UA's speechless merry-go-round

I have once again found that there are precincts  of the University of Akron that are on lockdown.  As in the case of the Multicultural Center, once believed to have been a victim of  the Scarborough administration's summer housecleaning. Sort of.

My curiosity was aroused by a private  top-level meeting the past Friday at City Hall between Mayor Jeff Fusco and UA President  Scott Scarborough, each flanked by his  own confederates.

Fusco had arranged the session in what at first  seemed to me to be a way of leveling the playing field on Scarborough's strictly controlled game plan for the  downtown campus.  The mayor was joined by City Planning Director  Marco Sommerville and two black ministers; in Scarborough's corner were Board of Trustees chairman and the CEO's first responder, Jonathan Pavloff,  as well as African-American trustees Olivia Demas  and Warren Woolford.

Something else apparently on the table:  the topsy-turvy  reports from last July that the Multicultural Center, which is serving minorities  and international students, was headed in a different direction that has yet to be defined by the front office.  From all that we could determine, the minority ministers had wanted a clearer focus on where that was ending up. Alas, in the end, Sommerville  told  me,  the session  didn't accomplish very much.

In July, word that the Center would be closed (its three staff members were dispatched)   was officially denied by the leadership. Or as spokesman Wayne Hill put it at the time,  "the programming and services will be supported in different ways."

The situation remains fluid in November to the concern of the students.

I tried to shake out an update on Tuesday on whether the Center was still functioning.   John Alvarez Turner, an associate director, said he wasn't authorized to talk to me.  He said that only the  Center's director, Lee Gill,was authorized to talk to a reporter. And Gill is now a cabinet member  on the Scarborough team.

I innocently asked Turner whether his office had been moved to new quarters but he responded by telling me to call Gill. I did , left a message, and didn't get a reply.

The situation, a disgraceful lockdown directed by Scarborough's desk, leaves many of us  to fill in the blanks.   And  in the face of so much criticism, the new UA Polytechnic fantasy is trying to play by its own fail-safe rules.  That's  false royalty for you.

Oh, I did hear from Wayne Hill, who e-mailed  an authorized response by late afternoon, which is as far I've gotten so far:

"Yes, the Multicultural Center is still functioning.  We are finalizing comprehensive plans to increase the impact of UA's inclusive excellence commitment and better coordinate the provision of services in a more convenient manner.  As previously reported, The Office of Inclusion &  Equity/Chief Diversity office, headed by Lee Gill, now reports directly to the President of the University.  The more comprehensive  plans will be communicated in in the days and weeks ahead."

Or not. Sounds more like a statement put together by a committee.


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Plusquellic's back, and good for that!

"I'm back!" the animated man in a loose-fitting patterned shirt and jaunty hat exclaimed with a broad smile.   As I  approached him on the sidewalk outside the  Uncorked Wine Bar downtown,  he repeated:  "I"m back in my city."

Well, yes.  Deeply tanned, apparently well-rested  from his tortured exit  and no longer in his dark mayoral suit, Don Plusquellic  was mingling with others ,  one of whom asked him to take off his hat.  When he did, it revealed a brush cut that had replaced his carefully groomed white hair that was a trademark of his Hollywood persona at City Hall. It was then that you came to realize that now out of the office he had occupied for 28 years, he was indeed tailoring hmself for a new life in the city.

Inside the noisy bar, a large crowd had  come to the reception for Pete Nischt, the   rising young Democratic party executive director who announced his candidacy for the Akron school board. The event was hosted by County Executive Russ Pry, who sat unobtrusively at the rear of the long narrow room to observe the  festivities..

Nischt will need all of the support that he can muster in a three-way race involving Debbie Walsh, Alex Arshinkoff's executive director at county Republican headquarters and Ernie Tarle, Plusquellic's nemesis. Need I say more?

Although the former mayor said he might take some time to work for Hillary Clinton in Iowa,  his political presence doubtless will be felt in his hometown as well as the University of Akron campus.  More than one person remarked that  Team Scarborough might have had second thoughts about an amateurish rollout of  job cuts  that  downsized the school's academic credibility  had Plusquellic, a feisty soul, been in its face.

No fault of interim Mayor Jeff Fusco, nor interim Democratic chairman  Sandra Kurt, both temporary caretakers of city or party business, the dominoes fell quickly in the post-Plusquellic scramble.  So  the party will need an infusion of kinetic energy for the forthcoming mayoral primary race pitting Dan Horrigan against Mike Williams and Frank Comunale.  I'm told Williams, an African American and perennial candidate, is already trying to fashion the contest into a racially acute  contest. If he persists, it will create two ugly camps that will divide a city with a progressive reputation in race relations.

