VOL 3 OF 4: SCPR ANALYSIS OF REP/LWV CANDIDATES NIGHT 09/27/2016

STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER RACE

MARIOL & REGULA

This blog is the third of a series covering Stark countywide elective office seeking candidates who presented at Tuesday's night Repository/Canton-LWV (LWV) candidates forum.

Prior SCPR blogs dealing with candidates for countywide office (general election; contested) include the following:

• Ferrero/Jakmides (prosecutor) on March 28, 2016,
• Ferrero/Jakmides (prosecutor) on March 30, 2016,
• Ferrero/Jakmides (prosecutor) on April 19, 2016,
• Ferrero/Jakmides (prosecutor) on May 6, 2016,
• Ferrero/Jakmides (prosecutor) on May 16, 2016 [NextChapter Debate],
• Treasurer Alex Zumbar (before Cain candidacy), May 31, 2016,
• Slesnick/Smith (county commissioner) on June 15, 2016,
• Slesnick/Smith (county commissioner on June 27, 2016 [NextChapter Debate],
• Jakmides (prosecutor) campaign kickoff on July 1, 2016,
• Jakmides (prosecutor) on the issue of trust on July 5, 2016,
• Giavasis (clerk of courts) on "throwing commissioners under bus," July 7, 2016,
• Ferrero/Jakmides (prosecutor) on August 19, 2016,
• Slesnick/Smith (county commissioner) on September 21, 2016 re:  Candidates Forum,
• Shriver/Giavasis (county clerk of courts) on September 28, 2106 re:  Candidates Forum,
• Murthy/Briggs (county coroner) on September 29, 2016 re:  Candidates Forum,
• Campbell/Arnold (county recorder) on September 29, 2016 re:  Candidates Forum,
• Cain/Zumbar (county treasurer) on September 29, 2016 re:  Candidates Forum,
• Nist/Reese (Family Court judge) on September 29, 2016 re:  Candidates Forum,

The focus today is on county commissioner candidates John Mariol (a Democrat, presently a Canton Ward 7 councilman) and incumbent Republican commissioner Richard Regula.

Yesterday, I received a question from a Stark Countian:  Is Richard Regula going to be successful in retaining his job as commissioner?

The question sort of took the SCPR back but on reflection it was an entirely proper question.

For it could be "deja vu all over again" for Regula as he lost as an incumbent to then-upstart Democrat Nimishillen Township trustee Todd Bosley in a stunning upset.

In fairness to Regula, 2006 was definitely a Democratic year.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland (running for the U.S. Senate this year) wiped out right wing Republican and former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell.

Just to pause for a moment.  

Think about it. 

Had Regula been able to capitalize on his name and won in 2000 there likely would not have been a Vince Frustaci in a position to walk off with upwards of $3 million of taxpayer money from the Stark County treasury.

However, Republicans have to get nervous about "Richard" Regula running in terms of winning because of his loses to Bosley and before that Zeigler.

In 2000, of course, Republican George Bush was elected president winning Stark County by nearly 3,000 votes.

With a name like Regula (Richard is the son of now former Congressman Ralph Regula who was 16th congressional district congressman when the district included "all" of Stark County).

Ralph in his congressional re-election effort (in Stark County) got 34,353 votes more than son Richard.

Wow!

To repeat the question:   Is Richard Regula going to be successful in retaining his job as commissioner?

Answer:  It could be "three strikes and your out!" for Richard.

John Mariol is one of the SCPR's favorite Canton city councilpersons.  And, as explained later on in this blog, he seems much more suited to executive function in government than as a legislator or quasi legislator such as being a member of a multimember board.

He, former Councilman Kevin Fisher (Ward 5), Councilman Edmond Mack (Ward 8) and Councilman Frank Morris were dubbed the "the four young turks" in a SCPR blog.  Initially, they kept former Canton mayor William J. Healy, II on "the straight and narrow," but in the end became among Healy's chief supporters on council.  Healy is a wily politico who seems to demonstrate manipulative if not "conning" qualities in the order of Donald J. Trump.  Apparently, "the four young turks" succumbed. 

The SCPR sees Mariol's main problem in defeating Regula as being a city of Canton Democrat running countywide.

Even Thomas Bernabei would have lost in 2010 in his run for Stark County commissioner to Republican Jackson Township trustee James N. Walters had a third candidate not been in the race.

In 2012, Canton councilman Bill Smuckler (cousin of Stephen Slesnick who is running against Republican Bill Smith for an open commissioners seat) ran against Regula and in the judgment of the SCPR would have made an excellent county commissioner.

But that old political bugaboo (i.e. a Canton Democrat running countywide) and Regula won.

But another problem may be that many including the SCPR consider Mariol to clearly be "left-of-center" in his political philosophy.  While not all that relevant at county level government, base political view surfaces in the decisions of county commissioners.  Within the last year or so, Republican commissioners Creighton and Regula outvoted then-Democrat commissioner Thomas Bernabei (now mayor of Canton having turned to "independent" political status) on a resolution concerning Obamacare.

In and overall sense, Stark County is a political centrist county.

If an absolute political miracle materializes and Slesnick bests Smith and Mariol upsets incumbent Regula, John Mariol over time, if not from the get-go, as the dominant commissioners.

He will more or less parallel Thomas Bernabei in his clear dominance as commissioner.

Interestingly enough, Bernabei became dominant as the lone Democrat on the Board of Stark County Commissioners.

The Report sees Mariol's political/government leadership potential as an executive not as a legislator or leadership by committee (i.e. at least two of three commissioners) type.

If he loses in November as the SCPR expects, he should position himself in Canton to hone his skills along the line of Mayor Bernabei and one day replace Bernabei as mayor.

Slesnick, who the SCPR thinks has a difficult time finding his way out of bed each and every morning. if elected, will be a vegetative commissioner who looks to another commissioner for direction.

His cousin, Bill Smuckler, is very sharp and would have made an excellent commissioner if he had defeated Regula in 2012.

But being a Canton Democrat is a tough obstacle to overcome in Stark countywide politics.  Bosley was not nor was Zeigler (Plain Township) which may explain their besting Regula.

In evaluating the responses of Regula and Mariol to the questions posed this week's Candidates Forum, the SCPR assesses that Mariol is a much more aggressive candidate who will cause waves as a commissioner, if elected, especially, if, as The Report expects, Canton Township trustee Bill Smith defeats state Representative Stephen Slesnick.

