The negative consequences of meddling

The issue of the South Toledo YMCA is again in the news. In case you've forgotten, the Y Board decided to close down that location and give the property to Cedar Creek Church.

A bunch of neighbors, fueled by the The Blade - followed quickly by politicians - all decided that the Y didn't have a clue when it comes to running a facility and that they knew better. They insisted that the location stay open, despite running at a deficit. The Y Board, trying to appease the negative publicity spewed daily on the front pages of the paper, offered a compromise: get 500 new memberships and the facility would be able to stay open.

Of course, that required 500 new people to join one of the older facilities - something that seemed impossible.

And it was.

The Y lowered the target to 376, but so far, only 111 new memberships have been placed - and that's despite the discounted rate they were offered.

So the facility will be closed.

And now the kicker: because of all the negative coverage, Cedar Creek Church is no longer interested in that location. From today's paper:

The Rev. Lee Powell, a senior pastor at the church, said yesterday that CedarCreek informed the Y about two week ago that it's no longer interested. The property was last appraised at $445,400.

The church planned to spend up to $2 million to convert the building into a chapel as part of a tentative deal struck earlier this year with the Y.

But the CedarCreek deal was put on hold following a public outcry over the YMCA's announcement that it would close the branch at the end of August.
...
Mr. Powell said the church lost interest because of inadequacies with the property's access road and "neighborhood sensitivity." He said CedarCreek is now looking at other locations in South Toledo.

"We don't want the demise of the membership drive to be our win," the pastor said. "We don't want to be a negative in the community - we want to be a positive."

So the meddling of all these people has resulted in (partly) the same outcome they were trying to avoid.

The Blade will be happy, though, because they were able to accomplish their vendetta and get rid of YMCA CEO Robert Alexander.

The politicians will be happy because they joined in the effort and will get/take credit for 'trying,' despite the fact that they had no impact whatsoever on the end result.

The neighborhood, however, is screwed. Yes, that very same neighborhood that some were saying needed the Y.

Instead of the Y, they would have had a church - certainly not a bad tenant of that property and a good neighbor to have. But now, thanks to the efforts of some, all in the neighborhood will have an empty structure since the church has decided they're no longer interested. That's a $2 million investment the church had planned that won't be made in that spot.

And in today's economy, it's not likely that the Y will find another party, with similar financial resources, interested in taking over a declining building.

So what was accomplished? The current outcome is worse than if the Y had just been able to make their same decision on their own timeline.

There are lessons to be learned here, but somehow, I don't think Toledoans will get it.

Random thoughts on a rainy day

* Average temperatures for this time of year in Toledo are around 62 degrees. Highs of 45 just don't add up - I sure could use some of that global warming 'believers' are always talking about.

Oh - and I use the term 'believers' as the opposite of 'deniers' since the whole global warming movement is so much like a religion it isn't funny.

And please don't start in on 'it's now climate change.' Having been on the wrong side of global cooling in the '70s and the wrong side of global warming in the '00s, they had to change the name just to remain relevant.

Yes, the climate of the earth does warm and cool. As I've said too many times already, if it didn't we'd still have glaciers in Toledo, rather than just the grooves they left (evidenced on the Lake Erie Islands)...it's just that man's impact on those cycles is minimal at best, and certainly not enough to justify billions and trillions of spending to try to influence it by a mere fraction of a degree.

Okay - next rant...

* Maine Senator Olympia Snowe voted in favor of the latest Senate bill (summary, actually) to put government even more in control of our health care. I've seen her described as 'the lone Republican,' an 'influential Republican' and a 'maverick' for this vote. While that may be the way the media and leftists want to see her, I can assure you that the 'average Republican' (if there is such a thing - in either party), is convinced that she is not exhibiting the core principles of the Republican Party - and is influential only in the amount of animosity her vote will generate among true conservatives.

Don't misunderstand my position on this - the GOP has a big tent and has room for varying positions. What makes us a party is adherence to the basic, core principles we profess to support. No one who supports this bill can say they are also supporting the core principles of the party.

If you don't believe and adhere to those core principles, why are you a member of the party in the first place? And if your votes on a fairly consistent basis contradict those core principles, why the pretense?

