Playing Nice

Today's been an interesting day; at this point 24 hours ago, the Mayor's office was pushing their side in a campaign battle of words (not a war yet; two months until the elections) over jobs and then new police chief James Nice grabbed a headline.

Or two. Or three.

The Chief, who served as a F.B.I. agent prior to retirement from the federal service and taking the top cop job here, called New Franklin PD Sunday night after someone tossed a sledgehammer through the window into a bedroom of his home. We should note the Chief doesn't live in Akron, but instead lives in the New Franklin jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction part of the story is what has folks in a Twitter. Following their response to the call, which Chief Nice notes was appropriate (they were "real nice and looked around," per a single-page report to Akron Law Director Cheri Cunningham) he called APD and asked if a detective and crime scene crew could review. A supervisor, Nice reports, suggested an overnight detail to watch his home if anyone came back with more than a sledgehammer.

New Franklin PD tells AkronNewsNow.com they came back the next day to review the case, but were turned away from Akron PD members working the scene. Ironically, this is the kind of jurisdiction flap that usually involves state or national (like the F.B.I.) fighting with local police. It's important to note that while Akron police have mutual aid compacts with neighboring departments, there doesn't seem to be a call for mutual assistance.

Chief Nice seems to have a better understanding of the jurisdiction can of worms he's opened by inviting his officers to New Franklin, instead of calling the Summit County Sheriff. I'm guessing the propriety of using Akron city resources (the time spent by APD officers) on a case outside the city limits will be reviewed as well, overtime or not. Use of city resources outside the city limits usually doesn't set well with auditors for one, and taxpayers for another. Ask any road supervisor using city crews to fix his driveway.

There's a perception in some quarters this represents treatment that's different for Nice, that he's getting more attention than we might see if someone threw a hammer through our window. Such consideration can, sometimes, trip over the line and become "look the other way" abuse of power, the kind Cuyahoga County officials such as Jimmy Dimora will have to explain in court.

There's a fine line between special consideration and abusing privilege. All said, there's an issue which bears just as deep a thought: Chief Nice, just like others who work so hard to keep us safe, deserves more than cursory treatment. And Akron is right to make sure he gets it.

Some will argue public officials are just like the rest of us. That is true -- to a point. We elect them because we see ourselves in them. The American model has citizens elected by popular vote to work for the greater good, neighbors shouldering the burden, especially on the local municipal level.

But we don't have a right to expect public officials and workers to put their lives on the line for us, exposing themselves and their families to danger at home or off-the-job, because of the very job we expect them to do for us. Not without our taking reasonable and appropriate steps to safeguard them, as they safeguard us.

You have to take Jim Nice at his word when he believes prior undercover work targeting gangs in Akron may put him at risk. It's no understatement to suggest law enforcement officers, those working on and with gangs in particular, have every reason to fear retaliation. One doesn't need a sledgehammer through a bedroom window to figure that out.

Whether Chief Nice lives in or out of Akron is beside the point. Whether a few hours of city time is spent trying to find those responsible isn't the point, other than making sure it is done legally and doesn't stray across the line of what's right.

The point? Nice is deserving of a safe and secure place to live and spend time with his family, with efforts taken to assure his safety. It isn't asking too much that reasonable efforts be taken to protect and serve the safety of those who protect and serve us. Asking detectives from Summit County's largest police department to investigate whether their Chief is the target of violence because of work he did in Akron while with the F.B.I. is appropriate and reasonable. The offer to "sit on" his house for a night or so to see if the knuckleheads who tossed a sledgehammer and broke windows in his home isn't a waste of time or city resources when it's one of our top law enforcement officials. In fact, it's appropriate and reasonable whenever the brave men and women who carry a badge, just like Jim Nice, are at risk for doing the people's business to keep us safe.

Being a police chief -- being a police officer -- isn't the same work as the job you and I may have. Unless, of course, your job is to stop people from doing wrong and, when you can't stop them, catch those who are a menace or hurt others and make them pay the price of justice.

You don't always make friends with bad people when you put them behind bars, or cost them money, or administer a dose of living-with-others in harmony lessons. Sometimes you piss them off, and they come after you.

When they do, we need to return the favor and protect our own.

Thanks, Mayor Plusquellic!

And Warner Mendenhall. And Paul Hlynsky. And Mike Williams. And Kelley Williams-Bolar. And LeBron James.

We've been blessed here at the Rubber City radio ranch to have forward-thinking and community focused leadership that not only allows but encourages us to practice broadcast "old school" news coverage. We still think the basics, such as issues before city and county councils or school boards. This type of news matters, even when it isn't sexy.

We see the fruit of our labors annually when journalism groups -- such as Ohio's Associated Press Broadcasters -- recognize those in our profession. This past weekend, the news department of AkronNewsNow.com, WAKR-AM, WONE-FM and WQMX-FM were honored with awards (Marcy Pappafava and Joe Jastrzemski, at left) for Outstanding News and Sports Operations, Best Continuing Coverage (for following the City Hall-FOP year-long drama in 2010) and Best Reporter and Anchor kudos to Joe Jastrzemski.

These awards reflect a lengthy string of recognition for building a website -- and rebuilding a broadcast news outlet -- that will question authority, ask questions and work to present alternate views on public issues. It's what citizens should expect from the media, even during economic downturns and the tumult coming with the media transition seen when institutions (such as the press) are forced to respond more to the demands, or neglect, from their audience.

That said, we couldn't have done it without our readers and listeners. We couldn't have done it without the rich editorial content Akron seems to provide, either.

Whether it was the ongoing battle between City Hall and Akron's police union (2010), the recall fight between the Mayor Plusquellic and Change Akron Now critics (2009), or even going back to Tina Kaufmann's national-award winning investigative work on Akron's Hot Spots (2009) or coverage of the 2008 Elections, 2007 storms and flooding, even the 2003 Great Blackout, the news tapestry depended on many larger-than-life figures and events. Including larger-than-life egos and agendas.

Akron deserves vigorous debate on public issues; it's citizens deserve more than perfunctory coverage often provided by news organizations who don't call this place home. It deserves the next generation of talk show hosts, reporters, editors and news anchors who understand our audience isn't the person behind the podium but the person in front of the screen who reads, watches and listens to their world around them.

Last week, the Mayor took on bloggers who, as "total freaking idiots" post to the web "sitting in their underwear, in the mom's basement.". He was careful to note he wasn't painting that mental picture in our minds, just repeating what others have said. He was responding to critics when announcing new jobs for Akron. It was meant to be dismissive, but in point of fact it shows just how powerful the First Amendment can be.

Just as the Mayor is free to express his opinion using the bully pulpit of his public office, anyone -- sitting in their underwear or wearing a tie at their desk -- has the same right.

So thanks to Don, Warner, Paul, Mike, LeBron and the rest of the gang for award-winning times last year. Here's to Kelley and Edward -- Don, Mike and LeBron again this year, too -- for getting us off to such a good start in 2011. Thanks Governor John and Ohio Democrat boss Chris for keeping the wildfires burning in Columbus. Many thanks, President Barack and Speaker John, for keeping hope and debate alive in Washington.

At times it's soap opera, but it's always real. Your passion keeps our keyboards busy. The media would have a hard time staying relevant, topical and entertaining without you. I suspect you would have a hard time, too, without the stage set for the roles you play in the public drama.

Our uniquely American penchant to speak freely without fear of stormtroopers kicking down our doors couldn't have done it without you.

The King Deserves The Ring

The local media finally had a tag line it could push to a frenzy: "Cavs to Mavs" was the battle cry for all the LeBron haters. As if that would make a difference in the story line that started last summer with "The Decision."

The wound is apparently still raw, if one were to believe the spewing sports talk hosts in that city to the north. Clevelanders must still be avenged, they think, for the unthinkable crime of Cleveland's native son taking his talents to South Beach.

Except he wasn't, isn't, and will never be Cleveland's native son. He's Akron, and he hasn't abandoned his hometown. He just found another place to work. One where he'll recognize the professional rewards that come with his profession.

I'll admit to being one of those who would have liked to see someone else win the NBA title this year, but not because of hating LeBron. I would have enjoyed seeing a medium market team work it's own magic (hint) as a message to the way the NBA does business.

But that said, I also think it'll be great when LeBron visits and has a chance to bring another trophy to show Akron.

The Cleveland LeHaters would like you to believe LBJ never delivered on the championship for the Cavaliers, and that's true. He did, however, do so multiple times when helping bring home state championships to the high school he attended in his hometown. Let's not forget he also shared those MVP trophy days -- twice -- with his friends and family. In Akron.

The whiners would like you to remember the LeBron who stiffs restaurant workers on tips and otherwise displays some of the boorish behavior we often see with other athletes. They would like you to remember the LeBron who would hold up the team jet from away games, the player who demanded (and got) treatment above and beyond from management. Those stories are also true.