But as posed above, the SCPR would not be shocked to see Regula "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" come November 8th.

Now to review the Rep/LWV September 27th Candidates Forum Q&A of Mariol and Regula:

Let's pause to thank The Repository and the Canton League of Women Voters for sponsoring Tuesday's Candidates Forum.

Here are introductory remarks by Rich Desrosiers who is executive editor of The Rep:

By the way, the SCPR agrees with Desrosiers, both Mariol and Regula in terms of demeanor and personal presentation are models of civility and decorum for all public officials.

Here is the video of the candidates' opening remarks:



THE QUESTIONS & SCPR COMMENTARY ON ANSWERS

QUESTION:  OVERCOMING CHALLENGE IN SOLVING CONSTITUENT PROBLEM/ISSUE AS ELECTED OFFICIAL

Video of Q&A




SCPR COMMENTARY

No edge here for either candidate.

Both gave examples, in their capacities of currently elected officials, of taking hold of government problems and helping in the fomulation of solutions.

QUESTION: SOLVING STARK COUNTY'S DITCHING/FLOODING PROBLEM

Video of Q&A



SCPR COMMENTARY

Chalk this one up "advantage: Mariol."

Regula's answer is not wrong per se but Mariol makes a telling point.

Stark Countians' grandchildren/great grandchildren will be hearing about the county's ditching/flooding problems if Regula's insistence on not raising addition "local" revenue is the approach the Stark County commissioners continue with.

The Report agress with Mariol, the interest factor "now" (which may not continue because that the Federal Reserve will be raising interest rates for a second time soon) is ripe to provide local revenue with which to match with federal/state grants so that Stark County gains the upper hand on the disrepair of Stark's ditches which of course is the reason for chronic flooding across Stark County.

QUESTION: OTHER THAN INFRASTRUCTURE AS A PART OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WHAT OTHER ROLES DO COMMISSIONERS HAVE IN SPURRING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?

Video of Q&A






SCPR COMMENTARY

No essential difference in the answer of each candidate.

Boiled down, each answer is:  create an environment in which young Stark Countians want to stay in the county on graduating from high school/college, people from outside Stark County want to take up residence in the county and business are attracted to Stark on the basis business enhancing resources located in Stark County.

QUESTION:   PROTECTING STARK COUNTY'S LEADER NATURAL RESOURCE (WATER)

Video of Q&A



SCPR COMMENTARY

Mariol, in the assessment of the SCPR, has the edge on this consideration inasmuch as he presented more specifics responsive to this audience concern as a basis for the question.

He talked about Canton's (remember, he is a Canton councilman) grasp of understanding that it's water supply was a valuable resource ($2 billion) and that it is now time for the county to work with townships and other political subdivisions to protect the resource from the deleterious effect of road salt run off finding its way into Stark County's water aquifers.

Moreover, he brought using this resource as an economic development both protecting it (re:  road salt effect) and  in marketing it and thereby attracting water related businesses (water bottling companies) to locate in Stark.

Commissioner Regula did talk about protecting Stark County water (i.e. effects of oil/gas fracking) but did not go the extra step that Mariol did in discussing marketing this abundant Stark County resource.

QUESTION:   CONSOLIDATION COUNTYWIDE OF STARK COUNTY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION SERVICES

Video of Q&A



SCPR COMMENTARY

Edge to Regula.

He talked about accomplished consolidations efficiencies during his current term as a commissioner.

Earlier on in the forum, Regula spoke of the greater accessibility and efficiency of getting building permits.

Mariol implies that he has engaged Canton in discussions about blending in with the rest of Stark County on providing centralized services but the SCPR infers that he was unsuccessful in convincing Canton to get on board and therefore had nothing concrete to reference in this discussion that Regula did.

QUESTION:   COUNTY FACILITATION IN HIRING EX-FELONY OFFENDERS

Video of Q&A



SCPR COMMENTARY

A tie.

Both candidates have he proper answer insofar as the SCPR is concerned.

Each favors continuation of hiring policies of considering one time felony offenders getting a second chance in consideration for county employment.

QUESTION:   WHAT SHOULD COMMISSIONERS DO TO CAPITALIZE ON HALL OF FAME VILLAGE PROJECT?  ALSO, WOULD CANDIDATES CONSIDER RAISING THE "BED TAX?"

Video of Q&A



SCPR COMMENTARY

The SCPR favors John Mariols approach to dealing with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village Project (HOF-VP).

He like most Stark Countians is excited about the prospects that the project itself and the spin off from it will be a economic boon to Stark County.

However, he tempered his enthusiasm with a consideration of unforeseen consequences that could come along with pumping $500 million plus into a relatively small space of Stark County.

Regula seemed unconcerned about such a possibility.

The SCPR's read is that the HOF-VP boosters are far short of the $500 million or more that will be needed to complete the project.

And Canton/Stark County and perhaps other county political subdivisions will have to ante up additional millions in infrastructure improvements.

Will an increase in the county bed tax and the creation of a Tourism Tax District in the immediate HOF-VP area pay for the added cost to the taxpaying public for improved and additional facilities be adequate?

Neither candidate adequately addressed this question.

Councilman Mariol was right to chastise the current set of commissioners for not being front and center in participate directly in the ongoing discussion as the HOF-VP unfolds.

Regula's "we have working in the background" does not quite cut it.

Regula did take an active role in facilitating the sale of a couple of Stark Metropolitan Housing sites to the HOF-VP entity.

QUESTION:   ASIDE FROM NEEDING TO RENEW THE 1/2 CENT COUNTY SALES TAX (2019), WHAT ARE THE MOST PRESSING FINANCIAL ISSUES FACING STARK CO. AND HOW WOULD THE CANDIDATES DEAL WITH THOSE ISSUES?

Video of Q&A

SCPR COMMENTARY

An excellent question which neither of the candidates adequately answered.

Neither raised the idea that perhaps the 1/2 cent sales tax needs to be bumped up to 3/4th of a cent or even to a penny.

The Report thinks Mariol's "growth is the answer" is "pie in the sky" stuff that is not going to pay for moving the county forward aggressively in economic development as he advocates for.

Regula seemingly is relying on the Justice System Sales Tax (the 1/2 cent increase voter approved in 2011) to be the goose who increasingly lays golden eggs.

