Michael Bell (mayor)

Michael P. Bell (born 1955) is a former Mayor of Toledo, Ohio who took office on January 4, 2010 and served until January 4, 2014. Bell previously served as Toledo Fire Chief and State Fire Marshal.[2]

Michael P. Bell
Mayor of Toledo, Ohio
Mayor of Toledo, Ohio
In office
January 4, 2010 – January 4, 2014
Preceded byCarleton "Carty" S. Finkbeiner
Succeeded byD. Michael Collins
Personal details
Born1955 (age 64–65)
Louisiana[1]
Political partyIndependent
ResidenceToledo, Ohio, United States
Alma materUniversity of Toledo

Early career

His career in Public Service began in 1980 when he joined the Toledo Department of Fire and Rescue as a firefighter and later became a certified paramedic/EMT. In 1990, he was appointed as Chief of the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department, the first African American as well as the youngest person ever to lead the department. He remained in that position for over 16 years. Under his leadership the TFD earned the prestigious honor of Accreditation by the Commission on Fire Accreditation, a certification held by only the most elite fire departments.[3] He is a member of the International Fire Chief's Association and received the President's Award for his efforts for diversification.[4]

State Fire Marshal

In 2007, he was appointed as State Fire Marshal by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. In that position he implemented the "Everyone Goes Home" program, stressing firefighter safety. That program earned the Seal of Excellence Award from the Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program.[3]

Mayor of Toledo
Michael Bell dining with President Barack Obama at Rudy's Hot Dog in 2011.

In 2009, Bell ran as an independent in Toledo's mayoral election. He ran against attorney Keith Wilkowski, a Democrat. Bell defeated Wilkowski on the November 3 election by a margin of only 2% and was sworn in on January 4, 2010. He was the second African-American mayor in the city's history.

In 2013, Bell again ran for mayor, however, his opponent, Councilman D. Michael Collins, won the mayor's race by a margin of 56.5% to 43.5%.

The unofficial vote was 28,002 for Mr. Collins and 21,535 for Mr. Bell. Turnout was 25.4 percent of registered voters in the city. [5]

Bell officially ended his term as Mayor of Toledo on January 4, 2014.

gollark: Actually, you probably could check if it's green or not as a reasonable heuristic.
gollark: It's not like detecting if something isn't a plant is trivial either.
gollark: But… why?
gollark: Er. Probably not horrible? I think the hardest bit would be recognising animals.
gollark: Also please use screenshots.

References
  1. "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.com.
  2. "Mayor's Office". City of Toledo. 2010-01-04. Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  3. "Mayor's Office". City of Toledo.
  4. http://iis.stat.wright.edu/sos/archive_SOS_2010/bio_Presenters/Michael_Bell.htm
  5. "Collins defeats incumbent Toledo Mayor Bell". Toledo Blade.
Political offices
Preceded by
Carty Finkbeiner		 Mayor of Toledo
2010–2014		 Succeeded by
D. Michael Collins
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