Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
Coming Up for Air
It has been a while since I have posted here. The reason for the lack of posts is simply that I have become very busy all of a sudden. My email has increased tremendously since November 3rd and the number of phone calls at the house has gone up as well. I am fending off dozens of meeting requests and appearance requests and I am already booking things in February 2010. I should count just how many business cards I have been handed in the last six weeks. The media, who wouldn’t give me any coverage before the election has been interviewing me and so far the coverage has been upbeat and positive. I have attended every commission meeting, budget meeting and work session since November 3rd as well as additional meetings with staff at city hall. I am not officially sworn in and on the public payroll until January 4th.
Some amusing information. I had 1000 “Elect Gary Leitzell” signs produced but only 132 have been collected from public right-of-ways and returned. I had 200 “Had Enough” signs made and 91 of those have been returned.
Other interesting information; the after election financial statements show that the incumbent mayor spent $134,000 and utilized $66,000 of “in kind” donations for her campaign. I spent around $17,000 and had about $5000 of “in kind” donations, half of which was office space. The rest was primarily printing of newspaper inserts and getting 30,000 post it notes at cost.
The old myth of needing a political party to back you and a boatload of money in order to win a mayor’s race in Dayton has been dispelled for the time being.
Some amusing information. I had 1000 “Elect Gary Leitzell” signs produced but only 132 have been collected from public right-of-ways and returned. I had 200 “Had Enough” signs made and 91 of those have been returned.
Other interesting information; the after election financial statements show that the incumbent mayor spent $134,000 and utilized $66,000 of “in kind” donations for her campaign. I spent around $17,000 and had about $5000 of “in kind” donations, half of which was office space. The rest was primarily printing of newspaper inserts and getting 30,000 post it notes at cost.
The old myth of needing a political party to back you and a boatload of money in order to win a mayor’s race in Dayton has been dispelled for the time being.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
A Huge Thank You
I would like to thank all the citizens of Dayton, not just the ones who voted for me. Without you we would not be the unique city that we are. We must all work together to move Dayton in a positive direction.
I also want to thank the following people who were part of my campaign. Without them and the support of their families, our victory would not have been possible.
Larry Collins, Aaron Gibson, David McDonald, Jeff Wellbaum, Daniel Kennedy, William Pace, Bob Cochran, Bob Snyder, Judy Snyder, Eric Tackett, Hal McKinney, Jason Webber, Ray Mitchell, Alan Rinzler, Will Brooks, John Hyer, Matt Moore, Leslie Sheward, Jacquelyne Patterson, Andrew Stacy, Jules Opperman of Dolcessa, Joshua Pettis, David Sparks, Vanessa Farley Penick, Michael Brandt, Maria Brandt, Leah Stults, Rhonda Horn, Ben Abernethy, Sarah Abernethy, Richard James Gilbertson Jr, Ron Browning, Cyndi Dwyer Parsons, Andy Ingram, Brian Reinicke, Theresa Horvath, Mark Morris, Deb Harris, Luong Van Vo, Larry Hickland, Aimee Burns, Judith Magnus, Brian Young, Rev. Greg Weis, Dorothy Richardson, Brooks Hartzell, Paul Harris, David Esrati, Nathan Fultz, Karen Barton, Larry Hickland, Joe Ellis of Uno's Chicago Grill, Bill Daniels of the Pizza Factory, Joe Moore, Craig Grossman, Katheryn Schierloh, John Weis, Keith Rihm, Alicia Scott-Bey, Donna Green, Mary Ann Schroder, Mike Malinovsky, and all those who have helped behind the scenes.
I also want to thank the following people who were part of my campaign. Without them and the support of their families, our victory would not have been possible.
