The Stark County commissioners met this morning to consider hiring legal counsel for Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee appointed sheriff George Maier this morning.
Maier is being challenged by former Stark County sheriff Tim Swanson (Writ of Quo Warranto) as to his meeting statutory (ORC 311.01) qualifications set forth for anyone seeking the office of sheriff in Ohio.
The Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee (SCDPCC) by its chairman Randy Gonzalez is being sued by applicant Lt. Lou Darrow (Writ of Prohibition) on the grounds that the Party failed to properly (i.e. complying with ORC 311.01) qualify candidates prior to the committee persons vote 92 Maier, 84 Darrow and 1 Dordea on February 5th in a meeting at the Mayfield Senior Center.
The SCPR was unable to attend the commissioners' session today because of a prior commitment.
However, yours truly did stop by the commissioners office afterwards and Commissioner Tom Bernabei went on camera (presented at the end of this blog) to explain to Stark Countians the circumstances, the terms and conditions of the commissioners agreeing to hire Maier's lawyers.
Unless there is a complication, the commissioners have made an agreement with Maier's attorneys (Roetzel and Andress, Columbus/Thomas Rosenberg & Michael Traven) to pay up to $20,000 in legal fees for Maier's representation.
Being the skeptic that the SCPR is, The Report thinks it is entirely foreseeable that complications will occur.
Stark County taxpayers ought to send Roetzel & Andress scads of thank you cards for not charging for the time Rosenberg and Traven were working for Maier before he became sheriff.
Wasn't that considerate of the firm?
Rosenberg said at today's meeting (according to Commissioner Bernabei) that about $2,000 to $3,000 worth of work was done before February 5th (the date of Maier's selection).
It is more than a touch ironic (some folks might use stronger terms) that Stark County Democratic Party (SCDP) chair Randy Gonzalez and George's brother Johnnie spearheaded a "rush to selection" of George as the appointed Sheriff of Stark County (to replace the unable to serve sheriff-elect Mike McDonald) in the face of challenges (even among Democrats) to George's de jure qualifications and then for the taxpayers to have to pay George's legal bills when the seemingly inevitable lawsuit gets filed.
Apparently, some of the dissident February 5th Democrats want some justice.
Since they appear to think they didn't get it, vicariously they (via Swanson's litigation) resort to asking the Ohio Supreme Court to give them a fair hearing on whether or not George meets the statutory requirements of ORC 311.01.
And it could be that if former Sheriff Tim Swanson wins that lawsuit, Stark County taxpayers will have to pick up the tab for his legal bills and court costs.
That Roetzel and Andress did work prior for Maier prior to his being named sheriff, seems to clear evidence that he and his supporters (at the top level of the SCDP) fully expected that a lawsuit was coming.
So when Gonzalez cries about how local governments are being squeezed by the Kasich administration on local government funding, his complaints are hard to abide in light of the $20,000 or better that Stark taxpayers will be anteing up defending the Dems selection for sheriff.
Besides the money, it is the likelihood that a final resolution as who really is sheriff of Stark County could take anywhere from four to nine months or better.
Turmoil vexed the Stark County treasury from April 1, 2009 through October 31, 2011 in a version of legal musical chairs as to whom was the rightful Stark County treasurer.
So again Stark County's everyday citizens/taxpayers are about to be put through the wringer by the politicians.
Don't you just love these folks?
Wouldn't be poetic justice to these very same leadership Democrats if Maier were to ultimately lose the case and Republican Larry Dordea ultimately becomes the replacement?
Dare we hope?
Here is Commissioner Bernabei explaining the circumstances, the terms and the conditions of Maier's representation:
Whether there is anything political to it or not, when a former councilman (Butterworth) sits down with the mayor of Canton (Healy) and a current city councilman (Cole), people are going to speculate that some sort of deal is being cut.
Former councilman Mark Butterworth (a Republican - Ward 8), has filed petitions to run against the man (Democrat Edmond Mack) who defeated him in his bid for reelection on November 8, 2011.
So, of course, the sit down which occurred at Jasmine's Asian Bistro located on 30th Street is going to create a political buzz.
Especially when:
Butterworth is taking on one of four troublesome councilpersons (Fisher [5th], Mariol [7th], Mack [8th] and Morris [9th] to Mayor Healy and his chief ally on council (Cole), and
Cole himself is taking on a second of the four troublesomes (Mack).
