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Profiles of candidates vying for 2 Dayton commission seats

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer David Esrati

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Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer Nan Whaley

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Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer Joey Williams

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By Joanne Huist Smith Updated 3:02 PM Sunday, September 27, 2009

Profiles of the three candidates for Dayton City Commission:

David Esrati

It’s probably an understatement to say the election of David Esrati to the Dayton City Commission would shake things up at City Hall.

Esrati is not afraid to challenge a perceived injustice.

In 1996, he showed up at a City Commission meeting wearing a cloth mask to protest rules that limited citizen comments during public meetings. He was arrested, prosecuted, then won a $100,000 settlement from the city two years later for violation of his protected right to free speech.

“I think it’s important to make people think,” Esrati said. “My father always stood up for what was right, and he always said if you live in a democracy, you have a responsibility to be informed and to be a participant.”

After at least six unsuccessful attempts to win a city commission or mayor race and one try at a 3rd Congressional District seat, Esrati said he’s learned a lot. Out of a field of six candidates who took out petitions for the commission seats, Esrati, Nan Whaley and Joey Williams were the only ones certified to the ballot.

“If I hadn’t run there wouldn’t be an election,” Esrati said.

From his marketing and advertising business and his home in Historic South Park, Esrati says he has been building an online community for years.

“I don’t think anybody is more tied into what’s going on in the community,” he said.

Fifteen years ago, Esrati began writing a weekly e-mail magazine featuring Dayton issues and events. That turned into Esrati.com, which he said gets 15,000 to 20,000 unique hits per month.

Esrati’s plan for Dayton touches on ways to empower neighborhoods, a simple business plan, growing better leaders, recreation, promoting regionalism and growing the population.

If elected, he said he would work toward opening Dayton government to citizens, including recording work sessions and finance committee briefings, then posting the footage online.

He wants to make it easier to establish and maintain businesses in the city. Currently, business owners face a maze of regulations that are often vague, redundant and irrelevant, he said.

The priority board system is just another layer of bureaucracy and it needs to be eliminated, Esrati said. There should be a direct connection between City Hall and the neighborhoods. Esrati believes thriving neighborhoods, such as Historic South Park, should be mentors to struggling ones.

Nan Whaley

As the newest member of the City Commission, and the youngest, Nan Whaley said she looks for gaps or challenges in the city with no champion.

“I want to make a difference. When I see something not being handled, I jump in,” she said.

Whaley volunteered to take the lead on land banking and land reuse for the City Commission with the goal of reducing the supply of excess housing, identifying potential areas for new development while creating parks, neighborhood squares, even nature preserves.

“We need to determine where infill housing is going to go, where large developments should be, reuses for manufacturing (plants),” she said.

Land reuse, Whaley said, fits with her previous experience as assistant to Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith.

“When I walked door-to-door (during my campaign) in 2005, I started seeing the faces of foreclosure and how one vacant house on a block can blight an entire neighborhood,” Whaley said.

Whaley also is an advocate for creating a bicycle/pedestrian-friendly city here, a quality of life issue that helps to build an environment where people want to live and work. With that in mind, she formed a bicycle/pedestrian committee to address those issues.

Whaley also has an interest in the city’s so far unsuccessful effort to redevelop property just off Wayne Avenue and Wyoming Street. The city declared the area within the Twin Towers neighborhood blighted, then Kroger killed a plan to build a new store there, and a Rite Aid closed.

“If we don’t get a grocery store, the City Commission is committed to some development there,” Whaley said. “It’s a critical corner for East Dayton. We’re not going to give up on it.”

Whaley virtually came of age working within the Democratic Party at the county, state and national level.

In 2006, Whaley was named the Ohio Young Democrat of the Year.

“My parents said all the time, ‘You must be a contributing citizen.’ They taught me to always do the best I can,” Whaley said. “I hope people look at my term and say, ‘They had some tough times, but she really did her best for me.’ ”

Joey Williams

Joey Williams said he initially anticipated serving just two terms on the city commission, but now feels he has unfinished business in Dayton’s financial issues.

