Toledo Mayor Stands By Decision To Kick Out Marines
TOLEDO, Ohio — Mayor Carty Finkbeiner stands by his decision to stop a Michigan-based Marine battalion from holding an urban warfare training session downtown, a spokesman for the mayor said.
About 200 Marine reservists had prepared to conduct the exercise at a vacant building Friday when city officials put a stop to it. Residents had complained about previous exercises, Finkbeiner spokesman Brian Schwartz said Saturday.
“The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people,” Schwartz said. “He did not want them drilling and practicing in a highly visible area.”
Members of the Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines based in Grand Rapids, Mich., trained in Toledo in 2006, prior to an Iraq deployment that year.
Schwartz said the mayor informed then-police Chief Jack Smith that he didn’t want the Marines back. Finkbeiner was unaware they planned to return until Friday, Schwartz said.
“Unfortunately, the chief of police never communicated that down to his subordinates, so nobody handed it down to the mayor,” Schwartz said.
Smith said Saturday that Finkbeiner should have made his wishes known to current police officials.
“He told me he did not want them, as he put it, ‘playing war in Toledo,”’ Smith said of the 2006 training session. “I told him, as a former Marine, that if one young Marine’s life is saved because of training he or she received in Toledo, Ohio, then it was worth the inconvenience.”
Maj. Dan Whisnant, the battalion’s commander, said he was disappointed by Finkbeiner’s decision.
The training is vital to their combat mission, given the deployment in 2006 and part of 2007 to Iraq’s western Anbar province, he said.
“It prepares the guys for the real sights, smells, sounds of an operating city,” Whisnant said. “It heightens their sense of awareness. You don’t duplicate it.”
Whisnant said he was unaware of any complaints by Toledo residents or the mayor.
“The reason we rescheduled it [the training] is we had such a good training experience,” he said. “It went so smoothly last time.”
Finkbeiner has had some embarrassing missteps in his career. One of his more memorable gaffes occurred in 1994 when he pondered whether to ask deaf people to move near the airport. He later apologized and abandoned the plan.
(AP)
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that asshole mayor also had a presser inviting the movie industry to come to Toledo and use abandoned buildings in the city to film action movies, like a Bruce Willis film where they blow up buildings
so typical, suck on hollywood but fuck the Marines. just another piece of shit democrat showing his beliefs
he is a fucking loon, and perfect for the city of Toledo, he was reelected after losing a term to an even more useless d’rat
love it though, no hiding who you are
….
time to choose a side..this is just another example why
February 11th, 2008 at 5:13 amHe needs his ass kicked all the way to the Michigan boarder.. Better yet, a little water boarding is in order. A real shit on a stick, dick head Mayor.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:51 am“The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people,”
What concerns me more than anything is the above statment. It just tells you how cowardly and lame the American people are becoming.
February 11th, 2008 at 6:22 amNot all the American people, Bill……..just the bleeding-heart, liberal candy-asses!
February 11th, 2008 at 6:27 amThey do NOT frighten ME-I like Marines
. As to that mayor-you make me ashamed to be a democrat. 
February 11th, 2008 at 7:23 amI’d like to put my Bates on and deliver a dozen or so kicks to his tiny balls
February 11th, 2008 at 7:29 amis he the only one to make you ashamed to be aligned with the democrat party?
February 11th, 2008 at 7:51 ammindy abraham
They do NOT frighten ME-I like Marines . As to that mayor-you make me ashamed to be a democrat.
I would be ashamed to even admit I WAS a demonrat.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:16 amMayor Fink-binder…good name…especially the “fink” part.
(Yeah, the spelling is on purpose.)Sounds like the mayor likes pink?
Certy? What kind of name is that? Sounds gay.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:42 amMayor Fink-binder needs a little of the treatment the scum-suckering city council and former Army Cpt./Mayor got in California over the Marine Recruitment office. How much federal money does Toledo get?
February 11th, 2008 at 10:07 amDan (The Infidel)
Mayor Fink-binder…good name…especially the “fink” part.
Certy? What kind of name is that? Sounds gay.
Sounds like he might like to ride the baloney pony.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:28 amThat was in Berzerkely, Kalifoornia, for those of you from Yorba Linda, and IP, is that anything like the recently retired “Silky” Pony from Nawth Cul-ina?
February 11th, 2008 at 10:31 amToledo has a very large muslim population; and hell yes, the marines scared them!
February 11th, 2008 at 10:45 amTo all-he is not they only one that makes me say that. The code pink anti war types and moveon.org types make me say that also.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:27 amThe Mayor said in a state of the city speech today “If anyone thinks that I don’t love this country or I don’t love the military then they’re a bunch of BABOONS!”
HEY! Mr. Mayor!
OH! OH! AH! AH! OH! OH! AH! AH!
February 11th, 2008 at 4:51 pmTo all-he is not they only one that makes me say that. The code pink anti war types and moveon.org types make me say that also.
Sounds like you need to dump the dems. Check out zombie.com That should convince you that you stayed with them way to long.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:18 pm