2015 GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT SERIES

THREE-WAY RACE

BRUNCKHART

(Republican)

CATAZARO-PERRY

(Democrat)

CICCHINELLI

("independent")

One would think that a candidate with Republican Lee Brunckhart's campaign finance summary sheet like this:

would have "a snowball's chance in Hell" of winning Massillon's November 3rd general election mayoralty race.

But he probably has better odds than the "no chance at all of surviving" snowball.

He certainly will receive votes on the 3rd but the questions is can he survive as a winner.

Probably not.  

But nobody thought that the powerful, well financed and articulate Eric Cantor (2014 congressional elections, Virginia - LINK) would get bounced out of Congress by someone somewhat similar to Lee Brunckhart in terms of campaign finance.  Cantor had a $1 million to $100,000 campaign finance advantage over his opponent.

He did clearly best Mayor Catazaro-Perry (the Democratic candidate)

and former mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr. (the "independent") in their October 15th "candidates forum" presentation hosted by the Canton Area League of Women Voters, The Repository and The Independent.

The Report hears that Brunckhart has caught the eye of Massillon Cable TV's Bob Gessner on the strength of his outstanding presentation at the October 15th candidates' forum.

As a follow on, that performance gained him the endorsement of The Independent

Both of those factors are a "really" big deal.

Gessner has always been a huge Kathy Catazaro-Perry support.

And J. David Ress, the highly "inexperienced" Democrat that Catazaro-Perry barely defeated (87 votes) in the Democratic primary in May, says had The Independent given him a fair shake, he would have won the primary.

If Ress is correct, with The Independent endorsing Brunckhart within days of the Lincoln Theater candidates forum, perhaps, the powers that be at The Indie have learned that the mayor is not good for Massillon.

It has been suggested to the SCPR that Gessner maybe had more that his fill of Mayor Kathy as her appointee on the Massillon Financial Planning and Supervision Commission (Commission).

Gessner is a very bright guy and is nobody's fool.

Maybe just maybe he figured he was being played the fool by the mayor and the likes of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., R. Shane Jackson and Eddie Elum.

The SCPR was impressed with Gessner and the questions he was asking on the occasions The Report covered Commission meetings.  It was obvious to the SCPR that Bob Gessner was way ahead of other Commission members (except, of course, the folks from Columbus.

It was interesting to see his frustration with the mayor bubble to the surface in the meeting just before the meeting when the Commission settled on a plan.

The Report thinks it was at that meeting that Catazaro-Perry and her "kitchen cabinet" figured out that she needed to get much more reasonable in working with Massillon City Council and the terrific Commission chairperson (Sharon Hanrahan) or she was going to be looking "really, really" bad before the Massillon voting public not all that far in advance of the 2015 mayoralty election(s).

As it was, he had already made it obvious that she was the problem.  Not city council, not the Commission chairperson and her fellows from Columbus, but, rather Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry.

In the process of being obstinate just for the sake of being obstinate she may have got Gessner looking for somebody else to support for mayor of Massillon.

He probably thought that he was going to have no choice but to stick with the incumbent mayor.

But then came along Republican Lee Brunckhard and his stellar October 15th performance.

Undoubtedly, Gessner and others are bother by the seeming lack of government experience on Brunckhart's part.

However, Brunckhart has the perfect answer for there concerns.

He is telling one and all in response to concerns about his lack of hands on government leadership experience:  (paraphrase)  "Okay, you had Frank Cicchinelli for 24 years, you've had Kathy Catazaro-Perry for 4 years and Massillon is in fiscal emergency, why would you be worried about Lee Brunckhart's ability to lead?"

And the SCPR thinks and perhaps Gessner and a growing number of Massillonians that:  "You know what, the guy has a helluva point."

The Report hears that Gessner has been in touch with Brunckhart asking what he could do to help the Brunckhart candidacy.

What did Brunckhart suggest?

Keep running the video of the candidates forum on Massillon Cable TV.

And The Report is told that such is exactly what Gessner is doing.

As a consequence, Brunckhart is getting a steady stream of calls from everyday Massillonians asking for campaign signs.

So notwithstanding that as of October 15th "the balance on hand" on the summary sheet at the top of their respective CFRs shows:

• Brunckhart:  $104.03

• Cicchinelli:  $2,930.47

• Catazaro-Perry:  $10,016.83

Could it be that both Catazaro-Perry and Cicchinelli, the media and the Massillon public is in for huge surprise somewhere about 11:00 p.m. on election night?

The SCPR sees he possiblity of a Brunckhart upset notwithstanding the figurative millon to one odds against him as turning out to possibly being the "real" story of the Brunckhart, Catazaro-Perry and Cicchinelli.

In a little over a week we shall know the answer to that question.

It could be another very exhilarating night for Lee Brunckhart, no?

