Article published November 03, 2009
ELECTION 2009
Bell wins Toledo mayoral race
Mike Bell celebrates his victory late Tuesday night at Navy Bistro.
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THE BLADE
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BLADE STAFF
Former city fire chief and political independent Mike Bell won the race for Toledo mayor on Tuesday night following a solid victory over Democrat Keith Wilkowski.
Despite being outspent almost 2-1, Mr. Bell won his first-ever election bid, to replace incumbent Carty Finkbeiner on Jan. 4.
With 100 percent of the unofficial results, Mr. Bell had 52.3 percent of the vote (35,118 votes) to Mr. Wilkowski's 47.7 percent (31,987).
“It's been a very tough race,” Mr. Bell said to jubilant supporters in the Old Navy restaurant in The Docks late Tuesday night. “The only reason I got into it was unity. It's bringing everybody together. We will turn this thing around. I told you this from the beginning.”
Mr. Wilkowski, meeting with supporters and other Democratic candidates and campaign supporters at the United Auto Workers Local 12 hall, said I “talked to my former high school classmate and I told him congratulations on the race well fought and that he has won.
"I told him that he should know that he will have my full support in his efforts to help improve Toledo.”
The election appeared to reflect the enduring good will that Mr. Bell earned during his 17 years as Toledo's fire chief.
Mr. Bell won even with an ambiguous message on taxes. He vowed to “play within the perimeter,” meaning work within the tax revenues from the current 2.25 percent income tax, but said the public could be “fickle,” and might choose a tax hike over painful service cuts.
He vowed to appoint a citizen task force to examine the city's budget figures, and to lead a campaign to set the city's priorities for the available revenue. He made clear that his priorities would be public safety and trash collection.
Unlike Mr. Wilkowski, Mr. Bell never got very specific with his economic development vision, touting his intention to appoint a “business advocate” as deputy mayor, and to let the professionals — led by the University of Toledo — chart the region's economic development course.
Mr. Bell, 54, attended Spring Elementary School, Woodward High School, and the University of Toledo. He joined the city fire department in 1980 and was soon laid off during a fiscal crisis. He became the first big-city black fire chief in Ohio when he was appointed in 1990.
Mr. Bell stepped down in 2007 to accept the state fire marshal job to which he was appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland in 2007. He resigned in April to undertake the campaign for mayor.
The former fire chief who described the city's situation as “a three-alarm fire” inherits a city with troubled finances.
Income tax collections, which account for the bulk of the city's revenues, came in at $145 million in 2009, well below the predicted $169 million upon which the budget was based, forcing the layoff of 75 police officers in May. All of those have been brought back, with the help of state and federal grants.
The year 2010 is not expected to be much improved.
The campaign pitted two high school friends against each other. Mr. Bell and Mr. Wilkowski went to Woodward together, both graduating in 1973. Mr. Wilkowski went on to Ohio State University and Mr. Bell to the University of Toledo.
Article appeared in earlier versions of The Blade and toledoblade.com
Voting turnout light in early hours; no glitches reported
Turnout at the polls has been slow but steady Tuesday morning, according to poll workers and election officials. No major glitches have been reported so far.
The Toledo mayoral race, elections for Toledo City Council and the Toledo Public Schools board, plus the statewide casino gambling issue, have brought a steady stream of voters to St. Petri Lutheran Church, a polling place on South Byrne Road, according to the Rev. David Vinciguerra, pastor.
"We had somebody here ready to go at 6:20 and we told tell them they had to wait 10 minutes," Mr. Vinciguerra said.
The pastor said it's been busier than the primary election but not as much as last year's presidential vote.
Turnout in Monroe, Mich., has been low Tuesday morning but there have been no reports of mix-ups or malfunctions, according to Charlie Evans, clerk treasurer.
The Wood County Board of Elections reported no problems but had no information on voter turnout.
Jon Stainbrook, chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, said he's been passing out literature at polling stations across the city.
"There's been a steady stream of voters but nothing like it was in the presidential year," Mr. Stainbrook said. He said Issue 3, a proposal to allow casino gambling in Ohio, has been a prime factor in turnout.
