September 25, 2019 at 04:20AM
Buy Photo Desirée Blake sits with her son Jeremy Blake and family dog, Midnight, in the living room of her South Newark home. Growing up Jeremy remembers block parties and playing games with friends while living within two blocks of five generations of his family. That sense of community compelled Jeremy to enter the 2019 Newark mayoral race. (Photo: Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)
Editor's note: This is the first of our profiles of Newark's two mayoral candidates. The story on Mayor Jeff Hall will appear in print and online on Sept. 29.
Back in the day when neighborhoods had block parties and kids played football in their collective front yards until dusk, Jeremy Blake and his friends good-naturedly claimed Newark's South End as their own.
They used it for large-scale rounds of hide-and-seek (reimagined as a game they dubbed "Roundup") and general exploration, hunting for crawdads in the creek and begging for quarters — first from Mom, then from Grandma — to take to the candy store.
When festivals took place downtown, they walked the few blocks it took to get there.
"The downtown has always been our backyard," Blake said.
More: Blake: Fire Staffing Talks Need to Be Public
In those days, five generations of Blakes lived within two blocks: Among them, Jeremy's grandmother Mattie Blake, who served up crowd-pleasing barbecue ribs and chicken at Mattie's Place, the restaurant-turned-house where Jeremy's mother, Desirée Blake, now lives.
"I love Newark. Newark's my home," Desirée said one late summer afternoon, stationed in an armchair across from her son in her South End home decorated with family history. "My mom's here, my family's here. This is where I grew up.
"Your home is where your heart is," she added. "That's how I feel."
This fall, her son's name will appear on the ballot across from incumbent Jeff Hall's as a candidate for Newark mayor, and she could not be more proud.
Though life has taken Jeremy Blake a number of different places, his heart and home remain in Newark.
Case in point: When the time came for him to buy a home of his own, a brick front porch — one where he could visit with friends and neighbors — was at the top of Blake's "House Must-have" list; a symbol of welcome and conversation.
He found one in the South End. And it's where he's been ever since.
Buy Photo Family photos above the mantel in the Blake family home on Newark's South Side. The home had been a barbecue restaurant known as Mattie's Place run by Jeremy Blake's grandmother, Mattie Blake. (Photo: Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)
Nerdy kid at Newark High
Following in his mother's footsteps, Blake, 41, became a Newark High School graduate in 1996.
During his time as a Wildcat, the self-dubbed "nerdy kid" passed over athletics. He laughingly recalls giving a live demonstration to the basketball coach to prove it really wasn't his sport. Instead he picked debate team and student government, founding an organization called Students Together Against Racial Tension that educated students about racism and its prevention.
Thanks to strong mentorship by educators and community members such as former Newark mayor Frank Stare, Blake was inspired from an early age to get involved in community service.
After graduation he enrolled at Denison University as a political science major, balancing his classwork with a job as a page at the Ohio Statehouse.
Amid running errands and making copies, Blake inadvertently stumbled into a new career opportunity: Information technology.
"When I started working at the Statehouse, they were going through a big renovation...they didn't have any technology," he said. As ethernet lines were being added and updates installed to the 150-year-old building, the lone information technology officer, Randall, enlisted Blake as his assistant — and then — Democratic minority leader Ben Espy took notice.
"(Espy) was like, 'Oh, Jeremy, I see you hanging out with Randall a lot. How do you like that technology and those computers?'" Blake recalled. "He was like, 'Do you want to do this full time?'"
That was when Blake made a big decision: To leave college for a career.
"I was like, 'Wow, I'm 20 years old they're going to offer me a full-time job,'" he said. "So I took it. It was a great opportunity."
Seeking office
Though his employment took Blake to Columbus, his heart remained close to home.
The first year his name appeared on a ballot was 1999 when he ran against Bob Diebold for a seat on the Newark City Council. He lost by 50 votes.
"Bob knocked on more doors than I did that year," Blake said.
Unfazed, Blake took a different path, seeking appointment to a vacant seat in the Newark City School board in 2000 followed by a full term on the board that ended in 2005.
Then it was time for another change: After spending a decade in the Ohio Statehouse, Blake decided to pick up where he'd left off — at Denison University.
When a job opened in Denison's Information Technology department, he seized the opportunity, working second shift and taking classes during the day. Thanks to the university's free tuition for employees, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics and graduated in 2012, a nontraditional student with a passion for community service.
Around the same time, Blake celebrated another victory: the establishment of the South Newark Civic Association as a 501 (c)(3) organization.
Although the organization, at its roots, had existed long before it had a name, Blake was instrumental in securing its "official" status. From its beginnings as a block watch that expanded to neighborhood picnics and family gatherings and service projects, the group took on momentum as neighbors connected with one another and their community.
