(A VIDEO - YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS!) "MILD MANNERED & COMPOSED": CITIZEN ACTIVIST KRISTEN GREATHOUSE EMBARRSSES COMMISSIONER BOSLEY & FORCES HIM TO KEEP HIS WORD!

What a spunky, awesome lady! 


Kristen Greathouse had Commissioner Todd Bosley reeling at Wednesday's weekly commissioners meeting.


And you can add veteran journalist (Managing Editor at The Repository for years) turned chief county administrator to the list of thoroughly intimidated public officials at the meeting.


She did not raise her voice, she did not cry, she did not get hysterical and she did not show anger.  Kristen Greathouse did not do any of the things that public officials bank on a citizen doing to undermine themselves in terms of getting answers to questions when a citizen confronts a public official.


Generally, if a citizen goes emotional with a public official, the official bent on not responding will use the citizen's emotional condition as a reason for not doing so.


Commissioner Todd Bosley is one of Stark County's very best public official making people think he is going to do something while realizing that he cannot do what he is implying that he will do.  But he was no match for Greathouse on Wednesday.


On October 13th the Greathouse family dog (Roxy) slipped out of her collar and ran away.  She was found and since she had not identifying information on her, the finder took her to the Stark County Dog Pound (SCDP - Pound) thinking that a caring owner would go there to reclaim their pet.  And that is exactly what the Greathouses did.


Within about 14 hours of Roxy getting away from them, the Greathouses were in contact with the SCDP and ascertained that "Yes, Roxy was at the Pound and that they could claim her there."  However, to their horror, when the Greathouses appeared at the SCDP, they discovered that Roxy had been euthanized despite the finder and the Greathouses being assured that dogs were kept a minimum of 72 hours (in accordance with Ohio law) before euthanization of a dog in Roxy's category could be legally put down.


The Greathouses first appeared at the commissioners meeting on October 20th asking for answers.  Commissioners promised them a full and complete investigation and a full opportunity to inquire of the dog warden (Reagen Tetreault - a relatively new hire) as to the specifics of what Tetreault's investigation revealed.


As a background, Stark Countians should know that the Stark County Dog Pound has been a festering sore which has produced complaint after complaint after complaint but for which the commissioners have not found a remedy.  Earlier this year it appeared that commissioners were going to finally make progress on remedying the problems at the Pound when they fired Evert Gibson (who had been warden since 2004) and set out to hire a new warden.


But a strange thing happened on the commissioners' quest to find a new warden.  After the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board (appointed by the commissioners) went through scores of resumes and submitted a short list of job applicants that should be interviewed two things happened:

1. SCDPAB member Swank (a Canton policemen) thought he was to be a participant in the interview process, but was denied by Chief Administrator Mike Hanke when Hanke thought that he had passed on being an interviewee when - according to Hanke - Swank deferred to Dog Pound employee Fox.  Swank says that Hanke's perception was totally wrong.
2. Out-of-the-blue, a "leading" candidate for warden surfaced that none of the SCDPAB members had recommended.  Many thought that some kind of political fix was in the works.

Not long before the dog warden appointment, the stepson of a former Stark County commissioner (Tom Harmon - who was not then a commissioner) ended up with a deputy dog warden job.  Again, "out-of-the-blue."  Many SCDP observers suspected a political fix was in and therefore when the "out-of-the-blue" candidate for warden surfaced, suspicions were raised again.


For the record, Tom Harmon denies (as did then Warden Evert Gibson) that there was any Harmon initiative to have his stepson appointed.  Moreover, Commissioner Bosley (who seemed to be the sponsor of the "out-of-the-blue" warden candidate) denies emphatically that the candidate was set for an interview because of political relationship factors.


To understand the current situation with the commissioners and the dog warden situation, the SCPR thinks it is important for the general public to understand some of the background which underlie the current situation.


