MASSILLON CITY HALL PARKING LOT INCIDENT WITH POLITICAL FALLOUT?

One would have had to be in a Rip Van Winkle-esque sleep not to know of the bitter politically rancorous discord that has been at play in recent years in Massillon Democratic politics.

It has been the forces led by Massillon Clerk of Courts John A. Maier, Jr and a number of his top lieutenants squared off against former Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr and his top lieutenants.

One would have thought that once the Maier-led contingent achieved mastery over Cicchinelli in last year's Democratic primary, the certain-to-be new mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry would be counseling her loyalists to back off and work at healing the rift so that she could get on with effective governing once she defeated token Republican opposition in November and took office in January of this year.

But it is beginning to appear that Mayor Kathy not in charge of her cohort political group and that political retaliation, retribution and rift may be the order of the day in Massillon these days.

If the SCPR's suspicions are borne out as the new administration takes charge, then the mayor is in for a tough, tough four years.  What's more, Massillon's citizens will suffer unnecessarily.

This morning The Report got two e-mails which clearly suggests that a supporter of the mayor has taken it as his/her mission to fire another shot in the ongoing political battle between the Catazaro-Perryites and the Cicchinellis.

E-MAIL #1 - From an anonymous source to Scott Graber who was a Massillon Council President Glenn Gamber (a close political ally to Cicchinelli) opponent in the 2011 Democratic primary (Graber losing in a closer than expected race), to wit:

Hey, were you aware that on Tuesday night your former opponet [sic] Glenn Gamber hit a car twice in the parking lot. He stayed in his car for 6-minutes and then jumped out and entered council chambers. A MP put a note on his car, when he came out of council he grabbed the note and took off. Gamber denied it, until he was caught on camera in the act.

E-MAIL #2 - From Councilman Gamber to the SCPR, to wit:

Martin,

My vehicle was involved in an incident in the City Hall parking lot on Tuesday, and I wanted to let you know what happened before you hear of it through the media and blogs.

On Tuesday evening I parked my vehicle in the City Hall parking lot just after 7 PM and went into a meeting.  When I left the building nearly two hours later, there was a note on my windshield to call Massillon Patrolman Masters, which I did immediately.   I called from the parking lot and was a block away on Lincoln Way when he came to the phone. 

He told me that the right rear of my vehicle had apparently bumped into the right rear of an adjacent car causing minor damage to the plastic bumper cowling.  The contact was so minimal that I was not aware it had occurred.   I asked Patrolman Masters what I should do, and he said there was nothing to do at that time.  I called him again an hour later to follow up, but he was on a call and not available.  I left my phone number for him to call me back.

On Wednesday I went to the Police Station to discuss the incident with and realized that I did indeed bump into the other car’s bumper while backing into a parking space at 3 MPH.  I got the name of the owner and immediately called him to accept responsibility.  He was very cordial and said the damage to his bumper was minimal.  He told me that he mentioned to the officer that if my vehicle was still parked next to his car when he made his report, it must be because I did not realize I had contacted his bumper.  That is exactly the case. 

Glenn

The SCPR believes that Mayor Kathy can put a stop to the political warfare from her end now!  And she should do so if she cares anything about being able to govern effectively in the interests of ALL Massillonians and not just those who supported her in her drive to become mayor.

If she chooses to do a little sit down with her zealot supporters and rein them in, then Massillonians should be encouraged that she will be concentrating on applying her best efforts towards bringing Massillon back from the financial crisis that currently plagues the city.

The new mayor has a lot of good qualities that she can bring to bear to defuse the political warfare and over time bring the hostiles into a working relationship with her administration, again, in pursuing interests near and dear to all Massillonians.

The only question is whether or not she has the strength of personality to do so.

Like or dislike Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr., certainly the new mayor can point to the positives that the long time former mayor brought to Massillon.

