And now the 419 with Gretchen de Bakker Matt Killam.

And Kevin Mullin.

Welcome to the 419, powered by CTE and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin Mullen, Gretchen Debacker, and I tell them, we've got an exciting mayor Monday for you.

As we, make a trip across the river to our friends in Rossford.

And I could not be more excited.

I, I tell this to many people that the mayor of Rossford is one of my favorite northwest Ohio events.

So I'm super excited for the conversation.

We're also going to be joined by Dan Kreps, the superintendent of Rossford City Schools.

They're doing some incredible things.

And so, you know, talking to a, outside the box thinker, and mayor MacKinnon and then talking to education and all the innovative things they're doing at Rossford.

With Superintendent Kreps, it's going to be a fun show.

Yeah.

You're doing a great job with these, Kevin.

They've been very, very excellent mayor Monday shows.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm, I'm having fun with the segment.

You are, I mean, you always look great.

Thank you.

But you are dressed especially.

I am comfortable today.

I'm basically in my pajamas.

Me, too.

Well.

Good morning.

Yeah.

This is what you sleep into?

Yep.

I. It does not surprise me that he would sleep in that hat and quarter zip.

Yeah, I think everybody in the community fully expects it's like the, What is it?

The Fred Flintstones closet.

You're right.

Yeah.

Just all the sidewalk humor that showed me, like, it was all gray suits.

Yeah, but you are traveling.

Yes.

I'm good.

I'm heading.

I'm leaving from here to hop on a plane.

So this is my.

This is my travel gear for the day.

Is this you?

You go when you travel, you go comfortable?

Yes.

Is there any thought to.

I don't mean to be insulting.

Like appearance.

Like you think about, like.

Oh, I got to dress a certain way.

No, I mean, I don't like to look too grubby.

It depends on the length of the flight.

I'm going to Boulder, so it's like three hours.

And I know a lot of people have to travel because they're going right to something like, you're traveling, you're going right to a meeting.

But I'm not doing that.

I'm just going right to hotel.

I can change.

So no, I like to be comfortable.

Matt, when you fly, what's the, I wear this exactly as I am.

Yeah.

No, that's the least surprising thing.

I don't know why you even ask me, but I do think that the, culture is change, right?

You see pictures from, many, many moons ago, people dressed to the nines, people dressed up to do it.

The good old days when you could smoke on a plane.

That's right, that's right.

Yeah.

What's the cell phones that we can fly off the plane if you want.

I think they may have left it.

Yeah, I, I used to dress up.

I mean, like, not like in a suit, but I would intentionally put on a button down or a polo or something to travel.

And now traveling with, with kids, it's like you're like, you know, you're just you're lucky I'm here.

It's also strategic for people.

My brother and sister in law are like this where they, no matter how long their trip is, they're going to do carry on.

Yeah.

And I in my car right now have like four bags I'm taking for four days.

So I, like some people, have to strategically dress based on what they can fit in their bag.

But I just I don't ever do carry a terrible packer.

I envy people in some of those.

Yeah, I do it infrequently.

But people can pack just really in a concise fashion.

Yeah.

And not only do I pack poorly, in terms of the volume of things I don't need, I've always forgotten.

Yes, that is, like, critical.

Like socks or a belt or like.

I'm remembering right now that I forgot my phone charger, so that's great.

You know, that's the kind of thing I. Yeah, a friend of mine.

And he will likely watch this, episode, had a trip to Columbus, for a meeting and did not take any pants.

Sure.

Wore like, shorts.

In the end, it wasn't a pantless meeting.

No, it was not.

Yeah.

No, no, no, that's a different kind of.

Yeah.

Columbus.

Oh no.

No, he had no pants and so ended up, he was like texting like, hey, can somebody bring my pants?

And I'm like, go.

You know, there's stores in this, you can this, you can do this.

So.

Yeah.

Anyway, I don't know how we get back into May or Monday, but, you know, we're going to do it.

You know who's wearing pants?

Mayor Neil McKinnon from Rossford.

We'll talk to him on a mayor Monday.

We come back on the other side of the break here on the 419.

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Advisory services are offered through capital investment advisory services LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra, SIPC.

More information at whetroadvisors.com The 419, powered by WGTE is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.

Welcome back in to a mayor.

Monday on the 419.

We are taking a trip to Rossford, Ohio, with Rossford Mayor Neil MacKinnon.

Mayor cannon, thank you so much for joining us, Kevin.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Thank you.

I, so enjoy like I tell people like, I just love, your leadership in Rossford and you've had some of the most outside the box, dare I say, crazy ideas.

And I'm just like, I'm here for all.

Those are the ones we know about.

That's very true.

Well, I have a freedom most people in political life don't have, one.

I have no political ambition, to, nobody.

Nobody owns me.

I'm not a Partizan guy.

And three, I'm not afraid to lose.

And I can only serve one master.

And that's the city of Rossford.

And that's 6000 plus people, right?

Yeah, plus or minus.

About 6500.

Yeah.

That's a that's a that's a real that's a real town.

How long have you been the mayor of Rossford?

Just over 14 years.

I'm halfway through my fourth term and there are no term limits there.

They're there.

