CICCHINELLI GETS "A LEG UP" WITH A 2 TO 2 BOARD OF ELECTIONS HEARING VOTE IN PROTEST HEARING?

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 
07/13/2015 AT 5:50 PM

ALL VIDEOS POSTED AS OF 2:00 PM
07/14/2015

VIDEOS

OKEY FINAL ARGUMENT

CONLEY FINAL ARGUMENT

MEMBER CLINE

MEMBER BRADEN

MEMBER FERRUCCIO

MEMBER SHERER

THE VOTE

CONLEY & CICCHINELLI
COMMENTS

OKEY DECLINES

WITNESSES

MASSILLON COUNCILMAN
SHADDRICK STINSON
"I was a little pissed"

STARK DEMS CHAIR
PHIL GIAVASIS

MASSILLON COUNCIL PRESIDENT
TONY TOWNSEND
HIS NON-APPEARANCE

PROTESTER
BOB RICHARDS
"I feel he is still a Democrat."

"Its just one of those things in your heart you know that people don't change ... "

PROTESTER
MELVIN SCHARTIGER

CICCHINELLI PETITION SIGNER
ALAN CLIMER
FORMER SERVICE-SAFETY DIRECTOR

JILL CRAEMER
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE
WARD 4 MASSILLON

MASSILLON COUNCILMAN
PAUL MANSON

J. DAVID RESS
CATAZARO-PERRY OPPONENT
MAY, 2015 DEM PRIMARY

JOY CICCHINELLI

 FRANK CICCHINELLI

NOTE:  FOR MORE IN-DEPTH BACKGROUND GO TO THIS LINK

• SCPR NOTES:  
• Originally Okey filed with four protesters listed.  On Friday, he dropped Massillon City Council President Tony Townsend and Ward 4 Councilman Shaddrick Stinson from the list of protesters.
• Only Cicchinelli's attorney Craig T. Conley paid much attention to the abrupt withdrawal of Townsend and Stinson.  The Report's take is that Okey pretty much ignored Conley's repeated jabs at him on the ethical aspects of what appears to have been a case of his listing them without their consent and withdrawing Stinson without his knowledge.
• Though subpoenaed, Townsend failed to appear. Townsend was quoted in a Massillon Independent article on June 17th saying that he had been listed as a protester without his consent.  Whether or not he had been consulted on his being withdrawn did not come out at the hearing.

Although former Democratic Massillon mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr. (24 years) did as well as he could possibly have hoped for in gaining a 2 to 2 vote in the hearing on the protest of the two remaining Massillon citizens, it may be that the victory will be short lived if one is persuaded by protesters' attorney Steve Okey's tack.

Some observers who the SCPR talked to post-hearing bought somewhat into Okey's excited utterances that:

• in testifying that he became an "independent" on May 5 when he (Cicchinelli) took an "issues only" ballot 

was a testimonial "fatal flaw" in that:

• Cicchinelli thereby acknowledged that on May 4th (the deadline for filing "independent" petitions) he had been a Democrat, at least as far as the formal BOE records are concerned, since in the 2014 primary election he voted as a Democrat,

The observers think that Okey might be able to parlay his argument into an ultimate victory with Secretary of State Jon Husted which is he next step in the process on about a two week or so timetable.

If not with secretary of state, perhaps, with the Ohio Supreme Court.

In today's hearing Republicans Braden and Cline voted in favor of certifying Cicchinell's "to run as an independent" petition whereas Democrats Ferruccio, Jr and Sherer, II voted to deny Cicchinelli certification.

The SCPR figures that the tie vote was the best Cicchinelli could hope for hence the "leg up" in the headline for this blog.

There is no way the Democrat BOE members were going to vote Cicchinelli onto the ballot to oppose Democrat incumbent mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry.

Apparently, the Republicans decided to abandon Republican candidate Lee Brunckhart likely because practically nobody believes Brunckhart can win in November notwithstanding Catazaro-Perry's close call on the challenge of fellow Democrat J. David Ress in the May 5, 2015 Democratic primary.

THE WRAP UP

OKEY'S FINAL ARGUMENT



CONLEY'S FINAL ARGUMENT



The Cicchinelli side of the argument (led by Attorney Craig T. Conley) is that in filing as an "independent" is in of itself a clear present intent to be an "independent."

Moreover, Conley makes the powerful point that Cicchinelli does not have to prove anything after the BOE establishes filed an adequate number of valid voter signatures.

