Running on a platform that emphasizes public safety, Toledo City Councilman D. Michael Collins officially announced his candidacy for mayor of Toledo earlier this month  on May 15.

Surrounded by a couple dozen supporters, Collins stood before the shuttered Northwest Toledo Police Department substation and promised that, if elected, he would reopen the Sylvania Avenue facility within 90 days of taking office. Such action, Collins said, would return “a critical component of public safety” to a West Toledo neighborhood that he said sorely wants it. Collins explained that petitions with 750 resident signatures in support of maintaining the substation have been delivered to Mayor Mike Bell, whose administration, said Collins, “arrogantly ignored [their] substance.”

In front of live TV news cameras, the city Councilman portrayed the Bell Administration as lacking transparency and ruling by fiat. The candidate pledged to take back the 22^nd floor of One Government Center for the people of Toledo, earning applause from the small crowd of supporters.

Collins, who was a Toledo cop for 28 years before beginning his current career in public office, told the gathering he spent the majority of his adult life fighting crime. “A community can’t grow if citizens can’t feel safe,” he said.

Asked whether he believes the reopening of a police substation in an area known in local gang parlance as “the white west” would be viewed as relevant by residents citywide, Collins told a reporter it would be “symbolic of what needs to happen.” The candidate added, “We have to save every neighborhood.” As for the logic of beginning on Sylvania Avenue, Collins noted the vacant facility is “already here,” as is $100,000 in operating funds allocated by City Council earlier this year but not slated for disbursement by the Bell administration.

“Our city is far from safe,” Collins said, contradicting statistics showing a decrease in crime rates that have been cited by the Bell administration. Collins claims the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) shows crime is up in Toledo “all across the board,” in particular homicides, up by 70 percent, as well as rape and aggravated assault, up by 20 percent, he said. According to Collins, only burglaries were down – by 7.5 percent – and that, he said, could be attributed to underreporting by victims who are resigned to never recovering their stolen items while fearing an increase in insurance premiums. The UCR data could not be independently confirmed by press time.

Collins said he was first approached about running some two months ago, but would not divulge by whom. He is running as an independent. “I have never belonged to a party in my life,” Collins said.

Nor does he fear the nonpartisan primary system, according to which the top two vote-getters in what is now a field of six will face off in November’s mayoral election. Collins said the results of polling conducted prior to his decision encouraged him to get into the race. Those results made it clear, Collins said, that there is significant dissatisfaction with the incumbent and the announced main party challengers.

Collins also faults the mayor for a lack of transparency, which he described as unequivocal. When pressed to explain, Collins claimed Bell twice – in 2010 and in 2012 – purchased a vehicle for the mayor’s motor pool with money earmarked by City Council for street sweeping equipment. Collins said he only found out after he observed dignitaries being chauffeured around the city in an unfamiliar SUV. Collins investigated and discovered the vehicle had covert plates registered to the city but said it was not being used by the police department nor was it in use as a supervisor’s car for Streets, Bridges and Harbors, the department City Council had allocated the vehicle funds to.

The councilman said he “may have supported the purchase” of one SUV for the mayor’s motor pool, although not two, but was concerned with the way in which the cars were acquired. “Just be forthright and give Council the background – what it is to be used for,” he said of how the mayor’s office should approach the funding process. “Don’t tell me you’re buying a vehicle to sweep streets with and then buy one that will not be used in that capacity,” Collins said.

Calls to the mayor’s office for comment on the vehicle purchases were not returned by deadline. Collins told Toledo Free Press he wants the state auditor to look into the matter for any improprieties.

As for signing an “ethics pledge,” a reference to a notion from Councilman Joe McNamara, also a mayoral candidate, Collins told Toledo Free Press he would never ask any of his office workers to campaign for him. “Every morning I get out of bed, I have my ethics with me.” Collins said. “I don’t have to sign another man’s pledge.”

Toledo’s future

Without proper leadership, Collins fears Toledo could be “on the cusp of being Detroit south.” Still, Collins spoke with confidence about the future of Toledo. “You have a city that’s going to make it,” he said and cited the ongoing local upswings at Jeep and General Motors. But Collins does not see the automotive sector as Toledo’s lone savior. “The backbone of Toledo is small businesses,” he said.

Collins vowed to “turn the city around.” Under his leadership Toledo would realize its potential. “It will become what it should be, not what it could be,” Collins said.

Collins believes with proper leadership the city will maintain the current tax base and grow it further. Toledo, he said, is “seeing a bit of a rebound” economically but emphasized, “Are we there yet? Absolutely not.”

Besides being judged by “the integrity of municipal government,” a city, Collins said, is also judged by “the quality of public education.” Collins also said the city must become a part of the “intelligence revolution” and stressed the public education tie-in. As mayor, Collins would dust off a student-mentoring plan he espoused years ago. Collins said the city would fund the paying of top performing students in grades six through eight to tutor at-risk pupils in the lower grades. Collins, who during his announcement referred to the 10 years he served on the faculty of the University of Toledo, said he would also find an economic advisory role in his administration for UT president emeritus Dan Johnson and would bring back the Meta-Plan, a concept widely debated in 2007. Meta-Planning seeks to achieve economies of scale and eliminate redundant government costs throughout the region.

