CANTON CITIZEN Pete DiGiacomo TAKES ON AT&T & WINS!!!

VIDEO

Citizen Pete DiGiacomo Taking on AT&T

The primary reason I have be writing The Stark County Political Report for going on ten years now is all wrapped up in what Canton citizen Pete DiGiacomo accomplished Monday evening as an individual citizen who took on AT&T and persuaded Canton City Council to deny the gigantic company a "make or break" (being sarcastic, of course) $850 for aiding the Canton community in locating a missing child.

DiGiacomo was so into his cause on at Monday evening's council meeting that right before the roll call vote, he yelled out "Vote No, Vote No."

After it became apparent that council had responded to DiGiacomo's plea, he bellowed out a scream of delight followed by an apology for breaking decorum.

For his effort and phenomenal success, he should be thought of as a political Hall of Fame-esque performing civic activist at a corollary level to those great football athletes who are enshrined in the Canton based Pro Football Hall of Fame.

DiGiacomo was keeping government accountable.

Government accountability: a passion with me for all the years I have been doing this blog.  Keeping government accountable is an obligation that all we citizens have.  But few of us heed the call.

DiGiacomo was stellar in taking on the goliath AT&T in hurling political stones that felled the giant's effort to collect $850 from Canton taxpayers.

What's this "moral ob[ligation]" thing?

Let's flip that around.

What obligation does AT&T have to help out the Canton community in a infinitesimal way ($850 in services) given that Cantonians among millions of Americans over many, many years of doing business with its predecessor have made the communications company a behemoth.

It was not all that many years ago that the United States Department of Justice broke up A&T (1982) because of its monopolistic hold on a sector of American communications.

Here is a snapshot from Wikipedia of the massive wealth that AT&T generate annually to the point that it has assets of nearly one-half-trillion dollars.

As the foregoing numbers show, DiGiacomo was not hyping the size of AT&T in attributing it to be a multi-million dollar company.

The reality is that the communications giant is a "multi-billion dollar company!"

Here is a video of part of DiGiacomo's presentation to council on Monday evening.



Council is commended by the SCPR for heeding DiGiacomo's plea.

Pete DiGiacomo is one of Stark County finest citizen activists and a model for the fearful and timid as to what can be done if one will only take up the obligation to keep an eye on government and how government entities spend our (we taxpayers money).

Does AT&T dare sue Canton government for the $850?

Not likely.

Unless, of course, the colossus is really up against financial hard times and $850 is a make or break situation.

Obviously, such is not the case.

What AT&T ought to do through its public relations arm is to apologize to Canton taxpayers for even submitting a claim that the $850 be paid as a matter of morality.

Thank you Citizen Pete Giacomo for calling AT&T out on its quest and besting this commercial juggernaut.

To The Stark County Political Report,  you a Hall of Famer!