Notes On The Recall

Blowout. Not even close. Over when it started. Wiped the floor with 'em.

We've got the cliche wagon pulled over and I'm sure my fellow pundits will exhaust the supply to describe Tuesday's results of the Change Akron Now bid to recall Akron's Don Plusquellic. I don't know anyone (including Warner Mendenhall) who believed CAN could DO it. Citizens For Akron ran a smart campaign -- how could they not with a 22-to-1 money advantage? CFA understood all too well the value of CYA, leaving no stone unturned, the value of a professionally-positioned "grassroots" base and effort to define issues, control the agenda and get out the vote. And they did this all without the one candidate on the ballot stepping out in front of the target painted on his back. Don Plusquellic's defense worked best when his team played offense around him.

In the end, GOTV trumps shouting from the Town Square.

The 20% turnout is nothing to be proud of, summertime or no summertime. In the end it wouldn't have mattered if half that number turned out. A 3-1 advantage spells landslide, especially when "absentee voting" -- why can't we just call it early voting? -- provided everything the anti-recall forces could have hoped for. This is the strategy executed to a "t" by Obama in 2008, by Citizens For Akron in 2009, and future politicians smart enough to understand a 30-day voting window means 30 days to win.

Even with the crushing defeat, Change Akron Now promises a slate of council candidates, one led by oh-so-close Plusquellic opponent Joe Finley in 2007. I'll be very surprised if this works, unless they learn from their defeat in June and turn it into fresh strategy for September. These next few months will see the game continue, only with surrogates now carrying the standards for both sides. Those on the outs still want their piece of those on the inside, and the incumbent machine knows all too well they cannot afford to let their guard down now.

That said, I'm still wondering if this recall election was the reaffirmation of love Mayor Plusquellic needs? Or was the vote more a reflection of what most editorials noted: not really a personal endorsement of Don Plusquellic, and all his personality brings to bear, but rather a rejection of the concept of tossing the bull out from the china shop because he hasn't broken anything?

Despite the branding of "our" mayor for "our" city, there are few who disagreed that Plusquellic's style leaves much to be desired. In between stomping around with hurt feelings after opponents questioned the obvious timing of a flood of pro-Akron announcements, cherry-picking interview opportunities -- did he do ANY radio live or long-form? -- he still managed to rub many the wrong way with behind the scene hardball which lends easily to depictions of him as "The Don." I give him great credit for the rep: he's earned it.

This isn't just my observation; the Beacon Journal, Plain Dealer, WAKR/AkronNewsNow, other bloggers, other media -- all made note of the ill-temper described as "passion" as not enough to warrant being tossed out. His own supporters, at the same time calling the vote a mandate for the mayor, also hope he learns to tamp it down; this scuffle cost a quarter-million dollars and plenty of their time. Which Don comes out of this as the smoke clears? Does he sit down and bury the hatchet with the FOP as they've asked? Will he ever talk with enemy-for-life turned anti-recall ally Don Robart again? Will he ever say the name of his chief opponent in public?

Even Obama knows how to say Cheney. The key to the next chapter in this political soap opera is whether those in support offer honest counsel and not just what he wants to hear. That a head-on approach need not be offensive to be a good offense; that being defensive need not be so offensive. That a legacy politician with an iron grip on the job can and should be satisfied everyone knows he's the driving force without having to tattoo it on their foreheads. Which Don Plusquellic will we see, the statesman elected to represent his nation's mayors or the one stepping into the ring?

This is a legitimate question, and one not so easily glossed over. As owner of the "company," Akron voters are the managers; they decided their highest performing employee gets results and needs to stay, even if he can occasionally be a real piece of work. The stakeholders want to keep him because he gets the job done. Even if he snorts and throws his weight around, so long as the dishes don't break. The main message conveyed with such clarity over the past 90 days has been he leads, even with a few scratches; Akron voters know to not mess up a good thing.