"If you hate casino gambling or if you love casino gambling, you're going to vote," he said.
Article appeared in earlier versions of The Blade and toledoblade.com
Issues, races land in voters' hands; casino question may aid turnout
Voters have the final say Tuesday on who will be Toledo's next mayor, as well as on whether there will be casino gambling in the city and in three other Ohio locations - the issue some people think will drive voter turnout.
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. in Ohio and open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. in Michigan.As of Monday, 2,348 people had voted at the Lucas County Early Voting Center - less than 1 percent of the county's 314,632 registered voters.
Running for mayor of Toledo are endorsed Democrat Keith Wilkowski, 53, a lawyer who was city law director in the 1990s, and Mike Bell, 54, longtime city fire chief and a political independent.
Voters in Toledo also will select six people to be at-large council members for the next four years. And city voters will choose from 10 candidates to fill three Toledo Public Schools board seats.
Countywide, voters will decide Issue 4, a replacement levy for senior services.
In the region, voters in Findlay and Bowling Green will be asked to approve temporary increases in city income tax levies to help those communities weather falling tax collections. And in Monroe, voters will decide races for mayor, three city council seats, and a 20-year levy to finance repairs to three bridges in the city.
Voters across Ohio will decide three statewide ballot issues: Issue 1, to give $1,000 bonuses to veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Issue 2, to establish a livestock and poultry regulatory board, and Issue 3, to allow one casino each in Toledo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus.
Yesterday Mr. Bell, 54, walked door to door with volunteers in South Toledo's Crossgates neighborhood, while Mr. Wilkowski, 53, campaigned with other Democrats waving signs at the busy Dorr Street and Collingwood Boulevard intersection.
Both candidates for mayor of Toledo have sought to claim the "change" agenda.
"My message has been that we can change our economy. We can take positive steps to put people to work," Mr. Wilkowski said.
Of today's outcome, Mr. Wilkowski repeated that he was "cautiously optimistic."
Mr. Bell said, "The one thing I have been trying to get across is change through unity. If we don't get it together to change things here in Toledo and Lucas County, we will all fail."
He said he felt confident of success today.
"I feel that we are going to win and we are going to win substantially. I just believe we are reaching enough people and we are being underestimated by the opposition," Mr. Bell said.
Linda Howe, director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, predicted the turnout countywide would be about 28 percent, fueled mainly by Issue 3, the casino initiative. "I think the casino is going to bring them out," she said.
In other cities, villages, and townships, mayoral, trustee, council, and levy elections are being held.
Sylvania Township is seeing a spirited contested race with 10 people competing for two township trustee posts. In Oregon, incumbent Mayor Marge Brown, the endorsed Democrat, is being challenged by Councilman Mike Seferian, an independent.
Lucas County Republican Party Chairman Jon Stainbrook said the county's Issue 4, a tax levy to maintain senior citizens' services, may motivate senior voters to turn out, which could have an impact on other races. He said the race creating the most interest is state Issue 3, with people split strongly pro and con.
"The casino initiative is drawing people to the polls," Mr. Stainbrook said. "There's no Obama motivating people to vote and there's no Republican on our side to get people to come out and vote in the mayor's race."
He predicted turnout of several points below normal.
Ron Rothenbuhler, chairman of the Lucas County Democratic Party, participated in the sign-and-banner-waving rally at Dorr and Collingwood. He said the site was chosen because it is heavily traveled and to make sure the central city gets motivated.
"I honestly can't say" what the turnout might be, he said. "I wish people would take advantage of a privilege and a responsibility," he said.
In Toledo's 2005 mayoral elections, 42,000 people voted in the primary and 79,000 voted in the general election, out of 190,000 registered voters, for a turnout of 41.5 percent.
If voters follow the same pattern this year, then the 37,363 people who voted Sept. 15 will swell to about 70,000 voting today, or about 35 percent of the city's 203,000 registered voters.
Contact Tom Troy at:
tomtroy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6058.
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