Hopefully, she'll find more to object to in whatever the final version of the bill will be and it will fail.

* I'm concerned over the actions of various groups in what should be private transactions. There are the local issues with the Manhattan Kroger store and the South Side YMCA, and now the national issue with Rush Limbaugh wanting to be a part owner of the St. Louis Rams.

In all cases, individuals who are not part of the transaction believe they have the ability to dictate what should/should not happen. While patrons of an establishment have an interest in the outcome, they have no authority in dictating terms - or, at least, they shouldn't have.

But that's not what's happening. In the local issues, the people believe they are 'entitled' to the services no matter what the cost to the provider. (Does this sound like the health care scenario???)

The YMCA and Kroger locations are losing money and cannot be sustained. But individuals interested in both cases have expressed the sentiment that the providers should continue to lose money on the specific endeavors because it's for the 'greater good.' Even city officials have gotten into the mess by insisting that because the company has received tax incentives or other types of support, they 'owe' the city and must do what a handful of citizens demand.

In the national issue, it has more do with hatred of an individual's opinions, despite the fact that those opinions really don't have anything to do with football. Because they dislike the individual and disagree with what he says, they don't want him to be able to participate in a free market.

Sadly, in all these instances, the targets have given in - even if only partially. The Kroger store offered free transportation to other locations (though that's not been utilized as much as Kroger had expected) and free delivery of prescriptions. The YMCA delayed their decision to see if the surrounding community was willing to put their money where their mouths are and purchase enough memberships to keep the location open. Today, the Rams said they're no longer interested in having Limbaugh be a part of the organization.

This bodes ill for our future, when political pressure becomes the standard by which business decisions are made. I'm not advocating that companies and organizations ignore the public relations aspects of their decisions - that would be stupid. But when the personal preferences of a small group of individuals have the ability to negatively impact the investments of shareholders and owners, we have moved away from the capitalistic system that brought us the success we have today.

Of course, that may be the end goal...and that's what has me more concerned - that these recent examples are only the beginning.

Commissioners have no authority to interfere in YMCA

According to a story in today's paper, the residents who want to save the South Toledo YMCA from closure want the Lucas County Commissioners to form a task force that will examine the finances of the organization.

The only problem is that county commissioners have no such authority.

There is nothing in the Ohio Constitution or Revised Code that gives a board of commissioners the authority to examine the books, receipts, expenditures, etc... of a private organization.

A resolution submitted earlier in the month to the BCC to establish a task force was tabled. The Commissioner used the Zoo Task Force as a reason for this action. However, the Zoo is a different animal, so to speak. As a quasi-governmental entity, it exists solely to provide zoological services, under contract with the County, in accordance with the ORC. The YMCA doesn't. (Even then, I voted against the terms of the contract with the Zoo that mandated government appointments to that board because I believed it was outside the authority of the Commissioners to do so.)

The YMCA is a private organization and while they do get some public dollars for certain programs, those programs already have financial oversight and auditing, as required by the contract for those limited programs. If the YMCA did not bid to provide such programs, it would, unlike the Zoo Board, still exist.

The Commissioners should reject any request to interfere in the operations of a private organization - no matter what a few neighbors may think - and, in doing so, should remind that public that government is not always the solution to their problems nor a hammer to be used to force others to conform to a small minority's wants or desires.

However, should the Commissioners bow to the limited public pressure and attempt to exceed their authority, the YMCA should refuse to comply with any such efforts. If the Y allows a government-formed group to examine their internal, private information, they set the stage for other similar intrusions in the future. Such a precedent (and it will be a precedent) will enable the Commissioners and other governmental bodies to expect compliance with such encroachments in the future.

This cannot be allowed. All citizens, business owners, board members and others who do not want to see the heavy hand of government exceed its parameters should vigorously oppose this meddling, overstepping of authority.

Contact information for the Commissioners:

Pete Gerken: pgerken@co.lucas.oh.us
Tina Skeldon Wozniak: twozniak@co.lucas.oh.us
Ben Konop: bkonop@co.lucas.oh.us
Phone number: 419-213-4500