Larry Collins, Aaron Gibson, David McDonald, Jeff Wellbaum, Daniel Kennedy, William Pace, Bob Cochran, Bob Snyder, Judy Snyder, Eric Tackett, Hal McKinney, Jason Webber, Ray Mitchell, Alan Rinzler, Will Brooks, John Hyer, Matt Moore, Leslie Sheward, Jacquelyne Patterson, Andrew Stacy, Jules Opperman of Dolcessa, Joshua Pettis, David Sparks, Vanessa Farley Penick, Michael Brandt, Maria Brandt, Leah Stults, Rhonda Horn, Ben Abernethy, Sarah Abernethy, Richard James Gilbertson Jr, Ron Browning, Cyndi Dwyer Parsons, Andy Ingram, Brian Reinicke, Theresa Horvath, Mark Morris, Deb Harris, Luong Van Vo, Larry Hickland, Aimee Burns, Judith Magnus, Brian Young, Rev. Greg Weis, Dorothy Richardson, Brooks Hartzell, Paul Harris, David Esrati, Nathan Fultz, Karen Barton, Larry Hickland, Joe Ellis of Uno's Chicago Grill, Bill Daniels of the Pizza Factory, Joe Moore, Craig Grossman, Katheryn Schierloh, John Weis, Keith Rihm, Alicia Scott-Bey, Donna Green, Mary Ann Schroder, Mike Malinovsky, and all those who have helped behind the scenes.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
A Dedication
Now that the election is over I would like to dedicate the following song to the Montgomery County Democratic Party. Dayton got exactly what it needs.
They will understand the humor.
They will understand the humor.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Montgomery County Democrats Spread Hate
Latest smear campaign mail was targeted to west side voters and quotes me as saying "I'm not racist. I am prejudice though." Which is a comment from a forum discussion where I go on to state "I have no tolerance for lazy people. Not all lazy people. If you are lazy, admit it and like your lifestyle and don't complain, you are fine in my books. You are responsibly lazy. If you are lazy, don't admit it to yourself, complain about why you should be entitled or privileged and think others should take care of you then I have a problem."
If anyone can send me a picture of this piece of mail I would appreciate it so that I can post it here. The incumbent is totally desperate if they have to paint me as a racist. All I have ever tried to do is unite this city.
"Stop Hatin Dayton" must begin with Rhine McLin! She has FAILED to unite this city and perpetrates HATRED by allowing stuff like this to continue!
If anyone can send me a picture of this piece of mail I would appreciate it so that I can post it here. The incumbent is totally desperate if they have to paint me as a racist. All I have ever tried to do is unite this city.
"Stop Hatin Dayton" must begin with Rhine McLin! She has FAILED to unite this city and perpetrates HATRED by allowing stuff like this to continue!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
My Campaign Spending - Keeping it Local
I have raised about $17,000 at this point and we are still raising money at this late date to run radio ads. Most of the money has been spent. What did I spend money on?
The first thing I had to do is produce a literature piece that we could use for the entire campaign. One that was "timeless" and of the utmost quality. I used local printers for these. I was able to get excellent rates with two companies. Total cost of 20,000 pieces was right around $1,200.
Next were the blue and white signs. Since I never had sufficient funds early on, I cut a deal with the Northridge Sign Shop. I would buy 1000 signs but I would have to have them produced 200 at a time. Since the signs were screen printed locally we could maintain a steady flow of signs throughout the campaign. I couldn't keep them in stock. Demand actually exceeded supply. That is why there are fewer Leitzell signs in right-of-ways. Most went to property owners. Each sign cost $3.50 which is more than the incumbent paid for her signs but, mine were better quality and it showed. They also have better longevity.
Facebook advertising has cost about $300 so far. I have been running a small ad since August. It has directed over 500 people to the website and had over 1 million impressions on 125,000 potential voters.
I used a small local minority business owner for fundraising activities and since the "William Pace Company" had an advertising agency, I also used it for all of my advertising. The agency was able to secure six billboard locations through "Lamar" at short notice and we rolled them out weekly as funds permitted. Mr. Pace was also able to book 4 advertisements in the Dayton Weekly News costing a total of $600 as well as 5,000 inserts in the same paper for another $500. These inserts were extended to the Dayton Daily News on Sunday. The 26,000 inserts cost around $1,200. Radio ads have been booked at several local radio stations and are running currently. The total cost layout for all radio and last minute advertising is currently $2,900.
