Steve Love - The Indomitable Don Plusquellic: How a Controversial Mayor Quarterbacked Akrons Comeback

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THE INDOMITABLE

DON PLUSQUELLIC

THE INDOMITABLE

DON PLUSQUELLIC

HOW A CONTROVERSIAL MAYOR
QUARTERBACKED AKRONS COMEBACK

Steve Love

Copyright 2016 by The University of Akron Press

All rights reserved First Edition 2016 Manufactured in the United States of America

All inquiries and permission requests should be addressed to the Publisher,
The University of Akron Press, Akron, Ohio 44325-1703.

20 19 18 17 16 5 4 3 2 1

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Love, Steve, 1946

Title: The indomitable Don Plusquellic : how a controversial mayor quarterbacked Akrons comeback / Steve Love.

Description: Akron, Ohio : Ringtaw Books, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015049070 (print) | LCCN 2015049658 (ebook) | ISBN 9781935603627 (hardcover : alkaline paper) | ISBN 9781629220567 (ePUB) | ISBN 9781629220550 (ePDF)

Subjects: LCSH: Plusquellic, Don, 1949 | MayorsOhioAkronBiography. | Akron (Ohio)Politics and government. | Akron (Ohio)Economic policy. | Akron (Ohio)Social policy. | Urban renewalOhioAkronHistory. | Akron (Ohio)Biography.

Classification: LCC F499.A3 L68 2016 (print) | LCC F499.A3 (ebook) | DDC 977.1/043092dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015049070

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI z39.481984.

Cover: Photo by Ken Love. Copyright 2015, reproduced with permission. Cover design by Tyler Krusinski.

The Indomitable Don Plusquellic was typeset in Stone Print with Helvetica display by Amy Freels with assistance from Tyler Krusinski, printed on sixty-pound natural, and bound by BookMasters of Ashland, Ohio.

The focus of this book may be Akrons recent past and the man important to the latter, but it is dedicated to those who will be the citys future, Don Plusquellics grandchildren:

Abigail, Alison, and Adam Zupanic & Anna, Evan, and Addison Plusquellic

Love and concern for the Kenmore community brought Don Plusquellic to city hall. Love and concern for his grandchildren and Akrons other young people kept him there.

Contents

Time can be the greatest gift of all. So many gave so freely of theirs that I am indebted beyond the book their gift has helped to create. Rather than repeat a list of names, however, let me refer you to the books bibliography. There, you will find a list not only of those interviewed, but also the publications, websites, news programs, journals, articles, speeches, and other books from which I have drawn (and cite in the books notes).

I wrote this as a work of history, of Don Plusquellics physical place and his place in time. Editing changed it, but I am still indebted to Akron authors, past and present. They include Stephen C. Brooks, Daniel J. Coffey, David B. Cohen, and John C. Green of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, Joyce Dyer, Hal Fry, Jack Gieck, W. A. Johnston and O. E. Olin, Frances McGovern, William V. Muse, Kenneth Nichols, Charles Whited (for his biography of John S. Knight), Craig Wilson (who indexed Fifty Years and Over of Akron and Summit County), Abe Zaidan, and especially Akrons preeminent historians through the years, Samuel A. Lane, Karl H. Grismer, and George Knepper. I would be remiss not to give thanks for being able to borrow from David Giffelss The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches from the Rust Belt and, of course, from the book we co-wrote, Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron. David is the best writing partner a person could have. Finally, of particular value in appreciating just how good a mayor Plusquellic has been in comparison with other mayors of legacy cities was the work of Edward W. Hill, whose case study, Does a Mayor Make a Difference in a Citys Economic Performance? The case of Akron, Ohio, made a world of difference in supporting this books premise.

This book would not exist were it not for David Lieberth, former Akron deputy mayor for administration. He not only provided initial feedback about the idea but also greased the skids for Don Plusquellics acceptance of my project. Perhaps more important, Lieberth facilitated my interviews with his fellow cabinet members and others on the city hall staff and when he retired, Laurie Hoffman, his assistant in his law practice who moved to city hall with him as the mayors scheduler, took over. It was the invaluable Hoffman who, for instance, directed me to Claudia Burdge, a research analyst in the city planning department who played detective and helped me solve the mystery of Lucy Morrison. Likewise, Hoffman helped put me in touch with Brent Hendren, a development department specialist who rounded up the numbers that showed the ongoing tax value to the city of what is perhaps Plusquellics greatest ideaJoint Economic Development Districts. (Finance Director Diane Miller-Dawson and her staff helped me understand how those tax dollars were applied.) When Hoffman was unable to lend a hand, Teresa Lloyd did so with great competence and kindness.

As important as access to information and the people who have it can be, equally important is candor. Will people tell the truth as they know itif not the whole truthabout Plusquellic? Cabinet members and other city staffers understood they had permission to talk freely with me; others needed to hear this from Plusquellic rather than accept my assurance that the mayor was cooperating in the process of this book and that he hoped others would as well. Even Ray Kapper, former council president and city service director, asked Plusquellic whether he should talk with me and, if so, how candidly? Just be Ray Kapper, Plusquellic told him. That signaled the green light to speak honestly about Plusquellics weaknesses, as well as his strengths. And Kapper, like so many, did.

While researching a book can be a mostly singular endeavor, it is facilitated by the knowledge and helpfulness of such people as Vic Fleischer, head of archival services at the University of Akron and archives staff members Craig Holbert and Mark Bloom, the special collections staff of the Akron-Summit County Library (not to mention the librarys electronic archive of the Akron Beacon Journal after 1986), and, of course, friend and former colleague Norma Hill, the Akron Beacon Journal librarian who kept me straight in the newspapers morgue of old clippings concerning Plusquellics football and council years.

Having access to the work of Beacon Journal staff members who have followed Plusquellics career closely over the years was pricelessparticularly when many of them were my colleagues. I know how good they have been at their jobs, that the accuracy of their reporting and the intelligence of their opinions can be trusted.

Bruce Ford, city photographer for thirty years, provided the photos, including copies of those from Plusquellics early years. My son Ken Love, former award-winning

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