In the meantime, take a look at the respective campaign finance reports for the candidates:

LEE BRUNCKHART

KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY




FRANCIS H.CICCHINELLI, JR

PART 1 - SCPR "ELECTION SERIES - MASSILLON MAYOR'S RACE.

FACTORS AFFECTING OUTCOME

THE BRUNCKHART FACTOR

CANDIDATES' HEALTH?

CANDIDATES' DEMEANOR?

Video of Catazaro-Perry Auto-Accident Conduct
of
03/26/2015

HASSLING CANTON PD'S FINEST?

CANDIDATES' PRODUCTIVENESS?

AND 

ANYTHING ELSE THAT COMES TO MIND!

Today, The Stark County Political Report begins in earnest coverage of Massillon's 2016 general election for the office of mayor.

The outline at the beginning of this blog offers a clue to where The Report is going with this series of blogs.

THE BRUNCKHART FACTOR

Make no mistake about it, Republican Lee Brunckhart is pretty much a non-factor in this race.

Only those Republicans who will vote for a Republican even if he/she were dead and buried will likely being voting for Lee Brunckhart.

Brunckhart was absolutely obliterated in the November, 2011 general election versus Catazaro-Perry.

Undoubtedly a significant number of Brunckhart's votes came from disgruntled Democrats loyal to Cicchinelli who not stomach voting for Catazaro-Perry as the Democratic standard-bearer having defeated Cicchinelli in the Democratic primary election.

This time around Catazaro-Perry and Cicchinelli are likely to split the Democratic vote if the mayor's near loss to unknown and neophyte Democratic politician J. David Ress's vote in this year's Democratic primary is an indication of the dissatisfaction that Democrats have for the mayor.

The Report suspects that had Cicchinelli run in the primary, he would have handily defeated Catazaro-Perry which indicates that a number of Democrats voting in the primary had misgivings about the electability of Ress and decided against taking a chance of being on the losing side.

Using the May, 2011 Cicchinelli/Catazaro-Perry primary fight as the base, Cicchinelli only has to pickup 173 Democratic votes (4% of the total primary election vote) to turn the tables on the sitting mayor and putting challenger Cicchinelli back in the Massillon mayor's chair.

Doesn't the dissatisfaction of the voting Democratic sample of May, 2015 Ress/Catazaro-Perry contest clearly indicate that picking up a percentage equivalent to the 173 votes is highly likely in the November, 2015 election?

The Report thinks so.  And thinks that the pick up will be much higher given that the mayor now has a record to defend and that many Massillon Democrats (see the Ress vote) have not liked what they have seen from the Catazaro-Perry administration.

Most Republican votes will go to "independent" and former longtime Massillon mayor Frank Cicchinelli in this race.  Which, of course, is a parallel to what will be happening the the Canton mayoralty race of Democratic incumbent William J. Healy, II versus now "independent" but long term Democrat Thomas M. Bernabei.

While The Report is not prepared at this time to project Cicchinelli as the winner in November as in the Bernabei/Healy Canton match up, the SCPR does say that Catazaro-Perry has a high, high hill to climb the next 30 days or so.

In future editions of this series, the SCPR will share with readers chapter and verse on the factors that indicate that Brunckhart is likely to run a distant, distant, distant third candidate to Cicchinelli (who the SCPR thinks has the edge as stated above) and Catazaro-Perry.

Catazaro-Perry's main hope of eking out a victory lies in Brunckhart garnering a sufficient number of Republican votes in his column and concomitantly away from Frank Cicchinelli.

CANDIDATES' HEALTH

At least one Massillon citizen, the SCPR is told by a source, thinks that Massillon City Council president Tony Townsend should have been acting mayor from September 7th through yesterday due to the hospitalization of Mayor Catazaro-Perry when she was released.

Instead, the mayor chose to run Massillon from her hospital bed.

All of which brings up the health of a candidate for public office as an appropriate topic for thorough vetting.

We all should remember the situation in which the late Mike McDonald was elected sheriff of Stark County in November, 2012 only not to be able to take office on January 7, 2013 because of a health condition that ended with his death on February 22, 2013.

The SCPR was the only Stark County media outlet that constantly tried to keep tabs with McDonald and his health inasmuch as he had revealed earlier in his campaign that he had a serious health condition.

McDonald became highly sensitive to The Report's persistent inquiries.

As it turns out, the SCPR was onto something in terms of whether or not McDonald would be able to take office or if on taking office he would be up to serving four years.

If he wasn't able to take office or serve a full term, then it would be the "organized" Stark County Democratic Party's central committee who would be selecting a successor.

It is highly unlikely that a majority of Stark County voters would have placed an "X" beside a ballot entry "Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee" in the election which it turned out - unfortunately - turned out to be the de facto situation.