There is none.

But, I think the most anybody's ever gone is four.

Most are usually in for maybe a couple.

And I think the longer you there and regardless of the job you're doing, I think eventually they get tired of you and they fire you and hire somebody else.

So, yeah, we'll see it always.

It dawns on me that there are term limits.

There are the elections.

Right.

So, what was your favorite term?

Look, right now, Cameron's that I'm just, you know, my my favorite term was, was, my second term.

Okay.

Because the first, was very difficult.

Everything that I had, ran on, we were not accomplishing.

And matter of fact, we weren't even coming close.

By the middle to the end of our second term, we started to get traction.

And, the third term was was very exciting.

And what were the things that you were running on our economic development?

We were in a tough spot.

Our school district, our facilities, were not good.

We were not retaining and attracting, families, talent, industry investment.

I've always believed that the school district is the heartbeat and pump station of the municipality, especially a small municipality like ours.

And I knew that, that the success and the health of our school district would be the most important thing.

And the success, of the city of Rossford.

So Deanna and I grew up together.

We actually grew up on the same street.

Our families are friends.

His wife actually grew up on the same street, too.

And our our families, our friends.

So we've known each other since early elementary school.

And I think we our situation is unique because we don't really make a move without each other, and we're in constant contact and we strategize together and it's and it's a lot of fun.

Can you explain a little bit about the org chart of the municipality?

Strong mayor city council is that is the school run by the city?

Is it a separate organization?

The school district?

The Board of Education is completely different.

Two completely separate, political subdivisions.

But we cannot reach our full potential as a municipality unless they're reaching theirs and vice versa.

So you can't have a great city and a poor school district, and you can't have a great school district in a poor city.

The, the success of each goes hand in hand.

You mentioned, you know, you and Dan grew up, on the same street.

So.

I mean, you're a Rossford guy.

Sure.

Talk to me about, you know, little Neil MacKinnon.

What was the what was the dream job?

What, where'd you where'd you go?

You know, grew up, grew up on, you know, Main Street in Rossford and.

And then where'd you go?

We grew up, Dan and I grew up what I would call the Eagle Point neighborhood.

We grew up on Jennings Road.

And right at the top of the street, was, Eagle Point Elementary School.

My mom was actually actually a teacher there.

So, but we've been there a very long time.

I, I don't like, talk to you, like, just because I don't think we're any better or any special anybody else but my grandmother, my mom's mom one of five of the very first graduating class.

Both my mom and dad went to Rossford K-12.

My mom's a 35 year old, retired Rockford school teacher.

Yeah, yeah.

So we bleed maroon and gray.

Yeah.

It's in your blood.

What you go to college?

What?

Kind of first.

First career before you.

You found, marrying?

Yeah.

Yeah.

My political journey, really started, just by chance.

I've always loved Rossford.

I've always taken ownership, and it, Anytime you can be a part of something bigger than yourself, is is a great feeling.

And I always wanted to give back.

So I was at a local diner in downtown Rossford, and I ran into, former coach and teacher of mine, along with a friend of mine.

And they had said that there was a vacant council seat, and, I should throw my name in the hat.

And I was really intrigued by it, but I was really busy at the time at a very young family.

And I said, okay, when do I need to know Novi?

They said, today at four.

I knew you were going to say that in an hour.

The last time you had to decide, the more likely you are to make a terrible decision.

So I said, well, what do I need to do?

They said, you need a resume and you need a letter, and you need to turn it in by four.

And then tonight we're going to interview the candidates.

Well, I come from a family business.

So I went I went to school, after high school, I went to college, and then I went to work for my family at North Bend Roofing and Sheet Metal.

Before that, my resume was I was a lifeguard at Clearwater Quarry, I cut grass, I, was a security guy at the to leave a sports arena for a concert.

I mean, I did not have a stellar resume made by, by any chance, but I was pretty well known in town.

So I just borrowed a piece of paper and a pen and said, please consider I, Neil MacKinnon, the third for the vacant council seat.

And I came back that night at seven, and there were 7 or 8 other candidates, and all of them were, I thought were really good.

And, I, I didn't give myself much of a chance because, again, I, I did this last minute, but I think I interviewed okay.

And I sounds like I got nominated and I won six zero.

So so were you doing these the answering these questions in front of the other people that were also trying to get that seat, or was it individual interviews individually?

They what did you do to prepare for in those four hours?

I do it okay.

I didn't prepare right.

All right.

Obviously your viewers will see that when they watch this show.

No.

So so I got appointed to council and a few months later, the mayor at the time announced he was not running for reelection.

And I came home and I told Camille, and I said, hey, did you hear Billy's not running for reelection?

She goes, yeah, I heard that.

I go, I wanted to tell me.

She goes, because I knew you were going to do it right.

And I said, well, I'm, I'm not sure I'm going to do it, but what do you think?

And it's not because I thought I was smarter or better than anybody else.

And again, I have no political ambition.

I don't know how long this is going to last, but this is the the last stop.

But I thought I was at a point in my life professionally, that I had a pretty strong Rolodex that when it came to economic development, that I could, I could, at a minimum, kick start us.

We ask this of other mayors to.