Johnson told Toledo Free Press in an email that he had not been contacted by Collins but “would be pleased to see Councilman Collins and other public officials give Meta-Planning careful consideration.” Johnson said he believes the concept “holds great promise” for the region.

Johnson said, “The long-term benefits would be significant. Think of all the duplication of programs and services throughout our region. Someday, we will want to address that very expensive proposition. Meta-Planning will provide a framework for addressing both cost and quality issues.”

While Collins claims allegiance to no political party, the candidate did praise the work of Rep. Macy Kaptur, a Democrat. He said Kaptur has done “an outstanding job” and lamented that Toledo has not had a person of that caliber in the mayor’s office since the advent of the strong mayor form of government.

As for his thoughts on a return to a city manager system of government, Collins noted the office of Toledo mayor was 20 years old. “I’m not giving up on a strong mayoral form of government. It still has the potential of redefining Toledo,” Collins said.

The politics of yesterday can’t help Toledo in the future, he said.

Tags: D. Michael Collins, Dan Johnson, Joe McNamara, Marcy Kaptur, Mike Bell

This entry was posted on Friday, May 24th, 2013 at 8:37 am and is filed under Community, Politics.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The oversight of the communications department responsible for answering and dispatching 911 calls is set to be transferred from the Toledo Police Department to the Toledo Fire Department.

Fire Chief Luis Santiago said, “We’re certainly embracing the opportunity to be the lead as far as the dispatch center. Operationally, I don’t think the workers involved are going to see much of a difference as far as the operations.”

On Feb. 21, Toledo Free Press reported that 21 communications positions and six records positions were open and being filled at the Toledo Police Department. However, the reason for the high number of vacancies was in dispute.

Councilman D. Michael Collins, chair of Council’s Public Safety, Law & Criminal Justice committee, said the communications vacancies could be attributed to, “a very hostile environment, solely as a result of top police division leadership responsible for their operations.”

On March 14, Collins said, “[According to] the information, which has been provided to me from the [Mayor Mike] Bell administration, as a result of an investigation by the Affirmative Action Office, a reorganization decision has been made and effective April 1, the communications center for police and fire of the City of Toledo will be under the authority of Chief Santiago of Toledo Fire and Rescue.”

He added that the investigation from affirmative action also called for further training of the communication center’s police supervisors. A police captain and two sergeants currently oversee the call center, Collins said.

“I fully believe that this is an unfortunate set of circumstances. However given the option of keeping the current sworn supervisors in place … it is probably in the best interest of the whole operation,” he said.

Santiago said at present, the two sergeants are staying in the communications department.

Representatives from the mayor’s office and police department were not available for further comment at press time.

When asked about the reason for the high number of communications vacancies on March 1, Toledo Police Deputy Chief Diana Ruiz-Krause said, “Well, there are a number of reasons. Obviously, we can’t just hire on our own. We need the assistance of our personnel department and they have a lot of other positions that need to be filled.”

She added, “It is a difficult job and it’s not unusual throughout the country to have vacancies.”

The call center handles about 300,000 calls per year.

In a Nov. 21 resignation letter sent to several city officials, a former employee said she had spoken to human resources, affirmative action and union representatives about “the harassment” at the communications center.

“I have suffered documented health issues from the stress and emotional abuse over this harassment and retaliation,” the letter read.

“Although I am able to maintain the ability to perform my job, the working environment continues to be a concern.”

Ruiz-Krause said while she is familiar with the individual who wrote the letter, “I don’t know any more detail than what she states in her letter.”

Tags: D. Michael Collins, Diana Ruiz-Krause, Luis Santiago, Toledo Fire Department, Toledo Police Department

This entry was posted on Friday, March 15th, 2013 at 10:50 am and is filed under Breaking News, Public Safety.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Twenty-one communications positions and six records positions were open and are now being filled at the Toledo Police Department. But the reason for the high number of vacancies is  disputed.

Sgt. Joe Heffernan, public information officer for the Toledo Police Department (TPD), said the department has not been able to fill vacant positions and is trying to restore TPD’s numbers to where they were in 2006 before the recession hit.

“We’ve got to the point now where we need to hire people back,” he said, adding that the 2013 budget provided funds for this purpose.

Councilman D. Michael Collins, chair of Council’s Public Safety, Law & Criminal Justice committee, said the communications vacancies could be attributed to, “by all appearances, a very hostile environment, solely as a result of top police division leadership responsible for their operations.” Those in the communications positions are responsible for answering and dispatching 911 calls.

He also said the records position vacancies are a result of layoffs, retirements and transfers, adding that not having these positions filled makes reporting crime data to the FBI more difficult.

Collins said he requested the exit interviews of the communications employees who have left in the past year three weeks ago, but he has not received them yet.

“My strong suspicions are that the conditions of employment, as it relates to the supervision from the police department, are the major reason for the inability to retain employees in that very important public safety function,” he said. “My reason for being concerned with that particular area is because officer safety can be directly compromised when our call takers and dispatchers are working under the conditions that currently exist.”

