VOLUME 4 - GETTING TO KNOW THE REPUBLICANS RUNING FOR STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER (THE BERNABEI VACATED SEAT)

MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION

SCPR VIDEO SERIES 

ON

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY CANDIDATES

BILL SMITH       DAVE MUNGO

MOTIVATION FOR RUNNING
 Smith
Prepared After 14  Years as Township Trustee

Mungo
God's Calling

VIDEO

CANDIDATES IN THEIR OWN WORDS

One of the more interesting elective offices on the Stark County political landscape is that of Stark County commissioner.

County commissioner is an office that Stark Countians look to when something goes wrong in government functioning within the county whether or not the commissioners have direct authority to deal with the problem.

Many if not most times, they do not.

But the can and do in "bully pulpit" fashion lean on the following list of elected officials especially on fiscal matters as the commissioners do have authority (except, perhaps with the judges) to control the budgets the the below listed elective offices.

Most authority in county government is in the hands of those elected to head various departments of county government, to wit:

• the Stark County auditor (Alan Harold, a Republican),
• the Stark County coroner ) (P.S. Murthy, a Democrat),
• the Stark County engineer (Keith Bennett, a Democrat),
• the Stark County prosecutor (John Ferrero, a Democrat),
• the Stark County recorder (Rick Campbell, a Democrat), and
• the Stark County treasurer (Alex Zumbar, a Republican)
  

 And, of course, there are the Stark County Common Pleas court judgeships:

• General Division:
  • John Haas, a Democrat,
  • Taryn Heath, a Democrat,
  • Frank Forchione, a Democrat,
  • Kristin Farmer, a Republican, and
  • Chryssa Hartnett, a Democrat
• Family Division,
  • Jim Jones, a Republican,
  • Mike Howard, a Republican,
  • Rosemarie Hall, a Republican,
• Probate Division,
  • Dixie Park, a Republican
    

The most compelling of the two commissioner seats up for grabs in this election cycle is the one to fill the commissioner spot vacated by Tom Bernabei when he became mayor of Canton on January 1, 2016.

On Wednesday, February 17th,  The Stark County Political Report sat down with the two Republican candidates in the contest and peppered them with questions designed to assist Republican primary voters in deciding whom to vote for in the upcoming in less than 30 days primary election of March 15, 2016.

Early voting is already underway.

As a SCPR sidenote, The Report URGES readers to avail themselves of an opportunity to meet with candidates Mungo and Smith together with all other Stark County political subdivision candidates for office in the Republican and Democratic primary elections and, of course, in the November general election by attending a Canton area League of Women Voters candidates forum (LINK) to be held at Downtown Campus (formerly Timken Senior High School) of the newly restructured McKinley Senior High School on Thursday, March 10, 2016, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

In this particular series, The Report will be publishing in digestible bites the nearly one and one-half hour videotaped interview of February 17th of Republican commissioner candidates Mungo and Smith.

Today's blog focuses on the candidates' responses to the SCPR posed question:  What motivated you to run for Stark County commissioner?  And, whether or not the respective candidate plans on being a part-time or full-time commissioner.

Here are links to prior blogs in this series:

• Candidates' narrative on their backgrounds, Friday February 19th,  (LINK),
• Candidates on values/experience, Tuesday, February 23rd (LINK),
• Candidates on the role of private sector in county government (LINK),

CANDIDATE BACKGROUND

First, candidate Mungo's self-published background document:



Next up, candidate Smith's self-published background document:



LINKS TO CANDIDATES' SOCIAL MEDIA/WEBSITE

Candidate Dave Mungo

• Website LINK
• Facebook LINK

Candidate Bill Smith

• Facebook page LINK

VIDEO

VOLUME 4 - WHAT IS THE MOVTIVATION FOR RUNNING?

33% OF STARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS OHIO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION GRADES: "F!"

UPDATED:  6:00 P.M.

Truly astonishing!!!

Look at the following graphic of data published by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) yesterday on the Stark County segment of the entire 612 slate of Ohio school districts.

Of the 10 categories graded in a total of 170 rankings (two K-3 literacy grades missing) for Stark County schools, there were 55 (33%) "F" grades.

When one adds the "D" letter grades (26) to the "F" grades, the total rises to 80 and 48%, respectively.

Stark County school district taxpayers should be horrified with the published results.

Here is how The Stark County Political Report ranks Stark County school districts:

And here is a chart that shows how much Stark County taxpayers are paying in taxes to support the 17 school districts.

