In late January, Councilwoman Cecelia Adams, PhD, proposed creating a
new Department of Parks, Recreation, Youth Services, and
Educational Engagement. The ordinance was passed March 2
with the mayor’s support by a 9-3 vote. Then, on March 10,
the mayor suddenly backtracked and vetoed the legislation.
The veto ruffled feathers in the Black community and set the
stage for last week’s contentious vote to override it.
What caused Kapszukiewicz to veto the legislation after earlier
supporting it?
While the mayor insisted that the Adams legislation violated the City
Charter, I do know that “People sho’ get funny when they get
a little money.”
Some point to the sweeping federal American Rescue Plan for the mayor’s
about-face. The $1.9 trillion relief package recently passed
by Congress will send $190 million to the City of Toledo
which, when added to the City’s $70 rainy day fund, will
leave the Kapszukiewicz administration flush with cash.
After lobbying from former
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, the NAACP and other community
leaders, the mayor came to last week’s council meeting
apologetic for a “three-week-long miscommunication between
city council and the administration and my staff.” He also
brought with him a $30 million dollar incentive to “invest
in youth mentoring and large-scale summer work programs” if
the legislation is sent to committee instead of voting on
the veto.
However, Dr. Adams, who
called the offer “disingenuous” and possibly insufficient,
was not trying to hear that. “It bothers me,” she said,
“because no one in administration including [Kapszukiewicz]
was anywhere talking to us as a body when the ordinance was
introduced in January; when the ordinance was discussed
during first reading; when the ordinance was discussed
during second reading; when the ordinance was discussed
during the third reading; and when the ordinance was
discussed during the hearing, where nobody from the
administration showed up. Council has already spoken on
this matter and … I don’t think it is proper for us to give
permission or relinquish our power to anyone or anything to
take away the fact that the legislative branch can legislate
and we did… There was no miscommunication; there is no
confusion here, we’ve had plenty of time to study this and
today is the day we’ve been forced and put into a position
where we now have to vote again for something we already
approved.”
Adams’ veto override
effort failed when earlier supporters - Councilwomen Vanice
Williams and Tiffany Preston-Whitman joined Councilman Sam
Melden - each reversed course and supported Williams’ motion
to send the proposal to committee, essentially upholding the
Kapszukiewicz maneuver.
What latent truths does
this factious council meeting reveal about the current
iteration of Toledo’s executive and legislative branches of
government?
1.
Who controls City Council?
Carty Finkbeiner, the NAACP, and others had the mayor’s
attention and lobbied the mayor to ward off a vote on the
veto lest it causes a racial divide. However, it is clear
from other behind-the-scenes maneuverings that Council
President Matt Cherry and the mayor have future aspirations
which are tied to each other. It’s rumored that Cherry’s
next move is to become mayor, while Kapszukiewicz has his
sights set on replacing Marcy Kaptur in Congress. The two
will always act in their best political interests. Using
their collaborative political might they ensured that the
veto was sustained.
2.
How to handle legal disputes between the executive and
legislative branches?
City Law Director Dale Emch represents both the mayor and
city council. Isn’t that a conflict of interest? If not, it
should be. Emch wrote a short, one-page opinion concluding
that Adams’ proposal violated the City Charter, a contention
that other high-level legal experts disputed. City council
needs its own legal counsel and should not rely on the
mayor’s legal counsel in disputes like this.
3.
Where has the Black Voting Bloc gone?
All five Black councilmembers supported Adams’ original
proposal for the new Department of Parks, Recreation, Youth
Services, and Educational Engagement. However, the seasoned
former high-level public school administrator was only able
to retain three of the five votes, causing her effort to
override the mayor’s veto to fail.
Councilwoman Vanice Williams’ relatively quick motion to
send the proposal to committee seemed to smack of back-room
dealing and abandonment to Adams, who testily replied: “I
really resent the fact that the inexperience and lack of
knowledge about process is being pounced upon with the new
people of council who are being taken advantage of, in my
opinion, and I wish that that were not the case, and if it
is it’s unfortunate. But I do know one thing is for sure,
the very same people who were as adamant about it on March
2nd need to be as adamant about it today!”
4.
Show Me the Money
Toledo is a political tale of two cities. One group of
residents is adamant about receiving funding to get their
streets paved, snow removed, and downtown bricks and mortar
built. The other group, less privileged, needs funds to
address their disparate social and economic situation. The
latter typically gets only the crumbs that have trickled
down, if any, after priorities have been met for the more
advantaged group.
The question is Has anything changed?
The truth is that “Everybody and their mother have been
positioning themselves to get a chunk of the federal funds
allocated for Toledo.” Privately, $40 million was offered to
create the new youth department. Then it was reduced to $30
million. How much, if any, funding will ultimately reach
Black and Brown people, children, entrepreneurs, and social
service providers?
The administration needs to allocate these funds to
maximally impact the community and the people of color who
need it most. We will be watching.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org |