(Catching up on last month's news ...)
Ben Konop would not be in local politics without being propped up by the Toledo Blade. Sort of like the Toledo Blade would not exist without being propped up by Buckeye Cable and Buckeye Express.
Konop is getting accustomed to violating useless, symbolic political pledges.
2009 Clean Campaign Pledge
Apr 1, 2009 - Toledo Blade - Toledo mayoral hopefuls vow respectful race, sign pledge :
Konop's 2006 Ethics Pledge
Problem is, Konop entering the 2009 Toledo mayoral's race means Konop is violating the ethics pledge he promoted during his run for Lucas County Commissioner in the fall of 2006. Konop strong-armed opponent George Sarantou into signing that 2006 ethics pledge, probably because Sarantou won re-election to Toledo City Council in the fall of 2005, and then a few months later, Sarantou jumped into the county commissioner's race.
Mar 31, 2009 - Toledo Blade - Critics recall Konop pledge as he joins mayor's race :
Republican City Councilman George Sarantou, Mr. Konop's opponent in 2006, said Mr. Konop's attempt to get him to sign the same pledge was "a cheap political trick," and said it was ironic that now "he's the one breaking the pledge." Mr. Sarantou said he is considering running for mayor.
Mr. Konop sought to pre-empt criticism over his broken pledge by saying Toledo's circumstances had changed dramatically for the worse and that he had made a bigger commitment - to fight for change since the 2006 election.That last paragraph contains a lame excuse by Konop for why he is breaking his ethics pledge.
Toledo Worse Today?
Relatively speaking when compared to other Ohio cities, Toledo is no worse off in 2009 than the city was in 2006 when Konop ran for Lucas County Commissioner. For years, Toledo has had one of the highest unemployment rates among the large urban centers in the state.
Tech Jobs
Info from an Aug 26, 2005 Toledo Blade story titled "Top-paying jobs flee Lucas Co., Census reports. 5-year loss: 1,140 positions." :
Blade stats from that August 2005 story for each county and the percent change in employment in these types of jobs:
- Summit (Akron) 45%
- Montgomery (Dayton) 16%
- Franklin (Columbus) 15%
- Hamilton (Cincinnati) 14%
- Cuyahoga (Cleveland) 2%
- Lucas (Toledo) -11%
More from that August 2005 Blade story:
Those seem like the types of jobs that Konop and the other mayoral candidates want to attract to Toledo. That five-year study period was for 1998 through 2002. Konop should have run for mayor of Toledo in 2005. And even though the study was county-based, let's face it, it's primarily talking about the big cities that dominate their respective counties.
Milken Inst Rankings
Milken Institute's rankings for metro Toledo on job growth
- 2008 - Toledo ranked 194th out of 200, among large cities
- 2007 - 196
- 2006 - 196
- 2005 - 196
- 2004 - 195
- 2003 - 195
From the November 2004 Toledo Blade story about Toledo's 195 ranking:
Right. And what village dominates metro Toledo? I'm guessing Toledo.
More from that 2004 Blade story:
Mr. Carroll said anyone who had the title "economic development" in their job title in the Toledo metro area failed, including himself and fellow port board members. "If this was the private sector, ya'll would be fired," said Mr. Carroll, a retired Dana Corp. executive. "... Unless you make some decisions and put this together, the ship's going to continue sinking."
"It couldn't get much lower," added Carty Finkbeiner, a port board member.What about LEW?
Since the one study above was for Lucas County, and the Milken Institute rankings involve four area counties (metro Toledo), it seems a county commissioner would be a better position than a town mayor to improve the county and maybe the region.
But Konop said in August of 2008:
"The fate of our region, in large part, depends on the future of downtown."
Konop is, of course, referring to downtown Toledo. So according to Ben, the fate of the region does not depend upon ALL of Toledo, nor all of Lucas County. Just downtown Toledo. I guess that's why he's running for mayor of Toledo. Someone needs to remind Ben, however, that the job of mayor involves being concerned for the entire city and not just downtown.
Personally, I would say the fate of this region, Lake Erie West, depends upon the region.
- December 2007 - Meta-Plan workshop spotlights regionalism
- March 2008 - Toledo City Paper - Lake Erie West Economic Development Report Card
- April 2008 - Lake Erie West Meeting Notes 28-Apr-2008
- May 2008 - The Future Of Transportation In Lake Erie West
- June 2008 Lake Erie West Planning Session Agenda 6-Jun-2008
- Flags Fly in Support of Regional Identity
- The Midwest's New England
- Open for Business
- Another Story That Should Knock Your Socks Off
Economic Development in Toledo-Lucas County - February 2008 presentation by Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop
Anyway, it sounds like Toledo or Lucas County was ringing the jobs alarm in late 2004. Metro Toledo has been unchanged for years, according the Milken Institute. Either Konop should have run for mayor in 2005 or Konop/Blade needs to craft a more believable excuse for why Konop is violating his 2006 ethics pledge. An opportunistic, career, political hack would be an excuse I could respect. At least it would be honest.
