Citizens for Fairborn's Future

Citizens for Fairborn's Future We are Fairborn citizens and citizen journalists dedicated to ensuring quality city and school leadership.

All original article content here is subject to copyright. Karen Combs is Editor, working closely with a team of researchers and sources.

Long overdue follow-up.....my letter to Council today....click pics to fully open. - KC
05/31/2026

Long overdue follow-up.....my letter to Council today....click pics to fully open. - KC

Urgent: Not really feeling up this, but.... Vote NO and HELL NO on the Fairborn City Charter Amendment tomorrow!Don't be...
05/04/2026

Urgent:
Not really feeling up this, but....
Vote NO and HELL NO on the Fairborn City Charter Amendment tomorrow!
Don't believe the misinformation floating around! This amendment does NOT recall anyone from Council!
This is an Amendment to our recall procedures that will make it HARDER for Citizens to recall a Council member!
Instead of sticking to state law requirements-- which many already deem to be "nearly impossible," this sickening amendment DOUBLES them!
Send this wretched Council back to the drawing board!!

02/03/2026

Tonight's Council meeting was an SNL skit. Stay tuned.

I know many in Fairborn are profoundly concerned about our lack of quality Council candidates. Are you thinking of runn...
01/31/2026

I know many in Fairborn are profoundly concerned about our lack of quality Council candidates. Are you thinking of running? It takes time to develop a good campaign. Start now. Here are my top 10 tips for possible candidates:

1. Have a stable employment and financial history. Don't have a criminal record (every time we "excuse away" that one, we definitely get burned!).

2. Vote. Have a consistent voting record.

3. Do good. Be active in a City committee, Civic organization or non-profit.

4. Be good. Behave yourself in public. Speak positively of the town and those whose votes you seek. Elected officials and candidates are held to a higher standard. If you're out being drunk and obnoxious, you can't be taken seriously. If you give a speech attacking the town, you lose ALL respect.

5. Regularly attend Council meetings and Work Sessions. Study the issues. Prepare worthwhile comments and speak during public comment time so you get public speaking practice.

6. Develop your own policy ideas and plans for projects.

7. Communicate your ideas by using social media responsibly. Immature statements and offensive memes are not candidate-worthy. I find almost no value in costly yard signs or mailers. This is a new time and thoughtful communication is best. Avoid AI to write posts or speeches. It's easy to spot someone using it because it's all word salad. That makes you automatically seem insincere.

8. Attend community events and get used to meeting new people.

9. Seek volunteers among your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Make the most of their unique talents. Although Council is "non-partisan" (as if!), it helps to have the support of a party if you belong to one.

10. If you dramatically fail in steps 1-9, have the integrity to apologize and step aside. You're reflecting badly on your supporters and harming the town we love. Politics isn't for everyone!

01/31/2026

I'm running a bit behind editing the final two parts of the Oz series, but hope they'll be up this weekend. 🥶
The next Council meeting is Monday, 2/2 at 6pm.

The ONLY Council member who follows up with citizen concerns!
01/30/2026

The ONLY Council member who follows up with citizen concerns!

01/28/2026

CRAZY COLD: You can find many adjectives to describe this tonight! The coldest part of the night will be around Midnight before clouds roll in. However, with strong wind gusts, we find wind chills potentially approaching -30 degrees early on in the overnight period. For reference, we might see 1 day per year on average with wind chills reaching -30 in Dayton. That puts the severity level of this cold into perspective!

- 8:30 PM 1/26/26

Part 2 of 4.... We ain't in Kansas anymore but Professor Marvel's crystal ball predicts astonishing feats of "legal" con...
01/28/2026

Part 2 of 4....

We ain't in Kansas anymore but Professor Marvel's crystal ball predicts astonishing feats of "legal" contortion and disappearing rules for the Chess ARPA application!

Editor's Note: In my experience, CFFF has two basic types of readers (some are a combo platter, lol): the ones who enjoy my snarky take on our corrupt city and those who are "just the facts ma'am." I juggle to keep everyone happy. With the ARPA grant shenanigans, this part will be my trademark acerbic "summary." Fact-based with wee a bit of satire. Parts 3 and 4 tomorrow will be all the letters/"receipts"/proof backing up my bad attitude. 😂 Here....we....go....

Let's review the ARPA grant "eligibility requirements" versus the City Attorney's magical analysis. Did he go to law school at Hogwart's?

Requirement #1: The business operates from a commercial location in the City of Fairborn, OH.

Abracadabra Analysis: The business need not have a commercial location in Fairborn. Thinking about having a business is good enough. Talking to realtors about possible locations is more than enough. In fact, if you once daydreamed about owning a bakery in the 7th grade, welcome to your ARPA grant.

Location is kinda subjective, don't ya think? You have a business in Texas? Perfect! Texas....Fairborn....what's the difference really? Location, like our grant requirements, are subject to magical interpretation!

Oh, you didn't actually have a business in Texas either? No problemo! Let's just pretend I never gave that as an excuse for how you'd qualify! Now watch while I gaslight everyone about my 2023 "legal opinion" with a whole paragraph about your Texas business! P**f! Like it never even happened.

Requirement #2: The business must have been in operation on January 1, 2020.

Abracadabra Analysis: You didn't have a registered business or a commercial location anywhere until July 1, 2020? Well, we're not quantum physicists, how can we really understand time?

