Crystal Bowersox’s march to “American Idol” history will be shown on the big screens at the Huntington Center in Downtown Toledo.

Bowersox at Levis Square with Mayor Mike Bell in the background

On the evening of May 26,  the streets around the arena — Huron, Jefferson and Madison — will be closed to host a block party sponsored by the City of Toledo and Lucas County. At 6:30 p.m., Huntington Center doors will open for free admission to the first 8,300 people to view the FOX broadcast of the “American Idol” results show.

After more than 47 million total votes, the Elliston native will face Chicago’s Lee DeWyze in the Season 9 “American Idol” finals May 25. The pair will perform live in the Nokia Theatre.

During the May 19 show, Bowersox’s original song, “Holy Toledo,” was featured on air during her hometown visit coverage. Bowersox mentioned to Ryan Seacrest that the song has become an anthem for the city. Video of the song is available on Toledo Free Press’s Facebook page.

“American Idol” is on 8 p.m. May 25, with the result show May 26 at 8 p.m. on FOX Toledo.

A digital version of Toledo Free Press is now available:

Link to Toledo Free Press Issuu profile here.

Of Ohio’s 88 counties, all but two have the same basic form of county government.  Lucas County could join Summit and Cuyahoga counties as the third, if either one of two proposed ballot issues comes before voters in November.
If the plan supported by Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken is “the one,” voters would decide the question, “Shall a County Charter Commission be chosen?” and at the very same Nov. 2 election pick 15 members to make up the County Charter Commission.
Charter commission candidates will have to collect at least 1,429 signatures by 4 p.m. on Aug. 19 if the Gerken resolution is adopted by the Lucas County Commissioners before July 30. The Ohio Constitution says they need to collect signatures equal to 1 percent of the number of votes cast for governor in the county.
In November 2006, 142,887 votes were cast.
According to the Ohio Constitution, there are limits on who can be one of the 15 members of this charter commission; only seven can come from the same city or village, only four can be elected officials.  They would be elected in the order of who received the most votes.
No salary is mentioned in the constitution, only that “The legislative authority shall appropriate sufficient sums to enable the charter commission to perform its duties and to pay all reasonable expenses thereof.”
If this issue passes in November, the County Charter Commission is required to submit at least one plan to the voters at the next general election. If that fails, they can try one more time, in the next general or countywide election.
Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop wants to bypass the charter commission aspect and go right to having Lucas County voters decide if they want the elected county executive and a county council-style of government that Cuyahoga County voters recently adopted.
With the Gerken proposal, it’s unclear how much time those interested in being one of the 15 will have to collect more than 1,400 signatures. If they have to wait until July 30 as referenced in the draft resolution, that’s less than a month.
With the Konop proposal, there would be no chance of alternative amendments from a 15-member County Charter Commission.
Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak appears to be the deciding vote on if either proposal will go to the Lucas County Board of Elections.
Ohio Revised Code, Section 302.03 could also apply: “If, in any county, a resolution is adopted by the board of county commissioners requiring that the question of choosing a commission to frame a county charter be submitted to the electors thereof prior to the resolution provided for in this section, the proposition to adopt an alternative form of county government provided in sections 302.01 to 302.24 of the Revised Code, shall not be submitted in that county as long as the question of choosing such commission or of adopting a charter framed by such commission is pending therein.”
An April 27 Blade editorial states in closing, “Lucas County government is ripe for reform. But voters and taxpayers here, like their counterparts in Cuyahoga County, will need to stand up to powerfully entrenched political interests to make that happen.”
Lucas County government might need to be reformed, but before rushing either idea to the ballot, the motivations and consequences behind each plan need to be carefully examined. I will watch to see who jumps on which side, and you should, too.

Toledo Free Press contributor Lisa Renee Ward operates the political blog Glass City Jungle.

Last week one of the leading golf coaches in the nation, Hank Haney, resigned as Tiger Woods’s personal swing coach.

Tiger, as everyone knows, is not having much fun on or off the golf course at the moment and is playing some of the worst golf of his career.

Someone has to take the blame in a situation like this, and it evidently falls to the golf coach to “take one” for the team.

Hank Haney is a true gentleman and one of the most respected people in the golf world. His credentials in teaching the fine art of golf are above reproach.

His statement released to the press since his resignation praises Tiger’s work ethic and attention to detail. Haney has said and done all the right things.

