SCPR 2013 EDITION OF STARK COUNTY PUBLIC OFFICIAL, PUBLIC FIGURE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

DISCUSSION: IS MAYOR HEALY A CANTONIAN "THROUGH AND THROUGH?"

He brags about his New York education (the NYU Stern School of Business), he brings quite of number of out-of-towners into his administration and he accepts large numbers of out-of-town contributions; all of this raises a question with the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report).

Is Mayor William J. Healy, II really committed to Canton, Ohio?

How much listening is there in the Healy administration to the voices of day-in, day-out Cantonians when one considers how suffused with the "out-of-town" factor?

Yesterday, The Report went to the Stark County Board of Elections to do a check of Healy's campaign contributions. In the ensuing days, The Report will be writing about whom and how much out-of-towners have contributed to his campaign. All of which raises the question of how much Cantonians are heeded by this administration.

The Report was surprised to learn how relatively little of Healy's big contributors were from Canton or even Stark County. Although Canton City Council President Allen Schulman made a $500 contribution on June 11, 2007 (The Report didn't pick up on any other Schulman contributions), and to most of us $500 is huge; for Allen Schulman this is "chump change," and in light of the huge out-of-town contributions $500 is indeed "chump change."

Normally Allen Schulman is a huge voice in Canton, Stark County, Ohio and significant voice in Washington political circles because of his record of being a prolific and generous campaign contributor. But in his hometown? Not with the Healy administration. Why he wasn't even told that his good friend Tom Bernabei was about to be fired. Allen Schulman on the outside looking in? Wow!

Follow The Report over the next number of days as we detail some the "persons of interest" who have contributed to the "TeamHealy" mayoralty campaign.

DISCUSSION: CANTON CITY COUNCIL- AT- LARGE SERIES - REV. DR. DEBORAH A. WATKINS SPEAKS ON CANTON POST OFFICE ISSUE AT CITY COUNCIL - 1/26/09

The photo of the Rev. Dr. Deborah A. Watkins (council-at-large candidate for Canton City Council) was taken at a Canton celebration of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Recently, Dr. Watkins appeared at Canton City Council (January 26, 2009) to speak on the issue of moving of certain Canton U.S. Postal jobs to Akron.

Here are Dr. Watkins' remarks:

Dr. Deborah A. Watkins as he just mentioned is my name. My address is 9204 St NE. I am in the 2nd Ward.

I would like to address this information to the entire body, to the Mayor, to his cabinet members, to the acting President taking President Schulman’s place and to all the Council Members or Persons.

As of April the 1 , the Post Office service will be re-routing Canton’s mail to Akron. I am sure that some of you might be aware of that. The Post Office that will be effected are several to my understanding and one is the New Market downtown on 4 Street, 220 SW.

The second one is our main Post Office which is on Cleveland Avenue. That would be Cleveland Avenue NW, 26, in the 2600 block.

The Post Office workers and the community, we’re again upset about this issue and this situation.

And you see, I want to mention again and emphasize it and preface that statement with saying again we’re upset because, last year in 2008, the community, the Postal Worker s, and some of you Council people were there at a meeting which we held. Our problem with the meetings that we held, we really didn’t get the full turn out of the entire Council and we should have.

It was the concerns and problems that we had with, one the wanted to take especially Ward 2, take it and change it and put cluster mailboxes. Now along with the cluster mailboxes, they also had wanted to take and re-route or route the mailing at that point in 2008, they wanted to start it.

But there such, let me say, strong support or opposition against it that we were able to and as I see it this time to only delay the situation.

I have to say to the Council, to the President, to the Mayor, what are we doing about this problem or this situation?

Do you agree with candidate Watkins? Should stopping the removal of postal workers jobs from Canton to Akron be a top priority with Canton council members?

DISCUSSION: WILL HEALY'S ARROGANCE DO HIM IN?

It is never a pretty sight, but there are unending examples, in the political history of America, of "political arrogance" that end up doing a politician in.

Are Stark Countians about to witness a local example?