What the unvetted McDonald health issue led to was a bitter intra-party fight between the Massillon Maier (Johnnie A. Maier, Jr) Political Machine and its candidate and Maier, Jr. brother George and Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero and former sheriff Tim Swanson waged within the party for over a year (Feburary 5, 2013 through April, 2014) and involving much litigation.

Only in November, 2014 - two years later - did the Stark County voting public have a say in who would be sheriff.

Had the mainstream Stark County media done its job effectively, the issue of McDonald's health would have been vetted and perhaps there would have been a different result in the November, 2012 election.

The Catazaro-Perry hospitalization and publicly revealed health condition of Frank Cicchinelli highlight the importance of health issues being vetted in the run up to this year's election.

The Report is told that in today's Independent editorial interview of the Massillon mayoralty candidates, not one word was uttered as to the status - going forward - of the candidates' health.

Unbelievable!  Simply unbelievable!

Just terrific journalism, no?

The SCPR in future blogs in this series will probe the issue of health status of each candidate going forward so that Massillon voters have a reasonable assurance that who they are voting for can reasonably be expected to be able to take office and to serve for the entire four year term.

Cicchinelli has already shared with The Report his health viability going forward which this blogger will share with the SCPR reading public.

Will Mayor Catazaro-Perry do the same?  If not with the SCPR, another media outlet?

CANDIDATES' DEMEANOR

One Massillon councilperson has told the SCPR that when he was mayor Frank Cicchinelli repeatedly ran roughshod over disagreeing members of Massillon City Council.

The Report's source, of course, is not Kathy Catazaro-Perry.  But undoubtedly she would share that sentiment.

In this campaign, Cicchinelli should be grilled on what he thinks an appropriate relationship between him and council should be going forward.

The reports on Cicchinelli's alleged roughhousing of dissenting council members and Catazaro-Perry's bullying need to be out there for the Massillon voting public to know about.

And so should Mayor Kathy.

In her four years as mayor she has had a number of videotaped incidents in which she turned very ugly with council even to the point of accusing council as body as being racist and sexist.

That is in the heat of political battle, no?

Of course!

Well, the SCPR just came onto a freshly dugout video of the mayor acting - The Report thinks - conduct very unbecoming of a mayor in the context a minor, minor, minor auto accident which occurred on 3rd Street, NW in Canton as she was on her way to an Edmond Mack (Democrat - Ward 8, Canton City Council) and John Mariol (Democrat - Ward 7, Canton City Council) on March 26, 2015.

The SCPR's opinion of the "unbecomingness" on based on:

• Her out-of-the-chute letting responding officer Watkins know that she is the mayor of Massillon,
• Note:  an attempt at intimdation?  The SCPR thinks so.
• Allowing her husband, who according to the other party to the accident, was not in the mayor's car when the collision occurred, to get involved in the interaction with investigating Canton police officers to the point that one of the responding officers on the video says that the husband was flirting with the possibility of getting arrested,
• Note: the other party tells the SCPR that until her husband arrived on the scene, she was telling him that the accident was her fault,
• Making a big show to responding officers of making a call to Canton mayor "Jamie" Healy (connoting, The Report thinks, she is the "personal" friend of Canton's mayor) when the officers are not appearing to accept her demand that the other party be given sobriety tests (reference:  at the 13:52 mark of the video below),
• She insisted that the other party be given sobriety tests (including a breathalyzer which requires the legal standard of "probable cause") on her observations:
• that he went to the nearby corner drugstore and came out with a drink he was imbibing on his way back to his car,
• Note:  the other party's wife works at the drug store and officers determined he was notifying her (whom he was endeavoring pick up from work) that he had been in an accident,
• that he had bloodshot eyes,
• that he has a "beer belly,
• that he was unable to do a walking test,
• Note:  Officers were convinced that an ankle injury prevented him from taking a walking test,
• Note:  This after officers informed her that after did administer an eye movement test and were convinced that on the basis of that test coupled with not smelling alcohol in his breath that there was no legal basis to ask the other party to do a breathalyzer test,
• that she knew better than the officers in their assessment of whether or not the other party merited alcohol use testing on the basis of her having been a nurse for years,
• Her demanding to know and writing down the names of the responding officers,
• Note:  The SCPR takes the maneuver to be of a intimidating nature,

Take a look at excerpted video (see note of omitted footage) that the SCPR has extracted from the Canton Police Department video taken of its investigation of the accident.

The extracted video was edited by the SCPR to take out footage that is marking time (i.e. camera in cruiser still turned on and video looking through windshield until other officers responded) and to omit other material not related to accident investigation:

CANDIDATES PRODUCTIVENESS

The SCPR sees Mayor Catazaro-Perry has largely run her administration on two negative basès.

1. Frank Cicchinelli left Massillon government in a mess and that she has had to spend four years undoing the harm he has done,
2. A majority of Massillon City Council has been against her from the get-go of her administration and not allowed her to move Massillon forward in a positive vein.