It became very evident that Haney was probably on his way out when he wasn’t on the scene carefully watching over his star pupil at Quail Hollow or The Players’ Championship.

The press began a “firing watch” and when Tiger didn’t really do anything to squelch the innuendo, Haney decided enough was enough, and tendered his resignation.

Tiger’s problems on the course stem more from his lack of playing competitive events on the tour than coaching problems.

Haney’s coaching wasn’t a problem in 2009 while Tiger was winning 7 tournaments worldwide and finishing in the top ten in 15 of 17 starts. He has only played in three events in 2010.

Missing the cut at Quail Hollow, withdrawing in the fourth round at the Players’, due to a neck injury, and a T-4 at the Masters in April have been the results of those three outings.

I would imagine Tiger’s marital and business problems have something to do with his poor play too.

Compare Haney’s situation to Phil Jackson coaching Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, when the Bulls or the Lakers win under Jackson, it is the star athletes who receive the praise and adulation.

But when those teams lose, it is the coach’s fault. I haven’t noticed Haney missing all those fairways, casually swatting at short putts, and quitting at the end of rounds.

I have seen some things in Tiger Woods’ play recently that disturbs me.

In all the years that I have followed him, I have never seen him quit as he did on the last few holes at Quail Hollow.

Missed tap in putts, uninspired approach shots to the green, errant shots into the water, and slumped shoulders demonstrate a general lack of enthusiasm for the game and maybe for even his current station in life.

He has missed only 6 cuts in his 13 year professional career and has held the #1 Official World Golf Ranking for over 599 weeks. In all those tournaments over all those years I have had the greatest respect for the importance that he placed on every shot and making every cut. He is nowhere near that same person right now.

Maybe in the grand scheme of things that is a good thing. Maybe he was too focused, too intent on being the best golfer ever. As we all know each of us has an ability to concentrate on just one thing for so long.

For the mass of the American people our attention span is about 5 minutes. If we can’t have instant access to a greasy triple-decker cheeseburger, our favorite television show, or a foamy mocha chino latte, we go into a snit that resembles a 2 year old screaming for his favorite binky.

Maybe Tiger does need a complete change of scenery. Is long time caddie, Steve Williams, the next to go?

Tiger’s number one goal since he was a kid is to amass more major golf titles than Jack Nicklaus’ 18 major trophies.

Tiger is 35 years old and is currently at 14 majors and holding. These next few years should be the most productive of his life. The statement has been made that the first 14 major titles were the easiest.

As Tiger ages, injuries become more of a factor, the body tends not to heal as fast or be as flexible and responsive as it was at 25.

The personal problems that he is dealing with seem to have affected him mentally and drained him of his competitive fire.

All of these add up and something that once seemed inevitable, the task of overtaking Nicklaus, now becomes somewhat questionable.

I sincerely hope that Tiger gets healthy, both physically and mentally. I miss the twirled golf club after one of his massive drives, the incredible shot making ability, the intense focus over a 5-foot putt, and the fist pumping. The fans, tournament sponsors, and the other players, all need him to get back as a competitive force on the tour.

You know what they say Tiger, this will only hurt for a little while. Get Well Soon!