But the danger, if he allows the ego of unchecked incumbency to swell beyond his vision, is in continuing to ride that wave of performance goodwill for those times when the next big challenge comes. When a younger, fresher, more energetic version seizes the moment. When Akron's good name is finally dragged down to the level of the other northeast Ohio big cities. Those times when some with new ideas poses a real threat to more people beyond the 25-30% who always say no.

Blogger Pho's Akron Pages is no fan of Change Akron Now nor it's tilting-at-windmills leader Warner Mendenhall. His observations are pointed, but thoughtful. His post "Whither Akron" reads from the heart: who will step up and challenge the status quo, in this case Plusquellic, in the interest of confronting power? It's a core question: just how healthy is the cult of Don for Akron's function as a democracy over the long haul? Akron, Pho writes, needs a "sensible loyal opposition."

Unlike the fairly universal acknowledgments of Plusquellic's prickly personality, this isn't a concerned aimed at him as a manager, a political leader, or as a person. Few of the serious thinkers in this debate disagree in private that more open debate and decision-making is a bad thing. We just want it to mean something, and drive the community forward in ways that Cleveland and Youngstown just can't seem to figure out. We know Akron is too progressive to be considered a fiefdom, but we fear losing the iron will to fight to keep the train running on time will mean we will be lost having to do it without the conductor ahead.

It's easy now to villify those who dare ask the question, or push the system to hold a midsummer's day vote. But even losing in a landslide, voices wondering about alternatives or even succession planning can be heard. And the conventional wisdom won't be able to drown them out forever.

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A note on the media coverage of the election: what a vacuum we are seeing develop as a city of a quarter-million people boils down to a handful of outlets. Former WKYC-TV producer Chris Hyser notes correctly in his "Diminishing Returns" post the brave new world of learning results. Those good old days of multiple, competing media outlets using all the tools at their disposal have shrunk when it comes to servicing Akron. The blog world hasn't stepped in, and those outlets in a position to step up didn't show it Tuesday night.

I have a very vested interest in this; for the most part we did what we thought was best on Election night, just as the Beacon Journal did in getting results, analysis and coverage to the public. But seeing the region's second biggest city shunted aside to true suburban status on a single, important issue ought to be an eye-opener for all of us.

This was a campaign successfully managed professionally to maximize positives while minimizing risk of damage, which meant no town hall-style forums on cable, broadcast, or digital television. No Press Club luncheons at the Martin Center, where a couple hundred folks could feast on split chicken breasts as the pros and cons were delivered. This was a great example of controlling the message, and not allowing it to get messy. Using websites to position and parry, and employing social media such as Twitter and Facebook to bypass the mainstream. Who needs to sit down with Ray, or Larry, or Howie or Matt? Can't control what they ask, but you can control what others hear and read.

This is the new politics, and Akron's media landscape is not ready for what is to come.

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For those who missed hunky Lt. Governor Lee Fisher's "guns," note YouTube has taken down videos containing the copyright material.

The posts are still up on this blog but you won't be able to see the buff Lee flexing over a late-night video visit while he's answering email.

The Fisher folks worked quickly to flag the video, so it's a no-no now. Fisher followers, rest easy; Brunner backers, at least you had a laugh over the last week.

Back to good government now...

LIVE VIDEO The 2009 Recall

Unfortunately, not live video streaming from locations where the candidates are. Our efforts to pin down locations so we could assure more reliable wired access to the web fell short and, in fairness, we opted not to just webcast from one location and not another.

That said, our partnership with Dan Mosher of Mosher Media here in Akron allowed us to stream live video and audio from our newsroom. Early on it'll be pretty boring, but once we start getting reports and results in you'll be able to see how our newsroom functions during coverage of an election.



This tends to be a full-steam ahead exercise punctuated by long stretches of "is this what they do?" It's news sausage being made...

The Numbers Game

Wednesday's official announcement -- after the news broke Tuesday -- of jobs coming to Akron is welcome news from any camp. The question is: just how many, really?