What they leave out, however, is a simple fact: LeBron, like so many young people of his age, left northeast Ohio behind to seek greater fame and fortune elsewhere. LeBron is the prototypical child of a region that doesn't seem concerned their sons and daughters take flight unless they throw footballs, hit baseballs or dunk basketballs.

There's no question LeBron's decision to stay with the Cavaliers would have left us with a better season than we got but likely a similar result: still waiting for that trip to the altar.

Does anyone seriously think a repeat of LeBron and Shaq in 2011 would have given us that different an outlook from 2010? LeBron did what champions do: he played the game to win. Dan Gilbert's post-Decision bluster that we'd see a title before LeBron will sound pretty empty by the end of next week.

So fly high, LeBron; play well with your friends and accomplish the goal you set when you realized the road to the title wasn't on I-77 but at the end of I-95. Your critics will cringe when you enjoy the fruits of your labor, but they won't be able to take away that ring. You had the vision it would come, just not here.

Note I didn't say just not here at home. Because Akron's still home, and we've seen LeBron the Champion play out before.

What Don Doesn't Want To Hear

The story of the City Hall shuffle this week -- Communications Director to Chamber of Commerce liaison, Assistant Law Director to Communications spot, Chamber of Commerce liaison to Economic Development -- is very inside politics. It does raise a few questions, however, on just who had the ear of the person who made all this happen.

Those following the inside soap opera of inside politics, and not just the Plusquellic Administration but any political organization, quickly get used to seeing faces come and go. The bureaucracy of government is where you'll find those with long service records; political operatives, however, come and go. It's true for the White House. It's true for the Statehouse. It's true for City Hall.

The key question in any reshuffling, however, is whether it makes the operation of the office and mission of the organization stronger. To that end, any shuffling in the Communications end carries with it some gambling. Those who serve as go-between for politicians and the media usually find themselves in no-win positions. Advocate blindly for the boss and reporters will quickly grade your credibility accordingly. Advocate for the reporters and the boss will question your loyalty.

The reporter side aims to reveal, question and confront; the political side aims to set direction, accomplish the mission and protect the boss. There is always tension between both, and it's that tension that distinguishes the American style of governing from most other countries. It isn't always pretty, but it establishes up front how the people's business is still up to the people.

Mayor Plusquellic faced a conundrum: insiders tell me he didn't have faith his message was getting out. He didn't have confidence his agenda was the agenda. Someone had to pay that price, and it wasn't going to be him. Frankly, that requires a level of introspection even the hardiest of politicians don't attempt. Leaders need a straw man to knock about, a punching dummy to exorcise frustration on. In most political offices, that winds up being the communications person. In this political office, that was what Mark Williamson did.

But unlike political offices in far-away Washington or Columbus, where the communication liaisons change frequently, Williamson is different. He's not the faceless spokesman, or the contact-du-jour you find at the offices of the Representative or Senator. His was a face the community was familiar with, for decades on television and nearly as long from City Hall. Williamson himself, as with Plusquellic, has become a local institution of a sort. Despite the Mayor's misgivings, giving such an institution the outright boot holds far more political headache than finding a place for him elsewhere.

Out of sight, out of mind. J. Edgar Hoover used to do this in the F.B.I. with agents who disappointed, famously sending them to Billings. Josef Stalin sent his to Siberia. Not to belittle the public servants who toil for us in far-off regions, but it's reasonable to note military officers who fail but can't be canned ought not be surprised when they are reassigned to a radar installation overlooking the Bering Straits. In private industry, it may be some department close to the restrooms where an offending executive is banished to do little harm. This is the price when the boss loses faith.

It is entirely within the purview of the boss to make sure the team in place serves the needs of the boss, especially if that boss faces one of the more challenging re-election bids just four months away. This the reason civil service doesn't extend to political at-will positions such as Deputy Mayor, or Chief of Staff, or even Communications Director. This Mayor -- and ones to follow, regardless of the outcome in September -- deserve the right to choose his own leadership circle. Moving those pieces like those on a chessboard not only comes with the territory, it helps keep the rest of the team on their toes and often brings in renewed focus and energy.

But in this case, there's one aspect the Mayor should be thinking about which may escape the ego of office: do you still have someone close to you, someone you trust, someone who can close the door and speak frankly about your decisions and actions? Is there a member of your circle with the fortitude to call you out, and your leave to do so, in the same kind of language and approach you employ with others? Who is your sounding board, someone who has credibility and wisdom to not only affirm when you are on the right path but also point out the wrong direction?

Legend has it that triumphant Roman leaders, hailed as conquerors, would have a slave with them in the chariot as the thousands heaped adulation. The slave would whisper "Look behind you, remember you are only a man" or "Remember that you are mortal." Every leader needs that critical element of someone who doesn't buy the hype, someone who knows the value of no often eclipses the ease of yes, someone who understands metal for the sword is stronger after the hammering and out of the forge.

Bill Clinton had his James Carville. George Bush had his Karl Rove. Barack Obama has his David Axelrod. Who plays that role with Don Plusquellic? His confidants in years past have moved on to other positions in the community, and while they may still be close enough to be considered "inner circle" are they close enough for the daily whispering required? Joel Bailey, Joe Kidder, Ray Kapper, even Tom Sawyer provide wisdom and alternate viewpoints, but they are advisers and not everyday actors. In the heat of the moment when decisions are made, are those other voices in the second floor Mayor's suite of offices strong enough to assume that role, taking with it the abuse that comes from being the bearer of bad tidings?

Those who know Don Plusquellic's hard-driving personality know this is neither an easy nor pleasant job.

With a plain-spoken Williamson out of sight, Plusquellic must make sure he still has someone by his side, not only willing but with the credibility and freedom to be able to cut through his sometimes acerbic personality and go beyond the toxic antics of politics.

Akron's Water Gets Kosher

The campaign season is upon us -- before the campaign season even opens.

It's been a busy week for the news release writers at Akron City Hall -- and the week wasn't even halfway over yet.

Seven news releases. Even considering two of them were weather-related due to Monday's blustery blizzard-like conditions that left a stretch of I-76 from Norton to the Medina County line more like Jacknife Alley than interstate highway, but it's still an impressive showing of media might coming off South High Street.

The five remaining non-weather items since Monday:

Israeli Company in Akron Contracts With City -- all about the water service, it turns out. Hey, at least it provided an opportunity to post an eye-catching headline;

City to Offer Free Parking -- just in time for post-holiday sales time; it gives us all 65 minutes of freebie time to do business in the City;

City Brings More Housing Downtown -- the key to downtown prosperity clearly shows it needs to be a neighborhood, and there's no neighborhood without neighbors;

Mayor to Deliver State of the City Address -- it's the 24th, just in case you are keeping count;

German Manufacturing Firm Picks Akron -- as any politico will tell you, the road to political support clearly runs through the economy first.

What will Thursday and Friday hold?

This burst of news energy from the Mayor's office shouldn't come as any surprise.

2011 is a municipal election year, and the Mayor has already announced he is running for re-election. In his bid for a seventh term, Don Plusquellic will have company on the ballot; Council-at-Large representative Mike Williams will toss his hat into the primary ring on Monday evening, about an hour prior to the next City Council meeting.

Don't be surprised if others announce a run; from a political strategy position, a more crowded field generally benefits an incumbent but others may see opportunity for themselves if the two biggest names on the ballot target each other.

The tone of the election is likely to hinge on the tone both Plusquellic and Williams decide will forge their campaigns. One has shown himself to be a strong leader, with a sometimes strong personality that can be as off-putting as it is charming. The other has shown himself unafraid to challenge the conventional political stance, with questions sometimes raised regarding his work ethic.

A recent Akron Beacon Journal commentary by Steve Hoffman noted voters weren't deciding if they wanted a beer with Don -- there is far more at stake than whether we personally like the person running the City. Those behind the 2009 recall made the Mayor's personality an issue, and the electorate clearly wasn't biting. Their efforts resulted in more than three-quarters of those voting to keep the Mayor.

One thing is for sure: just as with the Mayor's re-election campaign four years ago, and the recall election where he rolled to a dominant win, there will be an impressive push to build an atmosphere of momentum. A rule of politics is to avoid having your opponent define you or your campaign, and the first lesson is staking out the media landscape yourself before the other side has a chance to do so.

The Kelley Williams Bolar Case

I usually don't use this forum to disagree with my friends at the Akron Beacon Journal, but their editorial slamming the prosecution of Kelley Williams-Bolar -- the "School Mom" case now attracting national attention -- is just about as wrong-headed as I've seen from the editorial brain trust on Exchange and Main.

The reporting from the national media has been far worse.

Sunday's editorial was over-the-top, calling to question the prosecution of Williams-Bolar for the crime of wanting better for her daughters. It paints her as a victim of an uncaring system. It tries to frame what is now a national debate on the mom who's being persecuted for simply wanting better for her children.