The Report used the Stark County auditor's "tax estimator" to calculate at the "highest" residential rate in that:

• homestead exemptions are not included, and
• the property is assumed to be non-owner occupied

NOTE:  NOT ALL THE REVENUES CITED ABOVE GO TO THE SCHOOLS

EXAMPLE:  THE NORTH CANTON RATE GOING TO THE SCHOOLS APPEARS TO BE IN THE ORDER OF 77%

SEE STARK COUNTY AUDITOR ALAN HAROLD CLARIFICATION BELOW

Each Stark County school district has several tax units and the rates vary.  The SCPR used the tax rate for the locale in which the district's schools are located. 

For example, a significant number of Lake Township families send their children to the North Canton City Schools.

Back in the 1950s when consolidation was in the air, Hartville and Uniontown residents teamed up to reject Greentown area students as being part of the new Lake Local School District.  Accordingly, the State of Ohio "education" powers at the time attached the Greentown area and southwestern Lake residents to the North Canton school system.

Auditor Alan Harold tells the SCRP that no matter where a student's family/taxpaying person/entity has residence/locale within the tax district, the rate for schools is the same.

Harold provides this example and clarification:

All taxpayers in the NCSD pay the same rate to the schools (40.563 mills) regardless of their location (city or township).  So, based on this rate (40.563 mills) on any $100,000 home in the NCSD, $1,419 goes to the schools ...  .

The variance comes from the other levies paid based on taxing district.  In North Canton City, total residential millage is 58.43 - so approx 18 mills goes to other sources - the total $1,841 you note.  In Lake Township - Uniontown PD, the residential rate is 66.90 - so approx 26.5 mills goes to other sources - total $2,112.  But again in both cases $1,419 goes to the schools, the rest goes elsewhere.

Harold provided this LINK for readers who want to check the underlying tax rates.

If one includes "owner occupied" for "core" NCCS constituency families, the "estimated" annual tax bill on $100,000 of property value is $1,789.48 rather than the "highest" which is $1,840.61

• (Note:  these figures are a reference to an estimated total property tax which is greater in varying degrees in taxing districts than tax revenues provided to the schools; see the Harold clarification above)

Canton City Schools and Perry Local Schools abut one another.

Canton is graded at "F" whereas Perry is graded at "A-."

There is a world of difference between and "A-" (Perry Local School District) and an "F" (Canton City Schools), no?

Despite getting a superior education as compared to the ODE's rating system across 10 criteria, Perry tax payers pay several hundred dollars a year less "on average" than "core" Canton taxpayers.

The blog is published to alert Stark Countians of two things:

• it appears that overall Stark County school districts are NOT doing an effective job in education our children, and
• it seems that paying more in taxes does not correlate very closely with academic results.

Interesting, no?

VOLUME 3 - GETTING TO KNOW THE REPUBLICANS RUNING FOR STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER (THE BERNABEI VACATED SEAT)

VIDEO

THE PROPER MIX ?

GOVERNMENT AS GOVERNMENT

OR

GOVERNMENT RUN AS A BUSINESS

One of the more interesting elective offices on the Stark County political landscape is that of Stark County commissioner.

The most compelling of the two commissioner seats up for grabs in this election cycle is the one to fill the commissioner spot vacated by Tom Bernabei when he became mayor of Canton on January 1, 2016.

On Wednesday, February 17th,  The Stark County Political Report sat down with the two Republican candidates in the contest and peppered them with questions designed to assist Republican primary voters in deciding whom to vote for in the upcoming in less than 30 days primary election of March 15, 2016.

Early voting is already underway.

As a SCPR sidenote, The Report URGES readers to avail themselves of an opportunity to meet with candidates Mungo and Smith together with all other Stark County political subdivision candidates for office in the Republican and Democratic primary elections and, of course, in the November general election by attending a Canton area League of Women Voters candidates forum (LINK) to be held at Downtown Campus (formerly Timken Senior High School) of the newly restructured McKinley Senior High School on Thursday, March 10, 2016, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

In this particular series, The Report will be publishing in digestible bites the nearly one and one-half hour videotaped interview of February 17th of Republican commissioner candidates Mungo and Smith.

Today's blog focuses on the candidates and their views on the most helpful to ordinary citizens way to structure government.

