Skeldon announces retirement updated with release from two Commissioners
This in via e-mail this morning from the office of Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken, I’m sure it will be a media item today, Toledo Free Press as one example of other media reporting on the following release:
Commissioner Gerken Receives Retirement Letter From Dog Warden Tom Skeldon
This morning, Commissioner Pete Gerken, President of the Board of County Commissioners, received a letter from Dog Warden Tom Skeldon announcing his retirement, effective January 31, 2010. Commissioner Gerken shared the letter with his colleagues Thursday morning.
According to Commissioner Gerken, Skeldon intends to take advantage of his accrued vacation time, making December 31, 2009 his last day in the office.
“I’d like to publicly recognize Tom Skeldon’s 20+ years as Dog Warden. He has served over 10 different Commissioners in a very difficult position and I wish him well in his retirement,” said Commissioner Gerken.
Commissioner Gerken will propose to his colleagues that a search committee be formed to find the next leader for this important county office.
“Each Commissioner will have the opportunity to appoint one member to this search committee, which will be supported by the Commissioners’ Human Resources department,” said Commissioner Gerken.
Commissioner Gerken will also ask County Administration to appoint Bonnie Mitchell, current Dog Pound Manager, as the interim Dog Warden while a search takes place.
Updated: Release in from the office of Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak:
Wozniak Offers Statement on the Retirement of Dog Warden Tom Skeldon
In light of Dog Warden Tom Skeldon’s announcement this morning that he will retire at the end of the year, Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak offered the following statement:
“I have received Dog Warden Tom Skeldon’s letter, and I wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement.
I look forward to working with my colleagues and county administration to develop a transition plan that will identify a strong leader for that department in the future.
I will also continue to work with the Dog Warden Advisory Committee to increase dog adoptions and establish the best policies and practices for the department.”
The Blade will have to find someone else to villianize.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:48 amToo bad and unexplainable how and
November 19th, 2009 at 10:50 amwhy people ban together to force
a Dog Warden to retire and do
nothing at all regarding removing
an Executive Director of a local
Mental Health Board, Mental Health Agency, or
Mental Health Oranization when
most of their actions diminish mental health help
and services is beyond me and many others!
Ron, I’m sure they have someone next in mind…
Sue, I agree, it’s hard to comprehend how the thousands being impacted by the cuts in services at Jobs & Family Services, the clients & employees impacted by the Connecting Point, the children impacted by the loss of the day care program don’t warrant the same type of passion…
November 19th, 2009 at 10:58 amI have mixed thoughts about the Dog Warden. He does a job he’s paid to do, remove strays and “police” the dog owners to make sure they keep up their end of the bargin. Skeldon took this a bit far from time to time, and the killing of so many dogs is a bit much. However, the job of “Dog Warden” has some grewsome aspects from time to time and we the people must accept that not every dog is wanted. Some dogs are sick and some are of very poor temperment. In the intrests of being fair and realistic, a fair portion of the dogs taken in by the Warden will have to be destroyed. And sometimes..those will include puppies.
So…while I think that Skeldon’s departure is for the best, all things considered, the next Warden will also be in the position of having to put dogs down.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:03 pmunless the budget is increased or rescue operations take more dogs, the same number of dogs will have to be put down by the next warden – all so the publisher could build little ben back up. i tell ya, if we ever expect to get some control over our city and get decent people to run for office, boycott buckeye cable – otherwise its more of j r’s pals running (ruining) toledo. skeldon was hung out to dry for others’ benefit – totally unjustified!
November 19th, 2009 at 1:40 pmzimmy is so right. And we as a community allow this paper with it’s personal grudges to destroy yet another person. When will this end?
November 19th, 2009 at 4:51 pmI don’t know Tom Skeldon, but I do wonder what his replacement will do differently. Lack of money, space and people willing to adopt will only prolong the problem.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:17 pmI really think Ben Konop is writing for The Blade under a pen name. It’s been about a week of solid dog warden stories, and even today, it’s been updated three times! The latest one says that Konop wants him dismissed now instead of him retiring in December. It really has to be Ben writing these things because I just can’t see why it would get so much press otherwise
November 19th, 2009 at 5:56 pmKonop wanted the Dog Warden fired;
well, the Dog Warden is now retiring
and Konop still wants him fired.
Konop is the one with the problem!
He is just hungry for attention again.
Why didn’t Konop
November 19th, 2009 at 6:27 pmstand up and fight
for Connecting Point and Mental Health
issues or when Mental Health Consumers died in group homes here in Toledo??
