PART 8: "NEW" SCPR FEATURE - QUARTERLY REVIEW OF STARK'S "TOP 10" ELECTED OFFICIALS

Last Monday (March 23, 2015), The Stark County Political Report started a new feature:  Stark County Top 10 Leaders.

On a quarterly basis, The Report plans on ranking Stark County's political subdivision (villages, cities, township and boards of education) leadership in terms of the "Top 10."

See previous blogs in this series for the particulars of how the quarterly "Top 10" blogs will be constituted, revised and what the timetable is for publication.  (reference:  the Tom Bernabei blog)

And, of course, to see the SCPR's presentations on:

• Stark County's #1 leader; namely, Stark County Commissioner Thomas M. Bernabei, and
• Stark County's #2 leader; namely, Massillon Councilwoman Nancy Halter,
• Stark County's #3 leader; namely, Canton Councilman Edmond Mack,
• Stark County's #4 leader; namely, Stark County Auditor Alan Harold,
• Stark County's #5 leader; namely, Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar,
• Stark County's #6 leader; namely, Canton City Councilman Richard Hart,
• Stark County #7 leader; namely, Alliance City Councilwoman Julie Jakmides,

Today's blog is on Massillon Councilman Paul Manson.

By The Stark County Political Report's assessment, Paul Manson is the glue who holds the coalition of Democrats (who currently are in a majority on Massillon City Council) and Republicans who are committed to functioning as a "check and balance" on Mayor  Kathy Catazaro-Perry together.

Recently, The Report was in conversation with a Republican member of council who backed off on taking a position on a SCPR question out of regard for and sensitivity to the Democrats inasmuch as they are in the majority.

The SCPR thinks that the reluctance was due in large measure to the high degree of respect the Republicans have for the dean of the Democrats; namely, Paul Manson.

Paul has been on council 12 years (as of the end of 2015) having first been elected in 2003.

He did run in 2001 and came very close to unseating Republican Jim Filhour in that election.

This November he seeks his 7th straight election victory.

But things are just a tad changed.

In 2003 his election that Democrats held all of Massillon's at-large seats through successive elections until the win of Republican Milan Chovan in 2011.

The 2015 election outcome could result in a "difficult to keep harmony" scenario developing on Massillon's council.

The problem will not come in an at-large council race.

The Report figures Manson to win along with Republicans Chovan and Ed Lewis.

Mind you in 2003, it was Manson and two other Democrats.

So while it is ironic that two Republicans are likely to win at-large in a largely Democratic predominant voter registration city;  Chovan and Lewis have shown that they work comfortably with Manson and most of his fellow Democrats.

There appears to be virtually no chance that Republicans will regain control of council.

Moreover, it seems likely that a Maier Massillon Political Machine (MMPM) allied person could be elected this fall in Ward 2.

And the MMPM folks could make Ward 1 and Ward 6 interesting.  On the other hand, the SCPR thinks that MMPM ally Shaddrick Stinson is vulnerable not only in November's general election but also in the Democratic primary.

If Stinson survives this time around, the SCPR will be surprised.  This time there will be no Frank Cicchinelli to the rescue like there was in 2013.

If the MMPM is successful in electing a couple of their own to council, look for the coalition (likely still to be a majority) to be challenged by two or three councilpersons who see council's role to more of a "let's be handmaidens of the mayor" than a separation powers "check and balance" function unit.

It will take a strong Democratic leader like Paul Manson to could the "check and balance" coalition together.

The SCPR thinks Manson is a strong, respected leader and will be able to hold the coalition together.

Manson's leadership skills and his demonstrated willingness to "reach across the aisle" and work with the Republicans (both during the 2012-2013 term of council in which they were in control and in the past one-year-and-one-half that the Dems have been in controls is the primary reason that the SCPR selects him as #8 leader on the Stark County Top 10 List.

One of Manson's shining moments occurred on July 14, 2014 when he gaveled down a out-of-control Mayor Kathy as she accused council of being racists and sexists in trying to exercise fiscal control on the hiring being done.

The has received over 1,700 viewings as of today.

To capture Catazaro-Perry's intemperate outburst go to the 9:49 mark of the video.



The SCPR sees Manson working with Republican Ed Lewis, the de facto leader of the Republicans on council, notwithstanding tighter numbers, to ensure that Massillon returns to economic and financial health on a solid and sustainable foundation.

The foregoing capsulizes why Paul Manson is deserving of being the SCPR's Stark County #8 ranking leader from among county political subdivisions.

Next up for tomorrow's blog,  #9 leader.

Hint:  Tomorrow's leader undoubted wears a carnation in this suit lapel.

IN THE FINANCIAL BLACK & RED: "AT THE SAME TIME!"

REVISED ON 02/25/2015

VIDEOS

MASSILLON COUNCIL DISCUSSES
2015 BUDGET
SORT OF?
==========================

KEN KOHER

MASSILLON BUDGET DIRECTOR

ON

INADEQUATE ANNUAL CARRYOVER

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

COUNCILMAN MILAN CHOVAN

ON

PLAN TO INCREASE MPD BY 8 OFFICERS

Even before she took office, Massillon mayor Kathy Catzaro-Perry was pressing the State of Ohio Audtor's (SOA) office to place the city in fiscal emergency.

She was initially denied.

But in May, 2013 she finally succeeded.  And even that determination was on the slimmest of criteria:  Massillon only meeting one of six criteria that qualifies a city to be thrown in to emergency financial status.

