Sam Melden hosts first Playground Town Hall

As some focus on Democratic Candidate debate others look to local elections. Toledo neighbors say they are prioritizing their focus on Toledo's election in 2019 despite the attention for the 2020 Presidential election.

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https://www.wtol.com/video/news/local/as-some-focus-on-democratic-candidate-debate-others-look-to-local-election/512-babf9b1a-063d-4e68-b8ae-e91139fdb214

TARTA Task Force Set to Start Work on Reviving Transit System

‘Last week, the Lucas County Commissioners announced the formation of a blue ribbon citizens task force whose members have been asked to confront the concerns about public transportation in the wake of the recent cuts the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority has made to its services.’

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TARTA Task Force Set to Start Work on Reviving Transit System

Toledo Celebrates 20 Leaders Under 40

‘Toledo celebrated 20 young leaders who have distinguished themselves in their career or as a community volunteer during the 23rd annual 20 under 40 Leadership Recognition Awards program.’

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Toledo Celebrates 20 Leaders Under 40

Organizers Hold Meeting to Revive Poor People's Campaign

“Organizers held a meeting of the Toledo chapter for the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival Tuesday night at UAW Local 12 in Toledo. A national movement attempting to revive the 1967-68 campaign that lost momentum after the assassinations of Rev. King and Bobby Kennedy.”

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Organizers Hold Meeting to Revive Poor People's Campaign

National Campaign to Aid the Poor to Come to Toledo

“We believe that people should not live in or die from poverty in the richest nation ever to exist,” reads one of the national campaign’s principles. “Blaming the poor and claiming that the United States does not have an abundance of resources to overcome poverty are false narratives used to perpetuate economic exploitation, exclusion, and deep inequality.”

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National campaign to aid the poor to come to Toledo

National campaign to aid the poor to come to Toledo

"...That Tuesday’s training sessions will occur just a day before the 50th anniversary of Reverend King’s assassination is not lost on local coordinators, said Sam Melden, who ran for Toledo City Council in 2017.

'We believe that people should not live in or die from poverty in the richest nation ever to exist,' reads one of the national campaign’s principles. 'Blaming the poor and claiming that the United States does not have an abundance of resources to overcome poverty are false narratives used to perpetuate economic exploitation, exclusion, and deep inequality.'

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National campaign to aid the poor to come to Toledo

Komives, Ludeman, Melden, Narvaez, Phillips, and Spang for city council

“...so would Sam Melden, also 33, who has been the most visible, imaginative, and articulate rising star in civic leadership for some years now.

Mr. Melden is a font of ideas. He also has the capacity to bring together people who don’t talk to each other much or don’t even know each other — from old labor leaders to CEOs.”

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Komives, Ludeman, Melden, Narvaez, Phillips, and Spang for city council

Bringing New Streams into the Mainstream

"Sam Melden. Another millennial who, since the beginning of his candidacy, has maintained that Toledo needs fresh energy and leaders who are more focused on looking forward rather than backward. Melden’s message of clean, safe and affordable drinking water should resonate with all of us."

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Bringing New Streams into the Mainstream

PUT NEIGHBORHOODS BACK AT CENTER OF DEBATE

"As city council hopeful Sam Melden recently pointed out, there is an uncomfortable distance between downtown dreams and neighborhood realities.

Mr. Melden has called for the city to develop a 20-year plan for neighborhoods, which is a solid idea: Copy the successful planning model that has helped revive Toledo’s business and entertainment districts to boost the parts of the city where most people actually live."

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PUT NEIGHBORHOODS BACK AT CENTER OF DEBATE

A POLITICAL PARTY KNOCKOUT: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED LAST NIGHT

"...We saw a showcase of “talent,” including Jim Anderson singing about his prior career as a refuse and construction debris hauler and a tribute to Tom Petty, Sam Melden singing lullabies, and Gary Johnson’s complete assault of the mic. Man, that guy can rap."

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A POLITICAL PARTY KNOCKOUT: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED LAST NIGHT

Toledo council candidates interact in Blade forum

"Sam Melden, an endorsed Democrat, called for a more uniform way of organizing neighborhoods to promote neighborliness, possibly through something he called a 'neighbor institute.'

'How do we begin to collaborate with all the neighbors to build up what I call the art of neighboring, get people on out their front porch and meeting their neighbors,' he said, adding that the revitalization of downtown is not being felt in the neighborhoods."

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Toledo council candidates interact in Blade forum

Toledo council candidate calls for park improvements

"'We have to do better for our young families in the city of Toledo. If we want to keep young families here in the city, we have to give them a reason to stay,' he said. 'Our city parks should be a safe place where kids can play and parents can know that they aren’t going to learn how to spell words they shouldn’t be spelling.'

Mr. Melden said city officials need to pay more attention to details and respond to community needs, something he said hasn’t happened when citizens called to complain about the profanity. He pledged to do better if elected."

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Toledo council candidate calls for park improvements

Sam Melden has aggressive agenda for himself

"Sam Melden has set an aggressive agenda for himself if he's elected to Toledo City Council — including an initiative to train hundreds of Toledo residents to administer an overdose-reversal drug, moving the municipal salt piles, making the city more bike-friendly, and engaging young people more in decision-making – but he put drinking water safety at the top of his priority list.

'Water has been, and continues to be, the number one issue for our city and the region as a whole,' Mr. Melden, 33, said."

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Sam Melden has aggressive agenda for himself

Officials stress Toledo's water safe to drink, leaders express outrage over bloom

"'A clean Lake Erie is the foundation of our community,' Melden said. 'Toledo is a water community. It's not just Point Place, it's not just Oregon and East Toledo, it's not just people along the river, it's everyone in the city of Toledo.'"

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Officials stress Toledo's water safe to drink, leaders express outrage over bloom

Council candidate warns that algae threatens children's water play

"'We have families living near the water where the parents grew up playing in the water, enjoying the water all summer long, who now as parents won’t let their kids play in the water past July 4th,' Mr. Melden said.

He alluded to a report in The Blade Thursday in which local business leaders didn’t expect a big economic impact from the green slime that cover the water during the heat wave that ended this week.

'There is something else at risk, and that is our children’s childhood experience,' said Melden, who is the father of three small children."

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Council candidate warns that algae threatens children's water play