OTHERS PAY THE PRICE, TOO?
AND
MAYBE, STILL OTHERS ARE IN FOR IT?
VIDEO ENCORE
KATHLEEN CLUNK
MAKES A CHARGE
ON
STARK DEMS' CHAIRMAN
RANDY GONZALEZ
Political party chairmen appear to want nothing but predictable loyalists as members of their respective central committee.
Never question the wisdom of the chairman, is the implied, if not expressed, admonition that is likely to be uttered by the likes of Stark GOP chairman Jeff Matthews and Stark Dems' chairman Randy Gonzalez.
Gonzalez knows first hand the agony that a precinct committee person can put a chairman through.
- The February 5, 2013 selection process,
- The December 11, 2013 selection process, and
- The February 21, 2014 Balas-Bratton challenge to George Maier being on the 2014 ballot
As early as February 17th she was the subject of a verbal attack by a George T. Maier supporter.
From a SCPR report on a meeting held at the Stark BOE on the 17th to establish the ground rules and hearing date on the challenge, here is a summary of the attack as described by Balas-Bratton attorney Craig T. Conley:
On his way out of the BOE building, he encountered - what he says was - another unpleasant event.For her heroine-esque efforts for the "rule of law," she was richly rewarded by the JAM Stark County/Massillon Political Machine with a defeat at the polls at the hand of one Dave Irwin, a Maier ally, who works for Stark County recorder Rick Campbell, also a member of the JAM loyalty group.
Conley (see video below) says he witnessed his client Ms. Balas-Bratton being verbally "castigated" (Conley's word) by a fully uniformed female Stark County deputy sheriff for having had the audacity to have filed the Maier candidacy protest in the first place.
The message from the Johnnie and George?
Cross us, criticize us, differ with us more than we like; and we will (in a political context) go after you. So the SCPR thinks.
As recently as April 30th (the appointment of a replacement for John Benincasa, who had passed away, as Alliance City Council president), Chairman Gonzalez levied an indirect attack on Balas-Bratton in praising Steve Okey for defending Deameatrious St. John (who, interestingly enough [then a Plain Township precinct committee person] was at the Alliance event) in Balas-Bratton's attempt to have him removed from the Stark BOE February 21st hearing).
In a somewhat shocking turn of events, St. John himself was roundly defeated by a John Ferrero ally.
VIVIANNE WHALEN DUFFRIN
Vivianne Whalen Duffrin knows all about being in the path of an irate Maier.
From that blog:
Just as a case in point as to the degree of political "bad blood" that continues to flow between the Maiers and Ferrero, let's look at the matter of Vivianne Whalen Duffrin.THOMAS ROGERS
Duffrin, a lawyer, was a long term human resources person for former Sheriff Tim Swanson (who had given Mike McDonald his blessing to succeed him as sheriff).
She even remained after Maier's appointment by the SCDP-CC on February 5th.
However, a matter that did not get a whole lot of publicity at the time was the fact that she weighed in on the George T. Maier qualification question on the wrong side insofar as her longevity at the sheriff's department.
She was of the opinion that George was not qualified under the provisions of ORC 311.01.
Anyone who knows Johnnie A. Maier, Jr knows that he does not forget things like Duffrin's act.
On October 11, 2013 Duffrin was unceremoniously fired by George from sheriff's position and get this: "in the middle of negotiations with various 'union represented' grouped-employees within the department."
How that - "in the middle of negotiations - for George T. Maier looking out for the interests of Stark County taxpayers?
Does anybody doubt that her firing was political payback?
Guess who was back on the job November 7, 2013 after George was ousted by the Ohio Supreme Court on November 6th?
Guess who resigned late in the evening of December 11th after George was reappointed by the Stark Dems that same day?
And where did she end up with new employment?
You've got it!
The staff of Stark County prosecutor John D. Ferrero!!!
If that ain't an "in your face" George T. Maier, the SCPR does not know what it is?
So does Massillon police officer Thomas Rogers who got passed (illegally, as it turns out) over for promotion to sergeant in favor of George T. Maier's son at a session of the Massillon Civil Service Board (MCB) as George, "apparently" in his capacity as Massillon's safety director, attended the meeting at which his son prevailed over Rogers.
Although it was obvious to most that the MCB case on behalf the interests of George's son, carried through the level of Ohio's second highest court (the 5th District Court of Appeals; having lost before Stark Court of Common Pleas), was not winnable; the Kathy Catazaro-Perry administration plowed on.
What a disappointment (sarcasm) that Catazaro-Perry (politically mentored and administratively propped up by JAM), didn't try to get the Supreme Court of Ohio to hear the case, no?
PROSECUTOR JOHN FERRERO
Watch out Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero!
Remember, Ferrero was the guy who got "the resist the Maier Political Machine" started on February 5, 2013 when he managed, in filing an affidavit that he was of the opinion that George T. Maier was not qualified under ORC 311.01, to, accordingly, convince 83 other Democratic precinct committee persons to vote no on George.
