Category: Blog
-
Day 42 – ConnectHome – On The Road To Mayor
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…
-
Day 41 – Change Is Upon Us – On The Road To Mayor
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…
-
Day 40 – Ohio Prison Facts – On The Road To Mayor
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…
-
Day 39 – Nextdoor – On The Road To Mayor
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…
-
Day 38 – All Hail Wealthy Donors & Power Mongers! – On The Road To Mayor
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…
-
Legalized Squatting & Tent Cities
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…
-
Day 37 – Competition – On The Road To Mayor
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…
-
Plastic Roads
Dutch company, VolkerWessels, has recently come out with a new concept: PlasticRoad. As the Rubber Capital of the World and the Polymer Capital of the World we should be leading this initiative. Akron should be the first city in the world with polymer roads. Here are some features of this road: Can handle -40 degrees Can easily…
-
Day 36 – Doubt – On The Road To Mayor
In the drug world there is something called Suicide Tuesday. It typically happens after a wild Saturday night of partying. Tuesday is the day when it all comes crashing down around you. The strongest drug I’ve taken since 2003 is Diet Coke and hot tea (not at the same time, that’s crazy). The drug…
-
Day 35 – Auctions – On The Road To Mayor
Based on this blog, you might be surprised to know that I actually run several businesses. SageRock is my bread and butter. It’s a digital marketing agency that my wife, Rocky, and I founded in 1999. We moved SageRock from Medina to Akron about 11 years ago. We ran it out of our house,…
-
Day 34 – Getting My Voice – On The Road To Mayor
When I started this journey my position was to give the people of Akron an alternative to the status quo. To the good-old-boy club of Akron Democrats. But saying, “If you don’t like this then we have something else,” isn’t great. Just because it’s different doesn’t make it better. But today I feel much…
-
Day 33 – How Can You Be Mayor If You Don’t Know That? – On The Road To Mayor
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…
-
Day 32 – Who I WISH Was Running For Mayor – On The Road To Mayor
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: Ego-maniacal, self-righteous narcissists. Lifers. People that made a career out of politics. I guess…
-
Day 31 – Getting To Me – On The Road to Akron Mayor
If you’ve been following along you probably know I’ve been spending an increasing amount of time in front of Angel Falls Coffee Shop here in Akron. I spend a couple hours nearly every day standing in front of my truck talking to people. Sometimes I go 2 or 3 times a day. I’ve got…
-
The 1000 Business Challenge
As soon as I’m mayor we will begin a challenge to get 1000 new startup businesses in Akron in the first 2 years I am mayor. People will be able to submit their business ideas and then these people will be assigned to business advocates that will help make these into real, fully functioning businesses. …
-
State & Federal Mass Transit Funding
We need to look very intensely at what grants and funds are available for mass transit and bike routes. We likely don’t have a lot of extra money in the budget for these things. But there is very likely money available that we could use.
-
The Urban Garden Initiative
Akron already has some really cool urban gardens. We need to look at all the places we can put more urban gardens. Green space is critical to slowing water runoff during storms. We can let the community vote on the most beautiful gardens.