SO YA THINK WILLIAM J. HEALY, II IS SUCH A SMART POLITICIAN?

 UPDATE:  February 24, 2013 at 07.24 AM

Re:  Contact with Roland K. Burns, III

Yours truly has contacted council-at-large candidate Roland K. Burns, III and, among, other matters spoke to him as to whether or not he had be contacted by Healy administration/Joe Cole political forces about his withdrawing as a candidate after getting through the Democratic primary so that those forces could place Cole (assuming, of course, he withdraws from the 9th Ward race) could through its central committee apparatus (as provided for in Ohio statutory law) replace him as one of three Democratic candidates for Canton city council.

Burns response:  

He has not been contacted by Healy/Cole political forces.

And, if he had, he would not entertain any thought whatsoever about withdrawing.

For a blog likely sometime next week, the SCPR plans on putting together an "introduction to Roland K. Burns, III presentation which will include a SCPR analysis of where and how Burns will fit into the projected make up of the 2014 through 2015 Canton city council.

ORIGINAL BLOG (Revised)

Canton Councilwoman Mary Cirelli has a number of Canton Democratic politicians fuming these days.

The list?

Kim Perez, Joe Cole and his joined-at-the-hip supporter Dave Kirven (business agent for Local 94 of the Plumbers and Pipefitters) to name just a few.  And, oh yes, you can throw Canton mayor William J. Healy, II into the mix too.  And Healy worshiper Ryan Brahler, too.  And Healy suck up Jimmy Babcock, for another.

The Stark County Political Report has written quite a number of blogs about Canton's mayor Healy being an accomplished politician.

And he is in a certain sense of the word accomplished.

But he can make some pretty dumb moves too.

One of them, The Report thinks, might have been to take on and unseat Mary Cirelli from the Ohio House of Representatives back in 2004.

Call this "the pi??ing off Mary Cirelli move."

It is likely to result in a new Canton city council line up which is configured vote-wise 7 to 5 against Healy on key issues which come before council.

It could even go as low as 8 to 4, 9 to 3, 10 to 2? Who knows? But not a good thing for a guy who thinks he is Stark County's master politician.

Here is the background to the materialization of "the pi??ing of Mary Cirelli move:

This is what the SCPR wrote back on April 6, 2011:

Mary is not the most polished Stark County politico in terms of articulation skills and political sophistication, but most will tell you that she is a good-hearted and nobody advocates more for her causes and constituents than Mary.  She had gotten some negative press from The Rep's Paul Kostyu (the then Repository Columbus Bureau chief) for having been voted by the statehouse press in 2003 as the Ohio House's least effective member (the 52nd).

Healy jumped all over that designation and challenged Mary in the 2004 Democratic primary for the right to the representative for the 52nd.  While Republicans do run candidates in this Democratic stronghold; the 52nd is a "safe" Democratic district.

The SCPR has just learned (not from Mary herself) that in the Healy/Cirelli campaign (probably the last few months before the election), Healy hammered her for not attending Ohio House committee meetings.

What he did not tell voters - The Report is told - was that a member of Mary's family needed her full attention because of a critical care situation.

Anyone would be highly upset by such a tactic, no?  And probably would be an enemy for life, no?

Mary Cirelli, a nurse, was situationally and professionally and by her compassionate nature compelled to put first things first and attend to the family matter.

So there you have too very strong reasons as to why Mary likely could not wait for February 6, 2013 to arrive and the opportunity to work Healy and his political henchmen over.

And did she do it!

Well, by 2006, despite the 2004 setback, she was back.  And guess who was elected mayor the very same year?  Of course, William J. Healy, II.

Healy only lasted two years in the House.  William J. Healy, II:  1 of 99.  What a laugh for a guy who has to be center stage at all times, no?

So was it worth it to incur the wrath of Mary Cirelli?

He could have run against Republican Janet Creighton anyway in 2006.  Does anyone believe that he defeated her because of his undistinguished two years in the Ohio House?

No, the truth of the matter is that his timing could not have been better.

His election was probably owing to his father having been a long time Canton politician translated:

• he won, in part, on the name Healy, 
• he won, in part, on the fact that Canton has a 9 to 1 Democratic registration advantage and 
• he won, in part, because Creighton had inherited a city in decline (thanks to her predecessor and fellow Republican Richard Watkins) and four years was simply not enough to get a turnaround going

But anyhow, he did succeed in creating a political enemy in Mary Cirelli that plagues him to this very day.