Not likely to happen.

What goes up in terms of the overall U.S./Ohio/Stark County economy surely can and undoubtedly go down.

And, as Regula pointed out there is some $12 to $15 million due bill not later than probably late 2017 or early 2018 that will have to be forked out to pay for a state of the art emergency services radio upgrade.

Regula also overly relies on the Stark Development Board and the Port Authority as being adequate ways to deal with future Stark County economic development growth.

QUESTION:   CHARTER GOVERNMENT FOR STARK COUNTY?

Video of Q&A



SCPR COMMENTARY

This question is a non-starter in Stark County.

The answers of the candidates indicate an understanding of this Stark County political reality.LO

CLOSING STATEMENTS



CONCLUSION

To echo Rich Desrosiers, these two candidates are quality candidates for county commissioner.

Regula has proven in performance that he is a competent commissioner and Mariol project that he would be the same.

There is no clear winner/loser in in the Mariol/Regula discussion of issue facing the commissioner to succeed Thomas Bernabei over the next four years.

VOL 2 OF 4: SCPR ANALYSIS OF REP/LWV CANDIDATES NIGHT

CORONER
                        RECORDER
                                                   TREASURER
                                                                                FAMILY COURT

UPDATE:  12:05 PM - All Videos Posted

Yesterday, The Stark County Political Report an entire blog (LINK) to the Stark County clerk of courts race between Stark Dems' political appointee Louis Giavasis and Republican opponent and challenger Claude "Skip" Shriver.

Tomorrow, the SCPR will be covering the Stark County commissioner face off between Democrat Canton councilman John Mariol and incumbent Republican commissioner Richard Regula.

On Saturday, The Report's attention will be focused on the Stark County prosecutor's race pitting well known Republican criminal defense attorney Jeff Jakmides against incumbent Democratic prosecutor John Ferrero.

The Giavasis/Shriver matchup proved to the most interesting of night when Shriver went ballistic on Giavasis on the issue of Giavasis fostering and participating in political cronyism during his days as Plain Township trustee and beyond that into his employment connection in the Stark County clerk of courts office which eventually led to his appointment as the county clerk of courts in the summer of 2015 when Nancy Reinbold resigned mid-term.

Such is a favorite tactic used by both political parties in order to give an appointed candidate "a leg up" in retaining the office when the appointed candidate must stand for election.

The tactic does not always work as exemplified by the Republicans (Governor John Kasich at the behest of the Stark County Republican Party) having appointed Curt Werren Stark County Common Pleas Court to the bench back in June, 2013.

Within politico world, the word is that the best opportunity to defeat a political appointee is the appointee's first time up before the electorate.

Then-Stark County prosecutor Chryssa Hartnett (a Democrat) courageously tried to get the Kasich appointment.  In the view of the SCPR she was way more qualified than Werren who had not been practicing law for several years before his appointment (he was president of the Stark County chapter of the American Red Cross).

But politics is politics in that political parties take care of themselves and their loyalists at the expense of the public interest of having the best qualified be appointed to public office.

The SCPR cannot say enough to extol Hartnett for taking on Werren in November, 2014 and defeating him by a very, very, very narrow margin (31 votes).

Notwithstanding The Report's high regard for Hartnett, now that the Republicans could not sustain their advantage all of sudden the Stark GOP could not find anyone to oppose her which is not okay with the SCPR.

Oh! there is one more countywide office that should have a challenger.

And a very important one at that.

Stark County sheriff's office, no less!

Can you believe that Stark County GOP chairman Jeff Matthews (also director of the Stark County Board of Elections) could not find somebody to run against George T. Maier (the candidate of the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. Massillon Political Machine, "JAM-MPM") for sheriff?

Had Stark's gotten full bore behind 2014 Republican candidate Larry Dordea (former Alliance police chief, and now Hartville police chief) Maier would have lost in 2014.

If Shriver thinks Louis Giavasis is a political animal, what does that make Sheriff George?

Politically connected appointees galore dot the administrative landscape of the Stark County's sheriff's office at the hand of and since Maier (interrupted for a time by the Ohio Supreme Court) became sheriff as a political appointee of Stark's organized Democrats in January, 2013.

Politics as a minimal "necessary evil" should be the "rule of thumb" in the discharge of county government officialdom.

It should be particularly disturbing to the general Stark County public that politics seems to have such a large role in the George T. Maier run sheriff's office.  For the Stark County Republican Party to give Maier a pass this election, is to embolden Maier in what the SCPR thinks has been a wholesale politicization of Stark County primary policing agency.

Leaving that discussion for another blog or to be looked up in prior blogs, let's move on to the coroner, recorder, treasury and family court races.

CORONER

Over the years of the existence of the SCPR (nearly nine now), it is interesting how often Democrat P.S. Murthy has been challenged for this dead-end job.

Murthy has been with the coroner's office since 1988 (LINK to background).  In 2004, on his predecessor having decided to run for re-election he ran and won as he did in 2008 and 2012.

Republican Brian Briggs is Murthy's opponent (LINK to his Facebook campaign page).

An interesting wrinkle in this race is that Briggs promises to donate back $70,000 (the coroner's salary) back to Stark County government.

But, on the downside, he says he plans to maintain his present medical profession practice.

The Candidates Night Video of Murthy & Briggs:



RECORDER

In the assessment of the SCPR, Rick Campbell (LINK to his background information) has been an effective recorder.  He has streamlined the recorder's office operations to the point that recording mostly real estate connected documents has been reduced from six weeks to a matter of minutes if not seconds.

The Report's main problem with Campbell is that he is way too political.  He is a card carrying member of the JAM-MPM.

The Report has written extensively about Campbell's political connections how it appears to impact on who gets jobs in his office and beyond in Stark County political subdivision government.

His saving grace in this election might be the SCPR's perception that his opponent John Arnold (a Lake Township trustee, LINK to his Facebook campaign page) is a highly political Republican who likely would allow politics to play into who gets jobs in the recorder's office were he to defeat Campbell.

Political connections inspired employment shenanigans are a breach of the public trust that elected officeholders will make public employment decisions on the basis of merit and available to the taxpaying public.

The Candidates Night Video of the Campbell/Arnold:




TREASURER

Republican Alex Zumbar (LINK to background information) came to the forefront on the unfolding of events in 2009 that revealed then-Chief Deputy Treasurer Vince Frustaci had stolen upwards of $3 million from the Stark County treasury.

