NOT LIKE YOUR TYPICAL "WATCHING PAINT DRY" COMMISSIONERS MEETING?

STARK CO. COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF AUGUST 29, 2018

A common perception of a Stark County Board of County Commissioner meetings is that they are like "watching paint dry."

The current version of the Board of Stark County Commissioners seem to be engaged in the weekly agenda items to a degree that "like watching paint dry" for nearly every meeting (if not all) is not an accurate take on the general attractiveness of a given meeting.

Here is Wednesday's agenda.  On its face, it does not look all that interesting.



The Stark County Political Report (SCPR, The Report), more or less, has been covering Stark County commissioner weekly meetings for some 10 years or better since March 12, 2008.

Over that span, The Report has had the experience of witnessing various meeting approaches of former commissioners Todd Bosley, Tom Harmon, Jane Vignos, Steve Meeks, Pete Ferguson, David Bridenstine, Thomas Bernabei as well as the current set of commissioners; namely,  Richard Regula, Bill Smith and Janet Creighton and a coming and going of a parade of Canton Repository reporters.

Over that span, The SCPR has taken in among other things:

• the imposition without vote of Stark Countians a 1/2 cent sales tax (December, 2008) by Bosley, Harmon and Vignos in part to fix "a broken countywide 9-1-1 system" and an infusion of millions in general revenue funds,
• the rejection of the imposed tax at the hand of a determined core of Stark County citizens (local attorney and civic activist Craig T. Conley (November, 2009),
• the revelation (April 1, 2009) what proved to be an upwards of $3 million stolen from the Stark County treasury by then Chief Deputy Treasurer Vince Frustaci and the political fallout sustained by the then county treasurer (resigned/retired October, 2011) and county auditor (defeated for re-election in November, 2010) because of a public perception that they had not exercise sufficient oversight so as to have prevented or caught the theft earlier over the several years it had occurred,
• a turmoil over the handling of the Stark County Dog Pound operations which the SCPR thinks was generated by Todd Bosley (as The Report thinks he unwisely prevailed with Vignos and Harmon on the "imposed" sales tax) and which was not resolved until the appointment by commissioners of Jon Barber as Dog Pound Warden in August, 2013,
• a county government financial crisis (2010 through 2012) likely generated by the theft of treasury funds and the public's rejection of the imposed sales tax of 2008,
• the restoration of public confidence in the commissioners leadership with the election of Bernabei and Creighton (2010 election) and the commissioners (including Pete Ferguson) hiring first Mike Hanke and later Brant Luther and Chris Nichols to place the county on a sound fiscal footing, and
• the passage by Stark County voters of a 1/2 cent sales tax in November, 2011 (renewed recently).

The forgoing list is a testament to the importance of local government as embodied in the Board of Stark County Commissioners.

However, many of us devote our citizenship efforts to impacting federal and state office holders.  

But the political reality is that the likes of Sherrod Brown, Rob Portman, Bob Gibbs, Jim Renacci, John Kasich, Ted Strickland, Kirk Schuring, Scott Oelslager, Christina Hagan and Tom West largely blow off Joe and Mary Public.

Government officials who are most likely to hear a citizen's plea for attention to his/her issue is much, much, much higher at the county, township, city, village and board of education levels of government.

In today's blog the SCPR asks for readers' attention for a "look, see" in this SCPR breakdown of the anatomy of a commissioners' regular meeting.

Commissioner meetings are held most nearly every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m in the commissioners meeting room located on the second floor of the Stark County Office Building, 110 Central Plaza, Canton, Ohio.

Former commissioner Thomas Bernabei often jazzed up meetings during his tenure as commissioner (2010-2015) with his sometimes eccentric-esque wit.

Current commissioner Janet Creighton sprinkles an entire meeting with her jovial, fun-poking style as president of the Board of Stark County Commissioners.

A sample of the commissioners' "by design" entertaining style published by the SCPR on December 24, 2017: (4 min, 16 sec)

WRITTEN AGENDA WALK THROUGH

On Wednesday earlier this week, the commissioners meeting (which lasted a total of 30 minutes) was a mix of humor and a consideration/discussion of important issues that will affect the lives of Stark Countians who:

• use the services of the Stark County Dog Pound,
• get public assistance including SARTA services,
• suffer from public ditch drainage problems,
• rely on the ongoing training and hence expertise of Stark County appointed officials
• Engineer's office,
• Coroner's office,
• Emergency Management office,
• Job and Family Services office,
• Sanitary engineer's office, and
• Treasurer's office
• benefit from Ohio Public Works funded projects: ($3.243 million in total)
• Perry Township (Jackson Avenue and Perry Drive)
• Jackson Township (Applegrove and The Strip),
• Hills and Dales Road to Massillon city limits Brunnerdale Road,
• Belden Village Avenue from Whipple Avenue to Everhard Road, South,
• Spangler Road Bridge (Plain Township)
• Weimer Drive Bridge (Osnaburg Township)
• Hills and Dales Road/Avondale Storm Sewer
• use the intersection of Lake Center Street and Cleveland Avenue in Lake Township,
• use the intersection of Shuffle Road, Pittsburg Avenue and Orion Street in North Canton, and
• need infrastructure repair as in Lexington Township and the Village Green Lift Station,

VIDEO AGENDA WALK THROUGH

First, "The 169th Annual Stark County Fair" - an unusual Stark County commissioner meeting opening: (1 min, 30 sec)

And here is Commissioner Richard Regula (post-meeting) reminiscing about the Stark County Fair going back to his childhood, the value of 4H and other thoughts on the fair.