The "Had Enough?" signs were a last minute stealth tactic to cause a reaction with the incumbents army of party supporters. They cost $4.00 each. I was able to scrounge up some metal bases that were donated to the cause. 200 of these were made and they caused a local phenomina when all the "McLin" signs got moved away from them or rearranged so that her signs were placed at the center of abutting "Nan" or "Joey" signs. We looked at this arrangement and flanked the lot of them!
I have "HAD ENOUGH" of party politics as usual. It is time for new LEADERSHIP in Dayton.
The first thing I had to do is produce a literature piece that we could use for the entire campaign. One that was "timeless" and of the utmost quality. I used local printers for these. I was able to get excellent rates with two companies. Total cost of 20,000 pieces was right around $1,200.
Next were the blue and white signs. Since I never had sufficient funds early on, I cut a deal with the Northridge Sign Shop. I would buy 1000 signs but I would have to have them produced 200 at a time. Since the signs were screen printed locally we could maintain a steady flow of signs throughout the campaign. I couldn't keep them in stock. Demand actually exceeded supply. That is why there are fewer Leitzell signs in right-of-ways. Most went to property owners. Each sign cost $3.50 which is more than the incumbent paid for her signs but, mine were better quality and it showed. They also have better longevity.
Facebook advertising has cost about $300 so far. I have been running a small ad since August. It has directed over 500 people to the website and had over 1 million impressions on 125,000 potential voters.
I used a small local minority business owner for fundraising activities and since the "William Pace Company" had an advertising agency, I also used it for all of my advertising. The agency was able to secure six billboard locations through "Lamar" at short notice and we rolled them out weekly as funds permitted. Mr. Pace was also able to book 4 advertisements in the Dayton Weekly News costing a total of $600 as well as 5,000 inserts in the same paper for another $500. These inserts were extended to the Dayton Daily News on Sunday. The 26,000 inserts cost around $1,200. Radio ads have been booked at several local radio stations and are running currently. The total cost layout for all radio and last minute advertising is currently $2,900.
The "Had Enough?" signs were a last minute stealth tactic to cause a reaction with the incumbents army of party supporters. They cost $4.00 each. I was able to scrounge up some metal bases that were donated to the cause. 200 of these were made and they caused a local phenomina when all the "McLin" signs got moved away from them or rearranged so that her signs were placed at the center of abutting "Nan" or "Joey" signs. We looked at this arrangement and flanked the lot of them!
I have "HAD ENOUGH" of party politics as usual. It is time for new LEADERSHIP in Dayton.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Beating a Dead Horse
The Ohio Democratic Party is at it again with the smear mailings. They hammer on the same lame points that they have hammered on for the entire month of October. This makes a total of eight mailings for the incumbent mayor and quite honestly I could have found a better use for the $80,000 it must have cost her. Five of the eight pieces mention me by name and the last two it seems were both mailed to the same people who got them on the same day. Both are so similar that my guess is one never got read. They have already put people off who were undecided who to vote for. This was an ineffective waste of money. Let me tell you why.
The democratic party machine is so scared that their political icon is going to lose because their polls told them that. I told the press months ago that as a strategy, the incumbent would have to go negative on me and they are going to have to get really dirty. They would do this in order to cause me to react in the traditional manner that political campaigns take. They want me to go negative. However, my going negative would sour voters on both sides and people wouldn't come out to vote for either mayor candidate. That is what the democratic party wants. They don't want you to vote. It is the only strategy they have because they are running this like a typical campaign.
When you mail things out that are negative about the alternative candidate you need to be certain that everyone knows that candidates name. If you have little or no name recognition like me you are wasting your effort because you are telling people that I am not able to reach (due to lack of resources)that they have a choice on election day. In effect, you are helping to promote the other candidate (me) by telling people lies. 60% of the incumbents mailings have been focused on me. 25% have been focused solely on me. If you focus on the positive aspects of your candidate and not the negatives of the alternative you demonstrate that your candidate has merit. Unless of course there is nothing positive to focus on.
