(VIDEOS: ANGELI & CIRELLI) CITIZEN DELORIS ANGELI STEPS FORWARD TO CRITICIZE OPERATION OF CANTON COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION (CIC). WILL SHE BE HEARD? MUCH WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE TO REFORM THE CCIC METHODS OF OPERATIONS, NO?

It was a week ago today that the Canton Community Improvement Corporation (CCIC) met to consider the "accidental" (Mayor William J. Healy, II) and unauthorized use of a CCIC credit card account by Healy and other members of the organization from February through mid-summer of this year.  (LINK - see video of entire meeting included last Friday's SCPR blog)

The meeting as conducted was nothing more than window dressing for the organization to do formally what it had no choice but to do, to wit:  make it official that Healy's claimed "accidental" use was not approved by the non-profit, "quasi-governmental" corporation headed up by none other than the mayor himself.

Oh yes, Healy was asked by Canton law department attorney Thomas Burns to recuse and absent himself from the meeting (also, Service Director Warren Price) which request was complied with.

But one could not help but feel that members Steve Katz (Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce), Don Peterson, III (business representative [general manager of Q92 - Alliance] and, the SCPR believes, a personal friend of Healy), Robert Thompson (union representative - regional director of AFSCME, Region 8) and Canton City Council members Joe Cole (at-large) and Jim Griffin (Ward 3) were well aware that if they went further than the obligatory, they likely were in for a tongue lashing at the hand of Healy once the CCIC returns to its "business as usual" modality.

So it should be no surprise to anyone that the CCIC members failed to censure Healy.  While he says that the personal use of the credit card was inadvertent, the SCPR has found nobody who believes the claim.  But if Hizzoner has any distinguishing quality about himself, it is his audaciousness.

At the end of the meeting, Canton citizen Deloris Angeli (a member of the CCIC during the Janet Creighton administration) asked to address the members.

Request denied!

Here is a video of union representative and acting CCIC board chairman denying Angeli the right to address the board's members.



Had she been allowed to have her say, this is what she would have said, if permitted, last Friday:  (taken from email by Angeli to the SCPR, 09/25/2012)

• As a Canton business owner, former CCIC Board Member (under JWC) & supporter of the local art scene, I felt it was my civic duty to attend the Sept. 21 CCIC Board Meeting.
• During the meeting, it became very clear to me that this hand selected board (by Wm. Healy) was NOT capable in reprimanding Healy for:
• taking out Credit Cards WITHOUT their knowledge or approval.   
• ps..........note that there are no other community & economic development boards that have their own Credit Cards.  Any debt that incurred as a result of Healy's unilateral decision to unscrupulously obtain a credit card, should be the sole responsibility of Mr. Healy and not the responsibility of the CCIC or of the Board. After all, all expenditures must have the approval of the CCIC board prior to the purchase.
•  ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD....that there was going to be NO ACCOUNTABILITY on Healy's, Fonda Williams, or Linda Barnes part.
• My questions were about the accountability of the parties included:
•  What else has he been spending the tax payers money on???   
• Automatic blinds for the 8th floor?  
• Big screen TV [actually a "smartboard" with big screen TV capability] in the board room?
• ...  There are more employees on the 8th floor than ever before!!! 
• Shouldn't this money go somewhere else? Why cut the safety force while maintaining a fully staffed administration? 
• Healy reduced the starting salary for police officers, stating that anyone would take the job.
• These officers risk their lives for us. Yet Healy insists that he must pay higher starting salaries for his staff, while all they risk is carpal tunnel syndrome.
• We are a small city, getting smaller with each & every shooting, We need to do more to protect our citizens not the administration.

Under the category:  "How naive can you be," The Canton Repository Editorial Board published an editorial on September 25th - 'Embarrassed' mayor learns his lesson, in part, to wit:

.... a plea to the mayor: Please be more careful next time.

Pulling the wrong card out of your wallet? It can happen to anybody ... but 16 times?

It seems that the mayor is genuinely embarrassed by and remorseful for this episode. We trust that he has learned his lesson and will be more careful in the future.

A SCPR question to the editors:   How many embarrassing episodes over five years in office is the mayor entitled to before one concludes that the mayor is beyond redemption?  Was the mayor summoned to 500 Market Avenue, South for a metaphorical "a slap on the wrist?"

For the SCPR's part, it seems that Citizen Angeli has a much better take on Mayor William J. Healy, II than the editors of Stark County's only countywide newspaper which has the advantage of being the only newspaper in a one-newspaper-town.

Interesting, no?

After the meeting the SCPR caught up with Canton City Councilwoman Mary Cirelli who had a number of thoughts to share, to wit:



Cirelli:  "conflict in interest."  Hmm?  Interesting.

To the SCPR, while the claimed  "accidental" Healy credit card use and the unauthorized obtaining of the credit card in the first place are very important issues; one comes away from the September 21st meeting wondering about seemingly inherent conflicts in interest that may have been present in CCIC members voting to use CCIC funds to pay for certain expenses of a sitting board members (e.g. Steve Katz  in his Canton Chamber capacity and city employees in their official city employment capacity ) with Katz  and city representatives (Cole and Griffin) on the board voting to approve those very expenditures.