Problem is, that's not what Williams-Bolar was indicted for. It's not what she was prosecuted for. It's not what she was convicted of by a jury of her peers. It's not what she did time for. It's not what she will serve probation for.

It's time for her defenders to address the most basic of lessons parents instill in their children at an early age: two wrongs don't make a right.

In this case, it's way more than two wrongs.

• Williams-Bolar repeatedly ignored attempts, over a period of years, by the Copley-Fairlawn School District to resolve the residency issue. Other parents caught in the same net took responsibility and either proved residency, pulled their children from the District or acted like adults and paid the tab;
• Williams-Bolar compounded by her own sworn statements that her daughters lived in the district by claiming full residence for her daughters on free school lunch programs, even to the point of misrepresenting her own income on the entry forms in addition to residency;
• Williams-Bolar not only attested to the residency issue on Copley-Fairlawn enrollment forms and the school lunch program, she also attested to the residency of her daughters in Akron, not Copley Township, when she applied for and received a three-bedroom Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority subsidized home;
• Williams-Bolar may have misrepresented her residency when taking part in the most basic of democratic institutions: voting;
  
• Williams-Bolar was caught on video tape gaming the system by dropping off and picking up her children so a Copley-Fairlawn bus could pick them up each morning, just not from the AMHA home the family inhabited in Akron. Even with the claim of safety for her children, the fact remains her daughters still lived in the home Williams-Bolar now says was unsafe;
• Williams-Bolar admitted to investigators from Copley-Fairlawn and AMHA that she misrepresented herself verbally and in writing;
• Williams-Bolar and her family submitted documents the Summit County Juvenile Court system later found were not true;
• At one point, Williams-Bolar even sent one of the school district's letters back with a handwritten note insinuating that the addressee was serving overseas, a despicable misrepresentation that should outrage any member of the military and their family truly deployed in service to this nation.

Williams-Bolar stands accused of "misrepresenting" herself to a school district, the Juvenile Court, AMHA and the Summit County Board of Elections. The newspaper editorializes of the "great injustice" suffered by Williams-Bolar, as though she played no role in the willful misrepresentation of her personal financial situation, her residence, even her status as an Akron school employee as this case moved through the system.

The injustice is letting her get away with it.

Over a hundred parents in the similar circumstances acted like adults, made their appeals, argued their residency or took responsibility and resolved the situation with Copley-Fairlawn schools.

That Williams-Bolar is the only parent who refused to act responsibly is not an example of uneven justice as the Beacon Journal, her family, and supporters suggest. It truly shows the remarkable lengths the systems we have in place to protect the public went to help her avoid her fate. Time and time again the school district reached out to resolve the issues, even to the point of offering to work with her on the money she rightfully owed the district. Time and time again she had the opportunity to speak and attest truthfully, only to "misrepresent" her situation again and again.

When taxpayers rightfully want those gaming the system punished, it's easy to not see the face of those who take from all of us through fraud and abuse. It's easy to take the stand that a mother's love should be all that matters, and her heart was in the right place even though her wallet was clearly all over the place.

But if we are to be honest about protecting the public, that means calling out those who would take advantage of systems established to benefit all of us for their own personal use. "Misrepresent" is a nicer word than what the jury of her peers clearly felt Williams-Bolar was guilty of, after taking into account the entire breadth of this case and not just the headline treatment or the heart-tugging editorial stance that apparently ignores those lessons that should anchor this story: two wrongs, three wrongs, four wrongs -- many wrongs -- still do not make a right.

Williams-Bolar is fortunate she found in Judge Patricia Cosgrove someone who had compassion for her circumstances while recognizing the gravity of her crimes...and these are crimes. These actions cost two school districts:Â Copley-Fairlawn in providing services unfairly secured and Akron, which lost state funds that would have come to the district with enrollment. This is income the very school district which now employs Williams-Bolar, who awaits determination on whether the choices she made will cost her not only a week and a half in jail and years on probation but her job and employment future.

Judge Cosgrove correctly notes Williams-Bolar should not pay a career death penalty for these charges, and I think most reasonable people would agree. But this is a story of choices Williams-Bolar made, and her decision to try and continue standing on a house of cards built on misrepresentation after misrepresentation.

This case should give no one cause for celebration. Two children have had their education disrupted because of the decisions made by adults; a mother sat in jail and will be on probation for the next two years; the people who pay the taxes in two school districts lose because those decisions took money away from other children or programs; the prosecutor's office is slammed for "excess" when in point of fact the excess was on the part of Williams-Bolar from day one; a jury of citizens had to decide whether one of their neighbors would be branded as a criminal; a judge was forced to send a mother of two to jail.

It's not easy calling someone a crook, especially when what they did seems for such a good reason. But lying to government agency after government agency after government agency is what makes this a criminal case, not the desire to see better for the children.

If this was a case of insurance scammers ripping off Medicaid, taxpayers would be outraged if a penny of public money went to subsidize such behavior. Why is motherhood a positive defense in the People v Kelley Williams-Bolar?

All for the decisions Williams-Bolar made that the rules didn't apply to her. Is this the lesson you would want to teach your kids? Are you teaching them the end always justifies the means?

When Simple Math Isn't Simple

There's a reason why it takes an M.B.A. to figure out government accounting in this day and age. It really doesn't work the same as it does for us at home.

Take, for example, Saturday's news release from the City of Akron listing the per-officer "cash sacrifice" cost of what the City says was it's best and final concession package offer. The members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 turned the package down by 29 votes.

Saturday's accounting listed the following; I've taken the liberty of listing what the number would be, when available with additional notes in boldface:

-Defer (put in the bank for payment later) longevity (bonus) payments of 2010 and 2011;

-Work three, non-traditional holidays in 2010 at straight time pay rate. (Officers receive 13 paid holidays/yr.);

-Take 14 hours furlough in 2010. (Most city employees have taken 32+ hours);

-Have no wage cut or increase for 2010 and 2011 (actual amount unknown; City asked for clarification on "cash sacrifice" cost per officer based on current contract terms);

-Replace $300 cash fitness payment with a free gym membership for 2011

-Reduce 2011 clothing allowance (ranges from $1200-$1500) by approximately 25 percent. (Officers uniforms are provided by the City) (Cost to each officer: $300-375 based on ranges noted by the City);

-Make minor change in mail order prescription plan

-Agree that specific non economic issues would remain before fact finder

At this point the cost to officers in the fitness payment and clothing allowance alone is $600 apiece, and that doesn't include the "cash sacrifice" impact for straight time for three holidays, a wage freeze, or 14 hours of furlough pay for the remainder of 2010.

We asked the Mayor's office to explain how it arrived at the $450 figure that would set the "cash sacrifice" for the 449 officers now on duty.

In a response today, the longevity pay deferral over two years would amount to $720,000 over two years, or about $360,000 each year. That alone is worth $801.78, on average, to each officer. There is a promise to pay the amount back in 2012 -- just as the City and F.O.P. agreed to defer the 2009 amount to 2012, which means four years of longevity pay (2012 current + deferrals) would come due in 2012.

That's a whopping minimum $1,440,000 total police longevity pay bill due in 2012 -- $360,000 for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The actual amount will fluctuate depending on each year's makeup of the workforce; less longevity and seniority, lower payments.

The response also lumps together the clothing allowance, 14 hours of furloughs, straight time instead of holiday pay for three holidays, and changes to the prescription plan into additional impact on the balance of $1.4 million the City says it would save over two years.

Perhaps the oddest twist comes regarding the impact of the $300 per officer cash fitness payment. The City doesn't consider this a loss of cash to the officers, since they would be receiving value in a free gym membership in return. The gym is the CitiCenter Athletic Center facility, which is owned and subsidized by the City and was the focus of a 2007 story by the Akron Beacon Journal (archive access only) and AkronNewsNow.com over costs of over a million dollars over the past decade. In that year City Council approved a $233,000 subsidy for the CitiCenter Athletic Center even though membership fees only brought in $90,000. The athletic facility is managed by the Akron Area YMCA.

The CitiCenter website lists the monthly cost for city, county and state members of $37.60 -- a 20% discount from the regular membership. Based on the membership cost listed for government workers, coverage of all 449 police officers at the government rate would be $16,882.40 monthly, or $202,588.80 annually ($37.60 monthly x 449 officers x 12 months). The fitness payment now costs the City $134,7000 annually ($300 cash payment x 449 officers).

A spokesman for the Mayor writes the City has an arrangement with Medical Mutual that provides for lower health care premiums based on participation at the CitiCenter gym, noting that if police officers join it will lower costs.

So the "simple" math: $1,400,000 in savings over two years divided by 449 officers works out to $1,559.02 each year over the period, not $450 as reported by the City on Saturday, according to the City's own numbers.

