(VIDEO: CONCATTO, REAM & GONZALEZ) - WILL OHIO CUT OFF FUNDING FOR 9-1-1 CELLPHONE CALL RECEIVING? WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS OF STARK CO. CALL CENTER SHUTDOWN ON RECEIVING CELLPHONE GENERATED 9-1-1 CALLS?

It was quite surprising to hear 9-1-1 Project Manager Joe Concatto (see video below) suggest that Stark County should consider not taking 9-1-1 emergency cell phone calls placed to towers located in Stark County if the state of Ohio fails to renew a monthly 28 cent tax which expires on December 31, 2012.

Watch as Stark Council of Governments (SCOG) chairman and Canton Safety Director Thomas Ream expresses his pessimism that the tax will be renewed at this past Monday's SCOG general membership meeting .



Others were not so down-in-the-mouth about the prospects of the tax being renewed.

They include Concatto and SCOG Governance Committee Chair Randy Gonzalez (also Jackson Township fiscal officer) as also seen in the video.

Gonzalez is having state Rep. Kirk Schuring come to the next committee meetingt Thursday, June 14,  at Jackson Twp. Safety Center (meeting time:  1:30 p.m.) to describe the likelihood of getting the tax extended.

Also included in the more optimistic view is Stark County Emergency Management Agency Director Tim Warstler (who did not attend Monday's meeting).

Warstler says he believes that when the smoke clears and when election day November 8th comes and goes, the Legislature will get down to business and pass an extension of the tax like it did four years ago.

The tax has been in existence for eight years and has been used by Stark County to purchase the equipment and software it needs to place Stark's emergency cell phone receiving capacity in "state-of-the-art" status with the ability to upgrade as equipment and software need replacement about every five to seven year.

Warstler says Stark is "good to go" for at least until 2015 and perhaps until 2017 whether or not the tax (fee) is extended. 

While he downplayed Concatto's suggestion, he did not foreclose the possibility that should Ohio funding dry up that Stark County could be forced to instruct the cell phone industry not to forward cell phone generated 9-1-1 emergency calls to the Stark County Call Center.

If such were to happen, Warstler says a likely scenario would include a return to the "old days" wherein cell phone calls were handled by the Ohio State Patrol.

But he emphasized that he felt that the tax would be renewed and that the talk about Stark County possibly getting out of the business of taking cell phone initiated 9-1-1 emergency calls.

What strikes the SCPR about this speculative discussion started by Concatto is how political the continued existence of basic and critical services to the general public is.

In yesterday's blog, the topics were the continued viability the Stark County Narcotics Metro Unit (Metro) and the Stark County Crime Lab (Lab).

Viability?

Yes.

The Ohio General Assembly including local Republican legislators Christina Hagan, Kirk Schuring and Scott Oelslager (sort of) voted to support Republican Governor John Kasich's call for massive reductions in local government funding which support, either in part or wholly, programs like Metro and the Lab.

Now it becomes a political question of whether or not Ohio wants to continue to financially support the infrastructure of cell phone 9-1-1 emergency calls.  As most political observers know, Republican officeholders these days are quick to kill any taxes (fees) they can get their hands on no matter how important the cause may be.

So the next time Stark Countians are tempted to think that what the likes of Hagan, Oelslager, Schuring and Slesnick (Democrat - Canton) do in Columbus does not have much to do with day-in, day-out life here in Stark, think again.

Just in areas of crime management and emergency services cost cutting in the Ohio General Assembly could include:

• not getting drug dealers off Stark County streets,
• huge delays in the investigation and prosecution of crimes, and
• the elimination of county cell phone users ability to make emergency 9-1-1 calls direct to Stark County emergency responders

It is important for Stark Countians keep abreast of Hagan, Oelslager, Schuring and Slesnick and hold them accountable for what they do in the Columbus beltway that affects all of us Ohioans and Stark Countians.

IS COUNTYWIDE 9-1-1 ON-THE-MEND? ONLY THE DEVIL KNOWS?

In recent weeks it has appeared that Stark County's effort to rework it countywide 9-1-1 operation was doomed with the announcements that the Stark County Sheriff and Canton was pulling out of the project.

On Tuesday past (June 7th) the Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) general membership assembled at Canton City Hall to discuss the future of countywide 9-1-1 in light of these announcements.

It appears to the Stark County Political Report that countywide 9-1-1 rehab is far from dead.  In fact Tuesday's meeting was highlighted by a motion made by SCOG 9-1-1 Governance Committee Chair Randy Gonzalez (fiscal officer for Jackson Township) for formal approval by the general membership that SCOG be the entity that undertakes countywide 9-1-1.

Here is a video of Gonzalez setting up the motion.



The SCPR presents a summary of the discussion of various issues that the membership engaged in on the group's endeavor to make a decision on the motion (which passed unanimously).

The issues were:

1. Should SCOG be the entity to run countywide 9-1-1 in light of the fact that currently SCOG is not a PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) which it must become to qualify as a operational unit?
2. What Stark County government unit should serve as fiscal agent for SCOG (assuming it becomes the 9-1-1 operational organization)?  A corollary point was what, if any, impact Ohio Senate Bill 5 (which does not permit a COG to have unionized employees) would have on putting together countywide 9-1-1 under SCOG?
3. The financing of SCOG's 9-1-1 operations.
4. Establishing separate legal counsel for SCOG's 9-1-1 operations.

Appearance-wise all seems "peaches and cream" on the matter of countywide 9-1-1.  But don't you believe it!

As indicated in the masthead of this blog and as articulated by Stark County Commissioner Tom Bernabei and Canton Safety Director Tom Ream:  "the devil is in the details."

An issue which was a sort of "an elephant in the room" that Ream never brought up and which could keep Canton out of countywide 9-1-1 is a rumor that financially strapped Canton is holding out for some kind of commitment that Canton be compensated in some way for the equipment currently in place in its Canton Communications Center.

Another one is who - in terms of the person - will be in charge as "executive director" one SCOG's 9-1-1 countywide system gets centralized and begins formal operations.  The SCPR believes that Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II and Ream will be pitching for that person to be a Canton-friendly (if not an actual Canton city employee/official) individual.

These details, The Report believes, are the "real" stumbling blocks to Canton being part of countywide 9-1-1.

But Canton - while strongly preferred to be in the countywide system - is not essential to countywide 9-1-1 going forward.  If Canton won't budge on its "secret" agenda items, then look for SCOG's countywide 9-1-1 to be formed with the Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson's dispatch center being teamed up with the RED Center (western Stark County) to be the nucleus of Stark countywide emergency services system.

It is anybody's guess as to whether or not Canton will come around.  To The Report - township, village, city and county officials should not allow Canton to be the "tail that wags the dog."  And yours truly does not believe that they will.

In the end, the matter of Canton's inclusion is whether or not Mayor William J. Healy, II and Canton City Council want to be team players or not.

What follows is a series of video that give Stark citizens a look at what discussion went on in Tuesday's meeting:  some of "the devil's in the details," but, of course, not those "elephant in the room" devilish details that Canton officials are keeping to themselves.  It seems to The Report to be a game of brinkmanship being played by Canton's administration which does not speak well of the Healy leadership group.

(VIDEO; BERNABEI & CREIGHTON EXAMINE 9-1-1) ----- STARK'S 9-1-1 CENTRALIZED COUNTYWIDE REHAB WILL BE UP AND RUNNING AS A "REMOTE" OPERATION BY ABOUT MAY, 2011; BUT IS IT SUSTAINABLE IN TERMS OF FUTURE COSTS?

In doing their work session study this past Tuesday, Commissioner-elect Janet Creighton and Commissioner Tom Bernabei are providing the "in-process" rehab of Stark County 9-1-1 system its best chance to get off on "the right foot."  That is to say, in a more technical way:  with "sustainable practicality."

Too much, in recent times, what government and business do throughout America is unsustainable.

Going back just a few years and former President Bush's "everybody in America - a home owner" program, as laudable as it was, was unrealistic when it got to the point that it generated "liar loans" and the like which resulted in the massive foreclosure problem that threatened to bring the USA and all of its political subdivisions to their collective economic/financial knees.

Some government leaders have figured out the problem of governments fostering "unsustainable" programs and practices and are taking measures to stop the undermining of the viability of the greatness of America.

Once such effort appears to be taking place right here in Stark County with our newly elected commissioners:  Janet Creighton and Thomas Bernabei.

Former commissioners (Bosley, Harmon and Vignos) made an incredible blunder in December, 2008 in "imposing" a 0.50 sales tax for the obstensible purpose of rebuilding Stark County's broken 9-1-1 system.

Imposing the tax was, in the imposing, a "poison" pill which threatened to kill the root goal (fixing 9-1-1) of having the revenues in the first place.  Then the imposing triad decided that the imposition was not enough.  They added a "for the general fund aspect" to the tax and in promoting acceptance of the tax by the Stark County public "downplayed" - to say the very least, the general fund part of the tax increase.  The downplaying gave Stark Countians the idea that their government was not being very forthright with them.