The sun had finally pierced the returning bright blue sky. And the timing could not have been more perfect. There was such a buzz about the event. All the community was talking about that “First Pitch.”
As a Toledo city councilman, I had been invited to witness the First Pitch. It was the culmination of success and a chance for the community to get together to recognize that success. The day was May 14, the same day that “American Idol” Crystal Bowersox was in town. She was also throwing out a first pitch at the opening of the Toledo Mud Hens game that night, but the First Pitch I’m writing about is the one at Elmhurst Elementary School and one that carries so much more meaning.
The staff and most of the student body at Elmhurst had gathered around Jim Cherry Field to dedicate the new baseball field in honor of the late volunteer coach and mentor. It was everything you might imagine in a Norman Rockwell painting. Neighbors and parents. Coaches and former coaches. Students and teachers. And yes, one politician. And one on the way.
I had been working with the parent association at Elmhurst to reestablish a baseball field. The new Elmhurst School was built on the old baseball field. The original drawings for the new school included a new ballfield where the old school had been razed. But the school system, or more accurately its sinking financial status, took the ballfield off the drawing board. The parents and the kids were left three bases shy of a diamond. So the parents decided to do something about it.
They hosted bake sales and sold cookies and did what any nurturing parent would do — provide for their kids. They raised more than $6,000. Enough to buy a backstop and some fencing along the first and third base sides. They had enough left over to buy a load of fine gravel to create an infield. Wrigley Field it was not — a Field of Dreams it had become.
So on May 14, the same day Bowersox was waiving to a record crowd at Fifth Third Field, the community of Elmhurst School got together to make their own history in front of a crowd much, much smaller and on a field with much, much more heart because the parents were determined to have their First Pitch.
Mayor Mike Bell was scheduled to throw out the First Pitch. At the last minute, the event was taken off his calendar and replaced with “all Bowersox all the time.” As the council representative for the Elmhurst area, I e-mailed the mayor’s office. I called my legislative aid, Sherrie Brown, who had prepared a touching resolution honoring Coach Cherry, to find out why the mayor was not going to be at Elmhurst to throw out the First Pitch. Early May 14 I learned it was back on his schedule. Two o’clock came. So did the community. Except for pockets of an unevenly saturated outfield, the new Cherry ball diamond was ready for its formal dedication. The mayor had not arrived. I received a call at 2:08 p.m. saying the mayor was on his way. But the kids who circled the edge of the infield were getting distracted.
We tried to delay the First Pitch. Resolutions were read, and thank yous were made. Then came the call from the bullpen. “You’re going to have to throw out the First Pitch,” an organizer told me. “Really!” I thought. “Dang! You mean instead of Big, Smiley, Mayor Mike you want me to throw out the First Pitch?! Well … OK.”
You have to know the mayor. He loves kids. And he loves the way they hang on his every word. He is as congenial and engaging with young people as I have ever seen in any man besides my father. But this day he was two minutes too late for the First Pitch.
As I hurled my best fastball slightly off the plate, the crowd cheered. It could have been because the mayor just pulled around the corner on his Harley. I’ll grant you that. But what a feeling! A feeling that the Elmhurst community had done it. They got the field opened in time for the baseball season. All from selling cookies.
The field is still in need of small bleachers and parents want to do a better job of filling in the holes in the outfield. That’ll cost another $7,000. But this community had done it; far, far from the spotlight that stayed on Bowersox that afternoon and to the scheduling detriment that almost kept a mayor away.
Mayor Mike made it to Elmhurst. He smiled for many cameras and autograph seekers. He was, after all, Mayor Mike. I slipped away to my car, hidden down a side street, with the souvenir baseball in my pocket and an empirical piece of pride for having taken part in the First Pitch.
It may not be something most people idolize, but it is as American as it gets.
Congratulations. Elmhurst.

Tom Waniewski is a Toledo city councilman for District 5 (R) and a candidate for Ohio State Senate  District 11. E-mail him at tom.waniewski@toledo.oh.gov.

As The Retirement Guys, one of the most common things we deal with on a day-to-day basis is our clients’ retirement accounts. Growing their account is an important focus, but many of our clients have reached a different phase of their lives and now we must adjust our thinking to best handle the “distribution phase” of the retirement account.
As we reach the distribution phase, a big issue to consider with your retirement accounts is taxation. Keep in mind that if you have a traditional IRA or 401(k) or 403(b), the money that in these accounts has never been taxed. They have done their job and been great tools to help you grow retirement money on a tax-favored basis. The government has allowed you to defer paying taxes for years and years and doesn’t require you to start paying taxes until age 70-and-a-half if you choose to wait that long.  Then you are only required to take an RMD (required minimum distribution) and pay tax only on what you take out. This RMD is calculated based on your life expectancy and how much is in your account.  The IRA guru Ed Slott, who has written several books on the subject, calls the retirement account the “tax ticking time bomb.”  This tax time bomb is going to go off at some point unless steps are taken to diffuse it.
This tax time bomb can have an effect in a couple of different ways.  First, if the account holder needs to draw on your retirement savings to provide enough income for retirement, you will feel the effects of the money being taxed as you withdraw it for your everyday needs.  Secondly, if you do not need to use the money yourself, it can be a huge bomb that goes off when it is passed on to your children or grandchildren.  The good news is that if you choose to, you can do something about it.
Let’s talk about what you could do if you need the money for retirement. The government has come up with this wonderful thing know as the Roth IRA.  After tax money goes in, and when you draw it out, all of the growth comes out tax-free.
The problem is you have this large account that is all taxable. Uncle Sam says that if you want to, you could convert it to a Roth IRA. The rub is that you have to pay taxes on whatever you convert.  To determine if this is a good idea, an analysis should be done.  It may make sense to convert in steps.  We like the idea of putting money in several different buckets.  If one particular bucket works out great, go ahead and convert it.  If the other buckets do not work out the way you hoped, the government gives you a “do-over” called re-characterization.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the peace of mind knowing that you can go out and spend your money as you please and enjoy life and at the same time know you are leaving a significant amount of money behind to your children or grandchildren? A good estate plan can accomplish this. Take action and get it in place right away.