We should note some of the City's concession package breaks no new ground; the FOP agreed to concession terms in 2009 that included deferral of 2009 longevity bonus to 2012 as well as working three holidays -- Columbus Day, Veteran's Day and the Friday after Thanksgiving -- for straight time rather than overtime at a time-and-a-half rate.

Around this time last year it was Akron firefighters on the grill rather than police. FOP members approved concessions by a 94% margin (399-27) while members of the AFD took layoffs rather than the concession package proposed by the City. Those firefighters were called back earlier this year when Akron was able to secure federal funding. The firefighters union appealed to the Akron Civil Service Commission, which rejected their appeal and noted the layoffs could have been avoided had firefighters agreed to concessions.

This year it's the F.O.P. essentially playing chicken with the City, but it won't be the Civil Service Commission ruling that awaits. It's the ruling of a fact-finder, who's mission was triggered when the City couldn't convince the F.O.P. to take a concession package earlier this year during contract negotiations. Critics of the Plusquellic Administration assume the report will find against City Hall, but it is important to note F.O.P. president Paul Hlynsky has repeated said the findings may very well come in to the favor of the Mayor's position.

There's been plenty of drama distraction the past few months in following this story. There was the document released by the Mayor's office that threatened more than 90 police layoffs in light of a $4 million dollar projected deficit and protests from the Administration there were no other places to cut. But weeks later, that number shrank to 49 -- 40 layoffs and nine demotions -- after Police Chief Gus Hall was able to shift general fund spending to grants.

Then came the membership vote when the bargaining committee agreed to present the package to Akron police; it flunked by a relatively slim 29-votes, especially slim when considering these same officers approved concessions last year by a 94% margin. Before the ink was dry on the results, the Mayor suggested a political wrinkle that community leaders be allowed to observe the negotiating process.

In political circles this is clearly a tactic designed to position your opponent; who is in the room is a function of agreement by both parties, not the arbitrary wishes of one side over the other. The City points to an F.O.P. guest on hand last week, but fails to mention the "guest" was in fact a vice-president of the union and someone with a direct stake in the negotiations. Community leaders Rev. Ron Fowler and Judge Marvin Shapiro, while honorable men, are not parties to the negotiations. It was within the rights of the F.O.P. to refuse to accept the condition of meeting imposed by City Hall to include Fowler and Shapiro, just as the City would have been within it's rights to refuse to allow the F.O.P. first vice-president permission to attend.

The Mayor is correct when pointing out there's less money in the City budget to do what the City needs to do. Something has to go, and in a services-industry budget like government that "something" usually means someone. He clearly telegraphed the punch early, noting layoffs -- just like last year -- were on the line. The F.O.P. is correct in working within the parameters of the collective bargaining system, and proved last year members were willing to absorb some short-term hurt to help. But what hasn't helped is losing focus on meeting the growing deficit, made even harder by a call to base the budget on concessions that weren't agreed on by both parties. Just search the word "concessions" on AkronNewsNow.com and put the last year in context.

Lost in the swirl of soap opera on High Street remains what actions the City will take to avert a projected $4 million dollar budget deficit, and whether the political posturing of tying a funding proposal involving breaking the promise to use Issue 10 for purposes other than schools will cost voters the chance to decide whether they feel it is enough of a worthwhile investment to change the terms of their approval in 2003 of the school construction tax. That language -- while politically crafty -- may come back to outfox the Administration and City Council by tying their own hands in an attempt to position the F.O.P. rather than address the threat of an out-of-whack budget.

The decision of the City to move forward with a negotiating strategy that called into play a fact-finder has been costly. The name-calling by both sides has built an atmosphere of distrust and enmity. Tying the budget deficit to the police contract, neither side breaking out issues of agreement, the war of numbers that don't seem to add up...all bring to mind the popular scene from the movie "Dave", where accountant Charles Grodin is asked by his president-impostor friend Kevin Kline to figure out the federal budget.

They do so over a late-night meal.



If only it was a simple as a couple beers and sandwiches.

CAK Is Not CLE; Get Over It

Another great reminder on just how wide the gulf is on the drive between Akron and Cleveland. The sniping continues over a 25-year old's decision to take his fame to South Beach, and his full-page ad in the Beacon Journal thanking Akron (but not Cleveland) for the good times.

Mapquest notes the drive from Akron to Cleveland is 39.27 miles and takes 47 minutes. It might was well be far enough, however, to warrant a jet flight when it comes to LeBron James.

There was another outpouring of hurt and outrage today from fans still smarting from LeBron's poorly executed "Decision" broadcast where he decided to exercise his free agent rights and head south to Miami. At no time did he disrespect his hometown (Akron) nor the town where he worked (Cleveland) but the vast majority of those in northeast Ohio were not happy with what they felt was a divorce notice served on national cable television.

The vitriol on local television, radio and websites following the announcement was, I suspect, expected. The jilted hate him and burn their jerseys; the disappointed won't root for him but respect his right to make a decision; the ones who grew up with him are sad he won't be playing home but recognize he's still from, of and by Akron.

I'm in the second camp, leaning toward the third. Not happy with the way he did it, but embrace the fact America is still a land of opportunity and if he decides the greater opportunity is in a Heat uniform more power to him.

We had him here for 11 years; with Akron, he did win championships with St. Vincent St. Mary. With Cleveland, he got close but no rings. With Akron, he's supported plenty of charities and put his name behind events such as the Bikeathon this weekend. He never claimed to be from Cleveland; he consistently reminded reporters, announcers and anyone interested he was from Akron.

Akron and the rest of the "plus" suburbs in northeast Ohio get the difference. Cleveland doesn't.

Cleveland will crab that LeBron owes them more; he should have bought the ad in the PD; he shouldn't have waited until Z did his full-page thank you. They're missing the point.

This isn't about them, it's about LeBron's relationship with his hometown, not the place where he worked. It's about him and us. It's about keeping alive that part of his heritage that still lives on the playground courts of West Akron where he started his journey. It's about that muscle memory that binds him to the gymnasium at St. V, and the JAR, and the local Akron area high schools where he faced his first true challenges. It's about the school where he and his friends were able to do something special, and bring home state championships for family and neighbors who knew him for who he was instead of what the NBA marketing machine wanted us to believe him to be.

The most disappointing aspect of the past month is seeing the business side of what LeBron has become, exemplified by the cynical ride on ESPN and "The Decision" but also the stories now making their way out of the Cavaliers organization on how far they bent over to make him happy. But he's not the kid on our playgrounds, or playing in our high school gyms anymore. He's the 25-year old who, like so many of his age in northeast Ohio, saw greener pastures elsewhere and decided to embrace his version of his future rather than be tied to someone else's expectations.

Critics will say the Beacon Journal ad is just another cynical chapter in LeBron's continued marketing. If that were true, how come his continued workouts at Akron General's Wellness Center aren't included? His pick-up games at the SVSM gym? His going about his everyday business in his hometown?

It's done. Take the high road. You can wish him well for his time spent here without cheering his success with Miami. His decision was whether or not to stay; our decision is whether to move forward or wallow in this over and over again.

Want something to really wallow in? How about all those other 20 and 30-somethings who think northeast Ohio is a great place to grow up and be from, not in?

Fun With Video

Lindsay McCoy is the person who cracks on all of us for video, video, video -- and of course that resonates with us even as Lindsay vacations on a beach somewhere this week. Which means someone has to sit in the anchor chair, even without the phone books to add some height...

Freedom Means Saying No, Too

t's just astounding watching the vitriol pour out of some people when it comes to someone else making a decision -- and this decision doesn't even really strike home.

It is more than amazing the percentage of college students planning to leave Ohio upon graduation -- 60%, according to some reports -- doesn't make our sluggish vox populi move an inch, but a 25-year old who skipped college and went right to work after graduating from high school? One daring to consider leaving Ohio for potentially greener pastures, leading to so much hate and hurt feelings?

It's pathetic.

The harshest critics of today's LeBron James -- as opposed to last month's LeBron James, who led the Cavaliers to their NBA-best record and what seemed to be a lock for the title so desperately desired by Cleveland sports fans -- owe it to themselves to take a really deep look in the mirror.

What really matters here?

Ohio's had James for seven years as a pro, ten years overall. The basketball world spun around Akron's Chosen One, even when the Cavaliers weren't contending for the title. It was a replay of what Browns fans saw when another young man from Boardman took up the weight of northeast Ohio on his shoulders, to lead the team to Super Bowl glory only to see The Drive and The Fumble dash those prayers on the rocks of Red Right 88.

Bernie Kosar would later get his Super Bowl ring with the Dallas Cowboys, "America's Team." All the love and admiration, in the long run, meant nothing when it came to a now-despised owner and now-admired coach decided it was time to cut their losses over "diminished skills." I remember when Bernie got that ring; fans here were happy for him, knowing it just wasn't going to happen otherwise.