There's no reason to doubt the people behind this latest announcement of good times to come (with a week before an election; nice timing!) in Akron, but AkronNewsNow's Chris Keppler asks some pointed follow-up in a video Q&A featuring PlusOne Communications Bob Madden about the number of jobs to be created in their new support center in the old Firestone Bank building.

When Mayor Plusquellic first included the project in his listings of accomplishments (2008 State of the City address) it had 300 jobs attached. The actual number was closer to 250, if the reference was directed at construction jobs renovating the building. Madden and his wife Jill Bacon Madden spent about $2 million dollars on the project, a hefty investment but not bad considering they bought the empty building for $2 (no million) from the City.

Call me a cynic for wanting a better understanding of all this, especially with less than a week to go before the election. The biggest economic activity lately seems to be the frequent news conferences, video opportunities, photo ops and media push both for and against the recall. But even as a cynic, I think it is admirable the Madden's put their hard work and money (most of it coming from themselves, according to what we can ascertain) behind their mouths in recognizing opportunity here at home.

It's easy to say "oh, again?" when any politician holds forth on the next best thing; if all of those best things really happened the way they are presented we'd at least have a perception things are getting better. At least we keep throwing it up against the wall to see what sticks.

On Tuesday, City Hall advised the media there would be a big announcement, with the promise of a thousand-job announcement. By the time it wound up in print this morning in the Akron Beacon Journal, that number was 1500. Note, though, it'll take awhile to ramp that up to the thousand or even 1500 level if hiring at 40 or 50 jobs a month.

Comment postings on the story note some of these jobs may be coming at the expense of another Akron-area telephone support company, so does that mean we get over a thousand new jobs or are we moving pieces around on a chess board? Without more information on which clients make up this new economic base for PlusOne Communications it's difficult to figure out the gross job picture from the net job picture.

But at this point in economy-starved northeast Ohio maybe it's treason to examine the fine print. After all, the headline's what matters, right?

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Speaking of timing, 1590 WAKR and the WAKRNewsNow all-news online stream from AkronNewsNow will be re-broadcasting our two-hour special on the recall election. "WAKR Primer: The 2009 Recall" airs from 7:06 p.m. through 9:00 p.m. on WAKR Saturday, and we'll repeat our continuous stream of this program online again on Sunday from noon to 10:00 p.m.

At this point I figure there aren't many voters in Akron who haven't made up their mind on the simple question of stay-or-go for Plusquellic, but just in case here's another chance to listen to each side make their case. You can also access more audio and video here on AkronNewsNow.

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Akron voters can still vote early (or late, at least until 8:00 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Monday evening) in the recall election. The Summit County Board of Election is keeping absentee voting booths open for duty at the 470 Grant Street offices from 8:00 in the morning through 8:00 at night each weekday and from 8:00 a.m. through noon on Saturday. Maybe by Tuesday everyone in Akron will have voted early so we can find out the result early on June 23 and get back to hoping the Indians bullpen figures out how to hold a lead...wouldn't it be wonderful to get back to winning instead of whining?

Mayoral Recall: A Media Planning Guide

With two weeks to go before the June 23, 2009 Akron election to determine if Mayor Don Plusquellic will continue in office, here's some thoughts and planning advisories.

When petitions were first delivered then certified, it was pretty clear there would be a vote this summer on the ChangeAkronNow push to recall Plusquellic. No more talking; a deadline to finally put this issue to bed.

Akron Beacon Journal Editor Bruce Winges and I had been having some conversations on issues where it might prove useful for both our respective news organizations to not only coordinate but even collaborate with a joint project. We thought the recall election was one of those issues, and agreed to try and pursue interview opportunities with both sides where our respective reporters would be able to bring multiple views to bear on the key players.

Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out that way.

