Toledo pride
Consider all the things Toledo should be known for. Industrial glass started here. So did the art glass movement. Owens Corning, Libbey Glass, and Owens Illinois all continue to maintain major facilities in the Toledo area. The successor to flat glass giant Libbey Owens Ford also maintains a presence.
Jeep started here, and we now have one of the most modern and productive automobile factories in the world. The successor to the Jeep Liberty will be unveiled soon, and the plant is adding over one thousand good paying union jobs.
We have a world class museum of art and symphony. We have successful dance studios, art galleries, and opera and theater troupes.
On the education side, we have the University of Toledo, Owens Community College, Lourdes University, and Davis Business College. We have an improving public school system and respected private schools, and a well-used and beloved library system, science center and zoo.
We have successful college and professional sports teams and a resurgent downtown on the banks of the largest tributary to the world’s largest body of fresh water. We are at the center of a burgeoning alternative energy industry. We have unique neighborhoods, an extensive metropark system, a strong non-profit sector, and flourishing
urban agriculture initiatives.
With all that going for us, it’s no wonder we drew the attention of the national media. Unfortunately, it was for local labor union honcho Dennis Duffey threatening to de-nut Toledo City Council President Joe McNamara.
Of fruits and nuts
Yep, that’s our latest fifteen minutes of fame. This calls to mind the infamous comment by then-Mayor Carty Finklesteiger that an airport noise issue could be handled by moving deaf people there. That little gem became an answer in the Trivial Pursuit game.
The proposed castration came as the Armageddon moment for the local Ds fizzled as fast as the Mayan doomsday. We previously opined that the struggle to fill the Council seat vacated by Phil Copeland’s election, who left to become County Recorder, could split the Ds asunder. We were only partially right. Instead it has threatened to split Joe Mac from his family jewels.
Fast rewind. Copeland is the head of a building trades union. Labor feels under fire from the state via SB 5 legislation and from the Bell Administration’s declaration of exigent circumstances; both could undermine collective bargaining rights. That led to a push for a labor replacement for Copeland.
A showdown was brewing between former Mayor Smilin’ Jack Ford and labor’s candidate, Shaun Enright. Neither appeared to be the perfect candidate. Ford resigned from a recent term on the school board and symbolized a rush to the past. The much younger and inexperienced Enright couldn’t win his own council district in twenty eleven and has a criminal past. Flawed and stale versus flawed and fresh.
The two D council holdouts for Enright votes were Joe Mac and colleague Mike Craig, who beat Enright in twenty eleven. Both are members of the D executive committee, whose members pledge to support endorsed candidates, without exception for personal political ambition or grudges.
You see, Craig was embittered when labor ran Enright against him as retribution for his support of ‘exigent circumstances.’ McNamara, who publicly stated that Copeland’s seat wasn’t a labor but rather the people’s seat, had a change of heart and decided it was an African-American seat — as in a major constituency with which he must curry favor if he wants to beat Bell for mayor this year.
MC and Joe Mac publicly contended that Ford was the more qualified candidate. Notwithstanding his lifetime of public service, they added the race card to the top of the deck.
Standing alone on ambition and revenge, they drew the wrath of labor and D officials alike. Which prompted calls for consequences, including the musing by statewide building trades head, Dennis Duffey, that a de-nutting might be in order.
In the end, Enright won the seat, with the predictable two refusing to budge. The de-nutting call made national headlines. And the wonders of all things froggy took a back seat to one ridiculous comment.
We agree there are some nuts that would be better off removed from city politics. Draw your own conclusions.