"Trying to get people to know who their neighbors are and having those parties that we used to have back in the day — just developing relationship," Blake said of the primary focus of the organization. "Wanting to get the community to know one another once again. That's really the purpose behind the South Newark Civic Association — wanting to bring people together and develop that sense of community."
In 2012, the organization partnered with Denison University on an oral history project that documented the stories of roughly 30 different families with roots in Newark's South End. The project was compiled into a series of posters that were displayed at Denison's William Howard Doane Library the following year; one of the posters now resides in Desirée Blake's living room, a piece of local history of which she is a proud part.
"That was probably one of the most popular projects," Jeremy said, "because people like to talk about their families; they like to talk about living in the community."
That community is what compelled Blake, a Newark City councilman since 2014, to enter the 2019 Newark mayoral race — a race for the job Blake refers to as "the city's biggest cheerleader."
"I think for a long time, just being mentored by Frank Stare and having relationships with local leaders, I knew I was going to run for mayor at some point," he said, "but this seemed to be the year to do it."
His opponent, Republican incumbent Jeff Hall, is seeking his third term as mayor.
Blake's time on the campaign trail has made him a firsthand witness of his community's challenges — homelessness, addiction, infrastructure — and has paved the way for a variety of conversations with concerned residents.
He has knocked on many doors; attended more than 20 church services of various faiths; run into citizens in restaurants and at community events and on the sidewalk.
He's listened to people talk about their family's battle with drug addiction; sought input from frustrated neighbors; given hugs to people who are having a bad day.
"That's been probably the biggest thing that really gets me through the day sometimes, when people just want a big hug," he said. "When people open up to you and tell you what's going on in their family and their lives — that's really where it's like, 'What is it that we can do to make this a better situation for you?'"
The response has been vastly positive and eye-opening, he said.
"The human connection is what I enjoy hearing and talking to people about," he said. "More times than anything, I'll just listen to people."
It's this sort of human connection that Blake hopes will carry him through to the mayor's office, where he aims to "be a mayor for all," he said.
"When I go around door to door, people are like, 'Hey, I know you — I know the things that you've done in the community," he said. "I just feel blessed. I just really do. (I'm) thanking the Lord every day for giving me some ability to give back. I feel like this a way I can make people's lives a little better."
Read or Share this story: https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/life/2019/09/22/south-ends-jeremy-blake-hopes-become-newarks-biggest-cheerleader/2366569001/
Buy Photo Desirée Blake sits with her son Jeremy Blake and family dog, Midnight, in the living room of her South Newark home. Growing up Jeremy remembers block parties and playing games with friends while living within two blocks of five generations of his family. That sense of community compelled Jeremy to enter the 2019 Newark mayoral race. (Photo: Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)
Editor's note: This is the first of our profiles of Newark's two mayoral candidates. The story on Mayor Jeff Hall will appear in print and online on Sept. 29.
Back in the day when neighborhoods had block parties and kids played football in their collective front yards until dusk, Jeremy Blake and his friends good-naturedly claimed Newark's South End as their own.
They used it for large-scale rounds of hide-and-seek (reimagined as a game they dubbed "Roundup") and general exploration, hunting for crawdads in the creek and begging for quarters — first from Mom, then from Grandma — to take to the candy store.
When festivals took place downtown, they walked the few blocks it took to get there.
"The downtown has always been our backyard," Blake said.
More: Blake: Fire Staffing Talks Need to Be Public
In those days, five generations of Blakes lived within two blocks: Among them, Jeremy's grandmother Mattie Blake, who served up crowd-pleasing barbecue ribs and chicken at Mattie's Place, the restaurant-turned-house where Jeremy's mother, Desirée Blake, now lives.
"I love Newark. Newark's my home," Desirée said one late summer afternoon, stationed in an armchair across from her son in her South End home decorated with family history. "My mom's here, my family's here. This is where I grew up.
"Your home is where your heart is," she added. "That's how I feel."
This fall, her son's name will appear on the ballot across from incumbent Jeff Hall's as a candidate for Newark mayor, and she could not be more proud.
Though life has taken Jeremy Blake a number of different places, his heart and home remain in Newark.
Case in point: When the time came for him to buy a home of his own, a brick front porch — one where he could visit with friends and neighbors — was at the top of Blake's "House Must-have" list; a symbol of welcome and conversation.
He found one in the South End. And it's where he's been ever since.
Buy Photo Family photos above the mantel in the Blake family home on Newark's South Side. The home had been a barbecue restaurant known as Mattie's Place run by Jeremy Blake's grandmother, Mattie Blake. (Photo: Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)
Nerdy kid at Newark High
Following in his mother's footsteps, Blake, 41, became a Newark High School graduate in 1996.
