HAS THE "O.K. CORRAL" RELOCATED TO CANTON CITY HALL?

As reported by the Stark County Political Report, Monday's Canton City Council meeting turned into - at the end, in the miscellaneous business section - one gigantic turmoil.

The cause?

Ward 2 councilman Thomas West!

Councilman Thomas West (D, Ward 2) renewed his effort to depose Frank Morris as council vice president and majority leader of the 11 member Democratic (of 12 total council members) caucus.

Notwithstanding that he got voted down 8 to 4, it appears that he is continuing what appears to the SCPR to be "provocateur-in-chief" in the sense of making one parliamentary move after another to keep council unsettled, to say the very least.

He seems to have Law Director Joseph Martuccio in a dither as he endeavors to play King Solomon (Martuccio is a thespian, you know) in rightly dividing the law on the question of whether or not the early January election of Frank Morris by a 6 to 5 vote (independent councilman Richard Hart abstaining) will withstand a legal challenge.

Legal challenge?

Yes, Martuccio fears that someone or some entity affected adversely by an ordinance with Morris as vice president of council might challenge on the basis of Morris not having been legally elected.

You do not have to be a biblical scholar to know that Solomon of about 1000 B.C. was going to cut a baby in half so that each contending mother could claim victory, but the "true" mother gave way to save the life of the child.  All of which was a smart thing for the "true" mother to have done as she ended up with the child as a consequence of the "wisdom of Solomon" in ferreting out the identity of the "true" mother.

But "Solomon" Martuccio should know better than play that card with the contending members of council because it is very obvious that nobody is going to give ground  - even if it means saving Canton City Council from itself.

Acting like a "wild 'West,' Councilman Thomas West is resembling a gunslinger of yore rather than a 2014 city councilman.

Canton City Hall these days appears to be a  preparation staging area for the gunfight at O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona circa 1881 than an abode for Solomon about to dispense his wisdom.

On one side:

Side?

Yes.

The four (notice that West is the lead signature) fired off this letter yesterday:

Hmm?

And the other side?

The seven responded this way:

Note that Councilmen Griffin and Babcock didn't sign on with either group.

So what is this "special meeting" designed to achieve, when it occurs?

Well, Councilman West has worked hard to convey the impression he is doing God's work (the SCPR's attribution, not West's) in doing a "come, let us reason together" session.

But it is obvious that at least of his fellow councilmen are not buying his line.

One source tells The Report that West's ultimate game plan is is believed to be to force Councilwoman Chris Smith as a "compromise candidate."

And beyond this, the source says that West though he appears to be "the main man;" he is not, and is actually doing the bidding of  Mayor William J. Healy, II.

This take on the situation has Healy desperate to put Morris aside.

Already under Morris' leadership, council is going over Healy's budget proposal for 2014 with "a fine toothed comb" and thereby putting the mayor under scrutiny that he has never had to abide during his one and one half terms as Canton's chief executive.

Moreover, there is the committee assignment thing, which is the prerogative of the vice president/majority leader of council.

Already Morris has placed two allies in key committee posts.  West has been removed as chair of the Judiciary Committee in favor of Edmond Mack.

Mack is a proponent of charter government for Canton and had been frustrated by West in getting the legislation out of council so that council could vote on whether or not to submit the proposal to Cantonians for a vote.

Mayor Healy is thought to be an opponent of Canton going charter.

With Mack as Judiciary chair, the legislation will - at least - get to the reading/voting stage.  However, The Report is told that the pro-charter council members only have 7 of the necessary 8 votes to send the issue to ballot.

But that could change.  The Report believes that one of the remaining five members is persuadable.

But we shall see.

Another burr in the posterior of Mayor Healy has to be Greg Hawk's return (D, Ward 1) as Finance Committee chair.  Before the budget review process initiated by the Morris-led faction of council, Hawk was the only check on Healy's spin on this or that financial agenda item he has presented to council in the past.

And make no mistake about it, William J. Healy, II does hold political grudges.

