That was my niece's response when I asked her if they still made juice boxes.
"How can you be mayor if you don't know if they still make juice boxes?"
I get that question every so often about various things.
It's usually in a statement that feels like I'm not smart enough to be mayor.
"You should let the pros handle running things."
This is interesting to me because these are often the exact same people you'll see saying on Facebook, "Vote them all out!"
It just feels like a perpetual anger and frustration of the entire political scene.
Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.
I get it. The system is broken and there isn't a clear way to fix it.
That's the foundation of everything I believe in for this campaign.
Yes. The current system is broken. But I have an idea for how we can fix it.
I believe our political leaders are faithful to their party, not the people.
They are committed to the party because they owe the party. The party is responsible for them getting to where they are. So when the party says jump they ask how high.
We can fix the system by politicians only being committed to you, the people.
The only thing I'm committed to is you. I owe you. You are responsible for me getting to where I am.
And I have to say: I'm much further ahead because of you than I ever thought I'd get.
I will always owe you and be true to you. And only you.
Are there going to be things I won't know the answers to? Sure. But I guarantee everyone in this race has no idea how to be mayor.
The pros will just push that message out through their surrogates that I don't have experience.
News flash: either do they.
A council person isn't a mayor. A lawyer isn't a mayor. A Clerk of Courts isn't a mayor.
Just because a flight attendant works on a plane doesn't mean they know how to fly the plane.
Our government is built on the idea that we aren't supposed to be career politicians. We do our service and we go back to private lives.
Do you want that or not?
The City of Akron is made up of departments. The departments consist of:
These are the actual professionals. These people are hired because they have actual experience in how to make their part of the city run great. They make sure the machine of the city keeps running smoothly. Not the mayor.
This is how government works in America.
The President of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military ever. They are the person that exercises supreme operational command and control of our nation's military forces.
This might surprise you: most of our presidents don't know the first thing of running a military. That doesn't make them bad or good at the job. Their character determines their success.
Being governor or mayor is exactly the same thing. Just on a much smaller scale.
If you believe in the European philosophy that politicians should spend their entire life in politics then please vote for one of the 3 lifelong politicians of the Democratic Party that are running for mayor.
If you believe in the optimistic American political philosophy that the people are able to govern themselves then vote for someone other than those 3. (Maybe me.)
But here's the thing. If you want a politician that is true to you and not the party then it is you that has to make it happen.
I can only win if you make it happen.
If you want to take control of your government, take control!
Make me mayor and I will give all the control back to you, the people of Akron.
How can you help?
I'm so glad you asked.
The best thing you can do is share any of these stories on your favorite social media site. This is the donation I really need you to make.
Just ask people to check out what I'm writing about.
If you really want to go above and beyond, print something from this site and give it to some friends or leave it in a library or coffee shop or pin it to a bulletin board.
This is how we will win.
Your voice is more powerful than all the money in the world. It is more powerful than any political party.
We live in the greatest time in history for empowering the people.
You are united now. There is no longer any party, company or organization that has the power you have today. You just have to see it and take it.
Together you can completely change the world.
Paid For By The People for Sage Lewis