A hidden benefit of Mayor Plusquellic?

Following national reports that Akron was among the safest cities to be free  of  natural disasters, I received this email that sort of explained the city's privileged status:

 "God would never mess with Don Plusquellic."

Plusquellic: A mayor doing things right

The recognition of Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic for the prestigious H. Peter Burg Award dashes the notion that familiarity breeds contempt.  He's been the city's chief executive for 27 years, the longest serving mayor in the city's history, having survived various attempts by his opponents to throttle his career at City Hall.  They've tried a recall, whispering campaigns,  junk psychology about his occasional temperamental outbursts, hostile (but ineffective) factions within his Democratic Party, and silly charges of political corruption.  None of it came close to kicking him out because all of it was politics as usual about a most unusual political leader.

Meanwhile, we learned from the 63-year-old Democratic mayor  that his only agenda is to manage a city in a way to advance it each day.

Chosen by the Greater Akron Chamber,  Plusquellic will be honored Tuesday night for his efforts in promoting economic development in the Akron area, a job that has not been the easiest through the darkest days of the recession  and the conversion of the city from an industrial town to white-collar enterprises.

Much of that story will be told again Tuesday night when he is honored at the John S.Knight Center with the award bearing the name of the former major domo of First-Energy.  Still, my best memory of his leadership is in somewthing that he didn't do.  After his determined bid to field a minor league baseball team in downtown Akron in a new stadium, he refused to show up on opening night in April 1997. The new owners owed the city a lot of money, he said.

Some political gurus and townspeople thought he was foolishly wasting an opportunity to shine, but the mayor figured that could await the receipt of the cash to the city's coffers. And it did.

As with a lot of other things in his role at City Hall, he must have done something right to dash around this long.  Congratulations,  Mr.Mayor!

The full measure of Plusquellic in 15 minutes

IN HIS BRIEF ACCEPTANCE speech following his Democratic primary victory Tuesday night, Mayor Don Plusquellic offered the full mosaic of what has led him into his nearly completed bid for a seventh term. He expressed his humility ("overwhelmed and humbled"); his intense commitment to the city's welfare (the election wasn't "just about being mayor"); and his seething resentment of his critics' attempts to "mislead" the public about his policies and occasional abrasive personality ("Lies"). There you have it - and will continue to have for four more years.

Sorry, Republicans. You now have a Medina lawyer as a candidate for November. But let's not kid ourselves.

From the outset, I never considered the Democratic primary as a contest between Plusquellic and Mike Williams, the longtime councilman and fierce opponent, Mike Williams. With a mayor who has served in that office for 24 years, most voters would have made up their minds about Plusquellic and went to the polls to judge him, up or down. A majority decided it should keep him on the job.

The only new element from all of Plusquellic's previous campaigns was that Williams was an African American, which could have served the challenger in some quarters and hurt him in others. Unfortunately, that is one of the realities of politics.

The mayor's strategy from the beginning was to eliminate race as a decisive factor. Other issues could have arisen from a gang that has tried to move mountains in ridding City Hall of Plusquellic. A couple of years ago they futilely tried to have him recalled, an initiative that lost badly in the special election. You would have thought that enough is enough.

There were early signs that the recallers were back but I was told that even Williams decided they would not be helpful to his campaign.

Being mayor is not easy these days , a point that the mayor stressed. Plusquellic has been battered by state budget cuts and local personal assaults, some of which foolishly alleged criminality - an ancient curse that originated back at a frustrated Summit County Republican Headquarters. So, months ago, Plusquellic wasn't even sure that he needed more of the same by running again.

The city benefitted from his decision and the voters rewarded him with a likely seventh term. As the mayor's close friend, Council President Marco Sommerville, said afterward: "The city of Akron is in good hands. The people of this city understands what he's trying to do.'

Good for everyone concerned.

Akron mayoral debate by the numbers

AKRON MAYOR Don Plusquellic, the former city high school football star, likes to talk numbers as he did as a quarterback in his younger days. One of his favorite numerical references in his bid for reelection to a seventh term in September's Democratic primary is zero to 24. That's how he has been drawing a distinction between himself and his serial rival over the years, Mike Williams. Both men posted milestones in their political careers 24 years ago - Williams then entering City Council and Plusquellic beginning his first term as mayor.

Plusquellic repeated the number again at the widely visited three-person luncheon debate in the University of Akron Student Union to a sell-out audience of 400. It was his way of responding to Williams' pestering (and somewhat empty) charges that Plusquellic's long career has been corroded by intemperate detachment from the people he is supposed to represent. And once again, that the mayor travels too much.

The mayor, straining to suppress his well-known temper, asserted that in Williams' 24 years on council, his record of accomplishment has been zero in contrast to the mayor's own fully committed efforts in behalf of Akron. The operative and oft-repeated notion, loaded I believe, is the mayor's absence from The Neighborhood. I can't get more specific than that because Williams doesn't, either. Nor does it make much sense - much of today's political rhetoric doesn't anyway - for a mayor who can cover his office walls with the national and local awards that he has earned for his service to the city. That helps explain why he keeps getting reelected.

I should mention at this point that the third candidate at the podium was Janice Davis, a pleasant-enough rival who was largely candidate-neutral in the collision between Plusquellic and Williams that was sponsored by the Akron Press Club, Bliss Institute and League of Women Voters. But even Davis, with few specifics, said the city needs to "move forward''. On the other hand, Williams was pleased to portray the mayor as the ruthless commander of a

''dictatorship" who neglected young people, ignored the needs of schools and "and lacked priorities for economic development".

There was historic irony in the school issue. Four years ago the mayor spent much of his time supporting a school levy while ignoring his political campaign. It produced a closer than expected outcome on Election Day. At the windup of the debate, Plusquellic unloaded on the unsurprising rush to Williams' camp by the same group who failed a recall attempt against him a couple of years ago. He wasn't gentle, accusing the group of "half-truths, misleading statements and outright lies." The flare-up seemed to be downright therapeutic for Plusquellic as he left the stage.

You have to wonder how far Williams can take this campaign theme song, So far he hasn't

had a great deal of success raising money. His last report said he had come up with about $17,000 in contributions to which he and his family added $41,000. Plusquellic, meanwhile, reported $180,000! Williams veteran state and national campaign manager, Jerry Austin, resigned after a short stint in apparent disagreement with the candidate' s campaign plan and payments to Austin.

The only good thing to report today is the debate, such as it was, is history. Seldom do these highly orchestrated encounters change many people's minds. OK, back to work everybody.

UPDATE: Jerry Austin phoned me this morning to dismiss back-channel chatter that his departure from Mike Williams' campaign was partly prompted by the payment to him for his advisory service. "Money had nothing to do with it," Austin said. Instead, the veteran campaign consultant said he withdrew from the Williams campaign because of differences with the candidate on campaign strategy. Williams' campaign is being fronted now on a part-time basis by Tara Samples, bailiff for Akron Municipal Judge Kathryn Michael.