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RANT!

We all love to complain. It’s a contemporary human instinct that’s usually shared among modest social circles. But in our annual Rant! issue, we provide you with the proverbial soapbox/microphone/loudspeaker, a chance to unload your frustrations. From brain drain to unemployment, taxes to student debt, these Toledoans want you to know what strips their screws. Proceed with caution.

 

 

 Jill Hamilton, medical assistant

My husband just lost his job, my best friend lost her job, and I just feel like there’s not a whole lot in Toledo anymore. Everything’s moving. There’s not a whole lot of opportunity here anymore. I know part of it is the economy, but I think it’s hit Toledo particularly hard. There’s no factory jobs here, or any good paying jobs anymore. It’s all minimum wage. When the price of gas is $4 a gallon, and you’re making $10 an hour, you can’t afford to drive to work. I’d like to see things improve and the economy pick up. I think it’s possible, in time.

 

 

Jonathan Leach, UT bus driver

I’m a really big cyclist. My number one problem is the cycling infrastructure that the city of Toledo lacks, namely, what it lacks downtown. We have maybe 20 miles of bike lanes in remote areas in Toledo. We have none of that downtown. I’m part of a biking community that just really would love to have better maintenance to trails, and to have more trails that connect. It would make downtown a little more active, I think. I bike to work. I’m only about a mile and a half away from one job, but another job I go to is five and a half miles away. I have to take main streets. While I do my best to avoid people, it’s pretty dangerous.

 

Dr. Brian Patrick, writer and professor of communications, UT

How about this one: the subprime educational market. It’s the fact that you have universities now that are built off of, essentially, loaning money to people that are bad risks. What happens is that money goes directly to the administration. They’re channeling people through that have no business in universities. I’m all for open admission, in the sense that if it weren’t for open admission, I never would have gotten into a university. I’m a GED. You let in people that have virtually no probability of success, and then you encumber them with $50,000, $60,000, $70,000 worth of student loan debt, and the drop out rate for some of these folks is like 90 percent. That’s a scam. They recruit all these people, and the drop out rate is 90 percent. That’s horrifying. They’re basically taking federally guaranteed loan money and channeling it via these people into the university. And that’s immoral. I think a lot of schools are doing this, but UT is especially focused on this. If the purpose of a public university is to educate the public, they ain’t doing it. The decline of educational standards is making a mass market of universities. It’s worrisome. These students appear on my class roles, but they don’t appear in my class. The way the system is set up, they have to attend the classes. An “F” for them is better than an Incomplete. [The university] monitors the system and makes sure people attend. An F says you were there. They talk about mentoring programs and stuff like that, and it’s fine, but how many students can one person mentor? This is a problem all over America. UT is just a fairly good example of it.

 

Chris Metchis, guitarist, The Bricks

People who complain about cover charges: Stop it. Just stop. You are the reason that being a musician is not a tenable job option to most people. You are the reason that musicians have to pedal their art like drug dealers outside the mall on burned CDs with their Facebook pages scribbled in chicken scratch. You are the reason that musicians COMPETE with each other making it difficult to actually CREATE a thriving music scene. Musicians: Stop playing for less than what you’re worth. Stop letting shitty local booking groups take advantage of you. Whether you sell five tickets or 300, you aren’t making money. Be smart about how you plan your shows if you want to pay rent. Start working together and putting on shows as organized artists, and appreciating each other’s work. You wanna know how the greats became great? Whether it’s jazz, blues, or punk, they all worked together. They knew that for any innovation to be done, they had to cooperate. They had no intentions for recognition. “If it’s art it’s for everyone, if it’s for everyone it’s not art.”

 

 

Hannah Marazon, server

I hate having to get to work extra early to make sure I don’t have to pay for parking when there are events going on downtown. I park at the meters. I have to get here, on a game day, fifteen or twenty minutes early. I once had to park five blocks away from work. They’re $1 per hour. I’ve had to pay a parking ticket, and I ended up having to pay more than I made that whole day.

 

 

Sandy Spang, owner of Plate 21 and City Council candidate

Enough with the myth of “Brain Drain!” There are smart, talented, innovative young people who are committed to building their lives and their businesses in Toledo. They are not stuck here. They could be successful anywhere. They are here by choice, and they are making a difference. I’ll name names: Gene Powell, Jamie Wright, Don Miller, Will Lucas, Matt Braun, Sam Melden, Amber LeFever, Adam Soboleski. I could go on and on. People should see what these folks are creating. Put on your Happy to Be Here jewelry, a You Will Do Better in Toledo t-shirt, and agree with me that Toledo has a bright future!

 

 

Bob Varwig, retired bridge tender, almost former-Toledoan

The taxes are terrible. Anybody that is working, they over-tax you in Toledo. The City Council just votes every tax in. The real estate taxes are also high. I had a nice place in the South End, and decided it was too much. It’s going to be quite a big difference when I move to North Carolina. I already checked into it, and there’s quite a big difference in property taxes [from Toledo]. I think the taxes are driving people out of the city. It’s what drove me out.

 

 

Sonya Johnson, school bus aide

I’m frustrated with crime in the city. I don’t think there’s enough being done, especially in the areas where the crime is most concentrated. There’s not enough of a police presence. They don’t have enough people, and not enough money. At this point, there’s so much crime that they’re overwhelmed. I live in the North End. Recently, they have stepped up their patrols in that area, but it just seems like when crime leaves one area, it goes to another. We do have a police presence; I just wish it was more.

