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Mayor Blocks Marines, Gets Flak

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By JOHN SEEWER, The Associated Press

Published: February 14, 2008

TOLEDO, Ohio - Turning away a squad of Marine Corps reservists planning a weekend of training downtown has put this city's mayor in the crossfire of veterans.

Even some supporters wonder what he was thinking.

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner told the Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., to turn around when they hit town Friday, saying he didn't want them scaring unsuspecting visitors and office workers.

City council members have sent an apology to the Marines, and the local visitors bureau offered the unit's 200 members a free hotel stay, restaurant gift certificates and a visit to the zoo.

"I'm shaking I'm so upset," said Ron Hernandez, a former Marine who served in Vietnam. "It's a slap in the face." The mayor said he didn't mean to inconvenience the unit, which had to cancel the exercise and return home.

Yet Finkbeiner - a three-term mayor whose history of gaffes includes considering moving deaf people near the airport to solve noise complaints - said if the Marines try to come downtown, he will close the door in their faces again.

The mayor said he didn't know the city's police department had approved the latest urban warfare training until a few hours before the Marines arrived. Police sent out a news release to the media three days before the Marines arrived, but no one had alerted business owners or residents downtown.

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