The two have been bitter combatants over the six years of Healy's rule on the 8th floor.  The mayor is savvy enough to know that with Hawk being "in the majority" on key votes, he has leverage that has the potential to make Healy "cry Uncle" on finance issues that Hawk is intent upon.

As majority leader Chris Smith, Healy has to be thinking,  would likely restore West to chair of Judiciary and "anybody but Greg Hawk" as chair of Finance.

Of course, outside observers know it is likely that any such development would likely nudge council into out-and-out warfare.

Healy has clearly aligned himself with West and Smith and the SCPR believes that the West (and Smith) agenda being played out is in reality the William J. Healy, II agenda.

There is no doubt that West and Smith get something out of this fight if Chris Smith surfaces a majority leader.

The question for Canton's version of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral is who will be left standing when all the "political" bullets have been fired?

(VIDEOS) COUNCILMAN WEST KEEPS CANTON COUNCIL "IN A 'STATE OF TURMOIL?"'

 VIDEOS

LAW DIRECTOR JOE MARTUCCIO
ASKS FOR
"EXECUTIVE SESSION"

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

CANTON COUNCIL

CONSIDERS

COUNCILMAN WEST'S

"POINT-OF-ORDER? 

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

COUNCILMAN FRANK MORRIS

ON

WEST'S PERSISTENCE

============================ 

COUNCILMAN EDMOND MACK

ON

WEST "POINT-OF-ORDER"

============================ 

LAW DIRECTOR JOE MARTUCCIO

ON

MAKING

HIS LEGAL OPINION

KNOWN

Last night's Canton City Council meeting seemed to be an uneventful proceeding.

Until that is, council got to the "miscellaneous business" of its agenda.

But first as an aside, the SCPR notes that among the handouts made available to the public attending the meeting was a list of the 2014/15 committee member list which is a perogative of the vice president/majority leader of council.

And "apparent" (see discussion below) Majority Leader Frank Morris did make some significant changes!

Three notable ones in the view of The Report.

West is out as Judiciary chair.

He is replaced by Ward 9 councilman Edmond Mack (a big "charter government advocate") who was frustrated by West bottling up bottling up his desire to have legislation drafted to present to council for consideration of placing it on an upcoming ballot for Canton voters to weigh-in on.

Also, Greg Hawk (D, Ward 1) who returns as Finance chair likely to the consternation of Mayor William J. Healy, II.

Other than a few awkward moments as Councilman Frank Morris (D, Ward-9) struggled in the absence of council president Allen Schulman to man the reins of council (which all appeared to take "in good humor"), it was at the very end of the session that things got somewhat turbulent.

Back on January 6th's meeting, there was a fight between Ward 2 councilman Thomas West (a Democrat)  and Morris as to who was going to be vice president/majority leader of council.  Morris won that vote with a 6 to 5 majority with newly elected independent Richard Hart abstaining.

West takes the position that under the Ohio Revised Code, council rules and Roberts Rules of Order, the vote failed to have elected a majority leader in that 7 votes are required.

Hence this video of his "point-of-order;" Edmond Mack's counter "point-of-order," and an 8 to 4 vote in favor of sustaining Councilman Morris' ruling that West's "point-of-order" was - in a sense - "out-of-order." 



It appears to many on council that West lost his opportunity to challenge Schulman's January 6th ruling that 6 votes was sufficient under all the legal standards that he thought were relevant to have been elected vice president of council and concomitantly majority leader.

To add to the confusion was an executive session of council called by Law Director Joe Martuccio at the end of  the "council-of-the-whole" meeting that generally precedes Canton City Council "regular" council meetings.



Topic?

Martuccio's "work-in-progress" opinion (requested at the January 6th meeting by Councilman West) as to whether or not - in his opinion - Councilman Morris is in fact the "legal" (where have we heard that question before?  [remember Darrow versus Maier and the Stark County Democratic Party central committee]) vice president/majority leader of Canton City Council.