Got a question for The Retirement Guys?  Send your e-mails to letters@toledofreepress.com or you can reach them by calling (419) 842-0550. Securities are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., Member FINRA / SIPC.  The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. Their office is located at 1700 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100, Maumee, OH 43537.

“Let’s Live for Today,” “Midnight Confessions,” “Sooner or Later,” “Temptation Eyes,” “Where Were You When I Needed You,” “I’d Wait a Million Years,” “Two Divided by Love” — The Grass Roots cranked out the hits from the late ’60s to the early ’70s.
And yet Rob Grill still talks about the two that got away.
“We turned down a couple songs that somebody had written for us, so they gave them to somebody else, and both had huge hits,” said the lead singer and bass player.

The Grass Roots, from left: guitarist Chris Merrell, keyboard player Larry Nelson, vocalist and bassist Rob Grill and drummer Joe Dougherty.

“One was called ‘Don’t Pull Your Love Out,’ ” he said during a call from his Florida home. “I didn’t hear it … and two of the other guys who are no longer in the band heard it and went, ‘Eeew, too commercial.’ And for me, you can never be commercial enough; commercial just means it’s sellable.”
ABC Dunhill Records label mates Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds recorded the song that raced up the charts in 1971.
“The other one was called ‘Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)’,” Grill said. “The reason we didn’t do that one is because one of the guys’ wives was named Rosemary and all the guys’ wives in the band would be mad. We were getting so many hits, we just figured hell with it; we won’t do it. Big mistake.”
Edison Lighthouse had a smash with that track in 1970.
“We do these [in concert] and I just explain that these were songs we turned down, and if we hadn’t, here’s how they’d go if we would have done them. People seem to love it,” Grill said.
The Grass Roots are part of the Happy Together Tour, which will stop in Sylvania for a 7 p.m. show May 31 at Centennial Terrace. Also on the bill will be The Turtles, Micky Dolenz from The Monkees, Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere & The Raiders, and The Buckinghams. Tickets are $20.50 and $37.50.
“All these bands that we’re playing with on this tour all have a lot of hits and that’s all they’re going to play,” Grill said, adding The Grass Roots will be on stage for about 30 minutes.
He is the last original member in the band, which features drummer Joe Dougherty, guitarist Dusty Hanvey and keyboardist Larry Nelson.
“The only real money I ever spent was on the last guy that left because we each owned 50 percent,” Grill said. “So that was a little bit more expensive. Had to work something out, took me a couple years to pay for it, but it was a great investment because he left — the last of the original guys besides myself were gone by ’73. And that’s all I’ve ever done since, you know, and made a really good living off of being The Grass Roots and owning the name.
“I hire the guys that play with me now … and I’m the voice, so it’s The Grass Roots, sounds just like it; we play the songs on stage just the way we played them on the record.”

The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) thanks Monclova Township Trustee Chuck Hoecherl for his May 16 letter to the editor of Toledo Free Press. The letter focuses attention on TARTA’s current drive to change its funding basis from 2.5 mils of property taxes to a transit sales tax of a half-cent.
This letter was meant to be a condemnation of TARTA. Actually, it provides the opportunity to answer some important questions concerning streamlining of operations, empty buses during the day, potential overtaxing and public records requests.
The letter follows the oft-used method of asking questions without attempting to find or provide answers. For example, the letter asks the question: But has TARTA streamlined?”
TARTA’s answer is an emphatic “yes!”
In 2008 and 2009, TARTA took the following measures to continue to live within its budget, while providing a continuing superior level of service to its nine member communities.

