VIDEOS
STARK CO. PROSECUTOR JOHN FERRERO
ON
MAIER SELECTION
AS
DEMS SHERIFF APPOINTEE
=====================================
CANTON COUNCILMAN ELECT BILL SMUCKLER
ON
MAIER SELECTION
AS
DEMS SHERIFF APPOINTEE
=====================================
GONZALEZ/STARK DEMS LEGAL COUNSEL
WARREN PRICE
ON
MAIER SELECTION
AS
DEMS SHERIFF APPOINTEE
ON
POSSIBLE HIRE BY MAIER
======================================
ATTORNEY STEVEN REISCH
ON
MAIER SELECTION
AS
DEMS SHERIFF APPOINTEE
One unknown factor is the prospect that interim sheriff (at least until Maier is sworn in again) Tim Swanson will be filing a "new" quo warranto in the coming days.
The last information that the SCPR has is that Swanson plans to file a new action given that his counsel Greg Beck is reportedly advising that he feels that the Ohio Supreme Court will bounce Maier from office once again.
The SCPR thinks that the Randy Gonzalez led Stark County "establishment" Democrats could have made a huge political mistake in excluding Swanson's (and Darrow's) legal counsel (Greg Beck) from presenting to the Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee a contrary point of view on whether or not George T. Maier is qualified to be Stark County sheriff. A perspective different than that of the Stark Dems' legal counsel; namely, Allen Schulman, Warren Price, Steve Okey and Michael Thompson.
But perhaps Swanson/Beck will be going forward no matter how badly they may feel that they were treated at Wednesday night's meeting at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church to select a successor to Sheriff-elect Mike McDonald.
McDonald could not take office as scheduled on January 7, 2013 due to an illness that proved to be terminal (February 22nd).
"Full-speed-ahead" appears to have been the conclusion of Gonzalez and his second-in-command Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., a former Stark County Democratic Party chairman (2003 - 2009). He is also the brother of George T. Maier.
For it seems to the SCPR that there was no evidence of reconciliation or easing of tension between the Maier supporters and the Darrow supporters at the conclusion of the Holy Trinity assembly.
Moreover, The Report thinks that unhappiness and divisions linger within the Stark Dems organization that runs deeper than the Maier/Swanson/Darrow conflict.
If the Stark County GOP can glom onto and exploit these divisions, then it might be that the Maier/Swanson/Darrow spat will provide an opportunity for the Republicans to win the sheriff's office in November.
However, there are a little over ten months for the Democrats to find a way to heal some of the wounds that have been opened in the McDonald succession fight.
One would think there is very little chance of that happening if there is another period of sitting and waiting to see whether or not the Ohio Supreme Court is going to oust George T. Maier once again.
Beyond the Democrats and their infighting is the answer to the question of how the general public is taking all this in.
While George Maier gets high marks for his "on-the-job" performance from most if not all Stark County law enforcement familiar with his modus operandi, will the political infighting - if it continues - give the Republicans the edge they need to sneak their candidate (likely to be Larry Dordea, former Alliance chief of police and now serving in the same capacity in Hartville) through the backdoor and into office in next fall's general election?
The SCPR's take on the political demographics of Stark County is that, if properly structured and run, a quality Democratic candidate should win in countywide races.
However, 2014 could turn out to be problematical for Democrats because of the statewide governor's race involving Republican John Kasich (running as an incumbent) and Democratic challenger Ed Fitzgerald.
The Fitzgerald campaign is currently bogged down because of tax arrears problems of his first chosen lieutenant governor running mate who, as a consequence of the press attention given to the tax issue, has decided to leave the ticket.
Troubles at that level of Ohio politics could make it very difficult for any countywide office-seeking Democrat (let alone one plagued with internal county party bickering) to win even if it is a "leans Democratic" county which the SCPR believes Stark is.
So the SCPR has started examining how the Maier/Swanson/Darrow fight might impact either Maier's or Darrow's chance to win next November.
It should be comforting to Maier (the candidate the SCPR thinks has the most concerns), if he ends up as the Dems' nominee, that it appears to the SCPR that he is not likely to lose support from among the 65 or so precinct committee persons who voted against his second appointment as sheriff on Wednesday night.
But if he gets bounced again by the Ohio Supreme Court, that could change. If a new quo warranto is filed and the high court takes another nine months before making a determination and that decision is to oust Maier again, it is hard to see how he overcomes that with voters across the county.
To be viable next November, he will have to win the Democratic primary in May (and the SCPR sees no problem with that given Darrow's lack of political skills) and trust that there is no Supreme Court ouster between May and November.
Of course, it was Gonzalez' and Johnnie A. Maier, Jr's call, but I think that the rude treatment that Swanson/Darrow and their attorney got Wednesday night at the hand of the the Stark County Dems leadership just might come back and bite George T. Maier in the "political rump" come November, 2014.
If a second Maier ouster occurs, not only will the dissident Stark Democrats surface once again, but the Republicans will be looking at ways to capitalize.
So The Report thinks that the establishment leadership should have been more conciliatory on Wednesday to Darrow's supporters and, even now, should be rushing to conciliate with Swanson before he goes off on another quo warranto mission.
But what does the SCPR know about politics anyway?
After Wednesday's vote, the SCPR talked with four of the participants; one a non-voting participant in order to begin collecting a sense of feelings are running.
JOHN FERRERO
This former Stark County Democratic Party chairman (1996 - 2003) and sitting Stark County prosecutor says that he thinks that the imbroglio over Maier's statutory disqualification has hurt the party. However, while not naming Maier, he said he would be supporting the Democratic candidate next November.
WILLIAM SMUCKLER
A well known city of Canton politician who knows Canton politics "like one knows the back of his hand" could be a huge help to whomever becomes the Dems' candidate for sheriff.
He has served many years in Canton City Council, has run for mayor and for Stark County commissioner.
WARREN PRICE
A member of the Gonzalez/Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee legal team, Price says that he thought that Wednesday's meeting went reasonably well.
The SCPR sees Price as a mediating person who should be utilized by party leaders to smooth out the currently ruffled political feathers.
Another issue that The Report brought up with Price was the document that came into the SCPR's hands from the sheriff's office showing that he was dickering with Maier during his first stint in sheriff for possible employment in the sheriff's administration either as a direct employee or a contract employee.
STEVEN REISCH
An attorney for 15 years and currently with the Stark County Public Defender's office, Reisch's was dismayed at the way Wednesday's meeting went. However, the SCPR did not get the impression that Reisch was about to bolt the party come next November.
It was interesting to see how critical Reisch was of Gonzalez/Stark Dems' legal counsel Steve Okey.
Could Reisch's critical evaluation of Okey signal that the man best suited to smooth things over within the party might be Warren Price?
No comments:
Post a Comment