ARE THE STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS LISTENING?

Local attorney and community activist Craig T. Conley on March 16, 2010 "hand-delivered" to each of the Stark County commissioners (Bosley, Ferguson and Meeks) a letter asking that they "put pressure" (the SCPR's interpretation) on Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson to reduce his per capita cost in the remuneration of sheriff's deputies (salary and benefits) as a way to help Stark County out of its looming financial crisis.

Here is an excerpt from the Conley letter:

In a SCPR conversation with Conley earlier this morning, Conley tells The Report that he hasn't heard a thing from the commissioners in response.

Craig Conley serves on the recently appointed Stark Citizen Review Committeel which met last Friday (the SCPR was out-of-town and could not attend the meeting, but plans on attending future meetings).  It is becoming apparent to the SCPR that Conley will ask the hard questions that many Stark Countians want asked of the likes of Tim Swanson (sheriff), Rick Campbell (recorder), Kim Perez (auditor), Zeigler (treasurer), and their colleagues who feed at the trough of Stark County taxpayer money.

Conley tells The Report that he faxed a copy of his letter to The Repository on March 16th.

No response from Stark County's only countywide newspaper of record.  Interesting, no?

Well, readers of the SCPR can rest assured that The Report will report on and do political analysis on the Conley entreaty and will closely monitor the work of the citizen review effort.

The SCPR supports Conley's prod of commissioners and Swanson to take a look at county employee per capita costs.  One of the things that public officials say, quite appropriately in the view of the SCPR, is that when America goes to war, everyone should share in the sacrifice.  By analogy, so should public employees in terms of their remuneration when the taxpaying public is struggling to get from day-to-day in the worst economy that the United States has experienced in many, many of a year.

Conley tells the SCPR that the median income at the Stark County sheriff's department is about $75,000 (including fringe benefits) whereas the median income of the average Stark County taxpayer is about $26,000 (many of whom have no fringe benefits).

Conley's question to the commissioners/sheriff is one that needs to be addressed.

Are the commissioners going to listen and address the matter or are they merely going to turn a deaf ear and try to scare (letting prisoners loose) Stark County taxpayers into supporting a new or renewal of a levy?