• Reduced weekdays, weekends and holiday services three times
• Eliminated low-ridership routes
• Eliminated subcontracting TARPS
• Reduced management positions
• Reduced authority-wide overtime
• Negotiated a two-year, authority-wide pay freeze
• Received union concessions for health care, vacation pay and increased use of part-time drivers
• Eliminated fare transfers
• Increased sport-shuttle fares
• Increased biodiesel usage
• Implemented an anti-idling policy
• Advanced computer scheduling upgrades to create efficiency
• Reduced utility costs by purchasing a used-oil burner for the service building
• Reduced advertising/marketing expenses
• Reduced printing costs, especially for maps and schedules

Further, TARTA has 26 fewer fixed-route drivers today than in 2007 and only three more part-time drivers.
The letter also states: “Why does this service of empty buses need to be expanded?”
The empty bus charge is a favorite of TARTA critics. As strange as this sounds, it is more economical to run large buses on some routes than it is to pull the big buses after morning rush hour. The big buses will have to return to the garage and be replaced with smaller buses. A few hours later, when the next rush hour occurs, the larger buses will be needed and the process will be repeated.
Switching buses back and forth is time-consuming, costly and requires duplicate equipment.
Further, the letter states TARTA will collect both the property tax and the sales tax during 2011.
TARTA will collect both taxes only during 2011. But, this is only half the story.
The transit sales tax, per state law, will not take effect until April 1, 2011. However, it will be July 2011 before TARTA starts receiving these funds. This means TARTA must rely on property tax proceeds to operate during at least the first seven months of 2011.
Also, in Ohio, all property taxes are collected the year following their levying. This means that 2010 property taxes are not paid until 2011. Next year will be the only year in which TARTA will receive both taxes. The property tax is eliminated at the end of 2010.
Instead of being a tax windfall, additional funds will help TARTA begin its countywide service during 2011, as voters will expect. But, without these additional funds, TARTA must postpone the initiation of expanded service until probably 2012.
A potential rollback of some property tax funds is possible, and this decision will be discussed by the TARTA Board of Trustees later this year, if the sales tax ballot issue is successful.
Finally, the letter indicates the writer has “… asked for financial information multiple times from TARTA (public records requests) and have been ignored on each request.”
TARTA’s records show it has received two requests from the writer in the past two years. A request made last year has been fulfilled. A second request, made a month ago, is still pending.
TARTA respects the writer’s right to oppose the authority’s plans. All TARTA asks is for opinions to be based on fact and complete. When they are not, TARTA will do its best to set the record straight.
TARTA’s purpose is to provide transportation throughout its service area in Lucas and northern Wood counties for those who need it. It fulfills that charge through metropolitan fixed-line service, suburban Call-A-Ride service and the Toledo Area Regional Paratransit Service for the mobility challenged, as well as providing service to Toledo Mud Hens and Walleye sports events.
The authority’s analysis shows the switch to sales tax from property tax will save Lucas County property owners between 10 percent and 30 percent on their tax bills, depending on the value of the property.
TARTA believes residents throughout its service area should be given the right to vote on this proposal at the November General Election and hopes the authority’s critics will not block the public’s right to decide.

James K. Gee is general manager of TARTA.

