It is an overstatement to term the exchange between Commissioners Bosley and Meeks as being a "cat fight," right now, but acrimony could takeover in the relationship between the two over time and make "cat fight" an apt description.
When Meeks talks about Bosley's "style," the SCPR believes he is reflecting on conversations he has had with Stark County Democratic Party leaders in recent times.
Bosley is a maverick Democrat who charts his own course and is not beholden to the likes of Stark County Democratic Party chairman Randy Gonzalez, former chairman Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. and political director Shane Jackson.
It is likely that the "party brass" are holding their collective breaths hoping that Bosley opts to become more Columbus centered by taking up Ohio Speaker of the House Armond Budish's strong wish that he take on Republican Todd Snitchler (Lake) in the race to be the 50th district Ohio House representative.
For if Bosley vacates his commissioner's seat, then the SCPR believes Meeks will decide to take out petitions to run for the Bosley seat so that, if elected, he will be in office until 2014.
As it stands now, Meeks, if he is "retained" by the voters; will have to stand for re-election in 2012. Well, the timing for re-election could not be worse. The economy will not have recovered and Stark County finances will be in the toliet for 2011 and 2012 and Meeks will have to face a lot of unhappy voters who have been subjected to huge cuts in county services.
If Bosley stays and survives in this November's election, the SCPR believes that the political undertow in the commissioners' officer will engulf both Bosley and Meeks and make it difficult, if not impossible for the two to work together.
So the SCPR is coming around to believe that it would better for Stark County (things will be bad enough, let alone having two "cat fighting" commissioners) that Bosley take up Budish's offer to make the 50th a Democratic seat.
Here is a video showing Bosley and Meeks squabbling yesterday:
