Why We're Asking You to Send a Digital Letter to Your Commissioners:

A letter sent directly to an elected official is a formal, on-the-record, communication that commissioners and their staff must acknowledge. This work started long before this year, and this letter outlines many of the reasons we have a lack of confidence in our current City Manager Shelley Dickstein and why we need our elected Commissioners to appoint a City Manager who truly supports our neighborhoods.

What Is a City Manager?

Dayton is a "Commission-Manager Plan" government, meaning the City Manager, NOT the Mayor or Commissioners, runs daily operations. She manages nearly 2,000 employees, controls City departments, and signs contracts using your tax dollars. When services fail and neighborhoods suffer, she is responsible. Shelley Dickstein has held this role since 2016.

Why Dickstein Must Go:

• Lack of transparency and accountability in major decisions, including the execution of 223 contracts totaling $3.5 million without Commission approval or accessible public visibility, and the advancement of a $1.4 million property purchase without an appraisal, competitive bidding, or adequate public notice.

• Pattern of limiting public input, including the historical use of “emergency” budget designations to restrict meaningful review, and the recent police chief appointment process that failed expectations for transparency and community engagement.

• Hinders oversight and reporting of surveillance technology, including the failure to appropriately limit the use of automatic license plate readers for immigration enforcement, and the procurement of a new gunshot detection technology after canceling the ShotSpotter contract.

• Ongoing inequities in economic development and neighborhood investment, with 1 in 10 Dayton homes needing major repairs, and a 2023 citywide survey finding 1 in 3 residents unsatisfied with housing conditions in their neighborhood.

• Allowed hazardous debris and structural remnants to remain unaddressed after fires or building collapses, with no visible enforcement action, public communication, or accountability for property owners despite prolonged community concern; examples include the Cornell Meat King Supermarket, the Hewitt Soap Factory and the building adjacent to Gem City Market on Salem Ave.

• Poor stewardship of land and community assets, as demonstrated by the desire to develop Knoop Prairie in 2019, and allowing long term vacancy and demolition of architecturally significant properties, such as Schwind and Dayton Daily news building at 4th and Ludlow.

Individually, each of these issues raises concern. Collectively, they point to a leadership approach that has not met the standards of accountability, transparency, and inclusive governance that residents expect and deserve.