VOLUME 3: (PART I) SCPR "POST-ELECTION" SERIES - ANGELA ALEXANDER TREATED "UNFAIRLY" BY STARK CO. DEMS LEADERSHIP?

UPDATED:  8:42 PM

PART I

THE BACKGROUND

On April 9, 2015, the Northern Stark County Democratic Club (NSCDC) held its regular monthly meeting at the "new" Stark County Democratic Party Headquarters building which is located in Plain Township's Oakwood Square shopping plaza which sits in the northern sector of the township.

In an interesting twist, long time Plain trustee (also president of the NSCDC and a Stark clerk of courts chief deputy) Louis Giavasis fought - some years ago - with Giant Eagle (the Pittsburgh based grocery chain) over a lease provision which forbade a replacement grocery store from taking up residence in the Giant Eagle vacated spot when in opened a new store in nearby Washington Square.

Giant Eagle won that battle.

It is somewhat ironic that thoroughgoing Stark County Democrat Giavasis (his brother is Stark County Democratic Party chairman) may have in a fashion benefited from the vacancy with the relocation of Stark County Dems headquarters from 12th NW, Canton to its present location.

Which brings us to today's story.

When the SCPR wrote about the April 9th SCNDC meeting, there were accolades for brothers Louis and Phil for their "on the appearances of it" handling of the event which featured Democratic candidates (Kristen Guardado and Angela Alexander) for the Democratic nomination to a seat on the Canton Municipal Court bench to fill the vacancy of Republican Stephen Belden who resigned in late 2014 in controversy.

Republican Curtis Werren received a second Republican Governor John Kasich appointment to replace Belden.

• SCPR Note:  Werren replaced - by Kasich appointment - retiring Common Pleas judge Lee Sinclair in 2013 which, then, he followed up with in losing to Democratic candidate Chryssa Hartnett by a razor thin margin in the elections of November, 2014

But it appears to the SCPR that the high marks for brothers Giavasis may have been undeserved.

The Report did "smell a rat" and in the cited blog (LINK) wrote this:

Yours truly knowing Gonzalez and the Giavasises as being the consummate politicos there are which who the SCPR thinks work the Stark Democratic Party worker bees for their personal political interests rather than the the well-being of the party and certainly rather than the Stark County public interest should not - it appears - to have been complimentary to brothers Giavasis.

Phil Giavasis, a one time Stark County clerk of courts, more or less "willed" (as in "Last Will & Testament," apparently thinking that the public office was his private domain) the office to the wife (Nancy Reinbold) of then Stark County Court of Common Pleas judge Richard Reinbold (retired December 31, 2008) when he took advantage of Democrat Tom Harmon's retirement from the Canton Municipal Court clerk of courts office (July, 2007) to get the Stark Dems' political appointment and to run for and win it in November, 2007.

SCPR Note:  The-then Stark County Democratic Party chairman Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. takes credit for recommending the Nancy Reinbold appointment.

The Canton clerk of courts position is paid substantially more money and consequently beefs up his retirement benefits when he eventually retires.

And guess who gets hired into the county clerk of courts office by newbie Reinbold?

BINGO!

None other that Louis Giavasis who, remember, was already an elected Plain Township trustee.

He had tried to get a job with the newly elected Healy administration but was rejected - the SCPR is told - because it was thought that in the interviewing process he was not fully forthcoming as to whether or not there was anything in his background that might be embarrassing to the relatively new administration.

How ironic is that?

To carry this tale a little further to present evidence of there possibly being in existence "a politically tight group" that controls the organized Stark County Democratic Party and the perks that seem to flow from that control:

• (all, of course, at the expense of Stark County taxpayers, who, as a consequence of "the politically tight group" control seem largely precluded from even being considered for the top jobs); 

consider that Louis Giavasis - the SCPR thinks:

• prevailed on his fellow Plain Township trustees to name Lisa Jackson Campbell as the chief administrator of Plain Township prior to her marriage to Stark County recorder Rick Campbell inasmuch as Ohio law precludes relatives working for one another 

To carry this trek another step further:

• consider that Jackson is the daughter of now former Stark County commissioner Gayle Jackson
• a "like family" supporter of former Stark County Democratic Party chair Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. (from his days as a candidate/elected state representative),
•  who has working for him as his chief deputy clerk of courts R. Shane Jackson, who is Gayle's son.

