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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (238117)	2/9/2008 5:40:30 PM
From: MrLucky	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793956

Toledo OH Mayor to Marines: Leave downtown~~He says urban exercises scare people Just imagine, if this country was not filled with so many idiots holding political office, how boring our daily life would be. The following is excerpted from his Wiki: Known as much for his temper as his work ethic, many allegations surfaced throughout Finkbeiner's two terms, and more continue to surface in his third. Toledo restaurateur John Skiadas filed a law-suit alleging that Finkbeiner physically and verbally assaulted him at the Erie Street Market in 2000. The lawsuit was dismissed by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Charles Wittenberg in 2004.[1][2] Finkbeiner was the focus of a segment on the Daily Show poking fun at statements he made suggesting that Toledo could be the next Hollywood. During the interview, Carty expressed his ideas while the camera fixated on Toledo's most rundown neighborhoods, contrasting them with the glitz and glamor of Hollywood. The segment aired during the 1997-98 season. On July 1, 1998, Carty was fined $400 and court costs after pleading guilty to ethics charges when he was Mayor, realized a $10,000 profit from Owens Corning's purchase of his condo, and his failure to publicly report the gain.[citation needed] He plagiarized a single line in his KICK-OFF speech in 1998.[3] Finkbeiner suggested relieving the problem of noise complaints from neighbors of Toledo Express Airport by selling homes nearby at low cost to deaf people.[4] In early 2006, political adversaries scoffed over the Mayor spending $9,996 of city money to complete the installation of shower facilities in his City Government building office. The project was considered "controversial" in part because the shower quote was originally $10,006, six dollars over a threshold that requires approval from City Council. The contractor was able to shave $10 from the project, thus avoiding a Council vote on the proposal. [5] In 2004, Finkbeiner experienced health problems and underwent bypass surgery.[6] In May 2006, he called Toledo's African-American Fire Chief Michael Bell “King Kong” at a staff meeting. Finkbeiner later clarified his remarks as relating to the Chiefs physical stature, and Chief Bell has acknowledged in public that he took no offense to the remarks.[7] In June 2006, Jack Smith resigned from his brief tenure as Chief of Police after what he described as a near-physical confrontation with the mayor after they exchanged words.[8] In January 2007, Finkbeiner claimed that both he and wife Amy were treated unprofessionally by Ottawa County sheriff's deputies when they tried to visit Amy's son, an inmate, on separate occasions. Amy Finkbeiner claimed she was not allowed to use a ladies' room at the jail, while Finkbeiner said he was denied a chance to visit after visiting hours had concluded. Sheriff Bob Bratton said the deputies were only doing their jobs. [9] Also, in Jaunary 2007 Finkbeiner and his press secretary were sued by radio station WSPD, claiming that First Amendment provisions regarding freedom of the press were violated when the press secretary forcibly kept a station employee out of a public press conference. Finkbeiner's objection to the employee is that he produces opinions and editorials, and is not in fact a reporter on behalf of WSPD. On January 31, a federal judge granted the station a permanent injunction requiring Finkbeiner and his staff to admit station personnel.[10] FinkBeiner has also suggested a cafe be built on the Martin Luther King bridge so city employees could eat there while the bridge was undergoing construction. [11] In August 2007, Finkbeiner was confronted on two occasions by reporters because he parked in a handicapped spot and left his dog in the car during a hot spell. Finkbeiner was ticketed and fined, but denied mistreating the animal.[12] In February 2008, Finkbeiner refused to let a company of Marine Corps Reservists engage in urban patrol exercises on the streets of downtown as well as inside the mostly vacant Madison Building, 607 Madison Ave. Toledo police knew about the event three days in advance, but it wasn't until the Marines arrived that "the mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman.[13]