City resident has a City Council experience that was less than pleasant…
I’ve gotten the text of an email that was written to all members of Toledo City Council that was in reaction to an experience a Toledo area resident had with the over all tone of the meeting and in discussion with Councilman Mike Craig last night. Some of the local media was given a copy of the email, not by this person but by another member of Council, George Sarantou. Communication with all of Council is public record, yet most times this type of communication shared with the media is done by those involved.
Dear Mr. Craig:
I attended the Coucil meeting on Monday, May 19, 2008 at 4:00 pm with the intent of requesting City Council to find the needed funds to take care of the median strip that is so desperately needed at the new Bowsher High School for safety purposes.
Little did I know that I was to witness the display of unprofessionalism that I did as well as be offended by a councilman.
While I understand the desire of each district councilman to obtain monies and services for their district, the object of this meeting should have been discussion on the Bowsher project which is based on the SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN. Regardless of the district you represent, the safety of our Toledo children should always come first. Neighborhoods should not be pitted against each other.And, Sir, while I respect your right to voice your opinions, I do not respect you out right calling my District 2 Councilman, Mike Collins, a PIG. What type of example does this set for our children whom we tell to “work things out” while leaders in our government cannot even be civilized.
This type of behavior is uncalled for and does nothing to welcome concerned Toledo citizens.
I spoke with Councilman Collins briefly this evening, he had the following statement regarding the email:
If Councilman Mike Craig said this I feel it was unethical and unprofessional, I will not lower myself to engage in a debate as to what was meant or implied.
I have not yet spoken with Councilman Craig, if he has a statement he’d like to make on this I will update with it. Councilman Craig shared what is his comment on this as the first comment to this post.
My number one priority is to advocate for the voters who put me in office so that they get their fair share of the city’s services. Sometimes in the fervor of advocacy, statements can be made rashly and hard feelings are created. While I feel that my statements have been taken out of context, I apologized to Councilman Collins for what I said. I have nothing but respect for him, his office, and the residents in his district.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:43 pmI look forward to working with Councilman Collins and all of my colleagues in moving the City forward
Tappity tap tap tappidy tap tap clack!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:35 pmC’mon Mike, if Collins is being a jerk why apologize? District 2 had a jerk representing it for years! Ludeman was and always has been a jerk, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if his successor was one too. But, then again, I’m not a politician and I don’t have to work with the guy. But, as far as I can tell, he’s a jerk and I’ll say it for you if need be!
Ah, single A ball at its finest. We will never make it to the big leagues.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:44 pmMike, in what context did you call Mr. Collins a pig?
May 20th, 2008 at 10:49 pmMike, I don’t disagree with you that part of this is created with the way things end up being District against District. I’ve watched and listened to quite a bit of the discussion when it comes to paving and how it’s determined who gets what. I have not forgotten what you said at the April 8th meeting when you talked about the division that’s happened when it comes to paving.
Thank you for sharing your statement, I wanted to be able to share the basics from all sides on this.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:50 pmIT IS BETTER TO MAKE NO MONEY THEN SOME MONEY AS LONG AS I GET MY WAY…
Yes I do love that line…
I am sick of some council members and the mayor, steeling money from the taxpayers and then feel they have the right. If you (Mike) feel there is something wrong or if someone is doing wrong, you have a morel obligation to inform us, the taxpayers. Call them like you see them, but most importantly, tell us what they are doing wrong. That’s all for now…
May 20th, 2008 at 10:52 pmLily, I don’t expect him to respond, he just posted his statement as a comment. The discussion was in the context of the overall street improvement/paving disparity issue that has been discussed in the past. It was related to the funding for curb cuts/median area for the new Bowsher High School. Which was before Council tonight but was held at first reading.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:53 pmSepp, I don’t think Collins is a “jerk”, he’s doing what he thinks is right and Mike Craig is doing what he feels is right. The other issue is more than just the one comment Mike Craig made, from what I understand the meeting was pretty contentious which was also what prompted the email being written to all of Council.
She was disappointed with what she felt was the lack of focus on the safety issue related to the Bowsher project.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:59 pmBTW… Great job LisaRenee on keeping up with eveything.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:01 pmhehehe…ya’ll think that’s bad, you should hear what they say to eachother on the 21st floor…out of earshot. There’s good reason that most of the 21st floor is empty.