Ever since, it has been a roller coast ride for Massillon finances, to wit:

• Two failed levies one of which (November, 2014) was part of a SOA approved recovery plan, 
• A reduced income tax credit that will expire on December 31, 2015 unless a levy passes in the meantime generated about $275,000 (more or less) of revenue for 2014 but which have not yet shown up in city revenues,
• Increased income tax income revenues due to a general Ohio/USA Great Recession recovery,
• A claimed $2.6 million budget deficit by Mayor Catazaro-Perry (at the beginning of her administration in 2012) which miraculously and mysteriously turned into a $785,000 surplus (carryover) in 2015, and
• On and on goes the highs and lows of Massillon finances.

Last night's Massillon City Council proved to be more of the same.

There was considerable discussion of what to do with the $785,000 "apparent?" surplus.

For starters, the $785,000 is not really $785,000 because some $400,000 is spoken for to cover a 27th week payroll obligation due in 2015.

And then last night in sort of discussing the 2015 Massillon budget, council reached a consensus (no votes allowed at work sessions) to designate $123,000 for a workers compensation obligation.

And then there was Councilman Paul Manson (D, at-large) advocating that Massillon institute a $50,000 annual plan move from the general fund to Parks and Recreation.

Only to be disagreed with by Councilman Ed Lewis who wants what remains of the original $785,000 (about $362,000) left alone or, alternatively, some portion thereof to be moved into the capital improvement fund where it is said that Massillon is "millions behind" in dealing with road repair and the purchase of sorely needed equipment (e.g. snowplows, new cruisers, et cetera).



And to top it off, Catazaro-Perry administration financial official Ken Koher (Budget Director/Income Tax Administrator) said in effect that the $785,000 that everybody including his boss (Mayor Kathy) was a pittance compared to fiscal recommending bodies saying that a city in good financial health with a budget of Massillon's size should have an annual carryover (surplus) of some $2.8 million.



Note that Koher ends his points on the annual carryover (surplus) saying that though the $785,000 doesn't cut it, Massillon is heading in the right direction.

The SCPR questions that even though most councilpersons mouth the same phrase.

No new revenues on the horizon, how can Massillon be thought to be heading in the right direction?  Austerity and cuts can only do so much, no?

Is there any doubt that Massillon's financial world is a confusing if not a chaotic world?

The really solid bright note from last night's meeting was a plan unveiled by Councilman Milan Chovan (R, at-large) to increase, over 18 months, the numbers of Massillon police from 36 to 44 to get within hailing range of 50 officers that in recent times (10 years ago) once staffed Massillon's security forces.

And get this.

Chovan's plan is likely to save Massillon (which paid $750,000 in police overtime last year) about $200,000 which would go where?

But hold your breath.

Service/Safety Director Al Hennon has signed on. 

But it is an open question whether or not the mayor will go along with Chovan's plan.

All of this is confusing, no?

Levy failures,  abbreviated income tax credit,  general fund surplus, capital improvement deficits, a belligerent major, and policing at a savings.

But that is the order of the day in Massillon these days.

So what is the financial instability attributable to?

A mayor and majority of council who cannot work together, so the SCPR thinks.

Usually, such scenarios are a mixed bag as to whom is at fault.

However, The Report thinks that Massillon topsy-turvy financial world is almost completely, if not totally, the inept leadership of Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry.

Though she clearly lacks the skills, temperament and attitude to be an effective mayor, it is likely that she will be reelected to a new term in November.

There will be some changes on council with the coming and going of the election.

However, it appears to the SCPR that there will still be a majority of council that the mayor will refused to work cooperatively with.

So the result?

Financial confusion will continue to reign.

Consequently, Massillon will continue to muddle along in minimalist mode of governing to meet the needs of its citizens.

The SCPR is highly impressed with "most" of Massillon City Council with Chovan being among those at the top of the list.

Overall, Massillon City Council is the best in all of Stark County.

If council only had a mayor to work with?

PART 2 - CITY COUNCIL SERIES - 2015 AGENDAS

SCPR VIDEOS

2015 AGENDAS

COUNCILMAN ED LEWIS, IV

COUNCILWOMAN MICHELLE DEL RIO-KELLER

COUNCILMAN PAUL MANSON

As part of a SCPR series, The Report on Tuesday, January 20th was in Massillon and interviewed Councilpersons Del Rio-Keller, Manson and Lewis on their "look forward" for 2015 on their respective agendas for improving governance in Massillon.

As readers of the SCPR know, Massillon City Council is staffed with legislators some of whom have very strong personalities.

The question that has often been a topic of SCPR blogs:  Who is stronger?  Council leadership or Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry?

One of yours truly's favorite blogs on Massillon government is discussion the mayor as being Massillon's iron lady as a take off on how former (now deceased) British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was characterized by the media.

But first readers, a favor please?

Don't tell the mayor that Martin Olson said this of her (if you don't tell her, she won't know because she says she doesn't read the SCPR), okay?

But Kathy Catazaro-Perry is NO Margaret Thatcher!

She is trying, though.

More and more, The Stark County Political Report thinks that the mayor is engaging political gamesmanship.

The latest episode occurred on January 26th.

Mayor Kathy called an "emergency 'special' session" of Massillon City Council which had to absolutely endear her to at least a majority if not all of council.

On the agenda of this supposedly urgent session was a proposed ordinance (7) whereby Massillon's administration would be authorized to seek $180,000 in Stark County funding to do road work in Massillon.