There is a lot that goes into this decision.

You took 20 minutes to to to make the decision.

But there is you've lived in the town your whole life.

You have a it sounds like a lifelong friend who we're going to be talking to your shortly.

So maybe there has never been any anonymity, for you, but you are certainly giving that back over.

People are now stopping at the grocery store or at the pharmacy to talk to you about city things, as opposed to the Buckeye score or the weather or things of that variety.

Were you prepared for that?

What is how's that transition?

Well, to, to be honest, that I rarely leave Rossford.

Because I, I love it there.

I live, work and play there.

And it's a small city.

It's very friendly.

Most people know each other, so they get stopped at the store or up at Moe's place or Danny's or Reds or wherever is not uncommon.

But that would happen even if I wasn't the mayor, you know?

So it's that days are the same today as it was before I became mayor.

The only thing is a changed is I am a complaint department between the years.

Yeah.

For sure.

Yeah, but, no, it's, And I don't think anybody outside of Rossford knows who I am.

We're talking to Mayor Neil McKinnon from Rossford.

Can you talk to us about your family business and how that how was that transition out of that role, or are you still in that role?

No, I still am.

That's that's my full time job.

Mayor of Rossford is is part time.

We're third generation at Nordman roofing and sheet metal.

We've been in business since 1931, and we're located at 1722 Star Avenue.

Do you get to hold your power over siblings?

No.

No, not not at all.

So where where are you in the line of with your siblings at how many of your family members work at the business?

Just my brother Rob and I. And my brother Rob, actually, is the president of the company.

He runs it.

So you're the.

But you're the mayor, so, like, he might think he's in charge.

But the reality is you could pull the zoning permit any time you want.

I just can't tell you he doesn't need a zoning matter.

And that's his.

That's out of my jurisdiction.

That's in East Toledo.

That's all right, I love it, I love it.

So, you know, I had shared with, Gretchen and Matt before we started, the show today that I, you still hold a special place in my heart is having what might be one of my favorite ideas in all of Toledo, is that I had read an article before you and I ever met in the blade.

One day about an idea that you had for transportation from Rossford to downtown Toledo.

Do you remember?

I say I do share it with Matt and Gretchen because I think it is a phenomenal idea.

Is it hot air balloons?

No, but we do have that back.

Yes.

You know.

So anyways, here's the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I was home on a Sunday night and on 60 minutes and you can YouTube, but I've gone back and watched it a bunch of times.

They were doing a segment on Medellin, Colombia.

And how it was worn, war torn and drug trafficking.

And they started installing these condos.

It's very mountainous and hilly anyways, to move people from point A to point B, like from one town to the next and back, and it's it's basically a fancier version of what they have at Cedar Point.

Sure.

But not quite as nice as they have in the Swiss Alps and, and in Aspen, Colorado.

But, it just created a new identity and a new synergy.

And all of a sudden, not only were people not afraid to go out, they were they were enjoying going out because going from your home to your school or to your workplace via a gondola was exciting.

It was cool.

It was a it was an attraction in itself and, and, an amenity.

And so you envision this going from Rossford to downtown Toledo and being a way for folks to get back and forth.

Yeah.

And it's and it's there's no secret to the source, we're the closest municipality and main Street to downtown Toledo and everything that goes on there.

That's one thing great about living in Rossford is you can always get an Uber because the casino is right in our front door, right?

And we're in between downtown and everything that's going on there.

And then just to the south is Perrysburg and Perrysburg Township, which are both very affluent, communities.

So, you know, and at the same time, and I'm still trying to do this, is I wanted to make Rossford a destination where downtown already is a destination.

So I wanted to easily connect it to where even if somebody didn't know what was going on in Rossford or what was in Rossford, they might just take the ride over.

Right?

Just to do that.

Yeah.

How long of a ride would that be?

It would probably be seven minutes.

Wow.

That would be so.

I mean, we're literally we've we're contiguous in border East Toledo.

And South Toledo, with the exception of the Miami River.

The zoo is directly across the street from us.

There's really not a backyard that you can't see.

The former Owens Corning tower and the Ohai building.

So we're we're really close to downtown Toledo.

So any chance of this happens?

You know, I think there's there's always a chance something could happen again.

It was just an idea that somebody heard me mention, and it ended up in the paper.

And and, you know, I'm not embarrassed by it.

I still think it's it's cool.

Yeah, I love it.

And and I'd love for it to happen someday.

How often?

Or is there a is there a notebook next to your, bedside?

Where do the ideas go?

Are they constantly kind of rolling in?

You write them down.

Is there a method to, how you have these journaled?

What's.

No, no, I usually have a, a bottle of water.

The remote control and my alarm clock and my cell phone next to me.

Right.

Okay.

Yeah.

We're talking with Neil MacKinnon, the mayor of Rossford, on a mayor Monday here on the 490.

When we come back, I want to talk about, some of the new things coming to Rossford.

Your vision, for the city as you come into the, the second half of your, your term here, as mayor, I want to talk about today as well, because I know that there's been, a lot of development there, and the relationship between Tara and Rossford is is a really strong one.

So we'll talk about that in more.

We come back on the other side of the break here on the 419.