We all love to complain. It’s a contemporary human instinct that’s usually shared among modest social circles. But in our annual Rant! issue, we provide you with the proverbial soapbox/microphone/loudspeaker, a chance to unload your frustrations. From brain drain to unemployment, taxes to student debt, these Toledoans want you to know what strips their screws. Proceed with caution.

 

 

 Jill Hamilton, medical assistant

My husband just lost his job, my best friend lost her job, and I just feel like there’s not a whole lot in Toledo anymore. Everything’s moving. There’s not a whole lot of opportunity here anymore. I know part of it is the economy, but I think it’s hit Toledo particularly hard. There’s no factory jobs here, or any good paying jobs anymore. It’s all minimum wage. When the price of gas is $4 a gallon, and you’re making $10 an hour, you can’t afford to drive to work. I’d like to see things improve and the economy pick up. I think it’s possible, in time.

 

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Jonathan Leach, UT bus driver

I’m a really big cyclist. My number one problem is the cycling infrastructure that the city of Toledo lacks, namely, what it lacks downtown. We have maybe 20 miles of bike lanes in remote areas in Toledo. We have none of that downtown. I’m part of a biking community that just really would love to have better maintenance to trails, and to have more trails that connect. It would make downtown a little more active, I think. I bike to work. I’m only about a mile and a half away from one job, but another job I go to is five and a half miles away. I have to take main streets. While I do my best to avoid people, it’s pretty dangerous.

 

Dr. Brian Patrick, writer and professor of communications, UT

How about this one: the subprime educational market. It’s the fact that you have universities now that are built off of, essentially, loaning money to people that are bad risks. What happens is that money goes directly to the administration. They’re channeling people through that have no business in universities. I’m all for open admission, in the sense that if it weren’t for open admission, I never would have gotten into a university. I’m a GED. You let in people that have virtually no probability of success, and then you encumber them with $50,000, $60,000, $70,000 worth of student loan debt, and the drop out rate for some of these folks is like 90 percent. That’s a scam. They recruit all these people, and the drop out rate is 90 percent. That’s horrifying. They’re basically taking federally guaranteed loan money and channeling it via these people into the university. And that’s immoral. I think a lot of schools are doing this, but UT is especially focused on this. If the purpose of a public university is to educate the public, they ain’t doing it. The decline of educational standards is making a mass market of universities. It’s worrisome. These students appear on my class roles, but they don’t appear in my class. The way the system is set up, they have to attend the classes. An “F” for them is better than an Incomplete. [The university] monitors the system and makes sure people attend. An F says you were there. They talk about mentoring programs and stuff like that, and it’s fine, but how many students can one person mentor? This is a problem all over America. UT is just a fairly good example of it.

 

Chris Metchis, guitarist, The Bricks

People who complain about cover charges: Stop it. Just stop. You are the reason that being a musician is not a tenable job option to most people. You are the reason that musicians have to pedal their art like drug dealers outside the mall on burned CDs with their Facebook pages scribbled in chicken scratch. You are the reason that musicians COMPETE with each other making it difficult to actually CREATE a thriving music scene. Musicians: Stop playing for less than what you’re worth. Stop letting shitty local booking groups take advantage of you. Whether you sell five tickets or 300, you aren’t making money. Be smart about how you plan your shows if you want to pay rent. Start working together and putting on shows as organized artists, and appreciating each other’s work. You wanna know how the greats became great? Whether it’s jazz, blues, or punk, they all worked together. They knew that for any innovation to be done, they had to cooperate. They had no intentions for recognition. “If it’s art it’s for everyone, if it’s for everyone it’s not art.”

 

 

Hannah Marazon, server

I hate having to get to work extra early to make sure I don’t have to pay for parking when there are events going on downtown. I park at the meters. I have to get here, on a game day, fifteen or twenty minutes early. I once had to park five blocks away from work. They’re $1 per hour. I’ve had to pay a parking ticket, and I ended up having to pay more than I made that whole day.

 

 

Sandy Spang, owner of Plate 21 and City Council candidate

Enough with the myth of “Brain Drain!” There are smart, talented, innovative young people who are committed to building their lives and their businesses in Toledo. They are not stuck here. They could be successful anywhere. They are here by choice, and they are making a difference. I’ll name names: Gene Powell, Jamie Wright, Don Miller, Will Lucas, Matt Braun, Sam Melden, Amber LeFever, Adam Soboleski. I could go on and on. People should see what these folks are creating. Put on your Happy to Be Here jewelry, a You Will Do Better in Toledo t-shirt, and agree with me that Toledo has a bright future!

 

 

Bob Varwig, retired bridge tender, almost former-Toledoan

The taxes are terrible. Anybody that is working, they over-tax you in Toledo. The City Council just votes every tax in. The real estate taxes are also high. I had a nice place in the South End, and decided it was too much. It’s going to be quite a big difference when I move to North Carolina. I already checked into it, and there’s quite a big difference in property taxes [from Toledo]. I think the taxes are driving people out of the city. It’s what drove me out.

 

 

Sonya Johnson, school bus aide

I’m frustrated with crime in the city. I don’t think there’s enough being done, especially in the areas where the crime is most concentrated. There’s not enough of a police presence. They don’t have enough people, and not enough money. At this point, there’s so much crime that they’re overwhelmed. I live in the North End. Recently, they have stepped up their patrols in that area, but it just seems like when crime leaves one area, it goes to another. We do have a police presence; I just wish it was more.

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