Once again, Dayton Public Schools believes rose colored glasses will somehow solve their public relations fails. In an epic 4 hour meeting, first we handed out awards for showing up to bus drivers, awards for janitors for cleaning and a real award from the State for Teacher of the Year to a Stivers teacher, Rachael Murdock.

Then it was into a presentation first by Dr. Sheila Burton and then Dr. Elizabeth Lolli about how there was some good in the state test scores- which put us as the second worst district in the State (behind Trotwood). While this kind of information is great, it’s not really useful as “good news.” It’s like saying “we got shutout, but, at least we didn’t fumble the football” (and by the way, the score was 654-0).

It also shouldn’t be presented by administrators.

The proper way to present this, by a competent PR staff, would be a presentation outlining the steps we’re taking over the next 3 years, in order to remedy the issues. What best practices have we implemented that caused things to move up, how we compared to the State in areas we didn’t move up, and what are the performance goals for the future.

While identifying that Horace Mann got 5 “A”s is nice – without knowing what the “A’s” were in, or why, or how- is useless information and a waste of our time. How are we going to replicate those “A’s” across all the other schools is more important. It’s not what grade you got, but what you learned- and how you will improve that counts.

This set up the first fireworks. After Burton and Lolli finished, Baguirov had to blather on about schools getting “A’s” and how we’re not all failing. It was a ramble- unchecked. Joe Lacy had a totally illegible slide to show his analysis- and was promptly cut off by Walker. Rudely. Joe, stormed off the dais. When he returned to vote on an unscheduled Exec session midway through the meeting- he asked if he was allowed to vote now- after he’d been cut off.

The discussion in executive was obviously about the upcoming decision to replace Pete Pullen with Chuck Taylor as the head boys basketball coach at Dunbar. The public comments were dominated by people singing Pete’s praises. The only one to not talk about Pete, was the poor girl who was a DECA student who had cheered for Dunbar for her entire high school career- only to be told she couldn’t finish her senior year for her school, with her friends- and was risking her chance at a scholarship.

Sheila Taylor took a roundabout way of explaining how this was all the Ohio High School Athletic Associations fault and sorry. “We tried to appeal” was Taylor’s line- nevermind the fact that had she not given district athletic director Mark Baker a 2 year contract- this probably wouldn’t have happened.

The fireworks finale was the vote on Taylor/Pullen for the coaching job, but slipped in-between was the board voting not to pay Huffmaster on the contract they signed for Strike Prep. $35,766.78 will be cited in the lawsuit Huffmaster files- and then throw in fees, and penalties and this will cost even more.

The board should be held personally liable for the breech of contract. The superintendent as well, since she didn’t bother explaining that this wasn’t an optional payment.

The Taylor vote had a lot of BS attached. First and foremost, Baguirov announced he’d abstain. Why, not sure. Reality- dereliction of duty. He did this after Lacey actually made a competent case for why the board should reject the recommendations to not rehire the legend for a rookie coach.

He cited 20 years experience, the winning record, the loyalty, and the scoring system which seemed more subjective than objective- especially when you are talking a coaching legend with a record that’s unmatched- compared to a rookie with zero high school coaching experience. But his most damning point was that only 2 people applied to be head coach at one of the states premier programs.

There could only be one reason- insider information and bias. Why wouldn’t we have more applicants? Probably because no one that knows anything about the program and Pete’s legacy would apply until Pete resigned- what idiot would think they’d get picked over a coaching god?

And there lies your problem- only a system run by idiots would toss away one of the best coaches in the State- and possibly in the country – and that’s what we have. Only Chuck Taylor had the inside line on the plan, and here we are.

Lacey walked off to talk to the Dunbar parents, former players, coaches and of course the media- because he’s running for reelection, and because, he’d already been disrespected by the board that evening. This one vote isn’t a good reason to keep him, but, for the first time in a long time- Joe was actually right on the money. That should scare us all.

Until next meeting of the circus clowns, stay sane, and send your kids to CJ or the Miami Valley School. No signs of intelligent life emanate from the puzzle palace on Ludlow.

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The “newspaper” that shows up on a very few doorsteps tomorrow morning will have come to you from Indianapolis. The deadline for this cost saving measure is now 5pm. They started testing this 2 weeks ago, so when I saw the Dragon’s lose their last game of the playoffs on a Sunday night- I got to read about it in Tuesdays paper.