The State of Ohio Auditor's Office cited then-treasurer Gary D. Zeigler for failing to have in place policies, practices and facility security measures to have prevented the Frustaci theft.

Like in the George T. Maier appointment process, Zumbar had a similar route to actually getting elected in his own right as treasurer in 2012.  Originally elected in 2010, he, too, was booted from office by the Ohio Supreme Court because the court found that the Stark County commissioners (Bosley, Meeks and Ferguson; all Democrats) had not constitutionally removed Zeigler from office.

Eventually Zeigler on being restored to office resigned/retired (October 19, 2011).

Zumbar has the distinction of having been appointed treasurer by the Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee (October 31, 2011) in the wake of Zeigler vacating office.

The SCPR deems Zumbar to be one of Stark County's top performing elected public officials.

However, The Report has written blogs criticizing Zumbar for various actions as treasurer and head of the Stark County Land Bank.

One of the criticisms was Zumbar's hiring of Republican Stark County Probate Court judge Dixie Park's daughter.  It appeared in a quid-pro-quo fashion that seems to infect all too many elected officials that Park appointed the daughter of Zumbar's chief deputy to a job in the Stark County Probate Court.

The other had to do with Zumbar's attempt to convince Stark County Land Bank members to hire his chief deputy on a independent contract basis to do certain work for that entity.

Democrat Debbie Cain (LINK to Facebook campaign page) is a last minute throw-in as Zumbar's opponent.

The original candidate is reported to have quit the race because he felt he was getting insufficient support from the Stark County Democratic Party organization.

If such is actually the case (i.e. the Dems have "thrown in the towel" on the treasurer's race), then Cain has no chance whatsoever to defeat Zumbar.

Cain forte is education; not finance.

She is a former member of the Lake Board of Education and the Ohio State Board of Education serving as its president beginning during the time that Democrat Ted Strickland was governor of Ohio.

The Candidates Night Video of Zumbar/Cain:



FAMILY COURT JUDGE

This race is interesting for a couple of reasons.

First, the Stark County Family Court is totally controlled by the Stark County Republican Party and the Democrats see this vacancy created as a consequence of Republican judge Mike Howard as a grand opportunity to get a foothold in the court.

Reese as a long time attorney in the Canton Law Department under the leadership of highly popular Democratic law director Joseph Martuccio.

Stark organized Dems have to be hungering and thirsting to gain a foothold in the Family Court which the party has not had since John Hoffman retired as judge which led to the appointment of Republican Rose Marie Hall to the Family Court bench by John Kasich in August, 2011.

You can bet on it that Reese's colleagues from Martuccio's office will be all-out for him as they were for Kristen Guardado in her unsuccessful bid to defeat political appointed Republican Canton Municipal Court judge Curtis Werren in the general election of 2015.

Another interesting factor brought up by Reese on Tuesday night is that Nist has never actually practiced family law as a "private practice" attorney.

In a sense, Nist has always been an "insider" who probably lacks litigant perspective.

It is difficult for candidates for judgeships to distinguish themselves from one another as deserving election.

In raising the matter, has Jason Reese generated a factor that might be compelling to voters?

The Candidates Nights Video Nist/Reese:

VOL 1 OF 4: SCPR ANALYSIS OF REP/LWV COUNTYWIDE CANDIDATE NIGHT 09/27/2016

CLERK OF COURTS RACE GETS UGLY!

Giavasis is Perpetuator/Beneficiary of Political Cronyism:  Shriver

Today's blog is volume one of a four volume presentation of video/SCPR commentary on last night's Canton League of Women Voters (C-LWV) and Repository sponsored candidates forum for countywide candidates on the November 8th ballot.

Given the astounding nature of the Claude Shriver presentation, The Report devotes today's edition to the clerk of courts race.

In volume two (tomorrow), the SCPR will take up the coroner, recorder, treasurer and Family Court races.

In volume three (Friday), the SCPR will publish Stark County commissioner candidate forum featuring Democratic candidate and Canton Ward 7 councilman John Mariol and incumbent Republican commissioner Richard Regula.

On Saturday, incumbent Democratic Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero and his Republican rival Jeff Jakmides, probably Stark County's most well know private practice criminal defense attorney.

CLERK OF COURTS

GIAVASIS - SHRIVER

VIDEO (6:29)

SCPR COMMENTARY

Lou Giavasis had to know that the Shriver political attack was coming.

Immediately after the candidates for Stark County clerk of courts, Giavasis approached The Report presenting a printed page of material bearing on Shriver's points.

He promised to e-mail the SCPR a copy of the document post-forum.

So far, nothing.

Giavasis presented first last night on the clerk of courts part of the candidates forum agenda.  

One has to wonder why he did not insist on going second in light of The Report's belief he knew the Shriver attack was coming.

And one has to wonder, once Shriver finished the political fusilade upon Giavasis, he did not demand an opportunity to respond.

It is amazing that moderator Richard Kuhn who in the Ferrero/Jakmides interjected admonitions on both candidates for getting personal and thereby on the ugly side would simply sit there and not act in the Shriver/Giavasis matter.  Either stop the Shriver attack or break protocol and provide Giavasis with an opportunity to respond.

As the video shows, Giavasis focused on his history of office holding in Stark County including his appointment to the clerk of courts position by the Stark County Democratic Precinct Committee (countywide)  on the retirement of Nancy Reinbold in June, 2015.

In the way of full disclosure,  those who read the SCPR on a regular basis, going back years are familiar with The Report having written about Louis Giavasis' political connectedness and how he has seemingly used those connections to his personal political advantage and thereby denied taxpaying citizens and other Stark political figures the opportunity to get considered for taxpayer supported positions.

One of the SCPR's favorite graphics is one which lumps together the primary Stark County elected officials/public figures who The Report deems to be under the political control/influence of former Stark County Democratic Party chairman (currently Masillon clerk of courts) Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.

The SCPR sees the administration of the Stark County sheriff's office (Stark County's chief law enforcement agency) as being a haven (but not the only Stark County political subdivision government) for Maier political machine sponsored appointees without the Stark County "politically unconnected" taxpaying public having had an opportunity to apply.

One has to wonder whether or not George T. Maier finds a way of favoring certain unionized uniformed officers (subjects of a collective bargaining agreement) perceived by him to be political loyalists.