The SCPR did contact Mark Butterworth to get his side of the story.
He tells The Report that "No," Joe Cole and Mayor Healy did not hand him a manila envelope containing his marching orders for his November, 2013 campaign to reclaim the 8th Ward seat.
So whom contacted whom to set up the meeting?
Butterworth's answer was forthcoming about two or three minutes after the question was posed after some dithering by Butterworth on whether or not he could recall who made the initial contact.
Butterworth says that he had heard that Cole was experiencing personal difficulties that Butterworth himself had gone through and that he had contacted Cole (about February 8th) to see whether or not he could be of some guidance on the matter.
Hmm?
As readers of the SCPR know, yours truly is a devotee to political competition as the cure to a lot of bad politics and bad governance.
When Butterworth was elected in 2009 as the lone Republican on council, The Report was pleased and expectant that - though just one person - he would put together a sort of "loyal opposition" plank to Healy administration/Democratic council member proposals.
However, in The Report's judgment, Butterworth was not up to the task.
Oh, he did have convictions about this issue or that issue. But he seemed to lack the courage of the convictions.
One of his big issues was getting a measure through council for Cantonians to decide whether or not the city should become a charter city. However, Councilman West (chairman of the Judiciary Committee) proved too much of a hurdle for the-then eighth ward councilman.
Other matters came along during his term that the SCPR had gathered were important to Butterworth, but seemingly time and time again, one by one they faded into being political mist.
On the other hand, his successor Edmond Mack picked up with an agenda and has been able to forge a political alliance of sorts with Councilmen Fisher (Ward 5), Mariol (Ward 7) and Morris (Ward 9).
What the SCPR has been impressed with is the coming together of these four in a collective effort to put their heads together to help solve Canton's neighborhood problems. Problems fueled by Canton's burgeoning and chronic crime malady, notwithstanding Mayor Healy's "zero-tolerance-to-crime" first term political campaign promise which The Report and many others think has been a huge failure.
The Report has dubbed the four as being the "four young turks."
The four have been a real thorn in the side of the Healy administration and a couple of Healy's most loyal council members (West and Smith) who have openly attacked (The Report's take) the four during a council session on the four having held a consolidated ward meeting with their constituents.
Being the pure driven politician he is, one might well think Healy would be behind a Mark Butterworth (though a Republican) running against Mack and his loyalist Cole running against Morris.
Butterworth flat-out denies that such is the case with him.
He owns up to not handling his interaction with the overwhelmingly Democratic council/Democratic mayor in his 2010-11 stint on council well.
Because both Mack and Mariol were part of the collection of Canton politicians present at Jasmine's on February 11th, the SCPR believes that Butterworth's denial of deal making with Healy/Cole is credible.
It would be rather ridiculous to be plotting political strategy as your opponent sat nearby, no?
At the very least, though, it was politically unwise for him to be seen in public with Cole and Healy.
It was totally predictable that the Jasmine's meet up would set off speculation that Healy was behind Butterworth's filing.
Healy has a history of doing things such as this - witness his involvement in trying to get Councilman Hawk defeated in Ward One (denied by Healy) and his attempt to become a power player in the make-up of the Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee in the last election cycle for committeepersons.
The SCPR believes he aspires to be Stark County's Democratic Party's kingmaker.
Back to Butterworth and his trying to reclaim the Ward 8 seat.
In so many words, Butterworth told the SCPR that if elected he will be a councilman who scrutinizes everything brought forward in council deliberations and proposals, either by the mayor or the Democratic supermajority.
And, he added, it would not be outside the realm of possibility, that if elected he would seek to join in with Fisher, Mariol and Morris (if he is reelected) as one of the four young turks.
Does The Report believe him?
Not really.
He will want to be a different type councilman but the SCPR does not see him as having the strength of personality to persevere on his vision for Canton in the face of inducements/pressures from Healy or his fellow council members.
Councilman Mack, in contrast, has demonstrated in this term of council by real action what former Councilman Butterworth aspired to during his 2010-11 cycle.
In his meeting with Cole and, perhaps, Healy; one should not totally dismiss the notion that it was part of a deal being cut as absurd as the setting was.