And, then - four months later - came the revelation of the Frustaci theft from the Stark treasury and Stark Countians were in a tizzy about the reliability of Stark County government.

So now it is up to newly elected officials (Bernabei and Creighton) as well as Zumbar at treasury and Harold at the auditor's office and the bevy of political subdivision officials (villiage, city, township and board of education officials) to pick up the pieces and take concerted actions to restore the public's trust in local government.

BACK TO THE COMMISSIONERS

In observing the work session of Tuesday past on the 9-1-1 situation, it became apparent to the SCPR that the commissioners' focus was on the viability of the configuration of the project.

While the commissioners are not involved directly in the governance of the project, they could conceivably take the $2.75 million sitting in a general fund account and apply the money to the 16% shortfall of general fund monies for the 2011 budges and in that way kill the rehab of 9-1-1.

The Stark County Political Report does not believe that the diversion of 9-1-1 monies will happen for two reasons:  first, Sheriff Swanson, The Reporth has learned, is on record as saying that he will not be pursuing the $2.75 million to apply to his budget shortfall because it would be like applying a band-aid to a gaping hole.  Secondly, the vetting by commissioners of Concatto/Gonzalez revealed weaknesses in the plan that in taking corrective action upon gives commissioners the assurances they need that a reconfigured 9-1-1 will, indeed, work and move forward with what appears to be a sustainable financial model.

Every Stark County public officials needs to follow the Bernabei/Creighton model of local governing.  For whenever there is a failure in sustainability, it leaves a bad taste in the people's mouths and governing becomes that much more difficult across the governing spectrum.

What have Bernabei and Creighton discovered about the 9-1-1 project in process?  First, there are weaknesses how ongoing personnel costs will be funded and, moreover, secondly, a consideration of whether or not the funds are likely to be there for capital improvements (i.e. the call receiving equipment and the computer assisted dispatch/radio factors) as new technology comes on board.

What remedies for the weaknesses are to be found?

On the personnel costs (call center employees and dispatchers) there are the "wireless fund monies" at 28 cents per cellphone customer in Ohio imposed by the Ohio legislature running through December 31, 2012.  That fund (on The Report's analysis) will generate enough money to pay for the call center (in the sense of receiving calls) employees.  And, on the equipment side, it will generate enough money (when coupled with a 1/10th of one mill property tax levy due to expire in 2012) to pay for an upgrade in the "Plant CML" call receiving system which will likely (according to Stark EMA Director Tim Warstler) be out-of-date five (5) to seven (7) years.

The word is that the Stark County legislative delegation (Oelslager, Schuring, Slesnick and Snitchler) is asking what they can do to help with the future viability of Stark's 9-1-1. 

The answer?  Very simple.  They need - at the very minimum - to push through an extension of the 28 cents wireless fund assessment.  The assessment generates $900,000 annually for Stark.  Ideally, they will push for an increase.  For if they do, (let's say a doubling to about 60 cents per month per cellphone user), then Stark County will not have to worry whether or not the 1/10th of a mill property tax levy is renewed by Stark Countians, which the SCPR thinks is worrisome given the downward spiraling economic times we now live in.

Another answer that was generated by Benabei/Creighton questioning of Project Manger Joe Concatto and Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) 9-1-1 Countywide Governance Committee chairman Randy Gonzalez is this:  9-1-1 will be financed by "user fees" going forward, and therefore, the fees have to sufficient to pay for the dispatchers (some 80 or so) who will man the system when it becomes narrowed down to two locales (the Canton center and the Sheriff's center) and, moreover, the fees will have to be high enough to generate a "capital improvement fund" so that out-of-production Motorola Centracom Golden Elite consoles that are to be the backbone of the initial setup for the dispatch side of 9-1-1 can be replaced with state-of-the-art equipment in five years or so.

Honing the user fees to provide for future viability and sustainability is no easy task for Concatto, Gonzalez and their fellows.  How is that?

Although all but one local dispatch center (CenCom - sponsored by the Nimishillen trustees) have accepted  Countywide 911's offer of remote hosting equipment to receive calls (i.e. AT&T's Plant CML - which is to been in place at the localized dispatch centers by May, 2011); whether or not Stark County can get to the next step - relocating the local center dispatchers to the Canton Center (nine dispatch consoles staffed with about 40 dispatchers around the clock) and to a redundant center at the Sheriff's facility (also nine dispatch consoles with about 40 dispatchers around the clock) is "still" problematical.