The SCPR had no foreknowledge of Shriver's plan of political attack last night and was surprised as anybody.

It took a lot of moxie for Shriver (even in the light of self-interest) to address rampant Stark County political cronyism that the SCPR has written far and wide about in this blog over the nearly nine years of its existence.

Shrive in the video zeros in on Louis' brother who is clerk of the Canton Municipal Court and also happens to be chairman of the Stark County Democratic Party now and when brother Louis was appointed to replace Reinbold.

Blasting his opponent is all well and good and as far as the SCPR is concerned deserved by Giavasis.

But it would be good to know what Shriver has to say about Stark County Republican officeholding political cronyism.

The Report invited Giavasis and Shriver to extend the discussion via a SCPR on camera interview on the cronyism issue beyond last night.  Giavasis said he would participate.  Shriver declined.

Cronyism and the like has an erosive effect on the confidence that Stark County's citizens have in the integrity of government.

More and more citizens are opting out of participating in events like the LWV Candidates Forum.

TONIGHT: CANTON WOMEN VOTERS' (C-LWV) CANDIDATES FORUM-COUNTYWIDE OFFICES!!!

IS IT WORTH THE TIME & EFFORT TO ATTEND?

(Source for text  information, Canton LWV, LINK)

Answer:  Maybe?

Let's sift through a bit of history of Canton League of Women Voters candidate forums to come to a more definite answer.

Last week the Canton League of Women Voters on conjunction with The Repository sponsored a candidates forum involving one of two Stark County commissioners races.  The one between Republican Canton Township trustee Bill Smith (15 years as a trustee) and Democrat state Rep. Stephen D. Slesnick (8 years as a representative).  It is likely Smith/Slesnick will be the only one of the two that "might" be competitive on November 8th.

As run-of-the-mill LWV sponsored events go, last week's may have been the best the SCPR has ever witnessed given local attorney Richard Kuhn was the moderator with no other persons involved in asking the questions tendered.

Kuhn, left to his own devices, historically, has left a lot to be desired in terms of his management of LWV candidate forums.

It is a credit to Stark County-sited office seekers who, by and large, participate in these sparsely attended events.

And it appears that Kuhn might be squaring up with political reality more than he has in the past in his management function.

Take a look at this promotion for tonight's event suggestion that the Stark County prosecutor's race could get testy.



Last Tuesday Kuhn was on his game and the questions actually produced answers up which could be difference makers for some Stark County voters.  Of course, the questions weren't his.  They came from LWV members, The Rep and individual audience members.

In past forums, Kuhn has manage to botch up even this minimalist role.

Getting by a chancy moderator performance, the worthwhileness is that many of the forums have virtually nobody in attendance and among those who attend there were very few if any Stark County "yet to decide" voters present.

In sparsely attended forums, most of the attendees were in some way connected to the candidates, the C-LWV or local media.

In October, 2015, it was quite a different picture as The Rep, The Indie (Massillon's daily) and the C-LWV teamed up to present a very worthwhile in the sense of being informative Q&A of Massillon's mayoralty candidates.

Look at the Massillon crowd (actually two-thirds of it).

An important part of the success of the Massillon forum were the questioners.

Why the LWV wouldn't ask at least Rep editorial board director Matt Rink and Veronica Van Dress of The Massillon Independent and perhaps someone from The Alliance Review to do the questioning, is beyond comprehension.

Maybe even eliminate the moderator?

Take a point that Candidate Slesnick made last week that he as state representative he had brought tens of millions of dollars back to Stark County over his eight years in Columbus.  And that a major reason why he with his Columbus lingering connections would be an value-added commissioner if elected.

Rink, et al, would have, if they followed their excellent follow through Q&A of the Massillon event, would have pressed Slesnick to give chapter and verse on the "tens of millions of dollars" assertion of Slesnick and moreover would have pressed him to present concrete evidence of his having significant influence in the Ohio General Assembly that had great promise to benefit Stark County going forward.

The foregoing is offered as an example of the weakness of last Wednesday's event structure.

The structure of the forum did not allow for a back and forth between the questioners (through moderator Kuhn), Slesnick and Smith on Slesnick's claim.

So given the low historical turnouts of C-LWV sponsored events going back years excluding the Massillon 2015 forum,  the lack of a structure to follow up on claims such as Slesnick's and the like make the C-LWV conceived candidate forums less worthwhile than the might be.

As presently constituted the C-LWV candidate forums may or may not provide valuable information on which attendees might base their votes.

One also has to wonder who is in charge of pre-event publicity.

The SCPR missed the West/McMasters candidate forum for a basic reason:  no one had bothered to send The Report a press release.

Other Stark County based organizations as a matter of Communications 101 send the SCPR notice of their events.

For instance, the Stark County District Library (SCDL) sent The Report not only a notice but an individually tailored notice to last Wednesday's event  featuring nationally renowned presidential elections analyst Kyle Kondik at the SCDL's Lake Community Branch, to wit:

Jennifer Walencik <jwalencik@starklibrary.org>  Sep 14 at 11:52 AM

To:  'tramols@att.net'

The Library is hosting Kyle Kondik next Wednesday at Lake Community Branch. He’s a political analyst for the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of “The Bellwether, Why Ohio Picks the President.” He’ll talk about swing states, Ohio's role as a national model and his predictions for November. Given the current election cycle and today’s Trump rally, I thought this could be a timely story and an event readers will want to check out. Is this something you would be interested in sharing with your readers?

An excerpt from the press release:
 Kyle Kondik, our first local author this fall, is a Cleveland native living in Washington, DC. He will join us on September 21 at 6:30 at the Lake Community Branch. He works as a political analyst for the University of Virginia Center for Politics and is the Managing Editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball. Learn why they say “As Ohio goes, so goes the Nation” as this expert on campaigns fills our evening with history, politics and intrigue. Kyle will discuss his book “The Bellwether”, share his predictions for November and discuss Ohio’s pivotal role as a national model.

I’ve attached the official press release for you and am happy to answer any questions you may have about this event.

Thank you!

JEN WALENCIK
Community Engagement Specialist
Stark County District Library

Think maybe the C-LWV might need a "Community Engagement Specialist?"

The SCDL was productive.

The Stark County Political Report gave the Kondik event "wall-to-wall" coverage (LINK) including video of 12 everyday Stark County citizens asking questions of the national political expert.

