Imagine a job with a bit of prestige, a bit of power, a bit of access. The pay is a bit under the median Toledo income, but the hours are part-time and flexible. The demands are rigorous, the expectations high. But never fear. You’ll have a full-time executive assistant to help you fulfill your duties, plus other employees at your service.
Play your cards right and there will be lots of opportunities for advancement. Who wouldn’t want such a decent job?
Pretty much everyone, as it turns out. While plenty of folks have made inquiries, when push comes to shove, you can count the serious applicants on a couple of hands. In fact, two such positions have only had one applicant at all.
The job, of course, is filling a seat on Toledo City Council.
Take this job and shove it
If you’re the average Toledoan, you probably had no idea there are seven seats up for election this year. That includes all six district seats and one at-large seat vacated by the passing of Jack Ford earlier this year. The sum total of candidates seeking those seven seats? Seventeen.
In Districts One, Four and Six there are three candidates each. That means there will be a hotly contested primary to winnow said twelve candidates to two per district, or eight total to move on to the General Election.
It would be difficult to find a decent job in Toledo that had only three applicants, with only one applicant to be eliminated in the first round of application screening. But there you are.
And it’s worse than that. In all three districts, incumbents Tyrone Riley, Yvonne Harper and Lindsay Webb will surely survive their primaries. The other no-shot candidates have basically a heads-or-tails, toss-up chance of making it through, too.
In District Three, four candidates seek an empty seat vacated by the term-limited Mike Craig. But one such candidate is Peter Ujvagi, the virtual Mayor of East Toledo. He’s safe. It’ll be a complete crapshoot to decide which of the other no-names survives to take him on in the General Election.
District Two has only two candidates, including incumbent Matt Cherry, so a first round primary isn’t even needed. And District Five only has one candidate, incumbent Tom Waniewski.
Where are the heavy hitters, the scions of industry, the neighborhood leaders vying for a chance to represent their friends and neighbors in the halls of One Guvmint Center? Content in their current positions, apparently, ‘cause they sure ain’t applying for a place on Council.
Livin’ large
Then there’s that at-large position. When it was vacated folks lined up to be appointed to the vacancy. Then-member of the Toledo School Board Cecilia Adams won the spot and now must face a no-primary, winner-take-all election in November to hold her seat.
This is a real opportunity. No primary means a small percentage could carry the day in a crowded field. No true incumbent. A seat that represents the entire city. It’s no wonder so many folks came out to try for the appointment.
So how many of those eager beavers are facing off against Adams in the election?
Ummm, none.
That’s right, Adams is running unopposed. No one wanted the seat bad enough to get two hundred fifty signatures of registered voters and file.
The opportunities are out there, catz and chix. But ya gotta go get ‘em.
Can we have the next generation of city leaders now, please?