Second, the Pledge of Allegiance:

Third, Amendments, Approval of Minutes, Public Speaks and Administrator Jean Young time:

Fourth, Administrator Rick Flory on Ohio Public Works projects: (2 min, 39 sec)

Fifth, a break from the "serious" agenda items for a little "fun poking" at Commissioner Richard Regula and his years' long fastidiousness on getting U.S. Route 30 improved to the Pennsylvania state line:  (44 seconds)



Sixth, Administrator Flory and Engineer Torrence on Lake Center/Cleveland Avenue (Lake Township) signal light installation (re:  signal pole backlog, should be completed by December, 2018):

Seventh, Flory/Torrence on plan to reconfigure Shuffle Road to Pittsburg to Orion intersection:

In the following video, there is an extensive discussion of the merits of "roundabout" intersections which Commissioner Bill Smith says he once opposed but is now convinced are the way to go:  (4 min, 51 sec):



Eighth, a follow up consideration to the Jackson Ave/Perry Dr project: (1 min, 32 sec)

Ninth, the Whipple Ave/Everhard project.  The commissioners discuss with Torrence soon to be Whipple closing and next year Everhard closing:  (4 min, 48 sec).

The video has important Torrence provided closing information on both Whipple and Everhard.

Tenth, the commissioners review with Engineer Torrence Stark's "long line" road stripe painting program:

Lastly, the commissioners consider a sanitary sewer project in Lexington Township:

So there you have it folks.

A video walk through of the August 29, 2018 Stark County commissioners meeting.

POLITICAL CHANGE CAN BRING GOVERNANCE SOLUTIONS!

STARK COUNTY DOG POUND PROBLEMS SOLVED

BY

ELECTION OF

JANET CREIGHTON & TOM BERNABEI IN NOVEMBER, 2010

At last Wednesday's Stark County commissioners' meeting, it was somewhat spellbinding to The Stark County Political Report (SCPR, The Report) to witness the apparent "made whole" again revelation about the health and well-being of the Stark County Dog Pound (Pound).

The occasion?

This county commissioner resolution:

A far cry from this (LINK) SCPR blog of February 27, 2010.

And for a deeper appreciation of the chronically persistent problems at the Pound to be inherited by commissioners-elect Bernabei and Creighton (actually Bernabei took up office in November), here are a few more links to prior SCPR blogs:

• December 13, 2010 blog,
• December 26, 2010 blog

In the estimate of The Report, then-commissioner Todd Bosley 

• (now Nimishillen Township trustee from whence he came in November, 2006 having defeated then-incumbent commissioner Richard Regula)

was, in the opinion of this blogger, the main problem in fanning the fires of Pound problems in picking up on volunteer discontent with how the Pound was being run when he took office.  The Report thinks he replicated that approach to government  on a number of sore points (from the citizen/voter perspective) re: county government operations, and tried to turn the Pound and other county governance problems into a selfish political advantage for himself.

Unfortunately, there are way too many politicians in America, Ohio and, yes, in our local governments, who try to exploit citizen clamoring for solutions to problems they perceive in government with an eye towards:  "How can I turn dealing with this dissatisfaction to 'my' personal political advantage" without necessarily finding an enduring solution?

Which is to say what the SCPR thinks former commissioner Bosley was mainly about.

None of his colleagues seemed to have the political gumption to challenge Bosley's apparent to the SCPR "divide and conquer" for my selfish interest strategy and become solution providers rather than aiders and abettors to countywide political/governance discord and concomitant community disruption.

One consequence of the pre-Bernabei/Creighton era of the Board of Stark County Commissioners was the "deemed necessary" dissolution, in the view of the Bernabei/Creighton led board, of the Stark County Dog Advisory Council.

Commissioner Bernabei since his election in November, 2010 has moved on to tackling the gargantuan aesthetic (i.e. the neighborhoods)/financial problems of city of Canton governance (elected in November, 2015) that have been accumulating mostly unchecked since the 1960s/1970s.

Most impressively, he abandoned his lifelong association with the "organized" Stark County Democratic Party to become an "independent" so that he could take on two-term seeking a third term incumbent Democratic mayor William J. Healy, II.

