(VIDEO) DEMOLITION OF 1936/1937 BUILT CANTON WATER WORKS BUILDING YIELDS (TIME CAPSULE) A BIT OF CANTON'S FORMER GLORY?

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PRESENTATION 

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COUNCILMAN RICHARD HART

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TODAY'S BLOG

GIBBS REP SHOWS UP

OESLAGER MAY BE COMING?

In 1937 Canton city government completed a water works facility which had begun the year before.

James Seccombe was the mayor.

He was in his personal political heyday in that this Republican mayor was elected to the United States Congress in 1939.

And perhaps so was Canton as Stark County's center of government, manufacturing, commerce,culture and population.

Although Canton would add some 8,000 to its population by the census of 1960, the trendline as shown in the population data in the graphic below was clearly on a downward path from the 1940 census onward.

Today, Canton is the center of a massive project to clear away about 5,000 or so blighted properties so as to restructure the city from being a city of about 120,000 to one of about 60,000 to 75,000 depending on the success of efforts to revive Ohio's eighth largest city.

Along with the government demolishing properties, so is the private sector.

It was in the course of the demolishing of the now privately held former Canton Water Works facility that "a bit of Canton history" was unearthed (in the form of a time capsule) by Marshall Land Company, LLC which is located the heart of downtown Canton at 138 - 12th Street NW.

The owner (James Marshall) of Marshall Land was at Canton City Council's regularly (bi-weekly during the summer) last night with the time capsule and made this presentation.



One of the major pieces of the content of the time capsule box which was placed in the cornerstone of the Water Works building by then-mayor James Seccombe was an edition of the The CANTON Repository.

Today of course the newspaper is known simply as The Repository as it has been Stark County's only newspaper since 1926 or so when it bought out its fledgling competitor the Canton Daily News.

James Marshall agreed to share with The Stark County Political Report a look at the contents of the time capsule.

Councilman at Large Richard Hart (Non-Partisan) took time out to thank the Marshall family for preserving and gifting the material found in the time capsule.



In the next ensuing days the SCPR will be blogging extensive video taken at last night's meeting regarding the interaction between council members and a representative of Congressman Bob Gibbs.

Jennifer Kiko of Gibb's Canton office (located in the Stark County Office Building) engaged a give and take between herself and various council members on the issue of Canton getting its fair share of federal government assistance in its struggle to once again to become a viable if not thriving city.

Mayor Healy at last night's meeting passed on word that perhaps 29th District state senator and Republican Scott Oelslager will be making a appearance before council in the near future.

The SCPR has and will be publishing video of Healy's announcement and well as a profusion of comments/reaction to Gibbs and the possibility of an Oelslager Canton City Council appearance.

In the past, Oelslager has said he was "too busy" with his legislative duties to respond to Council president Alan Schulman's continuing request that he come to Canton and meet with council in an endeavor to get the State of Ohio to quit cutting local government funding and, in fact, to go the other direction.

Although Democrat Connie Rubin is contesting Oelslager's right to remain in the Legislature beyond this year, the SCPR does not see her as much of a threat to his reelection.

Though they complain about him, Oelslager will continue to get local government leaders' political support in his quest to remain in the Senate.

Some political observers believe that Republican governor John Kasich will - in concert with the Ohio General Assembly - resume local government funding cuts and/or in adding "unfunded" state mandates whereby local governments foot the bill for implementing new state programs and standards once he is reelected governor of Ohio.

And the SCPR thinks he will "win in a walk" and perhaps sweep local Republicans (e.g. Republican sheriff candidate Larry Dordea) into office with him.

Oelslager has represented (since 1985) the Canton/Stark County area either as state representative or state senator going back to the 1980s as he and state Representative Kirk Schuring (since 1993) have "played musical chairs" (but in a version in which each ends up with a seat) in switching seats every eight years in order to defeat the intent of term limits that became the law of Ohio in the 1990s.

The imposition of term limits was a Republican idea designed to wrestle control of the Ohio General Assembly from the Democrats of the era of one time Democratic strongman Vern Riffe (1975 through 1994).

Riffe is a political hero of former Stark County Democratic Party chairman Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.

As Ohio Senate Finance Committee chairman, Oelslager has at long last achieved political power in Columbus.  However, he has yet - in the opinion of the SCPR - to use it to the advantage of Stark County.

Undoubtedly, he and Schuring (also a Republican) have brought some Columbus-based benefit to Stark County.  But not nearly what one would expect from a duo who are approaching a combined 50 years in the Ohio Statehouse.

The State of Ohio holds about $2.5 billion in its "rainy day fund" of which about .5 billion plus has been taken by the Kasich administration and the Republican dominated Ohio General Assembly from Ohio's local governments.

THOMAS WEST MUSING: "ARREST SMUCKLER, HAWK, GRIFFIN, FISHER, MARIOL, MACK , MORRIS & SCHULMAN?" BRING THEM TO COUNCIL, RIGHT NOW?

WEST:  RIDICULOUS, SIMPLY RIDICULOUS, NO?

Some really "bizarre" things are happening in Stark County these days.

And one the prime sites of such is Canton City Council.

A main instigator of the strange happenings in the opinion of the SCPR is Canton Ward 4 councilman Thomas West.

The SCPR has had a number of says on the West caper and was prepared to move on.  But it came to light yesterday that Councilman West et al went through with their Special Meeting (January 31st) called for on January 30th and so, accordingly, The Report feels compelled to address West's antics one more time.

