People of Dayton: You deserve better

Why do I do it?

That’s the question that the armchair quarterbacks that run this city like to ask me. The editors at the Dayton Daily News, the politicians, the political junkies, the community leaders. Why, if you’ve been defeated time and time again, would you go back for more?

The people don’t want what you are selling- they don’t want your ideas, they don’t want your leadership. That’s the message I seem to be missing.

Yet, here you are- reading this post, on this site. A site where I’ve spent the last five years trying to explain what I know, show what I see and help you understand what’s really going on. As I sit here at midnight writing- I sit and question myself, what is it that they need to understand to see things the way I do? What have I failed to communicate? Should I too stop caring?

Our city, our state, our nation all are in various ways, failing us. If you need proof, go look at the price of gas today- and think what it was just a few weeks ago. Mark my words that as it continues the climb to $4 a gallon or more, we’ll all be in a sinking ship again, the depression that didn’t happen, will be back. And, our politicians will be pointing fingers again- blaming someone else for the problems instead of owning up and saying “I screwed up.”

I’m here to tell you that I screwed up. I didn’t turn in 600+ signatures to get on the ballot- and because of that, there again, won’t be a primary in Dayton. I did get my kids to basketball, soccer and art classes and took a yoga class when I should have been out knocking on doors, getting signatures in the middle of January and February. The standard they set is so easy- that only incumbents can consistently do it- those that have petitions circulated by political bosses- in city hall, on government property, to the people they supervise- because incumbents never have to go door-to-door. It’s easy for the BOE to point to me that I failed- but- let me tell you- they can’t prove there are 100,792 voters in the city of Dayton as they claim.

Our incumbents sit back tonight comfortably knowing that the system that they have conquered will once again protect them. Their seat for life is safe (as long as they don’t send 6 mailings out with their opponents’ name and picture on them). They never have to fear recall, or having their votes reversed. They never have to fear the rules being changed- because, well- even if the people did care enough to question them, the bar that’s set to put new laws on the books from a people’s initiative is so high it can’t be reached. But, if the people turn in the petitions, the Commission may still play games- and force the petitioners to get 1.5x additional signatures to force the issue:

Sec. 24. [Proposed Ordinances–Commission Consideration and Action.] The Commission shall at once proceed to consider it and shall take final action thereon within 30 days from the date of submission.
If the Commission rejects the proposed ordinance, or passes it in a form different from that set forth in the petition, the committee of the petitioners may require that it be submitted to a vote of the electors in its original form, or that it be submitted to a vote of the electors with any proposed change, addition, or amendment, if a petition for such election is presented bearing additional signatures of 15 percent of the electors of the city.

The people in power- have almost absolute power- and with it, they have made sure that people outside their walls of power, don’t get in.

I have shared with you countless cases of nepotism, favoritism, illegal activity, unjust and capricious rulings that have contributed to a loss of population at an alarming rate. Yet, while the population continues to shrink- the number of voters on the rolls, thereby making the petition process harder, continues to grow. It’s like a Ponzi scheme- where the people who got in early- are the only ones getting something back out.

I think what hurts the most in this outing is that without my help, Mr. Manovich wouldn’t have gotten on the ballot either. Had I not also circulated his petitions, he’d have not made it on the ballot.

18 years without a primary. The last time a seat changed hands without a resignation, before Mayor Leitzell’s upset, was 18 years ago when Mike Turner upset Clay Dixon.

The political machine is alive and well in Dayton, Ohio. We have 100,792 registered voters in this town.

The Board of Elections wants me to prove that I turned in 500 signatures- I say, prove to me we have 100,792 registered voters first.

Because if I can’t change the laws by legal petition, you have no right to enforce them. You can’t have one standard without the other.

Either it takes the 50 signatures of Ohio Revised Code to get on the ballot- or it takes them proving to me that I would have to get 25,000 valid signatures to recall an elected official.

The books are cooked. Where is the investigation?

When will the Commission find the 3 votes to change the standards for petition and recall to be based on the number of actual voters, and put the power within the reach of the people? When will they give you the right to petition your government?

My guess is, when hell freezes over. They know they’ve got a good thing going- and they don’t think you can do any better (they’ve made sure of it).