I'm not sure what I thought other candidates would be like when I got into this race. But I'm pretty sure it's not what I'm finding.
From what I can see, there are 2 types of people that run for mayor:
I guess I'm in the first group.
The conversations I've had with other candidates have been unlike the vast majority of conversations I've had in my life.
Shake their hand and good luck ever getting a word in edgewise. You will feel like you are in a battle of words if you want to say anything. My recommendation is to just not saying anything because they probably won't be listening anyway.
It's pretty depressing actually.
But then I got to think who I wish I was running against. You may have people you know that you'd like to see run and they are probably great. But these are just some people I think would be good.
Tony Troppe - He's a nice guy with a lot of experience working on revitalizing Akron. He's strong-willed and probably would not be easily pushed around.
Brian Deagan - He's a really interesting guy with a strong entrepreneurial background. He has a ton of energy and would probably get a lot of really innovative things done in the city.
Jasen Sokol - He hosts a talk radio show at WAKR. He discusses and thinks about a lot of issues in Akron. He is probably one of the more knowledgeable people about Akron.
Kurt A. Minson - He is really knowledgeable about Akron and politics in general. He has a lot of experience in business and crosses over many traditional social boundaries.
I wish Kristie VanAuken, the Chief Marketing Officer of Akron Canton Airport, would move to Akron so she could run for mayor. She has boundless energy, is a serious executive but also highly approachable. She would be amazing.
But that's not the kind of line up you have.
Maybe we can get some of those people above to run next time. Although, I'm pretty sure each one of them would probably tell you there is no chance in hell they'd get into politics. They're too busy getting stuff done.
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