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Vote for Change in 08, but Dems think that Dayton should not change in 09

While Dayton will vote heavily for the Change candidate for President in November, the local slate will be all the same according to today’s Dayton Daily News:

Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin … plans to seek a third term.

… McLin has also asked the Compensation Board to freeze her salary in 2009 and the salaries of all commissioners. The request follows City Manager Rashad Young’s request of employees to forgo raises to cut a $13 million deficit.

“I wouldn’t ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do myself,” McLin said.

On Thursday, Commissioners Joey Williams and Nan Whaley, also Democrats, said they will seek re-election as well. Unlike 2007, when Commissioners Dean Lovelace and Matt Joseph ran unopposed, Republicans plan to challenge all three in 2009.

“People are frustrated,” Montgomery County GOP Chairman Greg Gantt said. “We expect to have candidates for mayor and the city commission in 2009.”

Mayor McLin will seek third term [1].

This pre-emptive announcement is supposed to scare away other candidates, along with the insane requirement for 500 signatures on their archaic petition [2] (you can run for Congress with 50). The Montgomery County Democratic Party hasn’t even asked if there were other candidates who would like to run.

At this point, Gary Leitzell from Walnut Hills [3] has already taken out petitions and is planning on running against McLin. I’m running for Commission as well. I’ve already posted previously about another possible Mayoral candidate [4] who could easily unseat McLin.

There is also the question of if there will be a special election before too long, if Commissioner Dean Lovelace doesn’t return to his seat from his recent stroke. Don’t quote me, but the charter only allows something like 5 excused absences in a row before you have abdicated your seat. Our lack of a current Clerk of Commission means this will probably not be enforced.

At one point or another, every current member of the Dayton City Commission has severely let the citizens down, from Commissioner Williams abstaining on the gay rights vote, to Lovelaces vote against it- to the Mayor’s absolute inability to inspire the business community to believe that we have a captain at the helm, or Matt Joseph’s sole contribution of party’s for interns or Nan Whaleys…. well, what exactly has she done except carry the Mayor’s purse and hatbox?

Vision, leadership, new ideas, or even debate hasn’t come out of this Commission for years. The only one who has talked policy at all has been Lovelace with his lead on predatory lending- however noble his actions, they were at the wrong level of Government.

The first time I ran for Mayor, we had 6 candidates. Maybe in 2009 we’ll be lucky enough to have some real choices in the primary and viable challengers in the general election.

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