Along with "solving" the Stark County Dog Pound problem:

• Bernabei teamed up with Creighton to solve the diminution of "trust" in county government as a consequence of what local attorney and civic activist Craig T. Conley termed as being "Zeiglergate," 

• which many believe led to (in conjunction with with former commissioners Bosley, Harmon and Vignos having in December, 2008 "imposed" a 1/2 cent county sales tax) to a county government financial crisis.

In November, 2011, due to "restorative-of-a-measure-of 'trust-in-county-government'" in large part due the the work of Commissioners Bernabei and Creighton, Stark Countians placed county government in a position to recover financially/fiscally which it has done largely under the watchful eye of county finance director Chris Nichols (also a Canton Township trustee) with his implementation of a "financial sustainability" standard of county budgeting and appropriation with the unmitigated support of the Board of Stark County Commissioners.

The SCPR could cite other examples of commissioner led restarts/reforms that have resulted in politicians running out government solving problems rather than creating them.

The point of this blog is that political change in terms of whom we elect can work to bring quality performance to governance when quality politicians step forward to run for office and voters are informed enough to vote them into office.

The SCPR worried when Bernabei moved on to become mayor of Canton that we could not find a quality person to fill his shoes.

With former Canton Township trustee, it appears that in Bill Smith voters did pick someone who though different in style from Bernabei appears to be up-to-the-job in a qualitative manner.

So it should be no surprise that he is in league with Commissioners Creighton and Regula in the commissioners' continuing quest to improve facilities and operations at the Stark County Dog Pound.

According to Statista, dog ownership continues to rise.  According to Warden Barber, Humane Society formulas indicate that Stark County probably has upwards of 70,000 citizen owned dogs.

Stark County dog lovers (by the way, this blogger is not and has not been a dog owner going back to the 1980s.  However, all three adult daughters with families of their own are) should be thoroughly impressed and pleased with the work that has been done by county officials (i.e. the commissioners and Warden Jon Barber) to revamp the Pound and make it a high quality operation.

Below is SCPR video of Barber making his presentation to commissioners on the 27th for approval of the county to take funds from the county's capital budget (coupled with about $200,000 in private sector (citizens and businesses) to undertake a renovation of the Stark County Dog Pound.  (Note:  see follow up video below SCPR One-on-One with Warden Barber for details of the renovation financing details)

The Barber to Stark commissioners video:  (6 min, 28 sec)

Links to county commissioners' website and Pound Facebook page.

Photos from Facebook page:

As a follow up to his presentation to commissioners, the SCPR sat down with Warden Barber (who has been warden for about five years) immediately after the June 27th commissioner session and interviewed him on the history (of difficulties at the Pound), current operations and the prospects going forward.  (12 min, 50 sec)



(Note:  Due to a recording glitch part of the interview was lost and therefore is picked up mid-interview, The Report apologizes)

Ohio/Stark County dog owners should be come aware of the legal obligations of dog ownership as a matter of state law.  The Ohio State Bar Association has published a guide to Ohio dog ownership which can be seen at this LINK.

While The Stark County Political Report's main emphasis is to present to readers stories about problems in governance in Ohio's Stark County political subdivisions (county, city, village, township and board of education et cetera), and, of course, in state government relations with our local government;  the most gratifying part of writing the SCRP is sharing with readers serendipitous examples of successes of our local governors in tackling and solving problems.

The "rebirth" of the Stark County Dog Pound is a prime example of what can be achieved when our leaders look for a work at solutions rather than looking to unsettle and confuse in a quest for political self interest.

A SCPR "hat's off!" to the commissioners and Warden Barber and the many, many, many Stark County citizen-volunteers who have worked together with government to solve a long festering care of animals problem!!!

18TH IN SCPR SERIES ON "HOF-VP" - REPOSITORY (HANDMAIDEN OF HOF-VP) TARGETS NORTH CANTON MAYOR DAVID HELD FOR EXPOSING FINANCIAL MACHINATIONS OF HOF VILLAGE LLC?

UPDATED: 5:15 p.m.

On March 18th, 

• as The Stark County Political Report (SCPR, The Report) impliedly predicted in a March 14th blog that it was only a matter of time until The Repository (Stark County''s journalistic version of Hulu Network's "A Handmaiden's Tale" inasmuch as it appears that the newspaper plays the role of being the bully of Stark County elected and appointed officials in behalf of HOF/IRG officialdom.

The Canton Repository

• (Stark County's only countywide newspaper, which of course makes it a "private sector" monopoly) 

through Repository publisher's relative Todd Porter 

• (really a so-so "sports reporter who has been given the title of "special projects editor" 

launched what the SCPR thinks is an all-out political assault on North Canton mayor David Held in response to his exercise of his 1st Amendment Constitutional right of free speech 

A journalistic irony the SCPR thinks when it comes to The Repository's

• Note:  Porter's article is supposedly a primer on obtaining public records from the Canton City Schools/Canton Police Department as a play to America media's annual play to being diligent in guarding the public interest in accordance with National Sunshine Week (March 11—17) celebration

headline which appears to be a cover for the Held attack for opening his mouth on January 9, 2018 at a Strengthening Stark central Stark County elected officials (paralleling the Canton Municipal Court statutory boundaries).