I don't remember 1954, but I wonder if there was a similar outcry when Bob Feller and company stumbled badly against Willie Mays and the Giants and coughed up what should have been a certain World Series victory from the then-most-ever winning team in baseball. Was Feller a traitor, a bum, a guy who took a fall? Nobody in their right mind would ever say that to Rapid Robert's face, much less behind his back. Here's a guy who came out of the cornfields, made Cleveland his home, went to war for us at the peak of his performance for God's sake.

Feller still wears that uniform with pride and accomplishment, and fans still line up and shell out their money to grab a photo or signed baseball. They properly pay tribute to greatness, and effort, and heart.

LeBron James had a 77% chance of playing somewhere else when the 2003 lottery fell Cleveland's way. For once, northeast Ohio had fortune smiling upon our undeveloped, grim shores: the Chosen One would play for us. Home would remain home. But that deal didn't have "forever" written in the fine print.

As King James weighs his options, I can't imagine another case where we would encourage a favorite son or daughter to not seek the best arrangement possible to be the best they could be. If your children were actors, wouldn't you want them on the world's biggest stage? If they were lawyers, wouldn't you want their advocacy in the most important cases? If they could play an instrument or sing like a bird, wouldn't you want them to fly high rather than perform their song in a cage for a select local few?

One of the ugly sides of being a Cleveland sports fan is this recent vicious, personal reaction when we don't get our way. That's ironic, considering we really haven't gotten our way since 1964 -- even counting coming close with Kosar, or nibbling at the dream in 1995 and 1997 in the house Akron's Dick Jacobs built.

Now Bernie's bankrupt and the field we once called "the Jake" isn't even named after the local boy who rescued the hometown team.

It is the way things are; former ballplayers don't get another chance for fame and riches once the carousel takes them farther away from the brass ring. Owners only stand tall when they continue to pay the freight for naming rights.

Current players know all too well that winning isn't guaranteed just because they have talent and work hard, or even enjoy a streak of good luck now and then. Too many variables still make being a winner a crapshoot, especially when the only definition of winner is found in the rings on their fingers.

If the Cavaliers are a place where LeBron James continues to prosper and win a championship -- or two, or three -- then it's where he should be, and my guess is a place where he will want to be. If, however, it's the kind of place where fans so quickly put the entire weight of their dreams and aspirations on a 25-year old's shoulders and then bitterly denounce him when the effort falls short, maybe it's time to take another view: one from a rear-view mirror.

Cleveland fans, keep barking, crying and reaching out to tear down one of the best examples of success we've seen brewed here at home in generations. It'll lead to another drive, and this one will be just what you really deserve.

VIDEO Akron's Movie Time

It came down to the wire, maybe as close as the closest of races at Derby Downs but now actor-producer Corbin Bernsen says Akron's got what it takes to move ahead on his vision of a film about the All-American Soap Box Derby.

It would be great to have a million-dollar look, but Bernsen told WAKR's Ray Horner last week he was looking at a more modest $500,000 budget for the film. It'll start shooting in April for the Akron feel, then interiors in California before returning to the Rubber City for soapbox time.

Check out some of Bernsen's comments in Lindsay McCoy's report from AkronNewsNow.com

Wishing Matt Well

In the old days, rival media outlets never mentioned each other. You still see some of this today in the way some newspapers imagine their readers don't watch news the night before on television, or the way some television stations imagine their viewers don't listen to the radio at work, or the way some radio stations think their listeners live in dark caves until turning the knob.

Glad those days are changing.

We'll find out more details Friday morning but the cat is already out of the bag on Matt Patrick. He'll be stepping away from the microphones he's used for a generation in Akron, with his final shows through December on 98.1 WKDD. Still up in the air is what happens with his talk show on 640 WHLO, but either way it doesn't diminish the big change Matt will be making. It is a big change for Akron radio listeners, too.

There have been soap opera qualities to Matt's life and career, but a constant has been his unabridged, consistent caring and concern for his community. In an industry where it is common for hosts to move from city to city, Matt Patrick has called Akron home. He's worked hard to serve as a voice for those who never had the chance to step behind a piece of electronics and talk to everyone at the same time.

Matt and I actually worked together -- for one day. I was at a station he wanted to work for, and we hit the studio for some promotional announcements. It was a fun day, and we were looking forward to a fun start a couple mornings later. Unfortunately, the station he was working for at the time took a dim view of these music chairs and, an injunction later, Matt was firmly planted back at WKDD. We've been friends since.

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Matt's come under quite a bit of grief lately, mostly for his outspoken comments on his talk show regarding tea parties (he supports 'em), his decision to host a rally on behalf of fire and police in Akron (his video rant can be seen here) and his programs raising questions on issues such as the Mayor's experience with police in front of the Lux nightclub and a late night in Highland Square.

None of this was really new; Matt has had a way of talking about what we were talking about for over 30 years.

There have been a few folks in northeast Ohio who've remained part of Akron even though their reach went beyond the city, even to a region or nation. Jaybird Drennen certainly fits the bill and still, in my opinion, ranks as the top radio person ever to work in the market. He set the standard in terms of class, hard work, and knowing a simple truth: be true to your neighbors and the rewards will follow. Jaybird was one of those unique individuals who understood the word rewards wasn't just about the paycheck. He clearly knew the relationship with Akron worked both ways.

Others in the news and entertainment business understand that as well. You can take Terry Pluto out of Akron, but I believe Terry would be the first to admit you won't ever take the Akron out of Terry. Bob Dyer, Regina Brett, Jewell Cardwell on the print side; Eric Mansfield, Dick Russ, Ted Henry and Virgil Dominic on the television side; Howie Chizek. Stan Piatt, and Ray Horner on the radio side. Each enjoys or built a special relationship with their respective readers, viewers and listeners here in Akron.

But there are a select few who have taken that to the next level. Jack Knight built the Beacon Journal best remembered in the glory years; Fred Anthony at WAKR radio and television and Jaybird on WSLR. I'd add Matt Patrick to that list. I don't believe Matt Patrick's time behind a mic is done; way too many electrons still buzzing through his veins.

So congratulations on a great career at WKDD, my friend. And here's looking to the next remarkable chapter in the journey. To borrow the line from CBS's Charles Osgood -- we'll see you on the radio.

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Note to fans of NewsNight Akron airing on Western Reserve Public Media (you remember them as Channels 45/49) every Friday night. The show is moving, but just a half-hour later from 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. We'll still be yipping and yapping about news and community events in our hometown but we'll be doing so a bit later to make room for a hip new program about the local economy. I know -- the words hip and economy really don't belong together -- but this fresh approach to money mattes in our region adds a new element to programming aimed at showcasing just what makes northeast Ohio tick, and the kinds of things we should think about to help make northeast Ohio improve.

Same place, different time starting Friday, November 6th. In this case, we'll see you on the television.

Doing It Jack's Way

"Final Edition" may be prophetic in describing not only the Knight brothers Jack and Jim but also the world they left behind.

Here's a link to the University of Akron site with video clips

I had the pleasure of watching the premier of the documentary by Paul Jacoway and Kathleen Endress in main auditorium of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. There is more than a trace of irony in the location. It is located in the heart of the town Knight helped build. I have no doubt it would be a far different place if it weren't for the full support of the Knight brothers over the year, both directly and now from the Foundation which manages their legacy. The viewing came on what would have been Jack Knight's 105th birthday.

The Library sits across the street from the Akron Art Museum -- made possible largely because of Knight Foundation support -- and the John S. Knight Convention Center. Among the panelists discussing the Knight legacy was the University of Akron president, no doubt aided by the partnership with the Foundation in redeveloping the neighborhood called University Park.

There are few things for good in Akron which don't bear the Knight stamp. Maybe that's why watching this documentary left me wondering why the media institutions that Jack and Jim Knight built are considered dinosaurs today.

My hometown paper, the Akron Beacon Journal, is today a shadow of the glorious newspaper that housed Jack Knight's office (photo at left from Stanford University); it was a place where presidents came to curry favor. It was a keystone in the empire that included other newspapers that helped set a standard of excellence here and in Philadelphia, Miami, Detroit, Charlotte and dozens of other cities. It was a Pulitzer factory.

At one time the biggest newspaper group in the country, Knight Newspapers and later Knight-Ridder had its life sucked dry by the very money men who put up the capital to build a news aristocracy, only to demand the heads of the royalty they created when it was time to cash out.

Going public provided the push to grow into greatness. Being public led to the demise. The strongest clip of Knight is when he tells an interviewer newspapers are not a growth industry. He doesn't say the media business is dead.

The flagship papers, such as the Beacon Journal, didn't even make the cut when McClatchy Newspapers sliced and diced what used to be Knight-Ridder into digestible chunks.

