Here it is straight. Be wary of Mike Bell.
Let us explain. Mikey B once had it all. Now he has given the last of it away.
Back in twenty oh nine, business interests had it up to here with Carty as mayor. They looked for a candidate that was well-liked and trusted enough to beat him.
Polling the public led to Mike Bell as their man. It should come as no surprise that the former first responder and fire chief was the most beloved and trusted Toledoan. He entered the race with a sterling reputation.
Then the prevarications began.
He went from whopper to whopper as he got sucked deeper and deeper into the belly of the political beast. What follows are the biggest of his blatant public falsehoods. As you read, we ask you, would you buy a used car from this man?
“I am not a politician.”
This was his first prevarication upon entering politics in oh nine. He promised that he was different, not swayed by the fickle winds of political opinion. He continued to say it throughout his tenure as mayor. He did things his own way, not beholden to party or union leaders. He only wanted what was best for his city. That’s why he took on the unions locally, then endorsed the state-wide SB5.
Then he changed his mind. SB5 lost in dramatic fashion at the polls. Bell’s support for it hung like the proverbial albatross around his neck during his last years as mayor. It was a major contributor to his failure to win re-election in twenty thirteen. What to do?
He did what any good politician would do. He flip-flopped.
Maybe SB5 wasn’t such a good idea after all, he murmured, just before throwing his hat into the ring for the special mayoral election this year. Changing his tune for electoral ambition? That’s straight-on political, Mikey, you politician, you.
“I only want one term as Mayor.”
Speaking of his lost re-election bid and subsequent loss in the recent special election, neither were supposed to happen. He pledged in twenty oh nine that he only wanted one term to turn the city around. Of course, making a six figure salary on top of a fat government pension is kind of hard to say goodbye to. Especially when you love the night life and being mayor enhanced his legendary rock-star status in the clubs and dives.
So he only wanted one term. Then two. Then only one and a half, but definitely not more. No wait, now he wants to be a county commissioner. Talk about political flip flopping!
So why should we trust you now, Mikey?
“I balanced the budget without layoffs while mayor.”
Technically, this is true. Mikey B led T-Town through the worst economy of modern times, and balanced difficult budgets without laying off city employees. This was something Carty couldn’t do, as he resorted to laying off seventy-five police officers the year before Bell took office.
Mikey accomplished this feat, however, by selling off the seed corn. He used one-time infusions of cash from selling major city assets, like the parking garages and metered spaces on city streets. He sold the Marina District to investors with flowery promises, but, to date, no results. He drained millions from decades-old trust funds. He decimated labor relations by unilaterally breaking employee contracts. He paved roads by issuing millions of dollars in long-term debt, thus hamstringing city budgets for years to come.
He didn’t lay off any employees. Instead he laid off the future.
“I am an Independent.”
One big fat fib from the beginning, Bell’s voting record made him a flat out D. But the moneyed interests that recruited him to beat Carty in oh nine would have never backed someone with a “D” behind their name. An “I” was so much more palatable. And got him elected once in a head-to-head non-partisan race for mayor.
Bell learned what happens when you split votes with Ds and Rs in this year’s free-for-all special election, though. His ambition to be commissioner could have been derailed if he was an “I” in a three-way, partisan race against one solid D and another solid R. How to keep it head-to-head? Run with a party label, of course.
He couldn’t be a D, because incumbent Pete Gerken has that sewn up. So suddenly Bell is an R. He can keep his well-heeled backers and gain votes in the ‘burbs. Holy reverse Finklestink, Batman, Mikey B has flip flopped from D, to I, to R, all for personal electoral ambition!
Bell has completed his transformation into a Carty-like political animal, saying and doing whatever it takes to get elected.
Can someone please tell us why we should still trust this guy?