Held believed moderator Mark Samolczyk (president of the Stark Community Foundation who said he had "no dog in this fight") when he in effect assured politically "sensitive" elected officials that they could "let it all hang out" and there would be no retribution.

Not only Held, but Stark County commissioner Janet Creighton bought into the Samolczyk assurances which (i.e. being additionally encouraged by Creighton's lead) was a sign to Held that he could utter his grievances against the Pro Football Hall of Fame (a non-profit) combo with the profit making Stu Lichter's Industrial Realty Group (IRG) coming out as HOF Village, LLC

• and a bunch of other "specially created" companies segregating various aspects of the likely financially unmanageable $1 billon plus "visionary" (according to HOF   CEO/president C. David Baker)

only to find out that Samolczyk's assurances were apparently uttered by him without first getting clearance from The Rep's James Porter, the HOF's Baker, Lichter and, perhaps, Denny Saunier (president of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, CRCOC) .

Held demonstrated that "he really did not get it" speaking out would likely be retributed on him  after talking with Todd Porter in Porter acting for his cousin James finessed Held into agreeing to a March 6th event sponsored by CRCOC (but not a "free" event open to the Stark County general public) telling Held that he Porter would ask him "softball" questions at the event.

By the way, the Canton Regional Chamber Commerce does get $175,000 annually approved by Canton City Council.  Interesting, taxpayer money and yet folks have to pay to attend what is billed as "for the public benefit' events.

A SCPR "hats off" to Ward 9 councilman Frank Morris who during his term has consistently voted against the government subsidy of a private enterprise entity (corporate welfare, anybody?).

Morris is no longer council vice president/majority leader with The Repository endorsing Ward 7 councilman John Mariol when the two vied for the position in late December, 2017, early January, 2018.

Hmm?

To his immense credit, Held declined the offer of "softball" questions and in effect said "bring it on."

To his double up immense credit, Held pretty much repeated his January 9th critiques of the HOF-VP financing troubles.

Upon which Porter abandoned his promised "softball" approach and went after Held.

And now, we have a "one week later" buried in an ostensible "Sunshine Week" article going after Held for having a "big mouth."

In other words, SHUT UP! MAYOR DAVID HELD and THIS IS A WARNING SHOT that if you don't we will play the 800 pound journalistic gorilla which buys ink by the barrel and come after you should you decide to run for re-election in 2019.

As an aside, the SCPR thinks that for the most part The Rep powers that be (and Todd Porter, in particular) wouldn't recognize journalistic sunshine if slogans were pasted all over the walls at 500 Market Avenue, South.

Here are a couple of excerpts from Todd Porter's March 14th piece:

For more than a month all the windows have been replaced in the Hoover Complex by developers for Industrial Realty Group. For years in some case, those windows — large rectangular holes — were replaced with plywood that faced the busiest street in North Canton. Anyone who lives in the city or drives through it — myself included — had to stare at the unsightly plywood.

Until Jan. 25.

That is when the window openings were filled with new windows, and now the front of the Hoover Complex looks whole again.

North Canton Mayor David Held has been vocal in his criticism of slow-moving developers on the project. The mayor needs to be a little careful, however, because without IRG the city’s income tax revenue might not have rebounded to levels before the Hoover Co. closed.  (emphasis added by the SCPR)

As if that were not enough of a warning shot, read this:

Schroer Group lease

One of the anchor tenants in the Hoover Complex, the Schroer Group — recognized as an award-winning operator of Altercare Integrated Health Services, Absolute Health Services, Avalon Foodservice and Leverage Purchasing Group — is nearing the end of its lease. There have been rumors it might leave for a city north of North Canton.

“I’ve talked to the developer about making sure they are taking care of the needs of a tenant,” Held said. “We want them to stay here. There is a lot of time between now and the end of the year.”

Schroer represents a large number of employees with good-paying positions. That means tax revenue for the city.

“If they leave, it would be a significant impact,” Held said.

Held is a vocal mayor. A voice only goes so far. Acting fast to keep a large employer would show leadership. (enlarged  text added by the SCPR for emphasis)

Who can doubt that the segue (really a non-sequitur; not a logical flow that Porter obviously thought it was) from the Hoover project to the Schroer Group matter appears to the SCPR to have been designed to set Held back on his heels because of his Strengthening Stark County/CRCC verbal attack on the financing (or lack thereof) of the $1 billion (Ohio and Stark County taxpayer supported in some measure) C.  David Baker financial nightmare Hall of Fame expansion project.

The Official Newspaper of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as far as the SCPR can see, has not dug and is not digging to uncover information that might well have indicated and/or continues to indicate "public money" should never have gone into this project and ought to be stopped immediately as being a bad investment.

For Porter to write under a "sunshine theme" is about as hypocritical he and his cousin Rep publisher James Porter can possibly be!