Those left behind wage a mighty struggle to live up to tradition, but under ownership who seems more skilled at reading numbers than words. Seemingly lost in the mix are the steps the Knight brothers learned at the feet of their father, expanding coverage and depth at precisely the time when the competition was cutting. Being positioned for growth when bad times turned better seems to be a common thread among great companies with a vision to be greater. Many point to and old-line corporate giant such as Ford as an example in today's auto industry, looking for an American phoenix to rise above the ruins of the car crash. Tech favorites such as Microsoft, Apple and Google are part of every newsroom. Even the ultimate service-based business of McDonald's seem to embody the sense of understanding the core mission and how to serve their customers, even those who aren't customers. Yet.

There are innovators in journalism, and realists who see the business had to evolve and adapt. The contrast is striking between those mired in what was and those moving to what will be. On one hand we want to restore the control of media and the security that brings, while employing the magic of the genie we let out of the bottle by making the web free. Living in the past allows more whining than winning.

Rich Boehne, president and CEO of E.W. Scripps, told a recent gathering arranged by the Ohio State Bar Association that we in the media are seeing the end of our salad days. The era of jaw-dropping profits is over. It was a great ride -- a fun ride -- but it is time to move on to the next thing. What remains is what we do, our core. Reporting. Storytelling. Giving voice to our communities.

All while figuring out how to do it at less expense. New technology and hardware. New methods and mindsets. Fresh approaches looking forward instead of the backwards pining for days gone by. Among broadcasters, groups such as Fisher Broadcasting in the Seattle area, Hearst with properties across the nation, and those with strong Ohio roots such as Scripps, Cox (based in Atlanta but let's not forget the foundation in Dayton) and the print and broadcast operations of Columbus-based Dispatch stand out even in times of tumult.

My friend Steve Safran of the media consulting firm Audience Research and Development notes "...wishing is NOT a business model." We spend an inordinate amount of time pining for the champagne times where we controlled not only the products of journalism and media but also the delivery. When innovation knocks there will be those who refuse to answer because they think the warmth and safety will be protected by not opening the door.

We need to be honest with our partners in the community; our readers, listeners, viewers and website visitors. We should be open with our talent in explaining why jobs don't pay what they used to; we must be transparent with our backers by reinforcing their support buys a business but not our editorial value. Jack Knight's handling when his company went public, telling analysts their money would be better spent elsewhere if they didn't like what he was doing, was real leadership. That wisdom is reflected today by media companies taking their companies back and, in some cases, ownership reclaiming their properties at a fraction of the cash flow formula from the same people so eager to buy over the past decade.

The lesson and legacy left by the Knight brothers profiled in "Final Edition" speaks to service, staying true to the mission and the value of independence both editorial and financial. Mourning the era of such masters of the universe wastes time finding solutions to what we need to figure out: making a living the same time we make a difference.

Most Wanted: An Investigation

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...Akron's version of the political Great White Shark swims back along the beachfront. In this case, the shark description doesn't point to an individual -- I'd like to make that clear from the outset. It describes what has become the norm, the style, the tone of political discourse in Akron magnified by the latest chapter from the Mayor's office.

What we need is more investigation

From a media perspective, the weekend story of Don Plusquellic's interaction with Akron police, sparked by a 9-1-1 call about his driving, was fading from view after exploding Monday with the first word from 19 Action News and subsequent reporting from all media outlets. As the news cycle progressed, the story basically began to focus more on fact than speculation and by Wednesday morning it appeared to have exhausted itself. Most public response, pro and con, seemed to have moved on.

Plusquellic's news conference Wednesday re-ignited the story with his extraordinary charges he was targeted by a thousand dollar bounty offered APD officers by disgruntled members of the Akron Fire Department for dirt. Specifically, a grand incentive to sit outside clubs waiting for the Mayor, Fire Chief or deputy fire chiefs to exit under the influence to be stopped and arrested when driving under the influence.

This afternoon, the head of the Akron Firefighters Union IAFF Local 330, Phil Gauer, held his own news conference to respond to the Mayor's charge of a bounty on his head and the role an AFD Lieutenant played in this past weekend's 9-1-1 call. Gauer raises questions on the conduct of the mayor and his use of a city vehicle. In the same story, FOP Lodge 7 President Paul Hlynsky, representing police officers, says APD members would not hesitate to enforce the law on the mayor or anyone else but worry about retaliation.

The news cycle beast is fed again, and this will be the week we'll remember either as "the Drive" or "the Set Up" depending on your point of view.

To note such a bounty is offensive is beyond words. It paints a picture of Akron as Iron Curtain, with a Stasi-like secret police mentality turning friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor, worker against manager, all using the most vile methods such spy agencies are rightfully reviled and hated for. In this case, it's people we trust to protect us turning spymaster using some of the other people we trust to protect us against the people we choose to lead us.

I am no fan of the Mayor's personal style, but I do respect his leadership -- both good and bad. In this case, I respect the courage in making this public even as it saddens me his remarks add more fuel to the fire of Akron's desperate and despicable political underbelly. That we have reached this point is sad, but can any one of us say we are not surprised we've sunk to this level?

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Mayor Plusquellic's revelation is being dismissed as paranoia by his detractors, but have no doubt there are those operatives on both sides of the political discussion who are comfortable and willing to play this game exactly as he describes. It is serious enough to not just let lay unanswered by people in this community who care deeply that Akron is better than this, and that respect and decency in the public marketplace of ideas and issues is something we have a right to demand and expect.

It's why we shouldn't just move forward and chalk this off to the latest colorful politics. If the Mayor's charge and observations are correct, does this rise to the level of bribery or obstruction of justice? Is it criminal or just bar talk from angry city workers, spawned on a bar stool of their own? Do we really want to keep walking past this car wreck of a cornerstone of what we expect from our political system -- the ability for all of us to express ourselves while still respecting the views of others, especially those who disagree with us? Haven't we reached the point of putting our foot down and saying "enough" yet when elected leaders are so brazenly not only stalked but openly hunted like Bambi before Thanksgiving?

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The safe thing to do is wring our hands, make commentary and move on. This isn't one of those times, because this attacks the core of our political system. This is an attack on all of us, because if it's Don Plusquellic this time is it Russ Pry next? Don Robart? Chris Grimm? Bill Roth? Matt Patrick? Howie Chizek? Me? You?

The right thing to do is treat this as it is: assault on all of us. If indeed Mayor Plusquellic is the target of head-hunting video vigilantes pining to corner him in an embarrassing moment or, worst yet, fabricate such an incident, then it is something that should be fully investigated and prosecuted. This isn't about the free-flow of ideas, it is about protecting our public discourse and sending a clear and convincing message that such poli-paparazzi tactics won't be tolerated in our free and open society.

Prosecutor Walsh and Sheriff Alexander are in a unique position to fully and fairly investigate the allegations the Mayor is making. Representing both Democrat and Republican parties, both have earned the public trust to get to the bottom of this. Mayor Plusquellic should turn over the information he has, whether anecdotal or factual, for an independent investigator to research and weigh. If there is wrongdoing, it should be exposed. If it is criminal, it should be prosecuted. Those involved should be held accountable.

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Finally a word to those in the spotlight.

In a story which won recognition and national awards for investigative journalism, KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs was getting repeated tips that a local prosecutor, in charge of prosecuting DUI cases, was in fact living a double life. They decided to see for themselves and investigated the prosecutor, even taping several bar trips and drinking habits. The prosecutor was understandably outraged that his conduct would be on such public display, disputed the drink count and has promised voters he isn't drinking again while using a county-owned car. According to recent news accounts, he is in a tough fight for re-election. At least one local newspaper, when endorsing the prosecutor's opponent, admits the scandal is big enough for voters to consider but only in examining the total operation of the office.

In this particular report by the Colorado Springs TV station, reporters followed the public official in question multiple times before assembling the report they eventually aired. I think there is a big difference in a journalism enterprise undertaking such an investigation as opposed to a general public shadowing of a public official. Such reporting by the television station brings to the case legal reviews and the standards reporters observe in compiling investigative work. The standard is higher than simply following someone.

The Colorado case isn't the same as this latest event involving the mayor and public safety forces in Akron. There is no credible evidence the mayor was impaired; a police lieutenant determined Plusquellic's demeanor, appearance or behavior did not trigger further investigation. If there was any lapse on the part of the mayor it is his heavy foot on the gas pedal, something he is well-familiar with and admits.

That said, in today's age of instant publication (including video) it should serve as a not-so-subtle warning to all public officials and public figures that they are not invisible. More than ever, their actions make them more accountable to those who put them in office or place them on a pedestal. Like it or not, the public spotlight comes with a sharp price to pay in the loss of privacy and sometimes perspective.

Putting their names before us and asking us voters to choose them to lead is still public service, not a public waiver. It bears repeating: if it's something you wouldn't do with everybody watching -- don't do it.

