WILL LARRY DORDEA END UP BEING THE ONLY "QUALIFIED" CANDIDATE FOR STARK COUNTY SHERIFF?

UPDATED AT 11:00 AM

It could be that Hartville (former Alliance) police chief Larry Dordea ends up being the only "qualified" (according to ORC 311.01) running for Stark County sheriff.

But even if he is not, he stands a very good chance to be the next "top cop" for Stark County.

He tells the Stark County Political Report that he figures that Republican Governor John Kasich being on the ballot this November and being the odds on favorite to win reelection bodes well for "down-ballot" candidates like himself.

While the SCPR agrees that Kasich will help, Dordea himself has very high name ID with Stark County voters having run in 2008 against Democrat Tim Swanson and in 2012 against Democrat Mike McDonald in losing but relatively close races.

In Alliance he is a household law enforcement name having been police chief for some 9 years.  Moreover, he has been a winning at-large candidate (twice) and thereby figures to run at a huge advantage in the Carnation city come November.

He is also well known in Lake Township where he has served as police chief of Hartville for several years.  While not holding an elective office in Lake, his notoriety as police chief in this predominantly Republican Stark County township puts him in good shape for the upcoming general election.

Another plus for Dordea is that he is not going to be relying on Jackson Township trustee Jamie Walters to be "his main man" in running the campaign.

The SCPR thinks his working with Walters as one of his top campaign guys was a major mistake.

One can't fault his thinking in that he felt he needed someone from western Stark County inasmuch as Dordea is not well known in that part of Stark County.

So it will be interesting to see whom he gets to carry "the Dordea banner" in the area dotted with Canal Fulton, Massillon, Perry Township, Jackson Township, Tuscarawas Township and Sugarcreek Township.

While he may not carry this part of the county (especially if George Maier ends up as the Dem's candidate), he needs to keep the numbers respectable.

Also a big bonus for Dordea could be getting "heavy hitter Stark County Republicans" coming out in force for him in November.

The graphic above is dotted with well-known Stark County Republican names (signing his candidacy petitions) like:

• Timken (Jane Timken of the Stark County's industrial pride and joy:  The Timken Company family),
• Schuring (Kirk Schuring, a longtime Stark County Ohio General Assembly member in the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives [currently the 48th House District),
• Snitchler (Todd Snitcher, currently PUCO chairman [not standing for reappointment] who served as state representative in the 50th Ohio House District 2009 through early 2011),
• Creighton (Janet Creighton, currently Stark County commissioner and formerly mayor of Canton, Stark County auditor and Stark County recorder and probably Stark County's most powerful Republican),
• Zumbar (Ales Zumbar [serving as Dordea's campaign treasurer] who is Stark County treasurer),
• Andreani (Alan Andreani, current mayor of Alliance),
• Currie (Richard Currie, current mayor of Hartville),
• Middleton (Toni Middleton, former mayor of Alliance),
• Halter (Nancy Halter, Massillon's foremost Republican councilperson),
• Haws (Scott Haws, Plain Township trustee [one of Stark's largest townships]),
• Park (Dixie Park, Stark County Probate Court judge),
• Hall (Rosemarie Hall, Stark County Family Court judge)

And, of course, there are many other prominent Republicans signing Dordea's pettition.

Here is the entire list:

Here also is the entire "press release" issued recently by the Dordea campaign:

PRESS RELEASE START

Stating that it’s time to end the political circus currently clouding the office of Stark County Sheriff and have a qualified person serving and protecting the people of Stark County, Hartville Police Chief Larry Dordea stepped forward and announced his candidacy today for the office of Stark County Sheriff. Dordea stated that the issue of fighting crime and protecting the Stark County citizens is far too important for it to have become a three-ring circus that has resulted in the loss of trust. “It’s truly an issue of qualifications,” stated Dordea, “and I’m proud of my record of more than 35 years in law enforcement.”

Dordea, a Stark County native and graduate of Alliance High School is the only potential candidate for sheriff who has graduated from the FBI National Academy. Aggressively pursuing violent crime, gangs & drugs; increasing road patrols; creating a detective bureau; and working closely with all criminal justice agencies to investigate and solve crimes remain at the top of Dordea’s list of goals for the office of sheriff. Serving as sheriff, he states that he will focus on the training and development of personnel, including reserve deputies; review and revamp policies and procedures to insure that we follow a best practices model; study each job and function with the goal of modernization, improved services and efficient management; and utilize more deputies and fewer supervisors.

Dordea’s list of impressive accomplishments includes the following:
• More than 35 years in professional law enforcement
• More than 13 years as police chief in Alliance and Hartville
• Under Dordea’s leadership violent crime in Alliance was reduced by more than 50%
• FBI National Academy Graduate

Wanting to move the office of Sheriff beyond the circus-like atmosphere of late, Dordea encourages citizens to talk to people who know him best, people he has previously worked for in his role of law enforcement. Those people include: Richard Currie, Mayor of Hartville or Ed Tucker, former Mayor of Hartville or Alan Andreani, Mayor of Alliance or Toni Middleton, former Mayor of Alliance. Their candid responses and the amount of respect that they each have for Larry will have nothing to do with politics. Dordea has proven to them and to many others that he understands leadership and what it takes to deliver a very high level of professional service while being very conservative with the budgets he has worked with.

Working with Dordea on his campaign are Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar serving as campaign treasurer and Alliance City Auditor Kevin Knowles serving as deputy treasurer. Also on the campaign committee are Pat and John Fehlman serving as Central Stark County Campaign co-chairpersons and communications directors.
Dordea is married to Deanna, an MRI supervisor, and is the father of four children, Chris age 33, Jillian age 31, Adam age 29, and Alex age 20 and the grandfather of one grandchild, Lincoln age 4 months. The Dordeas reside in Alliance.

Active in the community, Dordea is a lifelong Member of St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church in Alliance and is currently serving in his fourth year as Parish Council president. In addition to his involvement in numerous clubs and organizations, he is a past president of the board of the Alliance of Children and Families, the president of the Stark County Chief’s Association, as well as a past president of the Stark County Community Mental Health Board.

Anyone interested in serving on the Dordea for Sheriff Campaign is encouraged to contact Dordea at 330-206-8491 – cell or ldordea@yahoo.com – email. 

PRESS RELEASE END

It hard to say who Dordea's opponent will be in November.

Of course, the leadership of the Stark County Democratic Party thinks it is going to be Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee "appointed" sheriff George T. Maier.

It could be, but the SCPR thinks that the odds are against his surviving challenges to his candidacy at the Stark County Board of Elections level.  Beyond that he has to deal with a second quo warranto which is to be filed some time this week.

One wonders whether the two lawyers on the BOE (Cline [the Republicans]), (Ferruccio {the Democrats]) have looked at Shumate v. Portage County as they approach February 17th and the BOE candidate certification date?

Better yet, maybe the BOE ought to be getting guidance/advice from the Stark County prosecutor's office, no?

Maier was ousted by the Ohio Supreme Court on November 6, 2013 in Swanson v. Maier, quo warranto.

If the Democrats under the leadership of Randy Gonzalez continue to "stumble and bumble" around, it could be:

Republican Larry Dordea running "unopposed."

Wow!