Heffernan said he did not specifically know what situation Collins was referring to and declined to comment on specific reasons personnel gave for leaving.

He also said calling the communications department a “hostile work environment” was a “very general statement.”

Collins pointed to a resignation letter from a communications employee dated Nov. 21, 2012. In the letter sent to several city officials, the former employee said he had spoken to human resources, affirmative action and union representatives about “the harassment” at the communications center.

“I have suffered documented health issues from the stress and emotional abuse over this harassment and retaliation,” the letter read.

“Although I am able to maintain the ability to perform my job, the working environment continues to be a concern.”

Heffernan said he had not heard of that specific case with the letter.

Councilman George Sarantou, also a member of the public safety committee, said the communications department is “absolutely critical” to public safety and having enough workers to handle calls improves response time.

“Quite frankly, that is a difficult job and a very stressful job so we tend to have an inordinate amount of people [leaving the positions],” he said.

Heffernan said employee assistance programs are in place and, “We try to be in tune with our employees and any type of signs that the employee is emotionally in trouble.”

The communications and records divisions have been functioning through a rotating schedule system, with staffers doing overtime when needed, Heffernan said. There are currently 24 records clerks, 11 call takers and 36 dispatchers.

Those hired into the communications division start off as 911 call intakers, who record the most crucial information. After a year, the call intakers can be promoted to dispatchers, who communicate with the police officers. The records department has several functions, including data input and taking and keeping records.

“Our mission is to protect and serve. If someone’s kicking in your backdoor and breaking in your house and you’re calling 911, our primary mission is there’s someone to answer that 911 call quickly and someone to dispatch that police crew,” Heffernan said. “The service part of it is where we take cuts first.”

This could mean cutting nonpriority positions, community services and scaling back detectives in favor of more personnel on the streets, he said.

Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Personnel Shirley Green said filling these positions is in progress and that the city is drawing from an eligibility list it has on file.

Successful applicants need to have a high school diploma or GED, two years of experience in customer service or problem-solving and be able to pass a typing test and background check. Those with public safety experience are preferred. After the hiring process, the new hires must also pass the training process, Green said.

The base salary for the new hires is $30,499 and can go up to $40,664.

Tags: D. Michael Collins, Joe Heffernan, Toledo Police Department

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2013 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Community, Public Safety.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Votes by a legislative body should be based on accurate information and due diligence.

Recently, questions of yet another instance where members of Toledo City Council were purposely given incorrect information came to light.

On Oct. 18, 2011, council was asked by the administration of Mayor Mike Bell to appropriate funding so that a derelict building located next to Scott High School could be demolished. The administration gave the impression that the city would hold the title to the property and that additional legislation would be needed beyond approving the demolition money for the title to be transferred to Toledo Public Schools (TPS).

While I supported the purpose of the legislation, I felt that the city should take the opportunity to get something in return for the funding and the title transfer. I suggested that the former Beverly Elementary School property be given to the City of Toledo and turned into green space for the neighborhood.

No action was taken on this suggestion that was first made at the Oct. 11, 2011, agenda review, so when it came up for a vote Oct. 18, 2011, I asked for the legislation to be held for two weeks. Deputy Mayor Steve Herwat stated on the Council record that the matter would be brought before Council again for the title transfer. On that assurance, I removed my request to hold the legislation and voted yes.

D. Michael Collins

Later, in response to a Council referral seeking an update because legislation had not come before Council to transfer title, it was stated that the city did not hold title “Title holder of the 440 Winthrop site is the Lucas County Land Reutilization Corporation (LCLRC).  It is the LCLRC’s intent to recoup some of the costs of demolition with their transfer to TPS.”

Mindful of other recent problematic matters such as: vehicles being purchased for the use of the mayor’s office from funding approved for street sweepers and other necessary vehicles for the benefit of constituents; a shell game involving who would reimburse the city from donations collected for Navy Week; and paper games to make it look as if our deficit was lower through the transfer of money to the rainy day fund and several other scenarios, I wrote a letter to the mayor expressing my concerns.

The mayor’s response came a week later and did not address the concerns raised about the misinformation provided to bring about a vote on Oct. 18, 2011. He stated the purposeful misleading of Council was “much ado about nothing.” The mayor has tried to paint my due diligence efforts as mayoral ambitions or as obstructionism, suggesting that I am the only one who raises questions and therefore, the questions do not have merit.

I will continue to raise questions with or without the support of other members of Council. You can count on me to continue to bring valid concerns to the public’s attention, because you have a right to that information.

A legislative body should not be a rubber stamp. There are times when it should follow but there are also times when it should lead.

D. Michael Collins is the Toledo City Councilman for District 2. He is currently serving his second term of elected office. Email him at dmichael.collins@toledo.oh.gov.

Tags: D. Michael Collins, Mike Bell, Toledo City Council

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Guest Column, Opinion.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Due to a postal mix-up, I have been receiving letters originally directed to another overweight guy with a white beard. Unlike “Miracle of 34th Street,” these deliveries do not, however, constitute irrefutable proof that I’m the one, the only … well, you know. I did receive a pleasant note from the real big guy though, after forwarding these efforts on to him. (We often visit near year’s end to compare diet goals and white beard grooming tricks). He said that if any of them seemed amusing, I had permission to use them.