City Manager Rashad Young projects a deficit in 2010 of about $17 million.

“I want to make sure there are systems in place to ensure the city’s future,” Williams said.

Before Williams joined the commission, its members got financial reports quarterly or on an as-needed basis.

“That’s not the way businesses run,” said Williams, the Western Ohio president and commercial banking market manager for Chase.

At Williams’ suggestion, the commission now holds monthly financial briefings that are open to the public.

“There was some push-back at first, but there has come to be an understanding for the need,” Williams said. “We found being more open and transparent helps in a lot of ways. People have opportunity to look at the numbers themselves.”

Williams said the monthly reports include data from other cities in the region and across the state. He would like the briefings to go a step further and include specific comparisons on spending. The briefings, Williams said, have raised the level of the conversation.

“When we first started, our questions were more basic,” he said. “Now were talking about fuel hedging and how to minimize our risk in locking in gas rates.”

Williams pointed to the city’s bond rating as evidence of sound fiscal management. In July, Standards & Poor upgraded its credit ratings for the city, while Moody’s retained its existing rankings. Both actions were significant statements considering the severe economic challenges facing cities.

“The city has a proven track record,” Williams said.

Williams said the city must strive toward a sustainable budget that doesn’t exceed revenue.

He believes technology could be key. “The solution has to do with better use of technology, so when we have attrition we don’t have to go out and hire someone else,” said Williams. He gives digital water meter readers and cameras at intersections or in high crime areas as examples. “I’m not saying I’m advocating cameras at every corner. I do want staff to explore opportunities.”

Williams said he has never embraced the thought of being a politician even though he is running for his third term as a city commissioner and previously served on the Dayton Board of Education. “I consider my work community involvement — giving back. A lot of who I am is a result of the community,” he said.

David Esrati

Age: 47

Family: Single

Length of time lived in Dayton: 26 years

Occupation: Founder of The Next Wave marketing and advertising company; Teaches “websitetology” here and across the country.

Education: Bachelor of Science Degree, Wright State University

Political association: Registered as a Democrat in order to vote in primary elections. “I am an independent thinker — and believe in ideas that don’t belong entirely to either party.”

Experience: Former candidate for Dayton City Commission, mayor and 3rd Congressional District seat; He has been blogging about community issues since 2005 at www.esrati.com .

Associations: Executive officer and founding member of VOB108.org, a veterans business group; Historic South Park Inc.

Campaign Web site: www.electesrati.com

Nan Whaley

Age: 33 Family: married, husband Samuel Braun

Length of time lived in Dayton: 15 years

Occupation: full-time Dayton City Commissioner

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in chemistry, University of Dayton; master’s degree in public administration, Wright State University

Political association: Endorsed by the Montgomery County Democratic Party; instrumental in reorganizing the University of Dayton College Democrats and later served as Ohio Chair of the College Democrats; served as campaign manager for state Sen. Tom Roberts’ 2002 election; served as co-chair of the 2004 John Kerry campaign for Montgomery County; two-time delegate to the Democratic National Convention, 2000 and 2004; elector for Barack Obama in 2008.

Experience: Seeks a second term on Dayton City Commission. Served as assistant to Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith from 2001-2005.

Associations: Member of Women In Leadership and Corpus Christi Catholic Church

Web site: www.nanwhaley.com

Joey Williams

Age: 43

Family: Married, wife Natasha; two sons

Length of time lived in Dayton: Native

Occupation: Western Ohio President and Commercial Banking Market Manager at Chase

Education: Bachelor of science degree, Central State University; master of business administration, Ohio State University

Political association: Endorsed by the Montgomery County Democratic Party.

Experience: Seeks a third term on the City Commission (elected in 2001 and 2005). Served eight years on the Dayton Board of Education (elected in 1993 and 1997). Served two years as president and two years as VP of the board.

Associations: Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, executive committee; co-chair of the Dayton Regional Network; Families Matter Celebration award-winner; Central State University Hall of Fame

Web site: www.joeydwilliams.com

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