Our civic leaders claim that they want to groom leadership from the community. When a citizen finally rises up to the occasion, they gang up and try relentlessly to beat you into submission. Way to go civic leaders of Dayton! I am not your typical political candidate. It is time to groom new leadership in Dayton and lots of it.
From a marketing point of view, the Ohio Democratic Party has helped me incredibly. I have no money for mailings. I can't reach every voter. I don't need to. The democratic party has done it for me!
I would like to thank the Ohio Democratic party for their support during this election season. I couldn't have contacted everyone without you!
Here are the results of the Dayton Daily News Poll regarding this negative mailing as of Thursday October 29th at 2:30 PM
Poll
What do you think of the Ohio Democratic Party's campaign mailer against Gary Leitzell?
Fair 66 19.41%
Unfair 246 72.35%
Don't know 6 1.76%
Don't care 22 6.47%
Wasteful Spending.
The way people are running city hall is reflected in how they run their campaigns to get elected. The incumbent mayor has already had eight years to get her seeds to take root and now she asks for four more. She should be reaping what she planted all those years ago. Unless of course she planted nothing. The incumbent has already spent over $84,000 in an effort to get re-elected for a part time position. That is twice as much as the average city employee makes in a year and four times the income of the average person living in Dayton. Realize that the flaw has been that she has made this election all about her and not about what the citizens want. Government is not about the people in power. It is about the people who put them in power. We are only days away from the election. I am confident that I have a very good chance to break the machine that I am up against. Thousands of people talking to me on the streets can't be wrong. Management pay raises at a time of economic turmoil can't help.
What has she spent the money on? Here are some of the things
Ohio Democratic Party for mailings - $68,530 this money was paid to the party in Columbus and the printing was done outside the region that she claims to be supportive of. Understand that the "party" does such a huge amount of mailing that the rate per piece is at the lowest rate. The funds could have been paid to the Montgomery County Democratic Party. It would have looked better. Money raised for a Dayton election should be used in Dayton.
Make up stylist for TV debate - $150 The stylist is from West Chester Ohio. She couldn't find a stylist from Dayton?
Signs - $3684 to a company in Logan Ohio. We have places in Dayton area that could have facilitated this.
Printing - $2226 to a company in Bedford Heights, Ohio. We have many printers in the Dayton area.
Advertising - $400 Dayton weekly news. Best thing she has done for a Dayton business the entire campaign. I have used this fine paper to advertise in. I paid them more money and I paid them weeks in advance.
Next up I will discuss how I kept my $16,000 local.
What has she spent the money on? Here are some of the things
Ohio Democratic Party for mailings - $68,530 this money was paid to the party in Columbus and the printing was done outside the region that she claims to be supportive of. Understand that the "party" does such a huge amount of mailing that the rate per piece is at the lowest rate. The funds could have been paid to the Montgomery County Democratic Party. It would have looked better. Money raised for a Dayton election should be used in Dayton.
Make up stylist for TV debate - $150 The stylist is from West Chester Ohio. She couldn't find a stylist from Dayton?
Signs - $3684 to a company in Logan Ohio. We have places in Dayton area that could have facilitated this.
Printing - $2226 to a company in Bedford Heights, Ohio. We have many printers in the Dayton area.
Advertising - $400 Dayton weekly news. Best thing she has done for a Dayton business the entire campaign. I have used this fine paper to advertise in. I paid them more money and I paid them weeks in advance.
Next up I will discuss how I kept my $16,000 local.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Another Persons View of the DDN Endorsement.
Received this today. I was asked if I could post it.
We wholeheartedly agree with the DDN that Rhine Mclin is lacking as a spokesperson for the people of Dayton. The view that she does not have the political reflexes of previous mayors is obvious also. The observance that she is not viewed as a force "in the room" or in the wider community is a fact not in dispute. The belief that she is not a born leader is backed up by her lack of performance as mayor.
