UPDATE: 03/05/2012 AT 5:37 PM
(Hear Healy "robocall" in his support in his head-to-head against state Representative Stephen Slesnick - recording is at the end of this update).
Since the SCPR published this blog earlier today, yours truly has gotten a number of contacts indicated that the letter published in Jim Holmes name in far from being limited to just his campaign against J. Fred Stergios in Perry's 13th precinct.
To The Report, that the practice is much more widespread than just the Holmes/Stergios situation is indication that the writer of the bogus "stock" letter of support is looking forward to future skirmishes in what the SCPR believes to be a battle for control of the Stark County Democratic Party (i.e. Healy and his core supporters versus Gonzalez and the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. loyalists) in terms of how central committee members are likely to line up.
Healy's big effort right now is to defeat Slesnick in their "locking horns" battle for Democratic State Committeeman (29th District). The Olson household received a robocall minutes ago from a Healy supporter (intended for wife Mary, a registered Democrat - yours truly is a non-partisan voter).
Yours truly's impression is that Mary is going to vote for Slesnick, apparently the robocall did not sway her. Maybe robocalls are not all that effective?
Here is the recording of the call:
ORIGINAL BLOG
Former long time Perry Township Trustee Jim Holmes is hopping mad about a letter sent out under his name which he says he never wrote asking for voter support in his quest to be 13th precinct committee person.
Holmes says that the only way he knew about the letter was that the person who wrote it made the mistake of sending it to his wife Sonia.
Holmes has been the committee person for Perry's 26th precinct but due to the fact that the Stark County Board of Elections has consolidated numerous precincts across Stark County in a cost savings move he and 15th precinct committee person J. Fred Stergios find themselves in the same precinct (the 13th) and pitted against one another in tomorrow's primary election.
Holmes tells the SCPR that he and Stergios have discussed the matter and that he has learned that Stergios in disliked by the Massillon based political machine of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and there is speculation that Maier and/or one of his political lieutenants is behind the letter in an effort to defeat Stergios.
As far as Holmes can determine, Stergios was not accorded the "privilege" of having a letter written and sent out on his behalf, which, of course makes sense since the letter writer has "apparently" sided up with Holmes.
Another interesting fact that Holmes shared with The Report is that he received notice from Democratic Party officials that his term as precinct committeeman was expiring and that he needed to refile if he wished to continue to serve. However, he says that he learned from Stergios that he had not received such a notice.
A possible alternative scenario is that the Holmes/Stergios face off is somehow perceived by either a William J. Healy, II political operative or Stark County Party Chair Randy Gonzalez political operative as favoring one or the other in terms of future votes by precinct committee persons on who serves as chair when it comes up again in two years (or earlier, if for some reason Gonzalez were to resign the chairmanship) or on voting for who gets appointed to a political office should an official resign, dies or is otherwise removed.
The SCPR doubts that it is the latter. More likely it is the former.
The Report continues to believe, despite denials by Healy and those close to Gonzalez, that over the longer term Healy is doing spade work in getting his political allies to run for precinct committee person so that Healy can maneuver into a position of being in control of the Stark Dems.
Anyone who knows Mayor Healy knows full well that anything that is in his path if not under his control is not something he can live with and he embarks on a mission to bring whatever the matter may be under his control.
It could be that the motivation is a combination of the two. If the conjecture that the Maier political machine is behind the letter, it might be designed to get at Stergios and the thinking might also be that there is no way Stergios would vote for the tightly linked Gonzalez/Maier political alliance if and when there is a contest with Healy and his friends down the road.
In any event, Holmes tells the SCPR that he intends to file a complaint (presumably with the Stark County Board of Elections - BOE and/or law enforcement authorities) with the expectation that the matter will be thoroughly investigated.
In generating the faux Holmes letter, did someone open up a political pandora box that might come back and bite?
Stay tuned!
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