Less than a week to go before the Presidential Election and we keep hearing that folks are “undecided”.  Wondering what in the world that could be about  (considering that everything around us has been unraveling throughout the last eight years) we concluded that nothing has made a greater statement about the unrealized promise of America than the numbing onslaught of failed civic integrity.  All that it takes “for evil to reign is for good men to do nothing” and with trust in the leadership and promise of America being suppressed for so long there seems skepticism that any candidate can or would actually deliver anything but rhetoric.

On a more positive note, during the primaries more Americans have re-engaged as stakeholders with reason to be involved, so much so that people prominent and unknown wiggled out of the woodwork to vote after admitting openly and honestly that they have never voted because they have had no faith or trust in, or hope for our political system. That in turn translates into us having none of these as well for our society.

Since its inception, we as a nation accepted the fact that the American dream was actually an American nightmare for specific gender, special interest, racial, ethnic, religious and/or cultural groups but now increasingly it’s a nightmare for most, regardless. Once we valued getting an education, but that was when there were schools where students had books. Once we valued earning a living, but that was before companies could fire you at will without cause if you didn’t play ball.  Once we spoke out on injustice but that was before doing so was a ticket to the graveyard ergo the loss of great political leaders in the 60’s. Once we valued our marriages but that was before serial monogamy was made easier through no fault divorce.  Once we valued honesty but that was before it got you nowhere or a place in the unemployment line.  Once we valued children but that was before you could drop them off with anonymity at hospitals without penalty.  Once we valued one another and ourselves but that was before institutionalized and systematic divisions preyed upon us and individuals began a race toward entitlements and privileges and exceptions rather than a rule that served us all until we became a house divided.  I got mine. Get your own was a more accurate operative. My kid got into a good school too bad yours has to go to the one down the street.  NMP, or not my problem.

It was just a matter of time before a society built upon the brick and mortar of greed, anger, and stupidity would crumble. When the closing of steel mills in Chicago was deemed irrelevant to coal miners in Pennsylvania, we had already lost the battle. What destroys one of us destroys all of us, eventually. The stretch between mothers killing their own babies and us posting pictures of those we killed on the covers of magazines or on the internet is not that great. …and it should be. Making a mockery of truth while rewarding lifestyles and careers built upon dishonesty glamorizes “the rich and famous”, immediate gratification, and egotistical arrogant self-centeredness, not intellectual curiosity, innovation, compassion, collective cooperation or the public good.  Ergo the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Enron, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Wachovia and other recent examples where the public good and self interest of greedy individuals were poles apart.  In addition, trading national sovereignty, strength, and independence for foreign ownership of internal resources is proof again that what was dreamed for America and what has become of America are not the same. Is this why you are still undecided?

No wonder that folks lost faith in leadership who were entrusted with minding the ship as we sailed through our lives weathering storms of adversity while distracted by staying alive and one step ahead
of personal and financial disaster. We had leadership that claimed a commitment to no child being left behind until now when according to the Educational Trust, l out of every 4 will drop out (for minorities l out of every 3) and the three that do not will struggle to survive in an economy where value is measured by quantity not quality, corporate welfare, and bottom lines that embellish profit margins and
stock values. And for many, our children have a better chance of being dead or in prison than in college.  Penguins take better care of their children.

Tolerating the schisms between those that had a chance for a better future and those who had no chance was a norm even as the fight for expanded human and civil rights was expressed through administrative and legislative change.  Economic, social, and racial divisions that had been cause for our own Civil War continued to be alive and well.  Complicit and complacent denial of our interdependence snowballed until the avalanche of mortgage foreclosures, and outsourcing jobs, and insourcing drugs, and separate and unequal practices revealed that we had spent more time on what was a wedge between us than what we had in common. When we stopped minding our own affairs and acquiesced to advice that we go shopping after 911 we traded weaving service throughout the threads of outreach and advocacy and care for one another for fears. We consented to question less and follow more.

In their quest to create a more perfect union independent from foreign/global control, the founding fathers created a skeleton for the body politic of America whose promise has until now been an unrealized dream for a society in which “all men are created equal”. There are periods of U.S. history when that promise becomes more like the dark tunnel where no light prevails than a beacon for mankind. This is such a period for you, for me, for our children, for our grandchildren, for the planet, for the globe. So HOW can one yet be undecided?