Mayor Plusquellic's response to WAKR was that we publish (on AkronNewsNow) and broadcast (on WAKR) coverage of his chief opponent's tax troubles before he would accept our joint invitation. The ABJ has already reported the issue, including in a story last year, but we made an editorial decision to skip that issue. It is our view that while Warner Mendenhall's personal finances were certainly fair game for the Mayor to go off on, it wasn't our role to tee up the shot for him. We feel there's been plenty enough childish name-calling and personal attacks on both sides, a viewpoint many individuals on both sides also privately share with us. Our policy has also been exercised in the case of Plusquellic's opponents, who haven't been shy about their own attacks on the personal behavior of mayor and those close to him.

There was also a small matter of accepting conditions for an interview with the mayor, who appeared on our airwaves as a guest on the Ray Horner Morning Show on April 1st. We feel it was inappropriate to accept such conditions, and reserve the right to make up our own minds when it comes to our editorial direction and policies. We respect the right of the mayor to decide who he will talk with, but think Akron deserves more independent voices, not fewer.

Full disclosure: our parent company, through our radio stations, has a business relationship with the city, primarily in the form of a partnership to help promote events and activities such as Lock 3's summertime concerts and events. This type of relationship extends back decades; many will remember when the "WAKR Good Guys" helped promote local concerts and venues. In addition to being good business, we view this as important to our community. That said, it does not influence the editorial decisions made by our newsroom. Anyone who's been around the mayor when those deicisons come up can attest.

As of this week, the mayor's office neither accepted nor rejected the invitation. We decided to move forward. It is the mayor's right to decline our interview request, but our listeners and readers should be fully aware the offer was extended. Both WAKR and the Beacon Journal will offer up their own comprehensive stories, including separate interviews. We have agreed to promote our competing coverage, because the issues involved with the recall are simply too important for one news organization to "own" by itself.

Both of our news organizations already feature extensive coverage with easy-to-navigate special sections online through these links to the Beacon Journal and AkronNewsNow coverage. In some cases, stories date back more than six months. There are also a wealth of other online sites in Akron produced by proponents and critics of the recall, including those of the two main organizations noted below. Some are serious, some are entertaining, but all add to the general debate: what decision should Akron voters make June 23rd?

On Sunday's 1590 WAKR and AkronNewsNow.com will feature portions of what the mayor said in April in addition to a full sit-down with State Senator Tom Sawyer, heading up the anti-recall Citizens for Akron group. Our full interviews with Warner Mendenhall and Patti Longville of ChangeAkronNow will also be broadcast and available online. In addition to our on-air coverage "WAKR Primer: The 2009 Recall" to air Sunday, June 14, 2009 from 12:00 to 2:00, we will also feature repeated webcasts of the audio on our news stream WAKRNewsNow and video on AkronNewsNow. We will also include easier-to-digest podcast "chunks" of these interviews, but feel it is important to present full and complete versions as well.

The Beacon Journal will also feature extensive coverage, including in-depth interviews conducted by Stephanie Warsmith. She and other staffers at the newspaper have done a wonderful job of presenting viewpoints and issues for voters to consider, and on Sunday, June 14 it should be required reading to compare as both Plusquellic and Mendenhall make their respective cases.

On a local journalism note, there may likely be critics of the decision of the Beacon Journal and WAKR in promoting our "competition." But with local television pulling their limited resources closer to home and shrinking news budgets impacting the number of bodies covering stories despite the urgent need for news of our communities, we may be seeing even more collaborative projects in the future. Personally, I hope so; it seems we spend a lot of time worrying more about the masthead or frequency number than what matters most.

Our readers, listeners, viewers and visitors need to know what's going on more than ever.

Recall Tactics, Part 1

The recall election is underway -- with absentee voting taking place now at the Summit County Board of Elections, even with the actual deadline to register for the election next Tuesday.

Amazing how quickly government can work sometimes...

So now it's not just about whether voters want to see the issue on the ballot. The campaign now centers on the public and the private strategy of each side with the counting that starts after polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 the only thing that matters. Less than five short weeks, with at least four days between now and then taken up by Memorial Day holiday activities (rotten time to campaign), the end of the school term, vacations and the general malaise surrounding anything political between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

In this case of the compressed campaign, the push to organize get-out-their-vote drives is on a very short leash. With effectively only four weeks to get done what normally takes four months, the strength of the political machinery on both sides will be tested.