• SCPR Note:  Though it was thought by some (apparently including Mayor Catazaro-Perry) that Friday, January 30th was the deadline for passing Ordinance 7 (originally written for repairing an intersection at Richville Dr SW/Southway Drive), such proved not to be the case.
• Why the SCPR thinks the Ordinance 7 caper was a political gamesmanship maneuver. i.e. "Council inaction caused Massillon to lose $180,000 in road repair funding"
• In the video below, note that though the mayor is said to have thought that a Friday deadline was in place, she did not utter a word to council.
• the mayor has a history of obtaining permission to speak to council on pending legislation,
• In the end council passed the ordinance at this past Monday's regular council meeting but changed to a higher road repair priority; namely, a portion of Main Street West to the city boundary

Well, this "emergency" session lasted a grand total of 6 minutes or less and council took "no" action, the mayor uttered nary a peep and rushed out so as not to be present for council's scheduled work session.



Councilman Paul Manson set the tone for the entire 6 minute meeting early on in the "emergency 'special' session."

Manson asked on the reading of Ordinance 5 (with 6 and 7 to follow) about:  "the necessity of this as an emergency?"

Answer?

There wasn't one, said Councilwoman Del Rio-Keller.

So why the "emergency 'special' session" called by Mayor Kathy Catazaro?

Nobody seemed to know and Mayor Kathy who can be quite mouthy had a case of political lockjaw.

Quite a contrast to the shouting match she got into with the-then council president Glenn Gamber over a tax credit issue in August, 2012.

And quite a contrast to the shouting match she got into with acting council president Paul Manson over the Dwan St. John (see links below) hiring in July, 2014.

It appears that Catazaro-Perry will do "whatever it takes" in her playing the game of politics.

The SCPR thinks that "not talking" political prank was part of an overall plan by the mayor (likely under the instruction of her political sponsors/mentors Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and R. Shane Jackson of the Massillon Clerk of Courts office) to make herself look like some kind of strong willed executive out-to-knuckle-council-down to do her will which, of course, is best for Massillon.

First, there was the fiscal emergency thing which the SCPR thinks was a concoction by the mayor to underscore her assertion that former mayor Frank Cicchinelli left Massillon in a financial mess.

Here are blog links for those readers who need to get up to speed on the SCPR's detailed thought of why The Report thinks that the move was unwarranted and a political gamesmanship antic.

• May 21, 2013
• October 23, 2013
• November 12, 2014

Second, there was the Dwan St. John matter in which she accused at least of a majority of council as being racist because there was a council insistence that the fiscal/financial basis of the hiring be vetted.

Again, here are links for those readers to get to know more about the Dwan St. John matter.

• July 9, 2014
• August 4, 2014

Third, of course, is the January 26, 2015 "emergency 'special' session" which the SCPR thinks in reality was another political gamesmanship ploy.

The SCPR believes that there have been other instances in which the mayor was politically toying with council.

As far as the SCPR is concerned, Massillon City Council is the best in all city councils of Stark County at meeting the city's executive head-to-head to ensure that politics not be "order of the day, but rather the "well being of the citizens of Massillon."

Canton Council has had some success checking him, but Mayor William J. Healy, II has proved much more masterful (i.e. less confrontational, e.g. purportedly, if the Healy administration learns that Councilman Bill Smuckler is staunchly opposed to a piece of legislation; it is not sent down) than Mayor Kathy.

In North Canton, The Report thinks that council has abrogated its duties not so much to the mayor but to Law Director Tim Fox.

In Alliance there has been, for all the years that the SCPR has covered Stark County governance, pretty much "an era of good feeling" in place between council and the administration with a hiccup here and there from the mouth of former councilman (now council president) Steve Okey.

Which brings the SCPR to the "real focus" of today's blog which is to say those councilpersons in Massillon that The Report sees as being part of a strong core of strong councilmantic leadership in Tigerland in terms of setting the agenda for Massillon's 2015 council.

First, Councilman Ed Lewis.



Second, Councilwoman Michelle Del Rio-Keller,



And, finally, third, but certainly not least the dean of Massillon City Council:  Paul Manson.



For all the mayor's political gamesmanship, all she is achieving, The Report believes, is prioritizing her personal political interests over the well being of the citizens of Massillon.

She will have Democratic Party opposition.  J. David Ress has filed.

And 2011 Republican candidate Lee Brunckhart will be the ballot in November.

The SCPR thinks that all of Catazaro-Perry's political gaming has the potential to make her a one-term-mayor.

If Massillon's council under the likes of Lewis, Del Rio-Keller and Manson can make it clear that the mayor is not in charge and is in fact out on a political self-interest limb, it could be that either Ress or Brunckhart who knock off.

As the SCPR sees it, for the Massillon Political Machine's Kathy Catazaro-Perry to lose it will take more than just Ress or Brunckhart.

It will also take strong leadership from those councilpersons who understand that the main reason there is political warfare in Massillon is because of the political agenda and political gamesmanship of Mayor Kathy.

Theirs is a happy prospective role.

By looking out - without regard to personal political interests - for the welfare of everyday Massillonians, they create a basis on which the Iron Lady will turn out to be a politically broken lady.

2015 could be the year that a politically unsophisticated candidate coming out with a pledge of "I will work cooperatively with council," and, by the way, the agenda of council in 2015 as personified by council's strong leadership group "is an agenda that I wholeheartedly endorse."

To repeat, such a concordance just might make Kathy Catazaro-Perry a one-term-mayor.

Come January 1, 2016 - in terms of the mayor and council not, more or less, being at odds with one another -  things could be looking up in Massillon government?