The old saying, “never argue with anyone who buys ink by the barrel” no longer holds in Dayton, since the Cox sisters are too cheap to even buy ink anymore. It’s the cheapness that’s helped kill it off, bit by bit. First with putting the printing plant in Warren County- no doubt to avoid the high Montgomery County taxes- which they happily endorsed (they in effect, voted with their feet after only 30 years of paying for Sinclair Community College), their whittling of actual talent from the ranks- where they laid off their photographers (and lost a 2x Pulitzer winning photo editor, Larry C. Price- the story broke here on this site btw). They cut the news staff, they built a “national copy editing desk” pooling “talent” on the fourth floor, thinking all copy editors do is check grammar, and edit for length (I’m the son of a newspaper copy editor, who taught me that good editors check facts, do their research, and know their city better than the reporters to help make sure the story isn’t only factual and concise- but, fair and balanced.)

Then, came more cuts, and the peter principle. Literally, the semi-competent city hall reporter becomes the editor, a cub reporter cum layout artist becomes the vp of content, a fresh faced sales guy becomes market vp, etc. While the people who actually can dig a story, or write well, get early buyouts or become contractors.

The sad fact is, Cox has invested in one horrible digital strategy after another. Their epaper is a total joke, they’ve built multiple websites for the paper, for the city, for the TV station, for the “news radio” station and tried to integrate “talent” but never understood their audience, or that no one but them thinks or cares what screen they get their news on- be it an iPad, Kindle, cell phone, desktop or even TV- it’s the news- and they want it on demand and time is valuable.

Not that the rest of the industry has it right. The New York Times has seen its subscriber base grow, but revenues drop. Their new iPad app, actually stripped features and fails at the basics of user interface design compared to their old app- but, at least it doesn’t suffer from sudden page scrolls with a random touch- so all can be forgiven.

Here’s the saddest part- rumors have it that reporters are now graded by how many clicks they can get online. They’re on Facebook trolling and clickbaiting for links and comments, they are writing headlines that any respectable journalist would scoff at. And sadly, none of them know how to monetize it properly.

While Google and Facebook are becoming the richest content companies on the planet- without any professionals making content, the “professionals” are failing. Hell, even the fake news has more eyeballs these days- with or without the Russians.

Why? Because they broke one of David Ogilvy’s rules. Was Ogilvy a journalist? Nope- he was a hotel kitchen worker who became a legend in the advertising business building one of the largest and most successful ad agencies in the world. His rule: “The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife” applies. We’re not interested in car crashes on 35, or local monkey sightings, we’re interested in actual news that affects us- how our leaders are performing, tax dollars invested, successful strategies paying off in business, opportunities to become more intelligent, better informed, well versed. Tips on making it in our city- and what will make our city better. Successful news outlets create a relationship between reader and story teller. This blog has about 2600 posts, and 26,000 comments. The refinement of the story, the enhancements of my readers, the community we’ve created, is what builds a stronger community resource- one that is actually of value.

I’ve built this site for the community- allowing others to have a platform. I’ve engaged, I’ve learned, I’ve listened, and over the years- I’ve built trust. So that when things are going wrong, people no longer call the Dayton Daily- they call me. It’s how I get tips that lead to stories like another pepper spraying of a restrained inmate or a school board members shaky residency (which lead to other revelations).

If Governor Cox could see what his skinflint offspring had done to the paper he worked so hard to build by his own hand (banks turned him down so many times, that when he built his offices at 4th and Ludlow he built it to look like a bank- it now sits at the middle of a mess caused by the city and his family) he’d rise from the grave and chisel his name off his tombstone.

The only reason to pay for the paper these days? Josh Sweigart , a reporter who seems to be the only one capable of single handily digging in and revealing the sad truths about our city that’s been left without the checks and balances a strong fourth estate is supposed to provide. Oh, and the obituaries, to find out who died (also often incomplete) and the bid notices. Other than that, it’s cliff notes of things you can find elsewhere- often with better writing and even a comments section that’s managed right- like, oh, that’s right- you’re reading it right now.

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Last Wednesday night, instead of working, or doing something fun, I went in for a two hour reminder of why Democracy no longer works in America.

(full disclosure- my firm has done some work and printing for the following candidates or their businesses, Jocelyn Rhynard, Shenise Turner-Sloss, Darryl Fairchild, Karen Wick-Gagnet)

When this country started, it was easy to pick people for elected office. You’d have a town hall of all the white male property owners, they all knew each other, and they chose the people based on personal knowledge and it was done.

Now, we just let anyone on the ballot, at least anyone that can make it through the political parties barricades and hurdles enforced by the board of (S)elections, and then to raise as much money as possible to run for an office that very few of the candidates and even fewer of the voters really understand.