One would hardly expect Butterworth to fess up, if such were the case.
The SCPR's take on Butterworth's description of the conversation was that nearly everything was of a personal nature and very little was in fact political talk.
That is hard to believe.
Get a bunch of politicians in a room and they are going to talk about everything else but politics?
Where did you say that swamp land you wanted to sell is located?
Legal counsel (Craig T. Conley) for Tom Marcelli tells the SCPR that he has filed a dismissal (Friday, February 15th) of Marcelli's declaratory judgment action which was seeking judicial confirmation that that Ohio's sentencing statute which requires fines be paid to the county's general fund is constitutional.
The general fund is administered by Stark County treasurer Alex Zumbar.
Originally, Judge Frank Forchione had as part of his sentencing of Scott D. Studer ordered him to pay $5,000 for the benefit of the Sandy Hook Elementary School (Newtown, CT) shooting victims.
Conley says that while he thinks that Judge Forchione should have constituted the corrective entry differently, his client is not going to contest the niceties and particularities of the correction.
Judge Forchione held a video conference hearing with Studer (who is at the Madison Correctional Institution located in London, Ohio serving a 15 year sentence) on Thursday.
Conley says that he believes the video conference was unnecessary and could have been handled by a nunc pro tunc order. He had provided Stark County assistant prosecutor Ross Rhodes with such an order which would have been acceptable to Mr. Marcelli.
The original order with respect to the fine read:
The replacement order with respect to the fine reads:
The SCPR compliments Conley for seizing the initiative to have the money paid into the Stark County treasury general fund.
Judge Forchione reclaimed the $5,000 from the Sandy Hook School Support Fund so that it can be deposited to the credit of the Stark County general fund as required by Ohio's rule of law, to wit: Ohio Revised Code Section 2949.11
Conley has said all along that he is not anti-charity but that the law is the law and Ohio's law mandates that fines go to the county's general fund.
He has also said that he is not pleased that the $5,000 actually paid to the Sandy Hook Support Fund was reclaimed.
Conley reminded the SCPR that his representation of Mr. Marcelli was done pro bono (for the public good) meaning at no cost for his client and by extension for the Stark County public.
The Stark County Political Report can think of a number of Cantonians who should be sitting in the mayor's chair over William J. Healy, II.
One would be Canton service director and chief-of-staff Warren Price.
But the SCPR's prime choice would be council president and premier personal injury attorney Allen Schulman.
One of the most exciting parts of the Canton City Council agenda is the last item on it: "miscellaneous business."
On occasion, at this point in council proceedings, President Schulman will launch into a polemic that is absolutely spellbinding.
While Healy is a quintessential calculating politician that spins everything to make himself look good, Schulman, on the other hand, is a "what you see is what you get," passionate politician.
As mayor, the SCPR can only imagine what Schulman would be as an inspiring politico who could lead the people of Canton to a restoration of the Hall of Fame City to heights that the city has not seen in many decades.
But for whatever reason, he had decided not to go that route.
Nonetheless, he is a force and factor in Canton politics that merits the attention of other area politicians.
It is rather obvious that he works behind the scenes in Canton and Stark County political and governmental circles agitating local politicos "to do the courageous and right thing" for the interests of Cantonians/Stark Countians.
On this past Monday, Schulman let loose with a political/verbal barrage of castigation on Stark County's legislators, namely:
state Senator Scott Oelslager, Republican of Plain Township,
state Representative Kirk Schuring, Republican/Jackson Twp,
state Representative Christina Hagan, R-Marlboro Township, and
state Rep. Stephen Slesnick, Democrat, Canton
Why the castigation?
Because they have done very little, if anything, to stop the bloodletting by the Kasich administration of local government funding.
In the video that follows at the end of this blog Schulman shares with Canton City Council members that Senator Oelslager has shared with him that Governor Kasich has squirreled away $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds.
Schulman's point?
Ohio urban areas (including Canton, of course), while the state of Ohio is awash in surplus monies.
The SCPR applauds Schulman for his willingness to confront these "ineffective on state funding of local government" Stark County-based legislators.
Mostly local government officials (especially school board members) fawn over Oelslager, Schuring, Hagan and Slesnick when they have had the chutzpah to show up at local government meetings against a background of having voted for measures to gut local government funding.
But not Schulman.