States throughout America pronounce that their unemployment rates are less than the national average without honest admission that those rates represent miniscule samples (an average of 2,500 people in Pennsylvania per the Current Employment Statistics or CES) and not those who have simply traded a search for honest work for illicit, illegal, and underground practices in order to survive.  Per Labor and Industry sampling guidelines one is only “unemployed” if one is actually and officially still seeking work.

Married couples working full and part-time jobs cannot make ends meet. 760,000 jobs lost in 2008. After years of work and struggle college graduates complete their studies to face about $5,000 in credit card debt, $20,000 in student loan debt, diminished prospects for employment, and increased possibilities that they will return to their parents’ residence for whatever indefinite period is required for them to afford their own debts. So HOW can one yet be undecided?

Groups that formerly transitioned directly into employment opportunities are now meeting the same diminishing opportunities to reach for the American dream that other groups have experienced generationally.  According to Joseph Stiglitz, Noble Laureate, Professor at Columbia University and former Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors for the Bush Administration was recently quoted in a Vanity Fair article saying that once the value of the dollar (based upon inflation is taken into account that) a young man in his 30’s today has an income that is l2% less than his father was making when he was thirty himself.  Furthermore, 5.3 million more Americans are living in poverty than when President Bush took office.

With the bailout of Bears & Stearns, AIG, and Lehman Brothers, the odds of being able to shut yourself off from things not going okay just diminished. Marcy Kaptur who is serving her l3th term representing the Ninth District of Northern Ohio is one of ninety women out of 535 members of the ll0th Congress. When she said that when an Ohio Brass Pro Shop advertised it was opening a new location l3, 000 showed up to apply for the 300 jobs it would hire for.  With the closing of Archway cookie manufacturer, rising foreclosures and an anticipated l00, 000 more expected in Ohio in 2009
Kaptur authored the “No Bailout” bill, urging that any “bailout” should go first to citizens on Main Street rather than banks and investors from Wall Street.

After passing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, better known to most of us as the “bailout”, many of our elected representatives as well as policy makers and analysts are already dismayed that once the legislation was passed the administration of disbursement of funds has already indicated a preponderance of support will go to banks, investors and in a word, Wall Street rather than main street. Fed lending to banks from bailout funds was reported last week to be l25 billion already invested in nine of the nation’s largest banks with automakers possibly next in line. There is a global credit crisis is a factor as well. The IMF (International Monetary Fund: primarily the U.S., Europe and Japan) is talking about loans to Hungary, Iceland, Pakistan and the Ukraine.

Our global indebtedness is staggering. President Bush came into office with a national budget surplus of 2.2 million. That surplus was eroded and we now have a staggering national debt primarily for money borrowed from China and an $850 billion trade deficit. (The rule of thumb is that l billion dollars equals l3, 000 lost jobs.) Is this why you’re still undecided?

Our perspective is a little different perhaps because Barack Obama was our State Senator when we lived in Chicago, IL. We were married then and there wasn’t a week that went by when Clarence wasn’t sitting in his office with a “position paper” in hand, ready to give the Senator a piece of his mind about something! Clarence is a Vietnam Veteran and I was the wife who had to hear every day about something that was his issue of the day. Local neighborhood violence and what should be done about it; the use of public money and how it should be used instead; how child support was collected and how it should be collected instead…. these were only a few issues that were on the menu.  We shared the same residence so I was his captive audience, but Obama and his staff never had to listen or continue accepting these position papers. In fact, they could have asked if he would just stop already.
Week after week after week this continued until the day when we all met face to face to see if we couldn’t find what was really on Mr. Gafeney’s mind. Obama took out his paper and pen and began taking notes as Clarence talked and I sat there in disbelief. How was he taking this so seriously instead of considering him a nuisance? After each point Clarence made, Obama would ask, “so how can we help you get what you want, Mr. Gafeney?”  (bottom line)  Finally when I remarked that the State Senator was being incredible he responded, “not at all, he risked his life for our freedom and he deserves that I do whatever I can to assist him.”