Martuccio told the SCPR back on the 6th that he planned on having the opinion ready by last night's meeting.

Why the delay?

Martuccio - apparently - cannot find satisfactory (to him) legal precedent to make a determination one way or another.

However, it could be - in the opinion of the SCPR - that he is delaying the decision in the hope that West and Morris will resolve their differences making "moot" (again ghosts of Darrow/Swanson v. Maier [a mandamus action] and the Supreme Court dismissal thereof - the SCPR believes - for mootness) any opinion he would render.

So where does the events of last night leave matters?

It depends on who you talk to.

Frank Morris thinks the matter is over.



So does Counciman Mack.



But Thomas West does not.



And, Law Director Martuccio:  who knows?



Although he apparently agreed with West during the above videotaped discussion that a special council meeting on the part of council as a whole to consider, once again, the majority leader question is something he agrees with; he seemed to be backing off that after council adjourned.

As if that were not enough to add to the confusion and hence turmoil of the evening, Director Martuccio intimated in the following video that if West and Morris cannot have a meeting of the minds on resolving the matter within the context of a special council meeting, then council may see itself involved in litigation.

If that happens then Canton City Council has seen absolutely nothing so far (as unsettling as proceedings have been) of the degree of turmoil that would ensure, no?

One final note.

Between the Committee of the Whole meeting and the "regular" council meeting last night, the SCPR had a "chit-chat" with Councilman Kevin Fisher (D, Ward 5).

So?

Well, he had an apt description of his political party that may explain in large part why Canton City Council (consisting of all Democrats, except for the "independent" Richard Hart) is experiencing great turmoil in deciding among themselves whether or not council has a legally elected vice president/majority leader.

Fisher said of Democrats:  "All we know is that we are not Republicans, beyond that we do know what we are!"

Hmm?

Meanwhile Canton City Council "remains in turmoil?"

THE HEALY ADMINISTRATION'S (TOM WEST) "REDFLEX" TRAFFIC CAMERAS REQUEST IS HEADED TO THE "DEAD LETTER" FILE AT CANTON CITY COUNCIL?

MAYOR HEALY IS BACK ON TRAFFIC CAMERAS

On September 17, 2012, Mayor William J. Healy, II of Canton seemed to suffered a fatal blow to his hopes to bring Redflex traffic cameras to downtown Canton.

The SCPR wrote on the 18th (LINK) "[l]ast night's council action was an outright defeat for the mayor." 

But was it?  Is this 3rd try at Redflex headed to the "dead letter office?"

In a nightmarish, Freddie Krueger-esque fashion - "I'm back" - Hizzhoner, through the offices of Ward Two Councilman Tom West, has returned to trying to get Redflex traffic cameras installed at select downtown intersections (e.g. Market Avenue, North and 12th) as a "pilot project."

Call it getting "a foot in the door," "a trojan horse," or whatever but Healy is proving again that he a "never-say-die" politician.

And somehow he is consistently able to maintain a group of loyalists at his side to keep him politically alive.  In this instance, witness his hold on Councilpersons West, Smith (Ward 4), Dougherty (Ward 6), Babcock (at-large) and Cole (at-large).

In the long run, knowing this mayor and how pugnacious he is; he never, ever is going to give up on any issue.  Even if it is clear that most Cantonians do not want what he is offering up.  That's how much ego this man is consumed with.

EXAMPLES OF HEALY WORK-AROUNDS

When it became apparent that his plan to interest oil/gas drillers into fracking (a controversy to a number of citizens and councilpersons) on Canton owned lands was not going to make it through council, he withdrew it and went back to the drawing board.

Mark the SCPR's word; in time Healy will be back.  His ego simply will not allow him to be bested by anyone.

When it became apparent in August of this year that Healy's plan to dismantle the "independent" Canton Board of Park Commissioners (which has be around for nearly 100 years) was not going over with council and many in the electorate, he withdrew the proposal.  (Reference:  see Canton to seek levy for parks, Ed Balint, The Repository, November 28, 2012)

End of story?