Time in Las Vegas is elastic, like Silly Putty or a long rubber band or the City of Toledo’s definition of “exigent circumstances.” As rapper LL Cool J says, “Put your hand on a hot stove, and a minute can feel like an hour. Put your hand on a hot woman, and an hour can feel like a minute.” That is a perfect summation of Vegas Time.
Toledo Time is inflexible, a rolling river with no mercy. As rapper Too Short says, “Life is … too short.” That is a perfect summation of Toledo Time.
A few months ago, I asked my wife what she wanted for her birthday, and she flippantly responded, “Take me to Las Vegas,” where neither of us had ever been. She tossed out this playful challenge, knowing full well I would be genetically incapable of; 1. Arranging the hotel and flight details; 2. Finding a place to leave our nearly 2- and 4-year-old boys for three days; 3. Leaving Toledo for three days without being attached to my work BlackBerry in ways normally left to descriptions in Penthouse Forum; and 4. Keeping the plan within our financial means.
I am not totally hapless; I could pull off maybe one or two of these missions, but all four of them? Not likely. There would certainly be no secrecy in the name of surprise; all of our financial accounts are shared, so there is no way to commit funds without each other knowing.
So, she was very surprised when I came home one day and announced I had, just an hour before, booked a room at the Las Vegas MGM Grand, arranged a flight and found weekend shelter for our sons. Plus, the entire deal would fall within our budget and I would leave my BlackBerry behind.
She said it all seemed too good to be true, but she was impressed; I felt all grown up and we started to count the days until our trip.
I imagine it was like Thomas Andrews must have felt as he looked over his design plans for the RMS Titanic: “Boy, look how neatly all this stuff fits together! I’m great!”
Oh, but the icebergs …
Less than 10 days before our trip, I realized, 1. I had booked our flights while not only confusing a.m. and p.m. times, but confusing Detroit Metro (DTW) and our layover in Dallas (DFW), which resulted in our entire time in Las Vegas being only 19 hours instead of 3 days; 2. Our child care plans collapsed; three. Trying to rectify these two problems would destroy our budget before we stepped onto the plane; and 4. Hives exploded on my hands when I thought about leaving my BlackBerry 1,761 miles behind.
I cleaned up the flight mess by explaining my blunder to travel writer Roger Holliday, who sent me to Bowling Green travel agent Janet McClary of Millstream Travel. Not only did McClary rescue the flight schedule, she brought the solution in at $2,000 less than the airline quoted me when I tried to fix the issues directly.
The child care issue was a tougher fix. Although my wife’s parents are wonderful folks who often watch our boys for a workday at a time, leaving them with our toddlers for three days seemed like a huge imposition on a retired couple that has earned some golden years of peace and quiet. They put their game faces on and volunteered, but we luckily made arrangements with the family that watches the boys during their two weekly day care days.
The budget would be tested, but not broken, everything was lined up and I began to regain some confidence in my ability to plan a major excursion.
Our last real trip as man and wife was four years ago, when my wife planned a Niagara Falls weekend three months before Evan was born. Niagara is one of my favorite places; the Falls are hypnotic from every conceivable viewpoint and I find great peace listening to the unceasing thunder of 150,000 gallons of water per second pounding on the rocks below.
That trip was romantic and filled with the anticipation of parenthood and impending, radical, unquantifiable change.
Our trips since then, to see family in Miami, are fun and frantic, but more about the kids (as they should be) than about us.
This Las Vegas trip was a thrilling concept because it represented romance and the anticipation of escaping parenthood, just for a few days, although we would soon discover it would not be that emotionally simple. We always promised each other we would strive to maintain our adult relationship and individual identities, but the idea of being Michael and Shannon rather than Mommy and Daddy for a few days felt like a much greater taboo than anything Sin City had to offer.
But of course, that was before we encountered passed-out brides, $12 bottles of beer, baseball card call girls, Freddie Mercury bicycle bikini races, Fatburger, 4-story high cowboy Elvises and knuckle tattoos spelling “LOVE” and “HATE.”
To be continued …

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

There are a number of hot buttons attached to this week’s cover story. Mention “pit bulls,” “Tom Skeldon” and “dog warden” to many people and prejudices and tempers flare before any civil conversation can begin.
I urge you to set aside any preconceived notions you have as you approach the compelling and enlightening Page A6 story authored by our Associate Editor, Brandi Barhite.
If a person with decades of experience in an area asked for your attention and tried to warn you of an impending danger, wouldn’t you listen?
Former Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon is warning the community that he believes the relaxed policies toward adopting and containing pit bulls is going to lead to a human disaster.
“This spring, summer, fall, here in Toledo, there will be a number of people mauled, maimed, disfigured and there may be somebody killed by a pit bull,” Skeldon said. “Now, it never happened in the 22 years I was dog warden, and part of that is luck, but part is that we had created a persona where the people with these dogs knew there would be consequences.”
Set aside your opinions about Skeldon and consider the experience behind his words. No one knows if he is right or wrong; my guess is that he would much rather be proven wrong than to see anyone suffer.
“Some little kid is going to pay the price,” Skeldon told Toledo Free Press. “The word is out in the City of Toledo, the dog warden is no longer enforcing the laws and we can do what we want. Don’t have to have them properly confined, we can have as many as we want, we don’t have to have them insured, we can go out to the parks and when we get a week of 65-75-degree weather, it is going to be a mess. Someone will get severely hurt.”
I am not fully educated or experienced with pit bulls; my dog, Cooper, is a docile sweetheart who has not provided any instruction in dealing with violence or aggression. I know there are people who love their pit bulls and defend them to the bitter end. So I am not offering any definitive judgment on whether the county’s new approach to pit bulls is a smart one or a reckless one.
But I know enough to listen to people with more knowledge and experience than I have in specific areas, and from where I stand, Skeldon’s warning has a lot of teeth.
The entire community should hope he is wrong, but those few who have effected this change in handling pit bulls should know they will be the ones deservingly pilloried if he is proven right.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.