By Tom Waniewski
Campaigning on the political trail is as adventurous as a hike in the wilderness; you never know what you’ll discover. To me, that’s one of the greatest by-products of pursuing public office. From my early career in journalism, I have always looked at my role in life as one in which I can serve God by serving others. I was once asked what I am most proud of in my time in public office, and I responded unhesitatingly that it’s my ability to work with anyone of any ideology for the good of our community. It’s why I pursued a career that allowed me to spend more than 25 years in television news.
The role of the journalist – back then anyway – was to be the voice of the voiceless. It’s also why I’ve brought to focus my main goal for pursuing a seat on Toledo City Council; to be your direct line to City Hall. How many times have you had a complaint or a suggestion, and you can’t get through to anyone who’ll return your call down at One Government Center. I know. It happened to me several times when I was not in office. Since then, it has been a priority of mine.
I remember the elderly woman who wanted a trash can smaller than the 96-gallon container the city dropped off at her house. She called me, angry that no one in the city was returning her calls. I had a smaller trash can delivered to her in 12 hours. She called me back, crying that she didn’t think she would ever get the issue resolved.
Constituent services is one of three main goals for my campaign. The other two are safe streets, and paved streets.
I plan on re-working Block Watch with Toledo Police, so neighbors feel safe in their homes and comfortable with police officers whose sole purpose is to protect and serve. When I was a district councilman, I started a crime notification app that anyone can download to get immediate notices of certain police calls within a one-mile radius of any Toledo address you enter. This allowed family members in other parts of the city or country for that matter to keep an eye on loved ones from a distance. It also allowed residents to notify police quickly if they spot something suspicious. It was anonymous and something Toledo Police said helped them solve crimes.
I’ll also work to get more of our streets paved and our decaying city buildings back in order by advocating to stop the transfer of money from the Capital Improvements budget to the General Fund budget. Keeping capital dollars in its own account ensures more money to fix things, especially our city streets.
I started the District Improvement Program (DIP) which allowed district council members to allocate money to specific issues within each neighborhood. I tailored the legislation as if someone were applying for a grant. The DIP was met with so much success, the subsequent administration kept the program.
I started the first online budget meeting where anyone with an internet connection could see how the city is spending money. They could also ask questions of city leaders in real time.
If you’re looking for someone who works across all party lines (and no party lines) for the betterment of our neighborhoods, I hope you’ll cast a vote for me to make our neighborhoods the wonderful places we all know they can and will be.