Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Well, he's gone and done it again.

I'm talking about Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, who, even when he tried to keep a lower profile, always seems to end up making front-page headlines.

The latest stems from his actions this weekend, related to a downtown Akron fight, and the police response.

I won't recap the entire story, you can certainly get the best coverage here and here.

Now, let me preface the following remarks by saying something.

I've always liked Plusquellic. He's one of the strongest mayors in the state. Yet, as I've stated before, he does have quite a bit of the "high school bully" in him.

I even spoke out (wrote out?) in defense of the Mayor during his recent recall battle.

But, this latest episode reeks of poor City Hall spin to me.

Look, I'm not naive enough to think everything that comes out of downtown Akron is legitimate and trustworthy. The Mayor is a politician, and there probably needs to be a certain amount of spin-doctoring in order to forward his ideas and agendas, not to mention fund his re-election campaigns.

But, in this case, it's gotten out of hand.

First off, the 911 tapes were officially released by City Hall, not the police department. As a longtime member of the Akron media, I know that this almost NEVER happens.

Usually, you call the PD, ask for the tapes, and they provide them to you, warts and all.

In this case, however, the city released three calls, all of which, I'm going to assume, have been heavily edited and sanitized to help the Mayor's side of the story.

Why do I believe this to be the case? Well, if you listen to "Call 1", as it's listed on the city website, Plusquellic clearly states that this is not the first call he's made to operators.

You can bet there's going to be an ugly fight, that will perhaps head into court, to get the full 911 tapes from that evening.

The second part of this that feels like "spin" is the following quote from the Mayor, courtesy ohio.com.

"What I did was vitally important to cracking this case"

I'm sure the Mayor actually believes this. But, this isn't a Scooby-Doo mystery and Mayor Plusquellic wasn't wearing an ascot (to my knowledge.)

Leave the police work to the police, Mr. Mayor. I get that you have a background in criminal law, I really do, but getting involved in a police investigation after having a few drinks isn't in your, or their, best interests.

In other words, if the police tell you to butt out, butt out!

Look, I'm not going to rush to judgment here. It wouldn't be out of the question that a gung-ho police officer decided to flex his muscles a little too much. And certainly, the head of the police union loves to make mountains out of molehills.

But, would it really be so bad for Plusquellic to simply say "I'm sorry"?

What's wrong in admitting you're human ... you had a few too many ... and that clouded your decision-making ability. Then, follow that apology with a sit-down with those your cussed out, and give them a heartfelt "sorry" as well.

Maybe it would be political suicide for a Mayor to admit he was a little drunk. My opinion, and this is just me, is that he's still a human being, and should be able to enjoy a night out as much as the next guy (as long as he's not driving).

But, I'll tell you one thing, an apology would win a lot more points with this blogger, than a transparent attempt to spin your actions into "Don Plusquellic, super-hero gumshoe of South Main Street."

But, as we've seen time and time again, sorry really does seem to be the hardest word for elected officials.

Diminishing Returns?

A funny thing happened on the way to the ballot box yesterday.

The local media, with one exception, stopped using social media to deliver me the news.

As a former media member, I'm watching with great interest from outside the industry, as stations adapt to using Facebook, Twitter, and other sources to deliver their content. In fact, I've written about this before.

Last night was particularly interesting to me, as there was a special election you might have heard about ... as Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic battled to avoid recall.

This issue has been dominating the discussion in Summit County ... with mayors from Hudson to Green chiming in on the effort.

So, needless to say, I watched with great interest as the returns came in.

Now, I'm smart enough to know where to get the results myself, but I thought I would keep an eye on the social media sites to see how the local media would deliver me the numbers.

To my surprise, outside of the fine folks over at Akron News Now (who also delivered a live video feed from their newsroom, which unfortunately, I missed), they didn't.

So, I started delivering the results myself ... on both Facebook and Twitter, sometimes even getting the numbers up faster than the folks at ANN (but not by much.)

Interestingly, one television station (who shall remain nameless), had an assignment editor "tweeting" the results under her Twitter account, but only after she received a call from the reporter in the field.

In other words, by the time they were "tweeted" they were already behind.

Here's what confuses me. Why not just have the reporter tweet them himself?

The old ways of delivering results are dead, folks.

The social media world, and its consumers, want their news hand-delivered, and they want it fresh.