Is A Little Quiet Asking Too Much?

With three weeks to go before elections impacting city council seats across the region; school board races determining the direction local education of our kids should take; whether or not we can bet on Ohio or even assure that lump of chicken on our plates was treated humanely -- what is it we're talking about?

What kind of driver is Mayor Plusquellic?

We're at war on two fronts, with our best and brightest putting life and limb on the line seeking to establish toeholds of democracy on the shores of radical Islam; we're striving to figure out if the way we provide and pay for health care can be upgraded; we're well over a trillion dollars in debt, and growing.

We're not talking about these issues, either.

Akron just laid off 39 firefighters and temporarily staved off deeper layoffs of police officers until the end of the year. The City is now locked into spending tens of millions of dollars to shuttle what we flush away from the drainage when it rains. The County and cities in greater Akron are slicing into shrinking budget pies while we insist on the same, if not more, government service.

Those aren't the topics of the day.

It's whether Mayor Plusquellic is treated differently than the rest of us, whether he was set up by more than circumstance, and if he was suffering behind the wheel from after-party effects of a night out with friends. His fiercest critics are now scrambling to shout this proves everything they've ever said about him.His most vocal defenders decry the atmosphere where a guy can't even go to a birthday party at a local restaurant without being stalked by people out to get him.

Welcome to Akron politics.

This morning, "Melanie" was on WHLO's Matt Patrick program, discounting critics who say the stalking of the Mayor was a setup. She maintains she was acting in the public interest by calling to warn police of Plusquellic behind the wheel, even to the point of following him from the Firehouse Grille and Pub on Tallmadge Avenue (anyone else get the irony of the location, given the recent fire department layoffs?) on to Memorial Parkway before recounting what it's like traveling in Don's wake to Hickory Street.

We're in question mode on Akron's political version of "Speed Racer":

- The Mayor was driving fast and allegedly swerving -- so how it is "Melanie" and her boyfriend were able to keep up without breaking the law themselves? Plusquellic claims their chase car was also driving fast and erratic in hot pursuit;

- "Melanie" now admits she knew all along it was the Mayor behind the wheel, from the point where they admittedly followed him from the Firehouse Grille and Pub down Tallmadge and on to Memorial Parkway. His critics claim to have video of him peeling out of the parking lot. Doesn't that fuel charges this might be political in nature? If I thought someone was following me at one in the morning, I think I'd be tempted to get away from them;

- The owner of the Firehouse says she specifically talked with Plusquellic, said he looked fine. She told us she asked him if he was O.K. to drive. She noted the mayor backed off any legal beverages for the last hour of the party and was drinking ice water. Mayor Plusquellic says he was attending a party full of cops, including the police chief. Would they all let him drive off if he were intoxicated? Forget for a moment they are police officers (both current and retired, sworn to uphold the law) -- they're his friends. Would you let your friend drive drunk, especially knowing his a high-profile friend in the crosshairs of political enemies? It is a classic rule: just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

- at least four APD units responded to the call at Highland Square; they decided just one would make the determination the Mayor's appearance and behavior didn't trigger asking for further testing to determine impairment. "Melanie" gave the dispatcher a very specific report, even down to the license plate. Why no walking the line, or blowing into a breathalyzer? Would you or I get that kind of gentle treatment, especially from police officers now trained with zero tolerance of drunk driving?

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All said, one still has to wonder if there's somebody, anybody, bending Don Plusquellic's ear that there might be better places to spend his time after midnight. Maybe you have the same gut reaction from those of us after-50 types at the radio station when first hearing the story: shouldn't adults over 30 be in bed for hours at the time the Mayor was driving home? Is this guy a magnet for this kind of trouble, or what?

As I noted in an earlier blog following the August story when the Mayor and friends found themselves witnesses to a street fight, not much good comes after midnight.

The police treatment of the Mayor should come under scrutiny as it should when dealing with any public figure. That's the nature of public figure and public official that goes with the territory. It is a double-edged sword, this part of being public. It opens doors and places us at the front of the line, most of the time. It also means our business when out and about is everybody's business, and anyone in public life should understand life under the magnifying lens both illuminates and burns at the same time. Celebrity and public life mean never being invisible. People will and do take notice.

In the case of the Mayor, the political environment in Akron clearly exists against a backdrop of backbiting, finger pointing, "gotcha" and personal attacks. This game is played by both sides, even to the point of explaining 1:00 a.m. traffic stops, 2:30 a.m. 9-1-1 calls after bar fights, verbal scuffles with parking lot attendants, critics of overspending with huge back tax liabilities, questioning the motives of those just asking questions, or vituperative attacks on those with opposing viewpoints. The comment pages on AkronNewsNow.com and Ohio.com are full of some of the most hateful, disrespectful posts one could imagine. Free speech isn't necessarily nice speech.

Anyone with political aspirations be warned: Akron's political environment can be poison laced with the personal. You have to have skin the thickness of a brick to make it in this world.

This isn't to say Don Plusquellic isn't entitled to live his life as he sees fit. He's a person who seems either hard-driving, passionate, hard-edged or always angry depending on what side you come across at any given time. He's entitled to enjoy a night with friends, he's allowed to enjoy a drink, he's allowed to croon with the karaoke machine to his heart's content (we're waiting for that video, by the way) and all without hurting another soul. It appears to me that's exactly what happened this past weekend, except those intentions crossed over to the intersection of the political.

I find it hard to believe "Melanie" went to all the trouble of leaving the same time, following the Mayor and then calling him in as pure citizenship. Akron's political environment simply raises too many red flags to believe such circumstance exists in a town where the "get" is such an important political trophy.

If his only crime is enjoying some good times with friends, then by God all of us should be so lucky to be committing the same crime.

- - -

Just last week, the Beacon Journal covered a poll which showed more than half of our neighbors no longer cared about the neighborhood. Most of Akron wouldn't recommend Akron to others. They've tuned it out; being part of the community doesn't matter anymore. One has to ask if one reason might be the community doesn't seem to want them anymore. We've become so invested in tearing down that we've forgotten how to build up. One wonders if this environment is beyond cleaning up.

@akronnewsnow Tina Kaufmann working up story now as 38 firefighteras say goodbye in Akron; layoffs after midnight.

Looking For Voter Direction

Halfway through the September 8 city primary day there's one bit of wisdom voters seem only too happy to part with: having an election day right after a holiday may not have been the brightest idea.

Of course, you made it to the polls already through that absentee/early vote, right? About five-thousand Akron voters reportedly asked for the E-Z Vote (wish I'd trademarked that one...) form to do their patriotic duty, but only three-thousand turned in their ballots so far.

Unlike past years where a big absentee vote was an indicator of interest, however, this may just be a sign that voters have finally figured out voting early means no longer being tied to a Tuesday.

When we checked in around mid-morning the best planning for the long day by elections officials seemed to be packing books or cards -- the non-partisan kind with kings, queens, jacks and aces along with the numbers. I'd note you could shoot a cannon off in the place, but that would assume there were enough people around to light the fuse.

This election bears closer watching than your normal Akron turnout because it's the first real test of political clout by both sides following the June Recall. Mayor Plusquellic's team won handily then, and the Citizens for Akron Committee boldly moved ahead in attempting to solidify the Mayor's already tight grasp on Council by trying to sweep out those few dissenting voices to be heard with a discouraging word.

But a negative campaign mailer slapping a scarlet "R" on Council's Mike Williams, John Conti and even Bruce Kilby may have backfired. These incumbents tell me it really served to fire up their supporters based on the reaction they get in face-to-face campaigning as opposed to political discourse through the mailbox.

Does Don Plusquellic get his way with the Citizens for Akron-endorsed slate? Is the push from official Akron enough to propel the experienced ticket of Terry Albanese, Jim Shealey and Jeff Fusco past Williams, Conti and another player such as Linda Omobien, Joe Finley or Kelly Mendenhall among others? Just what impact did the shenanigans of David Reymann and Ernie Tarle in Wards 6 and 7 have on those local races?

Punditry aside, nobody's plunking down money on this. Too many variables, including the weather (rain today) and turnout (very light) which benefit either side depending on who you may be talking with. It is a test, however -- a challenge to see if the alliances forged during the recall election both for and against the mayor remain strong enough to focus on what is the next step in Akron's political infighting: either consolidation of power or a new way to do business.

Joe Finley's performance head-to-head against the mayor two years ago was enough to provide a scare, and what anti-Plusquellic forces felt was a chink in the political armor. Now Finley is on the ballot again, but on his own and not running against someone. There is a Mendenhall on the ballot but it isn't Warner, it's wife Kelly. The two most powerful anti-Don brands Akron may not even be the most potent at-large vote-getters.

