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“But this isn’t about
me,” he adds. “Toledo can’t afford to wait another four
years. This is crucially important to the city I want my
children to grow up in.”
Kapszukiewicz’s impatience
springs from what he sees as a lack of progress in the city.
On the other hand he sees, both regionally and nationally,
indications that urban cores are generally on the rebound –
increasing population and job growth at a faster rate over
the last decade than their suburban counterparts.
Unfortunately, Toledo has not been part of this trend, he
says.
What the Treasurer sees in
Toledo are a number of indicators that have pushed him to
the point of stepping into the race: a declining population;
a loss of “four percent of our jobs over the past five
years;” “ranked one of the sixth worst for children living
in poverty” and a city that was recently named “one of the
most distressed” in the nation. Moreover, he fears the
chance to catch up with other urban areas – Milwaukee; Grand
Rapids, MI; Dayton; Indianapolis, to cite a few examples –
may be lost if city leaders wait too long to act.
Even as he acknowledges
the progress being made in downtown Toledo, he believes that
there is not sufficient progress being made for the city as
a whole. “While there are good things happening, it has not
translated into good things happening in the neighborhoods,”
he says.
His pessimism about the
current state of affairs is more than matched by his
optimism for the future of the city he has always called
home.
“I think cities can
re-invent themselves on the fly and I think Toledo can do
that,” he says, noting that the city is “blessed.” One of
its blessings is its location on the Great Lakes and on Lake
Erie’s largest tributary, he adds. “We haven’t yet found a
way to re-invent what is almost a 19th century
model but there is tremendous opportunity. We are not going
to be a New York City and I wouldn’t want to be but we can
fix pot holes, roads and prevent the water from turning
green … the basic services.”
Kapszukiewicz, the son of
a former Toledo police officer and a school teacher,
graduated from St. Francis de Sales and entered Marquette
University in Milwaukee with the intention of majoring in
journalism. While there he fell under the influence of
Father Timothy O’Brien, a political science teacher in a
course the future politician was taking simply to complete
basic requirements. Fr. O’Brien’s world view would have an
out-sized impact on the young student.
“He believed in the
potential to change the world through public service,”
recalls Kapszukiewicz. “’Get elected,’ he would say. ‘That’s
how we can change the world.’” After earning his master’s at
the University of Michigan, Kapszukiewicz returned home and
in short order did indeed “get elected.” First to the Toledo
Board of Elections, then to City Council representing
District 6 for about six and a half years before running for
and getting elected to the Treasurer’s office 12 years ago.
“Most of my career has
been in public life,” he says. “During my time in public
life I have always tried to be an innovator and a reformer.
I am always looking for a way to reform things, change
things, adapt things.” As examples, Kapszukiewicz points to
the pharmacy card network he introduced during his time on
City Council and, later, when he became Lucas County
Treasurer, the funding of the Huntington Center, the Small
Business Loan Program (which has retained about 400 jobs, he
says, by lowering interest rates) and, above all, the Land
Bank – “fighting blight and increasing property values.”
It is precisely that drive
to reform and change things that has led Kapszukiewicz to
eschew the notion that he should wait his turn … wait
another four years. Should he be elected mayor this year,
the very first thing on his to-do list will be a change, of
course. “A change in attitude,” he says. “A change in
attitude among City employees and among citizens themselves;
we want to change the default response from a ‘no’ to a
‘how?’ The role of mayor is to provide leadership.”
Kapszukiewicz uses, as an
example of the leadership the chief executive of a city
should demonstrate, his suggestion to reach out to Amazon
and apply to the company to locate a site in the Glass City.
He notes that Dayton’s mayor stood up and took on the
challenge, and that Detroit is a finalist for the site. “We
can bring about changing the way we think of ourselves, and
if we change, the rest of the world will change the way they
think about us.”
Second on his to-do list
is to take on the issue of regional water – working with
Toledo’s neighbors to fashion agreements that will keep all
the communities in the fold – deals that will be
economically beneficial to all parties. He sees this looming
crisis as an issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
The third item on his list
is making city government more efficient, most particularly
by working with the County to consolidate offices with
overlapping functions – economic development, building
inspection, payroll and other financial offices, human
resources and IT. The savings from such consolidation, he
suggests, can be used to deliver more effective services for
the City – such paving roads, eradicating blight and adding
police and fire employees.
It might take a number of
years to get to the point where Toledo has strong
neighborhoods, safe, clean streets and a growing population
with secure economic opportunity, says Kapszukiewicz. “It’s
not going to turn on a dime, but we need to take real
tangible steps now”
“We have a window of
opportunity to get things done, we can’t miss this chance.” |
