Granted, we aren't offering up our children to fight to the death to appease the Capitol.  But otherwise, there are a lot of similarities in how Panem, the nation in The Hunger Games, and Akron operate. Our UPS driver at work will often talk about the streets of Akron. As you can imagine, he is […]

   I have a very difficult time getting signatures to get on the ballot to run for mayor.  In Ohio, if your intention is to really run for political office, just swear your allegiance to the Democratic or Republican Party and you will have a much easier time of things. They need 50 signatures to […]

My heart sunk a little when I heard Eddie Sipplen decided to have Steve Albrecht to be his campaign manager. I really thought Eddie had a campaign manager who was really awesome. If you don't know, Steve Albrecht is the chairman of the family-owned Acme Fresh Market.  Acme operates 15 stores in Summit, Stark, Portage […]

I have gotten to talk to a lot of homeless on this path to being mayor. These people, often forgotten or looked over, are intensely passionate about the City of Akron and it's representatives. You might suspect that they are entirely self-indulgent or only caring about their own personal issues.  You would be wrong. The […]

I was asked a few weeks ago to participate on a panel about the arts in Akron.  I was really excited about that because I have a close relationship with the arts in Akron. I spent all my high school years in the Akron Youth Symphony. I played countless concerts on the E.J. Thomas Hall […]

You can't stand on a street in Akron without meeting a homeless person.  As I've been doing my signatures I've gotten to talk to a lot of homeless people. These conversations are the best part of running for mayor! I wanted to start sharing them with you so you could experience them too. These people typically […]

   This trip to the West has shaped me more than anything I can think of recently in my life.  I've been trying to find the words to describe what I'm feeling.  The word I keep coming back to is: Greatness.  The land. The monuments. The battles. Even the missile silos.  The visions and sheer […]

   Frank Comunale has officially left the race.  You now have 2 candidates for the Democratic primary.  Dan Horrigan - the puppet of the 30 year old Dynasty of greed and corruption that won't let go of Akron. Mike Williams - the candidate that hasn't done anything significant in 20 years at city council.  And […]

   Life. Liberty (freedom). And the pursuit of happiness.  It's very interesting that those three things are presented in that order.  You can't have one without the one before it.  With all my heart, I believe many of our freedoms have been taken from us by the wealthy and powerful.  A perfect example of this […]

   I wish so much you could see what I've seen the last couple weeks.  Yellowstone, The Black Hills, The Badlands. These are places that defy explanation.  No words or pictures tell the story of actually being here.  We are just leaving the Little Bighorn Battlefield area.  This is where Custer's Last Stand occurred.  You […]

I saw someone on Facebook say they were going to decide who to vote for Akron mayor by looking at things like: Who he is married to. How his kids behave and do in school. Where he grew up. Where he went to school. Where he goes to church. I get it. These things can be […]

   As mayor I will definitely continue this daily storytelling of the journey as mayor.  I believe very strongly that elected office is a deep privilege that deserves a deep commitment to the whole community.  To that end I believe the mayor's office has a responsibility of shining a light on all the great things […]

   I can't remember the last time I didn't vote for a Democrat.  There were many elections I just voted down the party line.  But for the Akron mayor election I'm telling you this: Don't vote for a Democrat! About two weeks ago I made up my mind that I was going to endorse a […]

   I think you would have to be pretty tone deaf to not feel how lucky you are to get to spend time in places like: Yellowstone National Park Disney World  The Outer Banks Naples Florida The Bahamas Hawaii  Maybe you have had the opportunity to go to one or more of those places or […]

   I got the opportunity, for the first time in my life, to see Mount Rushmore.  Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt.  It's definitely worth experiencing.  Actually, any national monuments are impressive.  We've recently been over to Washington DC. We took the Capital tour.  American monuments almost universally have one theme: Freedom.  It is the core ingredient […]

   For 15 years of my adult life I've worked in marketing.  A good marketer knows things like: Your strengths Your weaknesses (a lot about your weaknesses) Your insecurities  Your fears Where you shop  Where you went to school  Where you work What TV shows you watch What websites you visit The food you eat […]

   Doesn't it seem odd to you that politicians can't work together? Aren't they the "leaders"? I'm pretty sure I'd get fired from any other job I worked at if I said, "Bob's idea is completely wrong. In fact. I think Bob is trying to intentionally ruin our company." The boss would probably say, "Stop […]

   It is very easy to blame all the country's problems on our government officials.  And in fairness they never take responsibility for anything that goes wrong. And they never ask us to do anything.  The last thing I recall being asked to do was when George Bush told me to go shopping.  We can't […]

I'm writing this from Sparta Wisconsin. It's about 600 miles from Akron.  Last summer Rocky and I put together a plan to do the biggest vacation of our adult lives. We started putting a plan together to go to Yellowstone National Park.  We should be in South Dakota tomorrow.  We'll be checking out the Badlands […]

   We had a really great talk on Facebook today about what the focus of the campaign should be.  A major focus for me is the ages old infrastructure of the 2 party system.  We live in the United States of the 2 Party System.  They hold all the keys. They make all the rules.  […]

   I finished up Mark Maron's interview of Barack Obama today.  Obama was talking about the importance of being succinct in politics.  He said that it's not that people can't understand the complexity of political situations. It's that they don't have time to analyze all the ins and outs of things.  He then referenced the […]

   I'm listening to a podcast with Barack Obama.  He did an interview with Mark Maron.  Mark is a comedian who does a podcast in his garage.  This is interesting on many levels: Garage Comedian  Sitting president  Podcast  Even 6 years ago, when Obama started his presidency, those 4 things coming together would have never […]

There are a lot of drugs being used in Akron. People that don't use illegal drugs often have a disconnect with people that do use illegal drugs. It's a pretty silly separation if you think about it. Heroin is often met with shock and a touch of disgust in certain circles in our community. But […]

One out of every four people living in the U.S. dont have Internet at home. One in four. The White House wants to change this through its new ConnectHome initiative. Its mission: Every child should be given the same opportunity to build a brighter future and to achieve their dreams. This was the very first […]

   I know people don't like change.  It disrupts our lives. It's uncomfortable. You never know what will happen on the other side.  There's no reason to change for change sake.  But I'm here to tell you: We live in a world full of change. One thing is primarily responsible for this: the Internet.  Today […]

   I just got back from the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield.  We're spending the weekend camping at the Shelby / Mansfield KOA.  The movie Shawshank Redemption was filmed there.  Look at this graph from CNN on how much money we spend per inmate versus per student.     From here: For FY 2012, the average […]

 I had a great conversation today with a resident of Cuyahoga Falls.  She said that their mayor suggested everyone in Cuyahoga Falls go meet their neighbor.  What a great idea! She told two stories where by doing that she and her neighbors were able to counteract two potential criminal scenarios.  Working together with your neighbors […]

  Money and politics.  This is the great corruption of America.  Money buys political favors: You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.  Find great political power and I guarantee you will find money hovering around it like bees to honey.  Politicians need the money so they can flood the market with endless advertisements so they […]

  The International Squaters Symbol   Homelessness is a very real problem in Akron.  If you have a better way of solving it I'm all ears.  But I have an idea: What if prequalified homeless were given the opportunity to move into an abandon house or building? They would agree to stay off drugs.  They […]

   I just got back from Eddie Sipplen's fundraiser event.  (For the record, those trying to keep me off the ballot, I didn't donate to him. So you can't try to corner me as a Republican in Independent's clothing. I'm definitely not a Republican.) I've gotten to spend a bit of time with Eddie. I […]