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Article
published October 12, 2001
Clean campaign panel
criticizes Ford, Kest
The Toledo-Lucas County
Clean Campaign Committee announced yesterday it has found that Ray
Kest and Jack Ford violated one provision of their pledges to run
ethical campaigns for mayor of Toledo.
The campaign committee
gave both candidates a negative rating with regard to their pledge
to avoid demeaning references, personal attacks, innuendo, or
stereotyping, said committee spokesman Gary Blaine, a minister at
the First Unitarian Church of Toledo.
The negative ratings
were assigned to both candidates as a result of comments they made
to reporters at The Blade that appeared in recent news
articles.
Committee members cited a campaign news report
published Oct. 5, in which Mr. Ford said that "Mr. Kest has a cozy
relationship with developers." Mr. Kest responded in an article the
next day, by saying that "Ford is anti-business and anti-business
equals anti-jobs."
The committee found the comments "fraught
with personal innuendoes that do not reflect issues of record," Dr.
Blaine said.
"I guess we are breaking new ground in Toledo,
and we will have to be very careful in how we use adjectives," Mr.
Ford said. "I’ll try to do better."
He said he had a feeling
he might have stepped over a line when he made the "cozy" comment
about Mr. Kest. "When I said it, it struck me as being a little bit
too much at the margin."
Mr. Kest said of the committee’s
report: "I’ll take it under advisement, but Jack has one of the
worst voting records for businesses in the House. That’s what his
business rating shows.
"I am willing to take their comments
under consideration, but his voting record speaks for
itself."
Mr. Ford acknowledged he hasn’t scored as well as
some on the legislative scorecards of large business lobbyists
because he has consistently supported organized labor. "Down in
Columbus, there are two sides to labor-management issues," he said.
"I always vote on the side of labor."
He said legislative
ratings by business or labor lobbyists are misleading because they
score each lawmaker on only a dozen or so votes.
"If I
supported labor, I am automatically going to be knocked down in the
business rating," Mr. Ford said, adding that his rating among
business lobbyists has improved over the years.
Mr. Kest came
in for additional criticism from the committee for comments he made
about Mr. Ford’s career in an article published in The Blade Oct. 7.
In it, he said that Mr. Ford, a state representative, "has proposed
very few bills, and most of them have been social service-type
settings."
Mr. Kest, the Lucas County treasurer, then said
Mr. Ford is "basically a social worker, and I’m a certified public
accountant."
The 15-member committee found that "Mr. Kest’s
comment is pejorative at best, failing to objectively reflect the
quality of Mr. Ford’s legislative efforts. The reference to Mr. Ford
as a social worker does not adequately portray Mr. Ford’s
professional experience or leadership in the community," Dr. Blaine
said.
Both candidates are Democrats. Mr. Ford has won the
party’s official endorsement, while Mr. Kest said he is running as
"an independent Democrat."
Mr. Kest said he is unsure what
kind of role the committee will end up playing in the race for
mayor, but he said his campaign "is willing to work with the
committee."
The committee was formed to monitor the mayoral
race after the two candidates signed identical pledges in late
August. The candidates have agreed to keep their campaigns focused
on issues and not on personal foibles. They also agreed to see that
their surrogates would do the same.
The committee met Tuesday
and released the results of its deliberations yesterday afternoon.
Committee leaders have said they intend for their work to continue
with campaigns next year and beyond.
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