WHY CAN'T MARLBORO TRUSTEE DO LIKE TRUSTEE DAVE WOLF HAS DONE? "GET OFF" POLICE CHIEF RON DEVIES' BACK?

UPDATE: 08/06/2009 at 5:35 A.M.

A COMMENT FROM A SCPR READER:

I hope that all of those who crowded the Marlboro township hall in support of Chief Devies will remind their friends and fellow voters of the smarmy tactics employed by Tim Wise during his tenure as trustee. We can only guess at his reason for wanting a key to the police department! Really, would anyone with a brain want this guy to have access to sensitive information! What possible reason would there be for him to have access to it? Considering what this guy has already cost the township, not just in dollars, but in disruption, I would hope that this latest irrational request is nipped in the bud! It is a known fact that abused women, children and even animals return to their abuser just because they think any attention is better than NO attention. This must surely be the reason Tim Wise has had the audacity to file as a candidate for trustee. I guess he revels in attention, even when it is negative. What a pathetic creature! Marlboro has indicated, very strongly that we like and respect our police chief. I personally do not have a shred of respect for Tim Wise who in my opinion has proven himself unworthy of holding any public office.

THE ORIGINAL POST

Trustee Tim Wise (Marlboro Township) repeatedly says there is nothing "personal" about his bird dogging of Police Chief Ron Devies. Wise says he is just doing his job as a public official.

The SCPR for one does not believe Wise's protestations.

It as if Wise thinks that "mere assertion" is good enough to convince bystanders. But they are not. Many if not most people stand by the adage "actions speak louder than words."

The SCPR is of the opinion that Wise actions bespeak a man who is on a crusade. In other articles readers and search out from the search box on this blog (using various terms such as "Devies," "Wise," Wolf," Marlboro and the like), there are a number of descriptions of actions taken by Wise (and fellow trustee, Dave Wolf - in some but not all instances) which indicate to a reasonable person that Wise's real goal before leaving office is to excise Ron Deives as police chief in Marlboro Township

And even though Wise has filed to run for a second term, it's hard to believe that he believes he can win in Marlboro given all the political turmoil that he and Wolf have generated in this bucolic community.

The last time the SCPR blogged on the Marlboro saga, Wise was after Devies to get competitive bids on a Marlboro police vehicle; an obvious comeuppance on Devies' point that the trustees had not gotten competitive bids before replacing Kyle Devies with Compu-Tek to take care of township computers.

The latest Wise initiative on Devies is to insist that Devies provide him (and presumably all the trustees) with a master key to the Marlboro police facilities.

Devies tells the SCPR that he has heard through a highly credible third party that Wise believes Devies should be fired unless he turns over the master key.

Devies' response to the Wise demand is for Wise to convince his fellow trustees to pass a resolution requiring that he (Devies) provide the key. Devies says he has no choice by to comply, if the trustees so act.

Devies tells the SCPR that Trustee Schilig does not want a key and has publicly stated that it has been the longstanding Marlboro Board of Trustees policy that no trustee have a key. It appears that Trustee Wolf will be the deciding factor, if a resolution is made and seconded.

If the trustees were to get a master key, then they would (according to Devies) have access to locations where evidence gathered in ongoing investigations is housed on a "temporary" basis and would have access to other information that - while not in the "investigatory evidence" category would include information that is not available to the general public.

Many who have followed the Marlboro trustee/Devies saga are highly suspicious that the "apparent" Trustee Wise reason for wanting this or that action from Chief Devies is not the "real" reason.

There is a feeling among some of Wise's critics that he is beginning to square up with the political reality that he is very unlikely to be re-elected. Devies is confident that Wise will not be re-elected.

Could it be that Wise's final mission is to bring down the chief on his way out the door?

On a more positive note, Chief Devies says that he has had no difficulty whatsoever with Trustee Wolf since he was re-instated.

Wouldn't be a fitting end to Trustee Wise's apparent end as a Marlboro trustee come November that he take a page out of Dave Wolf's book?

IS MARLBORO TRUSTEE DAVE WOLF BEING OVER OPTIMISTIC?

In Marlboro Trustees Meet in Regular Session (July 17), Karen Humphries of the Hartville News reports:

... Dave Wolf stated that he "personally" feels that the issue regarding reimbursement of Ron and Kyle Devies for legal fees ... is "behind us."

Well, the SCPR is not so sure about Wolf's "personal" feeling.

Yours truly spoke with Ron Devies a few days ago and he says that still expects to be reimbursed for legal and medical expenses. However, the thinking now is that these matters are better left to a new board of trustees. Devies seems to be confident that a new board will treat him and Kyle fairly which, if fairness prevails, could obviate the need for litigation.