Todd Porter may think he wielded a megaphone in his editorial but what he really did for the discerning, was to reveal himself as wielding a "Shill-A-Phone."

On top of the Todd Porter piece, the SCPR has been told by a source that The Repository locked down its comments on a recent piece for at least two would be commenters to express an opinion on a HOF-VP article.

To boot, the SCPR has it on very good authority that his cousin James is calling and politically threatening some local Stark County officials come their next election cycle.

These guys are for journalistic sunshine?  Ya got to be kidding Todd and Jim, aren't you?

For them, at least on HOF financing matters, the sun is in total eclipse, no?

That's what you get when you have a journalistic enterprise who can play the role of an 800 pound gorilla!

A FUTURE STARK CO DISASTER? PETS WILL NOT HAVE TO BE LEFT BEHIND!

THANKS TO AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB

(CENTRAL OHIO KENNEL CLUB & PARTNERS)

UPDATE:  07:45 AM

From:  Karen Kirsch

Today at 7:39 AM

To:  tramols@att.net

Good news for the animals! Thanks for sharing this information and bringing to public attention the plight helpless animals also face if/when disaster hits.

 ORIGINAL BLOG

VIDEOS

AKC KENNEL CLUB

(Central Ohio Kennel Club)

PET DISASTER RELIEF

GIFT

to

Stark & Adjoining Counties

--------------------------

STARK PUBLIC OFFICIALS

EXAMINE

PET DISASTER RELIEF TRAILER

Stark County getting its very own (sort of, actually it is to be shared with nearby counties) Pet Disaster Relief Trailer is an example of local government(s) working together to wit:

• county to county, 
• county emergency management director in relation to the county dog warden to the county commissioners,
• county commissioners vis-a-vis non-government entities (i.e. AKC and its affiliates), and
• the like,

The prime mover for Stark County getting in on the ground floor to have the county as the home base for a newly donated Pet Disaster Relief Trailer was Stark County Emergency Management director Tim Warstler.

According to Stark County chief administrator Brant Luther, Tim became aware of a first of its kind project for Delaware County (May, 2015) to find a way to rescue pets from a disaster situation.

The impetus was a Congress enacted piece of legislation in 2013 the cost of implementing was laid on state and/or local governments.

Tim's pick up on the significance of having a disaster pet rescue facility was akin to that of a professional colleague (in the sense of being a county emergency management [EMA] director) for Delaware County; namely, Sean Miller who proved to be the impetus for Central Ohio Kennel Club official Jon Green (also a delegate to the American Kennel Club) being heard in Ohio in terms of getting the ball rolling to raise funds to have a trailer in Ohio.  (LINK to newspaper report).

At today's prices, the trailers cost $23,000 each to put together which is funded by AKC affiliated clubs.  A local AKC club is the McKinley Kennel Club (LINK) which does not have the financial resources (reference:  Jon Green in video below) to provide money but nonetheless is a supporter of making the trailers available across Ohio and, of course, right here in Stark County.

Also playing a critical Stark County role in securing a rescue trailer (delivered in mid-November, 2015) for Stark has been Stark County dog warden John Barber who was hired in August, 2013.   (LINK to SCPR blog on Barber's hire)

Before Barber, at least in most of the decade before him, if not longer; the Stark County Dog Pound (SCDP, Pound) was plagued with administrative oversight and effective administration problems.

In a November 6, 2015 Stephanie Ujhelyi of The Alliance Review did a review (LINK) of the overall history of the Pound.

Recently, Barber retired.

The Stark County commissioners are on record with a policy of not rehiring retiring county officials.

However, there was an outcry by many knowledgeable about the history of operations at the facility that the commissioners make an exception to their policy.

Though the SCPR has received complaints about Barber which seem to focus on the retire/rehire thing, yours truly thinks that a rehire of Barber was warranted conditioned however on his training a successor who can take over in a seamless qualitative transition to younger generation leadership.

For Barber, it had to be music to the ears to know that the newly acquired trailer can handle up to 65 dogs on an emergency basis.

Here is how the story unfolded as told by Stark County chief administrator Brant Luther (see above re: Warstler) and Green.

Two years ago Green was at the American Kennel Club annual dog show where he got wind of the trailer project and the fact that no such trailers existed in Ohio.

Green agreed to be sort of a liaison to secure a foothold for getting the disaster rescue trailers into Ohio in volume.

(LINK to AKC Website Page)

As the SCPR understands Green, he tried to interest State of Ohio disaster relief officials in the trailer but they were not all that interested because they had/have higher priorities.

Here is where Delaware County's EMA Director Sean Miller played a hugely import role in getting the project started in Ohio.

An example of bottom up as contrasted to top down government.  Refreshing, no?

And, as it turns out, Stark County's very own EMA director Warstler in a key person in terms of expansion of the first effort which undoubtedly will result in additional units being placed across Ohio.

Although, according to Green, and as is pointed out above, there is now federal law on the books that requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide for pets during a disaster; he makes the compelling point in terms of overall animal welfare that many disasters in which animals could be victims if not looked after are not what he called "FEMA recognized."

Accordingly, many local disasters could result in animals not being attended to but for the American Kennel Club (AKC) and affiliates (e.g. Central Ohio Kennel Club) effort in getting pet disaster relief capability into Ohio's counties as a part of the AKC et al overall national program.

Here is a video of Jon Green explaining the history of the evolvement of the pet disaster rescue operation/facility.

Be sure not to miss the highly humorous remark of Commissioner Janet Creighton to the effect that availability of more trailer units in a good thing for Commissioner Bernabei.



And here is a video of public officials taking a close up view of the Stark County Disaster Relief trailer.

(VIDEOS) WILL NEW STARK CO. HIRED DOG WARDEN MOVE FACILITIES & OPERATIONS TO A HIGHER LEVEL?

VIDEOS

STARK COMMISSIONERS

HIRE

FORMER PORTAGE COUNTY OFFICIAL

AS

DOG WARDEN

---------------------------------------------

SEE ENTIRE PRESS CONFERENCE

WITH

STARK COUNTY DOG WARDEN

JON BARBER

----------------------------------------------

"Not even close," Stark County Commissioner Tom Bernabei told the SCPR when asked about comparing the newly hired Jon Barber to the other six applicants for the position of Stark County dog warden.

Not only as compared to the six others, but when the field was whittled down to two.  Still, Bernabei said, Barber was the obvious choice.

This evaluation even though Barber was summarily dismissed about several months ago as director of the Portage County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Department.

As readers of the SCPR will note from the press conference video posted below, Barber addressed his dismissal as his not having a clue as to why he was dismissed.

The suggested implication (from what Bernabei told The Report; not Barber) is that his dismissal may have been politically motivated.

Here is a LINK to another Record-Courier piece (PORTAGE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS NAME INTERIM EMA LEADER, Mike Sever, May 29, 2013) regarding the Barber dismissal which has an interesting comment at the bottom made by a Sydney Harrison of Kent, Ohio.

Bernabei also alluded to prior employment difficulty (a number of years ago) that he says Barber has had but assured yours truly commissioners have vetted him on such.

Moreover,  Stark County's new warden handled the matter to the commissioners' satisfaction and that they are confident that he is indeed "the best hire"

Watch as Commissioners Bernabei and Regula consider and pass the resolution hiring Barber and remarks by Barber himself.

After the commissioners' action, the SCPR and other area media folks (Kelli Young of The Repository, Laurie Huffman of the Alliance Review and Nancy Molnar of Beacon Journal did a press conference with the new dog warden.

In the video (which is posted at the end of this blog), Barber answered a bevy of questions regarding his:

• Impressions of the Stark County Dog Pound on first visiting the facility,
• Immediate prior employment with Portage County,
• Total employment history,
• Plans to commute daily from Edinburg Township,
• Stint as president of the Ohio Dog Wardens Association,
• Involvement with the Happy Trails Animal Sanctuary located in Ravenna,
• Becoming aware of the opening for a Stark County dog warden,
• Working with unions (non-management employees of the SCDP are Teamster union members),
• Surprise to note the longevity of a goodly number of Pound employees,
• Specific experience of having been Portage County dog warden in 1995,
• Take on the "hot button issues" in Pound (he prefers to think of dog pounds as being kennels/shelters) concerning the operations,
• Awareness of historical problems specific to the Stark County Dog Pound,
• Interaction with and take on Pound volunteers (e.g. Friends of the Pound),
• Interest in pursuing a "spay and neutering" program at the SCDP,
• Look at handling difficulties between the unionized workers at the Pound and the volunteers,
• Belief in transparency in government ("I work for the citizens of Stark County,"
• Commitment to the public that dogs which go through the SCDP to get "the best in care,"
• Plans regarding the SCDP working with animal rescue operations and finding other opportunities to place dogs for adoption,
• Thoughts on euthanasia policy, and
• Securing compliance with dog licensing requirements.

The Stark County commissioners seem to be on a roll in terms of making quality hires for county operations under their control.

But as Commissioner Bernabei is fond of reminding new hires of, each and every one of them are on probation for a period of time.

And the SCPR gets the impression that the new hires are looked at very closely during the probation period inasmuch as the commissioners appear to want to avoid making a mistake.

Indications are that the commissioners have been satisfied with the job recently resigned (August 9th) Reagan Tetreault did for the county.  However, she was not this set of commissioners' hire.

Accordingly, they have much more at stake in terms of assessing whether or not they demonstrate good judgment in hiring this new warden.

Only time will tell.

Here is the full Jon Barber interview.

CONFIDENCE ABOUNDS IN STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AS THEY SELECT "FUNDAMENTALLLY SOUND" MANAGERS TO DO THE PUBLIC'S BUSINESS

BUT WILL THEY DELIVER IN THEIR SELECTION OF A NEW STARK COUNTY DOG WARDEN?