So what strategy to adopt for each side?

The ChangeAkronNow folks need to continue their momentum beyond the 3,179 certified signatures it took to get the recall on the ballot. They need to convince those who signed the petitions to take the next step by voting, and try to convince those on the fence to fall their way -- and to vote that way. So far, it's been grass-roots campaigning, with the strong use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, word of mouth, and use of shoe leather. But their task isn't as hard as it is for those arguing on behalf of Mayor Plusquellic. Anger and outrage, deserved or not, is a supreme motivator for people entering a voting booth. In this case, word of mouth works best because it is one-one-one and intimate; it also doesn't have to stand the test of truth-telling or challenge.

In terms of putting on a media show of pro-recall advertising, that takes money. Raising funds to support an effective ad campaign would cost thousands of dollars. It will be tough waging that kind of political war against a two-decades plus incumbent who clearly knows not only how to raise campaign money on his own, but also understands how to freeze out potential support for his opposition. Look for more push for so-called "free media" from the pro-recall effort, although in today's news environment that effectively limits them to the Beacon Journal and West Side Leader on the print side and broadcast news & talk outlets WAKR, WNIR, WKSU, WCPN and WHLO. I hope I'm wrong, but Cleveland television can be expected to treat this as they do most Akron issues -- with a 1:40 package the days before the election, unless something better is happening in Westlake.

The tactics for Citizens For Akron will be much more nuanced; not only do they need to convince voters the recall is unwarranted, they need to motivate voters to care enough to lift themselves off the chair and get in front of a ballot. The biggest problem Plusquellic supporters may have is indicated by a conversation I had recently with a woman at the Starbucks on Sand Run -- not an area of the city known particularly as a hotbed of revolutionary thought.

She doesn't like the idea of the recall, telling me she thinks Plusquellic's done nothing illegal or unethical to warrant being tossed out of office two years before his term ends. She thinks it is a waste of time and money, but here's the problem for the pro-Plusquellic campaign: she also doesn't like the mayor personally.

She tells me she while she believes it is a big mistake to recall Plusquellic, she isn't invested enough in the civic duty part of being an Akron voter to come to his aid. She needs a personal reason to vote no to vote yes for Plusquellic, and that's her tough choice because she doesn't like the way he treats people.

There's the rub of the greatest challenge for the mayor's supporters: the very passion which makes Plusquellic a powerful and, on a great many occasions, an effective advocate on behalf of Akron is his greatest asset. It's also his greatest liability. In the same conversation supporters opine Akron is in far better shape than every other northern Ohio major city, and they credit the Plusquellic Administration with being pro-active rather than reactive. But in the next sentence they'll shake their heads over name-calling, finger-pointing and bring up stories such as arguing with parking lot attendants and saying opponents have special places in hell reserved for them when he loses.

It's not the big picture with all the talk of travel budgets, long-term or short-term debt that seems to spark the greatest reaction. It is the little things that all of us can relate to -- how do the big guys treat the little guys, and should that be the biggest part of the equation when the big guy needs the little guy to vote?

The conventional wisdom politically is to come out with guns blazing, and that's been the history of the mayor's pattern of response...but is it the wise course of action when blazing guns appears to be why people will vote against you, or worse yet decide to not vote for you?

Supporters tell me they intend to wage an intensive feet-on-the-ground education campaign detailing the plus of Plusquellic. WKYC's Eric Mansfield Tuesday night aired portions of a sit-down with Plusquellic that broke little new ground. I think the interesting take-away, however, is the mayor's tone: less combative than we're used to, perhaps an acknowledgment that in this case leadership style may very well play the major role in this election.

WKYC-TV video; if embed doesn't work you can find it here on WKYC.com

The Recall Timetable

Akron City Council tonight will set a date for the recall election targeting Mayor Plusquellic -- what in effect should serve as a textbook learning opportunity for political wonks. Here's hoping the central issue doesn't get lost in the tactical war.