BAD TIMES IN MASSILLON: PART 1

Last week "the roof fell in" on Massillon.

For "true" Massillonians, the most devastating thing had to be the annihilation of the Tiger football team on Friday last:  56 Perrysburg, 7 Massillon.

Things were so bad that the Massillon superintendent of schools apparently couldn't take any more and left in the 3rd quarter.

And it wasn't long after that he announced that the highly successful football coach was fired.  A coach who was the second most winning coach in all the glory of Massillon Tiger football.

Those of us who live outside of Massillon instantly think "football" when Massillon is mentioned.

Though the Massillon "football" Tigers are never, ever likely to be the Tigers of the Paul Brown era ever again; football will be repaired and "hope springs eternal" will once again be "the heart throb" of the "true" Tiger fans.

One Massillon City Council person did tell the SCPR that the days of Massillon football glory are over and the fanatics (the SCPR's word) will just have the deal with "the new realities."

Another person who has trouble dealing with "the new realities" in Massillon is Mayor Katherine Catazaro-Perry.

Mayor Kathy is one of those "splash and dash" politicians who dot the Stark County government/political landscape who the SCPR thinks has very little substance and consequently is not a match for the daunting problems which currently plague Massillon city government.

So what does one do?

Go into denial?

Maybe she has been spoofing Massillonians all along.

Look at this chart that she had placed in the glossy public relations quarterly.

And view this video of long term Councilman Paul Manson (Democrat, at-large) as he says he now has reports that the deficit Massillon now faces is not $2.6 million, not $1.1 million (see April 4, 2014 SCPR blog), but rather $700,000.

• From the October 17, 2013 SCPR blog:
• The SCPR is being told that Massillon's unions are doing their own audit of Massillon's books and are reporting that the deficit is not the reported $2.4 million

While she was spouting her $2.6 million stuff, the SCPR alone of all Stark County media wrote questioning the validity of her number.

Before she became mayor, she wrote the State of Ohio auditor asking that "the once great city of Massillon" be placed in fiscal emergency.

This move rather obviously was designed to make former mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr "the fall guy" for all the troubles that Massllion and every other Stark County city is facing as a consequence of drastic State of Ohio local government funding cuts.

Catazaro-Perry  took Cicchinelli on and defeated him in the May, 2011 Democratic primary as the candidate of Massillon clerk of courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr (a former Stark County Democratic Party chairman and long time antagonist to Cicchinelli) who, in the estimate of the SCPR should be billed as Massilon's "co-mayor."

So maybe she has been (on the advice and instruction of Maier and his appendage R. Shane Jackson [Johnnie's chief flunky err deputy) gaming Masillonians with "phony-baloney" financial numbers all along during her three years as mayor and the voting Massillon public has figured that out in twice defeating an income tax.

It is appearing more and more that her game plan all along since (actually as mayor-elect) becoming mayor has been to paint a bleaker picture than she knew to be the case so that she could appear at re-election time (next year) to have been a managerial wizard of sorts and brought Massillon from the dire to nearly break even.

And in the process she - in her and Johnnie's mind -  will have played Massillon City Council for being "the fool" in taking her seriously.

Catazaro-Perry and Maier may find out soon that the fools are not the city council folks at all but the two of them.

With the failure of the latest levy effort which Mayor KCP only gave lukewarm support to (having outright opposed the first levy effort), it appears that there is no way to make up even a $700,000 deficit and that the city department of governments may be looking at 15% across-the-board cuts which will be the equivalent to "cutting into the bone" of the provision of city services and will be felt by rank-and-file citizens in virtually every aspect of what Massillon does; not just police and fire.

Relations (see the Manson video above) between the mayor and council continue to deteriorate.

Catazaro-Perry has not attended Committee of the Whole work sessions for some time.

If Catazaro-Perry and Maier are gaming council, they will find one thing, after another thing, after another to "go to war" with council over in order to make council appear to be the culprit come the elections of 2015.

To the SCPR, Catazaro-Perry and Maier are into political gamesmanship, pure and simple and, of course, the citizens of Massillon are the real victims.

If Cicchinelli decides to take her on in the May, 2015 Democratic primary; undoubtedly, she will say that a return to Cichinelli will be the pathway to insolvency.

In such an eventuality, should she win; the SCPR thinks that she is looking at facing Republican Councilman Ed Lewis, IV in the general election.

She will once again attempt to scapegoat.

She and Lewis have been at each other from time-to-time over the past three years and she will drag those confrontations up as evidence that council's voting majority (following Lewis' lead) are to blame for Massillon's troubles.

Never mind that she is the one who lashed out at council (not an uncommon phenomenon) and even called council racists for questioning the financial underpinnings of the Dwan St. John hiring.

The essence of this blog is that the SCPR sees co-mayors Catazaro-Perry and Maier playing it "every which way."

On the one hand, in her glossy Massillon Magazine she portrays the city as coming out of the difficult times.

Look at what she wrote in the Fall 2014 Massillon Magazine:

• I began my term as Massillon’s mayor in 2012, we started with a token carryover of only $416.79 in our general fund, and inherited $2.6 million dollars of unpaid bills. Massillon was in serious financial trouble as a result of habitual deficit spending, and our city had been going deeper into debt for five consecutive years. As we conclude my third year in office, Massillon has made great strides in lowering that debt.  Our city is on the right track and headed towards financial recovery.This did not come easily. We made tough decisions, cut spending, and created the change necessary so our city grows and is able to best serve our residents. Massillon is moving forward again. There is still much work to be done ... .

But the reality,  as the SCPR sees it, is that such is the equivalent to Mister Rogers' "Make Believe."

Massillon was once the City of Champions.

Nowadays it appears that those days are long gone and, whether Catazaro-Perry realizes it or not, Massillon these days is a city of "troubles, troubles & more troubles" much of which is the making of an intransigent mayoralty.

She is a "my way or the highway" type person just like her mentor and co-mayor Johnie A. Maier, Jr.

The end game for anything Maier touches, as the SCPR sees it, is for his personal political aggrandizement.

It is hard to see how the "do it my way, or else" and personal political benefit game plan gets Massillon truly on the rebound.

On Monday night a number of issues came up:

• some discussion of the levy failure, the 2015 budget and the path going forward,
• Councilwoman Michelle Del Rio-Keller's work on resolving what to do to make The Legends golf course a profit making activity,
• the location/relocation of the Massillon Health Department, and
• the Massillon Municipal Court's (represented at the meeting by Judge C. Roland Centrone) dicey relationship with council

The SCPR has extensive video to share with SCPR readers on these troubling issues that Massillon faces.

Accordingly, this introductory blog is billed as "Part 1."

Additional parts will be published in coming days to cover all the Monday night discussions.

(VIDEO: PAUL MANSON) ANOTHER ADMINISTRATIION - COUNCIL FIGHT IN MASSILLON?

Recently, longtime Massillon clerk of council Mary Beth Bailey apparently tiring of the non-stop efforts of the Catazaro-Perry administration to get her non-renewed as clerk, applied for and was selected as North Canton's council clerk.

The SCPR wishes Bailey well but The Report thinks she may well have "jumped from the frying pan into the fire" in that as The Dogwood City's clerk of council she will have to work closely with Law Director Tim Fox.

Fox, since he took office in September, 2012, has generated a huge controversy with the Concerned Citizens of North Canton and others over his "giving citizens 'a tough way to go'" in obtaining public records.

The SCPR thinks that in one way or another he will continue his pitched battle with North Cantonians wanting public records inasmuch as he seems to be in charge of North Canton government; not Mayor David Held; not North Canton City Council.

And, of course, Bailey will be caught in the crossfire.

As she was in Massillon in the ongoing fight over one issue or another between the Catzaro-Perry administration and city council.

Going back to the days when she was Ward 3 councilwoman, Kathy Catzaro-Perry has been keenly interested in who is clerk of Massillon City Council.

As reported by the SCPR in March, 2012; a mere two months after she took office as mayor, Catazaro-Perry was "at it again," trying to get the-then clerk of council Mary Beth Bailey replaced as clerk.

In 2012, the attempted removal process took the form of a proposed draconian salary cut.

But as stated in the opening paragraph of today's blog, Bailey had been a Catazaro-Perry target going way back to her council's days, to wit:

On February 7, 2011 the SCPR went to Massillon City Council.  In setting up to record council actions for the evening, yours truly struck up a conversation with council Clerk Mary Beth Bailey.

Amid the chit-chat, it came out that years before Bailey had worked for Republican Janet Creighton when she was Stark County auditor (Creighton is now Stark County commissioner).

And that was interesting to learn.

But even more interesting was Bailey's account of how the then Councilwoman Kathy Catazaro-Perry had tried to get her non-renewed for being clerk of council.

In hindsight, the SCPR thinks that Bailey ran afoul of a repeated story in Massillon city politics.

If the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr political machine cannot control you, they work to get rid of you and replaced by one of Maier's political loyalists.

As the SCPR has editorialized repeatedly, Catazaro-Perry is owned "mind, body and soul" by the Maier machine.

They (Maier, Jackson, et al)  put her in office and she shall never, ever escape, and as the Tennessee Ernie Ford song goes:  "[she now] owes her soul to the company store."

Now Massillon is faced with replacing Bailey.

And the SCPR believes that the Maier Political Machine is busy at work conniving to get the Machine's person in as council clerk.

What better way to undermine council (except, of course, for "new" Maier loyalist and Ward 4 councilman Shaddrick Stinson) than to have a mole at work within the inner circles of council to keep Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and Shane Jackson informed about the most closely guarded secrets of various councilpersons who are not "playing ball" with them and their puppet mayor.

The Report has a report that in the waning days of Bailey's time in Massillon, Council President Tony Townsend (another Massillon political figure that the Maiers' seem to have political conspired to place in office) and Stinson appeared at the clerk's office with now interim clerk of council Diane Rolland (who has applied for the permanent position) in tow.

The SCPR thinks the stage is set for more political intrigue in Massillon as Catazaro-Perry, Townsend, Stinson, Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and Shane Jackson put on a concerted drive to make Rolland Massillon's next council clerk.

The Report spoke with Councilman Paul Manson on Monday night (following the regular city council meeting) about the process of selecting a new council clerk.

Applications for clerk had closed with the close of business of Massillon city government earlier in the day of the 21st.

The SCPR believes that Maier opponents have the numbers and will prevail, but the fight will be interesting and will, more importantly, spill over into the ongoing battle between a majority of council and the mayor at least through the Democratic primary of May, 2015.

Manson says that "the choice will be council's choice and 'not anybody else's.'"

Hmm?

Undoubtedly, Johnnie A. Maier, Jr thinks otherwise.

How will the Maier forces pull off getting their person in as clerk of council?

Well, that's an easy one for the SCPR.

Obviously, they will work "to divide and - thereby - conquer" what otherwise would be a majority of council that chooses a clerk loyal to council and not to the Maier Political Machine.