At last council meeting Healy lashed out at Cirelli in a fiery exchange in which the mayor could not suppress his outrage at being dogged with Cirelli question after question after question in the given topic.

However, the big news was the political wizardry that Cirelli pulled off in luring Councilman Joe Cole into abandoning his at-large seat for an run at incumbent 9th Ward Councilman Frank Morris (which the SCPR thinks Cole cannot win).

In order to get the full flavor of how Cirelli made Cole, Kirven, Perez and, likely Healy, the laughing stock of the Canton/Stark County political world; you absolutely have to click on this LINK and read the particulars of how Cirelli hoodwinked Cole into abandoning his council-at-large post.

The Cirelli political gyrations which fooled Cole and friends are right up there with the SCPR's Phil Davision video (in which he shows how to be an "over-the-top" Republican and which went viral on the Internet and part of which appeared in this year's Super Bowl) in terms of being ONE HUGE LAUGH!

Even Stark Dems chairman and SCPR political friend extraordinaire Randy Gonzalez got a hoot out of The Report's blog, so yours truly is told.

Consequently, Perez, Cole, Healy and their political allies (e.g. Jimmy Babcock and political wannabe [and Babcock cousin] Ryan Brahler) are smarting.

First of all they (Cole et al) are blaming former and to soon-to-be again Councilman Bill Smuckler for being behind the Cirelli wizardry.  Smuckler denies that such was the case.

They simply refuse to accept the reality that Cirelli proved to be much smarter than any of them and all of them together.

Second, it seems that Cole and friends are scrambling to get a Healy supporter in position to get back on council notwithstanding that the Healy political gaggle on council appear to be losing Cole himself.

For in being finessed out of the council-at-large race by Cirelli, Cole provided an failsafe election to political newcomer Roland K. Burns, III.

The Report hears that he is an avowed Healy political enemy.

One gambit for the Healyites' recovery seems to be to have Brahler (currently an elected Canton Board of Education member, believe or not) to declare himself not to be a Democrat any longer and run as an independent/non-partisan for council-at-large.

Here is a copy of a Facebook post by Brahler (February 13th):

"Breaking News: Today I making two major announcements, first I will be leaving the Democratic Party.

I am leaving the party so I can run as an independent "Non-Party" candidate in the Canton City Council At Large Race this November.

Mind you this was a very difficult decision to make, but after reviewing all of the information and hearing from a number of concerned citizens, this is the best decision for me and citizens of Canton.

The Democratic Party has failed to provide a quality field of candidates in the Council At Large race and as a result the citizens of Canton could suffer.

It's time to act in the best interests of people before party, I thank everyone for coming forward and encouring [sic] me to do this and with your support we can make history and send a "Non-Party" candidate to city hall. Ryan A. Brahler for Canton City Council At-Large!!"

The SCPR is told that a BOE official is saying that "no non-partisan/independent candidate" that has a BOE identity as either being a registered (by virtue of voting in partisan primaries) Democrat or Republican will be permitted to be on the November ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.

So forget that gambit, no?

Another gambit being talked about, according to a SCPR source, by Cole and friends is to talk Burns into withdrawing from the council-at-large race after he becomes the Democratic Party nominee in the May elections and thereby provide an avenue by Ohio law for Dems to get Cole back on the at-large ballot come November.

The Report is highly skeptical of the source's account.  Why would an avowed Healy political enemy be willing to give the mayor's supporters the time of day on such discussions?

"The political goof balls of the year" gave him a "free ride" into a councilmanic seat and he's going to bargain it away? Hardly.

3513.31 Withdrawal, disqualification, or death of candidate prior to general election.

(E) If a person nominated in a primary election as a party candidate for election at the next general election, whose candidacy is to be submitted to the electors of a subdivision within a county, withdraws as that candidate or is disqualified as that candidate under section 3513.052 of the Revised Code, the vacancy in the party nomination so created may be filled by a subdivision committee consisting of those members of the county central committee or ... .

The SCPR has tried to contact Burns to asked him whether or not The Report's source is correct that such a deal is being talked.  But as of the publication of this blog, he has not returned the call.

So it will be interesting to see if the pro-Healy-forces can recover from getting outsmarted by Mary Cirelli.

It appears to the SCPR that Humpty-Dumpty is indeed broken and all of the King's (Healy) and the King's horses (Cole et al) cannot put Humpty back together again.

And the real kicker is:  Mary Cireilli becomes Canton city treasurer (hear the "wailing and gnashing of teeth by Kim Perez) and rides off in the political sunset.

William J. Healy, II wasn't so smart after all, no?