LOUIS GIAVASIS AS PLAIN TRUSTEE LED THROWING COUNTY COMMISSIONERS "UNDER THE BUS" EFFORT?

IMPRESSIVE!

THOUGH THEY DID NOTHING WRONG

COMMISSIONERS CREIGHTON & REGULA APOLOGIZE TO STARK COUNTIANS

FOR BEING HOODWINKED? BY

PLAIN TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES

VIDEOS

Commissioner Janet Creighton

Scorches Plain Township trustees

==========================

County Administration Brant Luther

on the Background of the Controversy

First, watch this video of Stark County commissioner Janet Creighton (president of the Board of Stark County Board of Commissioners) as she fires out—at yesterday's commissioners' meeting—at the Plain Township trustees:



An intriguing local government relationship gone wrong story emerged from yesterday's Stark County commissioners' regular weekly meeting yesterday.

It appears that an ill-prepared (in terms of knowing their Plain Township constituency) Plain Township Board of Trustees promoted a cause a couple of years ago whereby the commissioners:

• vacated a Plain Township roadway,
• only to have to "unvacate" it a few months later,

And to add insult to injury, agree to pay the owners of the vacated roadway real estate (title to vacated roadways by Ohio law reverts to the abutting owners) for $15,367.00 in your money and my money (i.e. taxpayer money) in total in acquisition of title fees for Stark County government to reacquire the roadway space so as to restore a public right-of-way.

Here is the resolution voted upon by commissioners yesterday:

And, of course, there is the loss of opportunity costs in county employees/officials having to forego working on other taxpayer enhancing projects while holding their collective noses in spending many hours in working the road vacation/unvacation matter that could have been avoided had the Plain Township trustees been better informed about the total picture of the sentiments of residents living in the area of the roadway.

Even at that, Stark County assistant prosecutor Stephan Babik had the unhappy task to report to commissioners that there was resistance on the part of at one of the owners on the terms of the reacquisition.

One could readily see the faces of Commissioners Janet Creighton and Richard Regula redden as the as discussion of the above resolution unfolded.

Watch Chief County Administrator Brant Luther layout for the SCPR the background of how this matter unfolded:  (Note:  video includes repeat of Creighton indignation with Regula comments added)

(SCPR Note:  Tom Bernabei, now mayor of Canton, was a county commissioner for much of  the timeline in which this story developed)

Now go to the Plain Township website at this LINK and watch beginning at the 34:25 minute mark of a  video of the June as Plain Township law director Eric Williams initiates (at 37:57)  a discussion in which it becomes clear to the SCPR that the Plain trustees are bailing out of any responsibility for the goof up and in effect throwing the Stark County commissioners "under-the-bus," all at county taxpayer expense.

And who is the de facto in not the de jure leader of the Plain Township trustees.

None other than currently appointed by the Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee (July 25, 2015) to be county clerk of courts Louis Giavasis:   brother of Stark County Democratic Party chairman Phil Giavasis.

Giavasis is standing for election to be "retained" as clerk of courts this November.

Giavasis served many years as a Plain Township trustee and has to know the various resident interests in the township like the back of his own hand.

While he was not at the June 23rd meeting, The Report believes he had to have had a "heads up" from Williams and therefore knew about the citizen's complaint and has stood mute about it and thereby acquiescing in if not participating—pre meeting—in the formulation of the Williams presentation.

Also serving as trustees then and now are Democrat Al Leno who works for Giavasis in the clerk of courts office and Republican Scott Haws.

But there is no doubt about it, Giavasis is the guy the SCPR thinks completely dropped the ball on the matter and stood by as Williams seems to blame the commissioners for the entire fiasco.

As county clerk of courts, Giavasis at least through December 31st will having dealings with the commissioners.  Being the type of persons they are, Creighton and Regula will be civil to Giavasis if not friendly for appearances sake.  

But there is no doubt that they are completely ticked off they are on how the Plain Township Giavasis led trustees handled the matter and then sought through Williams to exonerate themselves.

Over the years of writing the SCPR, I have learned how utterly political Louis Giavasis is in promoting a certain image about himself of openness, transparency and only mildly political and the like that I do not think is an accurate picture of the man as a public official/figure.

The SCPR has written a number of blogs on his political wheelin' and dealin' that as far as The Report is concerned is not the kind of profile that Stark Countians should want in a political subdivision official.

One shutters to think how the political factor plays into his management of the Stark County clerk of courts.

His skill in leaving his fingerprints off politically inspired actions is at a high level.  

For a time the SCPR was buying into the Giavasis projected political innocence.  But no more.  The cat is clearly out-of-the-bag on a man whom The Report sees as being among top rungs of the most self-serving politicos of Stark County.

Only the SCPR among Stark County media sees the abiding political agenda of Louis Giavasis.

However, there are others.

Just ask Lawrence Township trustee Mike Stevens and Stark County judicial candidate Angela Walls Alexander (Canton Municipal Court candidate, Democratic primary election, 2015) about their experiences with the politician Louis Giavasis.

The commissioners have gotten a taste of politico Louis Giavasis.

Who is next?