I have been looking at a stack of letters I purposely set aside — Santa letters sent by and on behalf of members of Toledo’s government.

A membership to Toastmasters was on a list for Councilman Phil Copeland. Evidently an improvement in public speaking skills is seen not only as a gift to Mr. Copeland’s future in politics as Lucas County Recorder, where he will have to speak for an entire agency, but also a gift in time and translation for the local media and his co-workers, no matter what capacity he serves in.

Speaking of enhancements, there were requests for Santa to bring Councilman Steve Steel a gift certificate for self-defense lessons. I guess many still feel that if he’s going to insist on fighting outside of his weight class, giving him the gift of some martial arts techniques (maybe even ninja skills) might come in handy. There was likewise no shock over requests for adding the book “Basic Debate, Student Edition” to his stocking.

Speaking of books and stockings, there were letters to put a special copy of the Toledo City Charter in Councilman Tyrone Riley’s fireplace-hung footwear. It would be special because Santa would ensure that areas regarding conflict of interest and abstaining in a vote of council were highlighted.

Tom Waniewski

There were a number of requests for a gift for Tom Waniewski as well. Santa has been asked to deliver a few more people with math skills and common sense to join him on Council. Apparently the hope in such a gift is to slow down the juggernaut of regulation, taxation and funding allocation that seems to be running rampant through Council these days. Mr. Waniewski is a Republican, however, and has therefore been on the Naughty List for some time. Despite putting a good word in for him in my North Pole missive, it’s likely he’ll see little beyond a lump of coal.

Many thought that D. Michael Collins had received his present from Santa early, when media nemesis Brian Wilson left the airwaves at 1370 WSPD. Apparently, this was not the only item on his list. My favorites were a Junior Detective Kit for his investigations and a spotlight that could be mounted in council chambers to shine on him whenever he speaks.

Speaking of multiple requests and multiple gifts, there is evidently a groundswell effort using missives to Santa to get Lindsay Webb a whole park. Evidently the thought is that if she had a park of her own, named after her, and with night basketball and swimming programs going on there year-round, she’d leave the rest of the city alone. The word I heard from the North Pole is that you have to be really nice to get such a special gift, and that Councilwoman Webb has been, at best, substantially compliant.

Young Councilman Adam Martinez is also someone who has multiple item requests to Santa. The first is for a really good day planner under his tree. Having missed several Council meetings in 2012 after missing 19 in 2011, I guess he or someone on his behalf figured a better way of tracking his schedule might be of benefit.

George Sarantou

Councilman George Sarantou is asking for one of those Charles Atlas kits that you used to see in the comic books. A longtime member of City Council who is about to be term-limited out, Mr. Sarantou has run for higher office more than once, and each time had a bit of sand kicked in his face. Considered a 97-pound weakling, mostly because of his affiliation with a county Republican Party that weighs even less, this latest soul-sucking loss to a far less qualified candidate in Councilman Phil Copeland for the County Recorder’s office was apparently the last straw in sending off the request. Expect Councilman Sarantou to do a lot of heavy lifting before announcing another effort for higher office.

The most interesting of the letters that I saw was from Councilwoman Paula Hicks-Hudson. It seems that she was sent Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak and has had a heck of a time getting anyone to notice her ever since. She was writing to the North Pole to ask why she had been sent the cloak in the first place, and if it might be possible for Santa to take it back without holding it against her. There are rumors (and I’m not saying about who) that certain members of Council sent letters to Santa on her behalf, as they were unwilling to share the limited limelight of Council meetings with her.

The letters for Councilman Rob Ludeman were rather unique. He has been on City Council for a long time and was even president for a while, but Mr. Ludeman has seemed inconsistent over the years, sometimes seeming like a Republican and sometimes like a Democrat. This voting record seems to have left the Councilman (much like the local Republican Party that endorses him) stuck on the political Island of Misfit Toys from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Unlike “Survivor,” this made-for-TV island is one he wouldn’t mind some help from Santa in being voted off.

Mike Craig

I looked for a letter to Santa mentioning Councilman Mike Craig, but couldn’t find one. Apparently when you are a former civil servant and now a public servant who has a strong family and union background, including service as a UAW union steward, there’s nothing that Santa can bring you that unions and the Lucas County Democratic Party can’t. There were rumors that Mr. Craig writes no letters because he found out that the elves refused to organize, but I haven’t been able to confirm that locally or at the North Pole.

Santa seems to have found only one request for City Council’s President Joe McNamara in the letters he’s received. While Mr. McNamara’s young political career seems as well-favored as anyone’s, he may be suffering from comparisons to another local Democratic politician of youthful appearance and legal training who once put his political stamp on Toledo.  By now most of you realize that Mr. McNamara might in fact be suffering from “Konop Regional Antipathy Problems.” As it did for the original victim and long-time carrier, this condition can doom even the best political efforts of a candidate, no matter how well-intentioned the ideas or well-connected the family. Santa tells me that regardless of being on the Nice list (after all, he’s not an evil Republican), there may be problems even Santa can’t fix with a box and a bow.