Recently, he was in a back and forth with Stark County Concerned Citizens leader Chris Borello on her groups' failure to take these same legislators on with regard to their support of legislation to take away from local governments the ability to manage and control the environmental consequences of fracking for natural and wet gases.
It is easy to criticize others.
But how about one's self.
Well, Schulman with his polemic and insistence that Oelslager, Schuring, Hagan and Slesnick come to Canton City Council and explain themselves is demonstration that what he applies to others (i.e.the environmentalists), he applies to himself.
Being the evaders of anything unpleasant, the SCPR doubts that any of the four will show up at Canton council February 25th meeting.
They will have one excuse or another. Most likely it will be 'we are in session we simply do not have the opportunity to break away'.
Council does not meet until 7:30 p.m. So even if they are in Columbus, they all could hop in a car at 4:30 and be in Canton in time to go face-to-face with council.
The SCPR is willing to bet that they will find an excuse not to be in Canton on the 25th.
If, perchance, any of them do show up, it will be interesting to see which of the council persons "suck up" to them?
While the SCPR thinks that council members should be courteous, civil and respectful, there should be no cloying of them.
A SCPR "tip of the hat" to Allen Schulman for putting Stark County's legislative delegation ON THE SPOT!
The SCPR talked with Stark County Auditor Alan Harold yesterday about his February 13th letter indicating that he would not be recognizing the Stark County Democratic Party appointment of George Maier as sheriff. He indicated that he had been is discussion with both the Ohio attorney general's office and the state of Ohio auditor's offices regarding whether or not he should recognize the appointment. However, he said, neither would put their advice in writing.
Well, that has changed in that the state auditor has communicated with Harold that he believes that the Stark County auditor should recognize Maier.
Here is a copy of Harold's letter to area media wherein he reverses himself and now says he WILL recognize Maier as sheriff.
UPDATED AT 10:45 AM VIDEO
George Maier says He's a Longterm Sheriff
SUBTOPICS
Will Dordea End Up Being Stark County Sheriff?
Auditor Alan Harold Weighs in Like in Zeiglergate
***************************************
On February 5, 2013 Stark Countians were shown the full force of the Massillon-based Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. political machine in full operation.
And this time around George T. Maier has fully emerged out of the political closet to join brother Johnnie in a "all decks on hand" political fight to make George Stark County sheriff.
The SCPR believes that Johnnie, as Stark County Democratic Party chairman, used his position as party chairman to endorse the-then Demcratic candidate for governor (2006) Ted Strickland who was engaged in a primary fight, and was later able to parlay his having been "the first party chairman" to endorse into a Strickland appointment of brother George to a second-in-command position in the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
While George was fully engaged in sweeping the brother Johnnie sponsored Kathy Catazaro-Perry into power as mayor of Massillon going back to the 1970s fight with foe and long time mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr.; most Stark Countians were likely unaware that this formerly second-in-command of the Ohio State Highway Patrol shared the super political genes of his brother.
George was rewarded for his effort (reference the 2011 Catazaro-Perry mayoralty campaign) in being named Catazaro-Perry's safety director. Court pleadings indicate Maier had "a gap in employment" from January 11, 2011 until February 1, 2012.
The February 5th operation has to remove all doubt about how politicized George is.
And hand-in-glove with the Maier operation is Stark County Democratic Party chairman Randy Gonzalez.
For all the Maier Political Machine clout, the SCPR believes that but for Gonzalez abandoning any pretense of who he was for as between Maier and his foe for the sheriff's nomination Lt. Lou Darrow and but for Gonzalez ruling that members of the Stark County Democratic Central Committee (SCDCC) were not allowed to vote by secret ballot, Darrow would have been the selection of the Democrats.
A motion was presented to delay the SCDCC vote to February 22nd. But Gonzalez and the committee brushed the motion aside.
What a delay in the selection process would have provided is an opportunity for Gonzalez in his capacity as chairman, having been named in Lou Darrow's Writ of Prohibition filed with the Ohio Supreme Court on February 4th (one day before the SCDCC met), to, through his legal counsel, have worked with Darrow's counsel and the Supreme Court to get an agreed to delay until the court ruled and thereby have preserved the SCDCC's ability to reconvene should the court rule against the Party's procedure as being legal.
