Finkbeiner hammers at crime plan at murder scene

Jul. 22—Standing not far from the scene of the latest fatal shooting incident in the city Thursday, Toledo mayoral candidate Carty Finkbeiner repeated his list of prescriptions that he said would lower the rising toll of homicides.

"I had a year when we had 13 murders that year, because we practiced this game plan," Mr. Finkbeiner said in reference to the 38 homicides the city has had so far this year. "... We have a good plan that works and we will make it work."

The three-time former mayor spoke at the corner of Pontiac and Mayo streets near the scene of Toledo's latest homicide.

Toledo police said they found Mario Marquette Kea II, 27, of the 400 block of Pontiac Street in North Toledo, behind his apartment building about 7:43 p.m. Wednesday, suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Paramedics transported the victim to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The Lucas County Coroner said after an autopsy Thursday that he died of multiple gunshot wounds

Mr. Kea II's death marks the 38th homicide in Toledo and the 40th in the metro area so far this year. At this time last year, Toledo had 28 homicides. The numbers put the city on a pace to eclipse last year's record-breaking total for homicides.

About 25 people attended including about 10 members of a local block watch group and Daniel Hoke, 9, a neighborhood boy who stood next to Mr. Finkbeiner during the 20-minute event.

"There should be no more murders," the boy said into the microphone, speaking after his uncle Alfonso Narvaez, ONE Village Council president and city council candidate, who told the crowd he supports Mr. Finkbeiner and his plan to fight crime.

"It's sad and it's an ongoing issue in our community," Mr. Narvaez, 30, said of the homicide while talking to The Blade just before the start of the event. "This neighborhood is often overlooked and its residents often feel forgotten. I am here to support Carty and his solutions to improve the neighborhood."

Asked to respond, current Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz called the former mayor's 10-point plan "a collection of ideas that we are either already doing, have been proven not to work, or would have made sense 200 years ago."

He said Mr. Finkbeiner's idea to install drop boxes at fire stations "would have made sense before the invention of the telephone."

"You can't solve 21st century problems with 19th century ideas," Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.

Mayor Kapszukiewicz, who is seeking a second term, responded to his opponent's statements on crime by alluding to the former mayor's layoffs of 75 police officers during his third term.

"Even one homicide in Toledo is something we cannot tolerate.... But we cannot solve it by laying off police officers," Mr. Kapszukiewicz said when asked to comment. He also said Mr. Finkbeiner proposed to eliminate the gang force.

Mr. Finkbeiner defended what Robert Reinbolt, his senior campaign adviser, had described as police furloughs in 2009, on the basis that they were less severe than then-Police Chief Mike Navarre's recommendation to lay off 150 officers because of the city's $36 million budget deficit at the time. All were eventually rehired within 90 days, Mr. Finkbeiner said.

In his 10-point crime-reduction plan, Mr. Finkbeiner in part proposes restoring Toledo's curfew ordinance; increasing partnerships between area law-enforcement agencies and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; passing anti-gun legislation, including banning "Saturday Night Special" handguns; reinstating a gun buy-back program, and hiring young people to clean up the city.

Mr. Finkbeiner, who has run for mayor six times before, is doing it this time as an independent Democrat. The county Democratic Party has already endorsed Mr. Kapszukiewicz, for re-election.

Former Toledo City Councilman George Sarantou and Harvey Savage, Jr., executive director of the Martin Luther King Kitchen for the Poor, each spoke in support of Mr. Finkbeiner plan during the event.

"The plan makes a lot of sense. [And] Carty has a record of getting things done," Mr. Sarantou said.

"Let's go ahead and go with it," Mr. Savage said.

When asked on the phone to comment on Mr. Finkbeiner's plan, Republican mayoral candidate Jan Scotland, a local businessman who in 2008 unsuccessfully ran for Lucas County commissioner, said that rather than respond, he will hold his own press conference next week.

"People can come and hear my approach and see which candidate has a better idea," Mr. Scotland said.

First Published July 22, 2021, 4:18pm