In or out, but no more Carty cat and mouse

5/15/2005

Over the years, we've used an incalculable number of adjectives to describe Carty Finkbeiner, our love-him-or-hate-him former mayor.

Any of these sound familiar to you too?

Energetic.

Hyper.

Enthusiastic.

Overzealous.

Charming.

Abrasive.

Outspoken.

Loudmouth.

Self-assured.

Arrogant.

But one word I can't remember ever applied to our once and perhaps future mayor is coy. And yet, that's what best describes Mr. Finkbeiner now, even as he keeps making blustery appearances as a TV commentator, carrying on his well-known tradition of being someone who is - your choice here - either outspoken or a loudmouth.

Granted, it's been an amusing prospect locally, wondering if and when Carty would enter the mayor's race. It even became our very own equivalent of "the weather."

"Think it'll rain?" became "Think that he'll run?" - an ice-breaker topic guaranteed to elicit enough of a response to get you through a long elevator ride, or even a cocktail party, depending on your circle of friends.

But, c'mon, Carty. Enough already!

By now, it's grown quasi-boring, giving odds on Carty's future course of action. Worse, all the clocks are tick-tocking along, drawing closer to the mayoral election - and the fact is, we've got a lot to talk about in Toledo, even as increasingly less time remains for these important discussions.

Yeah, I know, I know: it's May sweeps, that springtime ratings period when local TV stations do everything to capture audience attention short of dropping bricks on viewers' heads. Carty couldn't possibly bail out now on WTVG, Ch. 13, his part-time employer (and, I should add in the interest of full disclosure, mine, too).

But one thing about Carty that nearly everyone agrees on, even his critics, is this: The man's concern for the well-being of this city is sincere.

Accordingly, he's long overdue to drop the coy gambit. It's time for him to put forth his ideas, so we have opportunity enough to let real debate take place among Carty and Mayor Jack Ford and Republican challenger Rob Ludeman.

Continuing to do the hokey-pokey (left foot in, left foot out) is an outright civic disservice. The fact is, the city is holding its breath, waiting to see what Carty will do. Until he tells us, the mayoral campaign is on "pause."

Push "play," Carty. Or push "stop," for that matter.

But for everyone's sake, do something.