Not on your life!  Not with the "my way or the highway" Healy!!

It appears that he now has commandeered the Canton Recreational Services Coalition (CRSC) which was started about two years ago considering ways and means to possibly merge the Canton Parks and the Canton Joint Recreational District.

Commandeered?

The SCPR thinks so.

He has his main man administrative assistant Derek Gordon serving as "interim assistant park director" and Healy himself has led the discussion with the CRSC (undoubtedly made up of those committed to doing his bidding) to get it to promote putting a levy on at next May's primary election towards getting funding together to provide the finances for his outflank council move.

The eventual goal:  merge the recreation and park functions of Canton into an entity controlled by the mayor of Canton.

And for anyone who knows Healy, it would be a big mistake to count him out on reaching his goal.

This guy is a political Houdini who has demonstrated that "a cat with nine lives" has nothing over him.

WILL HE BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE TRAFFIC CAMERAS?

No, if you believe Ward 5 Councilman Kevin Fisher's take on the matter.

Here is what Fisher had to say to a SCPR inquiry about West's effort as specifically whether or not the 7 to 5 "no" will hold this coming Monday's council meeting.

Martin,

I have every confidence that the Redflex contract will be defeated by the 7 to 5 margin, if not by a wider one. Despite the rebranding of the contract as a "Pilot Program", this is the same vote that was held a mere couple of months ago and in my frequent discussions with my colleagues on city council, I have seen zero indications that anyone has flip flopped on the issue since then.

I did not attend the sales pitch given by Reflex Tuesday evening. As I said when I was invited, that my presence would merely be a waste of my and everyone else's time. I am absolutely opposed to red light/speed cameras at every level and there is no sales pitch that Redflex could make to overcome my constitutional and philosophical objections. Furthermore, I do not feel that Redflex as a company is the type of vendor that Canton should consider doing business with (see their long history of suing their municipal "partners") even if I did not hold such objections.

The people of Canton are absolutely opposed to these cameras and recognize them as nothing more than a "cash grab" and their council has rejected them twice in 3 years. I look forward to voting against them again and putting this issue to bed for good. I think 3 "bites at the apple" are plenty for the proponents of Redflex and once we reject them for the third time, we should consider the topic dead.

... 

Kevin Fisher

As The Report has written before, this council with the new "four young turks" (and yes, Frank Morris, you are young) as newly elected members being on board; Healy ought to be getting used to the new reality that his slick moves are losing their teflon qualities with the growing discernment that increasing numbers of councilpersons are demonstrating.

It has been talked for some time now that Healy is tiring of the mounting rancor he faces from week to week in the hubbub of Canton politics and governance and is looking to move on to a venue more fitting of a man of his political talents.

In a direct question put to him by the SCPR on his looking to move on, he has not denied that he is indeed surveying the field of possibilities.

While The Report thinks he has the "cloak and dagger" political skills and other oily qualities needed to succeed at a higher level, yours truly thinks it would be a mistake for voters to carry him to a higher level.

Why, you ask?

Though many of the folks who staff elective offices across Ohio and the nation are not Sunday School teacher types, it seems to The Report that Mayor Healy is over-the-top in terms of his ego and Canton government and politics should be his last stop on the political trail.

The nightmares "for the people" need to stop!!!

(VIDEO: CREIGHTON WISHES CANTON MAYOR HEALY "A HAPPY BIRTHDAY?") TODAY'S BLOG: CAN HEALY ALLY COUNCILMAN TOM WEST GET REFLEX TRAFFIC CAMERA PILOT PROJECT THROUGH HIS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE?

On the November 5, 2012 Canton City Council agenda under Communications, there was item 396:

As the SCPR sees this move, it is an effort by the Healy administration through staunch council ally Tom West (Ward 2) to feign that the twice before defeated camera legislation is not really about city finances but a law enforcement (public safety).

Hence the assignment of a consideration of the letter to the committee which West heads up as chariman:  Judiciary.