The SCPR is not aware of whether or not Catazaro-Perry has been invited and/or plans to attend a March 4th celebration of Cicchinell's contributions to the well-being of Massillon over his many years as mayor.  If not invited, she should seek an invitation.  From the Cicchinelli standpoint, he should see to it that the mayor of the city gets invited.

And, of course, if invited she should be afforded an opportunity to speak to his accomplishments as mayor in a believable and authentic way.

If not invited, she undoubtedly knows she can show the class that The Report believes she has and issue a press release in this regard.

The Report believes that Kathy Catzaro-Perry is a person of goodwill and that she should resist any naysayers in her core group of supporters that counsel her and do acts designed to fan the fires of political turmoil.  Now is the time for her to show moral leadership and demonstrations of character that may not be responded to in the short term.  Over the long haul chances are gestures of goodwill pay huge dividends.

The timing is right for Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry to do the right thing for Massillon governance and call off the enthusiast "political" dogs who are baying at if not snarling at her political enemies post-election victory.

Catazaro-Perry needs to show one and all that she is the captain of her own ship.

Will she do it?

That is the question!

(VIDEOS SHANKLE, CREIGHTON, BERNABEI - PRESS CONFERENCE) COMMISSIONERS GET HIT WITH A BARAGE OF CRITICISMS ON CONDITIONS AT STARK COUNTY DOG POUND!

For several years the SCPR has been publishing blogs about the vociferous and vigorous complaints by some activist Stark County dog lovers (Activists) on conditions at the Stark County Dog Pound (Pound).

The complainers - for the most part - are volunteers at the Pound who recount eye witness incident after incident after incident of what they allege to be abusive treatment of dogs who land at the Pound.

In late 2009, the outcry got so marked that the then commissioners were forced to act.  In early 2010 the fired Warden Evert Gibson and replaced him in May, 2010 with former Holmes County Dog Warden Reagan Tetreault who still is Stark's dog warden.

On December 26, 2010, yours truly did a blog who described the transition thusly:

On January 27, 2010 (nearly one year ago), Stark County commissioners (Bosley, Ferguson and Meeks) fired Evert Gibson as dog warden because of unresolved problems.  Gibson had been on the job for several years.

After some controversy between the commissioners and members of the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board (SCDPAB) over the appearance of a non-SCDPAB recommended person as one of five finalists, the current warden Reagan Tetreault (on the list) was appointed (May 5, 2010) with a starting date of May 24, 2010 subject however to a 120 probationary period.

Ever since there has been simmering discontent among much of the Activists community with the management style of Tetreault.

Commissioners have been aware of the rumblings and have been trying to keep a lid on it.

But at yesterday's regular weekly meeting of the Stark commissioners the lid exploded off  "the can of worms" which The Report believes descriptive of the mishmash of turmoil afflicting Pound operations.

EXHIBIT 1

A video of Stark County citizen Ellen Shankle, (a former volunteer at the Pound and, according to a source, a former board member of the Friends of the Pound [Stark County], who was the primary complainer at yesterday's meeting, to wit:



EXHIBIT 2


On August 21, 2011 the SCPR did a blog that is an extensive review of the longstanding grievances of SCDPAB with Stark commissioners going back beyond the current board.  Click anywhere on this paragraph to link to the prior blog.

EXHIBIT 3


The story of Roxy who on October 13, 2010 through a series of errors was euthanized at the Stark County Dog Pound to the horror of his owner family.  Click anywhere in this paragraph to link to the Roxy blog.

EXHIBIT 4 (See videos below)

THE COMMISSIONERS RESPONSE

The  SCPR's impression is that yesterday's outburst was a surprise to them.

Apparently, they did not see this coming.  But The Report believes that they should have in light of what is going on with Canton City Council with its mulling over as to whether or not to continue with its present program of animal control of trapping wild animals (mostly cats) and then having them euthanized.

Opponents to the current program have besieged council with demands that policy be changed to TNR (trap-neuter-return).

The focal point of the TRN advocates cause is a viral YouTube video showing Canton Animal Control Officer Phil Sedlacko (also an employee of the Stark County Dog Pound) and his handling of a dog which he had captured.