Both the Dayton City Commission and the Dayton Board of Education positions are limited in their actual scope and power. This is by design. They are only allowed to hire a few people, and are there as a corporate board, to guide and review the performance of the leader they hire, be that person called a City Manager or a Superintendent. Instead, we’ve got ego-maniacal demi-gods running who think they not only steer the ship, but also are the guys running the engines, standing guard duty, manning the radar, cooking the food and even scrubbing the decks- all for a mere pittance on the school board and on a salary way richer than it should be for the city commissioners, who only have to show up for one meeting a week.

That said. Sorry about the audio in this video. The PA provided by the City of Dayton at the Northwest Recreation Center badly needed a new XLR cable, but, we’re too busy giving away millions to downtown investors to spring for $15 for a new cable (or less if you go to CCT). I’m even sorrier for what was recorded.

Of the school board candidates, only one actually talked about what we might need to do to change the way we deliver education in the classrooms to move achievement forward- that from Mario Gallin, a former school member who works at Ruskin for East End Community Services and still attends every board meeting. The Ruskin/EECS educational delivery method is based upon the Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children’s Zone model of comprehensive wrap around services. The only other candidate to mention anything of the like was slate member Paul Bradley who spoke of the Oyler school in Cincinnati which he knows about because his fiancee worked there.

The seating and speaking arrangements were telling. First came “the slate” from the left, then the soloists, who have their own alignments, and the sole incumbent, Joe Lacey who cited parenting duties for calling him away and leaving early. Then the Commission candidates, less Joey Williams. In an unprecedented concession, Priority Board Chairman David Greer allowed Jeff Mims to have Williams time allotment, which judging by Mims reactions to questioning the city’s loss of funds due to internal errors, was a mistake. Mims got defensive and blamed the mess on former planning director Aaron Sorrel, which Darryl Fairchild was quick to call him on. Somehow, despite massive failures in her past, City Manager Shelley Dickstein always gets a hall pass, no matter how much taxpayer money is wasted, and the city commission is never to blame either.

The “slate” is four candidates running together for the school board. Insiders believe them to be hand-picked by Mayor Nan Whaley. Mohamed Al-Hamdani, William E. Harris Jr., Paul Bradley, and Karen Wick-Gagnet have hired a campaign manager (Nan’s old campaign manager) Uriah Anderson, who works for the ever popular Burges & Burges out of Cleveland. They are the folks Sinclair and the Health and Human Services levies both hired (hence the dual billboards around town). This kind of money, power and help hasn’t been seen since the “Kids First” slate ran in 2001 with the sole goal of putting a ton of money into the hands of demolition contractors, construction companies, architects and adding a $645 Million jolt to an ailing Dayton economy.

If you want to read an interesting excerpt on Kids First, follow this link. They spent over $200K on a campaign where all their opponents collectively spent $13,000 between 5 candidates. Note that the four seats that are up this time- were filled by unopposed candidates (Lacey, Roundtree, Lee and Baguirov). The last cycle, we had 4 candidates for 3 seats, and newcomer John McManus spent north of $35K to unseat Nancy Nearny by a mere couple of hundred votes forcing an automatic recount, while the other incumbents Walker and Taylor waltzed on in.

When asked (by me, via Chairmen Greer) why the slate hired an outside consultant, and how much they paid them, the room seemed to turn on Mohamed Al-Hamdani who tried to pass off the question with “we haven’t paid them anything yet” – while defacto saying their campaign manager worked for Burges. The slate is keeping quiet about how much they’ve raised or spent, and because the first reporting deadline isn’t until Oct 28th- the voters will have very little time to learn who is buying their candidates and for how much.

Needless to say, if you look back to the Kids First promises, and the whys, the district is in the exact same sorry shape now as then. Still at the bottom of the barrel for educational achievement, yet with a much higher staff turnover, more turmoil, a third less students, funded by an ever shrinking property tax base (often thanks to Nan Whaley and her love of tax abatement as economic development). The only difference between that slate and this one is that the Kids First slate actually would openly embrace charter schools, while anyone running for school board now has to categorically blame them for the failing of the district.

I still plan to listen to the candidates again, yet, I threw up a little when I heard Reverend Harris saying that he was going to concentrate on truancy as his platform. This is the simpletons solution to educational improvement- and why I also laughed at Dr. Roberson’s entire presentation of his case for why he should be superintendent. The other single issue candidate seems to be Jo’el Jones, who thinks all of our problems can be solved by the office of family and community engagement rising from the ashes. I agree it’s needed, but, it won’t solve the problems of this sinking ship.