The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) has been a political observer of Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II for a number of years.

The Report has had an inkling from the beginning of his political questing in Canton that Healy has a haughty tinge to him. He may now be into full-blown arrogance.

On what basis?

1. Born and schooled in Canton (also Kent State/associate degree) he expatriated from Canton to New Jersey (bachelor degree from Rowan) and then to New York to attend "the Stern School of Business." (Remember "the Stern School of Business" - it's his main claim to fame, before, of course, he became mayor of Canton)

His first time out on the political hustings was to contest the right to be the Democratic mayoralty candidate (he lost narrowly to long term Democrat Bill Smuckler in the primary) against Republican Janet Weir-Creighton.

2. Healy: A man who had never run for anything in Canton or Stark County (remember he had relocated to New York) prior to the mayoralty foray. Apparently, he felt compelled (in the motivational sense) and perhaps entitled to run for mayor of Canton (2003) because his father was a long time state representative for Canton who lost a mayoralty contest to Republican Richard Watkins in 1999.

3. Having lost to Smuckler, Healy decided to take on sitting Democratic state representative Mary Cirelli in the Democratic primary (2004). Healy won.

4. Ineffective in the Ohio House (he probably would say because the Democrats were in the minority - but he was never a major player in the Democratic caucus) he decided to run for mayor again in 2008.

When you have been prepared at the "Stern School of Business," aren't you just wasting your time and talents being 1 of 99?

5. In 2007, he defeats Creighton.

Wow! Canton had not had a Democrat mayor since Sam Purses (1991).

6. After Healy defeated Creighton and took office, he was quick to bash Creighton for leaving Canton in a huge mess.

One has to wonder. Was he setting himself up to be the Sir Galahad of Canton?

7. His campaign name: "Team Healy."

Oh yes, a real team player this Healy. He came out of nowhere to run against two established city of Canton Democrats in Democratic primaries (Smuckler & Cirelli). Moreover, this Democratic team player probably has a much worse relationship with the 100% Democratic council than did Republican Creighton.

8. During all his campaigns Healy had difficulty attracting energized organized labor support, even though he is a Democrat.

From The Report's perspective, Healy - ever the suit, white shirt and tie guy, just didn't seem to fit with workaday folks. Moreover, he took positions on issues important to organized labor that union leadership didn't cotton to.

And he just loved to repeat ad nauseum his business credentials and his masters degree from where? You guessed it. New York University's Stern School of Business.

9. There is a highly officious side to Healy. Remember officiousness is the first cousin of arrogance.

An example of his officiousness: He is known to take people aside and tell them how to dress. Of course, from a man who is the most impeccably groomed and dressed man in Stark County except maybe for Jimmy Babcock.

10. We all know his penchant for firing.

Perhaps, there is a lot of George Steinbrenner (New York Yankee owner - did I say New York) in Healy. When a person is perfection personified in his own mind, it is hard to brook the "merely" near perfect, let's say for example, former Yankee manager Joe Torre and, closer to home, former service director and chief-of-staff Tom Bernabei.

11. Ah, the anonymous letters; the Healy request for an FBI investigation.

The Report has this gnawing feeling that the Healy FBI move was a gambit devised by a person well taken with his own intelligence.

12. There is a report in The Rep today that indicates:

• Healy will be less of a give-and-take mayor in his relationship with council.
• Healy has an marked inability to work with those who disagree with him.
• Healy cannot work with strong administrators; he fires them or they look to leave.
• He apparently does not trust his own law department to do labor negotiations.
  

13. Council president Allen Schulman sums it up best in saying that Healy is not a strong mayor BUT The Report add he desperately wants to be and in a twisted, gnarled, arrogane, out-of-touch was has and says he is going to refortify playing the "bull-in-the-china-shop."

We all what a bull leaves behind in the china shop. Wreckage, that's what. Apparently, that will be the consequence to Canton as Healy embarks on his quest to be a stronger mayor.

Kind of like: "Pride goeth before a fall."