Last, but not least, Mayor Mike Bell didn’t have a lot on his list this year, but there have been a couple of requests on his behalf to get the Ghostbusters in town to service One Government Center. Like Ebenezer in “A Christmas Carol,” the mayor may have been recently haunted by the spirits of former mayors Jack Ford and Carty Finkbeiner (both now asking Santa to put Mr. Ford in Phil Copeland’s soon-to-be-vacant Council seat).

These efforts are not so much hauntings, as attempted demonic possessions. There’s now concern that the fiscally conservative practices from early in Mr. Bell’s term have been taken over by the spendthrift “three-card monte” spending that his predecessors were famous for. I’m told that such things may be beyond even the ability of Santa, but that he’s at least trying to arrange a visit by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis for the pilot for their new reality show, “Celebrity Exorcism.”

Tim Higgins blogs at justblowingsmoke.blogspot.com.

Tags: Adam Martinez, Brian Wilson, Carty Finkbeiner, D. Michael Collins, George Sarantou, Jack Ford, Joe McNamara, Just Blowing Smoke, Lindsay Webb, Mike Bell, Paula Hicks-Hudson, Phil Copeland, Rob Ludeman, Steve Steel, Tim Higgins, Toledo City Council, Tom Waniewski, Tyrone Riley

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 20th, 2012 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Featured, Just Blowing Smoke, Opinion.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

A plaque commemorating a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient that used to hang in Libbey High School has found a new home at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Community-Based Outpatient Clinic.

The recipient, Lt. Robert Craig, graduated from Libbey in 1937. He grew up near the clinic after emigrating from Scotland. He died serving the United States on July 11, 1943, in Favoratta, Sicily.

During World War II, while trying to locate and demolish a hidden enemy machine gun, “Commando Bob” and his men came upon 100 enemy soldiers. He ordered his men to withdraw and drew the gunfire to himself. Craig was killed, but his men were able to drive the enemy out of the area.

The Craig Memorial Bridge now bears his name. Four-hundred-sixty-six Congressional Medals were given out during World War II.

The plaque’s former home, Libbey, was demolished Jan. 9 after building upkeep was deemed too costly. The school’s last class graduated in 2010 after a period of declining enrollment.

A group of Libbey alumni and Gayle Schaber, the last Libbey principal and current director of special projects and compensatory programs for Toledo Public Schools (TPS), had been meeting for months to discuss what should happen to Craig’s plaque and several trophies. The trophies and another plaque listing the names of 106 Libbey alums who gave their lives in World War II still need homes in the community and are currently in storage with TPS.

The Craig plaque is the first Libbey item that has found a new home in the community, said Sue Terrill, a member of the alumni group.

“I feel very happy that Toledo Public Schools allowed [the placement] to happen and this kind of makes it clear to me how important that this was,” she said. Alumni group member Roger Sund is working with the Lucas County Commissioners to find a home for the other veterans’ plaque.

The group also worked with Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Councilman D. Michael Collins, who serves on the VA Clinic board, to place the Craig plaque in the clinic.

“It was agreed that it would be a very appropriate location to recommit the memorial,” Collins said. The new VA Clinic officially opened this fall at 1200 S. Detroit Ave. The plaque hangs on the second floor, accompanied by text about Craig.

There is also a picture of Craig on the “Faces of Heroes,” display inside the clinic, a 40-foot installation featuring area veterans’ pictures. Terrill’s father, who joined the army in 1937, is pictured near Craig.

“That was cool personally, to see that so close to Lt. Craig,” she said.

Despite the plaque getting placed, there is still some tension between the alumni group and TPS. A date had been set for the group to go photograph and record the trophies and memorabilia in storage. However, TPS canceled that date in October because more employees were needed to oversee the effort.

Patricia Mazur, TPS spokesperson, did confirm that TPS is working with the group to set a new date to go through the items.

Terrill said that Schaber was able to give the group one box of items, which alumni are currently sorting. The box contained death announcements for some of the 106 veteran students and some pictures, including one of Craig.

Collins said of the trophy situation, “I became very disenchanted with the lack of energy to preserve the history of Libbey High School and find a new purpose for the facility, and so all of the other things that are associated with Libbey have left me with a very unsettling feeling because I can’t dismiss the fact that TPS, by demolishing Libbey, not only took out one of the major architectural masterpieces in the City of Toledo, it also scuttled educational opportunities for a complete neighborhood.”

Tags: Congressional Medal of Honor, D. Michael Collins, Gayle Schaber, Libbey High School, Robert Craig, Veterans Affairs (VA) Community-Based Outpatient Clinic

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2012 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Community, Military.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

When the former business manager of a West Toledo Catholic church pleaded guilty in federal court Sept. 5 to stealing $525,000 in parish funds, the repercussions were felt at religious institutions throughout the region where multiple thousands of dollars are handled every week.

Patricia Ann Stanz, 61, was described by authorities as “a trusted employee” of Gesu Roman Catholic Church, working at the Parkside Boulevard parish, next to St. Francis de Sales High School, from August 2007 to August 2011.

