QUARTERLY UPDATE: SCPR "TOP 10" STARK CO POLITICAL SUBDIVISION ELECTED OFFICIALS - #4: ZUMBAR

VIDEO

Stark Treasuer

Alex Zumbar

&

Stark Auditor

Alan Zumbar

Explain to Stark Commissioners

Plan to Collect More Real Property Taxes

Alliance Republican Alex Zumbar has been an enormous success as Stark County treasurer.

As a Republican appointed as county treasurer by the "organized" Stark County Democratic Party via its central committee on October 31, 2011, he has to be like a festering sore to the likes for former Dems' chairman Randy Gonzalez (chairman presiding over the Zumbar appointment).

SCPR Note:  Most Stark Countians know the circumstances under which the Dems were compelled to appoint a Republican as a successor to the Dems original appointee; namely, Gary D. Zeigler (1999).  But for those who do not, here is a LINK to the SCPR blog of November 1, 2011 wherein The Report provides an exhaustive background on the reasons why.

With his initial term under his belt, Zumbar will be running for re-election in 2016.

The question is:  Will the Dems' try to unseat him this time around?

The SCPR thinks not.

But we shall see. The filing deadline in December 16th.

Republicans and good government Stark Countians were overjoyed to see Zumbar sworn in as a consequence of the unprecedented Stark Dems' action.

Zumbar started off as #5 on The Stark County Political Report Top 10 List of Stark County Political Subdivision Elected Officials.  On the first quarterly update, he moved up to #4 where he remains in the current update which The Report is publishing beginning last Thursday until the Top 10 List is completed.

Links to the prior blogs detailing why Zumbar deserves include:

• July 28, 2015,
• March 27, 2015,

Zumbar's latest work in looking out for the interests of Stark County taxpayers is shown in his teaming up with fellow Republican Alan Harold (Stark County auditor) to reduce the number of delinquent taxpayers on the books of Stark County real property assessment logs.

In the following video, Zumbar and Harold describe to the Stark County commissioners the extra-effort that they are going to at a minimal expense to county taxpayers in terms of additional publication costs (about $2,200) in having published on Sunday, November 15th the entire list of delinquent real property taxpayers even though Ohio law only mandates the publication of a list of current year "having gone delinquent" taxpayers.



Zumbar during his time as treasurer (both appointed/elected) has done a terrific job in setting up infrastructure (i.e. more secure physical facilities, procedural safeguards designed to prevent theft of county funds, and more secure policies in handling taxpayer funds) improvements.

An additional task Zumbar has taken on is the creation of and the administration of what is popularly known of as being a "Land Bank" wherein abandoned properties are targeted for demolition with funds provided by state of Ohio funding and local match dollars.

Canton in particular has benefited from the demolition.  But it has taken prodding by Zumbar to keep Healy administration officials on a timely basis of using available funds so that the Stark County does not lose any dollars which are not direct Stark County taxpayer dollars.

As with nearly all those on the SCPR Top 10 List, The Report has had criticisms of certain aspects of Zumbar's administration of the county treasury, to wit (from a prior blog):

• LINK to blog criticizing Zumbar:
• in his handling of certain Lank Bank matters,
• in seemingly injecting Republican politics into his relationship with Canton's Democratic council, and
• his apparent to the SCPR circumventing of appropriate employment practices in providing jobs to politically connected Republicans and thereby depriving the Stark County public from a fair opportunity to obtain these jobs,

But all-in-all Zumbar is a vast improvement over what preceded him.  Moreover, he continues to make improvements in treasury functions witness the above-described joint project with Auditor Alan Harold to collect delinquent tax dollars.

Accordingly, Zumbar for this quarterly assessment remains at #4 on the hard-to-qualify for SCPR Top 10 List of Stark County Political Subdivison Elected Officials.

QUARTERLY UPDATE: SCPR "TOP 10" STARK CO POLITICAL SUBDIVISION ELECTED OFFICIALS - #3: MACK

UPDATED:  8:15 AM

VIDEOS

ENCORE

COUNCILMAN MACK

GRILLS

CANTON FD CHIEF

As The Stark County Political Report sees it, the future of the city of Canton lies with Ward 8 Councilman Edmond Mack.

On November 3rd, there certainly was a dramatic improvement in the immediate prospects for the Hall of Fame City with the election of Stark County "independent" commissioner Thomas Bernabei (#1 on The Top 10 List of the SCPR's Stark County Political Subdivision of Elected Officials [List]) as mayor of Canton.

As well taken with Mack as the SCPR is, it is hard to understand his staunch support of incumbent Democratic mayor William J. Healy, II for election to a third term.

