(VIDEO) HEALY DEFINES "ZERO TOLERANCE," OR DOES HE?

 UPDATED AT 11:00 AM

Mayor William J. Healy, II appeared to answer critics last night (at Canton City Council meeting for June 6, 2011)  who have been chiding the mayor for nearly four years now over his repeated used of the expression "zero tolerance" as it relates to the existence of crime in the city of Canton.

See this video.



Who could quarrel with Healy's definition?

In a denotative sense, no one!

However, in a political sense, everybody should be.

This whole exercise by Mayor Healy validates the point that the SCPR has been making for years now.  William J. Healy, II is an absolute master when it comes to making political use out of expressions like:  "zero tolerance."

That he would make the suppression of crime a political issue is in and of itself an outrage. 

In his 2007 campaign against incumbent Republican mayor Janet Creighton, Healy's use of the expression may have been the main reason why he won.  The political implication of his use of the statement was to "suggest" that Creighton had been "soft on crime."

Of course, he knew better.  As he explained last night, there are lots of reasons why crime cannot be eradicated.  And they are not generally that this public official or that public official favors crime.  No!  Nobody favors crime.  Not even criminals themselves on their turf - NIMBY ("not in my backyard").

The SCPR would like to be empathetic with Mayor Healy, but knowing how he uses and manipulates statistics, situations, other public officials, the media et cetera; it would be a journalistic disservice to the Canton community to do so. 

If and when (don't hold your breath), Healy squares up with his self-serving ways and how his pursuing of a "make me personally look good and impressive" is wrecking not only Canton but also threatens all of Stark County (e.g. his pursuit of 9-1-1 central dispatching and his desire to be in charge of whatever consolidation of city/county/township are to be done), then The Report will be into looking for factors "other than politics" as an explanation for his public office holding behavior. 

William J. Healy, II, being the consummate politician he is, is draining Canton of most of a substantial credibility generations of Cantonians have built up over a couple of hundred years.  Canton has a proud history and life as a vibrant, major Ohio center of business of commerce. 

Now that he is getting "hoisted by his own petard" and the "'political' chickens" are coming home to roost," Healy is appealing for a generic use and definition of zero tolerance.

Cantonians should not allow Mayor Healy to escape the political consequences of his made political what never should have been political in the first place.

It is very likely that Healy will be re-elected.  The most Cantonians can hope for is that he will have a "born again" experience and Cantonians and Stark Countians can once again believe in the miraculous!