Yesterday, Tom Suddes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group (aka The Cleveland Plain Dealer) wrote in effect "just when you thought things couldn't get any worse; they do."
That is if you are a city councilperson or mayor of an Ohio city.
And that exactly is what the prospect is for mayors across Ohio, including, of course, Stark County.
Canton City Council president Allen Schulman speaks ad nauseam about the ravaging of the finances of Ohio's urban areas by the Ohio General Assembly (OGA).
According to Suddes, the Ohio Democrats already "on life support" in terms of numbers are all lined up to lose additional two seats in the Ohio House.
Currently, the GOP holds 59 of the lower chamber seats to 39 for the Dems (one vacancy). However, given the overall political climate in Ohio and the coming Republican John Kasich wipe-out of Cleveland Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the number is more likely to be 62 GOP/37 Dems on November 5, 2014.
Dems could get a better result in the Ohio Senate but not much.
As the SCPR sees it, the Ohio Democratic Party and the Stark County Democratic Party are "pathetic" political organizations that are hardly worthy of the name of being political organizations.
Both, seemingly, had a disastrous game plans going into the 2014 elections and all that has happened as we near November 4th, is that "things have gotten worse."
At the state level, the Dems will likely lose all statewide races except that there is a glimmer of hope that Connie Pillich will take out incumbent Republican Josh Mandel.
And that, if it happens, will be because Mandel is his own worst enemy.
But the Ohio Dems' permitting Clevelander Ed FitzGerald to be the party's gubernatorial standard bearer may be enough for even Mandel to survive in a close election.
In Stark County, the Dems have aided and abetted the increase in Republican Ohio House numbers.
They are allowing Jackson Township Republican Kirk Schuring to run unopposed.
Moreover, Stark Dems have assigned a "mission impossible" task to Lake Township's Debbie Cain (a former Lake Township Board of Education member and currently on the Ohio Board of Education, having served a time as president) to unseat Republican Christina Hagan.
The latest campaign finance reports are not due until October 23rd, however, a SCPR check of contributions on the Ohio secretary of state's website does not show that OGA complainer-in-chief Allen Schulman has contributed to the Cain (or Democrat Ohio Senate candidate, the 29th, Connie Rubin) campaign. He did contribute to the Todd Bosley (a House race) and Richard Reinbold (an Ohio Senate race) in 2010.
It will be interesting to see in the October 23rd reports how much Schulman and other prolific Democratic candidate contributors put in to the campaign of Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee appointed sheriff George T. Maier.
There is an lot at stake in the Maier/Repubican Larry Dordea race.
The Democrats have held the office for many, many, many years and should Dordea triumph, it will mean that the Dems will have lost most of the major countywide offices (commissioners, the county auditor, the county treasurer) except for the prosecutor's office.
Not a very good track record for the Stark Dems.
These losses, if Maier is defeated, in the opinion of the SCPR, will be owing to the lackluster leadership of Randy Gonzalez who recently gave up the post in favor of Phil Giavasis.
However, do not look for things improving under Giavasis. The SCPR sees nothing special about this Canton Municipal Court clerk of courts. He is a continuation of the Gonzalez way of doing things.
These are minor points but they do speak the SCPR thinks of the ineptness of the goings on at the Stark County Democratic Party.
The website on the SCPR's Google search today showed the following:
First, Gonzalez, who stepped down as party chair in May) is still featured as chairman. (Here is the link to the errant page, which, undoubtedly will get changed). So here is the posting as of September 15th.
Second, the website still uses the old party headquarters address. The party moved in July.
Ohio's/Stark's Democratic leadership moan and groan with excuses as to why they have been so utterly ineffective.
Chief among the excuses is gerrymandering.
This Republican Party abuse of Ohio's voting reality (Ohio is pretty much a 50/50 voting state in statewide election in most election cycles) is an outrage.
Anybody can sit in the chairman's seat and let the political structure realities take their course.
Which all goes to prove that there is nothing special in the leadership qualities of Ohio Dems' chairman Chris Redfern or of Stark Democratic leaders Phil Giavasis and Randy Gonzalez.
So if Schulman et al wants to improve things in the Ohio General Assembly and in the make up of the Stark County delegation to the OGA, perhaps, they ought to be looking for creative, invigorating and imaginative leadership?
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