CANDIDATES (BY & LARGE), AREA EDUCATORS & THE VOTING PUBLIC IGNORE OSBA LEGISLATIVE/STATE BD OF EDUCATION!

UPDATED TUESDAY 9/11/2018 at 12:15 PM (Schuring office and SCPR reader Dan Fonte's response)

Representative Schuring's office responds with answer as to why he was not present at the OSBA Candidates Forum of 09/06/2018, to wit:

From: "Rep48@ohiohouse.gov" <Rep48@ohiohouse.gov>
To: "'tramols@att.net'" <tramols@att.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 11:36 AM
Subject: RE: Reason why you did not attend Ohio Schools Bd Assn 962018 Drage event

Martin,

Representative Schuring regrets that he couldn't be there. He had a pervious commitment in Cleveland that day with a constituent to discuss the possibility of funding an economic development project in Stark County.

His former aide, Jay Smith is the Deputy Director of Legislative Services for the Ohio School Boards Association and completely understood why Representative Schuring couldn't be there. Representative Schuring is scheduling a meeting with Mr. Smith and others to discuss the issues brought forth at the meeting.

If there are any specific questions or concerns that you would like Representative Schuring to address, I would be more than happy to pass those along to him. 

Best,

Abby

Abby Schafer

Senior Legislative Aide

Office of State Representative Kirk Schuring

Speaker Pro Tempore 

77 South High Street, 14th Floor 

Columbus, OH 43215

614-752-2438

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

From former Local 94 (Plumbers & Pipefitters) business manager and civic activist:  Dan Fonte

Daniel Fonte <...@att.net>  Today at 5:19 AM

To:  Martin Olson

Good morning Martin, just started to read your blog about the OSBA meeting I never heard of it or I would have tried to attend. My question is how are we, the voting public supposed to know about these types meetings? 

If the local media print or audio is out of touch with most of us how are we able to get this information.  When they removed Ron Ponder from the air waves he was one person that we could call and get the information out.or ask about these events. 

On another issue that you might be interested in. 

I just received my Repository bill and they will now start charging a $2.99 " INVOICE FEE" if we don't go paperless. This is not fair to those of us who pay the old fashion way especially senior citizens. 

I am going to try to have a protest at the Rep on this, I am also a subscriber to the Akron Beacon Journal and I supposed they will start to do the same thing since they are owned by the same corporation. 

Thanks,

Dan Fonte 

SCPR comment:  Interesting.  The Rep publisher (James Porter) trying to "force" subscribers to do things The Rep's way.  Nothing new about this.  The Report has cited in blogs quite a few instances in which this publisher since 2013 has tried to play the role of the 800 pound gorilla.

Meanwhile, The Stark County Political Report going on its 11th year is done as a public service.  No advertising, no subscriptions and certain no subscription fee!  And, totally independent of the political/government "powers that be in Stark County, even IF The Report generally thinks well of a given politician or government official.

For the SCPR, it would be an anathema to be thought of being"the official publication" of any Stark County entity as exemplified by The Rep's ballyhooed (by The Rep management)  relationship with the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Quite the opposite!

Take Auditor Alan Harold.  The SCPR in an overall sense thinks that Harold has been a quality county auditor.  However, take a look as this blog and then think about whether or not The Report has the capacity to severely critique the likes of Alan Harold.

The "independence" factor likely is at the top of the list of reasons behind a Repository reporter's assessment and has told this blogger that "the bigs" at The Rep hate the SCPR.

The Report takes the allegation, if true, as a compliment.  There certainly couldn't be a greater contrast on politics/government reporting/opinionating than the styles, depth and scope on political/government coverage than in comparing the SCPR and The Rep in the context of one person versus scores of personnel.

Thanks Dan for being a responsible, involved citizen!

One has to wonder how much longer our democratic-republican form of government can last.

Picking up on the Washington Post's masthead:

In the view of The Stark County Political Report last Thursday "darkness" enveloped Stark County's Ohio General Assembly/State Board of Education candidate voter selection process.

Most of us are aware of the chaotic darkness that seemingly overtaken the national level executive branch of government.

