THERE SHE GOES AGAIN, KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY TRYING TO "WRECK" MASSILLON?

 UPDATE:  08:47 AM

The one line that Masillon should be focusing on to know what is "really" at play in the Massillon city government and politics "flare up" at Monday night's councl meeting is Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry's statement:

But to mask the "power politics" aspect of the fight over whether or not the money will be provided by Massillon City Council to fund a parking ticket officer, the mayor has decided to become inflammatory about the matter in claiming that the defunding is a racist/sexist act because her hire is a black woman.

What the mayor fails to mention is that the hire is not just any black woman but she (Dwan St. John) is a "politically connected 'black' woman;" the wife of none other than Deametrious St. John who until March 1, 2014 was a Stark County Democratic Party recommended appointee (the governor of Ohio actually makes the appointment at the behest of the local party in most instances) to the Stark County Board of Elections.

Deametrious (a pivotal figure in the creating of the Stark County Black Caucus) played a key role in putting former Catazaro-Perry safety director George T. Maier (Stark County's Democratic Party appointed sheriff) on the November, 2014 ballot when his qualifications under Ohio Revised Code Section 311.01 was challenged by a-then Massillon Democratic Party Ward 1 precinct committeewoman (Cynthia Balas-Bratton).

The SCPR has tabbed Deametrious St. John as a card-carrying member of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr Loyalty Club.

If there is any "ism" at play in Massillon, the SCPR thinks it is political "cronyISM!

If this matter was about the merits of the downtown Massillon merchants' need to have the city government help solve their parking problem, those councilpersons who go through the arithmetic of how the Catazaro-Perry administration has configured the job, then a "reasonable" executive would say:

"you know what, you have a point.  Given Massillon's precarious financial position and the fact that we have current employees doing furlough days, it was a mistake to create a fulltime position by merging two part time jobs (i.e. the parking officer position and an income tax department job) because doing so obligates the city to pay benefits which - in a tight budget - is not a thing to do."

The SCPR thinks that the KCP administration focus has not been on the numbers and the merits of the matter but on somebody's determination that Ms. St. John was to be hired (no posting of the job done) and in the mix it was concluded that one way or another she was to be put in a fulltime position.

After all with with her having a masters degree, it certainly would be a case of "being underemployed" were she only to be a part time parking officer which means no more than 30 hours per week, with no health care and retirement benefits, no?

The SCPR conjectures that the merits of the matter (from the Massillon taxpayer standpoint) did not match the Catazaro-Perry political needs, and, perhaps, St. John's financial needs and therefore "the public be damned" and "we - the administration are going to do as 'we dam well please,' and if I (KCP) need to get politically nasty to get my way - I will do so!

Hence, the racism and sexism charges.

For one who does not have the merits on one's side, the only alternative to prevail is to confuse matters and through out a "red herring or two," no?

To the SCPR there is a big political umbrella overlay to the St. John hire.

One of those voting to defund the parking ticket officer position is Ward 2 Republican councilwoman Nancy Halter.

So?

Well, from the Maier Loyalty Club perspective, her action has to be politically motivated, no?

Really?

Indeed!

For she is a part of the campaign of Republican Larry Dordea who is running against guess who for Stark County sheriff this November.

•  SCPR Note: Republicans (four in number) do not control Massillon City Council.  However, there is a gigantic rift in the Massillon Democratic Party (i.e. Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero and former mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr are avowed political foes of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and his political sycophant and chief deputy clerk of courts Shane Jackson) and consequently a number Democratic members (except for council president Tony Townsend and Ward 4 councilman Shaddrick Stinson) of council are quick to join the Republicans in stiffling Catazaro-Perry drive to political power.

Dordea's opponent is Catazaro-Perry former safety director George T. Maier.

