DISCUSSION: SEQUEL #1, JACK DESARIO - "THE LITTLE POLITICAL GODFATHER OF STARK CO.," "STARK COUNTY'S POLITICAL OCTOPUS," AND "THE COMMON THREAD?"

Yesterday, the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) did an introductory piece on the political comings and goings of Mount Union political science professor and political consultant (D&R Consultants) Jack DeSario in the Stark County political world.

It is common for The Report to have additional sources come forward once a piece has been published. Already this has occurred in the Jack DeSario matter.

Chuck Osborne who served formerly on North Canton City Council and ran for mayor in 2003 against incumbent mayor Tom Rice (a DeSario political consulting client) came forward to connect DeSario with Republican Rice and the Cleveland law firm of Johnson (principal Gary Johnson) & Angelo and North Canton hiring Johnson to do its labor negotiations.

Sound familiar?

While The Report has been unable to turn up any direct evidence linking DeSario to the hire, even though he was a key player in the Healy mayoralty campaign; it arouses one's curiosity that recently Democrat Mayor William J. Healy, II accepted a bid by Gary Johnson to do some labor negotiations for the city of Canton.

Healy, "in the spirit of full accountability," asked Attorney Johnson to fashion his bid at the price of $14,999 so that the mayor did not have to get council approval. Formerly, Canton has used the Canton Law Department to do the negotiations.

Back to the North Canton situation.

After Democrat Osborne lost the mayoralty contest to Republican Rice, Osborne filed a complaint with the then Canton City Prosecutor Frank Forchione (now a Stark County Court of Common Pleas judge) about certain campaign conduct by then Mayor Rice.

The only part that The Report is going to deal with has to do with the involvement of Jack DeSario in the Rice campaign and the connections between DeSario and Rice which may have resulted in North Canton hiring Johnson (a law associate of DeSario at the time).

Today, The Report lays out the complaint involving Rice's relationship with DeSario and North Canton hiring lawyer Johnson.

Tomorrow, The Report lays out the results of Prosecutor Forchione's investigation.

The relevant portions of the complaint:

Tomorrow: Forchione's findings.