Seventeen (17) days remained from February 5th for the Party to act within.
But he didn't.
And, as The Report, writes below, he likely throws the selection of the next Stark County sheriff into the hands of the Stark County commissioners should the Dems/Maier eventually lose in the Supreme Court.
The "rush to appoint" may well cost Maier the opportunity to remain sheriff for the long term.
On Monday (February 11th), George Maier came to the Stark County commissioners meeting to get his bonding set and accepted by the commissioners.
Afterwards, The Report asked Maier if he was going to be a long term sheriff or a short term sheriff?
His answer.
We shall see, George.
The SCPR can seeing Johnnie lecturing George right now. "Don't you ever give Martin Olson and his Stark County Political Report time of day, ever again!!!"
If fact, after the camera shot and unfortunately not on camera, Maier launched a verbal attack on yours truly.
The essence of his complaint was that The Report is unfair and never has anything good to say about the Maiers and their political friends and that all the SCPR is going to get out of a Maier sheriff's administration is what is public record."
Sounds like Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero, no?
Well, for starters all the SCPR expects Maier is public record information.
Secondly, that if he or Johnnie thinks the the SCPR has been unfair, The Report will do and publish an unedited video for as long as they want to talk challenging SCPR blogs/points-of-view.
The SCPR has requested a "no holds barred" interview.of George.
But do not hold your breath on this one.
The Maiers are never, ever going to allow independent persons like yours truly to pose unrestricted questions.
Johnnie apparently likes his "Wizard of Oz" role of standing behind the curtain.
Why won't he/brother George come out and face incisive questioning?
They don't mind the taxpayer funded dollars they receive as holders of public office.
To the SCPR, Johnnie for sure, and it appears George are consumed with the desire to be in absolute control of others. Seemingly, they think they are accountable to nobody.
For them and others who want to avoid public accountability, the SCPR is a nightmare.
Yours truly has every reason to favorably inclined to the Maiers.
Middle daughter Heidi was Johnnie's page in the Ohio House about 1997. He asked me to run for 50th district state representative in 2002 and again in 2004 and was very supporting of my candidacy.
At one time, yours truly thought he was primarily interested in quality government throughout Stark County. But with his handling of the Billy Sherer matter (2008 - his asking Sherer to step aside from his being a member of the Stark County Board of Elections) was the culmination of a growing disillusionment with him.
Yours truly now thinks that it is a close call what Maier treasurers first and foremost: politics and his personal stake therein or good government?
So the Maiers can try to make it personal all they want, but such is not the case with the SCPR.
Anyone who reads the SCPR understands that it is not a question of friend or foe with The Report, it is a question of efficient and effective government for the people.
Back to the matter at hand.
Darrow can be thankful that he did not win.
For rather than the Maiers being potentially known has having cost Stark County taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in the ensuing court fight that was sure to follow, it would have been the Darrow name that likely would have lived on in the annals of Stark County political infamy.
For there is no doubt with the Stark County Political Report that the selection process implemented by Chairman Gonzalez was not a legal procedure and that it would be surprising indeed if the Ohio Supreme Court does not remove Maier from office and replace him with Sheriff Timothy Swanson.
On Tuesday, Swanson filed a quo warranto action against Maier in the Ohio Supreme Court.
Quo warranto? A legal proceeding during which an individual's right to hold an office or governmental privilege is challenged.
Swanson makes a well-reasoned case that Maier is not qualified de jure (as a matter of law) by the standards of Ohio Revised Code Section 311.01 to be Stark County sheriff.
And to add to the bad things (at least in terms of Stark County Democratic interests are concerned) that might come out of this consider the following.
By the time that the Tuesday filed (February 12) in quo warranto lawsuit filed by Timothy Swanson (who had been serving as interim sheriff at the behest of the Stark County commissioners) is decided, the time for the Democrats to appoint a successor to Mike McDonald (who though having won the November election against Republican Larry Dordea had to step aside because of an unspecified illness).
And if the Ohio Supreme Court restores Swanson to office, what next?
If the SCPR understands the law on this eventuality, the appointment will then fall to the Stark County commissioners.
Hmm?
What is the political make up of the Stark County commissioners?
Republican Janet Creighton, Republican Richard Regula and Democrat Tom Bernabei.
And let's just put their thinking caps on.