And George:

•  became the Stark County Democratic Party appointed sheriff (one time [February 5, 2013] illegally according to the Ohio Supreme Court [reappointed on December 11, 2013] 
• largely through the efforts of his brother Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and former Stark County Democratic Party chairman 
• [currently Massillon clerk of courts 
• who is the power behind Catazaro-Perry becoming mayor in 2011 in a political grudge match between Maier, Jr and longtime political adversary and longtime former mayor Frank Cicchinelli.
• SCPR Note:  many think, as does The Report, that Catazaro-Perry is merely the "window dressing" in the mayor's office and that Maier, Junior and his loyalists run the executive branch of the city of Massillon

Dordea:

• is currently Hartville police chief, 
• former Alliance police chief,
• currently a Republican member of Alliance City Council,
• which is presided over as president by Dwan St. John attorney Steve Okey (who claims that the council defunding, as does Catazaro-Perry) was racially motivated,
• Note:  Steve Okey himself was recently appointed president of Alliance City Council over fellow Democrat Sue Ryan in an Alliance Democratic Party fight that included George T. Maier political operative (in the context of Maier's political campaign for sheriff) Derek Loy who, by the way, is an employee at the Stark County sheriff's department.
• Note:  The SCPR thinks Okey sought and was appointed president of Alliance City Council and a part of a grand political grand plan put together by Maier, Jr in cahoots with recently retired SCDP chair Randy Gonzalez to be "a political thorn in the side" of Dordea on his home turf.
• Note:  Okey is becoming quite accomplished at having a role in legal proceedings/inquiries vis-a-vis Stark's political subdivisions.
• He filed his own lawsuit against Alliance City County (dismissed by him, interestingly enough, when he became council's president) for alleged violations of Ohio's Sunshine Law on secretive voting procedures.
• Although The Report thinks that Alliance City Council was ill-advised in its "sometimes" practice (which Okey himself participated in when he was an Alliance councilman) of voting "unsigned" ballots; the SCPR does not buy Okey's claim that he filed the suit out of devotion to open government.  The Report thinks it was done to politically embarrass Dordea.
• Already as council president, Okey has generated a controversy in which he tried to leverage his position as president into working a de facto council rule change in requiring "roll call" votes on each and every council vote.
• As with the voting issue, the SCPR thinks that Alliance City Council should do roll call votes except on certain pedestrian, run-of-the mill matters; however, The Report does not buy that Okey's action was anything but politically motivated in order to embarrass Dordea.
• Okey is also threatening litigation with Massillon should it strip George T. Maier son Michael Maier of his sergeant's position as a consequence of a court decision that Michael was was improperly promoted over Massillon police officer Tom Rogers in scoring competitive civil service exams.

The Stark County Political Report's take on all the fuss about the parking officer funding tiff?

There is nothing racial about the fight, it is all about politics.

And The Stark County Political Report predicts that if Steve Okey and his client persist in trying to make this a racial thing, - once the courts see all the political dynamics in play - they will get bounced out of court in a nanosecond.

In the meantime the city of Massillon and its taxpaying citizens will suffer untold expense and a huge distraction from solving the many financial and economic problems that Tigerland now faces.

In the end, it will be everyday Massillonians who do not get their street repaired, jobs created and neighborhoods rehabbed because the politicians have phonied up a fight that in its core is all about politics and nothing about race.

That, folks, "is a bunch of political crap!"

And Maier, Jr and his stand-in Kathy Catazao-Perry owe - not those council members she offended by calling them racists and sexists on Monday night - but the hard working, taxpaying citizens of Massillon who are having to put up with "the political crap" are indeed owed an apology by the figurehead mayor and her chief political sponsor!

Don't count on an apology Massillonians.

Catazaro-Perry, Maier, Jr, et al appear to have no sensitivity whatsoever to the misery and hard times their playing politics with Massillon government visit on everyday Massillonians.

KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY: THE MAYOR OF MIXED MESSAGES?

Last week the SCPR complimented Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry on her apparent turnaround on working with Massillon City Council on getting her administration's dispute with council as to who has the power to hire and fire (among other issues) the director of Massillon's Parks and Recreation Department.

The hope is that the mayor has turned over a new leaf and is abandoning her confrontational "it's my way or the highway" or, at best, a non-cooperative "drag-my-feet" modality in favor of seeking out common ground with council members in working through Massillon issues.

From the aforementioned blog:

Another important ingredient in Monday's meeting was "born again" Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry's attitude. 

Her outlook was conciliatory in terms of sharing power with council on the matter of who is to hire a new director notwithstanding that the chairman had stated in very clear terms ("absolute, 100%") that the ultimate decision on hiring a director should be with council.

Maybe The Report should have taken a "wait and see" posture vis-a-vis the mayor before ascribing a "change of heart" to the mayor.