The thefts reportedly began in June 2008 and continued until Stanz’s termination more than three years later. The case was investigated by the FBI and is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Karol, according to U.S. District Court records.

Stanz told authorities she used most of the stolen funds for gambling.

“This person abused the trust of her employer and the entire congregation,” said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

As the church’s business manager, Stanz used a rubber stamp with the signature of the parish’s former pastor, the Rev. James Cryan, then signed her name on nearly 100 checks to draw $295,000 from the parish’s checking account with Fifth Third Bank, according to federal officials.

She also withdrew about $200,000 in cash advances using a Gesu credit card, officials said.

“Obviously the parish suffered an extreme monetary loss,” said Toledo City Councilman D. Michael Collins, a former police officer and 35-year member of Gesu Parish. Collins said he was asked by Cryan to help the parish review its policies and practices last December, after the theft had been discovered.

“The greater loss, in my opinion, was to Father James Cryan, who is now retired, and his loss of having placed trust, and then finding that trust had been misplaced,” Collins said. “If there are any lessons to be learned, it is by the laymen who must learn to be responsible for the financial structure of the parish.”

Policies weren’t followed

Indeed, the Toledo Catholic Diocese has extensive guidelines for parishes on handling money responsibly and with oversight, but by all accounts those guidelines went unheeded while Stanz was at Gesu.

“There’s no doubt the policies weren’t followed,” Collins said.

Virtually all of the larger religious organizations have financial guidelines for their members to follow.

The Rev. Larry Clark, pastor of Sylvania First United Methodist Church, said his church has a finance committee of 15 that meets monthly and reviews all the church’s financial records.

Each week, a different set of four people counts the money collected during services, Clark said.

In addition, the church’s financial secretary records who donated what amounts, and a separate person serving as church treasurer submits monthly reports to the finance committee.

“Hopefully, by having enough people involved in the checks and balances, as well as conducting an internal audit each year, we can make sure that it couldn’t happen,” Clark said.

“I never worry about our church at all. We’ve got good checks and balances in place. But if you have somebody smart enough and desperate enough, they probably can get away with it — at least for a while,” he added.

Annual audit

The Rev. Tim Philabaum, pastor of Zoar Lutheran Church in Perrysburg, said a financial audit is performed annually at Zoar, which ensures that the church’s financial books are in order.

“And we have different people handling the income and the outgo of funds,” he said. “The person who writes the checks cannot touch the money that comes in from the offerings.”

The theft at Gesu was the largest local church theft in memory, but certainly not the only one. In March 2010, Toledo police  reported that an employee of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Cathedral on Woodley Road had allegedly embezzled $145,000, and last June police reported a suspected embezzlement at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, with $12,000 missing.

Financial guidelines

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), a Christian accreditation agency based in Winchester, Va., sets financial guidelines for its members to ensure that funds are handled properly.

There are 1,700 churches and ministries nationwide that have received ECFA accreditation, with each one agreeing to follow specific mandates on financial oversight.

“Each organization shall prepare complete and accurate financial statements,” ECFA’s policy states. “The board or a committee consisting of a majority of independent members shall approve the engagement of an independent certified public accountant, review the annual financial statements and maintain appropriate communication with the independent certified public accountant. The board shall be apprised of any material weaknesses in internal control or other significant risks,” ECFA’s guidelines state.

Transparency with finances is a biblical principle, ECFA states on its website, and “serves to deter improper diversion of funds and other misdeeds.”

Stanz, meanwhile, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison when she is sentenced, now scheduled for Jan. 14, by Judge James Carr in U.S. District Court.

Collins said it is inappropriate to comment further on the case until the sentence is imposed. But he rejected some people’s suggestion that Cryan drop all charges and forgive Stanz, contending that Jesus preached forgiveness.

“I say that in my world there are two sets of rules: God’s rules and man’s rules,” Collins said. “I can’t control God’s rules but I have a responsibility with man’s rules. What [Stanz] did was an uncivilized act. If there are no consequences to breaking the law, what’s the barrier to create civil behavior? She broke man’s rules, so I say, ‘Throw her in jail.’”

David Yonke is the editor and community manager of ToledoFAVS.com, a website that provides in-depth, nonsectarian news coverage of religion, faith and spirituality in the Toledo area.

Tags: D. Michael Collins, David Yonke, Gesu Roman Catholic Church, Patricia Ann Stanz, Religion

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2012 at 3:03 pm and is filed under Community, Religion.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The first public meeting to present the plans for “Advancing Ohio’s Innovative Economy” was held Aug. 22 at the University of Toledo.

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro came to Toledo for the first presentation on the findings of the Ohio Higher Ed Technology Transfer and Commercialization Task Force.

“We need to advance higher education in Ohio, get more people to earn degrees to help build the economy and our future. Commercialization must be part of the agenda to bring jobs to Ohio and create jobs here,” said Petro.

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro spoke Aug. 22 at the University of Toledo about the findings of the Ohio Higher Ed Technology Transfer and Commercialization Task Force.