I didn’t have to tell Obama that Clarence has Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD), nor would have mattered negatively to Obama anyway. When he tells you that he believes in the dignity of ALL people, he means it. That’s how I know that when the mother who has a problem with teachers not doing all they can for their children who are ADHD or when seniors have a problem with housing or health care
issues or when veterans return from Iraq without finding jobs, Barack Obama is one person who will p.
look them in the eye saying and meaning that he will do all he can to resolve their problems to their satisfaction.

Remember how skeptical people were when Obama started his campaign for the U.S. Presidency? They were skeptical because they had never met Obama. It was a joy to see blue states and red states become believers because everyone has a “gut” feeling as well as hard evidence that this is as close to a politician who has integrity and a hoot about YOU as you’re ever going to get.  Still undecided?

Have you ever seen a politician organize a nation, reinvigorate old and register new voters, raise over $600 million dollars from small contributions form the largest pool of contributors our political history has ever seen? Have you ever seen ANYONE masterfully use technology and the Internet to “speak” to every one of its supporters frequently with updates and information and networks to join? When was the last time you saw the diversity from the base with regards to age, race, color, ethnicity, religions and cultures?

When I ran as an independent for City Council in Chicago over a decade ago against an entrenched Democratic Alderman who arrogantly missed appointments with constituents without explanation or apology I asked Congressman Jesse Jackson for a chance to speak with him about my campaign and he asked me to take his private telephone number and call him anytime because he would be happy to talk with me. I called that number over forty times a week at all hours of the day and night and not only did no voicemail come on but no one ever picked up the phone.  Americans disengaged from politics because these are the games we are used to.

When the phone rings at 3 a.m. after he is elected I am confident that President Obama will arrange for your concerns to be heard and responded to. Throughout this campaign despite the demanding schedule required of its core staff, Barack and Michelle, when they were running late, they called. They neither failed to answer the phone nor to use it when they needed to explain anything that affected them maintaining their commitment to keep appointments and their word.

Clarence is now in Ohio and I am in Pennsylvania. I hit the ground the day after Obama announced his candidacy for the Presidency because I understand unemployment, not having health insurance, being a single mother waiting on delinquent child support for six months, repairing one’s credit, foreclosure, issues veterans and their families face, while politicians continue their inconsiderate, disrespectful, manipulative misuse of its greatest resource:  the people.

The only other politician that I knew cared as much, as sincerely and as deeply for the everyday Joe and Jane was Harold Washington and he also created a movement before being elected the first Black Mayor of Chicago. There is no doubt in my mind that Obama has the brains and the guts and the vision and the team and the heart and the faith to be the best President we have had in the history of the new millennium. Most importantly I know he welcomes restoring America with you as you restore yourself, your family, your schools, your libraries, your recreational centers, your parks, your public service centers and your income. For the sake of the future decide.

Elect Obama.

About the Authors:

Victoria L. Johnson, Ph.D., Formerly Harvard University Fellow at The Program for Science and International Affairs,  Lecturer and Administrator at The University of Illinois in Chicago &  Director of Workforce Development, Retention & Recruitment for The Institute for the Advancement of Working Families in Philadelphia, PA.  Currently teaching Social Studies to 7th Graders at The Germantown Settlement Charter School in Philadelphia, PA

And Clarence H. Gafeney, Jr., Vietnam Veteran and Formerly Senior Report Analyst for Continental Bank of Chicago, currently living in Toledo, Ohio.

