R Minus 7; No News2Night; Marriage Politics & Got Safe?

Both AkronNewsNow and the Akron Beacon Journal provided extensive coverage over the weekend of the Mayor Recall race, and with just over a week to go you can expect to see a stronger push from both sides. That'll include saying anything to energize their vote.

At this point, the question isn't what voters think but how many can be counted on to turn thought into a mark on the check box. So far, the conventional wisdom is the Citizens For Akron crowd have done a better job of getting their vote out early.

CFA have performed extremely well in Ward 8, expected to be a stronghold for Mayor Plusquellic's bid to turn aside a recall push his side is already toasting money-wise by 40-to-one. The interesting thing about this election, however, is the sense that big money may not be a big factor. Funny thing about grass roots efforts -- and despite the spin, the ChangeAkronNow folks are grass roots for sure -- is they are not predictable. Nobody really knows for sure just what motivates voters to apply shoe leather on their own to cast their ballot; even in the 2008 highly-hyped Presidential election the actual turnout percentages were higher four years prior.

Likely doesn't translate into for sure, which is why there will be a flood of web postings, emails, news conferences, robocalls, direct mail and photo ops showing either the foot soldiers who wrap themselves in reform or the Administration wanting to be seen as on the job.

Wonder how many events the Plusquellibots and Mendenbots can squeeze in?

The final decision still rests with the votes cast right up to 7:30 p.m. a week from this Tuesday. Early voting continues all week at the Board of Elections 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Saturday and against 8:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. next Monday.

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The timing couldn't have been worse for PBS 45/49, aka Western Reserve Public Media, forced to bump NewsNight Akron from the usual Friday night lineup because of a mandate from the public television network. With a week and a half to go, host Eric Mansfield lined up Akron FOP Lodge 7's president to stop by and explain the vote his members took last week on the recall. No go, not even online, but Eric tells me they did talk with Paul Hlynsky and it's slated to air this Friday.

Among items in my goofy file: the listing of Mansfield in the Citizens For Akron financial report. On WAKR this morning, Eric related how his name also appears with wife Lisa's on their checks; I know, joint checking -- who'd a thunk? So when she signed up for an under-$30 fundraiser because she's running for the Akron School Board and is politically active, the CFA folks gladly took the check but instead of listing her they listed Eric.

This sexism in financial reporting is very common; campaigns (all stripes) will look for the names and addresses on the check when listing a contribution. Enter the CAN conspiracy theorists, who first cried out it showed bias and then switched gears to show sloppy book work from CFA.

I guess anything works to stir up the crowd to close to an election. Memo to any couple who ever thinks about attending a political function: set up separate checking accounts.

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The Downtown Akron Partnership, in the meantime, picked a strange time to circulate a poll asking folks just what they think about safety and security downtown. Crime in Akron is one of those "under the surface" issues getting lots of comments and ink from folks following at home, but it wasn't a major topic addressed by either side in interviews over the weekend. After reading and listening to the respective combatants, and our (the media's) focus on the economy and pure politics at play, maybe you have something to say to the power-that-be that can help track just how the public feels about downtown Akron as a safe place to play.

It's a good idea to get a read on how the true customers of Akron's downtown entertainment offerings feel about the social core of this region. We've seen how center cities can drive perception, and despite the political back and forth on downtown v. neighborhood it doesn't take a rocket scientist to compare the health of cities with more vibrant downtown neighborhoods and the impact it has on quality of life overall. This kind of polling -- asking questions we all ask ourselves -- is invaluable in moving beyond the anecdotes and working on policies to address problems.

The link to the poll in an email says the poll can also be accessed from the Partnership's web site, but I couldn't find it when I checked this afternoon. The Downtown Akron Partnership advises it is in an orange box on the left after a scroll down.