Miller For Mayor

By now you know the results of the election, and you know that our Miller for Mayor campaign did not win the mayorship. BUT – we succeeded in bringing to light the issues of neighborhood recovery, honoring our veterans, increasing Canton’s size through annexation, and creating economic recovery.

The main-party politicians don’t appear to be interested in these issues, but the Miller for Mayor team, including both campaign workers and voters, has made an impact and brought these topics into the public eye.

We have nothing to be ashamed of – we stood for what we believed (and continue to believe) and faced off the party candidates who had more financing and more publicity, and we made an impact on Canton and the future of our City!

Thanks go out to all those who followed their conscience to vote for us. Thanks also go to the campaign workers who walked Canton’s streets, called voters, distributed brochures, placed Miller for Mayor signs in their yards or at their businesses, and maintained the website and Facebook pages!

Thanks! – John Miller

Time is short until Election Day November 8th (tomorrow!).

Time is also in short supply for voters like you, who want to make the best choices in the voting booth, so here are some time-savers for you on the Miller for Mayor website:

1. If you’re limited on time right now, read the About John Miller page first. It will give you a bit of personal and professional background on John.

2. Then go to The Issues page – this details John’s platform and what he will do as Mayor to revitalize and change Canton.

3. Third, it’s a toss-up between the Restore Our Neighborhoods and Veterans pages – if you’re a vet, go there first (and accept John’s thanks for your service!). But read them both if you can.

4. After looking those pages over, if you have to leave the site for something more pressing, you will have the main points of John’s candidacy. Please come back later to look through the Home page posts and the archives from earlier in the campaign.

The Stark County Commissioners recently allocated $500,000 for the purchase and rehabilitation of 4-5 foreclosed homes to be offered for sale or lease to low-income veterans. This action was part of the County’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which uses federal funding to create housing for low-to-middle income families.

The proposal to assist veterans with their housing needs follows the campaign platform of John Miller, Independent candidate for Canton Mayor. Miller proposes returning foreclosed and abandoned homes to owner occupancy through a $1 housing lottery in which veterans will be given first opportunity. Canton has 4,800 vacant homes, which Miller proposes the City acquire and return to beneficial use. Veterans would be first in line for the lottery, in which successful recipients will be required to agree to fix the homes up and live in them for a minimum of 10 years.

Stark County’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program is administered by the Regional Planning Commission, and has seen successful use of grant funding, even achieving a profitable return of $1.3 million while rehabbing 13 houses.

The City of Canton under Healy also received grant funding for their Neighborhood Stabilization Program , but their results have been different from the County. The City has rehabbed numerous houses, but the one one house that has actually sold was sold at a loss of over $20,000, according to data from the City Auditor’s office.

An obvious characteristic of the City and County programs is the slowness with which they operate, partly because the agency assumes responsibility for rehabilitation of each house before offering it for sale. Under Miller’s plan, the house lottery recipients will be responsible for their own rehab process, which will result in more homes being returned to use by more  owner-occupants sooner, shortening the time required for Canton’s recovery.

Your vote for John Miller is a vote for quickening the pace of solving Canton’s problem of 4,800 vacant homes and speeding up the process of getting those houses back into circulation with owner-occupants, many of whom will be veterans!

This letter was sent to us by a supporter, who submitted it to The Canton Repository and The Akron Beacon-Journal. Not surprisingly, neither paper published the letter…

“To the Editor:

“In next week’s election for Canton Mayor, vote for John
Miller. Of all the candidates, he seems to be the only one who puts forward
real proposals that will help Canton recover and thrive.

“Listening to the debate and the recent radio interviews, the
other candidates do not offer anything but business-as-usual platitudes:

“Mayor Healy basically says “I will keep on doing what I have
been doing,” citing mostly old accomplishments for which informed sources
question his eligibility to take credit – except that he happened to be Mayor
at the time. Others ask why he waited so long into his administration to take
action to make only two things happen.

“Chip Conde said on the radio that he is ‘a numbers guy’ and
isn’t comfortable in front of a lot of people. A Mayor’s lifeblood, however -
and that of his City – depends on the Mayor’s ability to speak with people in
groups both large and small. Conde’s plan for Canton seems centered on
criticizing Healy. Chip’s claim to fame is his experience in the insurance
business (which he quit for reasons still not clearly explained) and the 19
months he worked for Janet Creighton as a fill-in until the end of her term.

“Rich Hart seems pleasant and well-intentioned, but has no
real program or proposals to offer except that Canton should become a center
for globally-based energy business, and that we all ought to recycle more. He
offers nothing concrete, however.

“John Miller, in contrast to these other candidates, proposes
specific initiatives that will restore our neighborhoods, deal decisively with
our 4,800 vacant homes, honor veterans, kick-start economic development, and
increase our population and tax base.

“On Tuesday, vote for John Miller – the only candidate for
Mayor with real plans to do what is best for Canton.”

Ron Ponder’s with the Mayoral candidates on WHBC 1480, including John Miller’s interview, can be heard online here. Listen to all the candidates, compare them, and vote for the one you think will do the best job in representing you!

John in studio at ClearChannel

Between now and the election, John will have radio ads on the air to acquaint voters with himself and what he will do as Canton’s Mayor. Listen to John’s radio ad here: Miller For Mayor Radio Spot

Watch for John’s ad in the Canton Repository this coming Sunday, November 6, 2011. Tell everyone it’s coming!!! Here it is:

President Obama, in last night’s interview with Jay Leno, said that the people of America are fed up with the current approach of politicians who “…put Party over Country.”

He was, of course, referring to those in government who put the interests and agenda of their political party above the good of the country.

This is a parallel to what has been happening in Canton. Republican and Democratic mayors alike have “put Party over City” and sacrificed the good of the city on the altar of their party’s agendas and goals. An example is the Democratic mayors’ failure to annex affluent development areas because they would bring “too many Republicans” into the City, presumably weakening the Democratic hold on Canton’s government. (Never mind the additional tax dollars and population that would have become part of Canton. Remember? Party over City!)

YOU CAN CHANGE THIS DEPLORABLE SITUATION! Vote for the person who will represent your interests and who you think will do the best job. Declare your independence from the political parties and do what is best for Canton! Cast your vote for the candidate who is not bound to any party or agenda, but who will do what is good for the City - John Miller!

One of our campaign workers reports:

“At a recent event, I talked to a local union member who lamented that his union was telling he should vote for a certain candidate for Mayor, who he does not like. He said ‘The union says we have to vote for him, but I really don’t like him.’ When I told him that the great thing about America is that you get to vote for who you want to, no matter what any organization tells you to do, he asked how John feels about unions. I told him that John likes unions and was president of the police patrolman’s union for 10 years. He said ‘That’s all I needed to hear - I’m voting for him!’ ”

All union members must remember that although the union may endorse a certain candidate, when you get into the voting booth, it is YOUR VOTE that you are casting, NOT THEIRS.

Vote your conscience – vote for the candidate you like – the person you believe will do the best job for you and for Canton.