PART II: SCPR MULTI-PART SERIES ON TOM BERNABEI'S RUN AS AN INDEPENDENT

VIDEOS

ENCORE PRESENTATION

Commissioner Janet Creighton

Talks About Dancing and Singing

in Response to Bernabei Filing

====================

Bernabei Addresses

Creighton Support

On Sunday, The Stark County Political Report began a multi-part series on the filing on Monday, May 4, 2015 (the day before the Stark County political subdivision primary election) by sitting Stark County Commissioner Thomas Bernabei as an "independent' candidate for mayor of Canton.

Bernabei, had, prior to his making moves over the past week or so to position himself as a political "independent," been a lifelong Democrat.

Back in March, 2014 in an Alliance Review profile of Commissioner Bernabei, Stephanie Ujhelyi wrote in part:

"Yes, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who serves with two Republicans. I'm not a closet Republican -- although some infer that. However, ultimately (getting the job done) is about hard work, sound management principles and hiring the best people as well as finding the middle ground ... "

Mind you, not just a Democrat.  But a "dyed-in-the-wool Democrat."

Kind of reminds you of Nancy Pelosi, - a "dyed-in-the-wool" kind of Democrat that comes to the mind of many of us, no?

Can you imagine her suddenly announcing she's has had a conversion and has become - not a Republican, but rather an "independent?"

Probably not.

And undoubtedly Democrats who have known Commissioner Bernabei for years and years are disbelieving and therein lies the rub for his pulling off a Stark County Board of Elections (BOE) certification that he has done so lawfully.

It will be interesting to note how the vote goes.

The Republicans to certify; the Democrat not to certify?

Republican secretary of state Jon Husted being a guy who is on record being in favor of "letting the people vote" breaks a tie in favor of a Democrat (err "independent") once again?

Below are links to blogs done by the SCPR on the question of whether or not Bernabei would in fact file as an "independent."

• May 6, 2015, Part 1, SCPR Multi-part Series ... 
• May 5, 2015, Collateral Damage, Bernabei filing ...
• May 4, 2015, Breaking News !!! Bernabei files ...
• May 4, 2015, Is Bernabei running ... 
• May 4, 2015, A Persistent Rumor ... 

Later on in this series, you will see/hear Bernabei's take on the issues (ditching his political party affiliating/his residency) of his having filed and whether or not he thinks his candidacy "will fly."

Months ago, the SCPR received a tip from a highly reliable source that Bernabei was thinking about running against Canton mayor William J. Healy, II (for whom he had served as service director/chief of staff January, 2008 through January 2009 [unceremoniously fired in January, 2009]) presumably in the 2015 Democratic primary.

On being asked about the speculation by yours truly, Bernabei merely laughed the suggestion off.

And the SCPR thinks that he was not spoofing The Report nor Cantonians in making the denial at the time of the posed question.

Obviously, things have changed.

One who has not masked her enthusiasm on the prospect of a Bernabei candidacy as an "independent" candidate for mayor this coming November has been fellow Republican Commissioner Janet Weir Creighton.

She and several other notable Stark County Republicans were among the 16 circulators circulating petitions (collecting some 267 signatures) on Saturday and Sunday a week ago from this past weekend.



Note the list included former Creighton administration officials:

• A.R. "Chip" Conde (ran against Healy in 2011 and is currently employed by Stark County Auditor Alan Harold), and
• Joseph Concatto (currently is [on reduced hours basis] and over he past several years has been StarkCounty's 9-1-1 CAD project manager),

Auditor Alan Harold (a staunch Republican) also circulated a petition for Bernabei.

The Stark County "organized GOP" has no candidate in Canton's November 3, 2015 mayoralty race.

However, with Creighton, Conde, Concatto and Harold being involved in Bernabei's candidacy; some might think of Bernabei as being the de facto Republican candidate?

CREIGHTON'S PETITION

CONDE PETITION

CONCATTO PETITION

HAROLD PETITION

As cited above (Ujhelyi's article), Bernabei himself understands that with some Democratic leaders (i.e. Healy and company) he looks like a Republican.

His having key Republican leaders circulate his petitions adds credibility to the pro-Healy Dems (and perhaps even other Democrats) likely claim that he is a de facto Republican.

There were two noteworth Democrats who circulated for Bernabei:

REINBOLD PETITION

The only major Democratic Stark County officeholder known so far to be supporting Bernabei's "independent" run is Stark County Clerk of Courts Nancy Reinbold.