There is no doubt that Cicchinelli did leave some problems for Catazaro-Perry's administration.  One of which - he freely owns up to this one - was the addition of nine holes to The Legends Golf Course originally 18 hole course.

Another thing that the former mayor did that the SCPR did not think was wise was to budget on items on the assumption that the money would be there at the end of the year even though there was a real question about whether such would be the case when the budget was formed.

There were times during the later years of the Cicchinelli administration where the auditor had to withhold payment of certain city expenses way beyond a reasonable time for having made payment.

However, there are two things the mayor forgets to mention in her complaining:

1. She knew going in as mayor what she was facing.
2. Rather than make council part of the solution, she elected to play the political blame game even to the point of getting the city - unnecessarily, the SCPR thinks - declared to be in fiscal emergency even if on the slimmest of basis.

And, of course, she conveniently ignores that all Ohio local governments suffered devastating loss of tax revenues and other revenue cuts as a consequence of:

• The Great Recession of 2008, and
• The onset of the Kasich administration in 2010 and his draconian cuts in State of Ohio funding of local governments over his first term in office,

Cicchinelli over his 28 years of being mayor of Massillon can tick off and undoubtedly will during the debate between he, the mayor and Brunckhart on October 14th at the Lincoln Theater quite a few achievements during those years.

The question now becomes for the two viable candidates for mayor (i.e. Catazaro-Perry and Cicchinelli) how will their respective leadership going forward benefit Massillon?

This question will be the focus of future blogs in this series in some detail.

ANYTHING ELSE THAT COMES TO MIND

The SCPR always reserves space for interesting and relevant material to intersperse in these pages in a serendipitous fashion for readers.

Stay tuned for future parts of this series!

For those readers who want the compare the edited version of the CPD video as published above, here is a copy of the full version as received by the SCPR.

A FEROCIOUS CAMPAIGN IN THE OFFING FOR MASSILLON - IF FRANK RUNS FOR MAYOR. REPUBLICAN LEWIS WILL NOT RUN FOR MAYOR. BRUNCKHART TO BE GOP CANDIDATE

er

Provider:  Gavin Bell

UPDATE:  09:36 AM

A clarification from Milan Chovan

Good morning, Martin.  Thank you for the kind comments about me in today's blog.  I'm not sure who thinks I'm close to Johnnie Maier because of music, but I want to tell you about it.

I play guitar in a classic rock band called ReUNITED.  My bass guitar player is Ron Frailly.  Ron also plays bass for Maier's polka band, Visinata.  That's the connection, plain and simple.  When Visinata first started several years ago, they played at a bar in Massillon called Sideliners.  My cousins and I were at the bar and I got up to sing an Italian song with the band.  I've never appeared again with them and, in fact, haven't heard them since they played for a Massillon Community event two summers ago.

This doesn't mean that I don't like Maier as a person.  I do.  I just don't agree with him, politically.

Just wanted to clear that up.

ORIGINAL BLOG

Most Massillonians know who the true and original Massillon Tiger is when it comes to politics and government in Tigerland.

If an open-ended (i.e. not to suggest a desired answer) survey were to be made of typical Massillonians, the SCPR dare says the overwhelming answer would be:  Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr.

Cicchinelli had been mayor of Massillon for the better part of 28 years when he was uprooted by former Perry Township resident Kathy Catazaro-Perry in the Democratic Party primary of 2011.

Sponsored and tutored by long time Cicchnelli political nemesis:

• and - for a number of years  now - Tuscarawas Township resident Johnnie A.Maier, Jr. (a former Stark Dems' chairman)
• and his clerk of courts sidekick - Perry Township resident R. Shane Jackson (also Stark Dems' political director);

current mayor Kathy Catzaro-Perry may find out that, should Cicchinelli decide to attempt reclaiming the mayoralty, she is facing a different version of tiger in the upcoming 2015 primary.

In 2011, Cicchinelli proved to be a political "kitty-cat" as he sat on his laurels and played the role of "statesman-mayor" and thereby succumbed to the "rough house" political style of the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. Massillon Political Machine (MMPM).

Should he decide to run (which the SCPR thinks he will not); every indication is that he will play the role of a roaring tiger and wage a ferocious campaign.

A second match up, if it occurs, will likely be the meanest, the vilest and the most belligerent campaign that Massillon has ever seen.

There would be a lot at stake.

For Cicchinelli, there is, among other interests, a basic need for vindication for all that he has done over three decades of public service for the well-being of Massillon.

For Catazaro-Perry, there is, among other interests, a basic need to look after extending the continued employment well-being of all those loyalists that she brought into her administration on assuming office.

Cicchinelli has less than 30 days to decide.

