SHERIFF RACE: "FIGHT TO THE FINISH!"

What started off as a "Marquess de Queensbury rules," gentlemen-esque campaign has gone over the line and turned into a knock down, drag out "Fight to the Finish!"

To review recent history of this race and what appears to be the last round of the fight, a few days ago (LINK), Democratic sheriff candidate Mike McDonald told the SCPR:

"I do not beleve [Larry Dordea] is qualifed to be the sheriff, I don't think he knows what he is talking about."

And, to boot, he added in a flyer he sent out at the end of last week:

Hmm?

Dordea is a politician but "candidate" McDonald is not?

On Friday last, yours truly received a highly inflammatory campaign mailer from Republican candidate Larry Dordea's  campaign, to wit:

and

Hmm?

Who believes that Mike McDonald was (as implied) insensitive to the lady's death?

Swanson endorses McDonald and that Swanson has a history of supporting former Stark County Treasurer Gary Zeigler somehow connects McDonald to Zeigler?

Tortured and convoluted logic, no?

Such is a not too subtle effort to bring out the political memories of the Stark County electorate, large numbers of whom undoubtedly remain upset with the way Zeigler managed the Stark treasury insofar as sufficient infrastructure, policy, and practices are seen by the public as having not been in place so as to have prevented his former chief deputy Vince Frustaci from having stolen upwards of $3 million of Stark County taxpayer money.

So the rough stuff is flowering unabated in the final days of the campaign.

All the political vitriol began to surface with the Dordea's forces (i.e. Dordea campaign manager and Jackson trustee James Walters), complaining/alleging to county Auditor Alan Harold that McDonald and his fellow chief deputy Rick Perez have been/are being overpaid on longevity/vacation pay when they retired/rehired within the sheriff's department.

Quite a fight, no?

On top of what the candidates themselves have said, their supporters have weighed in also.

Julie Jakmides (Republican Alliance councilwoman) for Dodea and Derrick Loy (president of Alliance Area Democratic Club) for McDonald.

The SCPR received an e-mail from Mister Loy (who sent a copy of a letter to the editor alleging certain facts about Dordea LINK) denying that he is a "surrogate" of McDonald's (as is the opinion of the SCPR in a de facto sense), to wit:

I am not involved in Deputy McDonald's campaign any more than I am with Sherrod Brown's campaign. I am not on Deputy McDonald's committee, I have not knocked a single door or made a single telephone call for Deputy McDonald's campaign. I do not speak for or represent the McDonald campaign in any fashion, including as a surrogate as you've referred to me.

The SCPR has never said that Loy has an "official" role in the McDonald campaign.  The use of the word "surrogate" is intended in a nuanced sense.  That is to say, in the opinion of yours truly, Loy's effort has the effect of what a representative  (i.e. surrogate) of a campaign does for a candidate.

Whatever!

The Report always gives subjects of SCPR blogs an opportunity to respond when there is disagreement.

The Report will not accept/agree with any implication that Loy is somehow a disinterested citizen whose only concern is that Stark County get a quality Stark County top cop elected in Tuesday's election, to wit:

I didn't create the public records, newspaper articles, and facts, they are what they are. Information for interested citizens and voters to consider as they evaluate candidates for public office. Some people choose to deflect from the facts when the facts are not in their favor.

Thanking you for the opportunity to clarify and expand upon the items in my previous communications with you.

 Finally, this from Loy's e-mail:

The information provided to me by the City of Alliance as a result of my initial request for Alliance Police Department payroll records didn't clearly distinguish between base wage and overtime monies paid. 

So I am providing you the message below, which contains accurate Alliance City information that Mr. Knowles provided me yesterday in response to my recent request for two particular items of importance. 

Also shown is Mr. Dordea's former and current campaign treasurer's brother's [Andrew Zumbar, brother of Dordea campaign treasurer and Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar who is running for election as treasurer], wage prior to Dordea sponsoring and voting to approve the amendment to Alliance City Ordinance 101-11. 

The amended ordinance raised the Law Director's wage from $31,961.31 to $45,920 beginning January 1, 2012. Those figures reflect an increase of $13,958.69 annually. 

This significant increase to one particular employee of the City while the City's hardworking rank-and-file employees take pay freezes and other Alliance elected officials receiving a 3% pay increase. 

Mr. Dordea may not take me serious, but the tax-paying citizens of Alliance and Stark County should be concerned and view this type of fiscally irresponsibility VERY SERIOUS! 

Can the people of Stark County afford Mr. Dordea!

Here is a copy of an e-mail sent by Alliance Auditor Kevin Knowles [who has written to the SCPR in support of Dordea] to a public records request by Loy.   (Note:  Dordea was not the Alliance police chief in 2008, so why does Loy include 2008 in the request?)

So the fight goes on right up to election day.

But the SCPR has never wavered.

Notwithstanding the heavy fighting going on between McDonald and Dordea and their supporters, The Report's take is that either would do a fine job as Stark County sheriff.

This race is definitely a "pick 'em."

But can there be any doubt that the victor will be tarnished by the turn from a model thoughtful campaign to a back alley "fight to the finish?"