Here are links to prior blogs in this series:

• Candidates' narrative on their backgrounds, Friday February 19th,  (LINK),
• Candidates on values/experience, Tuesday, February 23rd (LINK)

CANDIDATE BACKGROUND

First, candidate Mungo's self-published background:



Next up, candidate Smith's self-published background:



LINKS TO CANDIDATES' SOCIAL MEDIA/WEBSITE

Candidate Dave Mungo

• Website LINK
• Facebook LINK

Candidate Bill Smith

• Facebook page LINK

VIDEO

VOLUME 3:  PROPER MIX OF GOV'T/BUSINESS PRINCIPLES

CAN FISHER'S HARD WORK "TRUMP" FERGUSON & SLESNICK NAME I.D. IN DEMS' FIGHT FOR CHANCE TO RECLAIM BERNABEI'S VACATED COMMISSIONER'S SEAT?

UPDATED:  2:50 P.M.

VIDEO

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

FEBRUARY 21, 2016

"IN HIS OWN WORDS"

Most people the SCPR talks to these days think that former Stark County commissioner "Pete" Ferguson will be the Stark County Democratic Party nominee coming out of the Party's March 15 primary election.

If one only counts name I.D. alone, Ferguson is likely the Dems' best chance to reclaim a commissioners seat lost when Tom Bernabei opted out of being a Democrat to run successfully as an "independent" against incumbent Democratic Canton mayor William J. Healy, II.

The Report has this sneaking suspicion that name I.D alone is not going to be enough in the November general election.

Slowly but surely Stark's Republicans are taking over county government elective offices which were not that many years ago (except for countywide judgeships) were 100% held by Democrats.

As so whomever emerges from the Republican side of the next month's primary election is going to wage an all-out campaign to keep the Republican trend going.

As a Canton based chiropractor who over some 45 years as seemingly treated every Stark Countian with some sort of muscular-skeletal problem including a number of Stark County public officials, Ferguson easily disposed of former Republican state representative John Hagan in 2008.

He may be a terrific chiropractor but as an elected Stark County commissioner The Report thinks he was pretty much a failure.  He was pretty much a wallflower commissioner who made very few if any waves and therefore was immensely liked by nearly everybody.  He did put some effort in to getting the U.S. Veterans Administration into placing a facility either at the old Massillon Doctors' Hospital and or North Canton's Arrowhead Country Club but both proposals failed to make it beyond "first base."

If the SCPR has its terms of office aligned properly, Ferguson cost the Democrats presence/control on the Board of Stark County Commissioners in not running for re-election in 2012.  Former Republican commissioner Richard Regula jumped all over his failure to run and took the seat away from the Dems in defeating Canton city political icon Bill Smuckler.

One would think that dedicated Democrats would be outraged that Ferguson gave up the seat in the first place and now wants to do a comeback.

Ferguson as a candidate in the Dems' primary has been pretty much invisible apparently relying on a word-of-mouth campaign among Stark political opinion makers that he is the candidate of experience in the upcoming primary.

Another "name I.D." candidate is state Representative Stephen Slesnick.

Slesnick has held what has basically been "the Canton seat" in the Ohio House of Representatives.

The outline and demographics of the seat has varied somewhat since the days that William J. Healy, Mary Cirelli, William J. Healy, II held the seat, but it still qualifies as being "the Canton seat" with The Report even though it now includes the city of Massillon.

It could be that this demographically Democratic seat will become Republican because of the non-existent manner in which Slesnick has manned the seat over the last eight years.

Slesnick appears to been bitten by the "what else can I do" bug as a term limited out state representative and the only choice available has been to run for Stark County commissioner.

He is reportedly telling public in his few public appearances that "he is not done serving the public."

Huh? 

He as got to be kidding, no?

The Report's take is that Slesnick has been a less capable state representative than Mary Cirelli and his poor track record as a legislator could cost the Democrats "the Canton seat" in the lower chamber of the Ohio General Assembly.

Yours truly is told that the Ohio Republican House Caucus as reached out to the well known and highly respected Dan McMasters (who ran the the successful 1/2 cent county sales tax campaign in November, 2011) as their hand-picked candidate to pick up what the Republicans formerly have written off as a sure fire Democratic seat.

And the SCPR thinks McMasters will give either Canton councilman Thomas West or Joyce Healy-Abrams (vying for the right to succeed Slesnick as the Democrat's candidate) stiff competition in November's general election.

Now that he is an "independent," how about the prospect of Canton mayor Thomas Bernabei coming out for McMasters?

After all, a case can be made that McMaster played a large role in saving Bernabei's (and, of course the other commissioner's) bacon in coming up with the financial resources to make Stark County financially viable.

Slesnick has done very little for Canton as the city has struggled in the face of draconian state funding cuts.