In council's latest rejection of the installation cameras on September 17th (LINK TO PRIOR BLOG), the matter made it to the full council through the Finance Committee:

The nub of it all is that Judiciary is predominated by Healy-independent-capable councilpersons whereas Finance is not.

So it becomes a real test of the strength of West as chairman as to whether or not he can get the proposed legislation before the full council in hopes that the Healyites can flip one of the councilman (The Report thinks Griffin) from the September vote.

That gets the ordinance's fate into the hands of Council President Allen Schulman's hands which, the SCPR thinks, means a Healy win.

In quite a turnabout from a couple of years ago when Schulman and Healy were at loggerheads (e.g. Schulman excoriating Healy about getting Redflex connected campaign contributions), he now seems to be a reliable partner with Healy in running the city the Healy way.

On controversial legislation in Canton these days, Healy can count on five automatics (Babcock, Cole, Dougherty, Smith and West).  After those five, Healy has to do some finessing, some arm twisting, some wheeling and dealing to get things going his way.

Healy may have some leverage with long time political adversary Greg Hawk nowadays.  Hawk,
The Report believes, desperately wants to be the successor to Canton City Treasurer Bob Schirack.  Accordingly, wouldn't Hawk be vulnerable to swinging Healy's way on something like the traffic lights camera issue in exchange for a "wink and a nod" on Healy supporting him for the treasurer position?

It seems rather obvious that the attempted re-opener on the Redflex cameras is an example of the proverbial "getting the foot in the door."

The plan?

Get a demonstration pilot project up and running and demonstrate via the numbers that downtown Canton is a safer place.

Of all the criticisms of traffic light cameras, to wit,  (from the September debate)

there is one documented positive from many jurisdictions across the nation that have cameras installed at traffic lights:

There is a research based and thereby documented 25% reduction in traffic accidents as a consequence of the cameras being present which, the research attests to:   causes drivers to be more cautious when approaching intersections.

The bottom line though will not be the relative merits of the argument, pro and con.

Rather it is the political skill of Mayor Healy and his desire to - longer term - get the city's hands on about $1 million in additional revenues in order to help solve its financial problems.

Will this latest political gambit work?

Can he and his political protege Tom West get the legislation through the Judiciary Committee?

If so, can they (joined by the other four Healy automatics) get that vote or two from the remaining seven councilpersons to get it through the full council?

As the SCPR has observed many times, Mayor William J. Healy, II is the slickest, brassiest and most audacious politician to ever serve on the eighth floor of Canton City Hall.

The Report, for one, would not count Healy out on this one.

A sidenote.

Things, apparently, are picking up for Mayor Healy with his former adversaries Janet Creighton (whom he defeated in her re-election bid for mayor in 2007) and Tom Bernabei (whom he fired from his post as chief-of-staff in the first Healy administration), both of whom are now Stark County commissioners.

At last Wednesday's commissioners meeting, Creighton brought up that Wednesday was the birthday of a Bernabei daughter and that the day was doubly significant as being the birthday of Mayor Healy.

Her stunning announcement (obviously tongue-in-cheek)?

She sent Mayor Healy a birthday card and impliedly suggested Bernabei should do the same for his "favorite" mayor.

Commissioner meetings are getting to be very entertaining these days.

Here is a video featuring Creighton and her birthday talk.

(VIDEOS) DEMOCRACY IN ACTION! DOES CANTON CITY COUNCIL FEEL "UNDER THE GUN" ON THE FERAL ANIMAL (CAT) ISSUE?

UPDATE:  02/08/2012 at 09:45 AM - Having realized that a post-Canton-City-Council meeting mini-press conference (involving the SCPR and a WHBC reporter) was inadvertently omitted from the original video featuring Councilman Barton (at the end of the blog), The Report is supplementing via this update a video of the post-meeting interview.



ORIGINAL BLOG

For the past two weeks what Canton is going to do in terms of animal control within the city has been a "hot button" with Canton City Council (Council).