Who among the aspirants has put his "blood, sweat, tears and toil" in to running for Stark County sheriff?
Bingo!
Republican Larry Dordea.
Do most police officials (whether or not they voted for him) think he is qualified to be sheriff? They do.
Could he pass a Ohio Revised Code 311.01 qualification test? He could.
A "no brainer," no?
Let's appoint Larry Dordea, they think among themselves, no?
And there you have it folks, the man who has lost two elections for sheriff gets appointed Stark County sheriff.
And if Randy Gonzalez thinks he got a lot of Democratic Party flak in appointing Republican Alex Zumbar county treasurer, he ain't seen nothin' yet.
It will likely be ex-Stark County Democratic Party Chairman Randy Gonzalez if the Ohio Supreme Court upsets the Maier/Gonzalez applecart.
Of course, for that scenario to play out is all part and parcel of the Ohio Supreme Court finding that Swanson's quo warranto is let's say warranted.
The SCPR has had an extensive legal analytic discussion with a Stark County attorney who has had a wealth of experience dealing with Ohio Supreme Court cases.
The conclusion?
Tim Swanson's case has been very well put together by North Canton attorney Greg Beck and strongly suggests that Tim Swanson will be restored to office.
But to get to the end game, tens of thousands dollars in legal fees perhaps mushrooming to the multi-six figure level will have been expended.
Who will likely end up paying the entire bill?
You've got it, the Stark County taxpayers!
All of which people will be saying (in hindsight) that Chairman Gonzalez could have avoided in getting the process/procedure correct in the beginning.
But the SCPR believes that the Maier Political Machine were having none of it.
The Report thinks that their political instincts were telling them that "possession of office through Democratic appointment to office is 9/10ths of the law" and that it was pell-mell ahead making their political power work for them.
Even at that, it was surprising that Darrow (with the deck stacked against him) only loses by eight votes.
Stark County auditor Alan Harold is bracing for yet another Zeiglergate.
Hmm?
"... this office [will not] recognize Mr. Maier's appointment until the conclusion of this matter by the Ohio Supreme Court."
This phrase raises questions galore.
Does Maier get paid? Can he use county resources?
Will Maier sue Harold?
Stark County will recall that Harold denied Zeigler such basics as a computer
So the Maiers/Gonzalez have had their day in the political sun.
But it is now the Stark County taxpayers who will be "catching it on the nose."
Healy Agrees to Offer Michele Fostor Directorship and She Cites her Qualifications and Background
Michele Foster Discusses Offer to Become Director
Marlboro Chief of Police Ron Devies' Reaction
*******************************************
It was quite a spectacle in Canton City Council chambers last evening.
Canton mayor William J. Healy, II standing before his former service director and chief-of-staff whom he fired in January, 2009 and seemingly falling on a sword for having botched the hiring of a new Canton-Stark County Crime Lab director.
But was he "really" accepting the blame?
Was he "really" contrite for having allowed his safety director Thomas Ream to orchestrate a lowering of standards of the qualifications in the director's job description (having been in place since 1993) so that Ream could hire his longtime police and, apparently, personal friend Rick Perez?
Perez just retired from being a chief deputy in the Stark County sheriff's department last month.
His appointment as director beginning on February 4th at an salary of $70,000 plus caused a firestorm of reaction after it was reported later in the week.
Alliance and North Canton governments reacted with concerns with the manner in which Perez was selected and the concomitant lowering of professional standards needed to qualify as crime lab director.
Police Chief Ron Devies of Marlboro took the action of sending a communication to the crime lab withdrawing Marlboro's participation from the unit's testing
A source tells the SCPR that Healy knew about and was in on Ream's massaging of the job description so that he could appoint Perez.
Moreover, on Monday night (right after news broke of Rick Perez's resignation from his appointment as director), Healy justified the change in the job from classified (civil service) to unclassified so that the director was directly accountable to the mayor and therefore subject to his control. He cited the problems of lack of control with the example of the difficulties between his predecessor Janet Creighton and her tiffs with former chief of police Dean McKimm (2003 to 2012).
It is a deep irony indeed that Healy would reach back to anything Creighton to justify anything he does. The SCPR's take on the the relationship between the two is that there is a deep and abiding hatred between them.