But are we aware of:

• the avoidance of meeting with the public on the part of local candidates (Stark County-based being the focus of this blog).  OSBA officials say they contacted each of the candidates but did not require a RSVP.  The SCPR has contacted each of the missing candidates other than John Hagan for whom The Report has not e-mail address providing an opportunity to explain he/she was absent.  
• SCPR blog LINK re:  Republican congressional candidates (Gonzalez, the 16th & Gibbs, the 7th) refusal get out in public forums either in town hall or debating their opponents.
• Note:  Especially noteworthy of the candidates not supporting (i.e. not attending and not indicating a conflicting obligation) the Thursday, September 6, 2018 OSBA effort to provide voters with information on candidate positions is that of combined, more or less, in the Ohio General Assembly of some 60 years Republicans Scott Oelslager (running in the 48th)
  
  and Kirk Schuring (running in the 29th).  Perhaps the didn't want to face questions of having received thousands of dollars in ECOT (online charter school) campaign contributions in light of the school going belly up recently and owing Ohio's taxpayers some $80 million (by Ohio Supreme Court decision) after having received some $1 billion in taxpayer money over a span the past 20 years or so?
• Also not attending were Oelslager opponent Lauren Friedman and Stoltzfus opponent Cassie Gabelt,
• Candidate Friedman tells the SCPR:  "I was not aware of the event or I certainly would have been there."
• Also not attending were Democratic state Representative Thomas West (the 49th) and his Republican opponent James Haavisto and Democratic candidate for the 38th, namely; Elliot Kolkovich.
• Candidate West also says either due to not having received notice from the OSBA or an internal administrative snafu he was not aware of the event and would have attended if he was aware of it,
• Candidate Haavisto had a conflict in times in that he had a priority business commitment to attend to,
• Note:  Should any other absentee candidates inform the SCPR of reasons for non-attendance, The Report will be to update this blog with that information

• the absence from opportunities to question and reflect on the views of what candidates who do show up on the part of area direct-interest-in-education educators/parents/teaching union members and those who say education is a top priority for ensuring a bright future for or local, state and national economies,  
• Believe or not, not one single Stark County superintendent showed up at Thursday's forum.  And yet nearly all if not all of them bitterly complain about how education funding and policy is handle by the current majority in the Ohio General Assembly.
• the no show of Plain Township board of education member John Halkias of 19 years who is the president-elect of the Ohio School Board Association, 

• Note:  While the SCPR appreciates the initiative of the OSBA to put Thursdays event together and acknowledges Moderator Jay Smith disclaimer that the format was designed to be "informal," this event was just a bit too informal.  
• It appears that the OSBA officials in attendance had no questions of their own to pose to the candidates which the SCPR finds curious in view of the possibility that there would be a dearth of questions from the very, very, very sparse audience in attendance.
• Re the "sparse, sparse, spare attendance:  What was done by the OSBA to promote the event and what effort was made "lobby" all the candidates to attend and to have incisive questions at the ready?
• the failure of local media (most prominently, Stark County's only countywide newspaper:  The Canton Repository to cover events like the Ohio School Boards Association's area legislative/state board of education candidates forum yesterday at the R.G. Drage Technical Center located here in Stark County?

All these factors are indication that as every day passess, there is less and less appreciation of the unique American experience of self-government through elected representatives based on voters being informed of whom they are voting for and why other than the candidate's political party affiliation.

Like the person who stays in lukewarm water in process of it being heated up until they get boiled to death, it appears that all aspects of our democratic-republican system are hellbent on self destruction in the midst of thinking all is well.

It appears that the saying:  "We have met the enemy and he is us."  is squarely in place in America, Ohio and Stark County.  

Stark County's most reliable media on political/government coverage (The Stark County Political Report, SCPR, The Report) was at Drage yesterday.

Kudos to the OSBA, to fully or partially within Stark County connected candidates Lorraine Wilburn (48th), Reggie Stoltzfus (50th) and Bill Romer  (38th) for showing up and addressing the sparse crowd of educators/citizens who showed up.  Moreover, include Kathleen Purdy running for the 8th District state board of education position in this commendation.