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Where you come to watch, listen and learn.

Welcome back into the 419 a mayor Monday edition.

And we're taking a special trip to Rossford, Ohio with Rossford Mayor Neil MacKinnon.

We talked to last segment about kind of your journey to, becoming the mayor.

I know I'd seen, you know, economic do.

Well, it's a big a big thing for you.

I know I'd seen, a new partnership with Tata new in the last couple of years before we get to Tata.

Yeah.

Which, of course, is near and dear to me.

I do want to know about your storied career as a security professional and your work, at the former sports arena.

Is there is there a special memory or tossing people out from a, iron Maiden concert?

No, no, but the funny thing is, is, I mean, you're a sweet guy, so it's hard for me to imagine that you being this hulking, I, I wasn't okay, how I got the gig was.

This is again.

I was a lifeguard at Clearwater Quarry.

From my freshman year of high school to my senior year of high school.

And my sophomore year of high school, I was 510, 124 pounds.

But the fellow lifeguards there were youth football players.

And on the weekends, they'd bounce at the local nightclubs and they'd work security at the concerts at the sports arena.

So they took a liking to me.

Yeah, I don't know.

It's hopefully it's past the statute of limitations, but I was going to like Henry JS oh my gosh.

Yeah, sure.

Oh yeah.

Dixie and buttons.

You know, when I was like 15 years old because those guys those guys worked the door.

Yeah, I grabbed it.

I never took advantage of it.

I was pretty much a wallflower, but.

So I started working security.

And because, you know, I was this big around, the, promoters, Balkan brass ring, cellar door, back then, I became a runner.

Oh, sure.

Yeah, so I wasn't.

I had a t shirt that said security, but I was.

We just had three letters.

Yeah, I was going to get catering and, And you know what I meant.

When anything bad happen, you ran away.

No, no, no, I wasn't security.

Those guys were big, and, they protected.

Yeah.

Good.

It's supplied my interruption.

The target question is a good one.

An important one.

Yeah.

Talk to me about how, how the, you know, the partnership with target came about.

Yeah, yeah.

Our geography, we're the northernmost, city us in North Northwood.

In wood counties, and we're contiguous to Lucas County and Toledo.

And we've always been a member the public transit.

And then for whatever reason, the legislature gave communities like ours an opportunity to opt out and, you know, I thought we should not opt out for a number of different reasons.

A humanity reason.

You know, people who needed transportation to and from work.

And, you know, we all know a single mom group of their alternator goes out and she doesn't have the money to to fix it right away.

And, and there are people that don't drive and can't drive and the money was minuscule.

Matter of fact, I would ask people, well, how much does it cost you?

They they couldn't tell me, but I, I wasn't trying to change the market.

I was trying to chase it.

I knew that millennials were very health conscious, very, environmentally conscious, very tech savvy.

They like to stay on their laptop and phone while they're going to and from work.

And I thought that would give us the edge, when it came to economic development, because we're always in a little bit of competition with our neighbors for that granite.

We're I 75 and 89, said, you can't duplicate that.

That only happens one place in the country.

But I thought us staying and and Tada was the right thing to do.

Morally.

But also, it was the right thing to do business wise.

And that was the final reason.

Besides speed to market that we got Amazon and now they're building number three out there about that because people can get to and from their facilities to work.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And the promise of gondolas.

Yeah.

Well yeah that's.

Yeah.

That's the, that was the there wasn't a promise that was one of the other exciting things that was just announced a couple weeks ago is this, ongoing investment, our partnership with the city of Toledo with mayor caps of $20 million, investment in economic development based largely on a prior partnership or an ongoing partnership with the city of Rossford with, you getting, the city of Toledo's water in exchange for some of the, income tax city gets back and you talk about what that plan is?

Yeah.

I believe that was struck back in the late 1990s.

I don't know if most people know this.

Our school district, two thirds of it is in Perrysburg Township.

How do you know that?

Yeah.

So growing up, half of my teammates, half of my classmates lived in Perrysburg Township, though I lived in the city.

So when they built the interchange for I-75 8090 and they wanted to develop that area, there were no utilities.

Well, I think Perrysburg Township decided to go with us because we already had a preexisting relationship because we all grew up together and went to school together.

Excuse me.

So they they decided to, to annex that property into Rossford.

And we did a deal with Toledo that we would give them just going to use round numbers, 25% of our income tax or any job creation out there, and we'd get 75 if they brought their water and sewer lines in.

And it's a great deal.

Everybody wins.

And it's a great part of that deal is we get the lowest and best rate.

Yeah, it is a great deal.

And at the insurgents of of thinking and Possibilities in Toledo is is on the, in the future.

So it's really yeah.

The truth is in today's climate, you want your neighbors to be as successful as possible because that gives you the best off.

I don't think that you're giving yourself enough credit for that.

Thinking that isn't universally, accepted is the truth.

So, at the risk of making you feel uncomfortable, kudos to you, for continuing to beat that path.

Kevin, I were talking about the fact that we spoke with you about 3 or 4 years ago.

And at the risk of overdoing this, I was impressed by the exact same sentiment.

There was a level of not just excitement, and not just big thinking.