As soon as the SCDPAB raised an uproar about the "out-of-the-blue" warden candidate, then the commissioners quickly turned to Reagan Tetreault who had experience as dog warden in Holmes County.


When Tetreault was hired, she was put on a probationary period.  Two days before the probationary period passed (September 22nd), the SCPR asked commissioners whether or not she passed probation.  Answer?  Indeed!


So imagine the surprise of yours truly when the Greathouse problem surfaced as well as another one about the same date which had to do with the SCDP's failure to follow up on citations regarding two pit bulls which resulted in the dog's mauling a neighbor's dog to the point that the dog had to be put down.


These two incidents and the many complaints that were aired at the October 22nd monthly meeting of the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board leads the SCPR to believe that the commissioners should have known that the volunteers at the SCDP had questions about whether or not Tetreault was getting a grip on the chronic and long-lasting problems at the Pound.

Now back to the Greathouse matter.

Look at the video tape at the end of this blog carefully.


It starts out with Citizen Greathouse asking whether or not a commissioner promised "on the agenda"  public airing of why the family dog was the subject of a Pound error was going to happened this past Wednesday.  Bosley punted to Chief Administrator Hanke.   Being the "good soldier," Hanke offers a "rationale" for a commissioner discussion of the Greathouse incident not being on the agenda.


To her credit, Mrs. Greathouse was not buying the seemingly disingenuous response.  Moreover, she appears to indicate that the report issued by Warden Tetreault was a whitewash of the incident with no "real" answers of how the catastrophic error occurred.


Then she really knuckles down on Bosley by castigating him for putting the word out before the November 2nd meeting of commissioners that there would be no report on the 2nd but that there would be one on the 10th.  So the question on Wednesday from Greathouse:  Where's the report?"


Does Commissioner Bosley squirm.  Wow!!!


Then things really get weird as former Repository editor Hanke stands on "protocol" as being a reason that Tetreault should not be subject to examination on her report in a public setting.  Even Bosley knows this is not right in light of promises made by the commissioners at the October 20th meeting.


The only weakness demonstrated by Kristen Greathouse was her apparently willingness to discuss the matter in private, which, again strangely enough, former journalist Hanke seemed to be steering the matter.


Citizen activists should never allow the public's business to be discussed in private.  The SCPR believes this is nearly always an attempt by public officials to derail the possibility that the public sees their goofups which put them in a bad public light.


But it is understandable that Mrs. Greathouse just wanted answers in any venue.  Hopefully, in the future (let's trust she stays engaged as an involved citizen) she realizes that it is a huge public service to make public officials account for their actions in full public view.

In the end, Tetreault appeared at Wednesday's meeting and answered Mrs. Greathouse's questions.


For their part, the commissioners were clearly playing the part of "lame duck commissioners," Bosley having lost his election to state Rep. Todd Snitchler (R - Lake - the 50th), and Meeks having lost to Janet Creighton in the full term commissioner race.


It appears to the SCPR that there is a great deal of skepticism on the part of the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board that Reagan Tetreault is the answer for what ails the SCDP.


If such is the case, then they will have to wait for Janet Creighton and Tom Bernabei (the victors in their respective commissioner races on November 2nd) to come on board to get a resolution of their concerns.


But once again, a SCPR "tip of the hat" to Kristen Greathouse for being a classy citizen activist who demonstrated on Wednesday the attributes that aspiring citizen activists should model themselves after!

HOW IS STARK COUNTY'S NEW DOG WARDEN DOING? WILL SHE MAKE IT PAST THE PROBATIONARY PERIOD?

On Monday, May 24, 2010, Reagan Tetreault (former Homes County warden) took over at the much-troubled Stark County Dog Pound.  On May 23rd, the SCPR did a report on Tetreault's first public appearance (including video) in Stark County.

Recently the SCPR talked with Nanci Miller, who is a member of the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board and also involved with the Animal Welfare Society of Stark County (AWS), about her take on the first few weeks of Warden Tetreault.