At that same meeting (July 29, 2013), Councilwoman Nancy Halter (Republican - Ward 2) expressed concern about the enforcement of legislation she patiently though persistently guided through council with passage occurring on September 4, 2012.

The Report meant to follow up with Halter after the meeting as to specifically what the problem was and who the problem was.  However, yours truly got sidetracked with other matters.

In due course, the SCPR will recall the intention to do this thing or that thing and is certain to follow up.

And sad to say - when yours truly did follow up - what Halter tells The Report is not a pretty picture in terms of the Catazaro-Perry administration doing anything to implement Ordinances 48-2012 and 49-2012.

It could be that Massillon's mayor is learning the wrong lessons from the mayor of Canton.

As reported in prior SCPR blogs, Catazaro-Perry, in addition to being mentored and monitored by Massillon clerk of courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.,  has been taken under the wing of William J. Healy, II.

What a combination:  Maier and William J. Healy, II, no?

No wonder Mayor Kathy is flopping all over the place in her relationship with council.  Both, in the opinion of The Report, are "you have do what you have to do to politically - to survive" types.

The SCPR covers Hizzhonor at Canton City Council meetings and recalls the complaints from Canton councilpersons and Cantonians about his not staffing commissions established by council legislation.

If memory serves correctly, Healy dragged his feet (about a year) appointing members to the Canton Tree Commission and had to be embarrassed at a "Public Speaks" segment of a council meeting before getting off his duff and getting the commission up and running.

One might say that the Catazaro-Perry administration has not gotten off dead center on the Halter sponsored "vacant ... [and] non-owner occupied building" legislation because she moved the enforcer-in-chief (James Johnson) from the Massillon Buidling Department into being interim safety director.

(Note:  Catazaro-Perry's original safety director, George T. Maier (Johnnie's brother), had been appointed by the Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee in February to be the Stark County sheriff (an appointment which is under legal challenge to be decided any day now by the Ohio Supreme Court).

But then again, it does not appear that Johnson's move should have anything to do with "not getting the job done" in Massillon's building department (which adjoins the mayor's office) in terms of enforcing the existing building code including Halter's legislation.

For The Report is told that the department has two new hires who, Halter thinks, should be "Johnnie On The Spot" in terms of thoroughgoing enforcement.

Halter says that when Johnson had the job (and she thinks he was a good building code enforcement officer), he would send out reports as to what he did with complaints about building code violation allegations.  When asked about why those responsible now to do the work of enforcing Massillon's code were not doing reports, Johnson's response?

They think it would be "a waste of paper."

Hmm?

Halter's response:  "Have they ever heard of e-mail?"

One of the hires is David Mayle (husband of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. secretary Tammy Mayle.)

Formerly, until Stark County voters unelected him in November, 2010, Mayle was a top level employee of now former Stark County auditor Kim Perez (now in line to become Canton's treasurer as he is currently unopposed for the office as of the date of this blog).

So it is an SCPR premise that as things stand now, Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry is sending out mixed messages.

On the one hand she shows promise with respect to being part of the solution regarding the long time, chronic problems with regard to Massillon's Parks and Recreation board operations.

On the other hand, her administration (after all "the buck does stop at the top, no?) is showing that getting Massillon's neighborhoods ship-shape is not a priority in that it apparently is not leaning on the Massillon Building Department to consummately enforce Massillon law.

A note to Mayor Catazaro-Perry.

Councilwoman Halter is not going away on this issue.

It was a core issue in her running for the Ward 2 council seat in 2011 that she was going to do something about redeeming Massillon's declining neighborhoods.

And in seeking re-election this fall what is her core message to the voters in Ward 2 going to be?

Bingo!  You've got it.

She is going to say something to the effect:  "I am going to double-down on my effort to push the administration to vigorously enforce Massillon's building code and to implement my sponsored and guided passage of ordinances 48 & 49-2012."

Councilwoman Halter showed in defying the odds in getting her legislation passed in the first place that she is "one determined councilwoman" and she is not going to quit until the Catazaro-Perry administration starts energetically enforcing 48 & 49-2012 as well as all aspects of Massillon's building code.

Massillonians take the condition of their neighborhoods very seriously.

