|
Of the many candidates for
an at-large council seat in the September 2017 primary,
perhaps none possesses a more storied lineage of servant
leadership than Harvey Savage. Yet it is also perhaps
equally true that Savage, the son of late legendary Toledo
activist/preacher Rev. H. V. Savage, is the most
under-appreciated candidate in the race.
Nevertheless, voters and
other candidates would do well not to sleep on the native
Toledoan’s campaign as it accelerates under the radar
towards the rapidly approaching September 12 primary.
Savage, who has directed
the Martin Luther King Kitchen for the Poor for the past
four years, recently shared his story with me. I now wish to
share it with readers of The Truth.
Perryman:
Well, let me first say that it’s a pleasure and a privilege
to talk to you. I was born and raised right here in Toledo
and aware of the legacy of your family’s work. Please talk
about your work and how that all got started.
Savage:
In 1969 Dad decided to start the Martin Luther King Kitchen
For The Poor. The story he used to tell and retell was that
he had seen a man eating out of the garbage can in the back
of our house and so he asked him to come on inside to have
something to eat. Dad said it was at that time that he
really realized he needed to do more and so he started the
Kitchen based on that. And that would’ve been about April
of 1969. Now for me personally, I worked with him for four
years when he first started the K, but after four years
there really wasn’t a lot of money to be made working in
nonprofits and so I went to work for Dupont but I still was
kind of working at the kitchen behind the scenes.
So now the family, the
Savage family, we had been raised by my dad and my mom in a
way that required us to look out for the less fortunate and
so I know I used to listen to him a lot and he would talk
about how when he was going to school, and this was before
welfare, his mom used to put an extra sandwich in their
lunch for them to give to any kid that did not have lunch at
school. So that’s how he was raised and so that was kind of
instilled in him to look out for the less fortunate.
Perryman:
It is amazing how our life works and worldview are
influenced so greatly by stories and traditions passed down
from one generation to the next. How is the Kitchen doing
today?
Savage:
Now the Kitchen itself is 48 years old, we’ve sustained our
operation. We’re actually in the black, we don’t owe
anybody and so we’ve got a little money put up in case
funding was totally stopped. We are actually in good enough
financial shape to continue operations even if funding is
slowed. We have been involved with the school system.
Right now, we’re dealing a little bit with Jones Academy;
we’ve dealt with Martin Luther King Academy. We’ve worked
with the Woodberrys and the chess club down at Jones, so we
do some things there. We’re also involved with the City
Park League, which does the basketball tournaments each year
and also working with the Frederick Douglass Center and with
the Junction Coalition there. So we’re doing quite a bit.
We’ve also participated with the Swan Creek Neighborhood
North Paving Project to put in some storm sewers and helping
somewhat to direct that.
So, we’ve got a lot going
on. We’re in the process of looking at a new facility
also. Behind the Kitchen, we’ve purchased several vacant
lots and we’d like to build a facility so that we can move
on to the next level. And what I mean by next level is that
we need to do more to help bring people out of poverty and
so we will look at mentoring single-mom families initially
and then work with the kids and the violence.
Perryman:
Are you still providing meals?
Savage:
We’re located at 650 Vance Street, right across from Savage
Park. We are feeding probably somewhere around close to 100
meals a day and serving children as well as adults. We give
away clothing and appliances and housewares and things like
that also. We also provide close to 2,000 food baskets a
year. People call in, they come in and pick up a food
basket that is going to last a minimum of three days for a
family. Also, our building is utilized by other community
groups. For instance, the citywide missionaries association
is going to use the building and be at the park doing hot
dogs and things of that nature and passing out literature in
the park for a good part of the day, so we work with them
and others.
Perryman:
Please talk about how your work at the Kitchen and now, the
Martin Luther King Jr. Center, prepared you for your council
candidacy.
Savage:
I see City Council basically as an extension of my community
service. I’ve been in community service for a number of
years and so looking at where we’re at and what we’re doing,
I think with the wealth of knowledge that I’ve obtained
through the years that it’s just a natural fit for me to
step up into City Council. I’ve worked for DuPont, a major
corporation, for 20 years and I’ve done extensive community
service work through them. I was involved with addressing
substance abuse; I was involved in organizational
development. These are things that the city needs to get
better at doing and I’m hoping to be able to step in there
and take a look at improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of what we’re doing within the city. Now I
know it can be done, we just have to step up to the plate
and do those things that we need to be doing to make this
community a lot better.
I’ve also been involved
with several organizations and a past president of Community
Shares, which is a federation of local nonprofits and we’re
together doing solicitations for our different
organizations. So, I understand what people are looking for
and what they want out of us, as council members. And so
I’m prepared. I think we’re competitive right now and I
think that there’s a good chance we’re going to get in and
so that’s kind of where we’re at right now.
Perryman:
What would be your agenda or your vision for the city at
large and how does that differ from your vision, if you have
one, for the inner city?
Savage:
Well, it’s a combination. One of the largest issues for the
city at large is maintenance of our streets. People are
really complaining, so I think that we would put a plan
together that would make a lot of sense. We should be able
to budget and structure it in a way that we can effectively
manage that. The other thing is safety. Safety is a major
issue, particularly just recently, somebody went down the
street shooting at somebody on a porch at a kid’s party I
believe, and they actually grazed a little girl and I think
they hit an adult. And so we in the inner city, I think
we’re kind of tired of that, and so we would like to see a
lot more community policing and we would like to do whatever
we need to do to make this a safe city. I was born here and
so I feel like this is my city and I feel like these kids
that are really going off the deep end, these are our kids.
We’ve got to step up within the inner city as well as people
that are outside the city to support our city and get this
city back on track. And so I see that happening and I just
had to talk to police on Thursday. They understand what’s
happening and they want to help, but they cannot do it
alone, they need the citizens to be a big part of what
happens within the central city.
Perryman:
Do you have specific proposals? How would you go about
improving safety?
Savage:
After talking to the deputy chief, right, we do need to get
the staffing numbers up. It’s great that they’ve got a class
of 40 officers that they put together, but we need to
continue to get those numbers up, and we need a lot more
involvement from the citizens. The citizens need to be
participating in what’s going on and I think we need to be
more effective in the block watches. The other thing that
we have that’s an issue within the community is lighting.
The lighting is just not good in several areas, we’re
looking at that and we’ll put together a list of things that
we would like to see done and where we’d like the better
lighting. The property, better control of the grass and
things of that nature will make the community look a little
better, but some of this the citizens will have to step up
and help with and so that’s kind of where we are.
Perryman:
This is going to be a pretty tight race and you have a lot
of competition out there, so finally, please tell The Truth
readers what there is about you that separates you from the
rest of the pack of candidates.
Savage:
I think there are a lot of people who are just getting
started whereas I’ve been here, do you understand what I’m
saying? I’m not just coming out getting started trying to
learn the community, learn the people and those things.
I’ve been here, I know the people, I understand what’s
here. I have a great wealth of knowledge with the things
I’ve done in life and with the jobs I’ve held, so I come to
the race running with a wealth of knowledge, and so that’s
what I think separates me from the others and I’ve got
people that I think that support me and they have faith in
me.
So that’s the difference, with me having worked in the
community for the number of years that I have, I think
that’s what I’m going to bring to the party that’s different
than a lot of the other candidates.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
|
