Published: Tuesday, January 4, 1994
Page: 1B
By: By Benjamin Kline DAYTON DAILY NEWS
METRO
That precocious little East Dayton boy is now a 6-foot-2 lawyer with a burden that could make him feel older than the 34th birthday he will celebrate Jan. 11.
Turner was sworn in Monday as Dayton's 37th mayor and the 16th under the city charter establishing a commission-manager form of government. He thus becomes symbolic leader of a city facing serious economic and social problems, as well as important vacancies in City Hall management jobs.
Once again, Turner was adept with words, quoting from John H. Patterson's 1896 "Model City" speech all the way forward to television comic Arsenio Hall's line: "Let's get busy!"
Turner quoted NCR founder Patterson's theme that "To become really great . . . our city must accomplish the largest amount of good for the largest number of citizens."
"As your new mayor," Turner told those packed into the City Commission chamber, "I do not have all the answers, but I have the determination and drive to unleash the leadership that rests in our neighborhoods and our business community so that we might become our ideal city."
The Republican mayor - Dayton's first since 1970 - took the oath of office third, after re-elected city commissioners Tony Capizzi and Richard Zimmer. Turner's annual salary is $35,432; the commissioners are paid $26,144 per year.
All three men hesitated at the verbal speed-bump of the oath, where the officeholder promises he "will well and faithfully and with fairness and impartiality perform my duties."
Mayor Richard Clay Dixon, whom Turner defeated in the November general
election, sat in the front row, smiling, then stood and waved to acknowl
edge applause. Dressy as ever in a dark business suit, he was not wearing his
familiar lapel flower.
The new mayor wore a dark brown, double-breasted suit, wingtip shoes, a white shirt and a paisley print silk necktie. His wife, Lori, swore she did not select the tie.
The couple's daughter, Jessica, who will be 2 on Thursday, sat in the audience with her grandparents, who live in Beavercreek; Turner's sister Rebecca and her husband, John Schiavone; and Turner's 77-year-old grandmother, Bessie Shouse of Kettering.
The Bible chosen for his swearing-in was a 1940 edition from the old First Presbyterian Church on High Street in St. Anne's Hill, where Turner was baptized in 1961. Vivian Turner said the family obtained it when the congregation disbanded, and Turner has used it at several important events in his life.
"He's a very sentimental person," the mayor's mother said. "He's always been our darling, but now we have to share him."
The mayor's more taciturn father, who is retired from General Motors, said simply, "I'm real proud of Mike."
The Rev. Daniel McCollum, pastor of Collegiate Heights Church of Christ, gave Turner the oath. The two have served together on community boards.
Zimmer took his oath from Ron Hershey, with Maryellen Vandegrift holding the City Commission's Bible. Capizzi was sworn in by the Rev. Thomas E. Meyer, pastor of Holy Angels Catholic Church, with his wife, Virginia, and their son, Daniel, holding the city Bible.
The entire ceremony was carefully scripted by the commission clerk, James Francis, according to Section 39 of Dayton's 1913 city charter. Turner's swearing in was 80 years to the day since George W. Shroyer's.
In 1914, the mayor was simply the commissioner who got the most votes. Today, he is elected separately, but he still has only one vote on the five-member commission. The other four, currently, are Democrats.
CREDIT: By JAN UNDERWOOD/DAYTON DAILY NEWS
BOXES:
(#1)
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DAYTON MAYORS
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(Since city charter)
George W. Shroyer 1914-17
J.M. Switzer 1918-21
Frank B. Hale 1922-25
Allen C. McDonald 1926-33
Charles J. Brennan 1934-41
Frank M. Krebs 1942-45
Edward C. Breen 1946-48
Louis W. Lohrey 1948-53
Henry S. Stout 1954-57
R. William Patterson 1958-61
Frank R. Somers 1962-66
Dave Hall 1966-70
James H. McGee 1971-81
Paul R. Leonard 1981-86
Richard Clay Dixon 1987-93
Michael R. Turner 1994-
(#2)
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NEW MAYORS
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Other new Montgomery County mayors:
*City of Moraine: Paul Beardsley. Sworn in Saturday.
*City of Huber Heights: Jack Hensley. Sworn in Saturday.
*Village of Germantown: Theodore Landis. Sworn in Monday night.
*Village of Riverside: Kenneth Curp. Sworn in Thursday.