You can bet your bottom dollar that Catazaro-Perry supporters are "on pins and needles" in anticipation of Cicchinelli's final decision.

To say it again.  The SCPR does not think a rematch will take place.

But if it does, "Katy bar the door" on the political rumble-tumble in the history of Massillon  that is likely to take place.

If Cicchinelli's posturing about running proves to be just that, then Catazaro-Perry, the SCPR has learned will have a virtual free ride into a second term as mayor.

The Report has learned that Ward 6 Republican councilman Ed Lewis will not be running as the Republican candidate for mayor.

The SCPR is disappointed to learn such.

Ideally, the "come and let us reason together" Lewis style of government and politics, is the most productive model of governance ensuring that government is the province of the many and not the baliwick of the few.

While Cicchinelli as mayor was much more approachable and democratic-friendly than anybody connected to the MMPM, he has been through many wars and therefore cannot possibly have the fresh view of an Ed Lewis.

The SCPR thinks the MMPM power politics style does a lot of destroying and as a consequence is highly erosive of citizen participation in our democratic-republican processes.

Of course, the primary goal of power politics is the aggrandizement of personal political interests, "the public interest be damned!"  If any public interest is served by the likes of the MMPM, it is mere happenstance.

The SCPR has learned the 2011 Republican candidate Lee Brunckhart is to be the 2015 Massillon GOP standard bearer.

Brunkhart is a well meaning and caring of the public interest guy who presents himself as a work-a-day person. But he is no match for the MMPM or Frank Cicchinelli, should he decide to run.

The Report hears that he has taken on some studies on government and politics and thinks he is better prepared to run and win this year.

Cicchinelli and the MMPM folks have to be having a guffawing, back-slapping time among themselves on hearing of Brunkhart's political naivete.

Either Cicchinelli or Catazaro-Perry will have a "walk-in-the-park" time of it in the November general election.

So it is going to be either Cicchnelli or Catazaro-Perry who wins in November.

In either case, it is imperative that Massillon City Council continue to be the strong entity it is in the sense of being a "check and balance" on the executive branch of Massillon city government.

But there is a concerted effort on the part of MMPM to alter the de facto separation of powers function of council.

Here is the SCPR analysis of how the council races of shaping up.

WARD 6

Republican Ed Lewis likely would be defeated were he to run against MMPM candidate Linda Litman.  Litman lost by a mere 20 votes in 2013. 

Now that Lewis has more of a record to attack and/or distort, it is hard to believe that the MMPM folks will not be out in full force going after Lewis.

Lewis is the future of the Massillon Republican Party.

The MMPM people want to nip this political red rose in the bud before he develops the sophistication and resources to rival these Massillon Democratic Party politicos.

Lewis has developed an innate sense of the doable over his four years of political life in Massillon government.

And he is likely correct that the timing is not right for him to do a head-to-head challenge to the Maier, Jr. forces.

Accordingly, he has decided to step aside from Ward 6 in favor of Democrat Michelle Del Rio-Keller.

Sources tell the SCPR that Del Rio Keller has a family history in Ward 6 and resources to put distance between herself and MMPM loyalist Litman.

So it appears that whomever is elected mayor can count on Del Rio-Keller to be there faithfully functioning as a "check and balance" councilperson.

One more thing about Ed Lewis' decision not to seek reelection in Ward 6.

It appears that there is a "wink and nod" agreement between him and Del Rio-Keller for her to opt out of her incumbent council-at-large spot for Ward 6.

Lewis will be running at large come November.

Short of running for mayor, the politically wise thing for Lewis to do is to change venues. 

He should be a lock for one of the three council-at-large seats which of course means another proven "check and balance" councilman remaining on council.

WARD 5

Ditto on the last paragraph in the Ward 6 discussion for Ward 5 incumbent Democrat Megan Starrett.

The SCPR thinks that Starrett has been very solid in looking out for the public interest on each and every issues that comes before Massillon government.

Moreover, count her as among councilpersons who willingly takes on a councilperson's "check and balance" function in our "separation of powers" form of government.

WARD 4

It is looking more and more like incumbent Ward 4 Democrat Shaddrick Stinson is not going to have an opponent this time around.

That such might be the case in light of the reality that he is equivocating with residents of The Legends on the durability of the golf course which abuts their homes.

One would think they could come up with a candidate that is openly committed to looking after their interests.

Of course, anyone that they would come up with has to have a broader take on Massillon government than merely the fate of the golf course.

Maybe that is the problem?

Stinson is wholly unimpressive to the SCPR.

The Report had a good belly laugh at Stinson's expense recently.

Yours truly has always counted him to be part and parcel of the MMPM notwithstanding his disingenuous presentation to Frank Cicchinelli (who is a The Legends resident) that he - if elected - would be an independent thinking and acting councilman.

And, of course, the SCPR has written a number of blogs substantiating The Report's viewpoint.