And what do we mean by "in operation" anyway? After all, you had a sketch on a cocktail napkin in December of 2019! Where's the humanity? Doesn't that count for something?

3. The business must have been fully open and operating as of November 1, 2021.

Abracadabra Analysis: whew, you actually meet that requirement so now we will suddenly accept the traditional meaning of "open" and "operational." Our acceptance of language is fully conditional on our need to stretch it for you.

Requirement #4: The business is not a franchise.

Abracadabra Analysis: you actually meet that requirement too! Though I really can't understand why no one franchised a closed commercial building....seems like a goldmine!

Requirement #5: The business must be in good standing with City tax payments and regulations.

Abracadabra Analysis: Oh, you didn't even have some permits until some annoying page asked for them? Lift rug, sweep under. As for attaching tax returns, we were just kidding about all that!

Requirement #6: The business has experienced 25-80% loss in revenue between the end of calendar year 2020 and 2021. Tax returns MUST be submitted as documentation of revenue loss.

Abracadabra Analysis: Paperwork, schmakerwork. We don't have ANY tax returns to produce for your business nor ANY proof of losses? Can't you people take a joke? I mean "MUST" is such a neofascist word, isn't it?

Sure, the grants were intended to help those impacted by Covid, but you know what they say about good intentions....

Requirement #7: The business has gross receipts of no less than $50,000 and no more than $1 million.

Abracadabra Analysis: You can't report revenues from an imaginary business. And if you made nothing during Covid and lost nothing during Covid, what could you possibly report? Now give her the $10k!!

Requirement #8: The business has fewer than 200 employees.

We can give her that one. Owners aside, it had no employees to my knowledge.

By my count, Chess failed to meet FIVE of the EIGHT "eligibility requirements."

There is something quite, quite, WRONG with this, folks!

Finally, there was a requirement that if a grant recipient was employed by OR ELECTED to a city office during the grant period (which just ended on 12/31/25), the grant must be repaid. McNamee's reply: I'm not going to "claw it back."

How much special treatment can one person get while countless others suffered?

Part 1 of 4We represent the Lollipop Guild and Fake Grant Requirements...To apply for an ARPA or Covid-relief grant, Fai...
01/28/2026

Part 1 of 4

We represent the Lollipop Guild and Fake Grant Requirements...

To apply for an ARPA or Covid-relief grant, Fairborn businesses were given a list of 8 "eligibility requirements." See pic in the comment section.

Were these enforced? No. Not even close.

Why does it matter?

Many businesses did not apply because they knew they didn't meet these "requirements." In fact, CFFF has heard from and about SEVERAL long-term businesses who suffered greatly during Covid but never got assistance.

After all, if the NBA is recruiting for male, 6'8"+ skilled basketballers, I'm not going to put my hat in the ring.

But what if I told you those "requirements" were all fake? What if I told you they'd magically disappear with a top hat full of excuses and "legal" illusions by City Attorney Michael McNamee? And what if I told you they did all that to protect an elected official?

Yep, in a nutshell, many Fairborn businesses got screwed. Does the Lollipop Guild care at all? Have they no shame?

Well, CFFF has investigated the ARPA grant awarded to Councilwoman Sylvia Chess for years. And we finally got an answer from McNamee to our latest public records request. And you're simply not gonna believe it. Stay tuned as the next 3 articles will expose the despicable hat tricks. Keep a barf bag handy.

Editor's Note: I originally published this briefly a while ago, taking it down at the request of the victim while she d...
01/26/2026

Editor's Note: I originally published this briefly a while ago, taking it down at the request of the victim while she decided if she wanted to proceed. Once she did, I was in a bit of a health struggle. But now I'm trying to catch up and need to share this...

Writing this article fills me with dismay but I feel strongly that my fellow citizens deserve the truth, even when it reflects badly on my judgment too. That's the integrity I promise here.

I'm not going to use the victim's name. She knows that she is free to step forward if she chooses.

I was sent a couple videos of former City Council candidate Jimmy Baker behaving in an unacceptable - no, downright despicable and menacing manner - in a local business. This is someone I backed and considered a friend. The victim is also someone I regard as a friend. My stomach literally turned.

It is important to note that I had made the decision to cut ties with Baker weeks before the videos surfaced, for unrelated reasons. Suffice it to say I began seeing traits which unraveled my once- positive impression. Maybe God was giving me that gut instinct to run before the lightning hits.

What I observed on the videos was a seemingly quite intoxicated guy verbally attacking a woman -- bullying her, belittling her, cursing at her -- as she sat alone. The ultimate in creepy conduct. And all the while, he was filming her. You even hear the business owner telling him to stop, to "grow up." It made me sick, sad and mad.

I reached out to the victim and she said his tirade had gone on for several minutes before she picked up her phone to record him back. He made even more disturbing remarks before that point.

I will never support this man for public office again and deeply regret doing so. I had hoped that having someone with years of business experience would be good for Fairborn. I thought he was a good guy. I simply had no idea about his true colors.

As another political pal says "they're our candidate until they're not." What a pity. Never in a million years did I think I would see him act in such an awful, childish and vile manner.

It sickens me now to see him repeatedly stand up and demand an apology from Councilwoman Chess. Yes, her public words were slanderous and awful. But you only get to take the high road, Jimmy, when you saddle up to ride on it yourself.

As for me, I apologize for thinking he was a different person than the one he turned out to be. Prayers to the victim. You are the opposite of all the things he called you. Chin up. -Karen Combs

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