LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
Staff Writer
The mayor of Post Huron
stands as a role model, or
clean living.
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":„
4/10
1998
8
n Gerald "Ajax" Ackerman's
office, a wooden gavel is
perched delicately over a stack
of Harley Davidson decals. An
interesting juxtaposition, but apropos
. for the Port Huron mayor, who has
built a life on the principles of the
famous motorcycle club, Judaism and
addiction recovery.
The 41-year-old Jewish mayor had
a Conservative-Orthodox upbringing
and later went through behavioral
reform school, drug and alcohol
addiction, homelessness and soured
relationships to finally find happiness
and a job he loves.
Ackerman became mayor of the
37,000-person city last November, but
locals say his influence is vast, even
without the public office.
Morris Snider, a local entrepreneur
who ran McMorran Arena in Port
Huron for 30 years and worked at
Olympia Stadium in Detroit before
that, loves Ackerman.
"I think he's an aggressive mayor. I
think the city will benefit by the
vision he has, especially the youth,"
said Snider. "I knew him before he
became mayor. His popularity at the
polls only proves how people felt
about him before he became mayor.
He's helped a lot of people."
Reporters from near and far have
sniffed out Ackerman's story; seeing
them around, locals remark, "Oh,
another interview, Mayor?"
But Ackerman adamantly states
that "it's not about me; it's a message
about hope."
The 6-foot-2-inch mayor has a ZZ
Top-style frizzy beard, which hangs to
his chest, and his long, reddish-brown
hair dangles in a ponytail below his
shoulder blades.
"Port Huron has a very unique,
small-town flavor," said Ackerman.
"As a transplant, I am able to grab
hold of the real flavor of this commu-
nity. I notice the little things. If your
car breaks down out here, people stop
and ask if you need help or push you
to the side of the road."
At 18 months old, Ackerman was
adopted by Charles and Freda
Ackerman. At age 9, he moved with
his family to Oak Park, attended
Hebrew school at Beth Aaron and
Young Israel-Oak Park and became a
bar mitzvah at Ahavas Achim on
Seven Mile and Schaefer.
He describes his family as "domi-
nantly Conservative," and, growing up