(one-half the total crowd)

So anyone who attends tonight forum is taking a chance that the time expended could turn out to be a waste of time.

The C-LWV certainly are intent in doing good for Stark County voters.  However, they need to figure out how to be effective "do gooders."

A little more "thoughtful" effort and these events could be a "do not miss" for information on Stark County-based candidates, no?

With so many candidates to present their views in a relatively short period of time, it is unlikely that tonight's forum will be productive for voters with the C-LWV seemingly set to do the same old thing in terms of forum format and structure.

To pose the question again.

Is it worth the time and effort to attend?

Answer:  Probably!

For the SCPR, even "probably" is short of what the answer ought to be which is:  "definitely!!!"

If changes are not made and made soon, is this potentially valuable public destined for abandonment?

"AS THE WORM TURNS" ON STATE GRADING K-12 STARK CO. EDUCATION

STARK CO. EDUCATION LEADERSHIP SHOWS A "MARKED" HYPOCRISY?

It was not that long ago that the state of Ohio Department of Education (ODE) was issuing a bevy of "A" grades for many of Ohio's (including Stark County's districts) school districts.

When such was the case, superintendents of the "A" perhaps even "B" graded districts were ballyhooing their respective achievements.

But recently, with the issuance of the 2014-2015 school year Report Cards and within the last few weeks the 2015-2016 school year Report CARD, "the worm has turned" and the ODE has decided to quit coddling school administrators in giving a pollyannish look at what is going on in education in Ohio has now taken a turn to what is "really" going on, to wit:

there is a great "hue and cry" being broadcast throughout the villages, cities, townships and school districts of the Buckeye State seeking the "explain away" the dramatic change in picture with the onset of a new reality.

The SCPR applauds the ODE's "worm-about" and thinks that superintendents across the state and emphatically in Stark County need to toughen up their curriculums and education instructional processes and, over time, get ranks "authentically" on the up tick.

Instead of bellyaching, big-pay collectively, and, in some instances individually (e.g. Adrian Allison in Canton City Schools), school administrations need to own up to the largely "non-value added" education that all too many Ohio/Stark County school children are receiving from the 21st Century Ohio school model.

It appears that the "bellyaching" approach is the one that Stark County education leaders had decided to employ.

Recently, a sampling of the folks met with The Repository bigs in a damage control session.  It seems to have worked.  The Repository recently published a article giving voice to the excuse making.

Readers should take seven minutes (LINK) to view this video of a Saturday appearance of Cleveland City Schools superintendent Eric Gordon as likely being representative of what The Repository folks heard of the delegation of Stark County-based superintendant in their rec

It it well known that the American education model is not faring well in comparison made in the international community.  See this LINK to a BBC report which ranks the United States at 28th on science and math among the nations of the world.

Recently the SCPR published a chart summary of how Stark County school districts fared in the 2015-2016 school year report.

Recently, the Cleveland Plain Dealer took the report card grades of all 608 Ohio school districts and assigned them a GPA (grade point average).  (LINK to article).

Here is how Stark County school districts fared:

There you have Massillon with a GPA of F+ on academic related matters and recently embroiled with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (LINK 1, LINK 2) on a football player recruiting/eligibility questions.

Interesting.

This is Mayor Kathy Catazarro-Perry's touted "City of Champions," no?

And not slight perennial Massillon athletic rival Canton McKinley;  the Bulldogs may excel in at many athletic endeavors, but a GPA of 0.20 is very telling the academic state of affairs in showing in the GPA rankings in "the race to the bottom" in that Canton school system is exceeded only by the Cleveland public school system which marks barely a blip on the education achievement radar at 0.10.

Apparently, neither the Massillon nor Canton school districts have their priorities straight.  Moreover, the likes of North Canton not even achieving a B should be raising alarm bells in Stark even at the top of the relative to the rest of Ohio grading scale.

Accordingly, it is fitting and proper for the state of Ohio to do what it has been doing for a couple of years now and raising the bar.

Rather than doing "damage control," Stark County's school administrators ought be about "undoing the damage" that years, probably decades now, has done to the quality of education in Stark County's 17 school districts.

STARK COUNTIANS GET TO ASK AN AUTHENTIC PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS EXPERT ABOUT 2016 RACE

UPDATE  08:20 AM

, 

Stark Countians (perhaps, as many as 50) who showed up for the Stark County District Library (SCDL, Friends of the Library, Lake Branch) presentation of presidential elections and elections analysis featuring expert Kyle Kondik of the Sabato Virginia Center for Politics are quite a different crowd from the 4,500 who turned out for Republican Donald Trump's September 14th campaign rally at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

The former are students of how America selects our president whereas the latter were—for the most part—on an emotional political binge where thought and due consideration were not allowed in.

The SCPR is disappointed that a considerable number of Stark County elected officials who could be taken as endorsing the over-the-top insults of incivility that Trump has demonstrated consistently from the day he entered the presidential campaign in June, 2015.

The Report knows some of these folks well.

And has never known any of them to display the ugliness of personal attack and insult that Trump does.

Yet, the SCPR has not seen one quote from any of the above distancing themselves from the Trump excesses.

It was refreshing break from the skulduggery and personal nastiness of the politics of the Trump/Clinton face off to be at the SCDL sponsored Kondik event on Wednesday evening.

Everyday Stark Countians thoughtfully and respectively asked elections expert Kyle Kondik about a dozen questions about presidential politics.

He had to be impressed.

Here is a one-on one-video between the SCPR and Kondik. (4:12)



In this blog, The Report focuses on thoughtful citizen questions asked of Kyle Kondik who had his book Bellwether:  Why Ohio Picks Presidents published (Ohio University Press) on June 15, 2016 on display at the event.

At the end of this blog, is a video of the entire 38 minute Kondik presentation.

Warning!  Only the civic minded and studious will find the presentation appealing.

It was no surprise at all to the SCPR that none of Stark County's elected officials (Republicans or Democrats) were in attendance on Wednesday evening.

Now to the citizens' questions.

QUESTION:  IS STARK COUNTY A BELLWETHER FOR THIS ELECTION?

Video answer: (3:48)



QUESTION:  THE RELEVANCE THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION?

Video answer: (2:35)




QUESTION:  HOW DID WE GET TO THE POINT IN AMERICA POLITICAL PARTY LIFE THAT THE CHOICE BOILS DOWN TO A CONTEST BETWEEN HIGH NEGATIVE CANDIDATES TRUMP & CLINTON?