The commissioners did hold a press conference after the presentation of Ms. Shankle and two other citizens.

In the main the response was:

• we have been working on this problem and will continue to do so until it is remedied,
• we are sending Chief Administrator Mike Hanke to spend the day (Friday, February 24) at the pound to get a first hand take on the situation of the Pound,
• we will hold public work sessions with dog warden to get to the bottom of problems,
• we deem the Pound in important concern, but it is not our top priority.

Noteworthy on the last bullet point are the remarks of Janet Creighton, to wit:



One would think that Commissioner Tom Bernabei would especially be interested in zeroing in or solving the festering SCDP problem inasmuch as he is up for re-election in November.

The SCPR could see this Republican opponent Craig T. Conley (who in the view of The Report has little else to pounce on Bernabei about) using this issue as a difference maker as to who gets elected.

In any event, to yours truly, it is high time that the commissioners (with the sales tax increase having been passed and the county budget having been completed) move to resolve the seemingly eternal Pound problems to the top of their list and getting a resolution "once and for all!"

Here is the video on the press conference.

CATAZARO-PERRY'S POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS COMING BACK TO BITE HER?

The Stark County Political Report thinks newly sworn-in Massillon Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry deserves a chance to show what she can do in turning Massillon around.

But it increasingly appears - even early in her administration - that politics may dog her all the days of her political life as mayor of Massillon and she may endure one political struggle after another to keep Massillon's financial head above water for the duration.

She has two major political problems:

• the political comeuppance of the supporters of the man she defeated in November:  Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr., and
• the Republican majority that captured control of council in November.

Massillon is a deeply troubled city that has struggled to make financial ends meet for some time.

It is desperately in need of a revenue infusion if it is to continue as presently constituted.

But as reported by Matt Rink of The Massillon Independent last night in his account of council meeting (Majority on Massillon Council say they won't back a tax credit reduction), it appears that Republican are not about to work with the new mayor on her terms.

As a matter of political philosophy, the Republicans are for cutting government and reducing taxes.  Moreover, in Massillon's case, they have to already be looking down the road to the 2015 mayoralty election and are mindful of what they do now and over the next three years or so will play into whether or not they can elected a Republican mayor of Massillon then.

Former Mayor Cicchinelli played the magician especially in his last term to keep Massillon afloat.  One of his main devices towards the end of his reign was through annexation.

But talk about getting bit in the butt, it likely was his attempt to annex the income tax revenue rich Tuslaw schools that proved to be the deciding factor in his losing to Catazaro-Perry.  Not only did he get tons of bad political publicity when he made the Tuslaw move not long after he picked off income tax revenues from the staff at the R.G. Drage vocational school in Perry, but he incurred the ire a many Tuslaw citizens who showed up in force to campaign for Catazaro-Perry.

Of course Catazaro-Perry and her chief political mentors (Massillon Clerk of Courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. and his sidekick, chief deputy and Stark County Dems Political Director Shane Jackson) jumped all over the Tuslaw schools thing to her political advantage.

The Tuslaw schools thing was just one of many, many political skirmishes that have be waged by Catazaro-Perry and her consorts against Cicchinelli et al over the years.

Now it's payback time for the Cicchnelli forces, and when co-joined with resurgent Massillon Republicans, they present an overwhelming political force that likely will bend Mayor Catazaro-Perry to their will.

It will be a tough pill for the once politically powerful Maier, Jackson and their cohorts to swallow.  But in steamrolling Cicchinelli et al they have set in motion a true "what goes around, comes around" life for their political darling.

Catazaro-Perry has to be thinking:  "with friends like these, who needs any enemies!"