And the gondola thing was a strike against you, admittedly, but.

Yeah.

Did you want to come that, with, with inclusion, the idea that, you know, my neighbors are important, right.

On the backdrop of saying that you almost never leave Rossford.

Right.

So and so all those things being true is a testament to your leadership.

We're talking with Mayor Neil MacKinnon from Rossford.

What, what interaction is your city had with the data centers?

We've talked to other mayors that have been approached by them.

And, are they and their city councils are dealing with that?

What are you finding in Rossford?

The truth is, I've been talking, to data center developers for almost five years.

There's so much misinformation out there, and I'm not.

Don't get me wrong.

I'm not advocating for it.

They are very much needed.

They're important, and they can be very helpful to a community, a school district in the county.

I think they just have to be in the right location.

Yes, sir.

Ross lives and dies with income tax.

So our focus has been jobs and industry and investment.

And what that does, if you obtain that, that raises your tax base without raising taxes on your citizens.

For example, our school district, we have built in our building over $200 million worth of facilities.

And at the same time, we've lowered the millage three times.

Wow.

So that's so, so we have really, really good people around us.

But, I think it's almost like the new fad is to be anti data center.

I, I actually I'm a I feel like the new has to be anti period right, right.

Indiscriminate.

And even when you ask people what they're about their first answer is what they're not about.

Yeah it is a it's a weird cultural dynamic.

But pardon my interruption.

No no no like like I was I've attended a couple township trustee meetings because our neighbors and our friends and, obviously I'm at every Rosewood council meeting and who isn't right.

Yeah, yeah, it's the same six people, but which, God bless them, you know.

Good for that.

So anyways, I, I'll never forget this.

At the first meeting, I heard this person go on and on about how bad they are and how dangerous and the environment, but if they gave me three times the value of my property, I'd go away.

I'm thinking, wow, I don't know if I would have said that right.

Next meeting I go to, they said the exact same thing, and the third meeting I went to, they went to the exact same thing.

So, that they're nothing to be fearful of.

They need to be located in the right place.

We haven't, tried to recruit them.

Not because we're against it.

It's because they don't have a lot of employees.

They they have a ton of space building.

Right, right.

And, you know, they they employ a lot of subcontractors and engineers, but actual day to day employees are just there's just not a lot.

So, mayor McKinnon, if I'm spending a day in Rossford, you know, sunup to sundown, what's the perfect day in Rockford, Ohio?

The perfect day is probably a Friday night home football game.

And then after that, well, we would have probably dinner at Moe's place before the game.

Right.

And then after the game, we'd cross the street and we'd probably go to Danny's and see whatever bands playing there, and then, we'd probably mosey on down to Reds and, meet friends and family there.

And, I just turned 59, so I, I can't really stay up past 10:00.

Yeah, it was 745 right now.

Yeah, we've got it.

10:00 still pretty good.

Yeah, I know the truth is, our location is amazing.

We have a beautiful library.

Yes.

Our high school is right downtown.

The the casino basically anchors our main street and central business district.

And again, we're right across the river from the zoo.

We're we're seven minutes from Tipton Field or the Huntington Center.

So there's just.

And when I go to market, I don't just sell Rossford, I sell Toledo, I sell Perrysburg, I sell the and the entertainment assets and cultural assets and educational assets because the largest vocational schools, Pen County.

That's basically right in Rossford, even though it's the township owns community college is the largest right there, community college.

And then we're in between the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University.

So I use all of those institutions and entities to retain and attract industry and investment to Rossford.

We're talking with Neil MacKinnon, the mayor of Rossford, Ohio.

Mayor, it's now time to do one of our most favorite parts of the show.

It's time to play Gretchen's wacky quiz.

Okay, I'm gonna ask you for rapid fire questions.

Gretchen's going to ask you for your favorite thing in or about Rossford, and then Matt's going to work with you to describe Rossford in exactly nine words.

All right.

Okay.

He seems ready.

He seems determined.

What's one thing that you are unbeatable at?

Running for mayor, obviously, that that doesn't last forever.

I don't think there's anything that I'm unbeatable.

Right.

What's your guilty pleasure?

I love 80s and 90s R&B.

Right.

Favorite pet's name?

Reggie.

The Labrador retriever was our first dog.

Is that is Reggie short for it?

Is it always Reggie, or is.

It's actually Reginald?

You know what?

I don't know.

We just called him Reggie.

Yeah, I love it.

All right.

How many times do you hit snooze in the morning?

Twice.

Regularly?

Twice?

Yeah.

Nice.

What is your number one most favorite thing, or were you considered to be the best thing about the city of Rossford?

Oh, the the people.

You know, we're very dense.

We live on top of each other.

You know, we just have a you know, obviously, I'm a homer.

I'm extremely biased, but I love the culture.

I told somebody this about a month ago.

You know, I've always been chasing a feeling that I only had really once in my life.

And that was when I was playing football for Rossford.

I miss being a part of something bigger than myself.

I miss contributing to something bigger than myself.

I miss the the relationships that you develop.

And, I got that back when I became the mayor of Rossford.

That's great.

That is great.

Now, an awkward transition to something totally bizarre.

Thank you.

Thank you for that answer.