Really?  What is the possible hitch?

Localities (Alliance, Minerva, North Canton, Perry Township, Plain Township and the Red Center) will have to make a determination that it financially pays off for them to merge into the two redundant centers before they will give up their locality-based dispatching centers.

Just as an aside, Nimishillen Township's CenCom and the county fire and police department served by CenCom (in the opinion of the SCPR) - when Stark's countywide systems gets up and running next May (2011) or whenever, will be a step behind the county system.

How so?

A part of the countywide build up to centralized countywide 9-1-1 call receiving and dispatch involves a stage in which all of the current localized dispatch centers (Alliance, Minerva, North Canton, Plain Township, Perry Township and ems, fire and police served by the Red Center) will receive access as Public Safety Access Points (PSAP) remotely.  CenCom's customers (according to 9-1-1 project manager Joe Concatto) will not.   CenCom (despite the best efforts of Trustee Allen Gress) rejected the county's offer of equipment which would enable "remote" dispatching capability and therefore will not have the ability to lessen by one step the process by which an emergency 9-1-1 caller get a dispatcher to send an emergency unit to site of the emergency.

If Stark County gets to a centralized countywide 9-1-1 call receiving and dispatch operation, because of the work of Bernabei and Creighton along with the prior efforts of Stark County's political subdivision police and fire chiefs (including the recalcitrant Rich Peterson of CenCom/Nimishillen Township) it will be one of the very best economically sustainable and viable systems in all of Ohio and, perhaps, even in the nation.

By building government services - in a transparent, accessible manner - like it appears that Stark's 9-1-1 is in the making; local government officials do themselves and all government officials a hugely good turn in restoring citizen confidence in the responsiveness and attentiveness of government to the needs of everydays.

The Report applauds participants in the vetting process (democracy at work) for being part of the mix.  Gonzalez, Concatto and Warstler are singled out for their persistence and flexibility.  Moreover, though they - in the opinion of the SCPR - chose an unwise course for the funding mechanism, Commissioner Todd Bosley and former Commissioners Harmon and Vignos have made significant contributions to the building of a viable countywide 9-1-1 system.

Here is a video of Warstler and Concatto making a recent presentation to county commissioners.



Here is a video showing Creighton and Benabei vetting Concatto and Gonzalez on the cost factor of countywide centralized 9-1-1. It is quite revealing!

THANKSGIVING 2009

Stark County has had a number of local political figures step forward with a positive contribution to the well-being of our county in 2009.

The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) recognizes the following for their contributions to better government and/or making current officeholders more accountable.

MIKE REHFUS (Stark County Engineer) demonstrated exemplary courage and steadfastness despite an ongoing battle with cancer which resulted in him untimely death on November 11th at age 49.

It is not surprising that Rehfus was courageous to the end.  Courage is a quality that he has shown over his tenure as county engineer.

He pushed for an increased license plate fee so that the Stark County is better positioned to construct new roads and rehabilitate  roads and bridges greatly in need of repairs. 

In 2008, he convinced Commissioners Bosley and Vignos to support imposition of the fee over Commissioner Gayle Jackson's objection.

Rehfus is the quintessential county official for streamlining operations and thereby doing more with less in terms of personnel.

Despite his illness, he worked hard with Commissioners Bosley and Harmon to effectuate a merger between the engineer's operations with that of the Stark County Sanitary Engineer which will prove to be highly beneficial for Stark County taxpayers who will enjoy more performance for less money because of the merger.

For his many years of service to Stark County, Stark Countians, indeed, are thankful that Mike Rehful came our way.

CHARLES BROWN (judge/Stark County Court of Common Pleas).  Judge Brown is a leading member of  a group of  Stark County jurists (Common Pleas) who have been and continue to work hard to facilitate the return of Stark Countians, who have gone awry of the law,  to a restored position in the Stark County community.

Moreover, Brown is a leader in working with Stark Countians across-the-board to go back to the drawing board to find ways and means to adequately fund Stark County government in the light of the failed Issue 5 which was designed, in part, to provide sorely needed revenues for the Stark County general fund.

Undoubtedly, Judge Brown would be the first to say that he, along with Judges Lee Sinclair and Tayrn Heath the visible part of the Stark County judiciary working in a "let's work together" mode with the Stark County public to put together a funding mechanism for Stark County which will meet county needs as well as working for the taxpaying public.