What if there had been a disagreement among board members about whether or not to pay for Katz attending an event at CCIC expense?  And what if he becomes a difference maker in the outcome of such a vote?

It also cuts that way for Canton's city officials who serve on the CCIC board but in an more exaggerated situation.

Let's see.  You have Councilmen Cole, Griffin, Mayor Healy, Service Director Price (all city officials) and a majority of the entire board (four out of seven) who can vote to pass what should have been a city of Canton expenses onto the CCIC.

Hmm?

Quite a temptation that is for a city that is strapped for cash, no?

The CCIC money is for economic development, is it not?

And The Rep editors did not pick up on the potential conflicts issue?  They are more concerned with being understanding of Healy and hopeful he has learned his lesson?

As the SCPR recalls, on asking legal adviser Burns about the potential conflicts after last week's meeting,  he responded that perhaps there needs to be more members added to the CCIC so that there are enough disinterested voting members who can make a conflict free decision.

The Report thinks he is correct.

What's more, there has to be a mechanism instituted so that Mayor Healy does not have carte blanche to appoint political friendlies to the CCIC board.

And lastly, why doesn't a citizen like Deloris Angeli have the opportunity to address the board on citizen concerns?

The SCPR came away from the September 21st meeting totally unimpressed with CCIC procedures and the manner in which it does business with taxpayer (from various levels) money.

The way Canton handles its CIC function through the non-profit, quasi-governmental mechanism provided for by Ohio law is one more reason why Cantonians are losing confidence in the integrity of city government.

It is appearing more and more that Canton will be asking for a tax increase come the primary election of 2013.

Hmm?

Who would vote to increase their taxes for a government that abides a quasi-government operational model demonstrated by the current makeup of the Canton Community Improvement Corporation?

(VIDEO) HEALY CAMPAIGN: COMPARES HIS ADMINISTRATION TO THAT OF FORMER MAYOR JANET CREIGHTON? STATE DEM CHAIR BASHES CREIGHTON AS DOES HEALY, BUT HE DENIES DISSING CREIGHTON WILL BE THE ESSENCE OF HIS CAMPAIGN FOR REELECTION. HMM?

One would think that Mayor William J. Healy would be happy that he defeated Republican Janet Creighton for the mayoralty of Canton in November, 2007 and just move on.

But it appears to the SCPR that he wants to keep Creighton in his political picture for some reason.

The Report was down to the Golden Lodge union hall on Harrison earlier today to take in Healy's formal announcement that he is running for reelection.

One of the Ohio Democrat's big political guns was in town today to endorse Healy in his run.  None other than Chris Redfern who is chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.  

His speech was a typical chairman-esque speech until he got to the place where he teed off on former Mayor Janet Creighton (R - now county commissioner).  Now that was sort of surprising to the SCPR.  

Then when Mayor Healy himself went after Creighton in his speech (to be published in its entirely in tomorrow's blog), yours truly got to thinking why all this Creighton bashing.  And The Report asked Healy about it.  Of course, he denied that Creighton would be a focal point of his race against Councilman-at-Large Bill Smuckler.  But then why the gratuitous attack on Creighton?

By the way, The Report talked with Creighton after the Healy meeting and she had two things to say:

First, she did not leave the cupboard bare for the Healy administration (ask Canton auditor employee Gary Young, she says) and, secondly, she is proud of her service in the Bush administration.

Here is the Redfern video from earlier today:  

SEE WARREN PRICE VIDEO. CANTON HAS A CASH FLOW PROBLEM. DOES THIS SIGNAL DEEPER ECONOMIC/FINANCIAL ISSUES? STARK COUNTY'S LOOMING ECONOMIC/FINANCIAL PROBLEMS!

Being Stark County's largest city, "as goes Canton, so goes Stark County?"

That's the position of the Stark County Political Report.

So when The Report heard Service Director/Chief-of-Staff Warren Price tell Canton City Council last Monday (see video below) that Canton needed to borrow (he called it an "anticipatory" loan) from itself (using the city's pooled cash resources) in order to beef up Canton's general revenue fund's liquidity (from which city wages are paid) to the tune of $2 million to ensure it was in a position to meet July's payroll, it caused the ears to perk up.

Here is a video of Price explaining the need for Canton City Council to approve the anticipatory loan.

So the SCPR went digging.  Question:  What does this "really" mean?

The "expert" and a very thorough and competent auditor Gary Young is the guy to talk to for the answers.

He says Canton, like many government units across America, is in a financial fix.  Tax revenues, he says, continue to lag (at about $200,000 rate this year compared to much higher [$1.4 million] last year) at a less alarming pace. However, that is not the total problem that Canton faces.

Young cited speculation that Canton's State of Ohio Local Government Fund allocation (because of Ohio's expected Fiscal Year 2012-2013 budgetary shortfall of about $8 billion) for 2011 could be cut at about a 25% rate (of about $5.5 million total for last year) for a possible projected dollar loss of $1.37 million).  But the blow, if it comes, could be softened by the overlap of Ohio's fiscal year budget (July 1 to June 30) with Canton's calendar year budget.  So for 2011, Canton might have to make up for only about $750,000 in cuts.