Speaking of the Democratic primary of May, 2015, former mayor Frank Cicchinelli tells the SCPR that he is still considering a run to reclaim the office which he held for 24 years before being pushed aside by the Maier Political Machine in the form of Catazaro-Perry.

Cicchinelli says that if he decides to run, the decision will likely come in November, December of this year.

Of course, if he does decide to run he has a Catazaro-Perry record to run against and you can bet that a rematch will be a nasty and ugly political confrontation the likes of which Massillon has not seen for many, many of a year.

(VIDEOS) IS THERE A DETROIT LOOMING IN STARK COUNTY?

UPDATED:  To clarify that Alliance income tax increase is subject to voter approval come the November election.

VIDEOS

MASSILLON CITY COUNCIL

COUNCILMAN PAUL MANSON

ASKS

FOR A NEW LEVY BALLOT INITIATIVE

COUNCILMAN DONNIE PETERS, JR

QUIZZES

AUDITOR JAYNE FERRERO

ON

POLICE AND FIRE PENSION ARREARS

Today at 10:00 a.m. in Detroit, Michigan an event - beyond belief in 1950 as "the motor city:" the auto manufacturing behemoth of the world reached it high point in population growth - will go down.

That event:

Even though we have all known that Detroit was in trouble with General Motors and Chrysler needing federal bailouts in the financial crisis that hit the country in the fall of 2008, it still was nonetheless shocking to hear on July 18th that this once great American city had filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code.

Yesterday, it was somewhat jarring for yours truly receive the following e-mail:

The Independent recently reported that the Massillon Auditor's office reported it would not be able to make a pension payment for its employees. Considering that Massillon is running a $2 million plus deficit, is Massillon on the verge of bankruptcy and is it Stark County's version of Detroit?

Actually, Massillon is projecting a deficit of anywhere from $2.5 to $2.7 million.

Of course, Massillon is not alone.

Stark's other two major cities are not in the greatest of shape either.

For Canton, it is hard to know exactly how tough things "really" are.  There you have a mayor who plays volleyball with the financial numbers with one side of the net being "woe is me" numbers and the other being "things are looking very promising" numbers.  Of course, we who are familiar with this Stern School of Business MBA graduate master manipulator are not surprised.  It seems that on a daily basis he concocts "a message of the day" to spread throughout the county depending on his political needs.

The mayor and his manipulations notwithstanding, the SCPR's sense of Canton's finances is that they are shaky at best.

For Alliance, on July 15th its city council voted unanimously to increase its income tax by a full 1/2 percent to 2.5% which by the SCPR calculation will make it the highest rate in all of Stark County if passed in November by the voters of Alliance.

The city is facing a $1 million deficit if the issue does not pass.

All three cities have long passed the high water marks of population growth.

It may appear that Massillon is rebounding somewhat but such is not really the case.  Former mayor Frank Cicchinelli was an aggressive annexer and therefore the seeming population recovery is just that in that its population gains of late are likely do from annexations of peripheral township neighborhoods.

Even before she took office, Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry was asking Ohio's auditor (December, 2011) to audit Massillon finances.  She was refused at the time, however she has renewed her request and it appears that any day now we will know the results of an agreed to audit as to whether or not Massillon is in a "fiscal watch" or "fiscal emergency" which will - if so determined - bring the state of Ohio into the management of Massillon's finances.

During a July 8 Massillon City Council work session there were two interesting discussions.

First, was one initiated by Democratic Councilman-at-Large Paul Manson asking that council consider putting on another income tax levy from 1.8% to 2.0% (Massillon hugely defeated a .3% issue in the May primary election) in light of Alliance (at the time) considering a ballot initiative going from 2% to 2.5% (see Alliance discussion above).



Second, was one between Republican Ward 5 Councilman Donnie Peters, Jr. (not seeking re-election) and Massillon auditor Jayne Ferrero regarding the decision by Ferrero to apply new revenues to arrears in police and fire pension fund payments.  She also brought up other arrearages that Massillon has.



The two of them are further substantiation of the e-mail cited by The Report and the fact of the precarious financial condition of Massillon city finances.

While neither Alliance, Canton or Massillon appear to be at the point of a Detroit-esque financial crisis, one gets the feeling that none of them may be that far away.

Dire finances are becoming more and more common across Ohio.

A Dayton area newspaper reported earlier this week that 24 Ohio cities are facing fiscal crises.

It might not be Alliance, Canton or Massillon but might it be that sooner than we may think that Ohioans will wake up to a headline:

Cleveland declares Chapter 9 bankruptcy!

(VIDEOS) IT AIN'T EVEN THE 4TH OF JULY AND THE FIREWORKS ARE GOING OFF AT MASSILLON CITY COUNCIL!

CORRECTION:  The second Massillon BOE appointee is Moe Rickett and not Ester Bryant as originally reported.

VIDEOS

LAW DIRECTOR PERRY STERGIOS

AND

COUNCIL

ON

HIS OPINION ON PARKS & RECREATION

THE RELATIVELY CALM PART

OF THE DISCUSSION ON THE

PARKS & RECREATION ISSUE

PARKS & RECREATION MEMBER

JOHN WOLF'S

SOLUTION TO THE

PARKS & RECREATION ISSUE

(GETS INTO IT WITH COUNCILMAN PETERS)

COUNCILMAN LARRY SLAGLE

ON

HIS PLANS

TO RESOLVE

THE PARKS & RECREATION ISSUE

SAFETY DIRECTOR JIM JOHNSON

&

MAYOR KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY

TAKE ON COUNCIL ON THE

STREET LIGHTING ISSUE

COUNCILMAN PAUL MANSON WEIGHS-IN

COUNCILMAN ED LEWIS WEIGHS-IN

All the ingredients were in place for fireworks at Massillon City Council's work session last evening.

