Turner-Sloss, who is finishing her first term on the city commission, earlier this year jumped into the mayoral race to take on Jeffrey Mims Jr., who served two terms on the commission before being elected to the city’s highest office.
Turner-Sloss first won her seat four years ago, which is when Mims was elected mayor.
Turner-Sloss and Mims are facing off at the polls for the second time in eight years. They both were part of a four-candidates-for-two-seats city commission race in 2017, with Mims finishing second and getting elected, while Turner-Sloss finished fourth.
Turner-Sloss and Mims are used to getting into political fights, having occasionally battled it out on the dais at City Hall.
Turner-Sloss and Commissioner Darryl Fairchild at times have disagreed with the three other members of the commission (Mayor Mims and Commissioners Matt Joseph and Chris Shaw), which led to divided votes.
Multiple speakers at Turner-Sloss’ kickoff event on Thursday pointed out that control of commission is at stake at this election. Turner-Sloss is running with Fairchild, who is seeking reelection, along with Jacob Davis, a local attorney who hopes to win her commission seat.
Mayor Mims supports and is campaigning with commission candidates Darius Beckham (his former aide) and Karen Wick (a current Dayton Public Schools Board of Education member).
“We have a chance to take three seats,” Commissioner Fairchild told the crowd of more than 75 people at Thursday’s event. “It’s an opportunity that Dayton hasn’t seen in a long time. ... I hope that you understand the importance of that.”
Mayor Mims told this newspaper that he’s very proud of the work the city has done over the last four years to make Dayton a great place to live, work, play, get an education and grow old.
“Despite facing big challenges, we’ve made serious strides forward,” he said.
The mayor said the city has torn down hundreds of vacant and blighted buildings while also helping build new housing. He said the city has helped many new businesses open and helped existing companies expand, creating thousands of good jobs. He said the city has made major investments in public safety, including starting construction on a new police station in West Dayton.
“Tackling the challenges facing Dayton isn’t easy and there is a lot more work to do, but we are making serious progress,” Mims said. “We aren’t focused on grandstanding and politics, we are focused on results. I’m running for reelection to keep fighting for stronger neighborhoods, better housing, and a safer city.”
Turner-Sloss at Thursday’s event said she and Commissioner Fairchild had to fight to bring transparency to the city budget process and secure $1 million in funding for youth programming.
She said they were responsible for getting the city to approve its first-ever housing policy framework, which will be a roadmap to addressing the city’s growing housing crisis.
“And that was just the start,” she said. “Imagine what else we can do together to make Dayton a place where people are no longer surviving, but actually thriving.”
Turner-Sloss said she did not make the decision to run for mayor lightly. She was the top vote-getter out of four candidates in the 2021 city commission race.
She said Daytonians deserve healthy and sustainable communities and that the city’s poverty rate is far too high. She said the city must increase median income, improve housing conditions, support more programs that assist with homeownership and build more affordable housing.
Turner-Sloss said as mayor, she would be a “thought leader,” “community creator” and problem solver. She said she wants to make the city a safer place that offers high-quality recreation and entertainment and that attracts and nurtures people who want to grow their families.
“Consider my mayoral candidacy a bold move and possibly even a gamble — and I do not gamble, I keep my money," she said. “However, I am willing to take that risk because I know Dayton deserves to fly, and bold leadership is what is needed during these critical times.”
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