And it hasn't helped any to defuse the controversy that Canton's animal control officer, Phil Sedlacko, submitted his resignation to Safety Director Thomas Ream last Thursday in an apparent move to force the hand of Council to renew his contract for an extended period of time.

The SCPR's take is that most if not all of her fellows do not agree with Councilwoman Mary Cirelli; nevertheless she expressed her view that the Sedlacko action was a ploy tantamount to putting a gun to the head of Council.

Her description caused a sharp reaction from Majority Leader David Dougherty.  Here is a video of that part of last night's meeting.



Understanding time considerations (about 18 people on the list to speak) Dougherty himself last night was in the view of the SCPR unnecessarily brusque and caustic with citizens appearing before Council (not just on the feral animal issue) who spoke more than the 3 minutes allowed by Council rules.  Dougherty was sitting on the timer as if he was timing the finish of a highly competitive 100 yard dash.  Hmm?

The Report has been at a number of Council meetings in recent years and is well taken with how Council President Allen Schulman handles the exact same situation with diplomacy and classy treatment of offenders.

Dougherty would do well to take lessons from Schulman or defer to another councilmember (when Schulman is absent) who has better skills in interacting with citizens addressing Council.

It seems to the SCPR that Canton will in time solve the controversy over the treatment of feral animals running the streets of the city.

Everybody appears to be united on whether or not Canton needs to continue to have an animal control officer and the consensus seems to be:  absolutely, Canton will continue to have an animal control officer.

So what is the question?

First, whether or not it will continue to be Phil Sedlacko?  Councilwoman Chris Smith and Councilmen Greg Hawk and Tom West and spoke highly of him but he  drew negatives from Councilwoman Cirelli and Councilman Frank Morris.

Here is a video of councilmembers talking about Sedlacko himself.



If Sedlacko's surprise resignation (which Ream, as of Monday night, was holding in abeyance) is an indication of a "my way or the highway" (which is typical of a number of Healy administration folks including the mayor himself), then he could be history at his own hand.  For The Report's sense of the situation is that if he will abide with whatever policy Council settles on, he will be renewed for a longer term.  Area media reported yesterday that Sedlacko has accepted the 90 day contract passed by Council on Monday for $6,782.25.

Because it seems to The Report that Council is of a mood to change its animal control policy to accommodate some of the concerns of the opponents to current Canton policy.  However, the SCPR believes that Council will only do so provided that the opponents present Council with a viable, workable and realistic plan.

A simple "Trap, Neuter and Return" policy is not going to fly in Canton.   As Councilman Hawk told yours truly is that he has to deal with ward residents who will not accept as an answer that a trapped cat is returning to the neighborhood to take up where it left off.

So abating the unacceptable wild animal behavior (cat or otherwise) seems to be the key.  And if opponents to the euthanasia track that the city is currently on want to be effective, they must come up with a plan that empowers councilpeople to solve ward resident problems.

The SCPR did contact one of the opposition leaders for elaboration on this point and this is how he (Toby Franks, who appears on the video below) responded via e-mail, to wit:

...

We do work with people in the neighborhoods resolve their issues, and its actually rare that we find an area that cats simply cannot be returned to. Cat-haters & cat-lovers, we ALL want the same thing - less cats outdoors.

The issue is how do we do it humanely & effectively.

If it truly is a hostile environment & the cats lives would be in danger, there is the last resort option of relocation to a farm or other feral-friendly location. Relocations are rare & must be done carefully. Alley Cat Allies offers a guide to safe relocation of feral cats.

The removal of feral cats from an area creates a vacuum that is quickly filled by new cats. Survivors of the cull invariably breed back to capacity & new cats move in. It’s called the Vacuum Effect & it’s very well documented. Trap & Kill is expensive, ineffective & inhumane.

Thankfully, forward-thinking communities are moving away from it & adopting the TNR approach. Even our neighbor to the east, the Village of East Canton has a S/N program for feral cats.

... 

