City of Toledo - Mayoral Papers

The city of Toledo was incorporated on January 7, 1837, and in March of that same year the first city elections for mayor and city council were held. The city from that time until 1936 possessed this "strong mayor" form of government, whereby the mayor served as the chief city executive and administrator. In 1933 Socialist-Independent mayoral candidate Solon T. Klotz was elected mayor. The deepening depression and financial crisis in the city caused many Toledoans to believe Klotz incapable of managing the mayor's office. A charter commission was formed in 1934 to amend the city charter so as to change the city's government into a City Manager form of governance. Voters approved the changes that November and starting January 1, 1936, made "the mayor the presiding officer over council with no power of veto, and also making him the ceremonial...head of the city government." This "weak mayor plan" of city government remained until 1992 when the City Manager position was abolished and the "strong mayor plan" of government was reinstated.

List of previous mayors:

Years Mayor Party 1934-1935 Solon T. Klotz Socialist-Independent 1936-1939 Roy C. Start Republican 1940-1942 John Q. Carey Democrat-Independent 1943-1947 Lloyd E. Roulet Republican 1948-1950 Michael V. DiSalle Democrat

Solon T. Klotz (1866-1948) was a Toledo native who at the age of 16 enlisted in the 16th Ohio National Guard Regiment where he served for five years. At the age of 21 he joined the circus and traveled the country as "The Boy Wonder Musician." After his stint with the circus Klotz became a clerk in the Central Post Office in Toledo where he worked 20 years before commencing to study law at the University of Toledo. He graduated from there in 1903 and that same year passed the state bar examination. He began practicing law in Toledo and also became the leader of the city's Socialist Party. During this time he helped organize the Businessmen's Club which later became the Chamber of Commerce. He tried unsuccessfully for public office, but during the height of the depression won the mayor's seat defeating incumbent Republican Addison Q. Thatcher. Klotz served a "tempestuous 2-year career as Mayor of Toledo." Recall petitions began circulating six months after his election as citizens were upset about the wide scale layoffs of police and fire personnel in Klotz's efforts to balance the city's budget. A charter commission was created and a City Manager form of government was adapted in 1934 to replace the mayor as chief executive and administrative city head. Klotz ran for city council in 1935 but was defeated. Shortly after that he retired from public life.

Roy C. Start (1877-1956) graduated from Ohio Northern University in 1899 and shortly thereafter moved from his home in Bucyrus to Toledo. He became a clerk in a drug store and a year later in 1902 opened his own drug store. Later he opened two more drug stores in the city. In 1935 he was elected to city council and was also elected mayor by the newly rechartered city council. He served as the first mayor under the City Manager government. Two years later he was re-elected to his council position and consequently re-elected mayor. Start announced that he would not seek re-election to a third term on council in 1939.

John Q. Carey (1905-1958) attended Central Catholic High School where he graduated class valedictorian in 1923. Following graduation he attended the University of Norte Dame where he went to law school. He graduated from there in 1927 and returned to Toledo to practice law. In 1932, at the age of 26, he was elected to the state legislature and served on the Banks and Banking Committee, the Building and Loan Committee and the Taxation Committee. Four years later he was elected to Toledo's City Council where he became chairmen of the Public Utilities Committee. In 1940 Carey was elected mayor at the age of 34 and became the youngest mayor in Toledo's history. During his mayoral administration he oversaw the city's switch from the Maumee River filtration plant to the Lake Erie water supply. He also, headed the organization for defense aid following the outbreak of World War II, served as vice president of the Ohio League of Municipalities, and attended as a delegate to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Carey resigned the mayor's position on November 9, 1942, to become judge of the Common Pleas Court. He was re-elected to that position in 1944, 1950 and 1956. He was still holding the judgeship when he died abruptly on January 6, 1958 at the age of 52 due to cancer.

Lloyd E. Roulet (1891-1985) began his political career in 1939 when he was elected to city council. From that time forth he served 18 consecutive years. In 1942 when John Q. Carey resigned Roulet was elevated to the mayor's position and continued to hold that position until 1948. In that year Michael DiSalle defeated him by a 5-4 vote. The same vote defeated Roulet in 1950 to Ollie Czelusta, but he accepted the vice mayor's position. In 1952 he regained the mayor's office receiving six votes. During his two terms as mayor Roulet helped form the Board of Community Relations and the Labor-Management Citizens' Committee. He was an avid supporter of the City Manager position and did everything he could to strengthen and improve that office. Roulet was also a major player in the development of the Toledo Express Airport. In 1957 Roulet retired from council to continue management of the Roulet Company, which manufactured jewelry in the City of Toledo. In 1959, though, he became president of the Toledo City Manager League. Roulet was known as "Mr. Toledo Mason" by many because he was an active and long time member of the Masons until his death in 1985.

Michael V. DiSalle (1908-1981) came to Toledo when he was just three years old. DiSalle graduated from Central Catholic High School and put himself through Georgetown University where he graduated in 1931 with a law degree. He served in the Ohio House in 1937 and was defeated for an Ohio Senate seat in 1938. He then worked as an assistant city law director until his election to city council in 1941. In 1943 he became vice-mayor and in 1947 was elected to the mayoral position. While on council he attended a record 367 consecutive council meetings. During his time in the mayor's position DiSalle initiated the city payroll-income tax which helped make the city of Toledo debt free. In 1948 he started the nationwide "Letters for Democracy" campaign that encouraged Italian-Americans to write to Italians in favor of democracy. This campaign has been credited to preventing a Communist electoral victory in the 1948 Italian elections. He also served as chairmen of the advisory board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In 1950 he resigned to become Director of Price Stabilization in Washington D.C. In 1956 he ran for governor of the state of Ohio and was defeated by C. William O'Neill. Two years later he ran again and was elected to a four year term. He ran for re-election in 1962 but was defeated by James A. Rhodes. DiSalle remained active in politics until his death in 1981.