During his time as a Wildcat, the self-dubbed "nerdy kid" passed over athletics. He laughingly recalls giving a live demonstration to the basketball coach to prove it really wasn't his sport. Instead he picked debate team and student government, founding an organization called Students Together Against Racial Tension that educated students about racism and its prevention.
Thanks to strong mentorship by educators and community members such as former Newark mayor Frank Stare, Blake was inspired from an early age to get involved in community service.
After graduation he enrolled at Denison University as a political science major, balancing his classwork with a job as a page at the Ohio Statehouse.
Amid running errands and making copies, Blake inadvertently stumbled into a new career opportunity: Information technology.
"When I started working at the Statehouse, they were going through a big renovation...they didn't have any technology," he said. As ethernet lines were being added and updates installed to the 150-year-old building, the lone information technology officer, Randall, enlisted Blake as his assistant — and then — Democratic minority leader Ben Espy took notice.
"(Espy) was like, 'Oh, Jeremy, I see you hanging out with Randall a lot. How do you like that technology and those computers?'" Blake recalled. "He was like, 'Do you want to do this full time?'"
That was when Blake made a big decision: To leave college for a career.
"I was like, 'Wow, I'm 20 years old they're going to offer me a full-time job,'" he said. "So I took it. It was a great opportunity."
Seeking office
Though his employment took Blake to Columbus, his heart remained close to home.
The first year his name appeared on a ballot was 1999 when he ran against Bob Diebold for a seat on the Newark City Council. He lost by 50 votes.
"Bob knocked on more doors than I did that year," Blake said.
Unfazed, Blake took a different path, seeking appointment to a vacant seat in the Newark City School board in 2000 followed by a full term on the board that ended in 2005.
Then it was time for another change: After spending a decade in the Ohio Statehouse, Blake decided to pick up where he'd left off — at Denison University.
When a job opened in Denison's Information Technology department, he seized the opportunity, working second shift and taking classes during the day. Thanks to the university's free tuition for employees, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics and graduated in 2012, a nontraditional student with a passion for community service.
Around the same time, Blake celebrated another victory: the establishment of the South Newark Civic Association as a 501 (c)(3) organization.
Although the organization, at its roots, had existed long before it had a name, Blake was instrumental in securing its "official" status. From its beginnings as a block watch that expanded to neighborhood picnics and family gatherings and service projects, the group took on momentum as neighbors connected with one another and their community.
"Trying to get people to know who their neighbors are and having those parties that we used to have back in the day — just developing relationship," Blake said of the primary focus of the organization. "Wanting to get the community to know one another once again. That's really the purpose behind the South Newark Civic Association — wanting to bring people together and develop that sense of community."
In 2012, the organization partnered with Denison University on an oral history project that documented the stories of roughly 30 different families with roots in Newark's South End. The project was compiled into a series of posters that were displayed at Denison's William Howard Doane Library the following year; one of the posters now resides in Desirée Blake's living room, a piece of local history of which she is a proud part.
"That was probably one of the most popular projects," Jeremy said, "because people like to talk about their families; they like to talk about living in the community."
That community is what compelled Blake, a Newark City councilman since 2014, to enter the 2019 Newark mayoral race — a race for the job Blake refers to as "the city's biggest cheerleader."
"I think for a long time, just being mentored by Frank Stare and having relationships with local leaders, I knew I was going to run for mayor at some point," he said, "but this seemed to be the year to do it."
His opponent, Republican incumbent Jeff Hall, is seeking his third term as mayor.
Blake's time on the campaign trail has made him a firsthand witness of his community's challenges — homelessness, addiction, infrastructure — and has paved the way for a variety of conversations with concerned residents.
He has knocked on many doors; attended more than 20 church services of various faiths; run into citizens in restaurants and at community events and on the sidewalk.
He's listened to people talk about their family's battle with drug addiction; sought input from frustrated neighbors; given hugs to people who are having a bad day.
"That's been probably the biggest thing that really gets me through the day sometimes, when people just want a big hug," he said. "When people open up to you and tell you what's going on in their family and their lives — that's really where it's like, 'What is it that we can do to make this a better situation for you?'"
The response has been vastly positive and eye-opening, he said.
"The human connection is what I enjoy hearing and talking to people about," he said. "More times than anything, I'll just listen to people."
It's this sort of human connection that Blake hopes will carry him through to the mayor's office, where he aims to "be a mayor for all," he said.
"When I go around door to door, people are like, 'Hey, I know you — I know the things that you've done in the community," he said. "I just feel blessed. I just really do. (I'm) thanking the Lord every day for giving me some ability to give back. I feel like this a way I can make people's lives a little better."
Read or Share this story: https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/life/2019/09/22/south-ends-jeremy-blake-hopes-become-newarks-biggest-cheerleader/2366569001/