So the best thing Catazaro-Perry can do if she is to be an effective mayor:

• is to mend fences with the Cicchinelli forces and thereby consolidate support on the Democratic side of the isle so that she has a chance close votes  on council (by peeling off one Republican vote; the control council 5 to 4) where she and the Republicans cannot come together, even better,
• is to reach out to the Republicans for dialogue as to how they can create a common ground of initiatives that over the longer term will reconfigure Massillon's economic/financial picture in the best interest of Massillonians; Republican or Democrat

It seems to The Report that those council persons who like Democrat Councilman Paul Manson's plan to increase Massillon's income tax to a full 2% (from its present 1.8%) are on to something.  But it needs to be on the vote of the people.

To get Massillonians to vote for the increase, doesn't it go without saying that the voters will have to be convinced that the administration working with council has made cuts to the bone?

The SCPR would like to see Kathy Catazaro-Perry succeed as mayor of Massillon.  However, for her to do so she is going to have to create some distance between herself and those largely perceived to be her political handlers.  Enough so, that those who deal with her are convinced she speaks for herself.  Moreover, he needs to do so in order to open up lines of dialogue with her Democratic political opponents and her Republican political opponents.

The Report has written frequently that to elect Catazaro-Perry was the same as making Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. the de facto mayor of Massillon.

The question:  Is she made of the right stuff to make moves to make the SCPR's assessment a miscalculation?

If she isn't, then she will be caught up in a political vortex of one cycle after another of:  "What goes around, comes around!"

THE FERREROS (JOHN & JAYNE) OF MASSILLON POLITICAL SCENE GETTING IN THE WAY OF MAYOR KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY'S CHANCE FOR SUCCESS? JOHN: INCONSISTENT ON TAXATION QUESTION?

It is becoming more and more apparent to the SCPR that Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero is all about John Ferrero and/or his corner of Stark County government and little, if anything, else.

According to Stark County Auditor records (circa 12/07/2011), Ferrero was set to take in somewhere around $120,000 in Stark County taxpayer dollars as the elected Stark County prosecutor.

Now we have a situation where he was for a Stark County sales tax increase which would benefit his office, but he is against a 50% reduction in Massillon's income tax credit (for non-Massillon taxpayers).

The kicker is that Ferrero works in Canton, but lives in Massillon and a 50% reduction in the Massillon income tax credit would compel him to pay some Massillon city income tax.

THE STARK COUNTY TAX ISSUE

Last year Stark County commissioners were mulling over exactly how much of a levy they would ask Stark Countians to approve and for how long.  It was generally thought that they were gravitating to a 0.5% increase for a period of 8 years.

John Ferrero deferred on the projected 0.5% increased at a public meeting the commissioners held with elected officials in 2011.  He and Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson wanted commissioners to go for a full 1% increase and they wanted it to be permanent.

The commissioners made it clear that for the 0.5%, eight year levy,  that they ultimately decided to go forward with, would require the hard work of each and every county employee and county departments heads such as Ferrero.

Well, we all know "the rest of the story" - sort of.

The levy passed by a surprising margin which was a big, big relief to the commissioners who just recently passed appropriations for the 2012 calendar year county budget.

Who objected to his share of appropriations?  You've got it!  None other than Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero.

As the SCPR sees it, Ferrero tried to muscle down the commissioners by putting out the prospect of asking Stark County's judges (Municipal and Common Pleas) to appoint "special counsel" which - to get to the short of it - would force commissioners in the long run to pay out substantially more than Ferrero was asking for in 2012 appropriations.

Ironically, one leading Stark County public figure contacted yours truly after the successful levy campaign to say that Ferrero sat on his duff during the campaign and did very little to help it pass.

The Report asked Ferrero about this allegation and asked him for some details as to exactly what were the specifics of his effort in promoting the levy.

He refused to respond in any kind of detail.

Hmm?

Stark County Commissioner Tom Bernabei says that he is confident that Ferrero will not make good on his suggestion to "blow up" (The Report's words and assessment in a figurative sense of the expression, not Bernabei's nor Ferrero's) the county budget/appropriations with "special counsel" expenditures.  The Report does not know how Bernabei can be so optimistic.

Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar is making a gallant effort to bring down the delinquent Stark County property taxes which now stand at $43 million.  Zumbar wants go from referring 520 collection cases to the prosecutor's office in 2011 to 700 this year.  (Confirming:  Stark collects $2.4 million in revived tax-collection effort, Kelli Young of The Rep, February 18, 2012).

Good luck Treasurer Zumbar! Take this quote from Young's article, to wit:

More recent collection efforts have been stifled by the county’s budget woes that forced Prosecutor John Ferrero to reassign temporarily one of the paralegals in his delinquent tax collection unit into another division due to layoffs.

Also, The Report recalls that in a Delinquent Tax Assessment Collection (DTAC) work session with commissioners last year that Prosecutor Ferrero noted that the county only gets about 3 to 4 percent of real property taxes collected in Stark County.

So why would he want to put resources into an activity that benefits the cities, villages, townships and boards of education sprinkled across Stark County but which does relatively little for Stark County government?

But he was for the sales tax increase.


THE MASSILLON TAX ISSUE

John Ferrero lives in Massillon and he was Massillon's law director and prosecuting attorney from January, 1988 through February, 2003. 

A Massillon public official for over 15 years and he has a problem paying taxes to the city?

Apparently, so.

The SCPR has learned that Ferrero and his chief assistant John Kurtzman (who also lives in Massillon) appeared at Massillon's city council meeting of November 21, 2011 to object to a plan being pondered to reduce the income tax credit by 50% to Massillonians who work outside the city.

Massillon voters recently elected Johnnie A. Maier, Jr (Massillon clerk of courts) and Shane Jackson (Maier's chief deputy) political protege Kathy Catazaro-Perry as mayor over long term and now former Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr. last November.

One of the problems that Catazaro-Perry faces is that Massillon is not in very good financial/fiscal shape.

Of course, she knew this going in and decided to run anyway.

Last year John Ferrero's sister-in-law Jayne Ferrero (Massillon city auditor) proposed the 50% income tax credit as a way to help Massillon (Cicchinelli was still mayor when the tax credit reduction was proposed) get money to at least make an effort to be more current on its expenses which were and continue to run months behind.

So it was a bit confusing when Massillonian John Ferrero and Kurtzman showed up to object and Auditor Jayne Ferrero was nowhere to be seen and, in fact, is reported in the Massillon Independent as now having no opinion on the income tax credit reduction.

Exactly what was the Ferrero/Kurtzman objection?

“You [Massillon City Council] are now pitting families against families ... they [because of the credit reduction?] are taking food away from their children"  (The Independent, February 8, 2012).

The real reason, the SCPR believes, for the Jayne Ferrero turnabout and for the Ferrero/Kurtzman objecting appearance on November 21st is because of their political alliance with the electorally deposed Cicchinelli forces. 

In one sense, the SCPR thinks that the contending political forces (all Democrats) deserve each other.

On the other hand one must pause for thought and consider that it is not the politicos who suffer if the reduction does not pass council.  Rather it is the residents of the city of Massillon.

If Catazaro-Perry does not get additional revenue that the reduction would bring in (estimated at $600,000 this year; $1.5 million next year), cuts will have to be made that likely will affect the well-being of Massillonians.

Catazaro-Perry by virtue of having been elected by the citizens of Massillon deserves an opportunity to govern.  Notwithstanding her knowing what she was getting into, it is in the interest of Massillonians that she have a fair chance to show what she can do to right the fiscal structure of the city of Massillon.

The SCPR has criticized and continues to admonish Mayor Kathy for relying too much on the likes of Maier and Jackson.  A major reason she is in her current fix is because of the political warfare that is obviously continuing post-election between the Maier-led forces and Cicchinelli loyalists.

CONCLUSION

John Ferrero could be a major factor in helping to stabilize both Stark County government as well as Massillon's.

But it appears that he is not inclined to do so as evidenced by uncooperative attitude vis-a-vis commissioners in the budgeting process post-0.5% sales tax increase (which he supported) and by his opposition to the proposed 50% reduction in the Massillon income tax credit.