So with the Slesnick legislative "I'm in a minority and therefore I can do nothing to stop the carnage" legacy, there is no reason for the mayor of Canton to support a Democrat for state representative inasmuch as there is likely to be a repeat of the Slesnick model.

Slesnick too (along with Ferguson) appears to being doing next to nothing in the way of a campaign and is relying on his notoriety with the well know Slesnick business name to pull him through in the Democratic commissioner primary.

Finally, there is Katherine Baylock who want to be the Stark Dems' nominee for commissioner.

The most that can be said for Katherine is that she attends Stark commissioner meeting nearly every week.

But The Report is told that in public appearances that she is saying that she cannot say what she will do as commissioner because even she does not know what she will do.

Her honesty is refreshing.  But hardly reassuring.

The candidate who stands out as having a positive agenda and is working way harder than any of his tree opponents in his quest to become the Democratic Party nominee for commissioners is Canton Ward 5 councilman Kevin Fisher.

This from his Facebook page:

He has sent out a least one flyer to "the most likely to vote" Democrats across Stark County.

As far as the SCPR can determine, neither Ferguson nor Baylock have a social media page.

Slesnick does, but it has not been updated since January 21st and at that it is slim pickings when compared to Fisher's.

The Stark County Political Report caught up with Fisher after Monday night Canton City Council meeting.

Here is what Fisher had to say about his campaign effort and his plans for county government if elected a commissioner:



There is no doubt that Kevin Fisher is putting the most in to the Stark County Democratic primary election for the nomination to be the Party's representative in the November general election.

American mythology holds that "hard work pays off."

But does it?

The results in the March 15, 2016 Democratic primary election will be a read on whether what the SCPR thinks is mythology across much of America is just that - or - that Stark County is different.

If in Stark County politics and government hard work pays off, Kevin Fisher should win the March 15, 2006 Stark County Democratic primary election and represent the Party in a face off with Republican Party primary contestants Bill Smith and Dave Mungo.

VOLUME 2 - GETTING TO KNOW THE REPUBLICANS RUNING FOR STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER (THE BERNABEI VACATED SEAT)

UPDATED & REVISED:  02/25/2016 AT 07:00 AM

BILL SMITH       DAVE MUNGO

EXPERIENCE & VALUES FACTORS

VIDEOS

Volume 2

Candidates Mungo & Smith

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

One of the more interesting elective offices on the Stark County political landscape is that of Stark County commissioner.

The most compelling of the two commissioner seats up for grabs in this election cycle is the one to fill the commissioner spot vacated by Tom Bernabei when he became mayor of Canton on January 1, 2016.

On Wednesday, February 17th,  The Stark County Political Report sat down with the two Republican candidates in the contest and peppered them with questions designed to assist Republican primary voters in deciding whom to vote for in the upcoming in less than 30 days primary election of March 15, 2016.

Early voting is already underway.

As a SCPR sidenote, The Report URGES readers to avail themselves of an opportunity to meet with candidates Mungo and Smith together with all other Stark County political subdivision candidates for office in the Republican and Democratic primary elections and, of course, in the November general election by attending a Canton area League of Women Voters candidates forum (LINK) to be held at Downtown Campus (formerly Timken Senior High School) of the newly restructured McKinley Senior High School on Thursday, March 10, 2016, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

In this particular series, The Report will be publishing in digestible bites the nearly one and one-half hour videotaped interview of February 17th of Republican commissioner candidates Mungo and Smith.

Today's segment is on "Getting to Know the Candidates" and the qualities they bring to the campaign:  experience versus values.  Last Friday, The Report published Volume 1:  "Getting to Know the Candidates with an emphasis on their particular backgrounds  (LINK)

CANDIDATE BACKGROUND

First, candidate Mungo's self-published background:



Next up, candidate Smith's self-published background:



LINKS TO CANDIDATES' SOCIAL MEDIA/WEBSITE

Candidate Dave Mungo

• Website LINK
• Facebook LINK

Candidate Bill Smith

• Facebook page LINK

VIDEO

VOLUME 2 - EXPERIENCE & VALUES FACTORS

WILL CANTON PARKS & RECREATION ISSUE 5 PASS? TODAY SAM SLIMAN VIDEO

VIDEOS

TODAY

SAM SLIMAN
CANTON CIVLL SERVICE DIRECTOR 
Chairman of the Pass Issue 5 Effort

OTHER VIDEOS

TOM BERNABEI (LINK)

COMING SOON

J.R. RINALDI

ANDY BLACK

On Thursday, February 12,  The Stark County Political Report camped out at a fundraising event put together to raise campaign funds for Issue 5 which is an issue to fund Canton's parks and recreation facilities going forward.

