Political Sewage

There's been lots of behind the scene stuff going on this week around Issue 8 -- the proposal by Mayor Plusquellic to lease Akron's sewer system to generate a ton of money to fund college scholarships. It isn't making headlines in part because there's plenty of bigger news going on (economic bailout, debate woes, etc.) but some of the goings-on are worth a look and listen.
To start: the convoluted background political-media mix.

Eric Mansfield and I were chatting after last week's NewsNight Akron program about how we haven't really seen much of a public push in the campaign for Issue 8. It was Eric's observation, actually, about the apparent low profile of the Mayor and how the issue is important enough not to fall through the cracks.

Agreed.

I raised the issue in our newsroom, along with an exchange I'd had with the Mayor's office where I was told by the Mayor (via an intermediate) "...we've been to Ellet, Firestone Park, North, Kenmore, West Akron, PTA's, senior groups, Board of Trades, Urban League, block watch clubs, etc. Those are more legitimate than some orchestrated media event."

Coincidentally, Eric had pretty much the exact same conversation with Mayoral aide Dave Lieberth over the weekend at Lock 3.

Same question, same answer.

Fast forward to our coverage of a public forum on Wednesday by critics of Issue 8, where our reporter Craig Simpson had feet-on-the-ground reporting. Part of his observation was that more than 100 people were in attendance. Others tell the Mayor it was more like 40...which touched off a Plusquellic-as-usual reply when asked about the campaign for Issue 8 by our reporter Lindsay McCoy Friday morning. It's in the player on this AkronNewsNow.com post...unlike other diatribes this one is clean enough for the kids.

Frankly, I'm glad the Mayor is getting out to push his proposal...just as it's a good thing his opponents are doing the same. Leasing out an asset such as Akron's sewer system is too important to leave to 30-second commercials, lawn signs and direct mail. It's a key reason why, since the Mayor made the idea public in his State of the City address last year, we've devoted dozens of stories and plenty of air time on WAKR to bring to light.

We think it's important enough to warrant even more discussion, so we propose an informational forum with all sides and stakeholders welcome to join in an open discussion of the issue and all of the nuances. I've asked Eric to serve as moderator if we can work out the schedule, since (as you can hear) the Mayor clearly has a major problem with anyone named Ed asking questions. We'll open it up to phone lines and questions from a live studio audience, and will clear out commercials for an hour's long live broadcast on WAKR, with the program available online after broadcast.

We're looking at dates now, with a 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. airing either October 21,22,27 or 28 our best hope. We've already verbally extended the invitation to the main players (the Mayor's office and the Citizens to Save Our Sewers group) and will expand that list in the coming weeks.