Inconsistency is the hallmark of a person who is doing his own thing.

So it is not surprising that John Ferrero is for increased taxes to help solve Stark County's fiscal emergency but not Massillon's.

Coming full circle:  It is becoming more and more apparent to the SCPR that Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero is all about John Ferrero and/or his corner of Stark County government and little, if anything, else.

And consistency be hanged!

ATTORNEY ROBERT CYPERSKI TO RUN AGAINST JUDGE JOHN WISE ON ISSUE OF "RETIRE" - "REHIRE VIA ELECTION?"

Ohio's Statehouse Republicans and Democrats have made it difficult but it does appear that 5th District Court of Appeals and Republican Judge John Wise may well have a political "independent" running against him in Wise's quest for a new term who has been on the Court of Appeals since 1995.

His likely opponent?

Robert Cyperski.

However, he will have to collect 5,000 qualified registered voter signatures within the next two weeks for filing with the Stark County Board of Elections not later than March 5th in order to be on the general election ballot of November 6th.

If Cyperski had filed as a partisan candidate, he would only have had to collect 50 such signatures.

Organized Republican and Democratic party leaders think the extraordinary requirement of independent candidates is a politically smart self preservation move.  And, to a certain degree it is.  However, such self-serving moves also adds to the growing cynicism that the general voting public has towards both mainline parties and over the longer term undermines their ability to govern effectively.

Cyperski issued the following press release on Friday stating his intention to run against Wise and to base his campaign on Wise's announced intention to retire before the end of his current term (but within a space not allowing for his political party to name a successor for the remainder of his term) and then run for re-election.

Wise unabashedly says that it is within his legal right to do so in order to collect his his public employee pension which is thought to be 88% of $132,000 (the salary for the position) or $116,160 plus the salary (if re-elected) of $132,000 which, of course, would equal about $248,160.

Wise would also qualify for an approximate 3% annual increase over the span of collecting his retirement check with a beginning in 2013 amount of about $3,500 which for 2013 would put him above a quarter of a million dollars in annual income from salary and pension alone.

By the SCPR's calculation, Judge Wise's annual pension income will exceed the base salary of $132,000 within 5 years or so.  Sweet, no?

Wise has been on a fast track in achieving elective office.  It has not hurt his judicial political aspirations that both his father and grandfather were Stark County Probate Court judges going back decades.

Here is his biography as published on the 5th District Court of Appeals website:

JUDGE JOHN W. WISE

Administrative Judge

Judge Wise graduated from Ohio Northern University School of Law and was admitted to the practice of law in 1979. Prior to being elected to the Canton Municipal Court bench in 1990, Judge Wise was in private practice for ten years. His practice consisted of general civil litigation, including personal injury from both plaintiff and defense side, along with an active probate practice. From municipal court, Judge Wise was elected to the Stark County Court of Common Pleas and in 1995, he successfully ran for the Fifth District Court of Appeals. Judge Wise has served by assignment of the Chief Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court. He also serves as a Lecturer for the Ohio Judicial College.

Judge Wise is not the only 5th District Court of Appeals judges to invoke a retire - rehire plan of action.

His colleague Democrat Judge W. Scott Gwin has announced his intention to do the very same thing.

The same folks who have prevailed on Cyperski to run are working hard to find a Gwin opponent.

The SCPR endorses the effort underway to find opponents for Wise and Gwin as it is The Report's position that the voters should have the opportunity to weigh in on whether or not the public likes the idea of retire - rehire, Wise and Gwin fashion.

The Ohio General Assembly in its policy making decisions regarding Ohio's public retirement systems has created a situation whereby public retirement does not equal actual retirement from publicly funded positions.

There are strict Ohio Supreme Court prohibitive rules on the methods/topics that candidates can use in contests for judicial office on the notion that if typical political attacks (i.e. those commonly used in non-judicial races) on candidates' judicial record itself were allowed, such would undermine the public's confidence in the integrity of the judicial system.