The Stark County Political Report has heard that for the new budget (2012-13), Ohio is considering dropping local government funding, in terms of it being an entitlement to Ohio's political subdivisions, and converting it into a grant process as a lure to get local governments to consolidate their operations.

If the 2011 local government fund hit materializes, Young says it means a new round of belt tightening for city operations.

As an aside, one wonders if state Representatives Slesnick (D - Canton, Canton Township & part of Perry), Scott Oelslager (R - Jackson, Plain and North Canton, Todd Snitcher (R - the rest of Stark County) and state Senator Kirk Schuring (R - all of Stark County, except for the eastern most part of Stark [Alliance and Minerva]) are paying attention?

The Report believes that Canton cannot expect much help of Slesnick.  The word that the SCPR hears is that Slesnick has a hard time staying the course in committee meetings, and he refuses to answer telephone calls of anyone (including the The Report's) who has tough questions for him.

Back to the anticipatory borrowings.

Canton, two years running now, has had to "borrow" from itself (its pooled cash funds) on a temporary basis.  Ohio law allows statutory cities like Canton to make such transactions, however, the "borrowings" must be repaid within six months.

The current two year cycle is NOT (capitalized for emphasis) the first time Canton has had to do the monetary (cash flow) manipulations.  From 1986 to 1992 Young says that Canton went through a similar "cash flow" borrowing cycle.

Young appeared to The Report to be skittish about Canton's long-term financial picture, but not the recent short-term "anticipatory" loan approval that Canton Council passed at last Monday's meeting.  

In fact, Young says, Canton could - if needed, which he says is not in the cards, use pooled cash resources to handle up to a $12 million "cash flow" six month loan.

It is the continuing but lessened slide in income tax revenues and the possibility of a local government funds hit that worries Young.

Also, at last Monday night's meeting, the SCPR spoke with Robert Torres (economic development director) about the Hercules rehab project.  All he could point to was that the developer continues to look for monies to continue with the project.  Torres said that the fact that the project has about $30 million in tax credits available to investors once the project is completed makes him confident that one day Hercules will be completed.

However one spins the plight of Canton, it is not a pretty picture for either the future of Canton or for Stark County as a whole.

Though Canton is not going belly up tomorrow, it continues to bleed as do Stark County departments of government (even with a sales tax revenue upward spike in June).  Stark County government (if the one-fourth of one percent sales tax is not retained in May, 2011) is facing 30 to 35 percent "across-the-board cuts" beginning in 2012. The SCPR is also hearing that at least one of Stark's townships could be in serious financial trouble.

The SCPR expects Republican Janet Creighton and Democrat Tom Bernabei to be elected as "new" commissioners in November.

On taking office, these two need to spearhead a taskforce to take a look at the total tax revenue situation with an eye towards coaching Stark's political subdivisions to look seriously and expeditiously at consolidations and their concomitant efficiencies.  Moreover, such a taskforce needs to work at developing a long range "united-countywide" economic development plan.

Word last week that Stark State College of Technology is buying 15 acres of land close to the Akron-Canton airport is encouraging news that could play into the economic development planning work that a new set of commissioners needs to embark upon.

Talk has started that the purchase could be the beginning of developing an enhanced Stark County high-tech base.

What Stark's movers and shakers ought to be doing is to push area legislators to advance the notion that Ohio should invest in developing new Ohio high-tech education infrastructure along the lines of the nation of India with its network of  the "best in the world" technical institutes.

A revamped Stark State College of Technology (SSCT) could be a prototype model for a gradually expanding Ohio program. 

Ohio's effort (as an adjunct to Ohio's Third Frontier program) should be integrally tied to actually functioning high-tech companies with a research and development nexus with academia (e.g SSCT), but with clear accountability for the companies to produce marketplace applications in exchange for receiving state government support.

The consummate modus operandi for all who fancy themselves as Stark County leaders should be to change the economic base of our county for the better.

As much as Canton mayor William J. Healy, II has been troubled in effectively conducting his administration, he could be a key person to teaming up with the likes of Bernabei and Creighton (assuming they will be  elected commissioners) to lead Canton, Stark County and all of its political subdivisions out of the economic doldrums.

Why Healy?

Well, there is no doubt that Healy is a very bright guy (graduated from New York University Stern School of Business [MBA]).  His only problem is that he has way too much ego and therefore thinks he can manipulate the world to do his will. 

What he needs to do and has to potential to do, is to use his intellect working with others in a constructive manner where there is something in it for everybody; not just him.

The only question is:  can he work with Bernabei (whom he fired) and Creighton (whom he defeated in an election)?

If he can, a Healy, Bernabei and Creighton grouping (as supplemented by other Stark County visionaries) could be a necleus for getting Canton and all of Stark County on an upward path.

Egos need to be set aside for the good of Canton and, indeed, for the good of all of Stark County.