The Special Meeting was so much "over the top" that the SCPR hereby dubs Thomas West as "Councilman Ridiculous."

It needs to be added, though, that The Report thinks Canton mayor William J. Healy, II lurks in the background.  Under the former council, he could have his council majority engage raw political power.  With the change in the power quotient, he has go more "cloak and dagger."

Back in December (if not before) West initiated a drive to succeed David Dougherty as vice president when it became clear to him that Dougherty was not going to be acceptable to a majority of the Democrats on council (there is only one non-Democrat of the 12 in the new council).

As early as December 17th, it had to be abundantly clear to West that there was no way he would become majority leader.  Nevertheless, he showed that he was willing to "bog down council" by his persistent parliamentary maneuvering (done very poorly, if not ineptly, The Report thinks) to keep the fight going.

Here are a number of blogs for those readers of the SCPR to click on and read who are not up-to-date on all of West's shenanigans.

•  January 13th blog,
•  January 14th blog,
•  January 28th blog,
•  January 31st blog,
•  February 4th blog

On Monday evening, West finally "gave up the ghost" on the fight when it finally dawned on him that there was no way for him to prevail.

A convincer to West had to be and to do with a "let it be known" and a "word to the wise" that he was going to be blasted in public by a highly influential Canton public figure if the 2nd Ward representative continued his ridiculous nonsense.

In any event, "Hell was going to freeze over," before West (or his stand in Chris Smith) became vice president/majority leader of council.

West "huffed and puffed" as if he was going to blow the Canton City Council house in.

And, oddly enough, he seemed to be getting "aid and comfort" from Canton law director Joe Martuccio in that the "Joe that everybody likes" was dilly-dallying around with issuing a forthright opinion on the issue that West was pushing.

Let's say West wasn't "huffing and puffing" and had actually filed (or talked the law director into filing) a lawsuit.

Let's go even further and say that a court comes down with a ruling validating West.  (Of course, there is a distinct possibility that the plurality vote [6 to 5] of January 9th [with Councilman Hart abstaining] might have proved to be a loser)

So where does that leave things?

If the West position wins?

The court remands the matter to council for a re-vote.

If the West position loses?

Hmm?

What?

Everybody on council simply forgets what he has put the body and the City of Canton through and council goes on as if the West generated disturbance never happened?

Even if the West position wins, what does he "really" gain?

If Hart votes in a re-vote (Hart already announced as supporting West) rather than abstaining again, there is a 6 to 6 tie.  President of Council Allen Schulman (again, already announced) breaks the tie for Frank Morris.

If Hart continues to abstain, (in a speculated re-vote) eventually either Babcock, Griffin (the most likely in the thinking of The Report) or Dougherty votes for Morris.

Such an eventuality was there to be seen when West lost 8 to 4 on his motion to have council reconsider the 6 to 5 vote.

In the interim (while the fight goes on) anything that Canton City Council does in terms of passing legislation "during the uncertainty" has somewhat - perhaps - of a legal cloud over it in the event someone adversely affected by a city ordinance elects to challenge the composition of council in passing any such legislation.

How is that good for Canton?

West, if he is all about "what is best for Canton" as he says he is, once he saw there was no pathway to his or Chris Smith becoming vice president/majority leader he should have been willing - in order spare Canton the agony of a stalemate -  to vote for Morris.

Result:  7 to 4 for Morris.  Problem solved, no?

Early on in the consideration of the "who will be vice president/majority leader" such a West move would have been what?

Magnanimous, no question about it.

But West could not find it within him to be magnanimous.

So is pursuing the absurd is one of the two reasons the SCPR will think of him henceforth as being "Councilman Ridiculous."

It was simply ridiculous to continue a fight he could not - ultimately - win.

And the effective functioning of Canton City Council goes into limbo while "the for the sake of West's ego" his political power fight goes on.

Although The Report was thinking West as being ridiculous in terms of his handle on "realpolitik" in the vice president/majority leader thing before "it" occurred, if there was any doubt about the applicability of the "ridiculous" moniker to West, all doubts were removed with the SCPR in the conduct of the Special Meeting of Council (the "it" referred to in the preceding clause) that he, Babcock, Dougherty, Hart and Smith called for January 31, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. in Canton City Council chambers.

It is worth reviewing the Special Meeting proceedings in detail for all to see how patently ridiculous West got on "who is to be majority leader" issue.

Here is an extracted version of last Friday's meeting:

Note:  highlighting was added and the structure was changed by the SCPR to fit the capability of the blog format to present in a readable fashion)

Keep an eye out for the observation (highlighted in green and blue underlining) by West on the matter of possibly compelling his fellow councilpersons to come in and be part of the January 31st meeting.

How ridiculous, no?

"[D]o a call of the house?"

"[H]ave the Members picked up by the Police and brought here?"

Over his fight to have himself or Chris Smith voted in as majority leader?

West tries to make it a case of principle over personal/power politics.

Trouble is:  very few were buying West's line.

To their credit, his core loyalists in Councilpersons Smith, Hart, Dougherty and Babcock were not going from what they might at one time thought to have to have been a "sublime" argument to a "ridiculous" "... we could actually do a call of the house and have the Members absent picked up by the Police and brought here ... "

"Let it be written, let it be said!"

Ridiculous, simply ridiculous, Councilman Ridiculous!!!