This is one of those columns that makes me go, huh?
"The Finkbeiner administration should fill in a four-year gap in its job creation report that ignores activity during the term of Mayor Jack Ford, Council President Rob Ludeman said yesterday."
"Andy Ferrara, a manager in the development department, said the administration couldn't find reliable records on the number of jobs created annually during the Ford administration.
"We attempted to go back and reconstruct what was going on," Mr. Ferrara said. "The data was confusing. We thought it best to leave it off."
Point One: couldn't find reliable records
Point two: the data exisits
"Councilman Mark Sobczak, a frequent ally of Mayor Finkbeiner on council, said the omission wasn't meant as a slight of the former mayor. "We aren't saying jobs weren't created. We didn't have the records," Mr. Sobczak said."
Point three: Councilman Sobczak makes the claim that the records do not exist.
So we have, data, but it is confusing and yet it could not be found and at the same time another says that the data does not exist.
Pardon, who's on first?
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070315/NEWS16/70...
that's what this is...the information is available and any 'data' that couldn't be confirmed could have a nice little asterix which says "data complied from reports of previous administration" which would at least give the information and, if there were any discrepancies, would place responsibility for the reports on the prior mayor.
But this raises all kinds of questions - like did they compile data differently? did they keep records differently? is there no continuity within the department itself so that no one could explain the differences? did anyone bother to call Jack Ford and just simply ASK him about this? is there any notation in Carty's report that explains the lack of data for 4 years or are we just supposed to guess?
Finally - what a poor message this sends to prospective businesses...we can't get our act together but you should come here anyway.
I don't know why I'm surprised...despite the WORDS, the actions are not sending the message that we are a business-friendly community.
What precisely does this mean, ""We attempted to go back and reconstruct what was going on," Mr. Ferrara said. "
Let's see what Merriam Webster has to say shall we boys and girls?
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Main Entry:re
Let's see, somehow we have no statistics at all about job growth in the Blade after following the Ford administration for 4 years?
What's going to happen to the next mayor's attempt to measure? Will he too claim similar, that the Carty administration had missing or incomplete records that produced data that was "confusing"? Will Carty bother to submit a set of spreadsheets as his "data" when he makes his announcement?
I admire how Carty and the rest are pulling this scam right out in the open. I say "admire" since it only shows how bold they are to admit such things to a public that is either too poor or too busy to hold them accountable. We can't even tell what's more likely: that Carty is hiding depressed job stats with respect to the previous administration, or that he's hiding Ford's lies too.
At any rate, Toledo has been losing 1000 people per year rather consistently, so when combined with loss of companies over the last decade, there should be a demonstration of job losses in absolute terms (although perhaps not in per-capita). We don't need Carty and his ilk to hide that determination.
I know that a number of people e-mail Mr. Ford for comments and he never replied.
It may be petty or it maybe a plan to discredit the previous administration to make this one look good.
This statement made me almost laugh out loud in the office; "The 2006 figures included 144 jobs created by the $30 million renovation of Westgate Village..." Our current Mayor fought tooth and nail to stop the redevelopment from going forward.
http://toledoohioneighborhoodconcerns.com/blog