This election year 36% of the current membership of the Ohio General Assembly are not running for re-election.

And kudos to Canton Board of Education member Eric Resnick being there and being a primary driver of meaningful questions.

One of Resnick's most provocative questions had to do with the passage and implementation of House Bill 70 (see this LINK for efforts to repeal it) which dealt with the state of Ohio takeover of the poverty ridden/highly urban Youngstown School District and its threat to districts like the Canton City Schools district.

Also to be complimented is newly appointed Mahoning County Educational Service Center board member Traci Hostetler (July, 2018 and pictured to the left of Resnick above) who traveled to Massillon (by the way, she was formerly director of teaching and learning in the Massillon City Schools) on Thursday with her questions for the state legislature candidates who showed up.  Hostetler is a former superintendent of the East Palestine School District.

There were three other legislative candidates (running for districts wholly outside of Stark County (i.e. principally in Summit County) who showed up and can be seen in the complete video that can be accessed in the Appendix to this blog.

But the video takeouts in this blog are answers provided by candidates for the Ohio House whose district have parts of or are wholly within Stark County.

Just this morning, the SCPR happened on a Cleveland.com (online version of the Cleveland Plain Dealer) published an article which came up on Thursday which was the simmering controversy about the Ohio Department of Education's publication of its annual Report Card for the 600 plus public school districts that dot Ohio.

In The Stark County Political Report's evaluation of newspapers, The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland.com online) is the very best in Ohio of publishing incisive, timely and thoroughgoing analyses of issues that are important to Ohioans.

Our local countywide paper cannot even see to it that a reporter shows up at an event like last Thursday's.

Cleveland.com recently started a Rubber City Daily (for Akron and vicinity) which is available via e-mail sign up.

Can Stark Countians hope for a Hall of Fame Daily for Canton and all of Stark County being in the offing?

As things stand now with GateHouse Ohio buying up the Akron Beacon Journal and The Repository, a iota of mainline newspaper competition could do wonders for the scope and unconflicted coverage of Stark County news, no?

DISTRICT 8 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RACE

Also present this past Thursday at R.G. Drage was state board of education candidate Kathleen Purdy.  Her presentation is also including in this blog.

Stark Countian John Hagan (a former state representative [2001 - 2008] and 19 year Marlboro Township) was also among the missing.

While Republican Hagan because of his surname and confusing it with former state board of  Bob "Hagan" and his "hanging around in Republican political circles" in Columbus and Stark County and running in "safe" Republican districts may perforce of those factors get elected, of the three candidates he is the least qualified and appears mostly to be running to hold a Republican seat on the state board and to enhance his state of Ohio pension benefits by accumulating from his days as a state representative township trustees.

John Hagan has never been a significant contributor to the well being of education policy/funding in Ohio which makes it apparent to the SCPR that he is in the race for either personal or political party factors and not because he has anything constructive/helpful to offer the state board of education.

Even the 18 year old Democrat (as is Stark Countian Purdy) Melissa Dahman from Mahoning County is better qualified than John Hagan to get elected to the state board of education.

The winner in the multi-county eighth will likely come from either Stark or Mahoning County as being the two most populous (by far) of all the counties that make up the district.

Purdy, by virtue of having shown up and answered questions, should get plus consideration on the part of voters as should those state representative candidates, no?

Here is a video of Purdy's presentation on Thursday:

On the state representative portion of Thursday's OSBA candidates forum, here are video clips on the "Stark County connected candidates."

50TH REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE REGGIE STOLTZFUS



48TH DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE LORRAINE WILBURN

(Note:  On Resnick's "yes" or "no" on whether or not Ohio education funding is constitutional under the DeRolfe series of  three Ohio Supreme Court decisions, Candidate Wilburn's answer:  "no.")