To develop this scenario a little more, consider:

• that former Stark County chairman Randy Gonzalez (the successor to Johnnie A. Maier, Jr [also a former Jackson Township trustee and currently the township's fiscal officer] was the chief deputy - before retiring - for guess who?  
• BINGO!  Canton Municipal Court clerk of courts Phil Giavasis,
• And Gonzalez's successor as party chairman is who?
• BINGO!  none other than Phil Giavasis.

Are you dizzy yet?

One more trail.

Namely, Kody Gonzalez:  Randy's son, who Randy says he never lifted a finger to help in obtaining Stark County political subdivision government employment.

From out-of-nowhere he became Rick Campbell's chief deputy (Campbell says it was a "no-brainer" hire) somewhere about 2006 and then moved on recently (the SCPR broke the story) to become his father's replacement as Phil Giavasis' chief deputy clerk of court.

Isn't it amazing how some people get public jobs and move on to better jobs with nobody having lifted a finger to help out?

It may be true, but who is going to believe it?

Shortly after that move, Phil was selected by the Stark County Democratic Executive Committee to succeed Randy Gonzalez as Stark Dems chairman.

It is clear to the SCPR that "Gonzalez the Younger" is being groomed to after a decent interval of time to become Stark County Democratic Party chairman after "interim chairman" Giavasis is told to step down.

A final point.

The SCPR thinks that Nancy Reinbold will soon announce she is retiring as Stark County clerk of courts.

And guess who the SCPR is predicting here and now to be her successor?

BINGO!

Coming full circle with Reinbold having preserved the "from all appearances" the Giavasis family "public office" heritage:  

Current chief deputy Louis Giavasis.

The SCPR could go on and on about the insider relationships that dot the landscape of the organized Stark County Democratic Party.  If one examines the archives of the SCPR, there are many blogs that detail these relationships.

There is one other connection that the SCPR does not specify in this particular blog but will come out in a future blog in this series that will be absolutely mind blowing in terms of how it played into an inconceivable endorsement in the Guardado/Alexander contest to be the Democratic Party nominee in the forthcoming November election to replace former Judge Stephen Belden.

The point of doing dwelling on the connections to the extent done in this blog is to set up the background which seems to vouch for the plausibility of accusations made to the SCPR that this insider Stark Dems network worked together to deprive Angela Alexander a fair opportunity to be the Democratic nominee to face the GOP appointed Werren.

As readers of the SCPR know, The Report is less than enthusiastic about the Werren candidacy because of his lack of judicial experience and his reliance on the political appointment process to obtain judicial public office.

It could be, however:

• because of allegations made on the unfairness the Stark County Democratic Party meted out to the Angela Alexander Canton Municipal Court judicial campaign,
• which yours truly believes to be highly credible

that going forward the SCPR will come to the conclusion that notwithstanding Werren's inexperience and his political base of being a judge in the first place, he has more to recommend himself to the Canton Municipal Court electorate than does Kristen Guardado,

The Guardado election outcome was close enough that she can ill-afford having Angela Alexander sit the general election out rather than pitch in and help her out against Werren who in his race against Chryssa Harnett in 2014 out polled Hartnett by nearly 1,000 votes in the Canton Municipal Court District.

Hopefully, with the publication the ensuing parts of this series of blogs; Democratic nominee Guardado and the principals of the Stark County Democratic organized party will go on camera with the SCPR to deal with the allegations made.

The Report is skeptical that they will agree to do so.

For them to do so could turn out to be an opportunity for the general public to see what local backroom politics in all its grimy details looks like.

But the offer stands.

Does Chairman Giavasis have the ****s to go on record with answers to the incisive questioning of the SCPR?

UP NEXT IN THIS SERIES

In the next SCPR blog in this series, "The Allegations of Unfairness."

A TEASER FOR THE NEXT UP BLOG

There should be cheering in pro-elect-Werren-judge circles.

The alleged political misconduct of the Stark County Democratic Party leadership and perhaps Candidate Guardado herself in the Guardado/Alexander match up likely means - the SCPR thinks - that Angela Alexander cannot in good conscience (after all we are talking about judicial position and not just any garden variety political office) work for the election of Kristen Guardado as Canton Municipal Court judge.

If Guardado loses in November, she can point to herself and her connection with the "inside baseball" political "wise guys" of the Stark County Democratic Party leadership as being the cause!