TOPICS DISCUSSED

A FINAL SOLUTION

FOR

STARK COUNTY DOG POUND PROBLEMS

---------------------------------------------------------------------

THE COMMISSIONERS'

TRACK RECORD

IN

MAKING

NEW MANAGEMENT HIRES

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATED: 8:33 AM

Today and tomorrow the Stark County commissioners will be interviewing candidates to become Stark's next dog warden.

Yawn, no?

As it should be.

Except in Stark, going back maybe as much as ten years, it hasn't been a yawn.

Management of the Stark County Dog Pound (SCDP - Pound) has been one huge problem for a number of prior Stark County boards of commissioners.

Current commissioner Thomas Bernbei told the SCPR last Wednesday that having an effective operating Pound is important and acknowledged that Stark Countians are no different than folks across the nation; they want and expect government to get the job done.

His consternation is abundantly clear that prior commissioners had not been able to get a handle on proper management of the SCDP is amazing in terms of the small part that Pound operations occupies when compared to the overall scope and responsibilities of county government.

Commissioner Janet Creighton cited to the SCPR a number of improvements (not all) that the current board of commissioners have made at the Pound, to wit:

• A new heating, air conditioning and ventilation system,
• The creation of a veterinarian examination/treatment room,
• The introduction of pads into the cages to make walking around in them much more comfortable, 
• Working closely with the dog warden (Reagan Tetreault) from the time they (Bernabei and Creighton were elected in November, 2010) took office to institute needed management and personnel changes

Tetreault resigned (having come on board in May, 2010) effective August 9th.

Creighton credits Tetreault with having stabilized operations at the Pound and having been a driving force to institute better conditions.

SHAPING UP STARK COUNTY'S MANAGEMENT SKILLS, IN GENERAL

Moreover, Creighton sees the selection of a replacement warden as being an opportunity for she and her fellow commissioners to put their concept of leadership qualities in place.

During the time that the SCPR has covered the Stark County commissioners (since March, 2008), yours truly has seen, with the current set of commissioners, a marked upgraded change in the manner in which commissioners evaluate and select management level employees. 

When they interview, they make a point of having someone with "expertise" in the field (e.g. an experienced human resources person when they hired a county human resources lead person) in which an appointment is being contemplated.

While The Report does see that there does seem to be a political affinity factor (with Commissioner Creighton) regarding some of those selected as hires (e.g. well known Republicans Brant Luther [he actually worked for Creighton when she was county auditor, and, in fact, succeeded her as auditor as the Stark County GOP appointee] as chief county administrator and Canton Township trustee Chris Nichols as director of management and budget); both appear to be well qualified for their jobs and to be doing high quality work.

But then there is  the recent hire of Angela Cavanaugh as the county's chief building officer who does not appear to have any political connections with any of the commissioners.  And The Report is told that she does not have much, if any, history of being politically involved in her time with Canton.

An argument can be made that it took a large measure of political maturity on the part of Bernabei and Creighton to be in favor of a county Cavanaugh appointment inasmuch as she is currently working for Canton mayor William J. Healy, II. 

She will take office on September 3rd but will continue to work for the mayor for 120 days.

Political maturity?  How's that?

The Report is told that Cavanaugh is loyal to the mayor over and above that of most of his top administrators.  

Of course, it is well known that Bernabei (who he fired as Canton service director/chief-of-staff in January, 2009) and Creighton (who he defeated in her re-election bid in November, 2007 and whom he has criticized as having left the city of Canton in a financial mess) have been avowed political enemies of Healy for years.

So why would somone who is not "on the outs" with the mayor want to leave and why would a pair who are "on the outs" be willing the hire the former?

First, The Report is told that Cavanaugh is spread very thin over a large field of responsibilities with Canton and likes the idea that with Stark County her focus will be narrowed considerably.

Second, there appears to have been for some time now a recognition by the commissioners and by Healy that it is advantageous to both the county and Canton to work out a collaboration between the two entities for the sake of efficiencies and concomitant cost savings.  

However, the kicker has been that Healy would be unwilling to entrust Canton's building department work to the county (by contract or otherwise) unless someone like Cavanaugh was managing the county building department.

The Report does not think that Bernabei and Creighton have all of a sudden become enamored with the mayor.

But yours truly does believe that they care more about providing quality local government to Stark Countians than engaging in political warfare with Healy.

FIXING, ONCE AND FOR ALL, ANY LINGERING PROBLEMS AT THE STARK COUNTY DOG POUND

Brant Luther, in particular, is a key advisor to helping the commissioners select exactly the right person to succeed Tetreault as Stark County's dog warden.

If the commissioners make the correct choice, then the SCDP operation will hum along without the high drama and controversy that has plagued the facility even bleeding into the early days of Tetrault's management.

Believe or not, Commissioner Bernabei thinks that the commissioners have the right person in the job now as interim dog warden but that he is not interested in taking on the job permanently.

That would be former Alliance mayor Toni Middleton.

At 12:01 a.m. on August 10th Middleton became the appointed warden until they select Tetreault's replacement.