Indeed, a few of fireworks banged loud in a spectacular display of political combustion involving:

• Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry, 
• interim safety director Jim Johnson,
• Law Director Perry Stergios,
• Councilman Paul Manson (D - at large), 
• Councilman Milan Chovan (R - at large), 
• Councilman Donnie Peters, Jr (R - Ward 5), and 
• Ed Lewis, IV (R - Ward 6) as well as
• Parks and Recreation board member John Wolf 

But it took more than the mix of these persons to set things off.

Okay.  Exactly what is the "more than?"

Add in two issues:

• What to do about the Parks and Recreation issue of appointing a new director, and
• Who is to blame for Massillon over paying by perhaps as much as $100,000 plus (when early termination fees are included) for street lighting expenses.

THE PARKS AND RECREATION ISSUE

The explosiveness of the meeting all started with (after Parks and Recreation Committee chairman Larry Slagle opened the topic what to do about the Parks and Recreation Board) Director Stergios.   Check out this video of Councilman Ed Lewis asking for Stergios for his imput:

Chairman Slagle went on to conduct a discussion of what to do about the seemingly forever controversy in terms of what authority the Parks and Recreation Board (Board) has with respect to:

• controlling its finances (which with an 0.3% income tax levy [1995] and fees takes in about $4 million annually, and 
• determining who is to be the Board's director

The SCPR was very impressed with how Slagle kept the discussion on track amidst the outbursts.

It appeared that Slagle's mission was simple.  He was intent on gathering information from council members as to their feelings about the aforementioned primary issues and the lingering issue of what to do with the golf course aspect of Board operations.   After the meeting, The Report spoke with Slagle as to what is next.

Most of the meeting discussion on Parks and Recreation went smoothly, witness this video:

That is until Parks and Recreation Board member John Wolf (one of two member appointed by the Massillon Board of Education [the other being Moe Rickett]) was invited to speak by Chairman Slagle.

With Wolf came a second round of pre-4th-of-July fireworks.

First, he compared the 30 or so minute council discussion  on Parks and Recreation to the Battle of Gettysburg (which, by the way, yours truly is a native of Gettysburg and the Battle of Gettysburg marks the 150 anniversary of "the turning point in the civil war" 1863 conflict next week).

Second, he announced to council that Parks and Recreation Board is to meet on July 12th and that he was confident that the Board would cobble together its idea(s) of what's its authority should be and that he would present it council soon thereafter.

Wolf's plea with council to be patient with the Board while it came up with a resolution expressing its desires set off Donnie Peters, Jr (Ward 5.).  Here is the video.

At the end of the day, it appears to the SCPR that Chairman Slagle has the matter of Parks and Recreation in hand and will be the catalyst in solving this long simmering Massillon department of government problem.

Here is Slagle post-meeting sharing how he plans to approach resolving the Parks and Recreation problem:

THE STREET LIGHTING ISSUE

Ward 1 Councilwoman Sarita Cunningham-Hedderly heads up council's public utilities committee.

She has been waiting until Ohio Edison area manager Ray Martinez could make it to a work session to get into an issue that has been bugging council for a couple months now.

It came to light in April, that Massillon was paying about $15,000 more a month in street lighting rates since former Safety Director George T. Maier (now serving as the "appointed" sheriff of Stark pending the outcome of Ohio Supreme Court litigation as to his qualifications to hold office) negotiated a deal in September, 2012 (effective in October) with American Electric Power (AEP) to  what he thought at the time (according to administration officials) was a good deal for Massillon and would result in substantial savings to the city over the two year life of the contract.

But he thought wrong.

How's that?

It appears to the SCPR that on the surface of the consideration,  Massillon was getting a better deal from AEP than it was from Ohio Edison (OE).

However, because of the rules of Ohio's Public Utility Commissions (PUCO) on rates (called tariffs by the PUCO) that allowed OE to issue credits to Massillon, the fact of the matter turned out to be that existing OE contract, notwithstanding the seeming better AEP rate, was much the better deal for Massillon on street lighting.

What came out of council's discussion last night was that Maier failed to get back to OE's Martinez and let him know that Massillon was thinking about switching to AEP and that the failure is the core reason why Massillon got nailed for about $15,000 a month more in street lighting costs (January through May).

To add insult to injury, when the lights came on (no pun intended) with Maier replacement and interim Safety Director Jim Johnson in April (in consultation with Martinez) that Massilon had made a costly mistake in negotiating the switch to AEP, it was only some splendid work by Martinez that got Massilon back on track with OE.

In other words, the Catazaro-Perry administration looked like a bunch of fumblers and bumblers.

And there was nothing Martinez could do to make that embarrassment to vanity part of the administration's problem go away.

What came to light at last night's meeting (likely the first that council knew about it) is that in addition to paying AEP a higher rate for street lighting, Massillon had to pay OE/First Energy Solutions (FES) a termination fee of $150 for what one source tells the SCPR is some 100 or so Massillon accounts held by OE/FES or combination thereof.

It appears, but nobody seemed to know for sure, that AEP must have waived a $16,000 early termination fee when Massilon switched back to Ohio Edison for street lighting.

Somebody had to eat "humble pie" to pull that one off, no?