Devies believes that Wolf will not be running again and that Wise will be soundly defeated if he actually files to run.

Devies says that things have settled down in the township except for a needling irritation or two from at the hand of Trustee Wise.

Devies cited the example of his taking a police vehicle that is some ten years old to a local auto body person for an estimate for repairs so as to extend the useful life of the vehicle. According to Devies, Wise got wind of it and insisted that he get competitive bids which Devies says he is okay with.

Apparently, the getting multiple bids scenario grew out of challenges made to the trustees for going out and getting Compu-Tek to replace Kyle Devies as the maintainer of the township computer system without first getting competitive bids.

It appears relationships are still tender in Marlboro.

In the opinion of the SCPR, it will take the Wolf not running (or being defeated, if he does decide to run) and Wise being defeated, if he chooses to file and run, before normalcy returns to Marlboro Township.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GUY? MARLBORO TRUSTEE DAVE WOLF!

The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report/SCPR) knows politicians all too well.

There are some really good ones who are a credit to the profession and serve their communities admirably and effectively.

But most are mediocre at best who one hopes will heed the physician's dictum: "do no harm."

A few are like Dave Wolf and Tim Wise who are trustees in Marlboro Township. Together they unleashed an unfounded investigation on Marlboro Police Chief Ron Devies and his son Kyle that was one of, if not the very worst, of experiences that the Devies have had in their entire lives. The best that can be said of Wolf and Wise is that they are blundering political leaders who lack the people skills to manage a community.

All over a misunderstanding as to coordinating the transfer of computer management functions.

Subjecting the Devies to a criminal investigation over a misunderstanding was a very, very cruel thing to do - especially in light of the legal slam dunk administered to the complainants by Judge Lee Sinclair on May 20, 2009. A cruel thing indeed! Moreover, the legal smashing was easily foreseeable - even by a non-lawyer. A cruel thing indeed!

So let's get this straight. Wolf has the gall to tell folks assembled at Marlboro Township Hall this past Monday that "the attacks against him on the Internet were cruel." Presumably, Wolf was talking about the SCPR.

A fair minded person would say there was nothing cruel about the SCPR's work. Hard hitting and to the point, and sometimes - a tad humerous (both graphically and in writing)? Yes, indeed. Ever heard of straight forward journalism? Could be that Messers Wolf and Wise are used to the milquetoast that comes out of The Repository?

Weren't The Rep editors the ones who said the Devies needed to move on. Don't consider suing? Just act like it didn't happen.

Kind of like Wolf's 55 seconds at the lectern at the meeting to reinstate the chief. "Opps! The prosecutors made a mistake. We just did what we were told" (paraphrase)

Or Wise: "nothing personal."

How disingenuous!

The Wolf game is as old has humanity as existed.

His cruelty statement is his projecting his own behavior onto others.

In a bizzare and ironical sort of way, it is being too kind to Wolf and Wise to say they were merely cruel to the Devies.

There are much more harsh things some Marlboro residents are saying about this duo. Go to a trustees meeting and listen up.

Remember it was Wolf and Wise who requested the unwarranted investigation that caused the Devies dearly in terms of the humiliation visited upon them in a community that they had served with distinction. The waiting, the waiting, the waiting until they had their day in court. Five long months. The expense of it all. The sleepless nights. Wondering, wondering - would the system of justice work? Could they depend on the system to find them innocent of committing fourth degree felonies as they knew they were?

It is hard to believe that this can happen in America. But it did. And at the hands of "local" (your friends and neighbors as trustees) government in the bucolic community of Marlboro. Go figure!

Trustee Wayne Schilig told yours truly just a few days ago that this incident got way overblown and should have be settled way short of launching an investigation which resulted in the indictments being brought against the Devies. Moreover, he said that the township would be talking to the Devies about compensating them for what they went through.

Wayne Schilig was the compassionate one. He tried to mediate what was obviously an inadvertent action based on miscommunication. But Wolf and Wise stood firm. No second of Schilig's motion to reinstate. Just the taciturn Wold and Wise sitting there unconcerned - apparently - in the midst of a community wrecking process that was agonizingly painful to the Devies.

And The Report doesn't buy Tim Wise's "nothing personal." Trustee Wise needs to try that one on the uninitiated.

Marlboro and the Devies will get no apologies from Wise and Wolf. Undoubtedly, they have from Trustee Schilig.

Supporters of the Devies should encourage Trustees Wise (has taken out a petition) and Wolf to run for reelection.

No way! Many will say.

But think about it. What could be a more civilized way to give these two the boot?

Or would Wolf think voters exercising the franchise is cruel too?

Believe it or not; he probably would.