The Ohio Board of Regents’ Fifth Report on Higher Education makes recommendations on the steps Ohio needs to take to build and sustain a world-class commercialization infrastructure capable of competing on a global scale.

“Implementation of the recommendations will be a daunting task, and Ohio is the first state to undertake it,” Petro said.

UT President Lloyd Jacobs, a member of the task force, delivered the opening remarks at Doermann Theater in University Hall with approximately 100 faculty, students, business and civic leaders in attendance.

“This is a time for change in our state. We need leaders like Dr. Jacobs to help make it happen,” said Vinny Gupta, a regent and chairman of the Commercialization Task Force of 34 members from around the state.

“The number of people present shows the support we’re looking to get, not just quantity but quality people here,” Gupta said.

“We’re here to celebrate the convergence of universities with corporate America,” Jacobs said.

He pointed out that UT strives to provide an environment for innovation and cited Rocket Ventures, a partnership between UT and the Regional Growth Partnership. Rocket Ventures helps to fund and support start-up companies that are bringing innovative technology to the marketplace.

“Toledo is a university town. The role of the university will continue to broaden in the 21st century. The report is about sustainability. A sustainable world requires innovation,” Jacobs said.

One of the goals of the task force is to define economic opportunities for the university system in Ohio, which Gupta acclaimed as the largest in the country, through improvement and acceleration of commercialization and technology transfer. Another goal is to identify barriers to accelerating commercialization.

A third goal is to develop strategies for improving collaboration among higher education, industry and policy makers. The fourth goal is to identify systemic strategies for creating and sustaining a comprehensive commercialization ecosystem in Ohio.

Gupta said the task force looks to determine how it can serve the interests of higher education and the interests of industry.

“How can we provide incentives to help us get the commercialization system moving in the right direction to achieve those goals,” Gupta asked on behalf of the task force.

The primary charge of the task force is to guide the regents in identification and analysis of issues and data needed to successfully achieve the goals. Gupta said that the regents have asked the task force to remain intact and meet every three months.

The first step in the implementation process is to continue the dialogue with Ohio stakeholders by communicating clearly what’s in the task force’s recommendations.

More details on the task force’s recommendations for implementation of its plans will be compiled by Sept. 30, following additional presentations of the report around the state, according to Gupta.

Toledo City Councilman D. Michael Collins reminded the regents that it’s going to take funding from the State of Ohio to implement the plan and achieve the goals of the task force.

“We need to capitalize on ideas now without state funds,” Petro said.

“The state doesn’t have the money so we need to find more creative ways to fund commercialization,” Gupta said.

Ford Cauffiel, an 82-year-old native of Toledo, said college professors should come out and see what entrepreneurs of Toledo have accomplished. Cauffiel is an entrepreneur, inventor and industrialist who founded and operated Cauffiel Technologies Corp. in Toledo.

“Many venture capitalists told me that professors and entrepreneurs are different animals and think differently, so I think it is important to have a program to help create more entrepreneurial  faculty researchers,” said Xunming Deng, former president and CEO of Xunlight, a company he founded based on photovoltaic research he conducted at UT. He has returned to teach full time at the university.

Technology Transfer Office helps get ideas from classroom to marketplace

UT’s Technology Transfer Office is committed to developing and fostering relationships with industry to transfer UT discoveries and innovations to the marketplace.

The tech transfer staff works with faculty, staff and students when they develop a platform technology that can serve as the basis for a university spin-off business.

UT has initiated a “lab-to-launch” system to encourage and enable faculty start-up businesses, which can contribute to regional economic development.

The Tech Transfer team had one of its best years in fiscal 2011, according to its annual report for last year. It continues to be nationally ranked in key performance criteria, stated the report.

Last year, UT collected $1.2 million in licensing revenues and now has more than $5.5 million in equity. UT currently has 167 issued patents, 450 pending patents and entered into 16 new license agreements.

UT’s 13 start-up businesses have shared in excess of $85 million in venture funding and have created more than 100 new positions. It licensed intellectual properties to two new start-up businesses in 2011.

AccuGenomics LLC provides gene expression tests that can accurately diagnose, monitor and direct cancer treatment.

Excellent Energy Solutions is developing a proprietary flywheel energy storage system that may be used for distributed or centralized energy management for sources including NASA.

Stephen Snider, former associate and general counsel and director of technology licensing, was named assistant vice president of Tech Transfer at UT.

Tags: AccuGenomics LLC, D. Michael Collins, Excellent Energy Solutions, Ford Cauffiel, Jim Petro, Lloyd Jacobs, Ohio Board of Regents, Ohio Higher Ed Technology Transfer and Commercialization Task Force, Regional Growth Partnership, Rocket Ventures, Stephen Snider, Technology Transfer Office, University of Toledo, Vinny Gupta, Xunming Deng

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 25th, 2012 at 3:40 am and is filed under Toledo Business Link.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Politics is a tough business; that’s not a new lesson for Tom Crothers, but the speed at which things can develop must stun even a veteran like him.

On Aug. 16, Toledo Mayor Mike Bell stood with Crothers, then deputy mayor, Toledo City Councilman Rob Ludeman and other officials to announce a development at the site of the former Southwyck Mall.