The DDN correctly notes that she is not an innovator. The DDN has astutely noted that when others around her prep her and convince her about a decision, she has enough sense to follow their direction. The implication is that her grasp of her own inabilities is a favorable job qualification. The DDN's observation that she would be better suited in a different job is not a statement to quibble with. We will assume that the DDN has assessed correctly that she enjoyed previous easier jobs and likes having choices. We have the same desire.
DDN judges that having a strong city manager form of government is serving the city well now. It follows that the alternative, having more power in the hand of Rhine Mclin would be a detriment. We agree. Ms. Mclin’s acknowledgment that others around her are more competent to make decisions seems to be her highest job qualification. Our conversations with those around her overwhelmingly agree with the competency assessment.
Things would be worse in Dayton except for the competency of the non-elected officials who the DDN views as saving us from the current elected officials. The DDN’s evaluation of the five city commissioners, including the mayor, as "mostly unimpressive", wisely refrains from trying to point out any exceptions. We will accept their appraisal.
This endorsement contains a minor reference to "her foibles". Left unsaid is just what character failings they wish to keep unilluminated. In fact, this critique of Ms. Mclin has so many backhanded compliments it takes quite a bit of sifting and sorting to find any unqualified positives. They can’t go so far as to say that she is "astute", without referring to the many people that think she is not. We assume that the DDN has gathered this information from those in her close proximity.
.
The DDN opinion that Ms. Mclin’s painting of Dayton’s bright future as fantasy, is on the mark. The DDN notes that Ms. Mclin understands that closed, antiquated factories are a thing of the past. We are not sure just how quickly she came to this insight. The DDN is confident that as the situation deteriorates in the city of Dayton, Ms. Mclin will communicate this to the people, in her aforementioned deficient manor. We share this confidence.
We will defer to the DDN appraisal of Ms. Mclin’s off-camera wittiness. Though she does not attribute to wittiness, her on-air statements about these times being a "perfectly good crisis", it does challenge the observer.
We have no doubt that she has fine relationships with many people. We suspect that these "many people" are found in union headquarters, political offices and editorial boards. We have a hunch that if the DDN did a door-to-door poll of thousands of Dayton households, their view would be tempered.
We are led to believe that if Mclin is presented with bone-headed ideas, she will be capable of "insightful dissection". Unfortunately for all of us, we are regularly presented with problems of a higher order. Ms. Mclin’s previously noted limitations seem to be a more relevant fact.
The DDN notes that Ms. Mclin understands that Dayton’s future depends on Wright-Pat and other larger area institutions. This seems consistent with DDN’s entire appraisal of Rhine Mclin, in that she is dependent on those around her to make competent decisions and in turn dependent on successful area institutions, of which she has no role.
A Withering Dayton may eventually shrink to be in line with the current mayor’s capabilities. With this view of Dayton as inevitable we understand parts of DDN’s logic, but this endorsement does not quite complete the circle. Curiously missing from the DDN view of Ms. Mclin is the subject of "Growth in office". Through 8 years in the mayor’s office, none is noted and there is not a pretense to expect any in the next 4 years.
Cause and effect is hard to prove. Nonetheless we tend to correlate the current city leadership with recent declines. One-party rule is the issue that is conveniently ignored. When the city’s entire consort of elected, "mostly unimpressive" officials are from the same political party, a citizen should be highly suspect of reasoning that concludes that all incumbents should be re-elected.
If you accept the DDN’s assessment of the mayoral race, it hard not to conclude the following: Dayton is worse off with Rhine Mclin than if we had a competent mayor, and we will continue to be worse off if she is elected again. With such a dismal outlook for the future, we wonder why any effort was exerted to endorse a mayoral candidate. A summation of the DDN mayor review seems to be that Dayton should not elect a candidate that "is not ready", but instead simply prepare ourselves in 2013 to end a 12 year run of lackluster leadership.
We respectfully believe that the people of Dayton deserve better and have a better choice at hand.
Ron Browning
We wholeheartedly agree with the DDN that Rhine Mclin is lacking as a spokesperson for the people of Dayton. The view that she does not have the political reflexes of previous mayors is obvious also. The observance that she is not viewed as a force "in the room" or in the wider community is a fact not in dispute. The belief that she is not a born leader is backed up by her lack of performance as mayor.