Does Lucas county just have a pro-active dog warden office?
Is this area strangely experiencing an influx of unwanted dogs?
Is Lucas county a destination for the packs of stray dogs that roam the country?
November 19th, 2009 at 6:28 pmkonop is a dreamer, alice in wonderland, one that will never succeed on his own. He will be out of a job come election day.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:53 pmWho’s next? The puppet writers will need to find someone else to write about, what will the agenda be? I have heard what comes around goes around, I can’t wait for the go around.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:39 pmThis is terrific news, not because I don’t like Skeldon (and I don’t), but because the focus will now not be on him. Instead it will where it should be -on the office itself. The advisory committee can now issue its recommendations without having to worry about any public perception that they’re just taking things out on Skeldon. And Tina can lrgitimately participate in any decisions about acting on the committee’s recommendations without having to worry about any perceived conflict of interest.
Notagain (#11) – I think that Ben survives reelection, largely because of this episode. Every dog owner and animal lover will vote for him, and he’ll get a crapload of Blade coverage and editorial support. Raising money won’t be an issue, either. He’ll be fine. If I’m wrong, you’re still wrong. He’s a smart guy who, as he has in the past, canget a job with just about any large lawfirm in the country. He’ll be fine on that level too.
Sue (#9) – Why single Ben out for Connecting Point criticism? There are many other politicians out there who apparently did nothing either. Why not slam them? At least Ben took on the dog warden, which no other politician did. At least he did something.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:42 pmBen Konop was on the Board of the Connecting Point, that’s why some of us felt he should have shown the same type of action there that he has in this case.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:46 pmNOT AGAIN….KONOP HAS A JD FROM UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN,SO HE MUST BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING RIGHT, (admin note: rest of comment removed since it was an insult and used a word that triggered moderation)
November 19th, 2009 at 10:34 pmFriedman – you are the biggest hypocrite I have ever seen! With all your non stop whining about the dreaded neo cons you seemed to have forgotten that you hate Ben Konop and now you are defending him? Your new bff? unbelievable!
Lets hearken back to August 13, 2009 and see how you felt about ben at that time and this is a quote:
November 19th, 2009 at 11:05 pmMichael Friedman said –
“SORRY ABOUT MY SPELLING…I NEED TO GO TO BED…THIS REALLY UPSETS ME…I HAVE NEVER SPOKEN ABOUT ANOTHER DEMOCRAT LIKE THIS, BUT BEN IS NOT A DEMOCRAT HE IS FOR BEN…SELF CENTERED…AND INTO HIM SELF…WHATS IN IT FOR HIM SELF AND HIS RICH FAMILY…TAKE MEDCORP…AUNT SANDY TELLS HIM HOW TO VOTE”
Well, the chalk up another successful witch hunt by the Blade, and local politicians focusing on trivial matters instead of what the city really needs. I’m sure it will make front page news until Dec 31 (and beyond), because that’s what the Blade does.
As others have stated, the Dog Warden’s position has specific policies and guidelines as issued by the state, funding limitatations, and space limitations.
The Dog Warden’s successor will continue to operate withing those same limitations, therefore, not much will probably change.
As for Ben Konop: Seriously? You don’t have any other city-related issues that you can focus your efforts on? Boooooooo, Ben K’nop, Boooooooo!
November 19th, 2009 at 11:11 pmThis is just the blade trying to make their bi*^h ben legitimate since he had such a disappointing showing in the primary. What was it 1500 votes?
November 19th, 2009 at 11:17 pmYah meghan, ben beat Opel Covey by 1100 votes…hah!
November 19th, 2009 at 11:42 pmNO MEGHAN…I AM A PARTY PERSON, IF BEN WANTS TO PLAY NICE WITH US IN COMMAND OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BOTH AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AND WITH THE ODP,AND DNC THEN HE HAS MY SUPPORT
November 19th, 2009 at 11:44 pmMEGHAN…I WAS VERY UPSET WIOTH HIM FOR THE MED CORP DEAL, YOU DONT PRIVATIZE IN THIS COUNTY…YOU ORGANIZE…I HAVE IN LABOR ALL MY LIFE, AND WHEN YOU GO AGAINST LABOR YOU GO AGAINST WHAT I WAS BROUGHT UP TO BELIEVE IN. MAYBE HE WAS BROUGHT UP TO DISLIKE LABOR, I DON’T KNOW
November 19th, 2009 at 11:51 pmmeghan Says:
Friedman – you are the biggest hypocrite I have ever seen!