Ferrero got humiliated by Chairman Gonzalez at the February 5th selection event with what the SCPR thinks was thinly disguised disgust that he had done the affidavit questioning Maier's qualification to be sheriff.
The vote of ended up 92 (George T. Maier), 84 (Lou Darrow).
Truly amazing, no!
It seems as if JAM and folks like his chief deputy of the Massillon clerk of courts and Stark County Democratic Party political director R. Shane Jackson were "asleep at the switch" in monitoring the loyalty level of those who were elected/appointed as precinct committee persons.
Just like Johnnie and Shane were "asleep at the switch" and focused on electing the dependent on them Kathy Catazaro-Perry mayor of Massillon all the while losing control of Massillon City Council to the Republicans in the election of November, 2011.
Never mind that the Ohio Supreme Court validated Ferrero on November 6, 2013 in finding for former Sheriff Tim Swanson in a quo warranto, he filed on February 12, 2013.
Think these folks are looking for a way to visit you with some Ferrero comeuppance?
But getting Ferrero will not be as easy as going after Duffrin and Balas-Bratton.
They (the Maier Political Machine) did get close to a close confidant of Ferrero.
Margaret Elum.
Who's she?
For beginners, she is the top administrative aide to Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry.
One thing about Prosecutor Ferrero, he showed on September 21, 2013 at the Western Dems annual Clambake he can do his own humiliating.
A September 27, 2013 SCPR blog outlined how Maier ally Catazaro-Perry was slated to introduce Ohio treasurer Democratic candidate Connie Pillich at the clambake.
Massillon's mayor was ignored by Ferrero who instead did the Pillich introduction himself.
A highly offended Kathy Catazaro-Perry walked out in a huff.
Hmm?
SUE RYAN OF ALLIANCE
While we are dealing with precinct committee persons, it is more than worthy mentioning that Alliance councilwoman Sue Ryan got the lesson of her life for not being loyal enough to George T. Maier, and, of course, derivatively to JAM.
Ryan actually believed that it was doable for her to become president of Alliance City Council which came into being because of the death on March 30th of president since 1994 John Benincasa (on the vote of the SCDP-CC/Alliance branch).
She forgot, apparently, that she had refused George T. Maier loyalist Derrick Loy (who was hired by SCDP-CC appointed Sheriff George T. Maier in September, 2013 as an administrative assistant) back in early 2013 that she sign a loyalty pledge to him as the Party appointee.
The SCPR thinks that when it became apparent that Loy was so thoroughly disliked by Democratic officials including, it seems, a majority of SCDP-CC members, Chairman Gonzalez, The Report thinks turned to former Alliance Democratic councilman Steve Okey who has plenty of folks in Alliance (more the Republicans than the Democrats, but he is far from completed embraced by Alliance Dems) who are not wild about him but less so than Loy.
Okey did try hard to be the equal of Loy in terms of being disliked in Alliance political circles.
In filing a lawsuit against Alliance City Council out of his "deep concern" for transparent government and the upholding of Ohio's Sunshine Law in Alliance, he excluded then Alliance City Council John Benincasa and Ward 2 Councilwoman Phyllis Phillip who (i.e. Phillips) just happened to be - at the time - a SCDP-CC/Alliance member.
It is essential to George T. Maier, if he to have a more than 50/50 chance to be elected sheriff to have someone in eastern Stark County help him make inroads this presumably pro-Larry Dordea section of Stark.
And Okey is going to be his point person in Alliance and surrounds.
The SCPR was always skeptical of Ryan's persistence that she was going to win over Okey.
And, sad to say, The Report was right on the mark.
She was stunned to learned that Schroeder and Williams had been flipped from supporting her to supporting Okey.
The SCPR was not, For The Report it was simply of matter of converting supposed Ryan voters into Okey voters.
It was humorous to hear Okey chortling away about "the closeness of the vote."
Of course, the implication is that he was in doubt right up to the minute of the vote.
The SCPR certainly does not believe that.
And guess who swore in Okey as council president this past Monday evening at the regular Alliance City Council meeting?
You've got it! George T. Maier.
One has to wonder whether or not Sue Ryan has any Maier sourced comeuppance in store?
We shall see!
KATHLEEN CLUNK
Kathleen Clunk (an Alliance precinct committee person at the time of the Alliance council presidency selection) was willing to go on the SCPR camera on April 30th and allege that Gonzalez as chairman discriminated against her in that only George T. Maier supporters on the SCDP-CC she says were notified to submit their petitions for the precinct committee person elections which took place this past Tuesday.
Gonzalez when queried sometime back about previous complaints like Clunk's, answered that the Party simply couldn't afford to mail out to everybody.
Reeks of disingenuousness, no?
Doesn't surprise the SCPR in the slightest.
To the SCPR it is a flip of the coin as to who is more dissembling as between Canton mayor William J. Healy, II and Chairman Gonzalez.
No comments:
Post a Comment