Larry Dordea was the first candidate to post a comment on the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report or SCPR).
He was unhappy with The Report's suggestion that he was, perhaps, ([t]oo provincial to be Stark County sheriff).
His admonition, which proved to be prophetic, that when The Report and others got to know him; they would see The Report's suggestion would not borne out.
Of course, The Report makes no apology for posing the question. Questioning and analyzing is at the heart and soul of our democracy.
The Report had a devil of a time to get Dordea to sit down and talk. But eventually we did. And Dordea proved to be quite impressive.
Just an aside to other Stark County politicians. The Report's attitude is that a public official or candidate for public office has no right to refuse a media request to talk about the public's business. If they do refuse, The Report promises to harp on the inaccessiblity or cherry picking who they will talk to as a reason why the voting public should consider not voting for the official/candidate. The public does has a right to know and not under questioning by a hand-picked interview. But someone like The Report who will ask the pointed questions.
Readers can read the many posts on this race by seaching in the search box under Dordea and Swanson.
As pointed out by Dordea supporters, The Report has known Sheriff Swanson and long time and thinks well of him. And The Report believes the roof would not fall in if Swanson were to be re-election which The Report thinks will happen because of the Democratic tide that is likely to hit Stark County on November 4th.
But The Report believes that Dordea has a better set of ideas to implement that likely enable the Stark County sheriff's office to cope more effectively with the Stark County budget crisis which currently afflicts Stark County.
What is particularly impressive about Dordea's ideas is that they offer the possibility that they will result in more sheriff services to the county; the financial crisis notwithstanding.
Whether or not Dordea wins, he has done a huge public service in offering himself has a candidate. He has compelled Swanson to respond. It is up to voters to make a judgment as to whom among the two will do the better job.
If Dordea wins, The Report will be here to press him to deliver on his promises. If Swanson wins, The Report will be here to press him to do better and to consider implementing some of Dordea's ideas.
Competitive campaigns like the Dordea/Swanson race make for more effective government. It is tragic when you have situations like county Prosecutor John Ferrero (Democrat), county Treasurer Gary Zeigler (Democrat) and state Representative Scott Oelslager (Republican) running unopposed.
The lack of political competition in Stark County lies at the doorstep of current Stark County Republican Party chairman Jeff Matthews (but mostly on his predecessor Curt Braden) and current Stark County Democratic Party chairman Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.
All Stark Countians get the shaft when there is no political competition.
Along this line, it would have been productive for Tim Swanson to appear at the Canton Area League of Women Voters event to answer Dodea's charges on the administration of his office. The question is: was absence purposeful and convenient for him or was there something more compelling for him to attend to?
Anyway, see Dordea's accusations on the sheriff in the post below.
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