Ha, ha, I guess I am not the only person that thinks freidman is a fool. lol. freidman is clueless though, he believes he is a true American patriot, (admin delete: insult not allowed on blog)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:51 pmOkay – I’ve had it with both of you two – Michael Friedman and Not Again. Neither one of you bothers to follow the rules of the blog when it comes to your insults directed at each other and neither one of you will demonstrate that you can rise above it and comment on the actual topics.
You are both in moderation and Michael will not be taken off. Michael, your behavior here and via email does not help Democrats it hurts us. If you write a comment that is on topic and is not insult driven? It will be posted, if it contains any insults? It will be deleted, I’m not wasting anymore time editing either one of you. I am utterly and completely through with both of you as to this. I’ve tried too many times to work with both of you as to what is acceptable and I’ve given you both leeway hoping you’d stop.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:02 amI would have liked to have had an honest discussion about what happens at the dog pound. Instead, The Blade treated the issue as a personal vendetta. For years, the policy at the dog pound has been that unadoptable dogs, usually sick or violent, are euthanized. And dogs without licenses are put down after three days. Why all the fuss now? Obviously, Skeldon pissed someone off at The Blade. I don’t know why anyone would buy or read The Blade. It is always operating in the red, and has to be subsidized by Buckeye cable, which I also don’t get. The Blade is full of biased reporters who have no idea how to write a balanced article. Are they now going to go after the Toledo Area Humane Society, which also euthanized just under half of the animals that came into their organization last year?
November 20th, 2009 at 2:10 amJust my opinon, don’t care for Dog Warden. Enough already! There are very important issues out to address! They never should of let Connecting Point close! The kids needed Connecting Point. Now they are shuffled around the system, a lot, no help at all. They are our future? Mental Health System went way down hill. MS. Martin should be fired. Bad group homes,senior’s health care rising. I have heard horror stories of seniors eating dog food, because they can’t afford to buy food, going without their meds,fall and no phone to call for help. That brings me to another point. Sec 8 housing. They give people a nice place to live, a second chance,go to groups,deal with their Mental Illness, get their children back,and sometimes their rent $25.00 a month, or lower,and they go back out and lose everything. Who suffers? The kids. That really makes me sick. The crime rate up, abuse of elderly & kids. I guess what I’am trying to say is I care! Get someone in who can help the system, not take away. Someone who has been there, and has compassion,someone willing to standup and fight for the rights of the people,someone who cares, and it’s not just a paycheck!
November 20th, 2009 at 10:05 amI’m sorry, but this whole brouhaha is Skeldon’s fault and his alone. In January of this year, the Blade was praising his brutal, ineffective policy of targeting “vicious breeds” because seizures of pit bulls went down by 0.4% in 2008.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pmThe Blade said his strict enforcement of this policy was Skeldon’s way of making the public safer despite the fact that dog bites/attacks INCREASED by 22% over the same year.
While it’s a shame that it took Princess and the puppy killing to end his tenure, I’m glad he’s leaving.
kat Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 12:39 pm“someone willing to standup and fight for the rights of the people,” Sara Palin! Ohhh, I love her.
Sue, am in agreement with both #2 & #9. Sad how people can profess love of animals, and not have the same respect for human life.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:39 pmKonop also reminds me of one that might be against the death penalty for murders but for abortion. A hypocrite, in my opinion.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:57 pmAnother perspective is that many of these same whining, incompetent politicians + those at the Blade complain of ‘brain drain’ in Toledo; yet they are responsible for witch-hunting shenanigans that happen on a regular basis. Here’s a tip–you can’t have it both ways…and the younger generation gets this big time…
A consistently-biased and short-sighted way of running the city, and I don’t see it getting better for some time…
November 21st, 2009 at 12:35 amToledo has gone all the way down,That old saying, once your down, you have no place except to go up? Somehow I don’t see that possible for Toledo, or any other issues for a long long time. We can complain all we want. change does not come over night. What happened to (By THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE?) We are the people! Everyone has a right to their opinion, but we don’t have to have unacceptable behavior from higher up’s.
November 21st, 2009 at 7:58 amAfter reading the newspaper article
November 21st, 2009 at 10:54 amtoday along with all the others, the only conclusion is that
Konop is just trying to PLAY A
SICK REVENGE GAME!!