent solutions to Dayton’s many problems. Of course, since the voters can’t figure any of this out and keep electing the party puppets, why should we even have hope?

The Demolition Question?

Considering the drumbeat from all of them – promising to tear down more houses than they have money for goes on and on, ask them why they haven’t just invested in a few big dump trucks and big backhoes to do them with tax dollars instead of paying off their back door donors (the demolition companies and landfill operators). They’ve managed to kill off the only self-sufficient programs that were forward thinking – like Anne Higdon’s ISUS (Improved Solutions for Urban Systems) ^[4] that taught kids and drop outs how to fix and build homes, or James Kent’s innovative program that had x-cons deconstructing homes ^[5] to recycle a lot of the lumber and trim.

In the meantime, I watch the landfill growing as they tear down DeSoto Bass- claiming that these brick homes from the 40’s aren’t capable of housing folks anymore- and the new ticky tack that they build are better (it’s all about who is getting paid- follow the money).

If we’re going to have to listen to these candidates talk about something they have no qualifications to talk about, the hallowed “Economic Development,” we need to get real and discuss what economic class they are developing, because it sure isn’t the tax payers in Dayton.

The Quality of Life Question?

Dayton used to have a ton of pools and recreation centers. Now we’ve barely got 3. When is someone in power going to come clean on why the Roosevelt Center’s waterpark isn’t open. We just built it for millions of dollars less than 10 years ago.

If you go search Google for Roosevelt by it’s given name, Greater Dayton Recreation Center the top result goes to a 404 page ^[6]– after saying it has a “Family Aquatic Indoor Pool” and the Google business listing still isn’t even claimed by the city- and has no mention of the water park.

Yet more importantly, why can’t we keep the 2 remaining pools open at Princeton and Lohrey? Seriously- no other community pays lifeguards as much ($15 hr- through an expensive temp service) and overstaffs with 3 lifeguards there all the time- with one in the chair and two sleeping or goofing off in the back room.

The schedules online- are a downloadable PDF ^[7] instead of an ADA and mobile compliant HTML page that works on mobile. Basically- both pools are open Mondays. Tuesday and Thursdays are westside, Wednesday and Friday are East side and Saturday switches. No swimming on Sunday. Compare this to EVERY other city and the Y- who manage to keep their pools open 7 days a week- and typically only have a single guard. The thing about exercise facilities- people need them to be open as much as possible if you want them to be used a lot. I’m lucky- I’m about midway between the 2 pools so I alternate and get 6 days a week- unless of course theirs thunder or lightning- in which case they shut down their INDOOR pools- due to “risk of death by swimmers.” Yet, no one can show me a definitive example of a properly constructed indoor pool that has had this happen. Basically, the cro-magnons running the pools are doing everything possible to shut this essential public service down. All the other municipal and public pools laughed when I asked if they shut their indoor pools down when there was thunder or lightning.

But wait, it gets better. Dayton Fire Department has a “Water Rescue Team” that comes to the pools during morning lap swim time and takes over a bunch of the lap lanes- kicking the taxpayers to the side. My question is why don’t they come on the days the POOLS ARE CLOSED? And the answer is “we don’t have the lifeguards.” Hello? If the Fire Department “water rescue team” can’t save their own from drowning in a pool, never mind a raging river, what are we paying them for?

In August of 2023 I took time off work to become a lifeguard so they could have enough lifeguards to open both pools at least from 6am to 9am M-F for lap swimming. They hired both of my classmates- but told me, my hours offered wouldn’t work for them. (M-F 6a to 9a and 4 hrs on Saturdays if they are teaching swim lessons).One of my classmates, another service disabled veteran, just had his hours cut from 15 hours a week to 11, and they are still overstaffed. At one point last December there were often as many as 5 guards on duty- as they were supposedly “gearing up to open both pools everyday” but, then people, bored as hell, quit. Yet, no one’s getting fired for this incompetence and taxpayer waste. The good news is they have started teaching swim lessons again. This is a vital service to our minority community. Drowning used to be the number one cause of death by minority children ^[8]– that was until shooting took over.

The bad news is they close the pool for 15 minutes on Saturdays between lap swim and lessons so they can “get ready for swim lessons.” I want to know what 3 people have to do to get the pool ready for swim lessons? Drive an imaginary Zamboni over the water to smooth it from evil lap swimmers? Supposedly, lap swimmers can now swim during swim lessons at Northwest (Princeton) but it’s not in writing. But- the 15 minute break wrecks your workout.

If we’re asking the people who are running for commission to answer these kinds of basic operational questions and give us real answers, the most likely answers will be more empty promises- while still finding money to give to billionaires to build flying cars ^[9] for the millionaires- instead of making sure we have safe housing that’s not a threat to our community or having our pools open.

I’d be even more shocked if one of them promised to reopen the only outdoor pool we had- behind Fairview school- so poor kids can have a place to go where they can’t be packing heat, but oh, that’s right, Mayor Jeff Dims, I mean Mims, spent $175K on hiring the Ohlman Group (an ad agency) to solve the problem of kids shooting each other ^[9]. Hint Jeff, you can’t hide a gun in your swim suit.

Will these questions be answered by Darius, Darryl, Jacob, Karen or Valerie? Doubtful. And even if they were, would we trust them? And, none of it will change if Mims, Wick or Beckham get elected- which will give us more of the same mediocrity that closes our rec centers but spends money on an ad agency to fix lack of youth programming.

There are other things I’d like to know, like why can’t Dayton properly sweep our streets (where the cars are moved on sweeping days- and they have mini sweepers to go under trees) or manage to keep our neighborhoods and roadways free of litter? It’s been fun watching the mad rush to clean up for the NATO summit (that may not happen if Trump and Musk have their way), while we can’t seem to show any pride in our community.

There was a time that Dayton proclaimed itself to be America’s Cleanest, Safest City. When are we going to get back to basics and try to actually solve some problems- including our failing schools (thank Mims and WIck who were both on the school board).

I’d like to hear how to save homes over tearing them down. I’d like to know how we’re going to make it easier for businesses (not government) to create jobs that work in our community.

If you look at my campaign piece from 1993, when I first ran for Mayor and Commission (and lost- as always) I listed all kinds of ideas for moving Dayton forward. Things like round the clock discounted daycare for employees of companies that live and work in Dayton, and realize you missed out on 25 years of forward thinking and hopefully think let’s get busy making real changes happen. It was full of actionable ideas and ways to make our community stand out as a bastion of progress- of forward thinkers, inventors of the future, trying to make a better community. I doubt you’ll hear anything like that out of this crew.

What would the impact of been if we hadn’t allowed Good Sam Hospital to be torn down, and instead, found another hospital system to come compete with the current duopoly? Or started a public hospital? Would a real psychiatric unit, made more impact than remodeling our barely 30 year old jail again? Where are the big ideas to put the “Birthplace of Aviation” back on the map? On this blog and no where else?

Share your big ideas in the comments. I’d love your input.

Song “Thank You for Your Service (Now Get Out of the Pool)” by David Esrati