Updated: Council President Marco Sommerville says Council will be asked to vote tonight to hold the recall election on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

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Akron's charter provisions on a recall election leave a lot to be desired. While technically specific, even down to the language where a "yes" vote means the office holder is out, a "no" vote means the office holder remains.

Akron City Charter: Each ballot at such election shall have printed thereon the following question: "Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (name of office) by recall?" Immediately following such question, there shall be printed on the ballot the following two propositions in following order:

"For the recall of (name of person)."

"Against the recall of (name of person)."

Immediately to the left of each of said propositions shall be a space in which the elector may vote for either of such propositions.

It even sets the benchmark dates for action by city council, how long the office holder has to resign if they choose to, and when the election will be held.

But it offers little else of guidance to voters, such as what exactly merits a recall. Expect to see a push, no matter what the outcome of the 2009 recall election, to make the charter language more specific. It would be an overdue improvement and keep the protections of a recall process in place while making the grounds more specific beyond the we-can-do-it-because-we-can school of political theater.

Council will vote tonight on setting a date, between June 20th and July 10th, for Akron voters to put this to rest. Mayor Plusquellic has until 4:30 this afternoon to let City Clerk Bob Keith know if there is a resignation coming -- fat chance, I think, but the mayor's office says there will be a letter to that effect.

Now this issue comes down to tactics; whether holding a vote with dates on either side of what is essentially two weeks of Independence Day holiday. Cruddy time to hold an election unless you hope for a really, really low turnout. On paper that should benefit the pro-recall folks, unless the anti-recall campaign is confident their campaign organization is stronger and better organized. The sooner the better, say the mayor's supporters.

The central question is whether or not you think Don Plusquellic should continue to be mayor for the remainder of his term. Period.

Critics of the mayor, led by longtime opponent Warner Mendenhall, did what the charter required in securing enough signatures to put the issue before the voters. Democracy by the rules, that's all they needed to do. Akron's charter made it easy because the number was based on the turnout of the last general election, which was very low because there was no contested race for the office. Nothing criminal or civil needed to be proven.

No case needed to be made on why Don Plusquellic should get the boot in mid-term, just that they could put the issue before voters. Those are the rules, and in systems of government where the rule of law is supreme these rules held fast. The arguments on whether a recall election should be held provided plenty of fodder for editorials and commentary but the basic truth is: with enough signatures, all recalls are possible.

That's actually a good thing, because the charter controls how democracy works in Akron. It's the document that keeps the people ultimately in charge. That critics of Plusquellic, unable to do in a primary or general election what they now try to do through recall, found an opening in the charter is the kind of political lawyering that makes most of us yawn but drives those involed in the process crazy. But it is the process, and both sides clearly know how to play this game.

Now it's up to voters to sift through the posturing and determine the real issue, which is has Plusquellic done so wrong that he should be removed now? That's the central issue voters should consider when casting their vote this summer -- and what exactly are the charges against Plusquellic to warrant this political death penalty?

Critics say their charges are substantive but Plusquellic's supporters argue they are driven more by personality conflict.

The strategy for the pro-recall will be to keep their campaign supporters invested enough in anti-Plusquellic emotion that they vote. Don't look for this in slick television or radio ads, because this emotion is best stoked under the radar. Keeping someone angry is far easier than appealing to a more noble concept of what's best for the community. This argument is made to the heart, misplaced or not. ChangeAkronNow already has their list of likely voters and a starting point. Strong emotion is a powerful motivator for action as simple as walking into a voting booth.

The strategy for the anti-re-call campaign is to get out their message that the mayor has done nothing to warrant getting the boot after more than two decades of being who he is and voters should turn aside the effort. In a nutshell: "he may be a tough old SOB, but he's our SOB." This will be a tougher campaign because the argument is one made to the brain, seeking to have reason provide enough of an emotional shove for voters to make the effort to get to the polls. Citizens For Akron also has a strong list of supporters but needs to make the case beyond individuals saying they support Plusquellic -- and turning that support into action.

Either way, this political schooling that started soon after Issue 8 at least comes to a close by mid-July...unless the political lawyering is already looking past the election.

Back In The Swing Of Things

I go out of town and look what happens; the people who hate the mayor complain the rules of engagement have changed when he starts firing back; students and non-students at Kent State try to burn the street down (gee, that's so 70s...); Chrysler takes the road to bankruptcy...oh, and more people get the boot from a certain big radio empire.

Any surprises in the above?

The story making the rounds today is death threats supposedly flooding city hall by some who signed recall petitions, now upset the mayor's supporters are tracking them down and trying to get them to change their minds. The good-natured clerk who took the calls didn't exactly describe a flood, more like a trickle (definition: under five) calls she got from city hall critics who didn't exactly cotton to having their opposition tracked down to this point. That's what I call hardball politics, hardly a surprise from supporters of the mayor who don't like the recall. I wouldn't call it dirty politics, however; those signatures on those petitions are public documents.

You wanna dance with the big boys? Don't be surprised when they step on your toes.

On the KSU riots: as I write this the esteemed president of Kent State and Kent's city manager are holding a news conference to discuss their plans for keeping the peace this weekend. Would've been nice to have seen Dr. Lefton take a more up-front approach after students and non-students alike turned Saturday night into an episode of Burn This last weekend, but I guess mere mortals should be happy we get at least this much.

My favorite coming out of this: Commerce, as expressed by a KSU student who knows a good thing when he sees it. At left is just one side of the t-shirt he's selling via Facebook as well as here on eBay for a mere $15.00 to help remember when beer-fueled riots at Kent had nothing to do with Laos or Cambodia. Many thanks to former RCRG news anchor/reporter Shelley for the tip -- and I'm very proud the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Golden Flash Nation.

Here's hoping the proceeds go to the bar bill. Or a PR course for the big bosses at the University.
On Chrysler: this whole thing makes me sad. The Twinsburg stamping plant is just four miles from my house and represents 600 jobs in Summit County and a huge chunk of that city's annual budget. Aside from the normal greed of losing tax money, it should be noted Chrysler has been a damn fine partner for plenty of local initiatives in northern Summit County, as most auto manufacturing operations are in their respective communities. There are an awful lot of people who went to college and took a non-auto career path because their mothers and fathers worked at auto plants in this country, and there's probably no greater engine for the power of America (other than a World War -- let's be honest) than the domestic automotive industry.

I don't know the answer other than more of us buying more of the cars they make, but all the pro-buy America rhetoric aside it's our buying decisions, joined with big business and big union short-sighted manufacturing decisions, that led us down that path. It won't be fixed by marketing.

Which brings me to my friends up and down the road in the radio industry. Much has been reported the past few months as big broadcast companies slice jobs and try to convince audiences it'll make the product they rely on stronger. This is the ultimate insult to any listener with a brain, and I still think all of our listeners have lots more brain power than the marketing gurus give them credit for.

We know when you take local people off the air it means we aren't getting anything remotely resembling something relevant anymore. It doesn't take an MBA with a side order of marketing to understand we're getting a raw deal from someone doing news, or talking about community events, or even delivering a weather forecast from a thousand miles away and two days ago.

We struggle with the same issues in our own business model here in Akron, and I'll be the first to admit we don't always get it right. But the argument over what to do should start with "what's in this for the customer?"

If we are truly serious about establishing credibility with our listeners then shouldn't we be prepared to correctly pronounce the cities they live in, and give them information they need to protect themselves, their families, and their property when storms/natural disaster/man-made tragedy threaten? These questions matter, and not when the smaller spokes outside the hub have to deal with an emergency. We used to have managers in the broadcast business who seemed to understand public service should be more than just a box to check off on a government filing, not the current crop of "metrics analysts" who pass for news ownership.

Has it really been that long ago when radio learned this painful lesson after a quartet of kidnapped aircraft froze the nation?