While there is no doubt more to Jocelyn Rhynard than her four kids in the district, and her involvement in her kids school, River’s Edge, I didn’t feel she had a fully formed plan and was way too nice in her response about how she’d work with current superintendent Rhonda Corr. Going back to being on the campaign trail with former Dayton City Commissioner Dick Zimmer, it’s always bothered me that procreation counted as qualification for office- he’d start out with “I was born in Dayton, grew up in Dayton, had 9 kids and 19 grandchildren” – as if he chose where to be born, grow up. Mim’s also tells the same sorry story about how he told his family to move to Dayton when he was 3 months old. Rhynard, like Gallin, actually attends school board meetings regularly. Jo’el Jones is also sometimes there. I’ve never seen any of the slate attend.

We need more than platitudes and feel good stories- which is also part of Mohamed’s approach. He’s got a great story to tell of how he came as an immigrant and Dayton’s been good to him, but, he moved back into the city the same day he filed to run, a part he conveniently leaves out.

Hopefully, in the Wednesday night Dayton Education Council candidates night at Ponitz High school (741 W. Washington Street) – starting at 6pm we’ll here speeches sounding more like cogent solutions to stop the turmoil, turnover and terrible achievement scores instead of homilies and grand standing.

If any candidates need an example of what a plan to improve school/student performance looks like, I offer this video I made last December to make a case for a trans-formative plan to discussion. Of course, since no one on the board cares about anything except their own agenda- it was never discussed.

If you are looking to research candidates online- here are the websites I can find:

    Mohamed Al-Hamdani, William E. Harris Jr. Paul Bradley Karen Wick-Gagnet all have a single facebook site (not accessible to all) https://www.facebook.com/theABHWGCommittee/

    Jocelyn Rhynard

    Jo’el Jones facebook only

    incumbent, Joe Lacey old blog.

    Shenise Turner-Sloss

    Darryl Fairchild

    incumbent Jeffrey J. Mims Jr. site dead

    incumbent Joey Williams

Of course in most of my searches, more shows up about many of these folks on esrati.com.

Thanks for reading.

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Chip Kennedy is crazy. But, so were the Wright Brothers. He thinks he can create a downtown mecca of food from all parts of the world, in a space that’s even smaller than the Oakwood Dororthy Lane Market, and do it with style.

Getting ready for the pop-up dinner

Tomorrow, Oct. 1st, from 2 to 8, he’s teaming up with another crazy person, Chef Anne Kearney, formerly of Rue Dumaine, who will do a pop-up cash only dinner to rock your socks- while you wander around what will be “District Provisions” – a place where foodies will think they’ve died and gone to heaven and interior designers will say “damn, I wish I has his style.”

Kennedy has a vision of a place, more like Cleveland’s West Side Market than a traditional grocery, with different shops from different parts of the world- in what could only be called a curated walk through the continents. The last thing Dayton had that resembled this was the arcade, when you could still go in and buy fresh seafood, fruits, baked goods- before the City tried their hand at turning it into a mall with a fancy glass roof. The location is the old Dietz Block building, also known as the Norman Miller Furniture building at 531 Wayne Ave, behind Wheat Penney and catty-corner to Eastway. Currently, the only business operating out of there is Crafted and Cured, which has beers on tap and meats and cheeses for a charcuterie (a new hipster experience).

Copper pots ready for a special meal

Next up will be the Mediterranean section, with a wood fired copper kettle of an oven, an oyster bar, a butcher shop, deli, bakery retail outlet and then produce and candy. After that, an Asian and Hispanic areas. How the mechanics of these mini-foodlands will work is still a mystery to be solved, but, the aesthetics of the place will have you falling in love.

The copper wood fired oven of District Provisions

The copper wood fired oven of District Provisions

While the grocery co-op on the near West side is still in fundraising mode, Chip has been busting his butt and using his own money to build his dream, without help from all the “economic development geniuses” we’ve got on the payroll in Dayton. They aren’t spending half-a-million to build him a parking lot, they aren’t giving him huge tax abatement or job creation credit. And that’s too bad, because the kind of business he’s creating is the kind that makes Dayton a more interesting place to “live, work, play” and keeps one of Dayton’s beautiful old buildings- in use and alive.