The voters need to know the stakes as Akron approaches a critical decision for its future. So welcome back, Mr. Plusquellic.  Is there anything you can do about the city that you have long voiced with pride?

From mayoral to presidential discourse, a lot of HUHS?

The story lines in this season's political discourse have been stranger than normal for a bunch of would-be achievers at the local and national forums.  For starters, the seismic effect on the Akron mayor's race by Don Plusquellic's  volatile departure after 28 years has dug deeply into the viscera of not only his opponents but also his supporters.

Seismic?  Three Democratic  mayors  in a blink? Hardly time to change all of the official stationary at City Hall to bear the name of Jeff Fusco, Democratic county chairman until a moment ago who stepped aside for county Councilwoman Sandra Kurt.       At that he will only serve out his battleground commission until another mayor is elected in November, doubtless the survivor of the Democratic primary.

Among the odder  rollups to the mayoral filing deadline was veteran State Sen. Tom
Sawyer, once Akron  mayor himself 30 years ago.  He' told the Beacon Journal that his filing of petitions didn't mean, as he approaches 70,  he would actually run for the office.   (At that moment, a reporter should have done the routine follow-up by asking what the hell did that mean?  ) He now says he wants to be part of the "conversation" as the "grownup".

Shift the discussion  to Jeb Bush, who is trying to set a record for fund-raising by an unannounced presidential  candidate.  He was on TV the other day saying he's not campaigning for prez.  At what point, it's fair to ask, will he borrow a term from his brother by declaring "Mission Accomplished"?

But we did jot down for historical purpose the presidential  insight  added ay another candidate, Lindsey Graham.  Since he's a confirmed bachelor, he was asked about the rare moment in presidential history when there would be no First Lady.

Easy to fix, Graham breezily allowed, with his sister and a lot of friends posted on a rotating basis to serve as First Women.

I didn't make any of this up.




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The wash from the week that just ended - finallyl

Summit County Democratic chairman Jeff Fusco drew a good turnout  - 100 or so - for a pep session of party activist sand candidates on a rainy Saturday at the Dems' Grant Street headquarters to deliver a single message:  Hit the streets.

The centerpiece was the launch for delivering 80,000 sample ballots in the county.  "It will take a couple of  weeks,"  Fusco  told me afterward.  "But we'll get it done."

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Finally unwinding after the near-collapse of the Steelers. The game saver:  Ben Roethlisberger, who never  knows enough to panic and led the team to a field goal spot on the field in the final minute.. It was known as winning ugly, but worth a win in the standings.  Whew!

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When Eric Cantor joined aWall Street investment banker after his loss in the Republican primary, his new career offered perfect symmetry to Gov Kasich's own line of work when he voluntarily left congress to become a very rich man at Lehman Brothers (now defunct).  For the one per centers who are ideologically with you, there's always room for one more.

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So eager are the Obama haters to find fault with his every breath, Dana Perino - former president Bush's press secretary - noted that Obama's brief tourist walk at Stonehenge had bad "optics".  I wonder how many divisions the optics army has.

A new and energized Democratic executive director

The Summit County Democratic team  is looking a little younger - and more energized - these days and maybe it's just what the doctor ordered this election year.

Meet Pete Nischt,  27.  He's the  party's  new executive director via an appointment by  chairman Jeff Fusco.  Nischt, Fusco told me, was "highly recommended by a number of people who know him personally and has great organizational skills."

Nischt arrives in the political trenches with a law degree and an MBA from the University of Akron.  During lunch he impressed me with a ton of enthusiasm for the job
It's the sort of thing that you don't often find in the ranks of either  party.  Elected officials, particularly button-down Democrats, are generally satisfied (complacent?) with their safe positions but rarely do I  find anybody ready to step up for the sake of the traditional party values that have long sustained the distinction of being called a Democrat.

Republicans, on the other hand, still cling to the notion  that the first and only privileged rung on Jacob's ladder is a tax cut. I'll leave it at that.

So,  yes, Nischt (pronounced Nisht, I think) brings an enthusiastic voice to the dance.   That will pose the usual problems among some of the old  folks,  but he also appears to have the energy and intelligence to make a difference.