On February 17th, The Report began this series featuring "the leading lights" of key Canton officials who are leading the effort to get Issue 5 passed, to wit:

• Canton mayor Thomas M. Bernabei (on Canton finances in general and park/recreation financing issues  [February 17th, LINK]),
• Sam Sliman, a Bernabei administration official (on park/recreation financing issues [today's blog]),  and in the ensuing weeks:
• J.R. Rinaldi, a Canton City Schools board member (on park/recreation financing issue), and
• Andy Black, a parks and recreation board member (on park/recreation financing issue

 These leaders are working hard to involve the general Canton community in the effort, to wit:

BACKGROUND

Canton's parks used to be funded out of Canton's general fund to about the tune of $3 million annually.  (LINK to Canton Parks and Recreation website)

In 2013, Canton voter approved a levy to provided dedicated funds to the parks.  That levy expires on December 31, 2106.

Recreation activities for areas encompassing the Canton City Schools and the Plain Local Schools where funded by a levy administered by the Canton Joint Recreation District (CJRD).  That levy expires on December 31, 2016.

The two activities (parks and recreation facilities) are in the process of being merger into one entity under the auspicious of the Canton Parks and Recreation Commission (CPRC).

But there is a hitch.

Voters in November, 2015 rejected combining the two levies into one levy and therefore beginning on January 1, 2017,  the CPRC will have to stretch what dollars they normally would spend in 2016 (again, about $3 million) over at least 2016 and 2017 UNLESS voters pass the replacement levy either in the primary election on March 15th or in the 2016 presidential year general election.

The deep thinkers of the CPRC think that the ballot language as required under Ohio election law which is of course administered locally by the Stark County Board of Elections made November, 2015 voters think that there was going to be a 1 mill increases in their taxes as a consequence of the "in the works" merger.

But that is not the case.

The current levies (Canton Parks Commission - 4 mills; CJRD 1 mill) are merely being combined and officials of the Issue 5 campaign emphatically say that there is no increase in taxes being collected for Canton's parks and recreation facilities.

The SCPR agrees with the parks and recreation campaign officials who say that voter confusion was a key factor in the November, 2015 defeat of the levy.

However, The Report thinks (LINK to February 1, 2016 blog) that the wrangling and turf fighting going on as members of the CJRD (mainly one Eric Resnick [now a CCS board member]) fought the merger and the resulting efficiencies that yours truly thinks the merger is going to bring.

 One official tells the SCPR that Resnick continues to bash the merging parks and recreation process.

THE SCPR SAM SLIMAN INTERVIEW VIDEO

The Report thinks that readers of this blog will find this interview Canton city official (going back to Republican Richard Watkins administration) Sam Sliman.

His service to Canton spans some 25 years with his being aboard as a staff member in the Bernabei administration.

Most of his time has been spent under Republican administrations (Watkins 12 years), Creighton (4 years).  However, he served 8 years with the Democratic Healy administration and now is embarked on a stint with political "independent" Thomas M. Bernabei.

Sliman currently is:

• Canton's civil service chief administrator,
• Canton's coordinator of annexation.
• Canton'sEEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity) compliance official, and along with Mike Hanke (former Repository editor), and
• a newly appoint Canton Parks and Recreation Commission board member.

Andy Black is a carryover board member of the commission.

 The Sliman video.

VOLUME 1 - GETTING TO KNOW THE REPUBLICANS RUNING FOR STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

VIDEOS

Volume 1

Candidates Mungo & Smith

on their backgrounds

"In their Own Words"

One of the more interesting elective offices on the Stark County political landscape is that of Stark County commissioner.

The most compelling of the two commissioner seats up for grabs in this election cycle is the one to fill the commissioner spot vacated by Tom Bernabei when he became mayor of Canton on January 1, 2016.

On Wednesday The Stark County Political Report sat down with the two Republican candidates in the contest and peppered them with questions designed to assist Republican primary voters in deciding whom to vote for in the upcoming in less than 30 days primary election of March 15, 2016.

Early voting is already underway.

In this particular series, The Report will be publishing in digestible bites the nearly one and one-half hour videotaped interview of Wednesday.

Today's segment is on "Getting to Know the Candidates" and their background.