Back when Healy was first elected, he told yours truly in some detail about "the mess" that the now Stark County commissioner left city of Canton finances in (LINK to this prior SCPR blog).
And only yesterday, before a commissioners' work session began, Commissioner Creighton vented on Healy and his utter inability to tell the truth. Healy came up as a discussion point because of the Perez hiring/resignation.
Healy emphatically denies any allegation that he was in on the Ream caper while accepting in the sense of "the buck stops here" the responsibility for Ream's action done without a word being said to the members of the Stark County Council of Government (SCOG) executive committee consisting of nine members including Ream himself.
The members are:
Thomas Bernabei (now Stark County commissioner),
Joe Martuccio (Canton law director),
Craig Chessler, Perry Township trustee,
Randy Gonzalez, Jackson Township fiscal officer,
Karen Alger, North Canton finance director,
Marty Chapman, Minerva, Ohio,
Thomas Ream, Canton safety director,
John Ferrero, Stark County prosecutor,
George Maier as Massillon safety director (now Stark Co. sheriff)
The SCPR took video of the entire proceeding and presents the back and forth between Healy and executive committee members and action by the executive committee to select current crime lab employee Michele Foster as interim director replacing Perez.
SCOG CHAIRMAN TOM BERNABEI ON CRIME LAB ISSUE
In this first video SCOG executive committee chairman Tom Bernabei:
introduces the topics of:
a discussion of the Canton-Stark County crime lab director position,
a discussion of SCOG involvement in the hiring of the crime lab director or any other employee,
recognizes Mayor Healy as being present and prepared to discuss crime lab employee issues and introduces the current staff of crime lab employees,
makes a general statement:
that the resignation of Rick Perez as crime lab director as being the starting point of yesterday's SCOG executive committee meeting,
that the unilateral Canton action of hiring of Perez (i.e. leaving out the other local government entities that make up SCOG) and the lowering of qualification and educational standards applicable to the director "has damaged the crime lab and SCOG,"
in that several Stark County participants were (in the context of Perez serving as director) considering withdrawing from using the lab, and
in that the accrediting agency for crime labs has serious concerns about the accreditation of the Canton crime lab,
that going back through the last week and even back 18 months, the Healy administration stewardship of the crime lab has:
"has negatively affected the public and governmental perception of [the crime lab]," and
"has affected its trust and credibility,
that the part of the previous qualifications for crime lab director requiring scientific degrees and scientific experience be re-adopoted,
that an interim rehire of former director Robert Budgake be considered,
that a national search be a new crime director be launched,
that SCOG needs to have the hiring authority for the crime lab director position,
that SOOG's bylaws need updating to provide for SCOG's participation in the hiring/firing of any crime-lab employee in light of the facts that:
1/3rd of SCOG's funding comes from Canton,
1/3rd from Stark County, and
1/3rd from Stark County's remaining political subdivisions (i.e. villages, cities and townships of the county), and that
SCOG owns 95% of the equipment of the crime lab,
that alternatively the crime lab may need to become a function of SCOG, independent of Canton,
MAYOR WILLIAM J. HEALY, II ON CRIME LAB ISSUE
The video.
In the second video, Mayor William J. Healy, II of Canton is front and center. Healy:
apologizes "for the actions taking place and how this matter [the Perez hiring] came about,"
admits that "the matter was not handled appropriately," and consequently he obtained the resignation of Rick Perez,
says that he only learned of the Perez hiring upon reading the paper and was surprised along with the members of SCOG,
offers that he agrees with Chairman Bernabei most of the time and that he agrees that Ream did not appropriately handle the Perez matter,
proffers that it is standard operating procedure to review and revise city of Canton job descriptions when an opening occurs,
unbelievably says changes in the 1993 crime lab director job description and the 2013 version are not significant; only the application of the description (i.e. the hiring Perez) is significant,
signifies that he wants to work with SCOG to make the revisions requested by SCOG,
suggests a possible model for SCOG involvement might be that a committee of SCOG put the job out for bid and screen the candidates to two or three to be presented to Canton to the final selection of a director,
indicates a willingness that he and SCOG discuss certain items [which he believes to be the retire/rehire issues Canton had with former director Robert Budgake] in executive session, and
adamantly takes the position of crime lab director needed/needs to be declassified from civil service so as to make the director accountable to Canton's mayor
The video.