It absolutely floors me that television stations and newspapers that tweet on a regular basis didn't bother to offer the results through social media.

So, when it came to getting the results yesterday the quickest, Akron area consumers basically had three options.

1. The Board of Elections website.

2. Akron News Now.

3. Me -- a guy sitting in his office delivering the numbers while listening to a Tribe game.

The fact that there are at least 7 or 8 other news organizations that I, personally, defeated last night should be of GREAT concern to them.

Because, if private citizens like me can take journalism into their own hands, what use will we have for those who actually get paid to deliver the news?

PS: To every news outlet who wants me to be their "Facebook Friend of the Day" ... stop pandering. Don't lip service social media ... either go all in, as ANN did, or face the consequences.

On The Recall

My post-a-day promise rolls right along ... with politics!

It's not something I write about very often, but this is an issue that I feel pretty strongly about ... so here goes.

I believe the effort to recall Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic is wrong, and should be soundly rejected by voters tomorrow.

Before I go further, a little bit of disclosure. First, I don't live in Akron, so I will not be casting a ballot. Secondly, I've met the Mayor on a few occasions, but I wouldn't consider myself a friend or a crony. Third, I've had a number of interactions with the Mayor's Office ... some good, some bad, some ugly.

Most of my reasons for opposing this effort to recall Plusquellic have already been written by others, but I'm going to state them in my words.

Mainly, I'm against the idea because the arguments and accusations leveled against the Mayor are issues that should be contested and debated during a primary/general election cycle, not a recall.

To me, recalls should be used like those oxygen masks on airplanes ... only when the worst is about to happen.

In the case of politics, that should be when the incumbent is charged criminally ... or responsible for the most heinous acts of disregard for his office.

Now, those opposing Plusquellic are acting within the boundaries of the city charter. So, I can't blame them for them for taking action. The charter makes it too simple to recall an elected official, and no matter the outcome of tomorrow's vote, you can bet it will be changed.

But, just because the recall is legal ... it doesn't mean it's right.

Look, I'll be the first one to say that over the past several years, Plusquellic's manner has grown more brusque and bully-like. Opponents often point to the fact that the Mayor "tells it like it is", even if it offends many.

But, honestly, in this day and age where every politician, athlete, news anchor, and head of industry sanitizes their words to save themselves from the PC police ... isn't it somewhat refreshing to have a leader who says what's on his mind?

I mean, the President just took heat for killing a fly, for God's sake.

I want a leader like Plusquellic. I want a leader who says what he thinks, even if it ruffles a few feathers.

He's earned the right to say some of those things by his performance. Sure, city debt is high. Sure, Akron isn't immune to things like the foreclosure crisis.

But, you'll notice when those lists of "declining cities" are issued ... Cleveland and Canton are always included, but Akron is mysteriously missing.

Under Plusquellic's leadership, Akron has new restaurants, a beautiful ballpark in which to watch baseball, a transformed university campus, new places to live, work and learn and a renewed commitment to the arts.

Have there been missteps? Sure. The Inventor's Hall Of Fame was and is a boondoggle. The aforementioned sewers plan was rushed to the ballot. Relations with safety forces could be better.

However, there have not been enough missteps to remove Plusquellic from office mid-term. If you don't like what he's done ... or what he's said ... run against him in either the primary or the general election.

If you beat Plusquellic then, well, the change you want will have occurred in the way it was intended.

Finally, you may ask why I care? I don't live in Akron. I don't work there. What does it matter to me?

My answer ... I believe Don Plusquellic is not just good for Akron ... he's good for the region. Like it or not, he has clout ... locally, statewide, and even nationally. And folks in the burbs may not like this, but what's good for Akron is good for it's neighbors.

I'd wager the jobs saved by retaining Goodyear and Firestone don't belong to folks who live exclusively within the city limits.

When Akron benefits, we all benefit.

And Don Plusquellic is a good leader, who's fighting for his political life, because of a bad idea.

And while I don't expect this post to sway a single person, I urge everyone who supports the Mayor to not take their votes for granted tomorrow ... if you want Plusquellic to stay in office, get out and vote.

PS: I have one other message, to those Akron City Council members who are considering a run for Mayor should Plusquellic be removed ... you are cowards. You would rather sit quietly under this Mayor then challenge him directly for the job. Anyone who runs for the sole reason that they no longer have to oppose Don Plusquellic should be sure to print their campaign signs in yellow.