And Councilwoman Halter will not rest until the Catazaro-Perry administration does too.

When will it dawn on the mayor that she cannot pick and choose what she will or will not work with on council with respect to solving Massillon's problems?

It is looking like that Catazaro-Perry has met her match in Halter and she is about to learn an important lesson:  "Quit sending mixed messages to Massillon City Council."

2012: STARK COUNTY PUBLIC FIGURES TO BE THANKFUL FOR

2012 is the fifth annual Stark County Political Report salutation to those Stark County public figures who have made significant contributions to the well being of Stark County in a governmental/political context.

NUMBER ONE:  CHARLES E. BROWN, JR.

Judge Charles E. Brown, Jr. has had a stellar ten years plus on the bench of the Stark County Court of Common Pleas Court.

He was appointed in 2001 by Governor Robert Taft and went on to win two terms and could have stayed on the bench until the end of 2014 though he reached the mandatory retirement age for Ohio judges at age 70 in July.  However, have the self-awareness to realize that we all "lose a step or two," with advancing age, Brown retired effective October 31st of this year.

Though he has proved to be a distinguished jurist in presiding over many criminal and civil trials during his tenure (including the Bobby Cutts murder trial), the SCPR recognizes him for his work on the Stark County Reentry Initiative.

The Report's assessment of Judge Brown is that he is leading example of being a "tough love" judge.

Recently (November 16th), representatives of the Stark County Criminal Justice Reform Committee wrote of Judge Brown:

As indicated by his nickname, “Send ’Em Down,” Brown earned a reputation as a tough judge.

This approach is often necessary, and prison sentences are a proven crime deterrent. However, he also understood that once offenders did their time, they needed opportunities to reintegrate into society.

Brown presided over the county’s innovative Re-Entry Court, which steered returning citizens toward employment, housing and social service programs to ease their transition and reduce recidivism.

Under Charles Brown's leadership, the Stark County Reentry Initiative was the recipient of the First Annual "Independence Day" Award. 

The SCPR had the opportunity in July, 2011 to spend a morning in a session of Reentry Court.  For those readers who wish to see the program in action, here is video of an actual session.



And here is a video that you will not want to miss:  a one-on-one time between yours truly and Judge Brown.



The SCPR salutes Judge Charles E. Brown, Jr. for rendering over a decade of outstanding service to the grateful citizens of Stark County.

NUMBER TWO - V. LEE SINCLAIR, JR.

Yours truly (J.D. 1973) has known Lee Sinclair (J.D.  1976) for 36 years.

In fact, we tried a case or two against each other over those many years.

For the last 18 years, Lee Sinclair has been a Stark County Court of Common Pleas judge.  And he has earned a reputation for moving his case docket along lickety-split.  Because of his lightening speed of moving cases along, he has become known as the "Rocket-Docket judge."

In Judge Sinclair's court, there would be no "justice delayed is justice denied".

Recently, Judge Sinclair announced he will be retiring as of the end of this year and will be devoting some of his time to teaching at the University of Mount Union located in Alliance.

As a jurist, he has been a pre-eminent scholar.  Sinclair has been serving as chairman of the Ohio Judicial College Board of Trustees and has written about presiding over a capital punishment case as a part of a major treatise on the handling of capital cases.

The SCPR has written extensively since 2009 about Judge Sinclair's handing of the Ron Devies and Kyle Devies case.

In what yours truly believes was clearly a case of a communication problem, Marlboro Chief of Police Ron Devies and his son Kyle were charged with fourth degree felonies.  (For more details, here is a LINK to a prior blog).

It was no surprise to the SCPR that Judge Sinclair ended up doing what he did in presiding over this case.

After the prosecution ended its case, Sinclair sustained defense counsel's motion to dismiss.

A case that never gone forward in the first place, in the opinion of The Report.

For his speed in administering justice, his legal scholarship and doing justice, Stark Countians certainly have much to be thankful for in having V. Lee Sinclair, Jr. being a judge of the Stark County Common Pleas Court.

NUMBER THREE - THE YOUNG TURKS

The best thing for the city of Canton was the election of a group of four "young" men (Morris says he is not young) to Canton City Council in November, 2011.