Middleton is Alliance's former fire chief (1989 - 1999) and mayor former mayor (2000 - 2008).

Commissioner Bernabei is thoroughly impressed with Middleton and would be in favor of hiring him "in a heartbeat," if the former Alliance chief executive (a Republican) was open to it.

Here is what Luther had to say about Middleton's appointment in a press release.

Not to detract from Middleton's appointment at all, but he does appear to have close political ties to Commissioner Janet Creighton which some might think has something to do with his selection.

For those SCPR readers who want a refresher on the trials and tribulations of the commissioners (present and of yore), here are a few links to past blogs:

• November 28, 2010
• December 13, 2010
• August 21, 2011
• February 7, 2013

The folks being interviewed as potentials for being the new warden are a curious mix.

There are some with prior experience in specifically dealing with canines.  However, there are some who have no such experience whatsoever.

These commissioners are not set on hiring someone with prior dog pound or dog handling experience. The focus is to find a warden who can apply solid and fundamental management skills to the operation of the facility.

Interim director Middleton has no direct experience with running dog pounds.

Nonetheless, the commissioners are confident that given his demonstrated management skills in Alliance over some 20 years, he will do just fine if not exemplary as the interim warden.

The seven to be interviewed include:

(Note:  all resume information is "extracted" from the full resume)

• Sean Toohey who seems to have highly attractive qualifications inasmuch as he is deputy dog warden in Mahoning County.

A key to his becoming warden might hinge on his willingness to relocate to Stark County.

When a Geauga County official with impressive credentials as a potential county administrator replacement for Mike Hanke hedged on committing to relocate to Stark, The Report believes that was the end of any consideration he might have otherwise received for the job.

• Sarah Hansford like Toohey has direct experience in Portage County's dog pound.

• Timothy Harland shares with Hansford and Toohey a direct connection with involvement of care of dogs. If he can convince the commissioners he has the management skills to go along, he could be a prime candidate to be warden.  He is featured on this ZoomInfo.com page.

• John Koval evidently interests at least one of the commissioners because of his past work history in Human Resources.  Over the years of troubles at the Pound, managing the employees and volunteers and their historic antagonism with one another has proved to be a challenge for the succession of wardens.

• John McCutcheon is an especially tough one for the SCPR to figure out as being of interest.  He has impressive credentials as a law enforcement type, but it is interesting that he was a past president of the union representing Summit County's deputy sheriffs.  One has to wonder how it would work out for him as the top manager of the Pound to have to be on the other side of the fence from the unionized Pound employees.  If memory serves yours truly well, it seems that union inspired employee testiness has been a problem.

• Jeff Wright interestingly enough is a former Stark County dog warden.  He also served in animal control in Summit County.  In doing a Google search on Wright, yours truly did hit on this piece which purportedly was put on the Internet ZoomInfo.com.

• Jon Barber is yet another former dog warden.   Like Hansford, Portage County.  How do like that for a co-incidence.   But Hanford is the current warden whereas he goes quite a ways back (nearly 15 years) as to when he was warden in Portage County.  And, as the following extract from his resume shows, Portage County's operation at the time was small.  A LinkedIn page on Barber does not list his warden background but interestingly enough focuses on his work in homeland security and law enforcement.

A CURIOUS OMISSION?

It is interesting to the SCPR that the commissioners did not choose to interview Cynthia Harris as a potential Stark County dog warden.

In 2010, when Todd Bosley, Steve Meeks and Pete Ferguson were Stark County commissioners, it was quite a stir among Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board (SCDPAB) members (since assigned to oblivion by Commissioners Bernabei, Creighton and Ferguson [in 2012] without formally disbanding the group) when Ms. Harris surfaced as a candidate to possibly be named warden.

One has to wonder whether or not that flap made her a non-starter in terms of making the list for an interview this time around.

To The Report, she appears to have solid credentials (though dated in terms of specific employment) in meeting the dual optimum qualifications (documented management skills and "hands on experience) for the job.  A prime goal of the county's operation of a dog pound is for it to be self-supporting for it is an "enterprise funded" operation.

Note that Harris says that she had Countryside Animal Hospital double its profit within five years which is obviously is more than "breaking even."

No interview.

Hmm?

WILL THE INTERVIEWS PRODUCE A DOG WARDEN?

Perhaps not this go around.

The commissioners are quite pleased to have Middleton in place.

And they are serious indeed in proceeding cautiously in naming a Tetreaut replacement.

They recall all too well what a royal pain it has been for them to get the Pound to the more or less stable state it is currently in.

At the last commissioners meeting, Commissioner Creighton emphatically said that if none of the seven being interview satisfy them, they will not hesitate in the slightest to redo the process.

A point also emphasized by Stark County Chief Administrator Brant Luther.

Stark Countians should be well taken with this current set of commissioners and the manner in which they are building a leadership team for their area of responsibility of Stark County government.

They are "head and shoulders" above any board board that has served within the member of yours truly!