Why is Mayor Carty Finkbeiner of Toledo, Ohio facing a November recall vote?”
Residents of Toledo, Ohio, are complaining that they received $25 tickets for parking their vehicles in their own driveways. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner (FINK’-by-ner) says he stands by the citations handed out last week by the Division of Streets, Bridges and Harbor. He says the tickets were issued under a city law against parking on unpaved surfaces, including gravel driveways. During a news conference Monday, Finkbeiner ignored a reporter’s question of whether the crackdown and fines were related to the city’s budget crisis. The three-term mayor faces a recall vote in November. Critics have claimed he’s wasted city money. City Councilman D. Michael Collins calls the ticketing “Mickey Mouse nonsense.” He has told residents he’ll try to have the citations rescinded.
For the recall effort to succeed, its supporters had to collect 19,753 valid signatures from registered Toledo voters in a 90-day window ending April 18, 2009. According to the Lucas County Board of Elections, as of April 16, there were 19,827 valid signatures. If the effort succeeds, Finkbeiner would be removed from office with about three months left in his four-year term. A group called Take Back Toledo http://takebacktoledo.com/ has formed to lead the recall effort. Tom Schlachter, Brian Wilson, and Ed Nagle are its leaders. As reasons for going ahead with the recall effort, the group cites: * “Three years of nationally embarrassing gaffes.” * “Increased taxes and fees.” * “Creating an atmosphere decidedly unfriendly to the creation and expansion of business within the City of Toledo.” * Spending money on the Erie Street Market while cutting funding for new police officers and firefighters in the proposed 2009 budget. * Mayor
