BREAKING NEWS! TWO REPUBLICANS (BRADEN & CLINE) VOTE BERNABEI'S WAY; THE DEMS (FERRUCCIO, JR & SHERER, II), THE PROTESTERS WAY. OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE TO BE TIE BREAK ONCE AGAIN IN STARK CO. ELECTION

ORIGINALLY POSTED
07/06/2015 AT 7:40 PM

LAST UPDATED:  
07/08/2015 AT 08:15 AM

VIDEOS

ZACK WEST

PROTESTERS FINAL ARGUMENT

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RAYMOND V. VASVARI, JR
BERNABEI FINAL ARGUMENT

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LEE PLAKAS
REMAINING TIME
PROTESTERS FINAL ARGUMENT
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BOE MEMBERS
BRADEN
CLINE
FERRUCCIO
SHERER
EXPLAIN RESPECTIVE VOTES
&
THE VOTE ITSELF
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COMING SOON VIDEOS
IN
UPCOMING BLOG SERIES
The Making of Political Sausage 
at the Stark BOE 
a la the Bernabei Protest Process.
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POST DECISION INTERVIEW
LEE PLAKAS
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POST DECISION INTERVIEW
RAYMOND VASVARI, JR
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POST DECISION INTERVIEW
BERNABEI FAMILY MEMBERS
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TESTIMONY VIDEOS

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STARK COMMISSIONER
JANET CREIGHTON
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FORMER JUDGE
RICHARD REINBOLD
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JUDGE FRANK FORCHIONE
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FORMER COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
MIKE HANKE
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&
MORE
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Yours truly videotaped over 60GB of the proceedings of the July 6, 2015 Stark County Board of Elections (BOE, Board) protest filed against Tom Bernabei (currently a Stark County commissioner elected as a Democrat) being certified as an "independent" candidate for mayor of Canton.

Note:  The Stark County Democratic Party withdrew as a protester a few days ago.

The Hearing started about 9:00 a.m. and continued until about 7:00 p.m with several short breaks of the 10-15 minute variety and one hour for lunch.

As written in this blog's headline, at the end of the long, long day, we ended up with what many expected:  a two to two tie.

As stated above the two Republicans Curt Braden and William Cline voted not to sustain the protest whereas Democrats Sam Ferruccio, Jr. & William V. Sherer, II voted in support of the protesters.

The next step is for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (a Republican) to break the tie.

Husted picture that hangs on the wall at the Stark BOE)

Bernabei has to be optimistic that he will break it his way in he follows what he did in allowing Stark County Sheriff George T. Maier onto the November, 2014 ballot despite a protest about his qualifications under Ohio statutory criteria (now changed) that pertained to sheriff candidates.

He erred, if at all, he said at the time of making the decision in favor of the people deciding notwithstanding that he could not say that Maier was qualified according to standards of Ohio statutory law in effect at the time.

If he is consistent, he will do the same in this case.

But the final word will probably be with the Ohio Supreme Court which is likely to confirm whichever decision Husted makes unless it finds he abused his discretion in coming to a decision.

Over the next several days, The Stark County Political Report will endeavor to bring readers of The Report (Stark County's most complete political and local government coverage media) most is not all of the video.

Of course, if the entire video was published as a single unit, nobody would watch the entire proceeding opting instead to try to find this or that segment.

Accordingly, The Report will work through the material by breaking it down to manageable (from a viewer's standpoint) footage.

The place to start of of course is with the decision and then work backwards in to the beginning of the hearing.

But before going to the actual decision, viewers should watch the final arguments.

Taking in the final arguments will provide readers with a thumbnail sketch of what went on before in terms of evidence presented by each of the sides.

Yours truly thinks it is of critical importance for readers to view these argument to make sense of the video in which each Stark BOE member tells why he voted either pro-Bernabei or pro-protesters.

Ten minutes was allocated to Attorney Raymond Vasvari, Jr (representing Tom Bernabei) and ten minutes to the Ohio Democratic Party and the individual protesters side of the case.

First up.

N. ZACK WEST

He is general legal counsel of the Ohio Democratic Party.

In the blogs done by the SCPR on the protest, only West has not gotten his due in terms of sharing his legal background.

So here goes.

The Report has highlighted West connection to the law firm of Don McTigue who at one time was set to (and, in fact, did in the early stages of Bernabei deciding whether or not to run as an independent) represent Bernabei.

There is another McTigue/West tie.

McTigue is the founder of Ohio Families United.

However, the Ohio Democratic Party forced McTigue out of representing Bernabei.

And maybe that was a stroke of good fortune for the commissioner.  According to a Lee Plakas line of questioning, McTigue told Bernabei he had "a loser of a case" with probably only a 30% chance of winning.

West did very little in terms of publicly presenting the case.

The Report recalls him asking a few questions during the proceeding and using a mere 3 minutes of final argument time for the protesters.

As readers can see, the protesters should be thanking God that prominent Canton attorney Lee Plakas was the lead attorney for them for West's work is uninspiring to say the least.

Plakas using all protesters' minutes probably would not have changed the vote, but maybe?

The West video:



Next up.

RAYMOND V. VASVARI, JR for Bernabei.



And the finale:

LEE PLAKAS, remaining time for protesters.



BOE MEMBERS EXPLAIN DECISION

But first a note of condemnation of these BOE members and their failure to provide adequate facilities for media to hear and see the Board's proceeding to the degree necessary for media to record an accurate record of the proceedings.

Stark County officialdom and Stark County's only countywide newspaper (The Repository) should be crawling all over the BOE member directed despicable facilities made available to the press.

The provision of the awful situs is not a slam at the media but rather an disinterest on the part of the Board to provide the Stark County taxpaying public through the media the ability to know precisely what went on at yesterday's hearing

A Board of Elections administrative official said the decision to site the media at the rear of the room where:

• BOE members (particularly Chairman Ferruccio) were - at times - inadudible because:
• there were only two microphones at a table sitting the four Board members, and
• the members made no effort whatsoever to man a microphone so they could be heard,
• Photograph and video taping were difficult because of:
• the distance between the location of the press and the where the BOE members and litigants were situated, and
• position the lectern so as to block a view of a member depending on where one was situated

In some instances, the SCPR has had to substitute still photos of speaking BOE members and witnesses because of the horrendous press accommodations.

Of course, BOE members can afford to be hostile to the public's right to hear, see and know.  They are selected by their respective political party executive committees and therefore have no public accountability.

In Ohio, Board of Elections statewide, by virtue of organized Republicans and Democrats in the Ohio General Assembly having a stranglehold on the institutions of government to aggrandize political party power over the power of the people, are viewed by many as creatures of partisan politics doing the will of politicos and consequently account for much of the public's growing dismay with political parties.

And Stark County's BOE has to be one of he state's very worst in that regard.

THE MOTION

By Member William V. Sherer, II (seconded by Ferruccio) to deny Thomas Bernabei BOE certification.

MEMBER BRADEN (a Republican)

In favor of certification.

MEMBER CLINE (a Republican)

In favor of certification.



MEMBER FERRUCCIO (a Democrat)

Against certification.



MEMBER SHERER (a Democrat)

Against certification.



THE VOTE

Those of us who know politicos and how they protect their political parties over the public interest in impartial determinations are not surprised in the slightest how the Bernabei certification vote turned out.

Ohio's Board of Elections structure is an absolutely scandalizing factor in terms of the political nature of many of its determinations.

Protest hearings are at the pinnacle of that structure and only buttress the public's disgust on how public officials give themselves over to "in service of the party."

Bernabei himself is learning a tough lesson that notwithstanding the many hours of work for the Stark County Democratic Party and the $26,000 in donations contributed to the Dems' candidates, Members Ferruccio and Sherer had no problem (despite their protestations to the contrary) at all "throwing him under the bus" on his mere desire to stand independent of political party affiliation as a candidate for public office.

Yours truly has been a political independent for some seven years now.

But even as a registered Democrat/Republican, there has never ever been a problem with Martin Olson being a critically minded politically affiliated person.

Just ask Johnnie A. Maier, Jr!

Accordingly, The Stark County Political Report has no problem whatsoever to report and opinonate to the Stark County public the utter contempt we in the public should have for "on automatic pilot partisans" operation such as we witnessed yesterday.

Such are highly damaging to the confidence that day-in, day-out Americans have in our political process and hence our government.

Here is the video of the vote.



Now that the SCPR has covered the closing statements leading to the Decision, the rationale? for the decision and the actual vote, The Report will be moving on to a series presentation to all that went on at yesterday's hearing.

Either later today or for tomorrow's blog, yours truly will start a series on the tortuous July 6, 2015 protest hearing named: The Making of Political Sausage at the Stark BOE a la the Bernabei Protest Process.