CANDIDATE BACKGROUND

First, candidate Mungo's self-published background:



Next up, candidate Smith's self-published background:



LINKS TO CANDIDATES' SOCIAL MEDIA/WEBSITE

Candidate Dave Mungo

• Website LINK
• Facebook LINK

Candidate Bill Smith

• Facebook page LINK

VIDEO

VOLUME 1 - CANDIDATES TALK ABOUT THEIR BACKGROUNDS

"A MATTER OF TIMING" & "TOPIC" AS TO WHETHER OR NOT STARK COMMISSIONERS ENTERTAIN "PUBLIC SPEAKS" REQUESTS?

UPDATED:  3:30 PM

VIDEOS

COMMISSIONERS

IN

"PUBLIC SPEAKS"

02/17/2016

 =====================

 COMMISSIONERS

CONSIDER JOINING

OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL LAWSUIT

ON OBAMACARE 

ABOUT ONE YEAR AGO

======================

CITIZEN DAN FONTE

DETAILS

HIS OPPOSITION TO THE

TRANS-PACIFIC FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Mostly the "Public Speaks" portion of Stark County commissioner meetings is left to go begging for the president of the board of commissioners to get somebody, anybody to step forward and address/question/implore the commissioners with this or that topic.

When Tom Bernabei was a commissioner and president of the body, he made that part of the agenda a more or less funny interlude in the meeting by asking this person and that person (i.e. media types, persons at the meeting as a commissioner resource, et cetera).

Yesterday, there was no need a la Bernabei to go begging as a Stark County retired (about 10 years) union official (business agent, Local 94 Plumbers and Pipefitter) for nearly a quarter of a century and now a activist for the Alliance of Retired Americans  (LINK) - Daniel J. Fonte - made a big splash at yesterday's meeting.

His proposed resolution for the commissioners to consider.



Here is his videotaped plea:

As viewers of the foregoing video can see, it appears to the SCPR that Fonte is going to get absolutely nowhere with this board of commissioners in his quest to get them to go on record in opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership global trade agreement  which the Obama administration is trying to get the United States Congress to approve.

Recently, Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said that there are not enough votes to pass the agreement which President Obama signed on February 3, 2016.

The theme of this blog is that whether or not the Stark County Board of Commissioners will venture out of "strictly" Stark County issues waters in taking action or a stand.

The answer?

It likely depends on the intensity of the topic to various commissioners and the underlying political philosophy of a majority of the commissioners.

Most of the support for TPP in Congress comes from the Republicans.

Two of three of the present commissioners (Creighton and Regula) are Republicans and is a "nominal" Democrat.

The Report doubts that Creighton and Regula are tapped into the Congressional Republicans generalized support of TAP but likely are not all that well informed about the issue and therefore recoiled at the suggestion that they might want to weigh-in as a board on the issue.

It's not as they seem to indicate in the video that its beyond their province to consider taking a position as they are on record as opposing certain aspects of Obamacare.  Creighton and Regula clothe their opposition in protecting taxpayer interests however the SCPR suspects that their opposition runs much deeper than that.

Witness this SCPR video from a February, 2015 commissioners meeting (LINK to blog):



 As is commonly known, many if not all of Republican officialdom are intensely if not fanatically opposed to Obamacare wheres many if not all of Democratic officialdom are intensely if not fanatically in favor of the core approach to Obamacare.

For Commissioner Bridenstine to say that the commissioners to take a stance on an issue just because there is controversy about it is absolutely ridiculous.

What rock has he been hiding under?

Recently, the commissioners passed an ordinance supporting the effort of a local group who is pushing for an enhanced Stark County broadband infrastructure, to wit:



Some people/entities (e.g. Google, Verizon, ATT and Massillon Cable) think that the government should stay out of the broadband controversy.  To them, it is a business thing; not a government thing.

Commissioner Richard Regula at commissioner meetings frequently beats the drum for the widening of U.S. 30 from Stark County to the Pennsylvania stateline.

There are those who think that there are much greater priorities to use government funds on.

Not long ago, the commissioners considered a request for support by a group opposed to the NEXUS natural gas pipeline that will cross parts of Stark County.

Canton City Council Democrats have enthusiastically embraced Fonte on the TPP issue when he appeared before that body on February 8th.

And as seen in the following video interview, Fonte says he is not finished with the commissioners and that he has plans to ask city councils in Alliance, Massillon and North Canton to join Canton in opposing TPP.



It could be that Canton council Democrat Kevin Fisher and John Mariol will be elected Stark County commissioner in the November, 2016 election.

If that happens and if the TPP issue is still unresolved in Congress, what do you think that a Stark County Board of Commissioners composed of Republican Janet Creighton, Democrats Kevin Fisher and John Mariol will do with respect to the Fonte request?

A rhetorical question, no?