What is impressive about the judges' effort is that they could just sit back and let other county officials "twist in the wind."

How's that?

Ohio law empowers county judges to mandate county commissioners to fund whatever the judges say their financial needs are.

But Stark County's judges have not rested on this prerogative and have chosen instead to be caring of the needs of the entire county.  For this attitude, Stark Countians are thankful.

WAYNE SCHILG (Marlboro Township trustee).  Trustee Schilg has just gone through the most trying time of his political life.

Schilig was caught in the middle of a battle between Trustees Tim Wise (who was defeated on November 3rd) and Trustee Dave Wolf (who chose not to run for re-election) over Marlboro Police Chief Ron Devies and son Kyle's activities on transitioning from Kyle being Marlboro's computer man to a successor caretaker.

The SCPR is not going to dwell in any more detail on the particulars of the "disagreement." and, instead focus on Schlig and his abiding efforts to conciliate.

In the end, he was unsuccessful for reasons he could not control.  But his mediating efforts were not in vain.  For they created the foundation for healing within Marlboro Township. 

Stark Countians, at large, and Marlboro residents, in particular are certainly thankful for have the likes of a Wayne Schilg serving the citizens in a constructive and helpful way.

LOUIS GIAVASIS (Plain Township trustee) has lead the way in showing that in troubling economic times, government leaders at all levels can anticipate and take measures to avoid a financial meltdown in trying economic times.

Giavasis very unselfishly gives fellow trustees Al Leno and Pam Bossart (who will be leaving as trustee on December 31st because she did not seek re-election) full credit for the good fiscal condition that Plain Township is in as 2010 approaches.

Under the Giavasis-led Plain Township trustee effort, the SCPR evaluates Plain to be "the best run Township in all of Stark County," and ranks in the upper tier for all of Ohio.

Another Giavasis quality that Plain Township residents are undoubtedly thankful for is Lou's tenaciousness.

From the day that the anchor store left the Oakwood Square Shopping Center in Plain (years ago), Giavais has worked tirelessly to get a replacement.

It appears that he may realize his goal soon.  For this persistence and durability, Plain Township residents are surely thankful.


RANDY GONZALEZ (9-1-1 Stark County Council of Governments [SCOG] Governance Committee chairman and Jackson Township fiscal officer).

Gonzalez has a terrific characteristic of marshaling community forces to solve a problem.

If Stark County achieves a state-of-the-art centralized 9-1-1 dispatch, it very likely will be because of Gonzalez.  He has a knack for bringing people together who come from different "turf," and getting them to work together on a commonly beneficial project.

Gonzalez is close to pulling off "a coming together" on the 9-1-1 project.  He says he is about 90% towards reaching his goal.  The SCPR believes his number is credible and that the dissidents will come aboard in time.

In years to come, when Stark Countians dial 9-1-1, it is very likely that those who remember the Gonzalez effort on 9-1-1 will utter to themselves a "thank you."  While Stark Countians in general may not know about the Gonzalez effort, they too will be thankful that that "unknown" person who pushed 9-1-1 into being a high quality emergency services center. 


CHARLES SNYDER (member of Vote No Increased Taxes Committee and newly elected Fairless school board member).

Among the basic points of the Vote No Increased Taxex Committee made during their campaign, first, to put the "imposed" 0.50 sales/use tax increase up for a vote and, second, to find a cheaper way to rework 9-1-1.

A primary person shepherding the Vote No group was Charles Snyder.

A keystone of a democracy is that citizens need to have a say in the decisions that are made by public officials in their conducting public policy and operations.  While yours truly ended up vote to ratain the imposed tax, all Stark Countians certainly have to be thankful to Snyder and his cohorts for ensuring that we - the citizens of Stark County - did get to vote for or against retaining the tax.

The SCPR believes that an spin-off of the vote effort and the decision of Stark Countians (64% of those who voted) not to retain the tax was that, perhaps, the Vote No Increased Taxes Committee had a point that the 9-1-1 rehab could be done for significantly less money (in terms of new taxes) and in a way more palatable to Stark Countians.

Though some may see Snyder and his fellows in the Vote No context as being negative; a fair look at the committee effort sifts out positives for which Stark Countians are certainly thankful.

MARK BUTTERWORTH (Councilman-elect Canton's 8th ward).

Up by 14 votes as this piece is being written, it appears that Republican Mark Butterworth has broken the stranglehold that Democrats have on elective office in Canton.

