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Unhook it, and they will come
Why Wi-Fi?
published June 13th 2007
Hoo boy, what a week! Makes us a little queasy to be from these environs.
Let’s recap some of the highlights. Rev. Michael Pitts, guilty of DUI. Toledo residents once again flooded by monsoon rains reminiscent of the plague of frogs. Coincidence?
J-Fo is back, this time on the school board with the vigorous backing of his old nemesis the Fink. If that isn’t weird enough, board member Darlene Fisher seems caught in a perpetual Capital One commercial, as she has yet again cast the lone “No” vote on a matter of substance.
The recent defunding, then refunding of CitiFest is a lesson in perseverance taught by a group under whose tutelage Rally by the River went from a weekly attendance of more than 50,000 to a trickle of attendees drinking in a bullpen. In other words, no matter how bad you screw up, make sure you have friends in high places and you can persevere.
And never, ever lose a prized pit bull or you might get duct taped to a pole and beaten with a hammer.
What a summer we’re in for, Toledo, if this is the best we get.
Wassup with Wi-Fi?
Even when there’s some progress, it seems too many leader-types are looking backward or sideways rather than into the future. For example, there’s the little matter of citywide Wi-Fi. Unlimited access to the Internet has been touted as a solution to everything from the city budget (by Joe MacNamara and District 2 candidate Ed Cichy) to school board policy (by Robert Torres and candidate Chris Myers). But wethinks there is a more important matter here.
Look, folks, the majority of Toledoans don’t even know what Wi-Fi is. Many don’t have home computers, most don’t have laptops, and those who do use them more for pleasure than purpose. So of course polls show most T-Towners opposed to spending tax money for such an animal.
Fact: Citywide Wi-Fi is an important tool for attracting cutting-edge businesses to our metropolis. Technology corridor, a la Dan Johnson, and all that. It would be a primo economic development incentive. You might not use it, but designers on the go sure would.
With that said, why haven’t the Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Growth Partnership, and major business ventures stepped up to get this thing moving? Where is the leadership by local business leaders, so quick to criticize our backward ways? Why is this important investment being made by out-of-towners?
Shake them bushes, Carty. T-town might not get it, but we do.
Total recall, Part II
The festival season is now in full swing, and that can only mean the return of that nemesis — the festival reveler, that bane of the party experience, that total festival buzzkill — petitioners.
From Taste of the Town to the Old West End, they were ubiquitous, swarming the tents with their manic cries, “Excuse me, are you registered to vote?”
The usual candidates and their fellow travelers were there drumming up support for their political aspirations. Supporters of the constitutional amendment for school funding were an obvious presence. But more important was the slow momentum being built by the Tom Morrisey-led “Recall Carty” campaign.
Dirty dozen continued
Here’s installment two of what we recall about Carty’s first three terms as mayor.
- Alleged to have struck then-manager of the Erie Street Market Carolyn Smithers with a coffee mug during a meeting; settled lawsuit out of court. Carty now says it was only a Styrofoam cup, and that it was tossed casually. How this is more acceptable was not explained.
- Is still under investigation for attempting to generate public sentiment, not to mention additional public salary, for retaining outgoing TPS Superintendent Gene Sanders after his announced departure in 2006.
- Allegedly poked restaurateur John Skiadis in the chest over his failure to open Pepe’s Restaurant in the Erie Street Market in a timely manner, causing Skiadis to have a slight heart attack. Lawsuit eventually settled out of court after a trial. The Pepe’s branch is long since closed, like most of the “Market.”
- Raised a stink over being denied entrance to the Ottawa County Jail after visitation hours in an attempt to see his stepson. Left jail with an incredulous, “I’m the Mayor of Toledo!” Ottawa County Sheriff Robert Bratton was unimpressed.
Watch for the “Recall Carty” petition coming soon to a beer tent near you.