A leading economic forecaster predicts recession will not last for too long.
KeyBank hosted Ken Mayland, president of Clear View Economics, LLC, in a presentation titled, “Economic Turmoil! Causes and Prospects,” on Oct. 30.
“With a pretty high degree of certainty, the economy has entered a recession,” Mayland said.
Mayland said answering the question of how long and how deep the recession will be is unanswerable.
Mayland said in “a real-time read on the economy,” if the initial unemplyment claims are more than 400,000, then there’s a serious problem in the economy.
Currently, the claims are above 450,000 thousand, he said.
“All I can do is make assumptions and draw logical conclusions from those assumptions about what’s going on in the economy,” he said.
“These are truly extraordinary times, but hopefully a once in a lifetime time for us,” Mayland said.
On Sept. 17, a historic event took place when Treasury Bill rates drove the yield to zero due to people fleeing banks, he said.
“Who is to blame for all this credit mess?” Mayland asked. He said China is at the top of the list because “they manipulated their currency” and kept it “very under value.”
“The U.S. ran with China a huge and expanding trade deficit — now it’s over $250 million,” he said. “… China was financing the fiscal deficit of the United States.”
Others to blame, Mayland said, are:  politicians, borrowers, mortgage bankers and Wall Street investment bankers. Mayland said the “real source of the problem” is because of California’s home P/E (price earnings).
“You’re talking about just mortgage interest of 36 percent of household earnings. That is a tough nut,” he said.
Another reason California is part of the mortgage and credit problems is because it accounts for 33 percent of foreclosures in the country.
Mayland said there are “remedies” to the economic tribulations.
These remedies include: lowering interest rates by the federal government, receivership of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and AIG by the Treasury Department, the “$700 billion plan to acquire toxic mortgage securities” and “treasury investments in banks.”
Mayland said he does not think the recession will be long and intense. He talked about several “mitigating factors” why that is so.
Mayland explained other factors of why the recession will not continue for long: housing affordability has improved from two years ago; exports are being influenced positively by cheap dollars although there are foreign recessions; “decline of consumer spending for autos is mostly behind us;” although the price of oil remains expensive, “the recent reduction in the price of oil will free up some discretionary income;” an increased chance of another “round of fiscal stimulus;” “interest rates remain historically low, which will facilitate capital spending once the investment climate improves;” continued lending of banks; and recovery of stock prices usually start before a recession ends.

We have entered the final week leading up to the election, and I still haven’t really decided who I am going to spend my vote on, though I have narrowed it down to three obvious choices:
Barak Obama: Democratic candidate (who many see to the far left of even that party), whose platform is hope and change.
John McCain: Republican candidate (though he seems more like Republican-lite), whose platform seems to be mostly a hope that he can make up the gap in the polls.
Bob Barr: Libertarian candidate (you know, right wing fringe group) and a strict Constitutionalist, whose platform seems mostly to be “I hope somebody notices I’m out here”.
If this seems like very little to use in making such a critical decision, it is; but this is mostly what I know at this point. In spite of the fact that we have been bombarded for months now with endless soundbites from the candidates, I know very little. Debates, commercials, and news programs are full of little else these days, and even personal appearances are edited down to little more than three 10 second soundbites.
The problem however is: I DON’T SPEAK SOUNDBITES!
I was brought up in an earlier time when it was taught that it is only by reasoned discussion and the debate of facts that any kind of logical decision can made.  That appears to be no longer possible (as proved by this year’s debates). Instead, at a time where there are more media outlets today than in the history of mass media combined (OK, I haven’t counted this, but have good reason to believe that it’s true) we are given less to use than ever before. Ten second soundbites don’t define a position, let alone argue the case for its relevance. Ten seconds doesn’t explain how deeply a position is held, how it was come by, or how it defines a candidate. Ten seconds is a slogan, not a basis for casting a vote.
Tim you say, that may be true of television and radio, but certainly you of all people should know that daily newspapers cover issues in more detail, and therefore would provide the depth of information that you are looking for. True enough my friends, but recent years have seen this information become more and more suspect. Far too often the editorial opinions of daily newspapers have crept into the news pages, as the agendas of owners and editors seek to gain influence and power over their humble readers. Far too often these unspoken agendas influence which stories are told and how. Far too often both the headlines and the slant of the story provide far more information on the writer than the subject. Besides, even the daily newspaper has fallen prey to the soundbite in order to fall into line with the rest of mass media, and an audience conditioned to such treatment.
So I am left now with but a few days in order to make what may be the most far-reaching decision on the political future of the country that I have ever done with too little information to do so. I am forced to ignore my classical training in logic and reasoning and make a decision based on information with the emotional value of a bunch of campaign slogan or bumper sticker. I am left with little more than intuition to decide, after a campaign for president that seems to have lasted longer than my childrens’ lives (and the youngest is 30), how to properly make a decision on the next leader of the free world.

Tim Higgins authors the blog, Just Blowing Smoke.

John Dinon and friend.