Such an unfolding would be the perfect political storm for Dan Fonte.

The intensity will be there with Fisher and Mariol and the timing would be absolutely perfect.

So come January 3, 2017 (the first meeting of the board of commissioners with two new members), could it be that Dan Fonte will there with a renewed request that the commissioners weigh-in in opposition to TPP?

CANTON MAYOR THOMAS M. BERNABEI "VIDEO" ON CANTON FINANCES & CANTON PARKS LEVY

VIDEOS

TODAY

MAYOR THOMAS M. BERNABEI

AFTER TODAY THROUGH MARCH 15

SAM SLIMAN

J.R. RINALDI

ANDY BLACK

Last Thursday The Stark County Political Report camped out at a fundraising event put together to raise campaign funds for Issue 5 which is an issue to fund Canton's parks and recreation facilities going forward.

Between today and March 15th, the SCPR will be publishing a series of interviews with:

• Canton mayor Thomas M. Bernabei (on Canton finances in general and park/recreation financing issues), 
• Sam Sliman, a Bernabei administration official (on park/recreation financing issues),  
• J.R. Rinaldi, a Canton City Schools board member (on park/recreation financing issue), and
• Andy Black, a parks and recreation board member (on park/recreation financing issue

BACKGROUND

Canton's parks used to be funded out of Canton's general fund to about the tune of $3 million annually.  (LINK to Canton Parks and Recreation website)

In 2013, Canton voter approved a levy to provided dedicated funds to the parks.  That levy expires on December 31, 2106.

Recreation activities for areas encompassing the Canton City Schools and the Plain Local Schools where funded by a levy administered by the Canton Joint Recreation District (CJRD).  That levy expires on December 31, 2016.

The two activities (parks and recreation facilities) are in the process of being merger into one entity under the auspicious of the Canton Parks and Recreation Commission (CPRC).

But there is a hitch.

Voters in November, 2015 rejected combining the two levies into one levy and therefore beginning on January 1, 2017,  the CPRC will have to stretch what dollars they normally would spend in 2016 (again, about $3 million) over at least 2016 and 2017 UNLESS voters pass the replacement levy either in the primary election on March 15th or in the 2016 presidential year general election.

The deep thinkers of the CPRC think that the ballot language as required under Ohio election law which is of course administered locally by the Stark County Board of Elections made November, 2015 voters think that there was going to be a 1 mill increases in their taxes as a consequence of the "in the works" merger.

But that is not the case.

The current levies (Canton Parks Commission - 4 mills; CJRD 1 mill) are merely being combined and officials of the Issue 5 campaign emphatically say that there is no increase in taxes being collected for Canton's parks and recreation facilities.

The SCPR agrees with the parks and recreation campaign officials who say that voter confusion was a key factor in the November, 2015 defeat of the levy.

However, The Report thinks (LINK to February 1, 2016 blog) that the wrangling and turf fighting going on as members of the CJRD (mainly one Eric Resnick [now a CCS board member]) fought the merger and the resulting efficiencies that yours truly thinks the merger is going to bring.

 One official tells the SCPR that Resnick continues to bash the merging parks and recreation process.

THE SCPR "BERNABEI INTERVIEW" VIDEO

The Report thinks that readers of this blog will find this interview with newly elected Canton Mayor fascinating.

He talks about:

• the surprise that the Canton budget deficit that during his campaign to unseat incumbent Democratic mayor William J. Healy, II he project to be $3 million has turned out in reality to be more like $5.1 million,
• how he plans to deal with covering the deficit,
• the likelihood that should Issue 5 fail to get passed in 2016 that Canton will not be providing any general fund money to the city's parks and recreation function, 
• the importance of "green space" (the SCPR's term; not Bernabei's) to
• future economic development,
• the Hall of Fame Village project, and
• the quality of the campaign being put on to gain passage of Issue 5,

GENDER EQUITY SERIES UPDATE: STARK TREASURY AND STARK RECORDER "BEST OF THE BUNCH" OF ALL STARK COUNTY DEPARTMENTS OF GOV'T?

While the Stark County auditor and the commissioners haven't fared that well in improving the pay and the opportunity of Stark County women in government employment, it is a strikingly better picture that one sees in looking at the numbers during the period April, 2014 through June, 2015 for the Stark County recorder (Rick Campbell) and the Stark County treasurer (Alex Zumbar).

 

The foregoing graphic for the recorder's office has an imbalance of women to men.  Ideally, for these types of mostly administrative jobs there is no reason why one gender should predominate over the other. 