The video: (16 min, 27 sec)



38TH REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE BILL ROEMER

(On DeRolfe "It was ruled unconstitutional 20 years ago, it has not been ruled on since.  There have been significant changes [in how Ohio funds education], there needs to be additional changes")

The video of Roemer's responses:  (13 min, 54 sec)

To say it again, all-in-all the event was a disappointment in terms of:

• only 4 of a potential 13 Stark County connected candidates relevant to Stark County included areas voting on state senate, state house and state board of education races (except Friedman who says she was not informed about the forum) saw fit to show up, and
• the lack of OSBA fill-in-missing-from-the-audience questions on the overriding Ohio General Assembly dealt with preK-12 educational issues including promoting more effectively getting northeast Ohio stakeholders to attend such an event and the concomitant opportunity to get informed on the different takes that incumbents/challengers have on those issues.

Hopefully, the OSBA will take the SCPR's critique in the constructive fashion it is intended to be and improve the structure, candidate participation and promotion to the voting/education public for the 2020 round of OSBA candidates on education issues forums.

APPENDIX

The entire OSBA Candidates Forum video.

LINK TO BOROWITZ REPORT OF THE DAY

September 7, 2018:  NFL Adds First Amendment to List of Banned Substances

On August 25th, The Stark County Political Report began making available to SCPR readers a "direct" LINK to the THE BOROWITZ REPORT which is a masterful satire/sarcasm on leading national political happenings.

Also, a LINK to Andy Borowitz's biography on Wikipedia and his website.

Satire

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement.  [...] Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.

Enjoy!

DID HOF-VP "PRIVATE SECTOR FINANCING" JUST (AUGUST 9, 2018) SUFFER A MAJOR BLOW?

SOURCE FOR PARTS OF ABOVE GRAPHIC

LINK

Why would The Stark County Political Report (SCPR, The Report) be citing a Country of Lebanon newspaper article as, perhaps, having significance relative to the Professional Football Hall of Fame (National Football Museum, Inc) located at 2121 Halas Drive NW, Canton, Ohio?

Because there are Stark Countians who think that heralded "savior" of private sector financing guru Michael Klein was banking on his participation in the Saudi Arabia "plan A" as described in the linked The Daily Star story would be the catalyst in bringing to Stark County whatever the HOF-VP "private sector" financing needs there are to complete the now $1 billion plus project.

Contrary to what the likes of The Repository's James Porter (its publisher) likely is saying privately about the SCPR's journalistic "let the sunshine in" series of blogs, this blogger is all for the success of the HOF-VP as long as it is hugely financed by the private sector and thereby guarantees that taxpayer money invested in the project will reap humungus returns to Canton and Stark County in terms of living wage jobs directly traceable to the project.

The Report's mission vis-a-vis the HOF-VP has been and will continue to be accountability, transparency and viability (in terms of prospective productiveness) of U.S., state of Ohio and Stark County taxpayer dollars plowed into the project.

This blogger thinks that Repository publisher has James Porter has constructed an inherently conflicted relationship

• being the "official newspaper of the PFHOF," and
• being a trustee on the PFHOF Board of Trustees) and thereby undermining the Stark County reading public confidence that we taxpayers are getting candid assessments re:  taxpayer monies in the project in terms of accountability, transparency and viability.

LINK TO ENTIRE LIST

Accordingly, The Report believes that editorial/publisher intervention at The Rep makes it highly unlikely what this blogger has to believe is reporter due diligence stifled by the "bigs" will ever see the light of day.

Optimism abounded in April of this year that the poorly planned first initiative financial model problem had been solved after:

• the HOF folks negotiated an "up-to-$100 million 'bridge' loan used, in part, to pay off the lion's share of local contractors owed millions by the poorly planned as initially started project by the likes and C. David Baker, the HOF Board of Trustees and his "go to" pal Denny Saunier of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, and
• the bringing in as evidenced by the appearance of Wall Street financial magnate Michael Klein and the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce (press coverage denied the SCPR; LINK to subsequent SCPR blog)  

At the time of his appearance Klein himself was brimming with enthusiasm about his apparent prospects for securing "private sector" financing for the HOF-VP, this YouTube Bloomberg produced video as evidence of Klein's ebullience as published on October 24, 2017: (1 min, 14 sec)

There have been recent reports that construction on the hotel and the Center of Excellence will start any day now?

But given the August 9th The Daily Star article, will the HOF-VP start moving dirt again so as to be ready for the September, 2020 100th Anniversary Pro Football Stark County-based Centennial event?

