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TURNER DRAWS CRITICS, BUT STICKS TO SCRIPT

NEWS

In the first, Mike Turner stars as a feisty, muckraking mayor who battles the bureaucracy from the inside - becoming a champion of the people.

In the second, Turner plays a promising new mayor whose lofty goals are dashed by political realities. He lashes out at colleagues and turns into a frustrated loner.

Eight months after becoming mayor, Turner, a 34-year-old Republican attorney, has been cast in both roles.

He's established himself as smart, confident and far more politically savvy than anyone imagined. But critics say he's been so busy playing the heavy - publicly scolding staff and colleagues - that he's alienated key people inside City Hall.

Without their support, this neophyte mayor who vowed to cut government waste, revive decaying neighborhoods and bring jobs to Dayton, could find himself in a stalemate: He might succeed in blocking other people's projects, but he won't be able to complete his own.

"I think Turner's done what he promised to do, he's challenged City Hall and asserted a new kind of leadership," said Robert Adams, a longtime political observer and professor at Wright State University. "But at some point he has to stop being an outsider and develop working relationships with commissioners and staff."

Certainly, Turner has delivered on his promise to shake up Dayton government. In June, he paid his own airfare to a sister-city celebration in Germany, while chiding other commissioners for letting taxpayers pick up their tab. In July, he aired a dispute with acting city manager Timothy Riordan, threatening action if Riordan failed to balance the budget.

Turner says such moves reap big dividends: Managers are more accountable, government is more open, and the city will balance its budget this year for the first time since 1989 without dipping into savings.

"I came to City Hall with an aggressive agenda for change," Turner said. "Change is messy, but I'm willing to make it happen."

But others, including State Rep. Rhine McLin, who worked on Turner's priority-setting team after his election, say Turner won't succeed in pushing his agenda through if he continues to play the role of antagonist.

"In some ways, Mike hasn't made the transition from the campaign trail to being mayor," McLin, D-Dayton, said. "I think he's going to have to learn to choose his fights, because if you fight everything, you're not going to accomplish anything."
The outsider
It's not surprising that Turner relishes the image of a muckraking outsider battling City Hall. He spent years rehearsing for the part.

In 1992, Turner successfully fought an expansion of an industrial dry cleaner in his neighborhood. He sued the city, and officials eventually agreed to help the business relocate.

In 1993, Turner filed another lawsuit, this time arguing the city's attempt to ban him and other candidates from the Fourth of July parade was unconstitutional. Again, the city relented.

"He was used to being like me, a grass-roots activist who had to clamor for the attention of low-level staff people at City Hall," said Buddy La Chance, who worked with Turner on an inner city housing project called Rehabarama.

Not anymore.

With his wire-rimmed glasses and slicked-back auburn hair, Turner may look more like someone in a Lens Crafters ad than a formidable political force. But these days, he commands attention.

In April, for example, Turner chided Dayton Police Chief James Newby at a public meeting for acting on his own to place police officers in Dayton schools. Turner and Commissioner Dean Lovelace said they learned about the action through the media.

"I don't think that's an appropriate way to communicate with the commission," Turner told Newby, who was visibly stunned by the censure.

Turner says he publicly reprimanded Newby because he had already privately asked him twice to keep officials informed. The mayor said such reproofs merely ensure managers do their jobs.

"Staff and the other commissioners are just not used to anybody holding staff accountable in public," Turner said. "They consider any criticism to be severe."

Lovelace, an unendorsed Democrat whose election alongside Turner in November was seen as a clear defeat for the county Democratic party, said Turner's confrontational approach creates an uneasy feeling in City Hall. But overall, he said, Turner's demands are improving city operations.

"I've appreciated his aggressive style and his probing questioning," Lovelace said. "He's asked questions others didn't. I don't know if other commissioners would admit it, but I think that's been helpful."

Other commissioners don't even come close to calling Turner "helpful." They say his inability to develop strong ties to staff undermines bright, dedicated managers who do the behind-the-scenes work. "He still thinks he's an outside investigative reporter looking for corruption and changing things," said Commissioner Tony Capizzi, who himself considered a run for mayor last year but bowed out after pressure inside the Democratic party. "He needs to decide he's the mayor and start trusting people."

Capizzi, who contends Turner hasn't accomplished anything so far, said the mayor should stop using a stick and try a carrot. "He's right on a number of issues, but his approach, his style is a problem," Capizzi said. "He's aggressive. Confrontational. Negative. He has a terrible temper."

Commissioner Idotha Bootsie Neal said Turner works hard, but works alone. "There used to be a team camaraderie, a sense that you would go out there and win, win, win, even when faced with crises," she said. "Now, everything is tense and suspicious."

Commissioner Richard Zimmer goes further: He says Turner's inexperience in dealing with staff is paralyzing City Hall. "No one knows which direction to go," he said. "They're afraid to do anything for fear they're going to get reprimanded."
The player
Sitting on his spacious front porch, watching a thunderstorm rage on the dark street, Turner chuckles at the criticisms. He rocks in his glider, shaking his green Polo tennis shoes faster as he warms to his favorite topic: Dayton politics.

"The man on the street doesn't complain that I'm too confrontational," Turner said. "But in the closed, club-like atmosphere that's made up City Hall for so long, my style makes staff and the commission uncomfortable."

