In "Get to NEO a Leader" series, meet Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley

Back in March, Ideastream Public Media expanded its news coverage to 22 counties. Those counties  stretch across Northeast Ohio -- from Ashtabula and Trumbull in the east to Erie and Huron in the west. They include urban counties that touch Lake Erie like Lorain, Lake, and Cuyahoga, to more rural  counties like Holmes, Stark and Tuscarawas.

The area covers three million people. Last month, we started a series that will appear every few weeks here on the Sound of Ideas to introduce us to and better understand the communities that make up our listening area. It’s called “Get to N-E-O a Leader." We will  talk to mayors and city managers, in communities large and small, about the places they lead. We hope it helps connect and inform all of us   living across the region.

So far, we've spoken to Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan in Summit County, and Richmond Heights Mayor Kim Thomas, in Cuyahoga County.

Today, we're taking the series over to Lorain County, to talk to Mayor Jack Bradley, about Ohio's tenth largest city, Lorain. Mayor Bradley is also a longtime criminal defense lawyer.   

Later in the hour, living with a chronic mental illness is challenging. Often people with conditions such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder are also navigating the workplace, dealing with coworkers, bosses, and human resources staff who may not be trained in how to be inclusive of their condition.

There are a lot of Americans struggling with mental health in the workplace. More than 1 in 4 U.S. adults have reported feeling anxiety or depression in the last two weeks, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. That's a big uptick from the 11% reported in 2019.

We discuss a program at  John Carroll University that  introduce future managers and human resources leaders to people dealing with mental illness, to help create more inclusive workplaces.

For the last week, we've been highlighting the lives and careers of elders who are continuing to make an impact in the community. Crain's Cleveland Business last month named outstanding octogenarians in its annual Eight over 80 awards. We spoke to half of this year's class, and have been bringing you those conversations since last week on our show. Yesterday, we heard from 84-year-old Joseph "Flash" Gordon, who has been a car salesman for 50 years. Today, we'll meet our final honoree, 85-year-old Adele Ryan Malley, of Cleveland's iconic Malley's Chocolates.
 

• Jack Bradley, Mayor, City of Lorain
• Dr. Alison Dachner, Associate Professor of Management, John Carroll 
• Deena Nyer Mendlowitz, Creator & Host, Mental Illness & Friends 
• Adele Ryan Malley, Chairwoman Emeritus, Malley's Chocolates