The four:  (left to right in the photo above)  Frank Morris, Jr., (9th Ward), Edmond Mack (8th Ward), John Mariol (7th Ward) and Kevin Fisher (5th Ward).

Normally, the SCPR is not keen on officeholders being elected who ran unopposed.  But two of the four (Morris and Fisher) did and Mariol was appointed to replace Patrick Barton who moved on to become a member of Healy administration as IT director.

But in a 9 to 1 Democrats to Republicans voter registration advantage city, candidates running unopposed is more the norm than the exception.  Moreover, Stark County Republican chairman Jeff Matthews has done an incredibly poor job in preparing Republican candidates to compete in those wards in which the GOP could compete.

Cantonians has lucked out with the elevation of these four to council given the non-competitive political environment.

For despite their shared political allegiance, they have put the Healy administration under close scrutiny.

As regular readers of the SCPR know, The Report thinks Mayor William J. Healy, II is one of the slickest politicians we have seen in these parts in many of a year.  It seems that nearly everything he does in his role in Canton government is somehow designed to benefit his political future in some way, shape, or form.

And The Report understands that such is the case for many, many politicians.  But really?  Isn't the best way to benefit politically, not to calculate for one's own interests, but to be working at fever pitch for the well-being of the people and everything will fall into place?

That's how the SCPR sees Messers Morris, Mack, Mariol and Fisher and how the seem to function.

Undoubtedly, all want to be reelected (retained in Mariol's case) next November.  Healy has been suspected of running a candidate to take out an adversary.  Councilman Greg Hawk appears to have been the butt of a Healy political attack.

But despite this risk, Morris, Mack, Mariol and Fisher are going about it the right way:  doing their job as due diligence councilmen.

The Report shudders to think what Healy would be getting through council that is not necessarily good for Cantonians with nary a question being asked without "the four" leading the way.

To be sure they have needed help.  And they have been joined by a handful of veteran councilpersons (Cirelli, Hawk and Griffin), depending on the issue.

To repeat, but for "the four" and their probing eyes and incisive questioning, The Report believes that Canton would be led down the primrose path of repeatedly and dutifully following the lead of a mayor fixed on his individual agenda which frequently does not square up with the best interests of Cantonians.

They have scrutinized:

• the matter of oil and gas drilling on Canton owned lands,
• the reduction of the income tax credit that Canton allows for those living in Canton but paying village/municipal income taxes to another locality,
• the consideration of changing policy the apprehension of stray, wild animals prowling the confines of the city,
• the installation of traffic cameras at key downtown interchanges as a safety or revenue producing proposal.

And there have been more.

But suffice it to say that "the young turks" have been a breath of fresh air in a council environment which still consists of a number of Healy automatics.

For "the four's" presence on council, Cantonians certainly have to be thankful this November 22, 2012.

NUMBER FOUR - NANCY HALTER

The SCRP has been watching Massillon City Council for some time now.

As with Canton, Massillon is pretty much thought of as being a Democratic city.

But not nearly to the degree as Canton.

Massillonians undoubtedly have to be pleased with the fact that four Republicans were elected in November, 2011 and have made Massillon City Council a truly deliberative legislative body.

And the SCPR sees Ward Two Councilwoman Nancy Halter as the leader of the pact in terms of digging in on issues, understanding them, offering solutions and sticking to her legislative goals.

An example?

This is what The Report wrote about Halter on September 4th of this year:

Councilwoman Halter turned what appeared at one time to be "a death by a thousand cuts" legislative effort to make owners of Massillon neighborhood residences more accountable and trackable as Massillon's building code enforcer (William Kraft) sought council's assistance to get legislation with more teeth on the books to aid him in his effort.

The battle in Massillon council has been going on over the requested legislation for about three years.

Currently, Massillon is deciding whether or not it should raise its income tax rate next year.

One of Halter's positions from day one on council has been fiscal responsibility.

She understands that a breech of trust with the citizen voters means that you can ask all you want, but there will be no voting of additional taxes if you have lost the trust of the people.

Her tack on the tax increase issue is to insist that the annual payment on the Massillon government owned The Legends golf course is summed up in a quote by Matt Rink of The Massillon Independent (City Council members see Legends debt as obstacle to passing tax hike, November 19th):

The parks are not being taken care of.  The people did not vote the parks tax in to support a golf course.

Hooray for Nancy Halter!  She is one impressive council member.

And the people of Massillon have to be very thankful in this season of the year for a councilperson who is definitely is a person "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

NUMBER FIVE - CHUCK OSBORNE

The Osborne selection was difficult for yours truly.

It is a relatively close call as to whether he is a help in ferreting out bad government practices in The Dogwood City or in a strange sort of way provides cover for non-transparent practices, inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of those with something to hide by virtue of their making Osborne the issue.

The tipping point for the SCPR is the belief that Osborne's heart is in the right place and that "on balance" North Cantonians (whether they like his style or not) benefit from his bird-dogging of North Canton City Council on a multitude of issues.

Recently, Osborne struck gold in coming up with a ballot initiative to require North Canton Council to cease providing health care insurance benefits to part-time elected officials.

The SCPR has written two blogs (LINK #1, LINK #2) on the history of Osborne's health care insurance initiative.

It was a no doubter to The Report from the beginning that the former councilman would succeed with his petition drive.  And he did in spades.

It was also a no doubter that he would win this past November 6th.  And win he did.

Implementation of the new ordinance will not take effect until a new council is in place as of December 1, 2013.

Do you think that council will now have a new found if grudging respect for Osborne?

The Report thinks that a majority of North Canton's council members see Osborne as a counterproductive citizen who makes a good point here and there.

One only has to do is talk with a given councilperson (pick one, except perhaps for the newest one) to get a patronizing and disdainful evaluation of Osborne's engagement all in one conversation.

See/say what they want, but there is little doubt that they feel Osborne's eyes on every move they make.

And The Report believes this a good thing for North Cantoninans.

From what the SCPR has seen of North Canton Council, especially since Daryl Revoldt left for a job with the Kasich administration in Ohio's Department of Development; council needs scrutiny more than ever.

As far as The Report is concerned, the procedures employed by council in hiring a former councilman (Fox) as its law director left a lot to be desired in terms of transparency.

Osborne's big drawback, in the opinion of yours truly, is that he appears consumed with a desire to get back into North Canton officialdom.  He was a councilman-at-large about ten years ago for a two year stint.

Since then he has been unsuccessful to regain status in North Canton government.

He has run for mayor, for a ward council seat and, most lately, applied for Tim Fox's vacancy when he became law director; losing out each time. 

As The Report sees Osborne and his civic activity is in pretty much the role he plays now.   But with measured selectivity as to the issues he takes on and when he does engage, to do so in a less acerbic manner.

Osborne's November 6th victory could be, if he plays his citizen activist cards correctly, the beginning of heightened effectiveness that might in time become a model for other Stark Countians who want make local government more democratic in terms of accessibility, openness, transparency, and responsiveness.

He has the makings of an enhanced credibility that he can use to compel council to focus on the issues and not on Osborne the messenger.

In the election, nearly 80% of voting North Cantonians demonstrated with their votes that they are thankful for and appreciative of Chuck Osborne's civic activist work.

MASSILLON'S COUNCILWOMAN NANCY HALTER UNDERSTANDS THAT "AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE," BUT APPARENTLY THE REST OF COUNCIL DOESN'T?

UPDATE:  9:50 AM

A huge move that is in its initial stages of development in the State of Ohio is spending millions upon millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars tearing down dilapidated residential buildings.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has set aside $75 million from Ohio's $335 million share of a $25 billion national mortgage settlement with America's five largest mortgage companies in settlement of allegations of foreclosure abuse, fraud and improper practices.

DeWine bills his initiative as being the Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Grant Program.

Of the $75 million, Stark County is slated to get about $2.3 million due the efforts of the Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar.

It could be that by the fall of this year and certainly by early into next year Alliance, Canton, Massillon and other Stark County political subdivisions will be benefiting from Ohio's initiative.

And that is all well and good.  But the financial lament of having to have taxpayers tear down private market housing that has not been kept up over many years is such that we should label tear down necessity as a crying shame.

A good part of the reason why residential housing has deteriorated to the point that the only remedy is a tear down is that villages, city's and townships have allowed property owners to milk a property for everything they get out of it and then merely abandon it and walk away from it leaving it to the taxpayers to deal with it.