It was announced that MJW, Inc. was looking to transform the area into “somewhat of a sports village,” with each venue employing its own management. As reported by Toledo Free Press Staff Writer Caitlin McGlade, “The 58 acres might host indoor basketball, volleyball and hockey courts as well as outdoor stadiums and fields. The development firm is looking to fill the space with hotels and restaurants as well, to attract traveling teams not only to play, but to stay in Toledo for a few days.”

The Bell administration was planning to ask Toledo City Council to approve a $50,000 loan for MJW, Inc. to conduct marketing, engineering and architectural research to develop the concept.

But as first brought to the public’s attention by WSPD morning host Fred LeFebvre, proposed lead developer Cliff Gaston apparently has a history of financial and legal issues that would have precluded him from partnering with the city had he been properly vetted.

By Aug. 19, Bell had scuttled the deal. By Aug. 20, Crothers was relieved of his duties as deputy mayor and reassigned to the Department of Public Utilities, to, according to Bell’s office, “spearhead special projects, including the work to study a regional water system, implementation of the SAP computer system upgrade and focusing on customer service.”

Paul Syring has been named acting deputy mayor of external relations.

It is unfortunate that such a positive announcement went sour, and it is doubly unfortunate that a lack of simple vetting led to such a radical shuffling. But a lack of communication — Councilman D. Michael Collins had met with the same developers a year ago but let the matter lie because of the financial issues; he was not involved in the Aug. 16 announcement — led to an embarrassing situation for all involved.

Bell’s administration started with a flurry of activity and development, with international travels and a deal, still unrealized in terms of construction, to sell the Marina District.

Bell has shown two clear trends during his time as mayor. One is a tendency to trust the people he put in place, in terms of cooperation and development. Another is a willingness to make personnel changes when they need to be made, for the betterment of the city. Bell, to use a casino analogy, knows when to hold ’em and knows when to fold ’em.

That’s called leadership, and while Bell would be the first to say his administration has not been perfect, it is fair to say he has demonstrated a fluidity and willingness to adapt that had been missing from the mayor’s office.

Chalk this one up as a lesson learned, and godspeed to Syring in his new role in moving our city forward.

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

Tags: Cliff Gaston, D. Michael Collins, Fred LeFebvre, Marina District, Mike Bell, Paul Syring, Rob Ludeman, Southwyck Mall, Tom Crothers, Tom Pounds, WSPD

This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2012 at 12:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Hundreds of Northwest Toledo residents want their neighborhood police station back, but the campaign’s leader says the city administration staff is giving him and the signers “the cold shoulder.”

Retired city finance director John Bibish handed a petition to the mayor’s office today with 575 signatures to request that police activity return to the closed station at 2330 W. Sylvania Ave.

The Northwest District station closed in late June, following a few years of limited police work conducted in the building. The station opened in 1997 with 104 officers.

The city closed the station citing financial reasons, but Bibish pointed out at a news conference today that the administration is planning to add about $1.9 million to this year’s budget. A public hearing tomorrow will address the adjustments.

“If there’s an additional $2 million available, isn’t it reasonable to ask if some of that money could be used for the Northwest station, specifically for police protection in general?” Bibish asked.

Monsignor Michael Billian of Most Blessed Sacrament Parish and Councilmen George Sarantou, Tom Waniewski and D. Michael Collins joined Bibish at the news conference.

“It is a sad day in the city of Toledo when citizens have to come with a petition asking to return a public safety delivery system that they have been accustomed to,” Collins said.

Mayor Mike Bell’s administration attempted to sell the old station this summer, but council members voted down the sale 10 to 2. The decision enabled Bibish’s group, which consists of about 20 active neighbors at its core, to continue fighting to regain police presence.

Waniewski said the Northwest District is not in a “tipping point” area, but that the neighborhood could denigrate without a police station.

“If the police are not there, then we will become a tipping point,” Waniewski said. “Why can’t we become more proactive in making sure the neighborhoods don’t deteriorate? Why do we have to wait until its gone too far before we start to funnel the dollars in?”

Sgt. Joe Heffernan said the Northwest District typically has some of the lowest crime rates in the city. He said the Toledo Police Department will still assign the same number of officers to that area. The only difference that residents will notice, he said, is that they won’t be able to go to that office and make a police report.

“That is a myth,” said former Capt. Jeff Hennessy.

He said that the area will not see as many police officers as it had when a station was present because the districts are so large and because a station guaranteed that officers would stay in the neighborhood.

“Historically, if you were short that day, the first officers you pulled would be the West End because you were hoping against hope that nothing would happen out there,” Hennessy said. “That was the beauty with the Northwest station: you had X number of officers assigned to the station, so if you had extra officers that day, they stayed there. They didn’t go downtown, they didn’t go to Scott Park. They stayed there.”

The mayor’s administration did not return phone calls for comment Aug. 13.

Tags: D. Michael Collins, George Sarantou, John Bibbish, Mike Bell, Monsignor Michael Billian, Tom Waniewski

This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2012 at 4:36 pm and is filed under City of Toledo, Community.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.