Year 2021
“AND WE’RE OFF, AGAIN!”
​
On January 20th of this year, when it was clear my “fake elector” scheme wasn’t going to work out (LOL), I officially conceded “Campaign 2020.” I then took a couple months off (running for president can be, oh, a bit exhausting). And on March 16, 2021, I officially declared for Campaign 2024 in a blog post on our website. Why wait, huh.
I ‘launched’ into the campaign this time, in a somewhat moderated way. (I didn’t want to pique too early. LOL) Plus, with me in recent years, it’s been a balancing act. I’m working as a small-town journalist during the week, mixing this with some house painting, and campaigning when I can.
Working as a journalist continues to give me ideas for our platform on societal subjects across the board. I cover all aspects of the town, which is often a microcosm, in regard to different aspects of the nation at large.
For instance (and as just one example), at many of the council meetings, village budget concerns are often front and center. Council is forever considering cost cutting measures, how to get more grants, how to get more low interest loans… Since I have been covering this council the last few years, the village has always been in the black. Unlike the nation, which is currently in some $29 trillion in debt as I type this, and counting.
My reporting also helps keep me on top of contemporary issues, across the board, as I am continually drawing corollaries between what’s going on locally, and, often, juxtaposing this to what’s going on nationally and internationally.
For instance, as conflicts flare up internationally, I will get local military veterans’ takes on the various wars. Likewise, I will, say, look to local environmental activists to get their takes on emerging global environmental problems. Because of the geographics here, I’m also continually looking at local/micro-agricultural issues, and extrapolated out, in turn how this relates to macro-agricultural issues globally. And so on…
In 2021, as just a few examples, I wrote about Ada, Ohio being ranked “79th Safest Community in the Nation.” It was this year, Ada’s new “network mapping system” went online. I interviewed a group of college student/cyclists traveling the country trying to bring more attention to global warming. I wrote about an EF-1 tornado hitting the area. I wrote about McGuffey, Ohio’s new Historical Society. There was a story about the Ada Police Department’s new body cameras, in the midst of heightened police scrutiny nationwide. I wrote about a revamped village Tree Ordinance. What’s more, Ada’s Ohio Northern University was celebrating it’s Sesquicentennial this year, and there was a good deal of interviews with professors, and students alike, about the education topics of the day. As I did articles about various civic organization work throughout the community.
And all that is just scratching the surface, in regard to the reporting that year (or any year I’ve been a working journalist, for that matter).
As mentioned earlier, with the journalism, and part-time house painting, this left, primarily, weekends to go out and campaign. And on a limited budget (and even that’s an understatement), I would simply drive out to towns in Northwest, Ohio and pass out campaign cards, and post campaign cards on bulletin boards, and such. Slogan: “Joe in Ohio!” Catchy, huh.
On some evenings during the week, I would be at the Bluffton University Library doing further research in regard to the extensive position papers we have. *The resources at that library are phenomenal. During this time, I was also doing extensive research on the Great Depression era in our country, looking through the prism of the local “Scioto Marsh” area.
This was a large marsh that was drained in the early part of the 1900’s, leaving behind rich black soil that was perfect for growing onions. It became the “Onion Capital of the Country,” with all sorts of onion farms starting up.
As the Depression evolved, families would move from a five-state radius around Ohio to live in shanty communities around the marsh and work in the onion fields. The family solidity, the community solidity… that was developed during that time was palpable – and a good model in regard to how we should actually be living in America now. That is, with a lot more focus on family and community.
And speaking of family, my daughter Sarah, and her husband Gabe, had their first child this year. They named the child Eliza Day. The “Day” part was in honor of Dorothy Day. Our family had spent a lot of time volunteering with the Catholic Workers when the kids were younger, and this had really made an impression on Sarah.
Note: Our son Jonathan, who was a senior in high school this year, was named a National All American in soccer, and followed that up with winning the District in the 400-meter. And he participated in Columbus for the State Finals in that event, and as an anchor on the 400-meter-relay. It was, indeed, an exciting time.
Note 2: You will notice a bulletin board photo on this page. This was put up in the Post Office in Cygnet, Ohio, shortly after I declared – and it was my first bulletin board posting of Campaign 2024. One problem. In the tradition of Dan Quail’s wrong spelling of “potato,” it turns out I spelled Sygnet wrong. That’s right, it’s: Cygnet. *It could only get better from there. LOL.
