The Gem City Dude A’writes

So we're now only in the first full day of Trump's America... and it already sucks. As a leftist who has " thatcommunistdude.com " pointing to this blog, I feel like you deserve to know where I stand politically. I'm about to start teaching political ideology to a group of high school students soon. I always like to let my students know where I stand, as well; which is to the left of Bernie Sanders... (I do appreciate him though as someone who helped me along the socialist-leaning path I was already headed down). Only by knowing the biases of those who are teaching you though can you hope to have a chance at understanding the truth. You, as a potential voter, deserve to know my biases as well.  So what does having a local communist candidate for mayor of Dayton mean to you? Well, it means I don't believe capitalism is a viable long-term solution to solving our economic problems. I think it's actually the cause of them. Does that mean I want to end your sma...

Back in the late 1800s/early 1900s, Dayton had a well-known red lights district, operated by a woman you can still go visit in Woodland Cemetery. Her name was Elizabeth Richter , but she went by Lib, or Lizzie, for short. Whenever they tried to shut her brothel down, she would just threaten to release her little black book of names of who went there (which included lots of local politicians), and she would be left alone. She also donated a large sum of money to help rebuild after the flood, so Dayton literally owes its survival, in part, to sex work. Every time you visit the post office or a friend at Dayton Towers, you're in her old stomping grounds. Our puritanical nature in this country has always made sex a taboo topic. That doesn't stop people from seeking it, (and on its face, nor should it) however. Why are we spending time telling people who are consenting adults what they can and can't do with their bodies, as long as it is between consenting adults?  Meanwhile, D...

As a candidate, I do think I bring to the table some qualifications and experiences that I think make me qualified to be Dayton’s next mayor. Here’s some of my resume:     Recipient - Emerging Educator Award winner from the Ohio Council for the Social Studies while a teacher (later Community Outreach Director) at the Dayton Regional STEM School, where I helped them start their first international internship exchange program in partnership with schools and universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina .        Office - Vice President of the Xenia Community Schools Board of Education , where I revamped their superintendent evaluation system for the first time in 20 years. Find an article about my win here .       Career - Mediation Specialist for the Dayton Mediation Center , a part of the City of Dayton, where I was also a trainer (including for the women’s prison peer mediation program) and facilitator and conflict coach and program manager. Also...

As a woodworker, I have found that I have gravitated more towards doing my projects in a minimalist manner. I like stripping things down to their essence and creating pieces by using a minimum of stuff like glue or nails and screws. I like to see how things fit together without using those things.  This mindset caught me while thinking about my campaign, and the fact that I have to get an ungodly number of signatures just to get on the ballot (500 valid ones, to be exact). Perhaps it makes sense to you that you need 10X the number of signatures to get on the ballot to become a Dayton City Commissioner than it does to be a commissioner for all of Montgomery County, but it doesn't to me.  And it doesn't surprise me either, and that's because the Dayton Commission seeks to make it difficult because they don't want the competition. I, however, am after more competition in this race, and one of the foundational things that's different about my candidacy is that I don...