John Dinon would take in all the animals from the Toledo Area Humane Society (TAHS) if he had a more spacious house.
But for now, Dinon will continue to serve pets by being the new executive director at TAHS.
Dinon was named executive director on Oct. 6, said Sherri Miller, events and media relations coordinator.
“Dinon comes from a zoo background and he’s very familiar with animal welfare,” she said. “He’s very outgoing, which does very well for any type of development or fundraising.”
Gregory Bloomfield, former executive director took a disability retirement in February, Miller said. Bloomfield was executive director since 1999.
Dinon has a strong background with animal care.
“In the last 20 years I’ve been working in zoos,” he said.
Dinon worked at the Cincinnati Zoo before coming to Toledo and before that at the Detroit Zoo and Binder Park Zoo.
Dinon, originally from Detroit, has been married to Randi Dinon, a curator at Toledo Zoo, for three years.
The couple have been living together for two weeks.
“If we were ever going to live together, one of us would have had to leave the zoo business,” Dinon said. “So here I am [in Toledo].”
The couple met 10 years ago at an American Zoo and Aquarium Association training. “Everyone in the zoo industry knows everyone else,” he said.
“[TAHS] is a great organization,” Dinon said. “The community is lucky to have a comprehensive program.
“I want to bring the Humane Society up to the next level,” he said.
Dinon said he wants to raise awareness in the community on issues that impact animals. He also said he is excited to take part in moving to a new facility in the near future.
“I want to continue to expand programs and serve more people and more pets in Toledo,” he said.
Dinon said he has always supported humane societies.
“They’re a value to the community,” he said.
Dinon has three dogs, which were stray and rescued.
“I’m a lover of cats and dogs,” he said.
Dinon said he plans on taking home some pets at the humane society when he sells his house in Cincinnati.
“There are a couple here … that I’d like to take home, but when I have more room,” he said.
Dinon said he will probably end up taking “all the broken-down ones” that nobody else will take.
Dinon enjoys traveling and has been to Africa, China, South America and Peru.
He joined the U.S. Peace Corps after he graduated college and went to Costa Rica, where he worked with dairy farmers.
“It was a great experience,” he said, and it was good for him to experience a different culture and he also learned to speak Spanish.
Some of the African countries he visited include Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Libya.
Dinon encourages people to adopt a pet.
“People should come out to the humane society and find best friends,” he said.
Dinon graduated from Michigan State University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in dairy science.
“We’re very happy to have him here and he’s going to do a great job and going to be a real asset to the humane society,” Miller said.

Veteran actor/playwright Jeremy Lawrence will bring the one-man show “My Black Bird has Flown Away: The Life of Hugh Gregory Gallagher” to the University of Toledo’s Center for Performing Arts Studio Theatre.
Gallagher, who passed away in 2004, is known for his leadership in passing the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The play, which is an artistic collaboration between Lawrence and playwright Carlton E. Spitzer, is based on Gallagher’s autobiography and deals largely with his internal and external struggles as a result of being stricken with polio at age 19. Spitzer’s plays on persons with disabilities who have overcome adversity are performed annually at the Hugh Gregory Gallagher Forum, sponsored by the disABILITY Coalition. Lawrence and Spitzer were friends of Gallagher’s for a number of years.
Renowned for his portrayals of iconic figures such as Tennessee Williams and Albert Einstein, Lawrence first questioned whether he was the right man for the role.
“Carl first called me some two years ago saying that he had been approached about writing a dramatic piece about Hugh and asked if I would play the part, adding that if I didn’t play the part, he wouldn’t write it,” Lawrence said. “I said that I thought the role should go to a disabled actor, but Carl insisted that I was the only one to do it. I doubted that, and unlike Tennessee Williams and Einstein, I have no physical resemblance to the very handsome Mr. Gallagher.”
Lawrence said the one-man show was inspired by the original play.
“I must say that when I first read ‘Black Bird,’ I had wanted to adapt one of the chapters: the memoir of his time in treatment for polio as a monologue. It was so powerful, but I never raised the subject with Hugh, because again I thought a disabled actor should play the role.”
The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited.
For more information, call (419) 530-2452.

