Pace, who has not held political office, is in a four-way race for two commission seats. The other candidates are incumbents Dean Lovelace and Matt Joseph, and challenger Mark Manovich.
The Dayton Daily News ran background checks on all the candidates, revealing no criminal record for any of the four. Pace was the only one whose background check revealed foreclosures, liens or bankruptcies.
Asked what he had learned from the bankruptcies, Pace said it was that he didn’t have to live at the height of his means.
“How do I say this ... if you can afford page 75, it’s just as well to live on page 50,” Pace said.
“My company is still open for business and I’m still in my home, and I think that says a lot in these difficult economic times,” he said.
Pace said he runs the William Pace Company, also known as the Buckston Company, doing advertising and video production.
Dr. Stephen Brooks, associate director of Akron’s Bliss Institute for Applied Politics, said candidates with troubled pasts have to convince voters to trust them.
In Dayton, the five city commissioners have voting power on all significant spending measures.
“A voter is buying the future,” Brooks said. “(A candidate’s) abilities and personal past are important in making that decision. ... If I’m going to argue for my candidacy because I’ve been successful in business, and run on the positives, (voters) have right to know the negatives, too.”
Court records show Pace filed for bankruptcy in 1990 and 2004, then filed again on business debts in November 2008 and on consumer debts in November 2009.
That most recent bankruptcy protection was dismissed in 2010 because “the debtor failed to make payments into the plan,” according to court filings.
A memo from the bankruptcy trustee in that 2009 case says Pace failed to file state tax returns in 2005, 2007 and 2008.
A certificate of judgment was filed last month in Dayton Municipal Court for a $2,049 state tax lien against Pace.
Pace last month denied that the 1325 Salem Ave. home where he lives is the subject of a foreclosure proceeding, saying he was in negotiations to discount the loan.
He said it was “almost a sham” how many people were foreclosed upon improperly, and he referred further questions to his attorney, Brian Petroziello.
On Tuesday, Petroziello confirmed that Pace’s home is in a foreclosure proceedings and criticized the mortgage company for “dragging its feet.”
Petroziello said Pace has tried “five or six times” to modify what he called a predatory loan, without success.
“I think it’s obvious we cannot continue the way we have at City Hall,” Pace said. “I think people don’t have confidence in their leaders today, and I believe, if given the opportunity, I could do a tremendous job in getting Dayton back on its feet.”
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