Recently, Stinson as a matter of political rhetoric took exception to the SCPR's point of view.

Regular readers of the SCPR know that The Report unlike the Massillon Independent and the Canton Repository provides subjects of SCPR commentary a full opportunity to respond.

An to the degree he did respond in writing, the SCPR published same.

The Report offered to do an "on camera" interview.

But Stinson would only do so "on certain conditions" including having a MMPM minder present for the interview.

Really?

No, not really,  The Report is kidding.

But he did want to review the video that would appear on a SCPR blog.

What arrogance, no?

Nobody but nobody edits the content of the SCPR!

So though Stinson appears mild-mannered and laid back, such apparently is just that: "appears."

He needs to have a little sit down with Johnnie, Shane and Eddie.

To think of it, he probably did.  And "the conditions thing" likely came from them.  For they, the SCPR counts, as being some of the most cowardly politicians in all of Stark County who cannot abide direct questioning. 

The Report salivates on getting them and/or members 0f their claque in a position in which they have to answer incisive questions.

Stinson might on occasion, where it makes no difference to the outcome of the vote, actually vote contra the Catazaro-Perry druthers on a given issue.  

Unless and until a consistent "independent of the administration" stance develops, the SCPR will continue to think that Councilman Stinson takes his orders from the MMPM.

WARD 3

Incumbent Democrat Andrea Scassa is a thoughtful councilwoman who satisfies the SCPR that she carefully weighs each and every issue before voting.

She and Ward 5 Councilwoman Starrett appear to The Report to be similar in approach.

Scassa understands that she is a legislator and functions accordingly. 

Count her as among the "check and balance" members that will remain on Massillon City Council for a new term in 2016/2017.

WARD 2

This is a ward that the MMPM has pursued "hot and heavy." for the last two election cycles.

Reason?

It is the seat of "the heart and soul" of the Massillon Republican Party; namely, Nancy Halter.

The SCPR gives Halter the credit for short circuiting the elation that the MMPM experienced when it proved to be the instrumental factor in making Catazaro-Perry mayor.

One thing that the MMPM forgot on the way to the celebration of Cicchinelli's ouster was the make up of Massillon City Council.

In heavily Democratic Massillon, believe or not, in 2011 Republicans took majority control of Massillon City Council.

The political geniuses Maier, Jr., Jackson and Elum forgot that that in America, the executive function of government is but one of three functions.

And, of course, their executive, the SCPR believes, is not a true executive.  She is a ceremonial, window dressing mayor who appears to take each and every issue of Massillon government to the triumvirate (Maier, Jr., Jackson and Elum; most Maier, Jr.) which de facto seems to The Report to be calling the executive shots in Massillon.

So that they were "asleep at the switch" in November, 2011 (with only Brunckhart to contend with in the mayor's race), more or less, makes them the laughing stock of Stark County political junkies.

And they have been trying to recover their credibility on council races ever since.

But Halter has tended the political store and been a major impediment in the MMPM quest to get a loyalist majority of council to rubber stamp whatever the Catazaro-Perry administration wants.

Though council did change to majority Democratic in the 2013 elections; it is not a Catazaro-Perry loyalists majority.

One can count on "a mix and match" of Democrats (except for Stinson and Council President Tony Townsend [voting only in the case of a tie] and Republicans to effectively function as a "check and balance" on the administration.

The Report's take on the MMPM is that it does not take kindly to "mix and match" and "check and balance" approach to Massillon City government.

So the MMPM folks have to be totally frustrated and Nancy Halter deserves credit for being a major factor in the healthy functioning of council.

And it could be that this election cycle MMPM will power Halter out.

David Irwin is an employee of MMPM loyalist and Stark County recorder Rick Campbell who is married to Shane Jackson's sister Lisa who is the chief administrator for Plain Township.

Irwin has run competitive races against Halter because of the strong support he has received from the MMPM.

It would not surprise the SCPR were Irwin to win this time around even if Halter decides to run.

But she may not.

There has been some talk about her running for council president.

If she does, it is going to be "sayonara" for Tony, there is no way fore the MMPM folks to protect him this time around.

In 2013, the MMPM operatives, it appears, managed to co-opt former Massillon schools superintendent in having Catazaro-Perry offer him the Massillon service directorship so late in the election season that Republicans were not allowed as a matter of law to replace Hennon on the ballot.

WARD 1

Look for incumbent Republican Sarita Cunningham-Hedderly to return for a new legislative session.

She, too, can be counted upon to be a "check and balance" council person.

COUNCIL AT LARGE

LIKELY CANDIDATES 

ED LEWIS, IV  (also see Ward 6 discussion)

Republican Ed Lewis will be running at large come November.

It appears to the SCPR that there is a "wink and a nod" relationship between Lewis and present Democratic Councilwoman Michelle Del Rio to exchange venues in serving on council.