The Supreme Court limitations notwithstanding, it is hard to see how Cyperski could be shut down on his plan to make the retire - rehire issue the focus of his campaign to replace Judge Wise.

Whether or not Stark citizens favor or disfavor Wise/Gwin retaining office, it seems to the SCPR that it is the democratic-enhancing thing to do to support petition drives designed to provide voters with candidates who oppose the announced intentions of sitting judges to retire but run for re-election.

What the Ohio General Assembly does not provide, the citizens of the state of Ohio/Stark county can fashion for themselves.

"We the people" are the baseline of our democratic republic.

WILL CANTON BE RECONSIDERING ITS 90 DAY CONTRACT WITH ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PHIL SEDLACKO IN LIGHT OF YouTube VIDEO?

A STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT UPDATE:  02/19/2012 AT 3:20 PM

The SCPR has obtained a copy of an e-mail sent out at the initiative of  Assistant Majority Leader (Democrats) Patrick Barton to members of Canton City Council detailing the serious and in depth consideration that Barton (7th Ward) as head of council's Personnel Committee is according to the question of whether or not Canton will continue long term with it current model of animal control that, apparently, current Animal Control Officer Phil Sedlacko (via contract; he is also and employee of the Stark County Dog Pound) is comfortable with.

Agitation for a change in Canton's model for animal control is being promoted by some Cantonians including a number of councilpersons (Councilwoman Cirelli, for one) to one that is called "trap-neuter-return."  There is citizen support to retain the current model.

The SCPR applauds Councilman Barton for the even handed way he is handling this matter.

The e-mail:

A biography of Councilman Barton from Canton City Council's webepage:

ORIGINAL BLOG

Instead of wasting taxpayers’ money on hiring Stark County deputy dog warden Philip Sedlacko (“Canton hires animal control officer for 90 days,” Feb. 7), who apparently knows only how to catch and kill feral cats and other wildlife, hire a knowledgeable person who is armed with alternative methods for dealing with nuisance wildlife and is already practicing TNR, a proven effective and accepted method that many folks and rescuers already practice.

(Excerpt, Hire animal control officer who practices trap-neuter-return, Letter to Editor, The Rep, Veronica Dickey, 02/16/2012)

It appears that Canton may be about to reconsider its contract with Phil Sedlacko as seems to be the clear implication of City Council President Alan Schulman's e-mail to city council members yesterday evening.

To repeat the email portion from the graphic intro above:

When council considered a 90 day hire of Animal Control Officer Phil Sedlacko
at its February 6th regular meeting, it appears to The Report that most members had not yet seen the now situated Sedlacko YouTube video.

But there were concerns (Councilpersons Morris and Cirelli).  The best that Sedlacko core supporters on council (Fisher, Hawk, Smith and West) and the Healy administration could get was a 90 day extension of the 12/31/2011 expired contract between Canton and Sedlacko; not the year to two years that the parties wanted notwithstanding that Sedlacko had submitted his resignation in what Councilwoman Cirelli termed to be the equivalent to putting a gun to the head of council.

No one was saying, but there is some speculation that Sedlacko is not enthusiastic about working a trap-neuter-return model and that his tendered resignation was more and expression of that attitude than trying to bully council.

The video was placed on YouTube by Nanci Miller who is a member and president of the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board (SCDPAB), a body instituted by Stark County commissioners to provide the Stark County commissioners with insight into the operations of the Stark County Dog Pound from a user and volunteer perspective.

Here is what Miller had to say about the video in the descriptive material she included with the video, to wit:

This is the beginning of security tape footage requested as a public record from the Stark County Dog Warden Department. Sad to say, after the abuse seen in the video, this dog who had been darted in an artery by Deputy Phil Sedlacko (the deputy in the video) who turned the high-powered hose on him), bled to death on the cold cement floor of the isolation room at the department. Several department employees went in to look at the dog, but no one seemed to find it necessary to take the dog to the vet where it could have been humanely euthanized. The dog's name was Garfield.