If, as he says, Mack's support of Healy has been grounded in discouraging Bernabei—a lifelong Democrat—wannabes from bolting the party in what Mack apparently sees as an exercise in political opportunism on Bernabei's part which undermines the stability of our democratic–republican system of government.

On this point, The Report and Mack see things differently.

Yours truly sees the Bernabei move as being a courageous if not sacrificial act to rescue Canton from the clutch of Healy whom The Report sees as one of the most, if not the most, accomplished, oily and self-serving politician that Canton has ever seen.

No doubt about it.  Along the path of his eight years of being mayor, Healy has made some positive contributions to the well being of Canton.

But the SCPR sees such as mostly happenstance which the grandstanding Healy was all to happy to claim credit for but which is mostly attributed to the effective check and balance function of Canton City Council under the leadership of Mack himself, his fellows Mariol, Morris, Fisher, Hawk and Smuckler.

Indications are that council members as a whole going forward will continue to see Canton government as being a strong council model of government vis-a-vis the executive function.

And that should be just fine with Mayor-elect Bernabei.  For he is a doer who wants to improve the quality of government wherever he has served and is not as contrasted to Healy looking for political credit.  Mack and his fellows over time will find Bernabei's style of leadership much more of a partnership type where there are plenty of laurels handed out to council members for concrete achievements with the new mayor content that the quiet intangibles inherent in his leadership style has been a "value added" factor in bringing Canton out of its decades old malaise.

Notwithstanding The Report differences with Mack on our respective takes on Mayor Healy's quality of leadership, yours truly thinks that Edmond J. Mack is his generation's most capable political/government leader for Canton and derivatively for all of Stark County going forward.

Hence his continuing at #3 on the SCPR Top 10 List.

Mack's most impressive contribution in terms of setting a marker for his progressive but stable trek for bring good government to Canton is his work on trying to convince Cantonians to adopt a charter form of government (LINK to prior SCPR blog).

Only

• a massive $10,000 contributed by Stark County's trade unions under the negative (in terms of the future well being of Canton) leadership of Local #94 Plumbers and Pipefitters business agent David Kirven (who, by the way, lives in North Canton) to a Political Action Committee,
• in combination with self-serving, protect-my-turf elected officials such as Canton auditor R.A. Mallonn and Canton treasurer Kim Perez,

prevented Mack from being successful in his quest to provide Canton government with one more too meet the increasingly difficult task of effective governance in these times and going forward.

SCPR Note:  After this blog's publication (LINK), Kirven and St. John disappeared from PAC filing documents on the documents being amended to the Stark County Board of Elections.

In time The Report thinks Mack will look back at back at thoroughgoing Democrats such as Kirven, Mallonn and Perez as having been detrimental to Canton's quest to get on a good-government-motivated-productive track to improving the city's footprint.

Mayor-elect Bernabei has not lost his interest in Mack's quest.  But obviously now there are "bigger fish to fry".  In the meantime, The Report trusts that Mack will continue a quiet campaign to win the hearts and minds of nearly all who serve in Canton government and one day again rise with a new charter government effort.

Another disappointment to Mack has to have been the resistance he experienced a year or so ago in his endeavor to put a $10,000 Canton Parks Commission grant to work within Ward 8.

Mack's initiative in conjunction with Parks Commission Director Derek Gordon was a demonstration of leadership on his part.

Moreover, the topped that move with one of the purest form of democratic-republicanism that Canton likely has seen in many a moon in setting up and absorbing citizen input (far and away in opposition) at a St. Mark's Church event.

It had to be a gnawing experience to say the least.  But, having the mature leadership qualities that The Report thinks he possesses; Mack backed off and heeded the wishes of those constituents whom seem to have understood the sentiment of a majority of Ward 8 residents.

While Mayor-elect Bernabei will be the most visible form of leadership in Canton over the next four years, Mack as the de facto, the SCPR thinks, leader of council (Ward 9's Frank Morris [majority leader] and Ward 4's Chris Smith [assistant majority leader] being the de jure leaders) will continue to be a constructive force in Canton government for the reconstruction of a viable local government.

Another leadership marker possessed by Mack is his knack for honing in upon in council's work sessions on critical Canton issues with incisive questioning.

An example of the Mack technique The Report is referring to is to be caught in this video from last Monday's session on the issue of adequately staffing of Canton's fire stations (LINK to underlying SCPR blog):

Over the years that the SCPR has covered Canton City Council, yours truly has taken any many such examinations at the hand of Councilman.

As with any of the SCPR's Top 10 List selections, yours truly does not present Mack as a flawless leader.

But he is mature.

He is thorough.

He is thoughtful.

And consequently he rightfully continues for this quarter his place on the hard-to-place-on-Top 10 List as the SCPR #3 Stark County Political Subdivision Elected Official.