Stark Countians should be hoping that Klein has a Plan B for private sector "finish-off" financing for the HOF-VP?

The SCPR remains skeptical.

Reports persist that there still is no operating agreement between Klein and the HOF Village LLC with SCPR sources saying that principal owner (reportedly at 60%) being the barrier for Klein, Turner Construction et al moving.

The SCPR blog published on Saturday (LINK) whereby it seems there is an element to the Welty, HOF Village LLC factor management of the project that appears to be into "nickel and diming" minority contractors on the final payout on their work on the parking lot factor of the HOF-VP.

A question that lingers with the SCPR.

 Whether or not the project:

• is so much in hock to master developer Stuart Lichter and what The Report believes is some $150 million in  his owners equity that he holds
•  mostly owing to the $22 million to at least $139 million run up in cost on rehabbing Fawcett now Tom Benson Stadium 
• that some believe would be satisfied by Klein et al getting financing sources from the flow of return on the Saudi Arabia investment fund action,
• that even Michael Klein will throw his arms up in despair?

The SCPR wishes Klein every success in finding a Plan B of "private sector" financing to complete the HOF-VP.

But he and his pals C. David Baker, Denny Saunier and James Porter should not get $1 more of public money without a full accounting in a transparency mode of how the millions in various forms of public monies:

• have been spent,
• are being spent, and
• will be spent

Moreover, the public should be provided by HOF-VP officials and those joined at the hip with them (i.e. Porter and Saunier) with a quarterly if not monthly status report of the viability of the completion of the entire project, and, if not, how much of the project will get done and what total cost!

WILL HOF-VP BLACK CONTRACTORS GET PAID THE FINAL $200,000 OWED BY WELTY (HOF VILLAGE LLC) ANYTIME SOON?

UPDATE:  SUNDAY, 1:00 PM

Originally published Saturday, 9/1

Highlighted and Bolded Text is indicative of added/modified material since original publication.

Note:   The entire video of Friday's session (unedited) is located in the Appendix to this blog.

POSTED VIDEOS
(a SCPR exclusive)

HOW? WHY DID SCPR GET ACCESS TO THE MEETING?

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

PFHOF CFO BRIAN PARISI PLAYS KEY ROLE IN RESOLVING DISPUTE

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

QUALITY CARE CONSTRUCTION VP NEIL STEVENS

OUTLINES THE DIRE FINANCIAL CONDITION THAT

SLOW PAYMENTS HAS PLACED QUALITY CARE IN JEOPARDY

"Quality Care on the Verge of Going Belly Up!"

--------------------------
SUNDAY PUBLISHED VIDEOS
--------------------------

FINGER POINTING AT WELTY/IRG AS BEING THE PROBLEM
A MUST SEE VIDEO 
TO CAPTURE DESPERATION OF QUALITY CARE
----------------------------
QUALITY CARE CONFRONTS WELTY, IRG & HOF WITH
"THOSE PEOPLE" COMMENT
----------------------------
THANK GOD! FOR BRIAN PARISI
----------------------------
WHO IS NOT COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY?
----------------------------
FELLOW BLACK CONTRACTOR TO QUALITY CARE
SUPPORTS NEIL STEVENS' BOTTOM LINE
THE UNCERTAIN FINANCING OF THE HOF VP
----------------------------

ANOTHER INSTANCE OF PFHOF CFO BRIAN PARISI
SEEING THE MERITS OF QUALITY CARE'S PLEA
-----------------------------
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2018
THE CONTROVERSY GOES AWAY?

Back in May, 2017 The Stark County Political Report (SCPR, The Report) blogged on a call for a boycott of the 2017 Enshrinement activity by a group called the Black Contractors Association because the group believed that the National Football Museum, Inc. and IRG combined effort (HOF Village LLC [60% reportedly owned by IRG, 40% by the National Football Museum dba as the Professional Football Hall of Fame]) had not made an adequate effort to recruit minority contractors to work on the 2014 conceived Pro Football Hall of Fame expansion project (HOF-VP) that is now thought to have nearly $1 billion in work to contract out in building the project.

Little did minority contractors dream that landing HOF-VP contracts proved to be one thing; getting paid has been quite another.

On June 15, 2018 in a SCPR "Breaking News" story, it was revealed that the minority contractors "walked-off-the-job" because they thought they had not been adequately paid for work done to date which at that time seemed to place completion of the parking lot project close by Tom Benson Stadium in jeopardy of being completed in time for the 2018 annual Pro Football HOF Enshrinement Event and first of the new National Football League year exhibition football game, to wit (as of June 15th):

Enough money was cobbled together to get the contractors back on the job and the parking lot was "largely" completed for Pro Football festivities during the first week of this month.

Now that the HOF folks have gotten by this year's event, it appears that they have resumed "foot-dragging" on making some remaining $200,000 to-be-paid on an original $700,000 (according to one of the owners) contract.

Obviously, the contractors (lead contractor being Quality Care Construction, Neil Stevens:  vice president) now only have the leverage of "negative public relations" for the HOF-VP as a bargaining factor in getting paid.

So it was an interesting turn of events that one of the contractors telephoned the SCPR last evening to invite The Report to be present at a HOF VP facility on Clearview St NW in Canton at 10:15 a.m. today to cover the face to face negotiations between the minority contractors (and their staffs and attorney) and representatives from IRG and Welty Construction (the managing general contractor employed by HOF Village LLC).

Readers of the SCPR know that this blogger as the "only" Stark County media critic of:

• the planning for the HOF expansion project,
• the obtaining of adequate public and private financing of the project,
• see blog on the filing of liens by contractors 
• the implementation of what plan there has been, 
• the accountability for the taxpayer portion of  money put into the project, and
• the lack of transparency on the issue of the viability of the project, and,
• whether or not the public monies invested will one day, in fact, make an productive "return on investment for public monies put into the project

In the view of the SCPR, The Repository compromised its integrity in reporting (as monitored and controlled by the editors and the publisher; not the work of the reporters themselves) and editorializing on the project in working out an agreement whereby Stark County's only countywide newspaper became "the official newspaper of the Pro Football Hall of Fame."

To make matters even worse, during the 2018 HOF festivities, Repository publisher James Porter was named to the National Museum Inc. dba Professional Football Hall of Fame) board of trustees.

Officers

Chairman - Randall C. Hunt, Attorney, Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co., LPA

Vice Chairman - Dennis Nash, Executive Chairman of the Board, Kenan Advantage Group

Secretary - Joseph Halter, President, Solmet Technologies, Inc.

Treasurer - Roger A. Bettis, President, Green Lines Transportation, Inc.

Assistant Treasurer - Gary R. Smith, Retired Executive

Trustees
Brian J. Barker, Founder & Chairman, AFS Logistics & Limited Partner, Atlanta Falcons

Brian S. Belden, Vice President Sales & Marketing, The Belden Brick Co.

William H. Belden, Jr., Retired Chairman of the Board, The Belden Brick Co.

Barbara Bennett, Director of Administrative Services, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District

Todd Blackledge, Lead Analyst, ESPN

Ronald W. Dougherty, Attorney, Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co., LPA

Roger Goodell, Commissioner, National Football League

Stephen Gregory, CEO,Gregory Industries

Jimmy Haslam, Owner, Cleveland Browns

Donald E. Jakeway, President & CEO, Jakeway & Associates LLC

Jerry Jones, Owner/President/General Manager, Dallas Cowboys/Pro Football Hall of Fame member

George McCaskey, Chairman of Board, Chicago Bears

Bernard McRae, Jr., CEO/President, Main Street Lighting

Frank J. Monaco, Partner, 415 Group, Inc.

Warren Moon, Pres.& Founder, Sports 1 Marketing; Pro Football Hall of Fame member

Anthony Muñoz, Executive Director, Anthony Muñoz Foundation; Pro Football Hall of Fame member

George R. Oliver, Chairman & CEO, Johnson Controls

James A. Porter, Publisher, The Canton Repository and GateHouse Ohio Media

Renée Powell, PGA/LPGA Pro, GM at Clearview Golf Club

Ed Roth, President & CEO, Aultman Hospital

Stephen Harold Schott, Managing Partner, CapTrust 

John A. Sirpilla, Founder, Encourage LLC 

Dan Snyder, Owner, Washington Redskins

Amy Adams Strunk, Controlling Owner, Tennessee Titans

W.R. Timken Jr., Former US Ambassador to Germany, Retired Chairman of the Board and CEO of The Timken Co.

Denise DeBartolo York, Co-Chairman, San Francisco 49ers

Robert A. Zmudka, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Rail North America, GATX

The question clearly is:  Who does The Repository under the leadership of James Porter owe a duty of trust to?

The Stark County reading public or the likes of:

• Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) and other directly connected to the NFL personalities which staff the HOF Board of Trustees,
• C. David Baker, president and CEO of the Professional Football Hall of Fame?

Accordingly, the SCPR thinks that Stark Countians cannot trust The Rep to thoroughly investigate and weigh-in on things like the black contractors being treated the way they are in getting timely and prompt payments for the work they have done.

One reader of this blog has had this to say to the SCPR:

****.****@gmail.com  Today at 8:31 AM
To:  Martin Olson

Nice job on today's post...YOU got called! 

Says something doesn't it?  

An old retired guy in Uniontown armed only w a camera seems to be the only tool for the little guy seeking justice!  Clayton Horn and Don Millett must be spinning in their graves.


This thought:  billion dollar project and these guys can't pay a$200,000 tab

. Where are these big time New York financiers???  

Another reader observation:

*****@neo.rr.com>  Today at 12:48 PM
To:  Martin Olson

Great job Martin! 

There is no better coverage on this project than what you are doing. 

Keep the light of transparency going!

The contractors know and the general public knows that the SCPR will look into such behavior if The Report can get cooperating sources to step forward and shame the powerful for the way small contractors are treated.

The SCPR would like the HOF-VP to succeed even though it appears that Baker et al have poorly put together and so far managed the project.

Even if the project eventually succeeds in its $1 billion mode (which remains highly questionable that it will), the SCPR is not impressed with Baker, Denny Saunier (of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce) and The Rep's Porter who comprise the "prime movers" for the project.

Again, the SCPR is not impressed "key: players in the HOF VP (Welty, HOF Village LLC and the HOF Board of Trustees which has the NFL commissioner and many NFL connected as members on the issue of how it treats African-American Stark County-based contractors.

What follows is a series of video clips from today's one hour plus meeting.

But first a summary of the what the SCPR deems to have been revelations/accomplishments of the meeting:

• The perceived need of the contractors and their supporting association to have an unbiased record (the video recording by a truly "independent" media outlet (i.e. the SCPR),
• From the get-go with the leadership from the Welty, IRG and HOF Village LLC perspective side of the table in the form of HOF CFO Brian Parisi taking charge and persistently returning to an approach of "let's solve this problem and let's solve it now,"
• As the SCPR interprets the meeting:
• Pyott of Welty and Shaffer of IRG wanted to focus on technical/legal aspects of why the black contractors have not been paid whereas Parisi consistently returned to the "big picture" of  "how can we get this matter resolved."
• Parisi reveals that Welty (the HOF VP project manager) has been paid-in-full as of July, 2018
• Which implies that the payment delay lies at the doorstep of Welty and IRG
• Note:  Pyott said he was not prepared to say how much Welty had been paid to-date by HOF Village LLC.
• Quality Care says it has been financing the parking lot part of the HOF VP\
• It appears that the basis of the black contractors not being paid has to do with an industry standard of a 10% retainage being held back in payments pending contractor completion of the project which Quality Care claims it has done but still has not been paid some $200,000 which appears double or more of what 10% of the original contract was for
• It appears to the  SCPR that IRG/Welty may have a point (see Video Clip 7) in saying that there have be problems with the contractors providing documents to justify IRG/Welty making more timely payments but the bottom line seems to be that fragile financial structure of the HOF-VP and folks like Quality Care Construction not being "timely" paid

VIDEO CLIP 1

PFHOF Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian Parisi as Contractors Best Hope to Get Paid

Of the three non Contractor connected officials present at Friday's meeting, PFHOF CFO Brian Parisi stood out as a person who seemed to hear the Contractor complaints about slow payment and appeared to establish a structure for resolving the impasse sooner than later.

Welty Construction's David Pyott and IRG's Todd Shaffer to the SCPR seemed to be markedly less helpful in resolving payment matters.

If the NFL/PFHOF combo is to avoid a further embarrassment at the way in which the black contractors have been dealt with, it will be the likes of Parisi who bails them out.

Here is Quality Care Construction's Neil Stevens singling out Parisi for his apparent highly helpful stance in offering the prospect that the Contractor can expect payment in full sooner than later. (1 min, 20 sec)

VIDEO CLIP 2

SCPR Presence Questioned (44 sec)

VIDEO CLIP 3

Quality Care (QC) VP Stevens Outlines the Threat to the Continued Non Payment to QC Might Have on QCs Ability to Stay in Business (1 min, 24 sec)



VIDEO CLIP 4

In the SCPR's view, this video clip shows the manifest unfairness of how the black contractors have been and seemingly continue to be treated by IRG, Welty and to the extent it is co-joined with IRG, the Professional Football Hall of Fame in jeopardizing the financial viability of Quality Care Construction.

Where is Roger Goodell?  Where are the members of the HOF Board of Trustees?

They could certainly step in and mandate that the black contractors get paid and get paid now, no?

The video of all the videos published that is a MUST SEE. (2 min, 52 sec)



VIDEO CLIP 5

Going back to May, 2017 and the threatened boycott of the 2017 HOF Enshrinement Week activities and the resulting pressure on HOF Village LLC to look at hiring of black contractors, it appears that the pressure was resented at the time and when difficulties erupted on the black contractors not being paid timely someone on the Welty/IRG HOF Village LLC is reported to have derisively referred to Quality Care Construction et al as being "those people."

The video.  (3 min, 41 sec)



VIDEO CLIP 6

Readers should pay close attention to the next video clip.

PFHOF Chief Financial Officer (presumably speaking for HOF Village LLC) offers the greatest hope that the black contractors will get paid and get paid now thus diffusing the notion that perhaps there is a racism element in how the black contractors are being treated (1 min, 19 sec): (1 min, 19 sec)



VIDEO CLIP 7

In this video, one sees Welty's Dave Pyott quibbling with the contractors over whom said what to whom as a seeming justification for "slow" payments to the contractors.  Readers will be impressed with Neil Stevens impassioned response to the quibbling in the vein of:  "who works without getting paid!" (5 min, 52 sec)



VIDEO CLIP 8

In this video fellow (to Neil Stevens of Quality Care Construction) black contractor Jesse Childress (who the SCPR speculates had about a $300,000 part of the minority contractors business on the HOF-VP)  expressed earlier in the session of being skittish about having Friday's negotiated session being recorded "cuts to the chase" as Stevens did that the core problems has always been the fragile nature of the financing of the project including the Stevens/Childress aspect (the parking lot) of the HOF-VP.



VIDEO CLIP 9

The following 2 min, 24 second video is a clear showing that HOF CFO Brian Parisi has a heart.  Maybe the likes of C. David Baker (of the HOF), Donn Taylor (of Welty) and Stu Lichter (of IRG) do not, but-unless-he-is-an-accomplished-fooler, which the SCPR does not think he is, Brian Praisi seems to be a person who wants to help minority contractors be a viable part of the HOF-VP going forward.



VIDEO CLIP 10

One of the things that has been missing in the black contractors dealing with IRG, Welty and the HOF-VP folks has been the establishment of and the compliance with a timeline for resolving disputed matters.

In this video segment, Parisi sets Wednesday, September 5th at 11:00 a.m. as a time for all the parties to meet at the Clearview site to hopefully resolve all outstanding issues.

As Neil Stevens suggests:  Resolution of the frustrations of the minority contractors might then be resolved because of the obvious leadership of Brian Parisi.

The video (12 min, 22 sec):



APPENDIX

The entire "unedited" 1 hour, 5 minute meeting session:

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.