It is the "establishment" versus "agents of change in the November 3rd elections for seats on Canal Fulton City Council.
On September 14th, the Canal Fulton Friends of the Library held a "get to know the candidates" night at The Chapel, a long term care facility located north and east of the canal boat city.
To fully understand the charges, the reactions and countercharges that are made by several of the candidates in the video which readers can see below, CLICK HERE to see the list of ten deficiencies in Canal Fulton government as generated by "the slate of four" who are running to effect change.
Although the SCPR believes that the "agents of change" are - separate and apart from their agenda - more talented in terms of the cognitive abilities than the incumbents running for re-election; if readers like how Canal Fulton has been governed, then the incumbents as a group are the candidates to vote for.
The only viable wild card in this race is Susan Mayberry. She worked in administration (non-elected) for a number of years and clearly knows the mechanics of governance. But she is a wild card.
How se?
At The Chapel, Mayberry talked and talked and talked about integrity. Integrity as a general quality that an officeholder should have and as a specific characteristic for those who sit on Canal Fulton City Council.
Who can argue with that? It would be like coming out against God, mother and country.
Mayberry might turn out to be a high quality legislator, but, then again, she may never get "enough facts" to be productive as a councilperson. Such was her excuse for have no specific agenda if she were to be elected.
Anyone voting for this woman would be taking a chance. She is vivacious and appears reasonably intelligent, but what is the "real" reason she has no thought-out legislative agenda?
Another candidate that makes the SCPR nervous is Ken Gabbard.
Gabbard is only one of two candidates (the other being Cihon) that got no film footage in the video that accompanies this blog.
The reason?
He had nothing at all to say about the substantive issues facing Canal Fulton. He told personal tales indicating that he is a "stable" person. Wow!
By his self-description, he made it clear that he doesn't have the capacity to say in 3 minutes what one can take 30 minutes to do. Obviously, a bright guy who has demonstrated in business that he is an accomplished person following the direction of others. He does not appear to have his own perspective.
In the judgment of the SCPR, on Council, he will likely follow the lead of either Bagocious, Buwala or Mouse. Gabbard is clearly the "weak link" on the "slate of four."
Like Ken Gabbard, Nellie Cihon got no video time.
Why?
Because all she wanted to talk about was a trip she had made with a group that included the moderator of the candidates night, her granddaughter winning her volleyball match the day of the candidates night and other similar material.
She did obliquely make it clear she was offended the list of 10 Canal Fulton deficiencies put together by Eric Buwala, but she didn't grab anyone item off the list and respond like City Councilwoman Linda Zahirsky did.
The SCPR will not ask readers to take their precious time to what film that is not responsive/relevant to the discussion being held.
The Stark County Political Report does believe that Canal Fulton needs to take a fresh look at local governance and therefore recommends the "slate of four" with the exception that voters might want to replace Gabbard with Mayberry.
She could serve as a "swing" vote, if she can ever get her facts together. The SCPR suspects she is "really" a better replacement for one of the incumbents because of her years connecting with them as a non-elected city administrator.
A concern that voters might have with the "slate of four" is whether or not they will fall into fighting among themselves.
Bagoucis, Buwala and Mouse are strong individual personalities. Can they really work together to bring well-thought out and positive change to Canal Fulton.
The SCPR thinks so, but recognizes that it if The Report is wrong; then turbulence will be the order of things in Canal Fulton.
Canal Fulton stands at the crossroads of its future. Citizens need to pay very close attention to these candidates and diligently attempt to "rightly divide" in coming to a conclusion as who to vote for.
Here is the SCPR edited video (the actual presentation of which went way too long to put the entire session on this blog) to help Canal Fulton voters make a wise choice.
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