Day 106: I'm Out and I'm Sorry - On The Road To Mayor

The verdict was decided today by the Summit County Board of Elections: Not enough of my 1086 signatures were deemed valid.

Most of the reasons were either because they:

Weren't registered.
Not the correct address.

That was the fatal flaw of my strategy. Most of my time was spent with the homeless. Apparently they have a hard time remembering if they were officially registered as a voter or where they lived when they were registered.

I have a very difficult time with accepting defeat. I always like to play to win.

But mostly I'm really sorry that I let you down.

I had big plans of trying to get people excited about the election. About trying to bring the values of Bernie Sanders to the Akron mayoral race.

I wanted to give you something that is new and interesting to vote for (or even against). I just wanted to give you another option for mayor.

I also wanted to give a voice to the issues so often ignored or sidelined:

27% poverty.
Less jobs in Summit County than in the year 2000.
Countless abandoned homes.
Countless homeless people.

I wanted to be a voice for the voiceless.

And I'm sorry to say but I suspect those issues will largely disappear from this mayoral race.

You will hear a lot about:

Water and sewer bills increasing.
Watching what the EPA decides to approve with our sewer system.
Getting an Arena.
Increasing property taxes.

Those will be the big talking points until November.

But I don't believe this is the end for me.

In many ways I think this is just the beginning. In fact, running for mayor will likely become a footnote in where I think we can go from here.

Not being on the ballot for mayor frees me to do many things that would not be "mayoral."

You should know that I'm a huge fan of Nonviolent Civil Disobedience.

I very well might be able to raise awareness on the issues that are important to me better than if I was running for mayor.

We simply cannot have the epidemic we have of poverty, homelessness and abandoned homes that we have.

This is where I'm heading next.

Being on this journey has opened my eyes to many things in Akron that aren't right.

I feel like I have a new found awareness and cause for my life.

So, again, I'm sorry I failed you. That was not my intention.

But please don't write me off. Together I truly believe we can do some amazing things on our own, outside of government.

Thank you for all of your love and support. That was the most overwhelming part of all this. You all are so amazing.

Please keep an eye out for where we can go next. I think it might even be cooler than from where we came.

I love you,

Sage

Photo by Shane Wynn.