Willisa and I had a very busy weekend! We saw a young couple at our church start their life together and our good friends at El Rey food truck provided the catering for the wedding. For us this kicks off the wedding season, with our son and his fiancĂ©’s marriage at the end of the month and our youngest daughter’s wedding in June. Josh and Naomi’s wedding venue, reception venue and the food will be incredible! Zhen and Noah’s wedding is being held at the same location we were married 35 years and 5 days earlier! What is cool about this wedding is that the Willisa will be officiating the ceremony.
After the wedding and reception we headed to the annual Harrison Food Truck Rally. We believe this may have been the best one yet. A big thanks to volunteers, “The District”, the city staff and community for creating such a fun event! Several vendors sold out and had to close early. I’m told El Rey food truck prepared 120 pounds of fresh chicken and beef and still ran out, what a great problem to have! Willisa enjoyed several tasty dishes and I ate what she couldn’t finish. More importantly, we had many great conversation with our friends in the community. We spent much of the time talking about the Confederate Flags, the toilets, my attempts to find a solution, the mistakes I made along the way and the hard lessons that have been learned. All these conversations were great! It’s amazing what happens when there is open, honest two-way communication. When that happens, we might actually be able to solve the world’s problems, or at least the issues facing our great city!
After the Food Truck Rally, we returned to our church to setup chairs and equipment for Sunday services. It was a full day and when our heads hit the pillow, Willisa and I both agreed: “what a fun day”!
As many of you know May 28th is a crossroads for my career on city council. While we will likely not find out what happens with the Municipal Case against me until late June (we don’t even have another pre-trial conference until June 12th), the city council will hold a public hearing on May 28th for the matter of removing me from office. I asked my colleagues on council to consider allowing me to take and unpaid leave of absence until the Municipal Court proceedings have finished. Instead, on May 7th council vote 5-2 in favor of a public hearing that will be held at May 28th, 7pm in council chambers.
Many people feel this is unjust and have asked what they can do to help. Here are some suggestions.
- Write, send an email or make a phone call to your elected officials: https://www.harrisonohio.gov/151/Elected-Officials
- Show up
- Regularly scheduled council meeting: Tuesday, May 21st, 7:30 pm council chambers
- Public hearings: Tuesday, May 28th, council chambers
- 6 pm: Board of Zoning and appeals
- 7pm: Public hearing for removal
- Immediately after hearing: “Special” council meeting to vote for or against removal
- Bring a sign or wear a t-shirt, contact us for more information
- Speak at the May 21st council meeting (it is unclear at this time if public comment will be allowed on the 28th)
- Fill out the Council Visitor Form so that the mayor knows how many speakers will be present: https://www.harrisonohio.gov/FormCenter/City-Council-Meetings-8/Council-Visitor-Form-59
- Post a yard sign up in your front yard
- Follow me on social media for updates
- Consider making a donation to help with legal fees and support my 2025 campaign for reelection: http://www.mainsforcouncil.org/donate
Mike for Ohio 
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