When it comes to engineering jobs (e.g. Stark County Sanitary Engineer and the Stark County Engineer) an imbalance of men over women is understandable given America's socialization and education infrastructure that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) type jobs will largely be filled by men.

But for out-and-out administrative jobs, there should be no difference.

One has to believe that any significant disparity between the genders is a conscious effort by a succession of department heads to focus on one gender over another to hire.  And that focus has nothing whatsoever to do with education/socialization or competence but rather is in the order of arbitrary employment decisions by department heads.

Moreover, who gets hired for higher paid positions.

In the recorder's office, although women outnumber men by a large number, the average salary of men (fulltime positions) is at $40,220 whereas women on average come in at $31,184.

Alex Zumbar has done much better than Campbell on overall pay equalization and providing opportunities for women to be more equally sprinkled throughout the various pay grades of the department.

Zumbar has his fulltime men employees at an average of $35,345 as compared to the women being at $35,103.

Quite an achievement, no?

Another thing too.

Remember that in the case of the auditor's office and in some of the administrative and facilities positions under the commissioners' watch, men were brought in as new hires at substantial salaries over and above any women currently on staff or promoted disproportionally to women.

Not so with Zumbar.

In fact, from April, 2014 through June, 2015 Jaime Allbritain was rewarded for a 20% increase ($50,003 to $60,008) for her outstanding work in the treasurer's office.

Stark Countians would do well to recall that for a short period during the period that local attorney and civic activist Craig T. Conley calls "Zeiglergate," Allbritain was installed as "the" Stark County treasurer.  And she vied with Zumbar for the Stark County Republican Party nod to be the party's candidate for treasurer in the November, 2012 election.

In June of this year, the SCPR will once again visit the gender employment record of both Campbell and Zumbar.

A Hats Off! to Alex Zumbar for the gender employment balance he has achieve as Stark County auditor!

HONORING THE PRESIDENTS OF AMERICA

LINK to Cleveland.com slide show on Ohio connected U.S. presidents.

HAS NORTH COUNCIL PRESIDENT DAN "JEFF" PETERS "BACKSLIDDEN?"

Readers of The Stark County Political Report know that the journalistic marker for The Report is critical analysis.

However, yours truly is constantly on the outlook for opportunities to say positive things about those institutions of government, elected officials and public figures who have come under critical scrutiny of the SCPR.

Recently, it appeared that North Canton city council under the leadership of its president provided positive fodder for The Report to ruminate upon.

At its meeting of February 1, 2016, North Canton City Council at what appeared to be the prodding of President Peters backed off of legislation which would cut in half the number of meetings that council will hold going forward and which would impose burdensome restrictions who those videotaping council meetings using a tripod.

Since council decided to bring one Tim Fox on as its law director (September 2012), the SCPR has noted a marked deterioration in the relationship of council with any citizen who would:

• appear before the body at the Public Speaks part of council meetings with one criticism or another on the functioning of North Canton government,
• ask for copies of probing public records regarding operations of the city,
• initiate legislation via referendum and initiative to define what council may or may not do, and
• Heaven Forbid! sue the city for what a citizen might think is a violation of North Canton or state of Ohio law

 Of late, the relationship has deteriorated to the point of being downright hostile.

Before Fox, the SCPR had always thought of Councilman Dan "Jeff Peters" as a moderating factor on council.

So when on February 1, 2016 he announced at the end of the meeting that the anti-democratic-republican values (open/accessible government) ordinance (less meetings and new restrictions on videotaping meetings) was being abandoned, the SCPR took this as a cue that Peters was donning a role of leadership to reverse the seeming "it us against them" attitude of a up-to-now majority of council members.

Accordingly, the SCPR wrote a complimentary blog (LINK) on February 2nd playing off a North Canton sited groundhog on Groundhog Day seeing or not seeing his shadow with an interplay of the breaking out of government openness sunshine in The Dogwood City.

It now appears that what The Report saw may have been a mirage of sorts and Peters might be bending to the will of a couple of councilpersons (Kiesling and Werren) who seemingly are entrenched in their animosity towards any citizen who dares to criticize North Canton government.

There was a renewed effort on this Monday past to pass the new ordinance.

And astonishingly there is real concern that Kiesling and Werren may carry the day.

For now the SCPR is holding fast with the blog complimenting President Daniel "Jeff" Peters for showing democratic-republican value friendly leadership on February 1st.

But it could be that he and one or two other council members will cave into Kiesling and Werren and the SCPR will end up eating crow in "jumping the gun" on thinking Peters is maturing into an effective council president.