|
The Blade telegraphed their feelings on the case by the way
they wrote the story. “A seasoned, well connected “employee
was fired. Then followed a recount of all the SNAFUS at
EOPA recently. It made the board look like a rerun of “Amos
and Andy.” Ouch!
This issue may pivot on whether Culp is an at-will employee
or one who can be terminated for “just cause.” If Culp is a
“just cause” employee, the EOPA board of directors will be
smart if they give Culp a board hearing for his appeal. The
board should look at the issue de novo and decide
what is fair and just. EOPA cannot afford another layer of
mess.
Both Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and John Block are friends with
Culp. Culp is Carty’s main go to guy in the black community
of Toledo, even though 20 years ago during the first firing,
Carty was a council member who did not vote to support the
settlement for Culp. Crazy, is it not?
The state of Ohio’s budget deficit may provide the “crisis”
that Gov. Strickland needs to reform the way Ohio pays for
school financing. He could finally move off the property tax
and its inherent unfairness to black and poor kids in the
state of Ohio. No one really knows what an “adequate”
foundation is for our children but the property tax is
really arbitrary.
Last Sunday, Lee Conklin used my column in The Truth to
raise the name of Councilman Mike Ashford in the mayoral
race. Then, Conklin and Troy Neff commented on how many
committee meetings Ashford has missed on City Council.
Rubbish. Many council committee meetings are useless and the
savvy councilmember can discern which meeting is must attend
and which are not. When I was a council member and in the
legislature, I often had conflicting appointments. So I
would pick which meeting was the more important.
Both Neff and Conklin also chastised Ashford for not
returning phone calls. Mike, pick up the phone and return
the calls. Now, Tom Terrific, if you are reading this, you
are thinking “hey, Ford doesn’t return my calls.” That’s
right. I do not trust you.
Getting back to Mike Ashford, let me end with three brief
points. First, Mike has received pretty good press but he
has not had his name on the ballot in East Toledo, Point
Place, Tribley, Lincolnshire, Reynolds Corners or all of
South Toledo. By contrast, Rob Ludeman has run county-wide
and Councilman George Sarantou has run city wide three
times. Who gets the edge in voter identification?
Second, Mike is somewhat reticent in taking political
chances or challenging the unions.
Third, Mike Ashford can run from cover in 2009. He remains
on council even with a loss for mayor if he runs. Maybe a
mayoral run gets his name out there for a future run, or
maybe he gets hot and wins the whole thing like Barack
Obama.
Or, maybe Mike Bell gets in and takes the white yuppie
support and blows everyone else away.
Contact Jack Ford at
jack@thetruthtoledo.com.
|