The size of the EGO’s take up most of the empty space….even that between a lot of ears.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:12 pmJust saw 11 news report on overtime. This will be a good show tomorrow. Look out Mike, I will be calling you tomorrow…
May 20th, 2008 at 11:15 pmLisa, what I meant was: How can calling someone a pig be taken out of context? Is there ever a context in which it’s okay?
May 20th, 2008 at 11:20 pmInstead of “jerk” I’ll just say he’s a politician. I’ve had my fill of district 2 coucilmembers who tow Carty’s line and in the end nothing is really done and meanwhile these jokers pad their resume’s with “accomplishments” that were in reality nothing more than a “yea” vote on something they were’nt paying attention to.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:22 pmMaking a safety island at a crosswalk on Detroit ave should be a no brainer. But, I’ll bet you somebody claims “caring for Toledo’s children” when they vote “yea” on it and then run for mayor!
Lily, no but without the context one word can seem even stronger. I’m sure that a different word could have been selected that would have expressed it less offensively.
It’s similar to other situations where it’s been pointed out the choice of the word or a phrase created problems. It’s also interesting how this came out, Collins wasn’t going to make an issue of it and didn’t even plan on talking to the media, the person who wrote the email didn’t realize it would be leaked/public record and refused media requests and I don’t think Mike Craig would have released it. Evidently Councilman Sarantou felt the media should be aware of it.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:34 pmMike Craig has always been a stand up nice guy.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:48 amEach persons experience may vary, but I have had many interactions with Mike and he has always been nice to me….so what gives?
He’s always been nice to me too, as well as all of the members on Council. I think his comment states what happened, that it was basically one of those moments of heat. It sounds like the meeting was not exactly a calm one involving several present.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:51 amMike Craig called a fellow councilman a ‘pig’ and did so to one of that councilman’s constituents. Maybe Mike Craig is a nice guy but lacking in social graces and not very polished. Or maybe he’s a nice guy but not really in full control of himself, or he has no filter on what he’s saying. Or maybe he really is the person who called Collins a pig and the nice guy thing is a schtick.
In any event it’s hard to reconcile the fact that he called a fellow councilman a pig and did so to that councilman’s constituent. It’s even harder to reconcile that he did so while having “nothing but respect” for Collins.
There is NO context for which this would be appropriate. My ten year old would know this. Shame on Mike Craig.
May 21st, 2008 at 7:26 amWhy is it so wrong for one councilman to call another councilman a “pig” to the point of prompting this letter, while it’s apparently o.k. for the mayor to call all people who don’t see things his way, “baboons” and other words we all know too well?
Why does the excuse, “that’s just Carty being Carty” work for the mayor while the excuse, “that’s just Mike Craig being Mike Craig” does not and would not work for bickering council people?
So I must ask the person who wrote the letter, what kind of message does this hypocritical double-standard set not only for kids, but also for everyone else?
Mike Craig and Mike Collins are unknown outside of the city of Toledo, the mayor on the other hand disgraces the city at the national level.
Wrong is wrong. Wrong can never be non-wrong, but I’m only wondering why should someone get so upset about a councilman name calling when Carty does very same thing but on a much grander scale and at regular intervals that seem almost predictable.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:19 amWell, Jayott maybe the letter-writer conducts himself and his business in a more professional and civil manner than calling other people pigs and expects his locally elected officials to do the same.
Perhaps not everyone has given up on the idea of civility and race in politics. You seem to view this type of thing in relative terms. The post was about the letter-writer’s experiencing Mike Craig, not Carty or national politics.
Typical cynical response, Jayott.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:50 am^the above should read ‘grace’ not ‘race’. Sorry.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:51 amjrs said “Maybe Mike Craig is a nice guy but lacking in social graces and not very polished. Or maybe he’s a nice guy but not really in full control of himself, or he has no filter on what he’s saying.”
This comment is consistent my personal opinion that Mike Craig is a little rough around the edges. Having spoken with him a couple of times, and having witnessed him speak on several other occaisions, the first thing that came to my mind when I read post #1 is that Mike had help writing that post. That was WAY more eloquent than anything I have ever heard from this guy before, and I think he’s getting some damage control help from political handlers out there.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:06 amVoR, I can personally attest that Mike Craig wrote the comment himself, as I talked to him just prior to posting, I offered to put the comment in the body of the post so, no one helped him with it. Just because he may not be an eloquent speaker does not mean he doesn’t know how to write a simple statement well.
The person who wrote it was unhappy with more than just the comment about Mike Collins, it was the whole experience she witnessed during the hearing on the Bowsher curb cut issue.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:17 am