Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is a city in southwestern Ohio, United States with a population of 166,179 (2000). It is the county seat and largest city of Montgomery County. The Greater Dayton area or Dayton metropolitan area encompasses a number of contiguous communities outside Dayton city proper, including Vandalia, Trotwood, Kettering, Centerville and Beavercreek, with a population of 848,153 (2000). Dayton is situated within the Miami Valley region of Ohio, just north of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.

Political structure

In 1913, Dayton became the first city in the United States to adopt the council-manager system of city government. In this system, the mayor is merely the chairperson of the city commission and has one vote on the commission just like the other commissioners. The commission chooses a city manager, who holds administrative authority over the city government.

Related Topics:
1913 - Council-manager system of city government

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As of November 2004:

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• Dayton City Commission:
• Mayor Rhine L. McLin (D)
• Dean A. Lovelace (D)
• Richard A. Zimmer (D)
• Joey D. Williams (D)
• Matt Joseph (D)
• City Manager: James T. Dinneen
• Clerk of Courts: Mark Owens (D)

Dayton Municipal Court

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• Presiding Judge John S. Pickrel (D)
• Administrative Judge James F. Cannon (D)
• Judges:
• Daniel G. Gehres (D)
• Bill C. Littlejohn
• Carl S. Henderson (D)

Dayton City Schools Board of Education

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• Gail A. Littlejohn, president
• L. Anthony Hill, vice president
• Clayton R. Luckie III, parlimentarian
• Ann Marie Gallin
• E. Doniece Gatliff
• Yvonne V. Isaacs
• Tracy L. Rusch
• List of mayors of Dayton, Ohio
• List of City Commissioners of Dayton, Ohio
• Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio
• Election Results, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio (Primary Election)
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, City Commission (Primary Election)
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court Judge
• Election Results, Dayton, Ohio, Municipal Court Clerk

Urban design and architecture

Unlike many Midwestern cities of its age, Dayton has very broad and straight downtown streets (generally two full lanes in each direction), facilitating access to the downtown even after the automobile became popular. The main reason for the broad streets was that Dayton was a marketing and shipping center from its beginning: streets were broad to enable wagons drawn by teams of three to four pairs of oxen to turn around. In addition, some of today's streets were once barge canals flanked by draw-paths.

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A courthouse building was constructed in downtown Dayton 1888 to supplement Dayton's original Grecian-style courthouse, which still stands. This second, "new" courthouse has since been replaced with new facilities as well as a park.

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