"Nobody seemed to know" (from the administration standpoint) was at the heart of the matter of the resulting fireworks-esque discussions that took place between Mayor Catazaro-Perry, Safety Director Johnson from the administration side, and Massillon council  led by Councilpersons Manson, Chovan and Lewis.

A note:   Councilman Donnie Peters, Jr. took the tack that the matter is over and done with and the council persistent questioning was unavailing.

The SCPR sees the street lighting brouhaha as a proxy for the overall issue between the administration and many if not most of council that the adminstrators and councilpersons do not trust each other.

The video (on the street lighting discussion) at the end of this blog amply demonstrates the deep, deep distrust that exists between the administration and council.

It is hard to see how Massillon gets it fiscal affairs straightened out in such a climate.

The key problem, as The Report sees it, is that the tone of the administration (not communicating with council) comes from the clerk of courts office and Clerk Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. and his chief deputy Shane Jackson.

He and his sidekick (as well as other Massillon officialdom adherents to the Maier power model) seem hellbent on beating down any opposition to their plan and vision for Massillon.

Unless and until Mayor Catazaro-Perry separates from the Maier political machine, she is destined to be a one-term-mayor and will likely be remembered as a monumental failure as the city's chief executive after the 24 reign of Frank Cichinelli as mayor.

While Cicchinelli may have brought troubles onto himself which provided the Maier forces an opportunity to pounce on him, his 24 years had to have been - by and large - a very good time for Massillon.

Those days are long gone as Massillon now faces the prospect of being placed in fiscal watch or emergency ironically at the initiative of Mayor Catazaro-Perry herself.

At one time in her political career, yours truly thought she had a very bright future.

But that all vanished when she threw in "lock, stock and barrel" as the political appendage to the former Stark County Democratic Party chairman.

In doing so, she has lost her individual political identity and is largely seen as the window dressing of a de facto Maier administration.

Here is the full video of the street lighting fiasco discussion including sharp exchanges between Safety Director Johnson and the mayor with council members:

Weighing in on the night's fireworks were Councilman Manson:



and

Councilman Lewis:

MASSILLON IN DESPERATE NEED FOR MONEY TO PAY BILLS WITH. WOULDN'T "BIT OF EDEN" WITH TUSLAW SCHOOLS LOOK GOOD FOR CITY COFFERS NOW?

On September 23, 2010 the then Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr. gave up the ghost in his effort to annex the Bit of Eden mobile home park AND the Tuslaw schools.

The attempted annexation had become a political hot potato and Cicchinelli perceiving such tried to get ahead of the political opportunism of he thought he saw his to be foe availing herself of in what he was sure would be Kathy Catazaro-Perry running against him in the March 6, 2011 Democratic primary.  (See the SCPR blog of September 25, 2010)

As it turns out, Cicchinelli was right about his then challenger-in-waiting but his action on September 23rd turned out to be a case of too little, too late.

Cicchinelli himself now says that the hordes of Tuslaw connected people campaigning against him in Massillon (particularly, the sixth ward) was a key factor to his losing to Catazaro-Perry in the primary.

However, Cicchinelli never conceded to those Massillon opponents of Bit-of-Eden who questioned the overall benefit of the schools annexation to the revenue stream of Massillon city government. 

A prime reason that Cicchinelli gave for running again in 2011 was his intent to continue pursuit of his aggressive annexation policy.

He was convinced that his dogged annexation program was highly beneficial to Massillon.

At last night's Massillon City Council (Council), Councilman-at-Large Larry Slagle took a few minutes to talk about the shortfall on state funding of local government in the form of no more money from the Ohio Estate Tax beginning in January 1, 2013.

The occasion was the impending Council vote on Resolution 3-12 requesting that the Stark County Auditor and Treasurer pay over to Massillon 75% of the estate and inheritance tax for the period July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 (aka FY 2012).

Slagle who happens to be a staunch Democrat lashed out at Republican Governor Kasich and the Republican dominated Ohio General Assembly for giving away vitally needed local government revenue (he says about $300,000 for Massillon this year, but it varies from year to year).

Getting back to Cicchinelli and annexation, Democrat Councilman Paul Manson told the SCPR last night (himself an ardent advocate of annexation) that had Massillon stayed the course on the Bit-of-Eden annexation that included the Tuslaw schools, the city would have realized about $160,000 annually.

Well, with Massillon unable to pay its bills on a timely basis, wouldn't $160,000 be looking very good these days?

So for Mayor Catazaro-Perry the whole Tuslaw annexation thing has to be bittersweet thing.  On the one hand the issue may have been the difference maker in her defeating Cicchinelli.  But on the other she now has to govern and one of the major problems besetting her administration and Council is finding the revenues with which to balance the city budget and get back to paying the city's bills as they become due.

And by the way, there was discussion/vote at last night's meeting about whether or not to rescind a service agreement previously approved by Council for the scaled down Bit of Eden annexation.  In the end, only Ward 4 Councilman Tony Townsend favored rescission.  There does seem to be concern on the part of a number of councilpersons that Massillon not come out on the short end of the financial stick.

Council still has the option to abandon the annexation.  However, Councilman Manson tells The Report that he believes that ultimately (perhaps, by spring) Council will formally accept the annexation.

But it will not have the financial benefit that former Mayor Cicchinelli had in mind to the tune of $160,000 or so.

Though he dearly loves Massillon and certainly does want to see the once grand industrial city have financial troubles, if the abbreviated - minus the estimated $160,000 in annual revenue - does get accepted, it could be that Massillonians can be sure that Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr will be having "the last laugh!"