Nine things to describe Rossford are the region nine words I want your people in.

So I'm going to give you one right off the rip.

Safe.

Say thank you.

Keep going.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

It is waterfront.

Waterfront.

We'll give you two words for that.

Proud, proud.

Good.

Got three le That's creative.

It's a creative community, for sure.

Yes.

It is close knit.

Very close knit.

Absolutely.

Very close to the last one.

What's your wife's name?

Debbie.

Debbie?

Think that's the best thing about running for mayor?

Neil McKinnon, the mayor of Rossford.

You can wave your magic wand and make one thing happen for Rossford.

In the next two years.

What?

What do you want that to be?

I'd love to see us win some state championships.

Sure, but the truth.

But it put the pressure on the kids.

Yeah, but now the truth is, If you can give people hope, if you can give them an opportunity to realize their dreams, not only them, but their parents, and that comes with economic development, good paying jobs.

And that's, that's that's what I try to do to give, my people the best opportunity to, to again, to, to, to reach and fulfill their dreams.

Well said.

Thank you.

If you had to place a bet on it right now, what are the chances Sammy McNuggets is the next mayor of Rossford?

If she could, she could, unseat me yesterday for mayor.

She's.

She's actually a very good the whole family.

And they're very good friends of ours.

Yeah.

They're great.

Mayor Neil McKinnon, the mayor of Rockford, Ohio.

When we come back, we're joined by Dan Kreps, the superintendent of Rossford City Schools.

We'll be right back on the 419.

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Welcome back into the 419 a mayor Monday, and we're taking a trip to Rossford, Ohio.

Just wrapped up a conversation with Rossford Mayor Neil MacKinnon.

We're joined now by the superintendent of Rossford schools, Dan Kreps.

Thanks so much for being here.

Absolutely glad to be here.

Thanks for having me on the delay for the show.

So thanks for thanks for sitting here for the two hours.

How long have you been a superintendent?

It'll be 13 years, which is on April 1st.

I actually, took over the job at Rossford schools.

Why is it the bulldog?

Isn't it weird?

You know, I had heard way back when from a gentleman that's bee the community for several years.

Originally we were called the Red tide, but apparently nobody liked that name.

Okay, this was something he shared with me that I was completely unaware of.

So it just became the bulldog.

But I'll take it.

It's good.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it works.

So.

But yeah, it was strange that it was April Fool's Day.

Yeah.

So you're going over on April Fool's things?

Sure.

Why not now?

Did you did you start your career as a teacher?

Would you have you been in education?

I you know, I, I originally started out, as we mentioned briefly in radio, a short lived career there and then did a whole slew of jobs and sales, before entering education.

But I have an older brother, who's now retired educator who, you know, I was looking for some guidance.

He recommended education.

He had gotten involved, too, with, Patty Tisdale.

Patty Sloan, who was the recreation director in Rossford at the time the mayor had mentioned.

We grew up together, and she had, some work, some summer work, working with, youth in the community.

And I thought that was a great opportunity.

Mr.. Did you feel safer, living next to the mayor because of his security guard?

Well, what is the safest block of Rockford?

What's that hulking 110 or 125 is physique, and he's already had the T-shirt.

Right.

You got, got the equalizer on the board.

But, you know, I just remember we've just had so much fun.

Yeah.

So, and a lot of laughter and good times, I. I never thought of him as a tough guy, though.

I can tell you that.

He was always much tougher than me, and certainly on the football field.

I watched from the stands.

I ran cross country.

So he was an incredible player.

So.

And mentally tough.

One of the toughest people.

He promised a state championship, from Rossford.

He did not specifically say which sport, although I think he meant football, but.

But what?

What's your what's your reaction to that?

You know, I knew what he was going to say, that it was interesting when when you mentioned that, and that's certainly a goal of ours.

We were working on it every day.

Our kids and our coaches are focused on improving every day.

One of the things that I gotta believe is going to help you is you guys have a beautiful new athletic facility there in Rossford.

Talked to me about how that that came about.

And they describe that for folks that that haven't seen it.

Yeah.

So it's called the are we did a community effort to name it to begin with, which was really fun.

How did you come up with that?

People were able to provide different.

Yeah, yeah, the obvious, but people were able to provide different, thoughts on what they would name.

And it was a community survey, if you will.

Some of them probably wouldn't be appropriate to mention some suggestions.

Right.

So, you know, we just thought there was, that was a recommendation fit.

Yeah.

For obvious reasons.

And then it was really easy.

We thought, so meet our branding.

And so we said, let's let's go with it.

And there was great support for it.

When you put the pressure on you, we could easily splice your interview first.

Do you want a bag on him about economic development or put some pressure on him?

We can have these show in any order.

You.

Talk about the streets.

You know, I'll tell you though, the the economic development obviously was a great part of realizing your, because we were able to do it without going to the community for any tax dollars.

So anytime you can build a 17.5 million facility, without going to your voters and saying, hey, we need you to, you know, pitch in on this is just a great realization.

We also, you know, while the primary focus appears to be, you know, athletics, we also wanted to make sure that there was a great deal of academics, involved.

So that's where we got into, you know, Stem science, technology, engineering, math.