Last week, a local media personality forwarded an e-mail to my work address that accomplished a rarity; it shocked me.
Wading through the scores of e-mails that clamored for my attention that morning, I saw the subject header, “Plot to Kidnap Obama.” As the e-mail came from a media friend I respected and trusted, I clicked on it to see what news story it linked to.
Instead of a news story, the e-mail featured a photo of a large cardboard box, one that might have housed a dishwasher or clothes dryer. It was tilted upward on a pole like a trap in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
Inside the box, tied to a thick string, was a watermelon.
“Do you think we can make enough of these before Election Day?” the e-mail sender asked.
The image rattled me and left me on edge for the rest of the day. The “joke” wasn’t funny; it wasn’t satire and it offered no insight.
It was racist.
I sent those thoughts to the e-mail sender, but still felt dirty, as if someone threw a foul, dead thing at me and it exploded as I involuntarily caught it, its spores infesting my clothes and pores.
I had not been so directly confronted with the ugliness of racism in many, many years.
Willfully jumping into jingoistic territory, I believe the United States of America is the greatest country on Earth. In just 232 years, we tamed a continent, industrialized society and become a beacon of peace for oppressed peoples around the globe.
That we accomplished those things by wiping out a native population, scarring the planet with pollution and lighting liberty’s torch with the atom bomb illustrates just how fine is the line between pioneer and rapist, but that’s a discussion for more learned writers to explore. The point is the juxtaposition, and vice-versa. This nation has accomplished great things, but its zeniths often rest on the ruined corpses of many great evils.
Slavery is America’s greatest shame and scar; its original sin, and its bloodstains run deep in our collective history, culture and psyche. Until the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, just 143 years ago, black people were treated by some as property in this country, held in no higher regard than livestock or other tools of agriculture and construction. I am fumbling for words that describe such a situation, but nothing seems as strongly condemning as I need. Wicked. Hellish. Obscene.
It took less than four generations for a people freed from literal and figurative shackles to be so close to the office of the presidency. Of course, that’s a white man’s perspective; to a black man, four generations is undoubtedly four generations too many. But I will maintain there are few greater testaments to America’s spirit, strength and the inherent goodness and patience of its people, of all colors. What other country can say its former slave population was able to progressively climb out of such hellish status to (relatively) peacefully, through elections, attain the highest governing position in the land? I know that is an historical simplification, a convenient encapsulation for the sake of the argument, but if other countries are paying attention, and they are, Barack Obama’s likely victory Nov. 4 sends a transcendent message about the United States and its most basic, hand-over-the-heart promise.
Since we’re keeping things simplistic to the border of idealism, consider this: As advanced and educated as we are, imagine where we would be if we had not excluded blacks (not to mention women) from decades of education and opportunity. How many minds that carried the secrets of physics and medicine and art and energy were never allowed to open a book? Where would we be as a society and species if we had shared knowledge instead of withholding it, if we had opened classrooms instead of locking the doors?
I hear whispered allusions to the “Bradley effect,” that white voters will tell pollsters they are voting for a black candidate, but then do not, or do not vote at all. I do not doubt there is an odd phenomenon of people seeking validation of their self-appraised freedom from prejudice by telling a stranger on the phone he or she is all for Obama.
The sickening news that two “white supremacists” were plotting to attack a predominantly black school and then attempt to assassinate Obama is an alarming reminder of the extreme evil warped minds can embrace. It is also a reminder that Obama will attract hatred and resentment even as he inspires admiration and love, and it would be foolish to predict the ratio of the two camps.

How can any group of people consider themselves “supreme” or “superior” when they express themselves through hatred, violence and death? There are those who would like to send Obama to an early martyrdom, and his fearlessness in facing that reality is one reason I respect the Illinois senator.

But I do not buy into the deification of Obama, which even he must find disquieting. At the Oct. 16 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Obama joked, “Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger.” But the potential breakthrough he represents is an inspiration, albeit not the sole one on which to base one’s vote for president.
To know that this breakthrough, which represents the furthest the American tree has grown from the blood roots of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” can be reduced to a watermelon joke, distresses me more than such an ignorant stain of sophomoric thinking should. Perhaps it was the source of the e-mail that rattled me, or the idea that someone I consider a friend thought I would share in the joke.
I am not naïve enough to pretend American race relations are in piano-key perfect harmony, but this discordant note is now a week old, and as we near Election Day, I find its echoes growing stronger, not fading away.
Postscript: McCain
In 2004, I spent 90 minutes on a bus ride with John McCain as he made campaign appearances for then-Michigan Congressman Joe Schwartz. The route from Adrian to Ann Arbor gave us time to talk about Iraq, health care, the economy and his political future.
McCain was lucid, feisty and pulled no rhetorical punches. In other words, he was everything then that he has not been during the heat of this campaign.
Ninety minutes is not enough time to get to truly know a person, but I walked away from McCain fully understanding why he was a leader and potential president.
I have not seen that McCain since he won his party’s nomination; either the process, his advisers or his opponent has worn down his edge.
I discovered respect for McCain that Michigan afternoon, but his election missteps — ironically and most disappointingly, his quitting the fight for Michigan — has me straining to remember the man who made such an impression on me.
I am an undecided voter, and until I walk into the voting booth, I’m not sure I will have made a black or white decision, lost as I am in so much gray.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

