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DAYTON MAYORAL RACE

Challenger Gary Leitzell is ‘a free thinker’ with Republican support

Jim Noelker Dayton mayor candidate Gary Leitzell stands in front of his campaign headquarters on First St. in Dayton.

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 9:21 PM Saturday, September 12, 2009

DAYTON — Through August and now into September, Dayton mayoral candidate Gary Leitzell is campaigning in neighborhoods, introducing himself to residents and “shaking hands and kissing babies.”

Racing along beside him, his 6-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, flashes smiles at voters who could make her dad Dayton’s next mayor.

“I’m grooming future leadership,” Leitzell said.

Leitzell is taking on two-time incumbent Mayor Rhine McLin, who grew up in the cradle of Dayton and Statehouse politics. She is the daughter of the late state Rep. C.J. McLin, a Dayton Democrat who served 22 years in the House.

Leitzell is president of the Walnut Hills Association and chairman of the Southeast Priority Board. He has never worked in government.

Leitzell believes the citizens of Dayton are ready for change.

The walls of his campaign office in the Talbott Tower on First Street downtown are lined with voting precinct maps, tools he is using to plan a strategy for victory.

“I need name recognition,” he said.

Leitzell knows he must win votes west of the Great Miami River where McLin, in 2005, captured more than 90 percent of the votes in 45 precincts. Opportunities abound in parts of East Dayton, Leitzell said, where the mayor limped by with less than 15 percent of the votes.

Seeing “Elect Leitzell” signs pop up in McLin strongholds such as Delphos Avenue and on Gettysburg Avenue encourage Leitzell.

“I’ve gone into the heart of the Rhine Land,” he said.

Leitzell, an independent endorsed by the Montgomery County Republican Party, calls himself a problem solver, not a politician.

“I’ve seen him talk with a lot of people. He seems to be able to connect with them. He’s not part of the machine,” Walnut Hills resident Eric Tackett said. ”

Leitzell has led an effort to have Walnut Hills designated as a special improvement (tax) district to generate funds for the neighborhood.

Oregon Historic District resident Kathy Coley calls Leitzell’s ideas creative.

“Gary’s a free thinker, a forward-looking fellow,” Coley said.

Leitzell was born in McKeesport, Pa., near Pittsburgh, in 1961. His parents met in his mother’s native England, where his father was stationed in the U.S. Air Force.

The ex-airman returned to America with his wife and found work in the steel mills.

“We were working-class people,” Leitzell said. “We were poorer than we thought we were.”

In 1970, Leitzell said his father sent his mom home to Chippenham, England, to visit her family. Nine-year-old Gary and his older brother, Chris, accompanied their mother on what was supposed to be a three-month visit with their maternal grandfather. The visit lasted 12 years.

“I didn’t see my father for eight years,” Leitzell said.

He said he vowed the day he arrived in England to return to the United States.

Leitzell said his grandfather, who fought in World War II, was his male role model.

“I learned my work ethic and morals from him,” Leitzell said.

At age 9, Leitzell took an interest in playing war games in the schoolyard. “I always wanted to be the general. I had an interest in leadership,” Leitzell said.

Leitzell learned to think strategically.

“You have to have a Plan A, B, C and sometimes a plan D,” he said.

Leitzell started with plastic toy soldiers, then started painting miniature figurines, a skill he now uses to help support his family.

At age 15, he got involved in a military re-enactment group, a hobby he continues today.

Leitzell entered the University of London at 18. Four years later, he returned to the U.S. with a backpack, a suitcase and $600. He hoped his bachelor’s degree in geology would help him get a job in the oil industry. Instead, he got a job at Gimbels department store.

“I was the first male in Pittsburgh to sell women’s fragrances. I think it was the British accent (that appealed to management and customers),” Leitzell said.

Leitzell later sold insurance and did a short stint as an auctioneer.

“Finding a good job with a good pension wasn’t working for me. Every job I liked, I lost (got laid off),” Leitzell said.

In 1994, Leitzell moved to Dayton to house sit for a friend. In 2001, he married Deborah Cool-Lorrens, a Huber Heights native who works in retail sales at KeyBank. He calls her the breadwinner of the family. Leitzell homeschools their daughter and operates his miniatures painting business.

“I’m not going to be an absent parent,” Leitzell said. Some critics question whether Leitzell will be an ally of Dayton Public Schools.

“I no longer trust the system,” Leitzell said. “I think the school district is just wrapped up in money, money, money.”

In an e-mail message sent to supporters on Saturday morning, Sept. 5, Leitzell said, “I have nowhere near the funds that the incumbent does but I do know what the word on the street is. The word is ‘change.’ Everyone can have that change. They just have to vote for it.”

Fast facts

Age: 48

Address: 114 Volkenand Avenue

Family: Married, wife Deborah; one daughter

Length of time lived in Dayton: 15 years

Occupation: Self-employed miniatures painter

Education: Bachelor’s degree in geology, University of London, England

Political association: Independent and nonpartisan, endorsed by the Montgomery County Republican Party

Experience: Elected to the Southeast Priority Board in 1999; In 2004,   he was elected president of the Walnut Hills Association; 2008, elected chairperson of the Southeast Priority Board, an office he still holds.

Associations: Walnut Hills Association — President 2004 to 2010

Web site: www.gogarygo.net

Leitzell’s ideas

Leitzell believes the city needs to “work smarter.” Here are some of his ideas:

Generate city revenue by partnering with Montgomery County to offer the Rolling Stones $40,000 to give a concert here.

Give incentives to convince the Dayton police union to accept four furlough days without pay to save money — such as free passes to a city golf course or recreation center.

Entice home buyers to take on one of Dayton’s many abandoned houses by offering permit-fee rebates as incentives after rehab work is completed.

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