By Rev. Donald L. Perryman, Ph.D.
The Truth Contributor
Politics should be about solutions, not just sides. – Sherrod Brown
Has the time arrived for a shake-up at City Hall?
With six at-large seats up for grabs on the Toledo City Council, the drama surrounding this year’s election indicates a high-stakes “cage match” between incumbents fighting to keep their seats and challengers looking to upend City Council’s current state of affairs.
Among the new challengers is Robert Pasker III, a local entrepreneur, real estate executive and mentor who brings a fresh perspective and direct challenge to the status quo.
With all the council incumbents running for re-election, will new voices like Parker’s break through, or will voters stick with familiar leadership?
In this week’s interview, Pasker makes his case for why Toledo needs change and how, as a political newcomer, he plans to challenge Toledo City Council’s entrenched political establishment.
Here is our discussion:
Perryman: Welcome, Mr. Pasker. Please tell our readers about your background and life experiences.
Pasker: I’m from Toledo, Ohio. I grew up out Hill Avenue. My mom and stepfather worked at the General Mills plant for 30+ years, so I grew up blue-collar and graduated from Central Catholic. My dad is a serial entrepreneur and a nurse, and he planted seeds of success, self-reliance and independence in me. He wanted me to control my fate, which contributed to my being an entrepreneur.
Perryman: Tell us about your experience as an entrepreneur.
Pasker: I started a business while in college, Entourage Productions, an entertainment production focused on hosting events and bringing people together. I took that down to Columbus, Ohio, where I got my degree in business administration from Franklin University in 2011.
I acquired Go Matcha Go, a tea company, in 2011. I sold green tea online, at coffee shops, independent distributors, and festivals. I looked to real estate to raise capital to scale my tea company and automate my supply chain. So, I put together a program to wholesale property in Columbus to raise about $10,000, which allowed the tea to go from the plantation to the packaging plant, to the warehouse and to the end client with the click of a button.
Perryman: I have read about your involvement in real estate in the Toledo area. Tell us more.
Pasker: My homeboy was the third generation in his grandmother’s real estate brokerage firm. Her name is Mary Lane, and she is a Black woman who got her real estate license in 1963. My homeboy told me instantly, “Rob, if you really want to be successful, you will get your real estate license because everybody becomes a potential client because everybody needs real estate.”
They are Realtists, members of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the oldest and largest black trade association. The Realtist’s focus is democracy in housing and building Black wealth primarily through homeownership and real estate.
So, I got my real estate license in 2014 and immediately moved back to Toledo. I established my own brokerage firm in 2017, and I established Pasker Real Estate at age 29. To this day, I’m still one of the youngest independent brokers in northwest Ohio. Only two other Black real estate brokers were in the entire region when I became a broker. So, establishing that independence, beyond that, is having agents trained on how to service people, pay attention to detail, be patient with the clientele and execute.
Perryman: What inspired you to run for Toledo City Council?
Pasker: I’ve always been passionate about serving my community. While I was building my business, I was also serving the community as a Realtist, the largest Black trade association, started in 1947, and who wrote legislation for the Fair Housing Act in 1968, the Fair Voting Rights Act in 1965, and the Community Reinvestment Act.
Toledo needed a Realist presence because when you look at wealth, specifically at the homeownership rate, most Americans’ net worth is in their homes. When I first looked in 2016, the white homeownership rate was 76 percent versus the Black homeownership rate, which was only 36 percent back then. So that colossal homeownership gap equated to a huge wealth gap, and that wealth gap computed to everything else: education gap, opportunity gap, quality of life gap, health gap, and others. So, when you look at Black people in Toledo, we need more wealth, and nobody’s gonna come bring it to us but us.
So, to answer your question, I’ve always been passionate about opening doors and elevating my community, and that’s what I’ve done for 10 years while I’ve been here. I believe that my seat on city council will put me in a position to open more doors for people, to help more families elevate and to bring more resources to the community, as well as be a voice to represent those who feel like they’re not necessarily listened to in Toledo.