The scale for the deli of District Provisions

While District Provisions won’t be for everyone, it will be a reason to come and spend money downtown, and experience something unavailable in the ‘burbs. It also has the ability to be a place where new urbanites can meet and mingle – while engaged in shopping for necessities, something that has become harder and harder to do anywhere downtown- other than the 2nd Street Market which is only open for a smidgen of time a few days a week.

Jack Lukey’s oyster and Caviar bar

For new residents of the Wheelhouse, or the Delco Lofts, Water Street or the Charlie Simms projects, this will help remind them that their investment is safe. Access to buying food without feeling like you are in a depressed area will stop them from getting depressed (yes, Wayne Avenue Kroger is nicer, but it still has the lighting of a dollar store, and the only parking lot that could host the soapbox derby).

While I look forward to District Provisions, and even more so to the pop-up dinner tomorrow, I want to say that I don’t fall into the total trap of “there aren’t any supermarkets in Dayton” – because there are – they’re just not the suburban style ones. In my neighborhood, we have the awesome Halal International Grocery, there is Dot’s by the Kettering border that has awesome meat, you’ve got a few Hispanic markets on Troy St and E. Third, and then there are a few independent grocery stores on Gettysburg, James H. McGee, Save-a-lot’s on Wilmington, and Linden etc.

For those going to the Pop-up-

Fresh organic tomatoes for Chef Anne Kearney

a few items from the cash only menu:

    Pernod opoached Blue Point Oysters, leeks, spinach, tarragon, AWS bacon, creme $12

    Belgian endive, Honeycrisp apple, bleu cheese, walnut salad, Banyuls vinaigrette $9

    Fire-roasted Scottish salmon, butternut squash, leek ragout, Jamestown pea shoots, parsley garlic pistou $24

    Sherry braised pork, YAYA grits, fire-roasted shiitakes $22

    Steak Frites, grilled hanger steak, pommes frites, truffle beurre, aioli $23

    Bickelcreek Farm rhubarb & raspberry crumble cake $7

Chef Anne is using as many locally grown ingredients as possible. Again- cash only.

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Zur baldigen Hochzeit von Ex-Model Nicole Junkermann und Graf Ferdinando Brachetti Peretti werden Top-Society und Adel erwartet.

Das Liebeskarussell in der Society dreht sich – und hat ein neues Hochzeitspaar hervorgebracht: Während Mafalda Prinzessin von Hessen (51) mit Rolf Sachs (61) glücklich ist, hat sich ihr Exmann, der römische Öl-Milliardär Graf Ferdinando Brachetti Peretti (57), frisch verlobt. Seine Auserwählte ist die Düsseldorfer Millionärin Nicole Junkermann (42) die lange mit Patrick Graf von Faber-Castell (52) liiert war. Und da alle Beteiligten dieses Liebesreigens befreundet sind, ist es gut möglich, dass man sich bei der Hochzeit wiedersieht ...

Im Video oben spricht Mariella Ahrens über die Trennung von Patrick Graf von Faber-Castell

Geheiratet wird im Sommer in Rom. Drei Tage soll gefeiert werden. Die Gästeliste: hochkarätig! Vertreter des italienischen Adelsclans Borromeo, der monegassischen Fürstenfamilie, deutscher Hochadel sowie Wirtschaftsgrößen und Sportstars werden erwartet.

Der Bräutigam besitzt mit seinem Bruder die Öl-Firma Anonima Petroli Italiana (Jahresumsatz fast 3 Mrd. Euro). Die Braut wurde mit der Vermarktung von Übertragungsrechten für Sportereignisse reich. Zusammen mit dem verstorbenen Adidas-Boss Robert Louis-Dreyfus (†63) war sie an der Firma Infront beteiligt, die u. a. die TV-Rechte an der Fußball-WM 2006 in Deutschland hielt. Das Unternehmen wurde später für einen dreistelligen Millionenbetrag verkauft.

Im Video stellen wir die derzeit wohl berühmteste Borromeo vor – Beatrice, Pierre Casiraghis Ehefrau

Heute investiert Nicole Junkermann, die ihren Wohnsitz in Monaco hat, in Immobilien. Mit ihrem Ex Patrick Graf von Faber-Castell arbeitet sie dabei vertrauensvoll zusammen. Er ist auch einer ihrer besten Freunde. Sie war Trauzeugin bei dessen Hochzeit mit TV- Star Mariella Ahrens (47) und ist Patentante seiner Tochter Lucia (10). Man darf sich neben einer Traumhochzeit mit Top-Gästen also auch auf ein süßes Blumenmädchen freuen.

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