Under fire from a comment that the Cherry Street Mission is causing a homeless problem in Downtown, Carty Finkbeiner is now saying the ministry was never singled out.
Finkbeiner sent a letter on City of Toledo letterhead to Toledo Free Press on Oct. 27 saying that it was the Downtown Toledo Improvement District (DTID) that first raised the concern and asked for help. In particular, the group’s concern was increased pandering and crime in Downtown, the mayor stated.
But Tom Crothers, executive director of DTID, said Oct. 29 the organization had no concern with the homeless; the mayor receives the e-mail updates Crothers sends out monthly, which included a concern about panhandling in general.
“DTID and our Clean & Safe Team do not attribute any criminal activity which may occur in Downtown to homeless individuals or groups,” Crothers said.
The mayor said in his Oct. 27 letter that he brought together the residents of the Downtown or their representatives, Police Chief Mike Navarre, the leader of the Cherry Street Mission and Juanita Greene, a representative from the city’s Board of Community Relations.
Finkbeiner said the March meeting focused upon the allegation that some of Detroit’s homeless population was creating the problems of pandering and crime in Downtown Toledo. He said no one accused the individuals of being tenants of the Cherry Street Mission, he said.
Cherry Street Mission president and CEO Dan Rogers said that is not true.
“If he wasn’t targeting Cherry Street, why was the leader of Cherry Street called to the meeting?” Rogers said Oct 28.
In a statement released Oct. 21, the mayor said, “Toledo Police were reporting increased numbers of homeless persons were coming from Detroit because we offer three meals daily.”
Navarre said the meeting’s topic was homelessness, not the Cherry Street Mission. However, he had heard from officers that the three daily meals offered by the mission attracted homeless to Toledo. During the meeting, Navarre asked Rogers about that and he does not know if the mayor happened to overhear their conversation. Navarre said people often talk at the same time during mayoral meetings. Rogers said he does not believe homeless people are coming from Detroit to Toledo, Navarre said.
Kathy Steingraber, manager of the St. Clair Village and member of the Toledo Warehouse District Association, was also at the March meeting. The Cherry Street Mission was discussed since the CEO was at the meeting. It was her impression that the mayor was not blaming the mission, she said, he was just trying to figure out the problem.
Rogers said Oct. 19 he asked Finkbeiner if he would like him to “dumb down the services” or “reduce them,” and the mayor said, “It’s up to you how you run your business.”
Ken Leslie, founder of 1matters.org., said Oct. 29 the meeting was not negative and the Cherry Street Mission was not targeted, although the topics of Toledo treating its homeless people too nice and homeless people causing crime were discussed.
“I am baffled by all of it,” Leslie said about the controversy surrounding this meeting. “I think everyone single person’s perspective is right.”
At a press conference Oct. 27, Finkbeiner said the numbers did not validate the concerns that were expressed. Leslie said it was determined that one of the crime sprees was caused by a “dude in a suit,” not a homeless person.
“Basically, everything is back to normal, and no, I don’t have any concerns at this point in time that that was the case,” Finkbeiner said.
Rogers said Oct. 28, “I have no gripes with the mayor. I was just reporting the story.”