With TNR the sterile, vaccinated cats are returned to their territory, so the breeding stops. The population is stabilized immediately & begins to decline naturally & gradually over time. And nuisance behaviors like scent marking, yowling, fighting stop as well.

So instead of a vacuum that is quickly filled by new cats, you have a stable population that creates a disease-free, kitten-free buffer zone & the population decreases over time.

... .

Canton City Council has the very best forum in Stark County (when Schulman is at the head) for citizens to express themselves at the Public Speaks part of Council's agenda.  And The Report's take is that the speakers are genuinely welcome and councilmembers appear to listen to them very attentively.  And, from time-to-time, it is apparent that citizens do affect councilmembers' thinking as they formulate policy.

Here is a video from the perspective of the citizens (in abbreviated format) that is a representative sampling of the feral animal Public Speaks debate which occurred Monday night.



Last but certainly not least is a video of Councilman Barton and his management of the issue.

Councilman Barton in his "on camera" response is especially impressive in the way he, as chairman of the Personnel Committee, is managing deliberations and the process of solving Canton's animal control problems.

(VIDEO) CITY OF CANTON: A LEGISLATIVE FIGHT OR A POLITICAL FIGHT?

Canton City Council has been fighting over the form of updating its building code and concomitant inspection requirements for about a year.   It's a fight between the "white hats" (those favoring mandatory inspections at sale or once every five years) and the "black hats" (those who worry about the cost to slumlords and whether or not the increased standard of inspection will pay for itself or threaten an additional drain on the city's general fund).  An outsider might think this is a good thing.

Why?

Because one of Canton's many problems is neighborhood deterioration.  For what good building codes are, Canton's prior codes have not been effective towards deterring slumlords from coming to Canton in droves to collect their rents, put very little - if anything, into the rental units and then move on when their houses/apartments collapse.

And the SCPR agrees that it would be a good thing for Canton to vigorously attack its neighborhood.deterioration problem.

But is restoring the neighborhoods "really" what's at play in this fight?

The Report thinks not.

This fight is against a political backdrop of incumbent Democratic Mayor William J. Healy, II straining to survive an intraparty challenge from Councilman Bill Smuckler come May, 2011 and the Democratic primary.

What the Smuckler forces on council will be doing from now until May will be to find one issue or another to make political hay for the challenger.  And, Healy supporters will be doing the same for the mayor.

Doesn't mean that some "good for the citizens" won't come out of the political vying.  But it does mean that the governors (the mayor, the appointed officials and the council members) cannot for the life of themselves get out of their primarily political stance into a more civic model.

Unless and until Canton's governing class learns to minimize the political, Canton will continue its downward slide.  New businesses will not be attracted to a city in constant political turmoil.  All that will get any new economic development to Canton will be the special deals (i.e. tax incentives, et cetera).  Once those evaporate, the businesses will vamoose.  For there is nothing inherently compelling about Canton as it presently stands and is operated.

All Cantonians can hope for is for May 3, 2011 to come and go quickly.

Perhaps, if Smuckler wins - remember, the word is "perhaps," Canton has a better chance to get out of the "politics for the sake of politics" mode and move on to a bona fide repair of its image, its infrastructure and onto "real" economic development.

Smuckler appears to be less political than Healy.  However, that may not be saying much.  Mayor Healy is, in the view of the SCPR, a master politician.  Maybe enough of a master to survive as mayor of Canton.

Here is a video snippet of the argument between the two adversaries Healy (West) and Smuckler (Hawk).

MAYBE IT WON'T BE FIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT SCUTTLES THE CHARTER INITIATIVE IN CANTON; THE NUMBER MAY BE DOWN TO THREE?

AN AMPLIFICATION:  It has been pointed out by a reader of the SCPR that by the Rules of Procedure of the Canton City Council that a council member may ask Council as a body to remove an item from within a committee. If Council refuses to remove the matter from committee and the committee never reports it out, then the matter is effectively killed at the end of Council's term.  It would have to be reintroduced in a new term.

