One of the joys of being city councilman is the opportunity to get to know and to talk to residents of the city, and more importantly, to listen to their concerns and perspectives.  I like meeting people and love talking about Solon.  What I hear, though, is a recurring concern about the direction of the city.  There is a frequent underlying malaise that people sense: we are doing well financially, but there is not a sense of forward motion, development, and improvement.  One well known official likened it to being afraid of a train that may be coming around the bend that can flatten us and make us just another city.

This angst is also often associated with concern about our inability to keep quality restaurants and the confusing way with which we appear to have lost Liberty Ford.  The term that I have often heard is that we don’t have the charm of other nearby communities, and our residents are afraid that we are slowly losing out to places that people like to visit on weekends, unlike Solon.

While there are multiple reasons for these concerns, most often the question centers around the type of leadership the city needs.  Solon needs a vision, and a leader that understands the dynamics of developing collaboration between the staff, the business owners, the people who work here and the residents, and getting them all working on that shared vision.  The mayor not only must lead, but he must also be actively in the community, visible and encouraging everyone with enthusiasm and joy to join in the effort to better the city and is ultimately someone who the city chooses to follow.  He cannot wait for things to happen, he must take the initiative and get things done.  He must also be the leading salesman for the city in pursuing new business owners, business expansion, and new concepts for retail and development.

It has been humbling to hear how many residents have urged me to use my background and experience in molding, leading and implementing change with a sense of urgency to help Solon’s light shine brighter.  This is why I am running for mayor.  I know how to lead, develop collaboration, and to make things happen until completion.  It is a labor of love and I see a 21^st century Solon which light shines brighter and where we all are working together to develop a place where my children and grandchildren want to live.