And he reiterated that there was abundant and unmistakable implied Cicchinelli testimony that he considered himself an "independent" well before May 4th.

Ohio statutory law does not provide for an aspiring "independent" to have a formal declaratory documented way to establish what he and his petition circulators are telling petition signers - "Frank Cicchinelli is running as an independent" - when the petitions are being circulated.

To be sure, Cicchinelli's attorney could have and the SCPR thinks should have closed the opportunity for Okey to seize on the Cicchinelli "technically" correct for BOE administrative purposes only statement as some "in the public square" declaration that he was gaming the system and should he lose as an "independent" in November return to the Democratic fold.

Okey in his final argument thought he had stumbled onto some Eureka! moment.

To the SCPR, Okey seizing on the Cicchinelli statement in isolation from all that he had testified to before and after that statement indicates that Okey believed he thereby snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Notwithstanding Conley's apparent failure to see Okey's "licking his chops" across the way, the SCPR still sees Frank Cicchinelli with the 2 to 2 vote as having "a leg up" on ultimately getting legal sanction for appearing on the November general election ballot.

THE BOARD MEMBERS VIDEOS

MEMBER CLINE



MEMBER BRADEN



MEMBER FERRUCCIO



MEMBER SHERER



THE VOTE



POST VOTE COMMENTS

CONLEY AND CICCHINELLI
OKEY REFUSED COMMENT



WITNESSES - CALLED BY CONLEY

COUNCILMAN SHADDRICK STINSON
WARD 4 
This video amply shows the arrogance of the the Maier Massillon Political Machine folks.

Councilman Stinson says he only knew he was listed as a protester of the Cicchinelli independent candidacy after news of it hit the local newspaper and he only learned of being dropped by lawyer Steve Okey yesterday morning, the day of the hearing.

All he knew was that Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry asked him if he would attend a meeting regarding the protest but that the meeting never occurred.

What Stinson did not realize was that the mayor's reference to a meeting was the hearing itself which was obviously a case of - the SCPR thinks - of the mayor, to use a phrase - "slipping him a mickey" in a figurative sense of the expression.

Now isn't that a wonder for thing to say about the mayor of a major Stark County city?

Moreover, it came out that Steve Okey was so utterly inconsiderate of Mr. Stinson that he only let Stinson know that he had been delisted as a protester "the morning of the hearing" which in Stinson's words meant that he was deprived of the ability to be at his job in the Honors Department of The University of Akron working.

Way to go Steve Okey, no?

The Report thinks such conduct is typical of leadership members of the MMPM.  A person gets used for the member's purpose and then unceremoniously dumped.

Okey is a man who The Report presenting himself as a political liberal or in some circles "a bleeding liberal" who cares about average people.

Really?

Note that Okey did not even have the decency on the record in the hearing to apologize to Stinson for the way in which dealt with him!

The Stinson video.



PHIL GIAVASIS
IN HIS ROLE AS STARK DEMS CHAIR


Giavasis confirmed:

• that the Democratic Executive Committee meeting wherein the Democrats authorized the filing of a Democrats protest of the independent candidacies of Thomas Bernabei (against Democrat mayor William J. Healy, II) Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr. 
• revealed that Okey contacted him re:  the protest,
• couldn't recall what he and Okey talked about,
• Hmm? No?
• revealed that he talked with Stinson about his being named a protested without his permission,
• that he referred Stinson to Okey,

TONY TOWNSEND
MASSILLON CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT
A "NO SHOW" TO SUBPOENA


Conley calls Tony Townsend to testify:

• Townsend ignored Conley's subpoena,
• Okey objects to Conley calling delisted protesters,
• Conley asks Board - if it has contempt power to hold Townsend, the president of Massillon City Council in contempt of the Stark County Board of Elections,
• Conley proffers Townsend testimony as would have been:
• He did not authorize Okey as to his being named as protester and therefore did not appear,
• Submitted copy of Massillon Independent article in which he denies that he authorized Okey to list him as a protester,

WITNESSES CALLED BY OKEY

PROTESTER
BOB RICHARDS

Okey establishes that Richards:

• Is qualified as a protester,
• Has volunteered to be a protester,
• Confirms that he desires to have Cicchinelli disqualified from running as an "independent" candidate for mayor of Massillon in the November general election

On cross-examination, Attorney Conley establishes:

• Richards and prior witness Schartiger (see below) were of the same mind in opposing the Cicchinelli's "independent" candidacy,
• That he (Richards) had spoken with Mayor Catazaro-Perry about the matter,
• That the day of the hearing was the first time he had see the Okey generated protest document,
• That Richards agrees with the statement in the Okey document that asserts that Cicchinelli is not an "independent" candidate "in good faith,"
• As Richards facts that he has known Cicchinelli 60 years (Cicchinelli is 63) as a Democrat and that:
• "I feel he is still a Democrat," 
• "Its just one of those things in your heart you know that people don't change ... "
• That in Richards' words "he has no facts to support Okey allegation that Cicchinelli filed as an "independent" in bad faith,

PROTESTER 
MELVIN SCHARTIGER

This Okey witness testified:

• Is qualified as a protester,
• Has volunteered to be a protester,
• Confirms that he desires to have Cicchinelli disqualified from running as an "independent" candidate for mayor of Massillon in the November general election

On cross-examination, Attorney Conley establishes:

• Schartiger and Richards were of the same mind in opposing the Cicchinelli's "independent" candidacy,
• That Schartiger had spoken with Mayor Catazaro-Perry about the matter and that her approach was whether he would attend a meeting (meaning the protest hearing) on her behalf,
• Note:  Schartiger was careful to emphasize that the mayor did not use the word "protest,"
• That he had not seen the Okey generated document before it was filed with the Board of Elections,
• That he agreed with the document statement that Cicchinelli is not an "independent in good faith" because of all his years of being a Democrat,

ALAN CLIMER
FORMER CICCHINELLI SERVICE-SAFETY DIRECTOR
CICCHINELLI PETITION SIGNER



A strange Okey witness to say the least.

Strange in the sense that it is a mystery wrapped in an enigma as to what if anything Climers's testimony added to Okey's case.

Climer as a witness ranks second to that of Richards and Schartiger in that they offered no facts in support of their allegation asserted via Okey in the protest that Cicchinelli operated in "bad faith" in claiming to changed from Democrat voter registration to "independent" registration.

Unless, of course, you consider "having been a long time Democrat" to be such a fact.

Ohio courts have held that such in and of itself is insufficient to show "bad faith."

The Report for all Okey dramatics about Cicchinelli's testimony about being - for BOE purposes - a registered Democrat up until he had an opportunity to change it in the next successive primary election after 2014 such being May 5, 2015, it to the SCPR pales into insignificance compared to Okey's clear failure by the testimony of his called witnesses to established "by clear and convincing evidence" that Cicchinelli acted in "bad faith" in filing "independent" petitions on May 4,2015.

JILL CRAEMER
MASSILLON DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE WARD 4



Another case with Okey dealing with Cicchinelli's history as a Democrat.  Relative, but not determative.  So Ohio courts have said.

PAUL MANSION
COUNCILMAN AT LARGE
MASSILLON





As far as the SCPR is concerned Okey calling this series of witnesses including Manson to make his case is some kind of legal strategy.

Wow!

Especially in light of what was to come with his protesters Schartiger and Richards.

Wow, again!

J. DAVID RESS
MAY, 2015 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY OPPONENT
KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY



Ress is an interesting witness in that there is some thinking that he and Cicchinelli were a tag team duo in that if J. David won the May primary, which he almost did, Cicchinelli would not run as an "independed."

The Report believes the converse was understood between he two.

If Ress lost, then Ress had to understand that Cicchinelli planned to run as an "independent."

Of course, Okey did not want to wade into those waters.

Drawing out that type of testimony would have given credence to Cicchinelli's claim that it was his intention to be an "indepedent" before the May, 2015 primary election in which he took an "issues only" ballot rather than either a Democratic or Republican ballot.

Ress did get into a little bit of tiff with Okey and BOE members over whether or not he could read/submit a statement.

The statement was not allowed.



JOY CICCHINELLI
WIFE - FRANK CICCHINELLI


An intriguing choice by Okey.

Cicchinelli's attorney (Conley) did step in to protect the divulgence of any communication on the issues in the protest hearing that occurred between Frank and Joy Cicchinell, who, of course, are husband and wife.

At the very end of Joy's testimony was the Conley question to wit: (paraphrasing account)

"When you were collecting signatures, you believed your husband was an independent at the time, didn't you?"

To replied, "Yes, I did."

To The Report this is effect counter to the Okey implication in direct examination that the Cicchinelli's believed he was in terms of his intent that he was a Democrat.



FRANK CICCHINELLI
THE INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE