(VIDEOS 3: CIRELLI GRILLING HEALY, CARCIONE ON SAFETY, MORRIS ON SAFETY) ISSUE: IS MAYOR HEALY BY HIS STAFFING DECISIONS MAKING "UNACCEPTABLE" CHOICES IN PRIORITIZING CITY SPENDING?

At Monday night Canton City Council meeting the president of the Canton Firefighters union raised his voice in protest of the Healy administration's failure to take any of the money from $1.2 million in increased city income tax collections for fire and ambulance safety.

Here is a video of Carcione speaking:



Carcione was followed up by (to be councilman - 9th Ward) Frank Morris III who spoke to the issue.  A little over a week ago Frank's relative died as a consequence of stab wounds received in an altercation at a location about one tenth of a mile from Canton fire station 8.  However, due to cutbacks in staffing of fire stations, station 8 was closed at the time and a Canton policeman loaded the victim in his cruiser (after learning that there would be a delay of getting an ambulance to the scene) and transported him to the hospital where he died.

Here is a video of Morris speaking:



Mayor Healy gave a vigorous defense of his administration's staffing of police, fire and emergency personnel. Moreover, he defended his perceived need to raise the pay of key members (managerial types) of his administrative teams. Here is a video of the Cirelli/Healy exchange:




In analyzing the politics of the back and forth between the firefighters union and their allies on council and Mayor Healy (and Safety Director Ream), the key consideration is how the Canton voter wills side up on the controversy.

Do they expect and demand that Mayor Healy to the impossible? If he can't/dosen't, will they punish him in November when he goes up against Republican A.R. "Chip" Conde. If he senses that there is political "hay to be made," will Conde try to exploit the emotional factor to his favor irrespective of the whether or not Healy makes a persuasive case of the merits of the action he is taking?

The Healy camp is already campaigning, but it appears that Conde has yet to take the wraps off his campaign. Unless he gets up and moving in a big way what little chance the SCPR thinks he has will evaporate very, very quickly!