Turner, the first Republican mayor since Dave Hall in 1970, feels the three endorsed Democrats on commission are underestimating him again; just as they did last year when all bets were on Richard Clay Dixon, a Democratic incumbent in a town where Republicans are outnumbered 3 to 1.

Unswayed by the odds, Turner set up a Clintonesque campaign "war room" in his house and lobbed verbal grenades at Dixon, who was already under fire for accepting pay from the his full-time job in the Dayton school system for days he traveled as mayor.

The gamble almost didn't pay off: Turner won by just 397 votes - less than 1 percent of the total.

Despite the victory, it's easy to see why people might not take Turner seriously. Even in a conservative navy suit in his downtown law office, Turner still comes off looking like a refugee from a prep-school debate team.

While he appears strait-laced around strangers, Turner demonstrates a quick, wry humor with friends - dishing out the latest gossip from City Hall or playfully (and aptly) comparing bureaucrats to characters in The Jungle Book, his 2-year-old's favorite Disney movie.

To write Turner off as either a wise-cracking Yuppie or a bookish policy-wonk would be a mistake, though. At his core, the man is an intense strategist who is learning to play Dayton politics like a card shark in a high-stakes poker game.

Most of the time, it's impossible to tell when he's bluffing.

Take the very first meeting Turner attended as mayor-elect. On a grey, blustery November day, staff gathered at a University of Dayton conference room and admitted budget projections released before the election were off - by $44 million.

Turner, angry but calm, seized the moment. He proposed bringing in a team of business leaders to examine city spending practices. Some commissioners, defending city staff, balked.

Then Turner laid an ace on the table:

Without an outside audit, he said cooly, he couldn't justify throwing his weight behind a 0.5 percent income tax renewal officials wanted on a March ballot. The mayor's backing for the levy - which brings in about $20 million a year - was critical.

Turner's business group, dubbed the operations improvement task force, received unanimous support.

The mayor used a similar technique to get his way in July, after the acting city manager expressed doubts about balancing the 1994 budget. If Riordan failed to present a budget-balancing plan at a special meeting before the five-member commission, Turner said he would "take action."

It's unclear exactly what action the mayor, who has just one vote, could take. But the week of the meeting, Riordan announced the budget would be balanced.

The battle, which played out in the newspapers and TV news, was classic Mike Turner.

"He painted a picture of doom and gloom and people perceived it as 'here's a tough mayor fixing everything that the public perceives is wrong,' " said Commissioner Neal, who maintains the budget would have been balanced without Turner's theatrics. "He plays politics and he plays it well. "

Turner doesn't just play politics in the public arena.

During the U.S. Air and Trade Show, while other dignitaries posed for the cameras during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Turner quietly lobbied Gov. George Voinovich. He wanted the governor to pressure the Aviation Hall of Fame Board to locate in the downtown Arcade Square, which is still vacant.

"I said, governor, if the Hall of Fame goes to the air force museum, it will not do anything for our community and that's why the state put tax dollars into it," an excited Turner recounted, slapping his palm with the back of his hand for emphasis.

Business leaders would like to see more of that kind of lobbying. David Holmes, president and CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds, a Fortune 500 company, said Turner is obviously bright, but too cautious.

"I look to Mike to increase his role. When he sees a good idea, he needs to jump on it," said Holmes, who serves as co-chairman with Turner on the Downtown Dayton Partnership.

Holmes said having business leaders audit city finances is a good first step for Turner, but he needs to do more. "We can't cost-reduce our way out of where we are," he said. "Clearly, he needs to move forward."

Turner concedes his critics have some valid points. But he defends his willingness to put bureaucrats on the hot seat, saying it is all part of a carefully laid plan.

Turner said his first move was to oust former city manager Rick Helwig, who after 10 years as city manager left his job the week after Turner took office. Then, he wanted to send a signal that staff should take him seriously.

"If I hadn't come in a strong and confident mayor, staff wouldn't be responding," he said.

Now, Turner said, it's critical to bring in an aggressive city manager who will hire a competent team to fill some of the city's top posts. Under Dayton's charter, the mayor and commissioners set policy, but the city manager calls the day-to-day shots.

Turner said he needs someone he can count on to manage the administration, so he can focus on other issues. He wants to put more money into neighborhood development projects and find ways to reopen Arcade Square and Lazarus, two downtown landmarks.

"The problem with staff now is they are sucked into the City Hall culture so much they can't say, 'the king has no clothes,' " Turner said. "I don't have anybody in upper management who is a canary in a coal mine. I want someone I can trust."

The commission hasn't started interviewing candidates for the job yet. But Adams, acting chairman of Wright State' Department of Urban Affairs, said the selection process itself will indicate whether Turner is learning to build consensus.

"If he plays his cards right, he has an opportunity to make a lasting imprint on this city," Adams said. "But he's a long way from passing the test."

CREDIT: MARVIN FONG/DAYTON DAILY NEWS
(#2) Mayor Mike Turner (left) at a commission meeting with Tony Capizzi, who dropped a run for mayor at the request of the county's Democratic Party leaders (B&W)

CREDIT: MARVIN FONG/DAYTON DAILY NEWS
(#3) Mike Turner: 'The man on the street doesn't complain that I'm too confrontational' (B&W)

CREDIT: BILL GARLOW/DAYTON DAILY NEWS
(#4) Idotha Bootsie Neal (B&W)
(#5) Richard Zimmer (B&W)
(#6) Tony Capizzi (B&W)
(#7) Dean Lovelace (B&W)\