Before the Del Rio-Keller seeming trade off, Lewis is said to have been encouraging incumbent at-large Councilman Paul Manson to run for council president.

And Paul would be a good one.

He definitely would put MMPM favorite Tony Townsend on the political sidelines.

But the word is that Manson is going to stick with being councilman-at-large.

The shift will provide Lewis with a citywide political base to cultivate a relationship with voters across Massillon and thereby be in a better position to run for mayor in four years.

Short of running for mayor, the politically wise thing for Lewis to do is to change venues. 

He should be a lock for one of the three council-at-large seats which of course means another proven "check and balance" councilman remaining on council.

 MILAN CHOVAN

This incumbent Republican is as solid as "the Rock of Gibraltar" as a Massillon councilman.

He was as "cool as a cucumber" as Mayor Catazaro-Perry looked him in the eye at a 2014 council session and called him and other "not seeing my way" councilpersons racists.

There is at least one Massillon politico thinks that Chovan is too close to the MMPM because of his involvement in a band in which Maier, Jr. is a participant.

The SCPR sees no evidence of Chovan in any way shape or form of being in thrall or even sympathetic to the MMPM.

To The Report, he is a hard working councilman who works hard to represent the public interest and demonstrates no reluctance whatsoever in functioning as a "check and balance" councilperson. 

PAUL MANSON

Democrat Paul Manson is the dean of Massillon City Council and is about as sure as one can get in terms being reelected.

Accordingly, it was surreal that Lewis would suggest to him to run for council president.

Were he to take up Lewis' suggestion, Tony Townsend would be toast.

But it would be political overkill for Manson to run against Townsend.

As the dean of council and thereby having great institutional knowledge, he is ideally suited to a model of how one does it in operating as a "check and balance" legislator in relation to the "my way or the highway" Kathy Catazaro-Perry who is merely the face of the MMPM smash-mouth politics.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT

The only question here is:  Can Massillon Republicans find a living body to take on Tony Townsend.

Townsend should have been history in 2013.  

But his pals who constitute the core of the MMPM appear to have rescued him from certain defeat when Republican Al Hennon quit the 2013 council president race to take a job in the Catazaro-Perry administration.

It would not surprise the SCPR if Townsend were to get another free ride back into the council presidency.

So there you have it.

The Stark County Political Report analysis of the May/November shapes up on January 9, 2015.

(VIDEO) LWV FORUM: CICCHINELLI, CATAZARO-PERRY (DEMS); OSER (GOP), VIDEO SHOWS CANDIDATES SQUARING OFF ON HAMPTON INN FINANCING ROLE BY CITY

In a terrific job of reporting earlier today, Matt Rink of The Independent (Hampton Inn becomes political football in mayor's race) deals with a hot button issue between the candidates that should get further treatment at tonight's debate at the Massillon Lincoln-Lions theater which begins at 7:00 PM.

In the video that follows, Mayor Cicchinelli go so steamed up about the issue that he could not contain himself and violated League of Women Voters (League) rules on the "discussion of the issues forum" the League hosted on Monday evening.

Cicchinelli's (Mayor) miscue got moderator Richard Kuhn (a Canton attorney and League official) all worked up.  He, several times, admonished the Mayor and tried to stop the Mayor from proceeding.  But he was unsuccessful.  Cicchinelli, being the bulldog he is, pushed through until he rejoined on the issue.

Cicchinelli was at his finest. He offered a bit of sarcasm in saying:  "I have always been against annexation and I will always be against annexation."  The fact of the matter is that Cicchinelli has demonstrated that he is the foremost Stark County annexationist.  Cicchinelli is even more into annexation that Canton's director of annexation:  Sam "Darth Vader to the Townships" Sliman.  A week or so, the SCPR talked a little bit with Sliman at a Canton City Council meeting and he indicated to yours truly that he believes Cicchinelli overdoes it in Massillon.

Andrew Oser dealt with a question of whether or not as mayor he would promote the Oser family interest in a long term effort to get property rezoned on the south side of Lincolnway on the east side of the city.

There were a few other issues (e.g. TIFs - tax increment financing, the budget et cetera) discussed as well.

Here is the second of two videos published by the SCPR (the first being the opening statements of the candidates with Candidate Brunckhart's being delivered by his wife).

DISCUSSION: MASSILLON - CICCHINELLI & CATAZARO-PERRY WAR ERUPTS ANEW?

When you have mayor as long as Frank Cicchinelli has been in Massillon, sooner or later an antagonist will surface.

Democrat Mayor Cicchinelli's political nemesis is Kathy Catazaro-Perry egged on (in the opinion of yours truly) by Stark County Democratic Party chair Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. Catazaro-Perry is a Ward 3 Democratic Councilwoman. She and Cicchinelli have fought over many issues over her years on council. Only when she initially ran, did Cicchinelli support her. Probably a decision he now rues the day on.