So was Mayor Healy genuinely contrite?
Or, was this just another in a long line of manipulations that the SCPR has identified the mayor as being a political Houdini who is Stark County's most eelish politician and just when his detractors think they have him, he slips away?
Marty Chapman of Minerva (see video below) thinks that Healy's apparent contrition is authentic.
Chairman Bernabei (see video below) seems willing to take the mayor at face value but The Report believes that he implies at least some skepticism.
The SCPR is downright/outright skeptical!
In the post-SCOG meeting press conference Bernabei:
indicates that as chairman of the executive committee of SCOG, he wants to go national in search for a permanent crime lab director,
says he did talk with Robert Budgake about returning as director on an interim basis,
talks about the offer to Michele Foster to be interim director,
addresses whether or not SCOG is a viable entity to run the crime lab,
invokes Mayor Healy's recognition that the crime lab is mostly a county government and political subdivision servicing unit,
reflects on the sincerity of Healy's apology, and
reinforces his commitment to maintaining the highest standards for the crime lab
The video.
Bernabei had to gag when Healy said he agreed with Bernabei on most things. Perhaps on Crime-Lab-Gate in that he is backed into a corner, but certainly not on a historical basis. After all, Healy did fire Bernabei because he will unwilling to drink in the chairman's wisdom when he served in the mayor's administration.
Commissioner Janet Creighton has to be gagging also when she reads that Healy has invoked her into Crime-Lab-Gate as support for his position that the director's job should be an unclassified job.
In a second executive session in a "it makes your head swim move," the executive committee under the purposeful, take charge leadership of Bernabei brought in current crime lab employee Michele Foster (quality manager) to the session for an interview and gets a consensus agreement (apparently including Healy) that she should be offered the directorship.
For a man that is used to making decisions, it had to be galling to Mayor Healy being dictated to and acquiescing to the leadership of Tom Bernabei.
Here is a video of the offer, Foster's detailing of her career and qualifications and a post SCPR interview of the putative director.
And here is a video of her interview with the SCPR.
One of the executive committee's primary concerns is that Stark County's cities (other than Canton), villages and townships will migrate to the state of Ohio's crime lab (which is available to them "free of charge") in the face of the Perez hiring crisis at the Canton-Stark Crime Lab. The Report spoke with North Canton administrator Mike Grimes (a former police chief of the city) during the progress of the executive committee meeting and he offered that he felt the tone/quality and obvious progress of the meeting in resolving crime lab issues bode well for North Canton's continued participation The Report has to believe that Alliance representative Vince Marion went away impressed and undoubtedly will convey same to Alliance safety forces who had expressed dismay at the happenings involving the hiring of Perez. Only one police chief was present at yesterday's meeting. Ron Devies of Marlboro was there. He had actually initiated action to pull Marlboro out of the Canton-Stark County Crime Lab over the Perez hiring. But with Perez's resignation and the promise of yesterday's meeting, he is back on board with the lab. Here is Devies with his reaction.
Though laced with heavy, heavy doses of irony, Stark Countians should be impressed with the leadership demonstrated by Stark County Commissioner Tom Bernabei in his role as chairman of the SCOG executive committee in staightening out the Healy administration generated crime lab mess..
The SCPR daresays that he is one of the few Stark County leaders that has the strength of character to stand up to Mayor Healy.
Healy made a horrible mistake in firing Bernabei not only for the sake of and future well being of Canton, but for his own future leadership viability.
If William J. Healy, II would take in the critique of folks like Tom Bernabei and change himself in fundamental ways, he has the potential to be an outstanding leader.
This humiliation could be an opportunity for him to turn a new chapter in his political and government life.
Only if he makes basic changes will the SCPR be willing to think that his apparently Crime-Lab-Gate contrition is authentic.
B.A. - Political Science
J.D.
AN INDEPENDENT MINDED POLITICAL COMMENTATOR
Until 1976 I was a Republican. Since then I have considered myself a Democrat. So after long term stints of being a Republican, then a Democrat, I have come to the political position I feel most comfortable with - being an INDEPENDENT MINDED ANALYST who demands effectiveness of our politicians - Republican, Democrat or whatever.
I have changed my political affiliation to "non-partisan" by not voting in either political party primary election.
