Thoughts on the inauguration

Last night at the Kroc Center it was busting at the seams. There was real energy in the room, and anyone who considers themselves a mover and shaker or a hardcore political junkie was there for the swearing in of Shenise Turner-Sloss as mayor, Darius Beckham as a new commissioner, and the re-swearing in of Darryl Fairchild as commissioner.

Speeches were made and themes repeated. Safety came up again and again, reinforcing the narrative that Dayton is unsafe. Even the invocation set that tone, listing violence, homelessness, and economic pain, then essentially arguing the city cannot move forward without divine intervention because every program and tactic has already been tried. That is one way to open an inauguration. It also tells you what kind of room you are in.

There were lots of mentions of homelessness, mental health, and home ownership support. Visions were shared, credit given to those who came before, and platitudes flew freely. There were standing ovations and applause for familiar lines like treating the 65 neighborhoods like downtown.

People were clearly celebrating change. How much change actually happens may hinge on one man, Darius Beckham, who now has to decide whether he joins the business as usual crowd that helped bring the FBI in to bungle a so called Culture of Corruption investigation, or whether he stands with Shenise and Darryl, the grassroots voices who earned their credibility the hard way.

One thing was unmistakable. We now have three openly godly voices on the commission, and they all signaled it. Beckham led with “glory be to God” and talked about who “orders my steps.” Shenise framed the work as sacred. Fairchild’s values and priorities were explicitly rooted in Christian faith and “agape love.” That is their choice. It also means they are going to be judged by results, not by blessings.

Putting all that aside, the most telling message was not spoken. Watching Matt Joseph clap politely at the right moments was mildly reassuring, though that may simply be because Matt is a nice guy. Shaw, on the other hand, looked like a fat turkey a week before Thanksgiving. He knows his days are numbered.

If these five can actually come together and work for the people remains an open question. As an old line goes, you have to be able to count to three.

Earlier that same day, Mike Turner and his unlikely ally Jeff Mims were busy singing Mims’ swan song about how unsafe the city has become. Turner did this on his own. Our former mayor, now congressman, decided to run a downtown fear tour that sabotages the city’s leadership and feeds the perception problem he claims he wants solved.

Mims participation on his last day was simply inexcusable. Mid last year he stood with Phil Plummer against busing for DPS high school students through the hub. That moment may have been the key to his losing to Turner-Sloss, Mims got lots of kudos last night, but he is still hanging on to the idea that he matters in what comes next. It is time for him to play golf and stay away.

No sooner had the back patting ended than the thing that calls itself a newspaper ran a story about handing tax dollars to Windsor Companies to build out Class A office space in the Deneau Tower. The timing could not have been more revealing.

On the same day downtown is described as unsafe, the city announces it will hand $500,000 in public money to subsidize office space in a downtown market with roughly 30 percent vacancy. If downtown is too dangerous for residents, transit riders, and the unhoused, it is certainly too dangerous for the office workers this subsidy assumes will show up. You cannot run a fear campaign and an office recruitment campaign at the same time without exposing the contradiction. Not only that, what does this signal to Chris Riegel who owns at least 3x the office towers?

Here is where it gets even more telling. Fairchild openly welcomed Turner’s Downtown Safety Working Group and said he looked forward to working with them. He called it a key component of “reimagining public safety.” That is the problem with Darryl. He is always a pleaser. He rarely stands up to anyone. He finds a way to applaud everything, even when it is obviously designed to undermine the city.

Fairchild tried to cover the contradiction by promising a parallel safety working group for neighborhoods, “both and, not either or.” Fine. Then make it real. Do not just create another committee to generate another report to sit on another shelf.

Instead, look to Turner-Sloss who says that visible neglect, trash, litter, and blighted areas create the perception that no one cares, and that disinvestment can invite illegal activity. Then she told people to pick up the trash and use the Dayton Delivers app to report illegal dumping, blight, overgrown vegetation, and potholes. Good. That is the kind of basic, block by block focus that changes how a city feels.

So here is the test. Stop betting tax dollars on developers and start doing the basics. Sweep the streets, which means parked cars actually have to move. Get trash collectors to put cans back where they belong, lids closed. Open pools and rec centers seven days a week. Parks and Rec is not Chick-fil-A.

And while we are at it, make sure Dayton residents do not get beaten or killed in the jail by the people paid to guard them.

It is also time to lean into transparency and accountability. Shenise said, out loud, that the era of doing business as usual ends today, and that this administration will not govern behind closed doors, but in the open. Great. Then prove it immediately. Put commission videos back on YouTube. Evaluate the city manager as required by law. Stop hiding the real work in work sessions and do the business of the city in public, the way the charter calls for.

Fairchild offered another accountability hook that should not be forgotten. He said the city needs four to six key metrics, identified with residents, and used as a yardstick for whether promises are being kept. He even gave an example, improving home ownership by 1 percent each year. Fine. Publish the metrics. Publish the baseline. Put them on a public dashboard. Update them monthly. If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it, and you certainly cannot claim success.

Beckham’s best line, though, was not about programs. It was about narrative discipline. He said long before a city changes physically, it changes culturally, and that we build cities first with words and then with bricks. He is right. Which is why it is insane to let Turner define Dayton as unsafe while the city simultaneously subsidizes downtown office space and pretends those two messages can coexist.

One of the things the audience reacted strongly to was mention of bringing something like the priority boards back. That is Dayton looking backward. The days they were reminiscing about are exactly that, yesterday. Many neighborhoods cannot even field enough volunteers for a neighborhood council anymore, let alone a citywide structure.

New ideas and creative thinking have never been welcomed in Dayton. As former City Hall insider Paul Woodie once said, “in Dayton you need a herd to be heard.” That is something this commission needs to break. Instead of closed door developer deals, try a public projects Shark Tank. Invite residents to submit agenda questions in advance. Build a real partnership with Dayton Public Schools that rewards student community service instead of blaming kids for downtown’s problems.

Most of all, let’s start talking like a winning city, not one clawing its way up from the bottom.

That may be the most important change of all. As Gandhi is often credited with saying, “be the change you want to see in the world.” Don’t just talk about it.