It is an overstatement to term the exchange between Commissioners Bosley and Meeks as being a "cat fight," right now, but acrimony could takeover in the relationship between the two over time and make "cat fight" an apt description.
When Meeks talks about Bosley's "style," the SCPR believes he is reflecting on conversations he has had with Stark County Democratic Party leaders in recent times.
Bosley is a maverick Democrat who charts his own course and is not beholden to the likes of Stark County Democratic Party chairman Randy Gonzalez, former chairman Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. and political director Shane Jackson.
It is likely that the "party brass" are holding their collective breaths hoping that Bosley opts to become more Columbus centered by taking up Ohio Speaker of the House Armond Budish's strong wish that he take on Republican Todd Snitchler (Lake) in the race to be the 50th district Ohio House representative.
For if Bosley vacates his commissioner's seat, then the SCPR believes Meeks will decide to take out petitions to run for the Bosley seat so that, if elected, he will be in office until 2014.
As it stands now, Meeks, if he is "retained" by the voters; will have to stand for re-election in 2012. Well, the timing for re-election could not be worse. The economy will not have recovered and Stark County finances will be in the toliet for 2011 and 2012 and Meeks will have to face a lot of unhappy voters who have been subjected to huge cuts in county services.
If Bosley stays and survives in this November's election, the SCPR believes that the political undertow in the commissioners' officer will engulf both Bosley and Meeks and make it difficult, if not impossible for the two to work together.
So the SCPR is coming around to believe that it would better for Stark County (things will be bad enough, let alone having two "cat fighting" commissioners) that Bosley take up Budish's offer to make the 50th a Democratic seat.
Here is a video showing Bosley and Meeks squabbling yesterday:
I was expecting more fireworks...there are a few things that crack me up, Mr. Bosley mentions the commissioners need to be more credible, yet he is still whining about the so-called "mistruths" about the failed sales tax implementation. If there were a strategic department of disinformation, Mr. Bosley would reign sumpreme!
ReplyDeleteHe still believes the reason the sales tax failed is because of the work of the citizens group, and that Stark Countians would otherwise embrace centralized, upgraded dispatching, and he just doesn't get the hint...when the vote is 65% against to 35% for the tax, perhaps my math is a bit screwy but it clearly shows the people aren't all that concerned about fixing 911 at this time. Mr. Bosley would have a more valid point had the vote been closer to 50%.
The one very good point that Mr. Meeks made was to the effect, let's appropriate the money where it is urgently needed, I realize we would like to change 911, but that shouldn't be the priority because we have something in place, and we can revisit it later.
What good will it do to fix 911, and have no deputies to respond because they were laid off due to budget shortfall because monies went to revamp 911
Anyone remember the childhood song "There's a hole in the bucket dear Liza"