Blade Helps Konop
The Toledo Blade rescues Konop's pledge-violating reputation in an Apr 2, 2009 editorial titled Mayoral field even stronger :
A strong slate of candidates makes possible the most serious discussion on municipal governance in Toledo since the strong-mayor debates of the early 1990s, and comes, because of the depth of the current economic crisis, at the most critical juncture in modern times. Mr. Konop's candidacy enhances that discussion.
That last bit of Toledo Blade propaganda is hilarious. Let's see ...
- Fifth Grader Mayoral Candidate Ben Konop Whines About His Toys - June 2009 - another Konop violation of the clean campaign pledge
- Konop embarrasses himself again - April 2009
- Moronic: Mayoral candidate Ben Konop wants trash collectors to be crime fighters - April 2009
Yeah, a great addition to the mayor's race. And what happened to Konop's plan for Lucas County Open Source Governing ?
Konop Violates Clean Pledge
In May 2009, Konop insulted mayoral candidate Bell, which means Konop violated the Blade's clean campaign pledge.
May 6, 2009 - Toledo Blade - Mayoral candidate Bell proposes business solutions :
He said, within 30 days of taking office, he would:
- Establish a new cabinet-level position he called "mayor's business advocate" to help guide people through the process of establishing a business in Toledo.
- End "turf wars" that he said hinder business activity by consolidating city departments responsible for permits, inspections, and business incentives in one location, a so-called one-stop shop.
- Establish on-line review and approval of new projects, as is done in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Tucson.
Did Konop respond to Bell's plan with logic and facts? NO!
Did Konop respond with the maturity and intelligence that the Blade wants in a political campaign? NO!
Konop's May 6, 2009 reponse as posted at the Glass City Jungle :
"I thought we just voted George Bush out of office. We definitely don’t need more of Bush’s deregulatory, Republican-playbook policies here in Toledo, and that is what Mike Bell is proposing.
He may be running as an independent, but Mr. Bell seems to be acting as a mouthpiece for his GOP advisors. His proposal highlights clear differences in our approaches to Toledo’s problems.
I am working right now to get Toledo workers their jobs back, to send Toledo workers back to college, and to keep all Toledoans safe, and that is what I will continue to do as mayor.”Konop launched an ad hominem attack at Bell. Konop tried a deflection and distraction tactic. Konop clearly violated the clean campaign pledge. What happened to intelligent discussion? Apparently, Konop doesn't have the mental capacity to debate the issues
I believe Bell is a Democrat. He is running as an Independent because he doesn't want to grovel for an endorsement from one of the local political machines. Do you think Democrat governor Ted Strickland would have appointed Bell to a state level position if Bell was a Republican and a mouthpiece to the GOP?
Konop's 2006 Dirty Tricks
That low-class, ridiculous response by Konop to Bell's business plan is common by Ben.
April 2006 Toledo Talk thread about a debate among candidate for Lucas County Commissioner. This debate preceded the primary which means the debate was suppose be Democrats against Democrats and Republicans against Republicans. But Konop did not debate his Democrat opponents like he was suppose to. Instead, he attacked the Republican candidates, which violated the rules and spirit of that debate.
My astute observations about Konop at the April 2006 debate:
Konop's Taft-Bush statements would make a tiny bit more sense if Ben was competing against a Republican in the November election. And that's the point here. A complete lack of focus by Ben. And he didn't do it one time. Counting his closing statement, I think he brought up Taft-Bush four times. Ben is running for Lucas County Commissioner. County Commissioner, not for the U.S. Senate or for governor. And this debate was ahead of the May primary, not prior to the November general election.
Konop was a troll. Konop undermined the spirit and the purpose of the debate. Konop did the voters a disservice. Konop became a distraction.This comment in that April 2006 debate thread details the dirty, deranged political tricks employed by Konop. For example, here's a snippet transcript from that debate:
KONOP: I'm not going to badger the witness. But first off, as a strong Democrat and a proud Democrat, I'm just going to say I'm not going to attack my fellow Democrats on this podium. But I'm still going to ask you the question George because I think the citizens of Lucas County deserve to know where you stand on Bob Taft and George Bush. That's not asking a lot. That's a very public ... you publicly declared your support for them in the past. Do you still stand by them and do you think their policies are good for the state of Ohio and the nation?
Remember, Konop was suppose to be debating his Democrat opponents not Sarantou. And nothing Konop said to George was about local issues. Konop wasn't debating. So Konop clearly has a history and a personality makeup of avoiding issues and assaulting his political opponents. Nothing clean about Konop's style of politics.