Mike Turner finally has a public meeting: without the public, or their interests at heart

Every once in a while, something shows up in the local paper that is revealing not because of what it says, but because of what it carefully avoids saying.

This week, the Dayton Daily News ran a short item online announcing that Congressman Mike Turner would be holding a press conference to address “safety concerns” in downtown Dayton ^[1]. No location was listed. No time was listed. No public invitation was offered. No agenda was released. No supporting documents were provided.

Which makes sense, because Mike Turner does not meet with the public.

This was not a public meeting. It was a staging.

A meeting about public safety that excludes the public

If the subject is safety in downtown Dayton, the absence of residents, transit riders, workers, and the unhoused is not a detail. It is the story.

Instead, we are told that Turner will appear alongside members of something called the “Downtown Dayton Security Working Group.” That phrase should immediately raise questions. Who selected this group? Who do they represent? Who is missing from the table?

Experience tells us the answer. Business interests. Law enforcement. State actors. The same institutions that have been “coordinating” for years while conditions worsened.

Committees without democratic legitimacy are not solutions. They are buffers.

Update: 15:30 5 Jan 2026- here’s the video and notes:

Turner manages to mangle names- and not know who he’s talking about: “Bob Streck” as opposed to “Rob Streck” and “Chris Shaw County Commissioner” (he’s a city commissioner) starting about 2:12 He also introduces Jeff Mims still as the Mayor of Dayton, despite the formal swearing in tonight at 6pm. He’s proud his “plan” will be on the City Agenda this Wednesday. How that happens, is suspect. – end update.

Inventing urgency around a long ignored problem

The press release language treats crime and disorder around the downtown bus hub as a recent emergency. It is not. Complaints about conditions near the Greater Dayton RTA hub have existed for years. What has also existed for years is underinvestment in housing stability, mental health care, addiction services, and transit design.

Concentrate poverty. Concentrate enforcement. Remove social services. Then express shock when the result becomes visible.

Calling this a “safety crisis” now is not leadership. It is revisionism.

If memory serves me right, Turner was Mayor when the Admiral Benbow hotel was torn down to make way for the RTA hub in the first place.

Security theater is not safety

We are told the group will recommend action steps, coordination strategies, and economic development plans. None are specified. We are told a temporary police substation will open near the bus hub.

That is security theater.

Police presence does not resolve homelessness. It does not resolve addiction. It does not resolve untreated mental illness. It does not resolve the structural decisions that made downtown Dayton fragile in the first place.

Real safety is boring. It looks like cops walking a beat, case workers, stable housing, redesigned transit flow, accessible treatment, and long term funding commitments. None of that fits neatly into a press conference.

The resolution trick

Perhaps the most revealing detail is the call for the City of Dayton and Montgomery County to adopt a resolution affirming a collective commitment to these goals.

Resolutions create headlines. They create the appearance of unity. They transfer responsibility. They do not create capacity, authority, or outcomes.

Dayton has never suffered from a lack of resolutions. It has suffered from a lack of accountability. It suffers from a Sheriff who runs a jail which is the most dangerous place downtown by far, yet Turner won’t say anything about that.

Federal posturing, local consequences

It is worth noting that while Turner is inserting himself into local “security” discussions, his actual job is federal oversight. On the same day, he is publicly posturing on international affairs and national security narratives far removed from Dayton’s daily realities.

This is a familiar pattern in the age of Donald Trump. Frame disorder as existential. Avoid root causes. Elevate enforcement. Centralize power. Declare success.

No one has suggested the National Guard is coming. That is not the point. The point is that fear framing is a political tool, and it is being deployed locally without public consent or participation.

The question that never gets asked

If downtown safety is truly the goal, then the questions are straightforward.

Why now?
Why behind closed doors?
Why no public forum?
Why the same institutions that created the conditions are presenting themselves as the solution?

Dayton does not have a safety problem.

It has a governance problem.

And until the people most affected are allowed into the room, these meetings will continue to produce press releases instead of progress.

And in other lawless news, Felon Foley gets another pat on the wrists by the Hein-ous one

Friday, while most public officials were taking a 4 day holiday, Judge Hein issued a very strange ruling about Mike Foley the Felon’s community service tally sheet, totally ignoring Foley’s drinking in violation of his probation ^[2]. Apparently, “We Care Arts” ^[3]– the non-profit Foley was doing his community service hours at, can’t do basic math.

There is also no mention of his payment of fines. Foley is far from being released from his community control as he tried to claim on the alcohol use in public misstep.

Here’s the filing: