NORTH CANTON FACES $200,000 PLUS DEFICIT IN 2011, $1.2 MILLION IN 2012. WHOSE FAULT IS IT?

Well, if you buy Ron Ponder's take (Points to Ponder, WHBC - 1480, 10 a.m. to noon M-F), you have no further to look than North Canton's Daryl Revoldt (president of North Canton City Council and a former mayor).  At least, that is, in the immediate sense ($231,000 for 2011).

Here is Ron's comment on Edd Pritchard's story North Canton still projecting a deficit, The Repository, June 8, 2010:

The SCPR contacted Revoldt for a reaction.

And have a reaction, he did!

After pointing out that Ponder is primarily an entertainer and not to be taken seriously as a city government analyst, Revoldt jumped all over WHBC's popular Canton talk show host (Points to Ponder).

Revoldt says that the $200,000 plus spent on the the annexation battle versus Canton and Jackson Township did not come out of the general revenue fund but out of water department funds.  Consequently, the expenditure - Revoldt says - is not a factor in the projected $231,000 year 2011 deficit.

Of course, Revoldt says, Ponder would not have a clue about the intricacies of city government finances and only shows his ignorance in making the comment.

Water appears to be a major North Canton asset and protecting the North Canton water treatment facility from being annexed  into the city of Canton (and coming under Canton's police powers) was a major factor in the decision by North Canton officials.  Also, North Canton has limited directions in which to annex and therefore needed to make a major battle on the joint effort by Canton and Jackson Township to bottle North Canton up on its western flank.

Council President Revoldt says he only wishes he had the kind of power in North Canton that Ponder attributes to him.  However, he says, he does not and that the fact of the matter is that Councilpersons Peters, Davies, Kiesling and Snyder were in accord with him as well as city administration officials and various legal counsel.

And there was the problem (in terms of not being part of the deliberations) of Councilpersons Foltz (who works for Canton) and DeOrio (who not only works for Canton, but works for Canton Municipal Chief Deputy Randy Gonzalez who also happens to be fiscal officer for Jackson Township).

As far as Revoldt is concerned, he couldn't disagree more with Ponder's assertion on the lawsuit that "everybody knew the city would lose[.]"

He still thinks that North Canton was correct on the law.


Revoldt muses about his own observation that Ponder is targeting him.  But why?  The council president can only speculate on the reasons.

He thinks it centers on his unwillingness to be at the beck and call of Ponder when he calls.  He says he has a day job and can't just drop everything when Ponder calls.  Moreover, he believes that Ponder is a buddy with Gonzalez, Sliman (Canton's annexation director), and Canton Mayor William J. Healy II, and others involved in the matter, and now that North Canton has been unable to get the Ohio Supreme Court to hear the case, it is retribution time.

There is no doubt to the SCPR that the feelings between Ponder and Revoldt run strong.  Ponder is generally understanding of public officials.  Much more than yours truly.  So it is interesting that he does seem to single Revoldt out for less understanding.

This could be Revoldt's last term as a public official.  The Report gets the impression that at the end of this this council term that Revoldt will hang it all up.

The question is this.  Will Ron Ponder be happy or unhappy, if that's what Revoldt does?