And that is what DeWine's program and the local application of the recently Stark County commissioner authorized creation of the Stark County Land Reutilization Corporation (a quasi-government, non-profit corporation - headed by Zumbar) is about, at least, in it initial stages.

For someone like Councilwoman Nancy Halter of Massillon (R - Ward 2) to get out in front of the problem and try "to prevent" dilapidation from occurring in the first place is laudable inasmuch as her effort is in the order of being a real, neighborhood saving cure designed to maintain serviceable residences in place.

The DeWine/LRC solution is to leave a vacant lot.

Halter's problem in getting the legislation through Massillon City Council (now on her fourth try) is that her fellow councilpersons seem determined to kill it by virtue of "a death by a thousand cuts" routine.

How convenient?  A thousand cuts and thereby how is one to be held politically accountable for having administered the fatal cut that killed an ordinance that has the potential to save Massillon neighborhoods of the future from the wrecking ball.

The SCPR is encouraged to read in Massillon Independent reporter Matt Rink's piece Halter vows to continue fight to register landlords (July 9, 2012) this quote:

“I’m going to keep this up until we pass this.  I’m just warning you. If it takes another year then so be it.”

A Stark County Political Report "tip of the hat" to Councilwoman Halter!

Conversely, her fellows on council should abandon what appears to be a "thousand cuts" campaign and take a proactive stance and help Halter find a way to make Massillon a city that gets ahead of its problems and does not sit back and wait for bad things to happen it.

"An ounce of prevention is, indeed, worth a pound of cure!"

(VIDEOS) MASSILLON KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY: HER OWN WORST ENEMY WHO IS DIGGING A DEEPER HOLE FOR HERSELF?

UPDATE:  03/08/2012 - 1:20 PM

COUNCILMAN ED LEWIS, IV ON BUDGET CUTS



UPDATE:  03/08/2012 - 1:00 PM

COUNCILWOMAN NANCY HALTER ON BUDGET CUTS



UPDATE:  03/08/2012 - 10:15 AM

PUBLIC SPEAKS VIDEO ON INCOME TAX CREDIT REDUCTION ORDINANCE (#13)



ORIGINAL BLOG

There is a saying:  "we know you are working hard, but who are you working hard for?"

And usually one is savvy enough to work hard for one's self interest.

But is that the case for neophyte Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry who just took office in Massillon a couple months ago?

Matt Rink of The Independent reported not long ago that the mayor did not have the votes to get her proposal that Massillon reduce its income tax credit for taxes paid by Massillon residents to out-of-town tax jurisdictions by 50%.

But she persisted anyway.

In getting voted down 8 to 1 (only Councilman Larry Slagle voting for her position) on her quest to raise "short term" revenue for Massillon ($600,000 for 2012, had Ordinance 13 passed), the mayor is showing early signs that she has a problem building common solutions in a consensus building fashion for Massillon's financial difficulties.



She continues to hang onto "blame the Frank Cicchinelli regime" line as if "the blame game" somehow solves Massillon's current financial fix.

Add this to a budget cut proposal that Clerk of Council Mary Beth Bailey's salary be cut by 42% (link to that story), and a disturbing picture of Catazaro-Perry's inability to create win/win remedies for Massillon's woes seems to be developing.

 The loggerheads in Massillon city government is taking on a "short-term" solution versus "longer-term" solution tone. 

Moreover, some councilmembers are not into having about one-third of taxpaying Massillonians bearing a burden owned by all Massillonians.

Approved Monday night by council were administration proposed measures to have city non-union employees pay 15% of their healthcare coverage premiums and to take pay freezes.

The approval is indication that council will work with the mayor.

Councilwoman Nancy Halter told the SCPR that council's rejection of Ordinance 13 does not mean that personnel cuts are in the offing.  Rather that other cuts that can be made, must be made.

One hopeful sign that Catazaro-Perry has the capacity for change in attitude is that she has Ken Koher (former Stark County treasurer) as her finance man.  During the short time he served as county treasurer, he devised and implemented a plan to enhance the security of county taxpayer money in light of the theft of taxpayer funds by former Chief Deputy Treasurer Vince Frustaci.

While the needs of the Massillon financial picture are different than what Koher devised a fix for at the county treasurer's office, he has the qualities to be "bridge over troubled waters" asset and the mayor would do well by herself and the city's residents to take full advantage of his skills.

