Whew! That was close. Had it not been for independent Stephen Todd (who peeled off Republican votes), the SCPR believes that Jackson Township Trustee James N. "Jamie" Walters would have been elected over long time Democratic political fixture Tom Bernabei.
Why "whew!"?
The SCPR sees Jamie Walters as being an imperial person who would have reeked havoc on Stark County government had he been elected. Now that he has gotten his feet wet as a government official as a Jackson trustee, he appears to understand more and more how an elected official - if of that bent - can go on a bullying campaign and thereby achieve more of his personal agenda than the office he holds promises to yield.
The quintessential imperial in all of Stark County is Mayor William J. ("Jamie" Healy, II of Canton. And we all know the misery his egotistic ways have brought to Canton government.
But he is not the only one. And, perhaps, there is something about the nickname "Jamie" that signals ego problems.
One of the specialties of the SCPR is to identify the imperials and alert the Stark County public to the identity of these folks.
One of the telltale signs of political imperiality is that more times than not the practicioners of imperialness refuse to talk to media types who dare to criticize their political manner or any of their pet programs or - heavens forbid - their character fitness to hold public office.
The Report had one such run-in with "Jamie" Walters during his campaign to succeed to Tom Harmon's term as county commissioner.
Walters put out campaign literature which the SCPR thinks was a rather blatant falsehood about Tom Bernbei's intention regarding an increase of the county sales tax.
As we all know, it is the death knell of Stark County politics for any politician to run in favor of increasing taxes. The only exception that the SCPR knows about is when Republican John Dougherty ran a number years ago when Stark County was in a similar fiscal crisis (however, not nearly as bad) as the county faces going into 2011 and 2012. Dougherty's message was very simple: "don't vote for me Stark Countians, if you don't vote for the sales tax issue that is on the ballot." (paraphrase)
It worked for Dougherty one time. He wasn't about to try it a second time.
Lame duck Commissioner Todd Bosley (losing to incumbent Republican state Rep. Todd Snitchler 61% to 39%) is a testament to the "mess with the county sales tax at your own political peril" sentiment that permeates Stark County.
Knowing this full well, it appears to The Report that at the very least Walters distorted and played loose with the truth on Bernbei's call to put the 0.25 sales tax RENEWAL on the ballot in May, 2011 or perhaps engaged an outright falsehood in representing that Bernabei was in favor of increasing the county sales tax.
On the publication of that blog, Walters telephoned yours truly to deliver a bombast of "don't question my character!"
As readers of the SCPR know, yours truly is exactly the wrong person in all of Stark County to deliver that message to.
As is characteristic of ego mantic types is that one, even one with the strength of personality that yours truly has; is hard pressed to edge in one word of response. Such seems to be the case with Walters.
Implicit in Walters' telephone message to the SCPR was this: "unless you write in a manner I agree with and approve of, I will not answer your questions and I will not talk with you."
Here is an email from Walters which is a clearer expression of his imperial ways.
Kind of a strange message from a person who, had he been elected, would have been my representative in Stark County government.
Obviously, Walters does not fully respect the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and, apparently, he and he alone will define what free speech is and what it is not and he and he alone will mete out the punishment for what he deems to be offenses even if it means violation the public trust to represent the interest of "all" of Stark County's citizens, whether they agree with him or not.
But Walters does respect the right of free speech of corporations to spend whatever money they wish to influence the outcomes of elections. In his League of Women Voters forum session with Bernabei and Todd, curiously enough a question came up about the famous Citizens United case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 21, 2010 which essentially held that government cannot control what corporations spend on election ads.
Walters answered the question but failed to reveal to viewers (of a Canton City school television presentation of the forum and of the SCPR videos) was that he had received $2,500 from the Citizens United Political Victory Fund.
Another point. As can be seen in Walters' email to yours truly on November 1, he is now refusing to answering questions.
Question number one was on his apparent "inadvertent omission?" of his Citizens United connection and a second and others had to do with $10,000 of a total $17,500 raised in the pre-general campaign reporting cycle from a certain Charles Mifsud (a Columbus, Ohio attorney) and the FACT that 79% of his contributions during the reporting cycle came from out of Stark County.
But being the political bully he appears bent on being, Walters thinks he does not have to account to the Stark County public.
Clearly, Stark Countians have not heard the last of Jamie Walters.
For now, it appears that he will be fighting for his own political life next year as he has to defend his seat on the Jackson Township Board of Trustees. The Report believes that his opponent will be Steven Meeks (whose former Jackson Township trustee seat Walters holds). Should be an interesting race. But Meeks is much more of a political insider in Jackson than Walters and therefore is likely to wrestle his seat back.
In the meantime suffice it to say that Stark Countians did "dodge a bullet" in the defeat of James N. Walters' candidacy for Stark County commissioner.
Thanks for running independent Stephen Todd!!!
And readers of the SCPR can be assured of is that The Report will bring the facts out about all the would-be political bullies that dot the Stark County political landscape.
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