Perryman: So how will your representation be different than what’s already present on council?
Pasker: I can tell you what I’m passionate about, and I can tell you about the work that I’ve done here in Toledo and the impact that I’ve had.
I took it upon myself to establish a Realtist chapter here in Toledo. I was the only at-large member for about four years before I could garner enough support to start a local board here in 2019. We started with 11 Realtists, and our local board has grown to over 75 members. We are the premier network of Black real estate professionals. We’re brokers, agents, lenders, inspectors, and title reps. We are also lawyers, insurance agents, and anybody with an interest in the real estate industry. We also do a lot of advocacy.
We brought to the table and advocated for legislation enacted in the State House, such as the Homebuyer Protection Act, which creates a new disclosure for sellers that says that they can’t discriminate for homebuyers based on their names or any other factors. We’ve built relationships with influential real estate organizations in the city, such as the Lucas County Land Bank, LMH, LISC and so on. Beyond that, we’ve helped our members build their brands, elevate their businesses and find new avenues to make money in the real estate industry.
Perryman: How do you plan to support local small businesses, given that you’ve successfully built businesses and mentored others in financial literacy?
Pasker: The City does a good job. They had a diversity initiative for contractors, but initiatives like that I want to see more of and sustain those that open the door to educate local entrepreneurs on doing business with the government as well as supporting them through potential grants and low-interest loans to help them over the hump.
Perryman: What are your thoughts on the current state of public safety in Toledo?
Pasker: Toledo is no different than any other major city. There’s crime everywhere, but what I want to see more of is community engagement between the police and the community. I’d like to see more community policing, public forums and more communication to enable police officers to build relationships with the communities they serve.
Perryman: What role do you believe city council should play in supporting education and career pathways for young folks?
Pasker: I believe that Toledo Public Schools and Dr. [Romules] Durant have done a great job of vocational training and providing options for the students to make money directly out of high school and obtain college credit within high schools. I know that Dr. Durant is working to revitalize and develop the Scott Park Campus, so what can the city do that is a win-win situation for Toledo Public Schools and the Scott Park neighborhood? Toledo should continue supporting Toledo Public Schools as long as it makes sense.
Also, I would like to see Toledo continue to support summer youth programming. I haven’t seen anything like it in any other city, and idle hands are the devil’s workshop. If we want to reduce crime, the City of Toledo should increase funding to give our youth things to do, specifically in the summer and after school.
Perryman: What investments should Toledo prioritize in their infrastructure and community services to improve the quality of life for its residents?
Pasker: I would like to see neighborhood roads prioritized. I know a lot of side streets that have potholes and other damage. Even on my street, Broadway, there’s a sinkhole in my neighbor’s driveway. Putting more money on side streets that may not be main roads but people still must pass through every day.
Perryman: What key issues do you believe need immediate attention in Toledo, and how would you address them?
Pasker: With inflation going up, the cost of living going up, rent going up and wages staying the same, people are starting to struggle in ways that they haven’t struggled before, and with housing being the largest expense for most people, we have to find a way that we can ease some of that pressure. The best way to ease some of that pressure is to create more supply. It can’t be addressed overnight, but we must find a way to start building affordable homes, especially in neighborhoods with these vacant lots. With the land bank owning so much property in areas like Junction, how can we mobilize that land to create affordable homes, especially for first-time homebuyers? That’s a big thing for me.
Perryman: What message do you want voters to remember about you and your campaign?
Pasker: My campaign is about building stronger communities together because no person can exist on an island. My goal is to create more opportunities, bring more resources to the community, and put more people in a position to elevate their lives.
Perryman: How can residents contact you to discuss issues that might matter to them?
Pasker: People can contact me at paskerfortoledo.com to learn more, leave feedback, volunteer, donate, or become involved with the campaign.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, PhD, at drdlperryman@enterofhopebaptist.org