If Council does remove, by a majority vote, the measure from Council, then it goes to Council's Committee of The Whole where it will need seven votes (a simple majority) to get on City Council's agenda for consideration of passage.

ORIGINAL POST

The SCPR wrote on Tuesday that Councilman Mark Butterworth (R - 8th Ward) may have trouble finding eight of twelve votes within Canton City Council to get a measure on the May, 2011 to create a Charter Commission to formulate a charter for Cantonians to vote on in November, 2011.

Like it or not, this measure is getting caught up in politics and the political insecurities of at least two of the councilpersons who sit on the Judiciary Committee headed up by Councilman Thomas West (D - 2nd Ward).

So it could turn out that only three "no" votes (25% of the voting members of Council) refusing to report out the measure to full Council will kill the charter movement for Canton.

Another factor is that the Healy administration is cool to the idea of Canton going to a charter.

In a larger since, it is also probably a case of the "establishment" caucus of the organized Stark County Democratic Party on Canton Council who are trying in a stealth manner to kill the charter proposal.

Why?

Because the establishment folks are in charge now and any change is likely seen by them to threaten their control of Council.

Who are some of these folks?

A source tells the SCPR that Councilmen West, Cole and Hawk, if they can conjure up a superficially plausible basis for voting "no," they will do so.  The source says that one of the consequences that West and Hawk fear is that the drawing of new council district lines under a charter would put them in the same district and therefore have to run against one another in a face off.  Such a race would likely mean the end of Hawk's career on Council.

The SCPR believes Mayor Healy is "cool" to the idea of charter because Councilman Bill Smuckler is for it.  Smuckler has for many years advocated for Canton going to a charter form of government.  Smuckler is likely to run against Healy in next May's Democratic primary to be the Democratic nominee for mayor in November's election.

An important factor in all of these political maneuverings is that a Republican (Mark Butterworth) is pushing the charter thing.  A mistake that Butterworth made in proposing a charter commission is not getting a Democrat, any Democrat, to join him.

His mistake seems credible to the "establishment" Democrats being whispered around City Hall that this is a plan by Republicans to gain more representation on Council.  After all, it was Republican operative Michael Cunnington who earlier this year call a community meeting at Malone College to discuss the idea of circulating petitions for a ground-up movement to install a charter in Canton.

The SCPR is told that Cunnington ran into a buzz saw of "establishment" Democrats beholden to Mayor Healy who caused a ruckus at the community meeting over the Cunnington proposal.

The SCPR believes that it is a difficult task that the "establishment" Democrats have to pull off.  With Canton being in the financial/economic doldrums, it is clear that something has to be done to reverse Canton's fortunes.  But what?

Well, how about a change in structure of government which suggests the infusion of "new" blood into Canton government?  One not overwhelmingly controlled by the organized Stark County Democratic Party.

Cantonians are likely to be infuriated if they come to believe that they are being denied the right to vote on whether or not they want to go to a charter government by insecure Democratic politicians.

So the "establishment" Democratic forces have a touchy matter in their hands.

We will know better after August 9th and a meeting of the West-controlled Judiciary Committee at which Councilman Butterworth will seek to educate committee members on the ramifications of going charter.

Will this matter get out of Judiciary?

The SCPR thinks it depends on Councilman Joe Cole.

Why Cole?

Well, he is the new kid on the block in Council and has not really identified himself as being part and parcel with "establishment" Democrats on Council and also with the Healy administration.

The Report believes that if Cole signals he favors a vote of the people, then West and Hawk will likely flip over to voting "yes" with him.

But if he indicates strong reservations about charter proposal, it would not be surprising at all to see 25% of the members of Canton City Council deny the entire City of Canton electorate the opportunity to vote on the charter measure.

It all boils down to what the anti-charter folks can cook up that makes it appear to Cantonians that they are not being obstructionists.  But, rather, they are doing the responsible and productive thing for Canton.

The charter thing presents an interesting sideshow to the looming showdown between Mayor Healy and powerful Canton Council Bill Smuckler in a mayoralty face off in May of 2011!