We got into drones, robotics, esports is a big part of that.

Absolutely.

And the e-sports facility that we have in there is second to none.

But we wanted learning opportunities to be a big part of that.

We recognize that athletics, obviously, there's a lot of learning and leadership skills that our kids gain.

But we wanted to get into that.

Our our, facilities, even though they had just been rebuilt, the the elementary in 2019 and the high school, we opened in January of 20 with 21st century facilities.

We wanted to fit into that Stem world and give our kids those options.

You know, our kids come to us with all different opportunities.

And we wanted to make sure that we, we offered as much as we possibly could while being responsible to, you know, the taxpayer.

We're talking to Superintendent Dan Kreps from Rockford Schools.

Can you just give us a little bit like Rockford schools by the numbers, students, teachers, employees?

Sure.

1700 students about and growing.

We employ a little over 200 people.

Well, wide range of interests among our kids, very diverse population that we're, again, trying to match all their interests.

You know, close knit, really culturally ethnic community, with some great generational family names that contribute to the success we've had.

So we're really proud.

We're, we're, that we've been able to partnering with, Neal and others in the area really be able to succeed recently.

We've always been proud of that.

But th opportunities we're providing, we have put a career center in our backyard.

Strong partner.

They do outstanding things for our students from all over the area, and we're always happy to partner with them.

And many of our students take advantage of their educational opportunities as well.

And it's right.

Right there.

Yeah.

I don't think people, have an understanding of, we talk to almost everyone that comes in, that have full time, full time, full time jobs and twice over.

Tell me a little bit, seven days a week, twice on Sunday.

How do you how and when do you put this down?

What does your work life balance look like, or is that just a total mockery?

Is there a bill?

There's no really.

You know, it's about there has to be a passion to be in public education again with and the partnerships that we have with the people on the team we've assembled at Rossford, along with our partnerships at the city, in the township.

That makes that lift a lot, a lot lighter and a lot easier.

So, the hours are long and the days are full, but when you're working with friends and people that you really care about, I don't know, I always get choked up on that part, but I do, these are people that you've grown up with.

Yeah.

And your goal is to make a difference.

It's really rewarding.

It's.

Are you crying?

Because they didn't call the the new facility, the red tide dome.

Man, it's just, you know, you just care so much about the people you work with again, and you're making a difference in a community that you grew up in, right?

So you're trying to give back all the great opportunities you been do great people.

Yes sir.

You been in this role for 13 years.

What are some of the things that have that have changed that make this make this job easier.

One of the things that have changed to make this job harder.

Well, you know, there had been a whole series of superintendents before me taking over.

And quite honestly, I think the district was a little bit without a rudder, so to speak.

I was fortunate that this this opportunity came about.

And, you know, I remember at the very beginning when I was trying to tour families, moving to the area for perhaps employment opportunities, as I would meet them at the parking lot and begin to walk them.

I knew I'd lost them by the time we we hit the step to enter the building, they were really in poor shape, which was heartbreaking.

Yeah.

So we knew we had to do something with facilities, and we got that turned around through a bond issue that we ran extremely hard with a great group of people.

A part of that too, where people were just sick and tired of being sick and tired is, what Rex Hoffman, a part of that team, was, had set him, about us.

And so we just said, you know, nobody's going to fix this if we don't.

So we won that and that really, you know, lit the fire.

We we always had great people working in those buildings.

We always had great kids and great families.

We just didn't have 21st century opportunities.

I mean, we had water coming in everywhere and lights going out.

And it was a I can tell you stories that would, you know, really surprise you.

So when we got that turned around into into some in a setting where we could provide great opportunities for kids.

It's just been the look their their learning environment and being proud of the space that they're in contribute to learning.

Isn't that another reason to have those facilities be top notch?

You know, when you see it transform in front of your eyes, people stand a little straighter.

The kids act a little better.

They're more driven.

They're more excited about the opportunities you can provide.

There's on an unquestionable impact.

That's an investment, in public education, in what we do in the staff.

That's who serves them.

So yeah, it, it the transformation has been really remarkable.

I often tell the story, you know, going back to that from the beginning, when we would lose parents before we hit the front door and everybody was kind of hanging in there, had quite honestly.

And it was a community that was so proud as the mayor had spoken to.

And I kind of knew we had hit it when, maybe a couple of years ago, we do a fine arts festival with our kids and in every building and the, the work they do is amazing.

We've been expanding our arts program as well, but we draw all of our families and community members in to see the work our kids and display.

The element had gone from the high school, which had this tremendous, you know, turnout and the parking.

Thankfully, my office is there, so I had a spot.

But seeing the families smiling and the parents that that synergy and family, you know, relationship, I drove out, I said, I better get to the elementary.

I couldn't park at the elementary.

The people were parked all over the place.

So I went behind the r. I got out of my car.

That lot was basically packed.

And we have two baseball, two softball diamonds, and the youth programs were going on there.

Softball and baseball.

All four fields were full.

You could hear the families yelling, so I'm walking from the r, a little bit south to the elementary, and we have that paved to give kind of a community college feel, if you will, and families are coming from the art fair with their kids in their ball uniforms, walking to the field, and then you walk into the arts center, at the elementary and you're met with the same thing.