United Way of Greater Toledo announced Oct. 30 that halfway through its 2008 campaign it has tallied $6.5 million, 43 percent of its $15 million goal.
United Way is ahead of where it was last year at this time, which was $6.1 million, but president and CEO Bill Kitson said he is worried. Workplace campaigns have not finished and the economic news keeps getting dimmer, he said.
“I get this feeling the whole campaign is slowing down,” Kitson said Oct. 30. “I have been doing this a long time and I am not getting a good feeling.”
Kitson is so worried that if someone told him the campaign could end today at last year’s total of $14.55 million, he would take it. The goal was to raise 3 percent more this year, but uncertain times lead to uncertain results, he said.
Rexam Plastic Packaging and Eaton Corporation are two of the companies Kitson recognizes as having completed successful workplace campaigns. Rexam Plastic Packaging raised 145 percent more than last year, which included a 1:1 corporate match. Additionally, Eaton Corporation raised 30 percent over their 2007 contribution.
Kitson said the employees who are working continue to be generous, but it is the ones who have been laid off who are affecting the campaign. Every day, he reads about another shift gone or a company leaving.
“Those are employees who used to give to United Way,” he said.
In a news release, 2008 campaign chairman Steve Krull said, “We’re actually ahead of where we were last year at this point, but we still have some hard work ahead of us.
“The need is great and it has never been more important for people to do what they can to lend a hand to others who are struggling in our community. We have seen the very best of Toledo throughout this campaign. So many people and companies have recognized the challenges and uncertainties facing our community and have really stepped up to support United Way this year,” he said.
Kitson said it’s not the campaign that keeps him up at the night, it is the rising need. The No. 1 call to 2-1-1 was the need for food last year [and for many years], which United Way used its resources to help address. Now, there is more food on the shelves of the local food pantries, but the need for financial help with utility bills is rising and no one has enough money to help everyone, he said.
United Way is receiving more calls from suburbs like Perrysburg and Sylvania. Kitson said the social system was set up to help the inner city, not the suburbs. United Way is facilitating a meeting in November with community partners to discuss how to address this growing need.
Kitson reminded potential donors that even smaller donations add up. Half of the donations made to United Way are $100 or less, he said.
Donations to the 2008 United Way Campaign can be made securely online at www.unitedwaytoledo.org, by calling (419) 248-2424, or by pledging at your workplace.
To announce the results of the 2008 United Way Campaign, a celebration will be held Dec. 11 at Fat Fish Blue, home of the Funny Bone. For more details or to secure a reservation, call (419) 254-4619.

The Joint Intermodal Task Force for Transportation and Logistics during a press conference Oct. 30 announced its report and recommendations to pursue efforts to create a hub in the Toledo area for freight distribution by air, sea, rail and truck.
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, three members of Toledo City Council, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and other civic and economic leaders attended the conference.
To make the project a success, Finkbeiner called upon members of the private and public sectors, as well as the state and federal government, to support the effort, adding “it’s time for Toledo and its region to step up.”
“This report is a major breakthrough [and] accomplishment in terms of economic development for Northwestern Ohio, perhaps Southeast Michigan as well,” Finkbeiner said. “For roughly two decades there has been discussion about Toledo and Northwestern Ohio being an Intermodal hub.”
Jim Tuschman, committee chairman, presented the five recommendations made in the report and explained the process by which the committee reached its conclusions. He emphasized recognizing the “intermodal assets” indigenous to the area, such as the intersection of three major highway systems, access to the St. Lawrence Seaway and an international cargo hub at Toledo Express Airport capable of handling large aircraft.
“This region has probably the best strategic geography for Intermodal transportation,” Tuschman said. “We have a location that puts us within a day’s drive of 60 percent of the U.S. population and 60 percent of the country’s industrial base.”
The committee recommended a site on Airline Junction, off Hill Avenue, to house the facility over potential sites including the airport, Toledo Lucas County Port and North Baltimore. The report also suggested regional economic development strategies to maximize the investment.
The project would require a new customs facility at the airport as well as a modern crane capable of faster unloading to replace the existing equipment install more than 50 years ago.
“The next step is to implement these recommendations, to keep the momentum going,” Tuschman said.

At 1:30 p.m. Oct. 30, several local companies will gather at COSI to discuss concepts for potential new exhibits. Representatives from Xunlight, First Solar, ProMedica, Mercy Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, UT’s Medical University, BP and Owens Corning will unveil renderings of what new exhibits could look like if Issue 37 passes. Potential exhibits center around glass and alternative energy.

At 4:30 p.m., a public rally will take place at International Park, to gather volunteers and support for Issue 37. Visit www.keepcosi.com for details.