Video answer: (4:29)



QUESTION:  CONTRASTING BELLWETHER VOTING PATTERN WITH NON-BELLWETHER VOTING

Video answer: (3:16)



QUESTION:  WHY THE CHANGE IN OHIO'S ELECTORAL VOTES FROM 1896 TO 2012

Video answer: (1:59)



QUESTION:  VOTERS WHO MOVE, TAKE THEIR POLITICS WITH THEM OR DO THE ADOPT THE POLITICS OF THEIR NEW LOCALE?

Video answer: (3:34)



QUESTION:  EFFECT OF MILITARY VOTE ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Video answer:  (2:41)




QUESTION:  WHY ONLY TWO PROMINENT POLITICAL PARTIES IN UNITED STATES?

Video answer:  (8:22)



QUESTION:  EFFECT OF MEDIA ON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN?

Video answer:  (1:36)



QUESTION:  KASICH EFFECT ON TRUMP CANDIDACY?

Video answer:  (4:32)




QUESTION:  IMPACT OF OUTCOME OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE ON CONGRESSIONAL GRIDLOCK

Video answer:  (2:58)




QUESTION:  EFFECT OF US SUPREME COURT DECISION "CITIZENS' UNITED" ON PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Video answer:  (1:38)



Here is video of the 38 minute long presentation by Kondik on Why Ohio—as Bellwether—Picks U.S. Presidents.

09/20/2015 CANDIDATES FORUM: SLESNICK/SMITH FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER

A DRAW OR PERHAPS A SLIGHT EDGE TO SLESNICK?

As readers of The Stark County Political Report know, The Report has a negative view of state Representative Stephen Slesnick in his performance as a public official.

LINKS to prior Slesnick oriented blogs starting with June 27, 2016:

Another link:

• June 15, 2016,  "Hiding from the SCPR,"

So the bar was pretty low for Slesnick going into last night's League of Women Voters/Repository sponsored candidates forum featuring him as the Democratic candidate and Bill Smith (currently a Canton Township trustee [going back 15 years]), the Republican candidate.

Here is the SCPR "on the issues" analysis of the responses of the candidates:

CANDIDATEPEFORMANCE AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL
PRE COUNTY COMMISSIONER CANDIDACY

By far the worst question of the night for Slesnick in terms of his response.

Slesnick claims to have brought back tens of millions dollars in capital improvement dollars to Stark County during his eight years of being a state representative for the Canton area.

This grandiose claim has a tint of Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump's "I'm the greatest" to it which lacks chapter and verse substantiation.

Knowing how this kind of thing happens, the SCPR thinks that Democrat Slesnick is appropriating to himself the work of the entire Ohio General Assembly which is overwhelming controlled by the Ohio Republican Party.

He also made a claim about saving pension benefits for United Steel workers which the SCPR did not follow at all.

The SCPR has written at least one blog detailing how ineffective Slesnick as been as a state legislator.

It is more reasonable to believe that bringing state money back to Stark County is much more the work of Republican Stark County based legislators Oelslager, Schuring and Hagan.

Smith, on the other hand, talked about his effort to work with the city of Canton as a Canton Township trustee to avoid having some 880 acres of the township annexed by Canton in the form of negotiating a CEDA agreement.

A demonstrably concrete achievement.

On this question:  advantage Smith

Video (4:20)



MANAGEMENT OF $64 MILLION COUNTY BUDGET & STEWARDSHIP

Slesnick started out alright on this question in discussing his experience in working in a leadership role with state of Ohio ($8 billion) but devolved into talking about his plans for economic development in Stark County.

Why did he get off topic?

Maybe because he had nothing in the way of particulars on how he affected budgeting for the state of Ohio the "stewardship" aspect of the question presented.

Smith bested Slesnick on the responses to this question in sharing his work on Canton Township's finances in specificity in doing what he needed to do to keep Canton Township fiscally solvent.

Video (5:03)



RESOLVING STARK'S DITCHING/FLOODING PROBLEM

A clear win for Slesnick.

He at least was thinking of ways and means of coming with the millions of dollars to solve the flooding which takes place annually in many places in Stark County.

Smith as commissioner would want to continue to piecemeal.

The SCPR thinks the piecemeal approach is a mere "treading water" approach that will, if ever, take decades to get an upper hand on the perennial problem.

VideO (3:53)



TOURISM AS A ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL

Another win for Slesnick.

The SCPR shares with Slesnick his view that economic development should be at the top of priorities for whomever sits in a Stark County commissioner chair and agrees that one has to be mystified at the obvious distancing on the part of the current set of commissioners in helping with the $500 million plus needs for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village Project.

And The Report agrees with him that in the nearly nine years of SCPR coverage of the coverage, the commissioners in toto have not embraced economic development as a top priority in terms of direct involvement.

Only former commissioners Todd Bosley (now a Nimishillen Township trustee, a volkswagen plant) and Tom Harmon (now a Canton councilman, equine center), both Democrats, have shown much interest in economic develop.

On the Republican side, Commissioner Regula has on the U.S. 30 upgrade and bringing broadband to Stark County.

But by and large the commissioners have been "hands-off" in favor of contributing to the Stark Development Board and letting that be it.

Slesnick in his response to this question distinguishes himself in a manner had heretofore thought he was not capable of.

Candidate Smith said nothing on this question to separate himself from the stance of the current board of commissioners.

Video (5:19)



ADVISABILITY OF CHARTER GOV'T FOR STARK COUNTY

An interesting question, but a non-starter in Stark County except for some the county's cities.

Canton recently rejected a move towards charter government despite the herculean effort of Canton Ward 8 councilman Edmond Mack.

Both Slesnick and Smith came down with about the same answer.

More study needed to determine whether or not charter government would be beneficial for Stark Countians.

Accordingly, the two tie on their answer to this question.

Video (2:11)



MOST IMPORTANT THING TO ACCOMPLISH AS COMMISSIONER

Another win for Slesnick in the view of the SCPR.

From the previous footage in this blog, readers undoubtedly have gotten the often repeated theme from Slesnick is that his foremost attractiveness as a candidate for commissioner is his aggressive stance (compared to opponent Smith) on the issue of economic development.

