Carty Finkbeiner

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Carleton S. Finkbeiner
Born	Toledo, Ohio
Title	Mayor of Toledo, Ohio, USA
Term	January, 1994—December, 2001 January, 2006 —
Predecessor	John McHugh, Jack Ford
Successor	Incumbent
Political party	Democratic

Carlton S. "Carty" Finkbeiner (Democrat) is the mayor of Toledo, Ohio (1994-2002, 2006-). First elected in 1993, he was the city's first strong mayor in 60 years. He took office on January 1, 1994. In 1997, he defeated challenger Nick Wichowski to win a second term. Term limits prevented him from running a third consecutive time. He was succeeded by Jack Ford in 2002.

Following his first administration, Finkbeiner served on the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority board. He joined Toledo's WTVG, hosting "Carty & Company", a Sunday morning public affiars show. He also contributed a weekly editorial segment, "It's Just Not Right!" Finkbeiner left the station in May 2005.

On June 30, 2005, Finkbeiner announced that he would seek a third term as mayor. He won the Toledo Mayoral Primary, winning roughly 37% of the vote in comparison to 29% earned by incumbent Ford. On November 8, 2005, Finkbeiner was re-elected mayor.

Finkbeiner was sworn in for his third term as mayor in a private ceremony on January 3, 2006.

Finkbeiner currently resides with his wife, Amy Finkbeiner, in South Toledo. He has three children: Ryan, Jenny, and Katie, and 5 grandchildren.

1 Background
2 Accomplishments
3 Controversy
4 References

[edit] Background

Finkbeiner was born (1939) and raised in Toledo, graduating from Maumee Valley Country Day School. He received a B.A. from Denison University. Prior to his political career, he taught at Maumee Valley Country Day School, St. Francis de Sales High School, and the University of Toledo.

Finkbeiner is something of a political weather vane. During his long career in public service, Carty has been a member of multiple parties. At various times and for various offices he has run as a Republican, a Democrat and an Independent.

Finkbeiner served 8 years as a city councilman and 2 years as deputy mayor.

[edit] Accomplishments

As a city councilman, Finkbeiner led efforts to the change from city manager/council format of government to the strong mayor executive style Toledo currently has in place.

During his administration, Finkbeiner oversaw Toledo's largest building growth in decades, including construction of:

Owens Corning World Headquarters
Daimler-Chrysler Jeep Plant
State Prison
Dana Corporation Headquarters
Erie Street Market
The Docks-- an upscale restaurant and entertainment cluster on the Maumee River
Buckeye Basin Greenbelt Parkway
Fifth Third Field-- a new downtown stadium for the Toledo Mud Hens
Additions to Toledo Hospital

Finkbeiner spearheaded the "Keep Jeep" movement, helping to convince Daimler-Chrysler to keep Jeep production centered in Toledo. The new plant brought an estimated 6,500 jobs and $2 billion in estimated annual payroll to the city.

Extensive downtown redevelopment was a hallmark of the Finkbeiner administration. It played a major role in Toledo winning the title of "All-America City Award of the National Civic League" in 1998, being one of only 10 cities in the United States to receive this honor.

In 1999, the White House Millennium Council dubbed Toledo an official Millennium Community.

[edit] Controversy

Known as much for his temper as his work ethic, many allegations surfaced throughout Finkbeiner's two terms, and more continue to surface in his third. Fueled by a bitter political feud between rivaling factions of the local Democratic Party, much of this controversy exists only in the minds of pundits and idealogical adversaries of Finkbeiner, as evidenced by enthusiastic support of the Finkbeiner administration from the cities residents.

Toledo restaurateur John Skiadas filed a law-suit alleging that Finkbeiner physically and verbally assaulted him at the Erie Street Market in 2000. The lawsuit was dismissed by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Charles Wittenberg in 2004.^[1]^[2]

Carty once chest-bumped a city council member and allegedly hit a city employee with a coffee mug.

On July 1, 1998, Carty was fined $400 and court costs after pleading guilty to Ethics charges when he was Mayor, realized a $10,000 profit from Owens Corning's purchase of his condo, and his failure to publicly report the gain.

He plagiarized a single line in his KICK-OFF speech in 1998.^[3]

Finkbeiner suggested relieving the problem of noise complaints from neighbors of Toledo Express Airport by selling homes nearby at low cost to deaf people.^[4]

Several times throughout his administration, controversies such as these brought national attention to Toledo.

In early 2006, political adversaries scoffed over the Mayor spending $9,996 of city money to complete the installation of shower facilities in the City Government building. They attempted to label the project a "controversy" because the shower quote was originally $10,006, six dollars over a threshold that requires approval from City Council. The contractor was able to shave $10 from the project, something a vocal minority felt was unethical. ^[5]

In 2004, Finkbeiner experienced health problems and underwent bypass surgery. Local pundits speculate that this brush with mortality may have affected his disposition for the better.^[6]

In May 2006, he called Toledo's African-American Fire Chief Michael Bell “King Kong” at a staff meeting. Finkbeiner later clarified his remarks as relating to the Chiefs physical stature, and Chief Bell has acknowledged in public that he took no offense to the remarks.^[7]

In June 2006,Jack Smith resigned from his brief tenure as Chief of Police after what he described as a near-physical confrontation with the mayor after they exchanged words.^[8]

In January 2007, Finkbeiner claimed that both he and wife Amy were treated unprofessionally by Ottawa County sheriff's deputies when they tried to visit Amy's son, an inmate, on separate occasions. Amy Finkbeiner claimed she was not allowed to use a ladies' room at the jail, while Finkbeiner said he was denied a chance to visit after visiting hours had concluded. Sheriff Bob Bratton said the deputies were only doing their jobs.

Later that month, Finkbeiner and his press secretary were sued by radio station WSPD, claiming that First Amendment provisions regarding freedom of the press were violated when the press secretary forcibly kept a station employee out of a public press conference. Finkbeiner's objection to the employee is that he produces opinions and editorials, and is not in fact a reporter on behalf of WSPD. On January 31, a federal judge granted the station a permanent injunction requiring Finkbeiner and his staff to admit station personnel.^[9]

[edit] References

Preceded by John McHugh	Mayor of Toledo, Ohio 1994�€“2002	Succeeded by Jack Ford
Preceded by Jack Ford	Mayor of Toledo, Ohio 2006-Present	Succeeded by Incumbent