The DDN correctly notes that she is not an innovator. The DDN has astutely noted that when others around her prep her and convince her about a decision, she has enough sense to follow their direction. The implication is that her grasp of her own inabilities is a favorable job qualification. The DDN's observation that she would be better suited in a different job is not a statement to quibble with. We will assume that the DDN has assessed correctly that she enjoyed previous easier jobs and likes having choices. We have the same desire.
DDN judges that having a strong city manager form of government is serving the city well now. It follows that the alternative, having more power in the hand of Rhine Mclin would be a detriment. We agree. Ms. Mclin’s acknowledgment that others around her are more competent to make decisions seems to be her highest job qualification. Our conversations with those around her overwhelmingly agree with the competency assessment.
Things would be worse in Dayton except for the competency of the non-elected officials who the DDN views as saving us from the current elected officials. The DDN’s evaluation of the five city commissioners, including the mayor, as "mostly unimpressive", wisely refrains from trying to point out any exceptions. We will accept their appraisal.
This endorsement contains a minor reference to "her foibles". Left unsaid is just what character failings they wish to keep unilluminated. In fact, this critique of Ms. Mclin has so many backhanded compliments it takes quite a bit of sifting and sorting to find any unqualified positives. They can’t go so far as to say that she is "astute", without referring to the many people that think she is not. We assume that the DDN has gathered this information from those in her close proximity.
.
The DDN opinion that Ms. Mclin’s painting of Dayton’s bright future as fantasy, is on the mark. The DDN notes that Ms. Mclin understands that closed, antiquated factories are a thing of the past. We are not sure just how quickly she came to this insight. The DDN is confident that as the situation deteriorates in the city of Dayton, Ms. Mclin will communicate this to the people, in her aforementioned deficient manor. We share this confidence.
We will defer to the DDN appraisal of Ms. Mclin’s off-camera wittiness. Though she does not attribute to wittiness, her on-air statements about these times being a "perfectly good crisis", it does challenge the observer.
We have no doubt that she has fine relationships with many people. We suspect that these "many people" are found in union headquarters, political offices and editorial boards. We have a hunch that if the DDN did a door-to-door poll of thousands of Dayton households, their view would be tempered.
We are led to believe that if Mclin is presented with bone-headed ideas, she will be capable of "insightful dissection". Unfortunately for all of us, we are regularly presented with problems of a higher order. Ms. Mclin’s previously noted limitations seem to be a more relevant fact.
The DDN notes that Ms. Mclin understands that Dayton’s future depends on Wright-Pat and other larger area institutions. This seems consistent with DDN’s entire appraisal of Rhine Mclin, in that she is dependent on those around her to make competent decisions and in turn dependent on successful area institutions, of which she has no role.
A Withering Dayton may eventually shrink to be in line with the current mayor’s capabilities. With this view of Dayton as inevitable we understand parts of DDN’s logic, but this endorsement does not quite complete the circle. Curiously missing from the DDN view of Ms. Mclin is the subject of "Growth in office". Through 8 years in the mayor’s office, none is noted and there is not a pretense to expect any in the next 4 years.
Cause and effect is hard to prove. Nonetheless we tend to correlate the current city leadership with recent declines. One-party rule is the issue that is conveniently ignored. When the city’s entire consort of elected, "mostly unimpressive" officials are from the same political party, a citizen should be highly suspect of reasoning that concludes that all incumbents should be re-elected.
If you accept the DDN’s assessment of the mayoral race, it hard not to conclude the following: Dayton is worse off with Rhine Mclin than if we had a competent mayor, and we will continue to be worse off if she is elected again. With such a dismal outlook for the future, we wonder why any effort was exerted to endorse a mayoral candidate. A summation of the DDN mayor review seems to be that Dayton should not elect a candidate that "is not ready", but instead simply prepare ourselves in 2013 to end a 12 year run of lackluster leadership.
We respectfully believe that the people of Dayton deserve better and have a better choice at hand.
Ron Browning
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