It is apparent to the SCPR that Slesnick has been schooled by his cousin Canton councilman Bill Smuckler (a Democrat who in 2012 ran for commissioner against Richard Regula) since the debate hosted back in June by the NextChapter book store.

Slesnick would do well to soak in every bit he can from the studious but practical Smuckler.

One would expect from his comments, should Slesnick be elected is that he will not rest until the commissioners hire an economic development director.

On this issue, both candidate are in favor of economic development and fiscal responsibility.  But for Slesnick the county picking up the pace on direct involvement on economic development is his top priority whereas for Smith it is fiscal responsibility first and then economic development somewhere down the line in what commissioners do.

A particularly weak response on the part of Smith was his apparent "let others do it" coupled with a passive role for the commissioners themselves.

Video (4:07)



TIMING OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER MEETINGS

A SCPR Shame! on Stark County citizens for not attending weekly Stark County commissioners' meetings in greater numbers at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in the commissioners' meeting room on the second floor of the Stark County Office Building.

Currently, if half dozen members of the general public attend any given meeting, the commissioners would likely be doing cartwheels in celebration.

But just let some hot issue surface and its SRO.

Such is irresponsible citizenship.

The SCPR has had plenty to say about malfeasant, misfeasant public officials who serve in various elective capacities throughout Stark County.

The time meetings is held is irrelevant to a citizenry that is engaged.

Accordingly, there is no better answer as between candidates Slesnick and Smith.

On this question, it is a tie.

Video (3:36)



MAKING STARK COUNTY GOV'T MORE USER FRIENDLY

Stephen Slesnick was completely out on lunch break on this question.

To repeat from above in this blog, he appears to have been preprogrammed to response wherever remotely relevant in his own mind Economic Development, Economic Development, Economic Development despite his caveat in his response to this particular question that economic development is not a cure to everything that ails Stark County.

His lack of familiarity with Stark County's administrative infrastructure in dealing with businesses and citizens was telling in his missing the mark completely in his response.

Smith, on the other hand, scored a bullseye in giving a specific action already taken by Stark's commissioners to facilitate the interaction between the general public and county regulators in going to a one-stop-shop for permits and the like.

It should be encouraging to Stark Countians that Smith is committed to following the Stark County Building Department model as a template for future consolidations of county government services that makes local government more user friendly.

Slesnick completely blew it on this question.

A hands down win for Smith on this question.

Video (4:34)




STATE LAW & ACTIONS THAT HAVE AN EFFECT STARK CO GOV'T

On the fiscal side of county government, the state of Ohio with its 2010 Republican dominated legislature and Republican governor combo did serious damage to the county and other local governments (villages, cities and townships) with his cuts in local government funding and its elimination of the Ohio Estate Tax.

More recently, a change in federal regulatory law is going to cost Stark County $1.9 million in loss revenue having to do with not allowing Ohio's sales tax to be applied to Medicaid matching funds.

Slesnick did during this forum beat the drum for local officials to lean on state government to restore some of the state perpetrated cuts.  But he said not a word about the $1.9 million.  Probably because he is unaware of the change.

To his credit, Smith brought up the $1.9 factor.

But his solution was not impressive.

The SCPR takes it as "roll over, accept the state not make up the shortfall" and take the nearly $2 million from Stark's $14 million carryover.

Some like to call the carryover as surplus.

But that is not how the SCPR sees carryovers.

Every level of local government have unmet needs, show how can one term carryover as being a surplus?

Both candidates missed the many "unfunded" by the state of Ohio mandates that cost local taxpayers millions of dollars.

Shocking, absolutely shocking!!!

Overall SCPR evaluation of these responses:  a tie.

Video (3:09)



ONGOING POPULATION DECLINE AND "BRAIN DRAIN"

Neither candidate had a "real" answer or proposed solution for the point of this question.

Slesnick:  glittering generalities.  Work with Stark's higher education community, push economic development.

Smith:  hope and prayer that the Professional Football Hall of Fame Project will be successful and be the attraction that reverses the trend in Stark County population/brain power decline.

Grading the two candidates?  A tie in their lackluster dealing with the question.

Video (4:34)



COUNTY INFRASTRUCTURE IN LIGHT OF STATE FUNDING CUTS & COUNTYWIDE BROADBAND

Candidate Smith says that local governments, which includes, of course, county government, needs to square up with the reality that state support with local government funding is not coming back and develop ways of doing needed infrastructure with the resources available.

Broadband, he says, is a private enterprise function and not one government at the county level ought to be getting into.

For his part, Slesnick contrasts himself to Smith in being for county government being involved in the provision of 1Gb broadband across Stark County.  And he reiterates that he will press on in pushing for a restoration of some measure of local government funding from the state of Ohio.

One does not see it all that often.

But that Smith is a Republican and Slesnick is a Democrat is a telltale in explaining their positions on broadband.

Republicans in general want things done where feasible by private enterprise.

Democrats in general favor government takeovers of a normally private enterprise factor when the private sector is not measuring up when it comes to providing services.

The SCPR's assessment is that both in their responses are reflecting their political party differences.

Accordingly, the SCPR rates the response to this question as being a tie.

Video (6:34)




REPAIRING STARK COUNTY'S SOON TO BE OUT OF DATE RADIO SYSTEM
(MARCS) "MULTI-AGENCY RADIO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Another instance of Slesnick appearing to be without a clue on the topic.

While the county's radio system is tied to the county's 9-1-1 emergency response mechanism,  by and large Stark's 9-1-1 system is healthy.  MARCS or some viable alternative needs to be in place by 2019.

Smith in that Canton Township uses MARCS is familiar with what is going on with the county's need to update it radio system.

It was surprising that Smith did not give maintaining a healthy carryover (currently about $14 million) is the way to deal with looming expenses such as adopting and implementing MARCS.

Perhaps county officials can come up with some creative financing to meet

Smith does imply that renewing the county sales tax in 2019 is an imperative.

And it is.

On this question, the SCPR gives the edge to Smith.  The video show that he is aware and conversant on the topic.   To say it again, Slesnick appears to be "out-to-lunch" on the matter.

Video (4:54)



CONCLUSION

On balance the September Slesnick/Smith candidates forum was pretty much a tie.

Back in June at NextChapter it was obvious that Slesnick was not having a good night.

However, if one measures the vast improvement in Slesnick's grasp of county government issues; one might want to give an edge in the overall gestalt grounded in dramatic improvement from June to September.