(VIDEO) SCPR RETURNS TO CANTON CITY COUNCIL/MAYOR OF CANTON

VIDEO

Healy & Bartos

Throw 

Canton"s Fixed Income Folks

"under the bus?"

As the regular readers of the Stark County Political Report know, The Report has been focused on a number of "hot" stories dominating the Stark County political landscape of late.

FIRST, FOR A LITTLE FUN

Consequently, the SCPR has not been devoting as much attention to Canton mayor William J. Healy, II as readers have grown accustomed to over the nearly six years (anniversary date:  March 12th) that Stark County's most complete and in depth source for coverage of Stark County politics and government has known since "the glory days of The Repository," which, of course, are long in the past.

The Report owes "getting back on track" with Healy et al to Canton City Council president Allen Schulman.

Last Monday evening, by implication - at least as inferred/interpreted by the SCPR - Schulman suggested that, perhaps, The Report was paying too much attention to the George T. Maier's sheriff-quest saga and needed to think of returning to other "bread and butter" topics, which from The Report's perspective "all things Healy" would be a prime example of.

Enough said Allen.

Drum roll, please!

Here is the SCPR returning to "All Things Considered 'err Healy."

One caveat though.

The SCPR is going to endeavor to resist the temptation to interview Healy.

Really?

Why's that?

As SCPR readers know, The Report does a pretty damn good job "smoking out" many of Stark County's political and governmental leaders on "topic of the day" issues, but Healy, the guy is just impossibly slippery.

Healy is right up there if not beyond William Jefferson Clinton.

Clinton?

Yes,

You know:  "that depends on what is, is?" guy.

As skilled as The Report is at interrogation techniques, a guy like Clinton cannot be corraled by the "big bucks" national media, let alone the "pipsqueak" Stark County Political Report.

Well, Healy is The Report's Clinton.

This guy rivals the 42nd president of these United States of American in spades.

The SCPR will know that this blog has reached its zenith when The Report does an interview with Healy that has even 10% non-spin it.

Now The Report says - very firmly - in bringing the childhood "greased pig contest" up in this blog (see below), that Mayor Healy IS NOT BEING COMPARED TO "a pig."

But even Healy must immodestly (of course, he is just being himself) admit that The Report nor any other media has captured him a "moment of weakness" (i.e. doing anything but "political spin").

Hence the refresher to SCPR readers on our childhood days and "the greased pig" contest:

Now that we have had little fun (thank you Mayor Healy for being humored by The Report's satire on your elusiveness),

LET US TURN TO SERIOUS MATTERS

First, congratulations to Mayor Healy upon being selected by the Ohio Municipal League to be its president for 2014.

NOW, FOR A LITTLE CRITICISM

God Bless Canton voters for returning Bill Smuckler to Canton City Council.

On Monday last he brought up a topic that should catch the attention of the many Cantonians who are on "fixed" income.

•  SCPR Note: (based on U.S. census reports)
• 12.8% of Canton's population is 65 and over
• presumably, most of whom are on fixed incomes
• of course, there are others who are other Cantonians under age 65 who are on "fixed" incomes
• 30.8% of Cantonians are below the federal poverty level,
• obviously, the 30.8% includes some of the 12.8% of 65 and over
• $30,000 is the median household income (2008-2012)

And, of course, one has to believe that even those Cantonians who are not on "fixed" incomes are going to be more than just a little outraged that the Healy administration proposes to raise the city's sewer rate for the fifth (5th) year in a row.

Healy projects himself as the champion of the downtroddened and oppressed (financially and socially) but, in the SCPR's view, one would have to be into buying swampland in Florida to think that Healy "really" cares for such folks.

Anyone who knows Hizzhonor certainly understands that the mayor in his heart of hearts only cares about one person and that is William J. Healy, II.

If the SCPR has the numbers correct and if council goes along, "fixed" income and impoverished Cantonians in 2014 will be paying 41% (Smuckler says more like 45% when one figures in the "compounding" effect) more for sewer services  [accounting for the compounding factor]) than they did in 2008.   In 2008 Healy took over as mayor of Canton, his having been elected in November, 2007 over incumbent Republican mayor Janet Creighton (Creighton is now a Stark County commissioner)

Speaking of Creighton, in the video below, even six (6) years into his being mayor, Healy seemingly blames former mayors and Republicans Creighton and Richard Watkins (at the very minimum) for "not properly minding the store" on infrastructure finances thereby necessitating the Healy administration raising rates to Canton homeowners.

Such is yet another quintessential Healy attribute.

It is never William J. Healy, II and his administration's slipshod administration.  It is always somebody else who is to blame or some intervening circumstance that is at fault.

And get this!

BUT FOR one Bill Smuckler, the latest 3% increase would have happened:

Select one answer:  (mark an "x" in the appropriate box)

___     On a Vote by City Council Members

___     Without a Vote by City Council Members

You've got it!

Without a Vote by City Council Members.

And playing the role of Pontius Pilate-esque figure, Canton service director William Bartos (folks, he ain't no Warren Price, he, the SCPR thinks, is a personification of Healy abiding "yes" men/women only in his top administration) aided and abetted by Healy himself appear to the SCPR to try to slip the increase through by use of a legislative "sleight of hand" procedure (so, the SCPR thinks) called "read & file."

Let the SCPR say it one more time.

Thank God that Bill Smuckler is back on council!

He, at the very least, is going to make his fellow council members go on record with their "ayes/nays," if the increase is to occur.

To The Report, as can been seen in the SCPR video below, it took Bartos and Healy until the "miscellaneous business" section of the regular council meeting (most of the discussion in the video is in the preceding regular council "Committee of the Whole" meeting) to reveal that Councilman Smuckler was inadvertently "understating" the total amount of the increases over the past four years.

In the video, Bartos and Healy let Smuckler talk about 27% in increases (9% in each of the past three years) whereas "they had to know," even as Smuckler spoke, that the real numbers were 9.5% going back four years hence a total of 38% which is quite a bit more than 27%, no?

The foregoing is an example of why the SCPR is really tough on Mayor William J. Healy, II.

As indicated above, Healy is about as slippery and unaccountable as a public official gets.

This guy comes up for reelection next year and it does not appear, about one year out, that anybody is surfacing to challenge this guy.

The pity of Healy's chronic use of political grease, as far as the SCPR is concerned, is that it is all about how he appears and very little, if any, about how the citizens of Canton fare.

This time it is those Cantonians on fixed incomes and those who literally live "hand to mouth."

What block of the Canton citizenry will next be victimized by the Healy's "Same Old Song" and dance?

Song and dance?

Indeed!

And year after year with this mayor it is the:  "Same old song."

Are Cantonians ever going to get it?

Here is the video of Councilman Bill Smuckler "smoking out" Bartos and Healy on the "slide it through" sewer rate increase maneuver.  Of course, laying the increase as being "the work of council."