Canton is on the brink of bankruptcy and a primary reason is the lack of political competition and youth among Canton's public officials.

Canton's 8th ward has been held the past four years by a well known Canton Democrat with strong ties to organized labor.  But Mark Butterworth was not intimidated and in running a highly effective campaign, he very likely has ousted the Democrat and will bring a fresh political perspective and a touch of youth to Canton City Council.

If the result should turn around on a recount, Butterworth has still made a noble contribution to the well-being of the body politic in Canton.

Butterworth's infusing local government with competition and youthful vigor is something for all Stark County's citizens to be thankful for.

TODD BOSLEY has slipped from the top of the list to eighth because of some difficult issues that he has not handled well, but, nonetheless, he still demonstrates, more than any other county official a purposefulness, a stamina and a vision for Stark County that tops all other non-judicial elected officials.

Despite setbacks, Bosley demonstrates daily his commitment to repair Stark County's 9-1-1 dispatch in to a state-of-the-art operation.

One of Bosley's finer qualities is his willingness to get into difficult situations to effect a "coming together" of folks at odds with each other or with Stark County government in Lawrence Township  (road ingress/egress) and Nimishillen Township (flooding concerns) and to avoid a funding standoff with the Stark County Veterans Service Commission - to make some but not all of his efforts.

Stark Countians have benefited from and are appreciative of Bosley's hard work.

A LETTER THAT STARK COUNTY CITIZENS RIGHT TO VOTE COMMITTEE MEMBER THOMAS MARCELLI MIGHT NOT LIKE TO BE WRITTEN?

In 1989 Stephen Covey wrote a classic entitled: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

This is a book Stark County community activist Thomas Marcelli of Bethlehem Township would do well to read. Marcelli is a charter member of the Stark County Citizens Right to Vote Committee.

This committee is out and about Stark County collecting signatures to get an issue on the Stark County ballot come November as to whether or not a January, 2009 Stark County commissioners imposed 1/2% sales/use tax increase shall stand.

In today's Repository, there is a letter to the editor from Mr. Marcelli. It is, in the opinion of the SCPR, "a cart before the horse" letter.

In this letter, Marcelli is raising questions about the ability of the Stark County commissioners to compute. He gets into the 9-1-1 funding question and how the numbers do not square up.

Where Marcelli apparently wants to go with this letter but cannot quite figure out how to get there, is to point out that millions of dollars annually generated by the imposed sales/use tax increase will go to Stark County's general fund and a lesser portion will go towards the reconfiguring of s countywide 9-1-1.

But even if Marcelli was more articulate; he still misses the main point of quest of Stark County Citizens Right to Vote Committee: "get the repeal or not repeal the imposed sales/use tax issue" on the ballot. This is what Covey means in setting forth the "effectiveness principles" (i.e. Put First Things First) in his book.

A former member of Marcell's group recently told the SCPR that Marcelli is not a good public face on the group's effort because Marcelli doesn't get it.

You take someone like yours truly. Process is a priority with the SCPR. It is a worthy citizen enterprise to push to have citizens vote on whether or not a new tax in added to the public burden.

If "the right to vote" was the only argument advanced by the Citizens' group (and it may be with some of the other circulators), that, then, would be an example of "putting first things first." Such an approach along with having a walking list from the Stark County Board of Elections in hand, would pretty much ensure that Stark Countians have an opportunity to vote on the commissioners action in November.

The way the Citizens group is going now, who knows what will be the outcome?

In addition to being a big believer in citizens participating in the decisions of government, yours truly thinks that Stark County does need the money to fix 9-1-1 and does need the money for Stark County's general fund.

So if a petition circulator were to approach me on the substantive issue rather than the procedural issue, would I sign the petition?

What Marcelli has done in writing the referenced letter is to bring joy to the hearts of the folks he singles out: Bosley, Harmon, Ferguson, Perez, Zeigler and Swanson. Moreover, SCOG Governing Committee chairman Randy Gonzalez has to be jumping for joy as undoubtedly is 9-1-1 project manager Joseph Concatto.

They have found a new best friend in the quest to keep the 1/2% sales/use tax in place. Irony upon irony, it looks like Marcelli might be best hope to keep the tax the way it is.

So why wouldn't they sign on to the "love note" that the SCPR is suggesting might be in order.

The is no doubt about Marcelli's dedication and zeal. But he may turn out to be the undoing of the petition initiative.

Maybe Mr. Marcelli just ought to consider Stephen Covey's counsel?