Here is a breakdown of the latest flap as reported in The Rep yesterday:The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report/SCPR) does not believe this matter will be decided until the mayoralty election of 2011.

Mayor Cicchinelli will probably retire and take the air out of the showdown with Catazaro-Perry.

But if he doesn't, the 2011 Massillon mayor's race will be a political doozy. It will be Cicchinelli and his loyalists on Council versus Catazaro-Perry, Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., Judge Eddie Elum and their political entourage.

The Report enjoys these kinds of political fights, but are they good for the city of Massillon?

DISCUSSION: STARK COUNTY CITIES & THE COUNTY ITSELF PARCEL OUT OUR MONEY. WHERE'S THE ACCOUNTING?

A question that every Stark Countian ought to have on his or her mind?

What are taxpaying Stark Countians, Cantonians, North Cantonians, Massillonians and Allianceites getting for their economic development money?

Yesterday, the Alliance Review ran an outstanding AP wire piece which critiques how government accounts for our tax dollars in the area of economic development.

When the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) visited with Democrat Mayor Francis Cicchinelli a few months ago, he decried the absolute need to ante up taxpayer money as a precondition to even begin discussions with companies about expanding in or relocating to Massillon. Cicchinelli doesn't like this reality, but a reality it is. Being kind, one would call this an "entitlement attitude," but to be brutally honest about this corporate economic development reality would be to term it: "we have you over a barrel and we are going to put the screws to you - grin and bear it."

A couple of days ago, The Report e-mailed Commissioner Todd Bosley an asked him whether or not Stark County could account better than Ohio does. No answer as of the writing of this piece. But The Report will be patient, with the storm and all.

The Report turns attention to Ohio House 50th District candidate Republican Todd Snitchler on this "reality." Here's a guy who has unbridled faith in the goodness of corporations and their "PR organizations" to wit: Stark County's local chambers of commerce and, of course, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

As far as The Report is concerned, Snitchler's fascination with the chambers has more to do with his deficient ability to think of new approaches to get at solving severe Stark County and Ohio economic problems than anything else. The chamber of commerce thing is a cover for his inadequacies to think outside-the-box. He is so utterly unoriginal in thought that he needs the chambers to have any economic program whatsoever, notwithstanding Ohioans' clear understanding that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce has been and continues to be a failed key player in solving Ohio's economic problems.

By his own account, his own Lake Development Foundation is floundering. How's that? Snitchler says on a video published by The Report (prior article) that the foundation has no money.

With ties like his, it is not likely that Stark Countians can count on him to push for greater accountability in the slipshod relationship between government and the corporate world on the matter of economic development.

Snitchler's only consolation in his race is that his opponent, Democrat Celeste DeHoff, is even more anemic on this front. All she has to do, if elected, will be to call on former state representative Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., (now clerk of courts in Massillon and chair of the Stark County Democratic Party and her chief sponsor) for direction. We all remember what a "giant of a legislator" he was in the Ohio House, don't we?

There is a growing citizen suspicion that taxpayers are getting worked over by companies who are working a system they invented and who are insulated from public scrutiny by bumbling government officials or those who are in the hip pocket of corporate interests.

We have "No Child Left Behind" to document achievement/non-achievement as a check on educators. But what to we have to measure how state and local governments are "investing" taxpayer dollars and whether or not recipient companies are producing according to their promises.

Ohio, for its part, in The Review piece admits that it has no way to tell whether or not the 200, 000 promised jobs over the past 10 years have materialized for the $1.7 billion in tax breaks, et cetera.

How about this for a laugh (to the lament of the taxpaying public)? Ohio is going after Skybus which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. What genius in the Ohio Department of Development (Lee Fisher?) helped this company with taxpayer money? A company which was offering $10 fares (a terrific business model). Gee, maybe it would have been prudent to require the company to post a bond with the state of Ohio?

All Ohio has is a fragmented, case-by-case, way to track. And currently, it is obvious that the fragmentation reduces to some Department of Development bureaucrat scrambling to come up with a scintilla of data to satisfy an inquiring newspaper reporter for the moment.

And remember, in January, 2006 Governor Strickland, in his Inaugural address, promised government accountability as well as personal accountability. Now, according to the AP report, in the light of big deficits that Ohio is currently running - there's a question: Is there money for devising a tracking system that will provide the promised accountability.

Returning, for a moment, to Todd Snitchler and his chamber friends. Next we will hear how requiring corporate accountability and requiring them to return taxpayer money for promises unkept will hurt Ohio's and Stark County's ability to compete.

The question: (Republican or Democrat) Will Ohioans, Stark Countians, Cantonians, North Cantonians, Massillonians, and Allianceites ever get accountability from our government executives? From beneficiary-corporate executives?