Nanci was at the Stark County commissioners' meeting of June 23rd to share with commissioners the progress being madeon  the effort to put together a spay and neuter clinic for Stark Countians who cannot afford to spay/neuter their animals.

She shared that the Dog Pound Advisory Board (DPAB)is optimistic that Warden Tetreault is going to work out.  Moreover, she provided the SCPR with a copy of the minutes of the DPAB at its June 17th meeting which has an outline of the projects underway at the hand of the warden.

Readers of The Report will recall that the DPAB (members of which are appointed by the commissioners) got into a fuss of sorts with commissioners over whom should be appointed warden and how much import DPAB members should have.

The DPAB seemed to be concerned that "the fix was in" and that a person who was not on the top five or six list of the DPAB was going to end up with the appointment.  Also, Member Swank got into an argument with County Administrator Michael Hanke as to whether or not Swank was to be part of the interview process of candidates for warden.

Hanke took the position that interim Warden Kevin Fox was to be the "outside" person to be part of the interview process as - according to Hanke - Swank had deferred to Fox.

The import of all of this is that the SCPR does believe that the DPAB was effective to kill the political fix, if there was one.  The operation of the DPAB is a good model for all boards and commissions throughout Stark County.

They should not be compliant rubber stamps.  They should endeavor to be cooperative in the context of taking a critical look at the appointing authority.

Here is a list of achievements that Warden Tetrault hopes to attain at the Stark County Dog Pound:

NEW STARK CO DOG WARDEN STARTS MONDAY. WILL SHE OUTLAST HER PROBATIONARY STINT? SEE VIDEO OF NEW DOG WARDEN'S FIRST STARK COUNTY APPEARANCE

From the get-go Stark County's new dog warden Reagan Tetrault is established as a memorable person.

How's that?

Pronouncing her name is proving to be a challenge to county officials.

But those same county officials (Commissioners Bosley, Ferguson and Meeks) are hoping she becomes memorable for other reasons.  They desperately need her to clean up the mess at the Stark County Dog Pound. 

Recently, the commissioners dismissed Evert Gibson as warden because of their dissatisfaction with how he was managing the facility. 

To replace Gibson, the commissioners asked the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board (DPAB) to screen through about 127 applications for the position.  They did, but getting the commissioners to appoint one of the persons on their approved list ended up in a swirl of controversy.

What controversy?

First, despite a seeming okay from commissioners that a member of the DPAB could sit in on the interviews evaporated when DPAB member Steve Swank (a Canton policeman) showed up on the first day of two days of interviews.

Second, word leaked out that the commissioners were about to hire someone who what not on the list of five recommended by the DPAB.

The DPAB membership reaction?

The sent a e-mail protesting the implementation of the hiring process by commissioners and they threatened to resign en masse.  Moreover, they showed up at the meeting at which Ms. Tetreault was hired during which Commissioner Bosley and DPAB member Swank had a bitter exchange with Bosley demanding twice that Swank apologize to the applicant that the commissioners supposedly were going to hire other than Tetrault.

Accordingly, this who situation bears watching.

You can be sure that Warden Tetrault (beginning Monday, May 24th) will be under intense scrutiny from all quarters:  the commissioners, the Animal Coalition, the DPAB, the Friends of the Pound as well as all other stakeholders in the care of Stark County dogs.

And Tetrault has precious little time to establish herself as being the best choice of all 127 applicants.  One-hundred-twenty days (four months) may seem like a long time, but given the long term and grievous problems at the pound, it isn't.  It's not that she has to solve these problems within 120 days, however, she will have had to convince all the stakeholders that she is on the right track and is making significant progress.

One of the commissioners has told The Report that if she isn't, she will be let go at the end of the probationary period and the commissioners will reconsider who serves as dog warden.

As promised in the title to this blog, here is a video presentation of Dog Warden Tetreault at the Animial Coalition's quarterly meeting held this past Wednesday.