I’m proud that my neighbor, Bryan Suddith, is seeking to be elected the mayor of Kettering. I’ve told him that, of the 41 precincts in Kettering, my goal is to help him to get his highest percentage in our precinct, Kettering 4-K. I’ve distributed flyers throughout the precinct advertising that this Saturday at 4:00 PM in front of Bryan’s house at 609 Schuyler will be a neighborhood gathering to greet Bryan and Melissa and participate in Q / A and discussion. The flyer emphasizes, Bring a Lawn Chair.
Next week, my focus will be to visit with infrequent voters and unaffiliated voters registered in this precinct. My pitch is simple — “Bryan is a great guy, talented, a history of service, a member of Kettering Council, endorsed by the retiring mayor, Peggy Lehner, etc. — and, HE IS OUR NEIGHBOR. Let’s help our neighbor get elected as our mayor.”
Unknown to me, the League of Women Voters forum for Kettering mayor scheduled at Christ Methodist Church was cancelled last night. As it turned out, Bob Scott, the other candidate seeking to be elected mayor, a week earlier had informed the League that he would be unavailable. Anyway, I enjoyed the forum for the Kettering City Council candidates and the forum for the Centerville School Board candidates.
Below is part of the e-mail I sent to Bryan in anticipation of the forum:
Here is a question:
“Mr. Suddith, what is your vision for the future of Kettering? How can that dream be actualized?”
The context of all conversations about the future is the astonishing reality that we are on the verge the arrival of super intelligence that far exceeds that of humans. Ray Kurzweil, since 2005, has predicted that the arrival of the Singularity will be in 2045, but with the huge sums of money being spent on its development, many experts are predicting AI super-intelligence will arrive much sooner. It truly is beyond the imaginations of human minds to conceive of what these machines will be capable of achieving — great good, unlimited material abundance and liberty for all, or great harm, totalitarian control and, even, human extinction.
Amazon just reported that in the next few years, it will fill 600,000 jobs with robots. I fear massive unemployment soon will lead to a time of great social turmoil. Many citizens already have given up on a system of democracy that has let them down and I fear this trend will grow.
The future of Kettering is tied to the future of America and the whole world. We truly are all in this together and our only hope is that we can somehow make our democracy strong so that we can empower governments of, by, and for the people.
So, the vision for the future of Kettering I’d like to see you advocate that Kettering should become a model for the nation of a vibrant 21st century democracy. It seems like fate, synchronicity — in Kettering we have the Kettering Foundation funded by Charles Kettering in 1927, now with $500 million, and that its mission is to advance thriving democracies throughout the world. It seems to me that this Foundation would be receptive to working with a Kettering mayor who offers a plan to make democracy thrive in Kettering.
Now, the fun part will be to write a draft of a plan to make democracy thrive in Kettering —starting with envisaging what a thriving democracy in Kettering would look like.
This question about a vision for the future of Kettering is a great question for Bryan because to get to our best future — a future that will control the astonishing power of AI for the common good — will require a united citizenry and Bryan is gifted in building relationships and finding agreement. We have multiple reasons to be pessimistic about the future, because the division and hostility in today’s politics is so great. We need to elect leaders who have the character, skills and experience needed to build unity and who have the commitment to do so. For multiple reasons, Kettering would be an ideal place for a grassroots breakthrough in democracy. I have a lot of confidence in Bryan Suddith.