We had it.

Those are the nights that it's good to be the superintendent.

Yeah.

You forget the yelling in the, you know, the people that are upset with you because you didn't delay or close.

Yeah.

Those are all those things melt away when you when you have an experience like that, why not just make it a snow day?

Why?

Why, why must the superintendents force children?

I mean, you get maybe five days a year.

Why?

Even if it's nice out, why not just make it as a kid?

Yeah, it's changed ours now in the state of Ohio when we were in school.

Right.

It was five days.

And.

And we're the biggest thing there is, you know, can we put a bus on the road and our kids would drive?

Can they come safely?

And what we do every day is so important.

It is, as we all know, right?

It's not lost on any of us.

And, you know, to have that solid educational foundation, there's no substitute, you know, you have to have your family, and, and educational opportunities.

And so it's really important.

So when I walk by, especially our upperclassmen at the downtown campus, they, you know, they they don't say anything negative, but I can tell by their body language they're not exact exactly happy.

But, I mean, in increasingly, in many ways, I mean, the textbook education that happens in the building is among the least important things that you guys do.

Right?

For a community.

There's so much family relationships and relationships in general and kids, you know, you know, working with one another and understanding one another is a huge part of it.

You know, the ESL part of that.

But the emotional learning part is a huge, huge, huge, huge piece of what we do on a daily basis.

If you're staging a picture of, rostering in a school system, what's in that picture that embodies your town and family educational opportunities?

Meeting learner needs, you know, from those that face the greatest challenges that that, we have to those who can excel and are achieving at the highest level and everything in between.

That's really our purpose and our passion is, to me, you know, every student, with whatever their needs are, we try to meet those.

We're talking with Dan Kraft, the superintendent of Rockford schools.

Yeah.

What's a common, common misconception of Rockford?

That's a really good question.

Common misconception of Rossford.

Or maybe let me ask you differently, what's something that you that you if you had a chance to to give a commercial for Rockford, what's something you want everybody to know about Rossford?

We want to be everybody's educational partner.

Yeah.

If if you have children, we want to educate them, and that's not a thing for them.

I don't know.

Kids aren't going to see that.

Yeah.

No, they wouldn't understand anyway.

They're my kids.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But but you know, that's really what it is all about.

We we have a deep desire and a passion and a drive to educate all kids.

And whatever they come to us with, we we give it our very best effort, I guess.

Going back to your original question, what might the misconception be?

Is, is, you know, there are people that think we don't that's not our drive.

That that's not our passion and nothing can be farther from the truth.

You know, we have really dedicated staff that work hard every day.

We don't think of ourselves as being any better than anybody else.

But, I don't think there's anybody that gives a greater effort on a day than us.

I'm gonna put you on the spot here.

If you had to nominate one of your employees for a national award, who's the first person you're picking?

Wow.

I'm not gonna answer that one.

Stay employed.

There are several of them.

Seriously, that we could, that we could recognize now.

One that was recently recognized by a group, an advocacy group for public education called chorus.

And they hosted a dinner for, outstanding elementary teacher.

And one of ours was Maria Pratt.

Again.

That was the elementary.

I said, does it have to be elementary?

And and that was the case.

So I was forced into a peck, but she and, Andrea, I'm and another, young teacher in our, in our district had done phenomenal things with where we're moving into engineering, Stem programing, offering even more opportunities for our kids in a different setting and a different style of learning than your traditional public school setting.

You wouldn't pick your favorite, you want to look at the camera, tell us who your least favorite employee is.

That program that, Dan Krebs, the one the superintendent of Rossford schools.

Thank you so much for joining us.

And we appreciate the time.

When we come back, we'll wrap up this May or Monday edition of the 419.

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Welcome back into the 419 as we wrap up a mega Monday edition.

Huge thanks to Rossford Mayor Neil McKinnon and Rossford City School Superintendent Dan Krebs for joining us on the program.

Yeah, I don't want to sound like a clown, but those guys are so nice.

They're so nice and and clearly not that all the mayors, have been, similar, but, just humble great servant to their community.

There's a clear authenticity to both of them that it's just like, I love my community, I love my neighbors, and this is the lane that I'm going to make Rossford a better place for them.

I, I again, I know I said on the show, but Kevin, I do remember him coming on the radio program and I didn't know him from Adam.

And he was great.

Then, similar story.

Right.

It hangs out in this town.

What cares about the other towns?

It is.

So it's a genuine commitment to the betterment of the people that live in Rossford and others.

Yes.

Your neighbors.

Like, he could have been totally cutthroat, right?

Or at least just talk about his town.

Well, and a master class on economic development and investment in education of what's happening.

Right.

In Rossford.

So love having both of them on the program.

Russ, for donations.

Wait, what are people that, you know, we never asked that question.

Yeah, they should be very proud of their mayor and their superintendent recommendations.

Yes.

That reference further Russ Rossford.

Yeah.

That's it.

Yeah.

That's not it.

Thank you for the emails coming in now to Mayor Neil MacKinnon and Superintendent Dan Krebs for joining us.

And thanks to you for being with us for a mayor Monday as well.

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