It appears to The Report that she may be using Koher as a financial technician rather than taking full advantage of his reputation as a high quality, non-political financial strategist who has the potential to understand the perspective of council and blending it with the administration's most pressing needs and bring the two together.

A building block of a longer-term (which Councilwoman Haler defines to be possibly more than two years down the road) is Councilman Paul Manson's long held view that Massillon's income tax needs to be raised to a full 2% (up from the current 1.8%).   Comments by councilmembers on Monday indicate that a majority of council favors enacting Manson's proposal.

The Report believes that Massillonians should visualize Catazaro-Perry as having advisers on either side of her whispering into her ears:  the Ken Koher perspective in the ear on the left, the "power politics" proponents in the ear on the right.

The question:  which whisper will prevail?

If it is the one on the right, then the mayor is indeed working hard to dig a deeper hole for herself.

Let's hope that she will focus on Koher's whispers and reverse course and quit working hard to dig a deeper hole for herself and the city of Massillon.

VERY DISAPPOINTING. MASSILLON MAYOR KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY OUT TO PUNISH CLERK OF COUNCIL MARY BETH BAILEY?

On February 7, 2011 the SCPR went to Massillon City Council.  In setting up to record council actions for the evening, yours truly struck up a conversation with council Clerk Mary Beth Bailey.

Amid the chit-chat, it came out that years before Bailey had worked for Republican Janet Creighton when she was Stark County auditor (Creighton is now Stark County commissioner).

And that was interesting to learn.

But even more interesting was Bailey's account of how the then Councilwoman Kathy Catazaro-Perry had tried to get her non-renewed for being clerk of council.

The Report thought that was odd and chalked it up to thoroughgoing Democrat Catazaro-Perry  playing a little bit of politics in trying to move the Republican tainted Bailey out and an out-and-out Democrat loyalist in.

After all, Catazaro-Perry is closely allied with Massillon Clerk of Courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. (also a former Stark Democratic Party chairman), who, in the SCPR's experience, seems to like using available public offices to place consummately loyal Democrats in.

However, Catazaro-Perry failed to convince her fellow councilpersons and her effort failed.

So The Report assumed that the Bailey removal effort was old news and that Catazaro-Perry had moved on.

But perhaps not?

Recently, the now Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry submitted her 2012  Massillon budget to council. 

Everyone knew it would be an austerity budget and so there was no surprise that she billed her proposed $34.9 million budget as a "two-year financial restoration plan." 

Among the major cuts the mayor proposed was 20% for Perry Stergios and his law department.

But that proposed cut paled into insignificance when it came out on Republican Councilwoman Nancy Halter's report that in "the devil is in the details" that Mayor Kathy was proposing to cut Clerk Bailey by 42% (2011 to 2012) from $42,469 to $24,600.

Whew!

What a revelation!

Immediately the SCPR had an aha! moment.

It seems very clear that Catazaro-Perry had not forgotten her council days ill-fated effort to get rid of Bailey and now to the degree she can do so, she appears to be out to make life as uncomfortable for Bailey as she can.

The proposed Bailey cut reeks of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. Machiavellian-esque politics and what could be a better cover for what appears to be a blatantly political move by Catazaro-Perry than the budgeting process.

With her ever present smile and generally cheerful disposition (in contrast to Maier), one might want to assume that Catazaro-Perry is not nearly as dug in on vengeful personal and partisan politics as Maier appears to be.

But this move is evidence that beneath the veneer,  she totally buys into the Maier model that he learned at the feet of former Ohio Speaker of the House Vern Riffe when Johnnie served as his political manservant during the time he represented Stark County's 56th Ohio House District in the 1990s.

If she is adopting Maier's model, then she can expect lots and lots of trouble from the new council.  Dominated by Republicans 5 to 4 with a few Cicchinelli Democrats sprinkled, council is likely to take her proposed draconian and disproportional Bailey pay cut as a signal that Catazaro-Perry has opted to play hardball politics with them.

For the sake of and well-being of Massillon and her own credibility as being "different" from other politicians, Mayor Kathy needs to turn away from vengeful politics and the like as her guide.

To the degree the mayor engages in such tactics, she hastens the day that she will be viewed as being like any other well-boiled politician.