Also weighing in on the video is Channel 19 (WOIO)

Another member of the SCDPAB shared the following via email with the SCPR regarding Sedlacko's working both for the city of Canton and the Stark County Dog Pound, to wit:

There was  a hearing for Phil Sedlacko regarding his continuing to work for the city doing animal control while taking 6 weeks off from the pound due to stress.   It was pretty much all smoke and mirrors in that they wrote it up as if Reagan had discovered this going on when in fact it was the Advisory Board who brought it to Janet's [Stark County Commissioner Janet Creighton] attention.  She [Warden Tetreault] denied Phil was working for the city but finally admitted that he was. The the determination at the hearing was that since Reagan didn't give Phil the option of light duty he was not culpable

Now that the video referred to in the February 6th council deliberations on the contract is out in the public domain, it appears that two weeks later (council's February 27th meeting?) the debate may be on again as to whether or not Canton wishes to continue its contract with Sedlacko.

Could be that the February 21st council meeting will be a "replay plus" of the February 6th animal control controversy in the halls of Canton City Council?

NORTH CANTON SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION DISRESPECTS ITS BOARD OF EDUCATION?

Back in April, 2011 the SCPR did a blog on the unhappiness of a number of North Canton City Schools (NCCS) constituents in how the the administration in tandem with a majority of the board of education (BOE) handled the restructuring of North Canton elementary schools in the Dogwood city.

Then again on October 21, 2011 (days before the general election in which incumbent Jordan Greenwald was up for re-election and a vacated seat (Bundy, not running for re-election) was being filled, The Report blogged about the candidates and the appropriate standard for boardmanship.

Yours truly editorialized that Greenwald (the man - if Gallina would have accepted - put Gallina under a 10 year contract), in particular, was way over the top on being a "good" board member.

The Report thinks it was a move forward for appropriate administration/BOE distancing that Greenwald was defeated.  However, it appears that the election did not go far enough.

The newly elected Betty Fulton appears to have fallen in lock step with Gallina and his uncritical supporters on the board.  Accordingly, more work needs to be done in the elections of 2013 to replace either Goldthorpe or Marion if Thomas runs again; both if he does not.

One would of thought that the defeat of Greenwald (by Jennifer Kling) would have sent a loud and clear message to the administration and the remaining members of the BOE (except for Thomas) that major work needed to be done to repair the breech in confidence in NCCS/BOE standard of communication with the consumers of North Canton education.

But apparently not.

A source tells the SCPR, which is confirmed by the timeline between announcement and BOE approval, that the Gallina administration of the NCCS presumed BOE approval of a 2012 - 2013 school year calendar in issuing a press release reported by the North Canton Patch (Gallina:  What Does the New Year Hold for North Canton City Schools, Morgan Day) on December 18th.

According to the source, board member Chris Thomas raised the "presumption of BOE approval" issue with the administration in the regularly scheduled January 12, 2012  board meeting and again at Wednesday night's February meeting in light of yet another development in which the Gallina administration announced staff changes in a release to the Akron Beacon Journal published on February 4th of this year; eight days before BOE approval by a 3 to 2 vote (Thomas and Kling voting no) at Wednesday's meeting.

Obviously, Superintendent Gallina has too comfortable of a relationship with the board majority (Fulton, Goldthorpe and Marion).  

As far as the SCPR is concerned, in Stark County,  there are too many instances across the 17 boards of education in which the relationship between the administration and the board does not have an "arm's length" quality to it.

The SCPR has written repeatedly that school superintendents have a marked tendency to overdo cultivating working relationship with their boards of education.  The relationship should not be adversarial, but board members owe it to the voters of their respective school districts to take a critical look at each and every proposal put before them by the superintendents and their administrators.

For North Canton to allow (as evidenced by the necessity of two BOE "after the fact" approvals) its administration to announce changes before they are approved by the board is clear indication that the board does not have control of its superintendent.