Whatever the results tonight, this election provides a useful glimpse into whether there truly is a political machine operating at the behest of the Mayor -- or the strength of the political muscle flexed by Plusquellic's most vocal opponents.

What's Wrong With Us?

God knows I love freedom of expresssion, but sometimes you've just got to wonder why the Founding Fathers neglected to add a note about being polite.

What passes for politics this day would make my late mother sick. And I don't think I ever heard her say a word about politics. She sure did have opinions, though, on how we should treat each other.

This week's story about the Reymann-Tarle exchange on a hot and humid Sunday makes so many good points about why politicians should observe the old adage "if you can't say something nice..."

I spoke with David Reymann the evening of the tussle; the facts in the police report, Reymann's account and Tarle's account, for the most part, all match. What is being glossed over in the aftermath is just how a mother (Mrs. Tarle) and a father (Mr. Tarle) explain to their ten-year old son just why another guy (Mr. Reymann) felt it worthwhile enough to run down the boy's dad.

Reymann tells me he "100% regrets" being the one to put the anti-Ernie literature in front of Ernie's son. I think any of us would be outraged, just as Mom and Dad Tarle were, that their son would be dragged into the childish political games adults play. Where the elder Tarle went over the line was in threatening Reymann; where Reymann went over the line is in not paying attention to what he's doing when handing out political literature to kids.

An outraged father spouts off and makes a threat; a concerned candidate is clueless who he hands his literature to and pulls out a gun. Both men should take lessons from the ten-year-old, who told his mother. Neither of these guys stand as role models for what Akron voters have a right to expect from people seeking to serve them.

What is wrong with this picture?

My Twitter friend "Wayne In Akron" -- who does a remarkable job explaining his opinion using public records -- calls to attention a tweet from Akron Ward Council Rep Kelli Crawford noting voters can cast absentee/early ballots now. She tweets "vote early, vote often!" Wayne finds it inappropriate. I respond in so many words "so what?" and note it's a common phrase. I've heard it every election since I started voting 34 years ago, along with jokes about dead people in Chicago voting twice and West Virginians trading votes for liquor. Where's the intent? Are we really turning into such a humorless society that an "oldie but moldy" phrase triggers alarm? Are we so sensitive we are now insensitive to an easy, throw away laugh?

The comments here on AkronNewsNow enable anyone with an opinion to express themselves, but we spend more and more time reviewing those opinions flagged by readers as offensive, obscene, racist, vulgar, profane or containing vicious attacks on private individuals. The Akron Beacon Journal shut down commenting on their first report of the Firestone Park fireworks beating, and I have to admit plenty of sympathy with the editors on Exchange and Main because we had the same struggle. Open debate is one thing; caustic, hateful, despicable speech is another. In the end, it's the decision of the editors and publishers what we let through, but are we really that rude a people where it must be a constant battle? We've banned some, suspended others, posted warnings -- yet the level of dialogue reflects how easy it is to be nasty when you don't sit face-to-face. Send is easier to hit than reminding ourselves it is best to be polite than sorry. This is the lesson we want to teach our kids?

What the hell is wrong with us?

The statewide games adults play is just as bad; we are a year out of next year's races for Governor and U.S. Senator, and already both sides engage in what passes for raising issues by taking every opportunity to flood newsroom and supporter email boxes with some of the most juvenile, smarmy messages you could imagine. There's a good reason you rarely see this stuff in the paper or hear about it on radio and TV; it isn't designed to be credible political debate, it's designed to get people hacked off enough to send money to "fight the good fight." God help us when 2010 actually rolls around and this spills over to political advertising which fills every television, radio, newspaper and mailbox in the state.

What are we doing to deserve this?

On the national stage, the same folks who smirked and applauded when protesters targeted the President and Vice-President a year ago now cry foul when greeted with the same tactics over the health care debate; there are no opposing viewpoints, only liars, myths, propaganda, Nazi-like suppression of free speech, and even thugs wearing union shirts providing a beat-down on someone hold a protest sign. Despite the courage of a few elected officials such as Missouri's Claire McCaskill, who took on all comers, but is now forced to cancel Town Hall meetings. We're treated to representatives such as Georgia's David Scott -- a Blue Dog as he tells it -- yelling down a local doctor who dared ask questions about the biggest issue in the nation today after he couldn't get through to Scott on his own. Now Scott has a swastika painted on his office door. President Obama gets a more respectful reception in New Hampshire -- not exactly a bastion of liberal thought -- but Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter gets shouted down at his own meeting.

What can we do to stop this?

Usually, the American public is level-headed and responds to the above with a shrug, a comment about how happy we are that the nuts in Washington are kept away from the rest of us, encircled by a beltway, and remind ourselves we vote in spite of our elected representatives and the way politics is played. But after watching an Akron recall draw fewer than one in five voters -- and an income tax in Columbus to protect police, fire and other critical services attract the same kind of interest -- I'm beginning to think voting no is becoming a louder voice than those screaming in our ears.

We need to condemn -- in our strongest, respectful voices -- those who would seek to shout down other voices. We shouldn't accept violence anymore, whether it comes from guys puching out a protest sign holder or a cream pie in the face delivered to Ann Colter. We shouldn't tolerate those who shout down, throw down, or personally put down our neighbors who simply have another idea. That goes for the red-faced, spittle-throwing anti-war protester just as much as the red-faced, spittle-throwing health care opponent.

Enough's enough.

Nothing Good Happens At Closing Time

It's almost as though I've had to break my own fingers to hold off posting some thoughts on Mayor Plusquellic's most interesting adventure on Akron's downtown streets nearly a week ago...but now that just about all the video and audio has been viewed and heard, the fingers are doing the talking again.

By now the facts are pretty clear:

• Mayor Plusquellic had a busy Saturday night tending to official duties welcoming and introducing acts at the Ohio Ballet and Lock 3 before heading over to one of his favorite night spots to help celebrate a friend's birthday;
• the night went long, a few drinks may have been had, but overall nothing spectacular and the type of night many of us have enjoyed at one time or another with friends;
• as is sometimes the occasion at closing time, party turned to pounding. Outside a nearby club a nasty fight is underway; it does not involve the mayor's group but he is about to observe and witness;
  
• Plusquellic walks into a bad situation on the way to his car. He does the right thing, calling 9-1-1 for help...just what any good citizen should do.

That's when it goes sour.

There's no dispute he was excited after seeing what he saw. Being a take-charge kind of guy, he wants to help (charitable view) or direct (critical view) what police do next. He doesn't dispute "adult language" may have been involved, admits he wasn't happy with the APD response he saw, and points out he is, after all, Akron's boss.

That's a big part of the issue. Now that this seems to be winding down, the issues of was or wasn't he (intoxicated) and did or didn't he (overstep his authority) seem to be working their way out. But the question most folks seem to have an opinion on seems to have less to do with policy and more to do with style. On that point, it would benefit both sides to remember a boss should be treated like a boss, and the employee should be treated with respect.

Apply The Other Shoe Test: if it had been Officer Plusquellic responding to the same situation and being cursed at, would Plusquellic have tolerated it? Eyewitness Wayne Jones, who says he was treated professionally by police, says the Mayor didn't cuss out the cop. I do know if we (John Q. Public) cussed out a cop, we'd be on the line for jail food the next morning. Then again, if my boss started telling me how to do my job I'd probably grumble about it but do what he said.

There's no easy answer, other than to hope the level of discourse between Chief Executive and people who work under the Chief of Police drops down a couple notches, and soon. Doubtful, given the response to city union leaders asking for more details about cuts they're supposed to swallow to help the City deal with the July budget surprise. Even from overseas, where he's talking peace in Japan on the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the mayor's response was typical: fault and pointing blame rather than collaboration. It's just his style.

Another chapter in the ongoing Hatfield and McCoy saga of City politics. Wouldn't it be nice to get beyond the feuds and get right to solutions?

- - -

This week, Columbus voters went to the polls in numbers even worse than Akron's recall election (just 18% voted) and by a slim margin (just 51.7%) approved hiking the city income tax to help stuff a big deficit and stem layoffs to "critical" city workers. Mayor Coleman -- a close friend of Mayor Plusquellic -- thanked residents for putting their money where their critical services are, in marked contrast to Plusquellic, who quickly dismissed an Akron F.O.P suggestion of a public safety levy here despite threatened layoffs. Columbus notes there are "critical" city services, including police; Akron takes the stance uniformed services should get the same budget treatment as other departments.

Question to Mayor Plusquellic and City Council: if there's a rush to reform the recall charter language without a public hearing why not even hold a single meeting to openly discuss giving Akron voters the power to decide for themselves if police, fire and EMS are important enough to shell out more?

The last time a "police levy" was on the ballot it was part of (a much smaller part of) a bid to load up economic development programs. With the budget $12 million out of balance -- according to this month's figures -- would it really hurt giving city voters the option of making public safety critical enough to pay for?