The SCPR thinks that others will surface over the next five months (assuming he overcomes legal challenges) and act as a counter to the likely forthcoming claim that Bernabei is nothing but a Republican hiding under the "independent" label.

HAWK PETITION

Canton Councilman Greg Hawk (Ward 1) that is.

Somewhat of a surprise to The Report inasmuch as this is what yours truly wrote in a recent blog:

Councilman Greg Hawk part of an effort to salvage the mayoralty of William J. Healy, II?

You have to be kidding?

For it was Healy who had to be behind the move that put Hawk out of his treasured chairmanship of council's finance committee in the aftermath of the November, 2011 elections, no?" 

Answer:  You know the adage - "politics makes for strange bedfellows."

And there is more.

A SCPR source says "no way" was Greg Hawk a part of the Mack and Mario effort.

Hawk is said to have wanted to be Canton treasurer when Bob Schirack announced that he was resigning before the end of his term in 2013.  Had he done so, Councilman Hawk, being the solid Democrat he is, stood a good chance to be appointed treasurer over Kim Perez and thereby get a head start on Perez in his quest to get the nomination in May, 2013 in the Democratic primary election.

However, The Report's source says that Mayor Healy intervened to persuade Schirack to stay on until the end of this term (probably because of the Hawk/Healy historic animus) and that consequently Hawk holds a grudge against the mayor.

That could be, but the SCPR has another source saying that as between Perez and Healy (remember the Bernabei candidacy did not get rolling until May 3rd and 4th), Hawk loathed Perez more than Healy.

After all, Kim Perez is the treasurer of Canton.  A position that Hawk once coveted.

Perez had to know that Hawk very much wanted to be Canton's treasurer.  But of course Kim Perez's first priority is Kim Perez.

Why Healy's intervention?

Probably to do Perez a favor in helping him land a position, any position, after losing his county auditor spot to Alan Harold and thereby - hopefully - dissuade him from running for mayor, no?

That's how the SCPR thinks Healy operates.

Perez probably was "all too happy" to let Healy think that being treasurer is all he cared about being.

These two deserve each other.

Hopefully, the people of Canton won't have to have either.

BACK TO THE CREIGHTON FACTOR

Creighton, who the SCPR considers as being Stark County's foremost and powerful Republican in terms of proven vote-getting ability on the basis of her having been elected/re-elected:

• as county recorder, 
• as county auditor, 
• as mayor of Canton (2004-2007), and 
• as a Stark County commissioner 

It indeed was somewhat surprising that she lost to William J. Healy, II in November, 2007 as she sought a second term as mayor.

But there is one big reason why it should not have been surprising.

Registered Democrats as part of the body politic of Canton out number Republicans about 9 to 1.

A sign that the Healy defeat (or perhaps any Democratic candidate including a second run by long time hugely successful candidate in Canton proper William Smuckler) was to be seen in the numbers she won by over the non-charismatic Smuckler in November, 2003.

Had she lost to Smuckler in 2003, she would not have liked it, of course, but The Report thinks she respects Smuckler and therefore would not have harbored the bitter feelings the SCPR thinks she still has as a consequence of her lost to him in November, 2007.

The Report believes Creighton does not respect Healy by virtue of his being perceived by herself and many other Cantonians and Stark Countians as being a consummate, oily politician with state-of-the-political-art-skills at spinning this or that screw up on his conduct as mayor individually and in his role as the city's chief executive.

Moreover, for quite a time after Healy took over as mayor, guess who he blamed for "all that ails" Canton?

Of course, the immediate preceding mayor:  Janet Weir Creighton!

Undoubtedly, in the days preceding their both being elected as county commissioners in November, 2010 in a "save Stark County mode" growing out a "crisis of confidence" in Stark County government as a consequence of what local attorney and civic activist Craig T. Conley has termed as being "Zeiglergate" (LINK), Creighton as a local government official interacted from time-to-time with one Thomas Bernabei.

Little did they know in those days that one day they would come to share a common bond of hatred of "all things William J. Healy, II."

But with Bernabei's having worked for Healy as service director and chief of staff and his humiliating firing in January, 2009 and with Creighton reeling from her 2007 polls defeat to Healy;  it was bound to happen that as commissioners, though of different political party identities, they would unite in their disdain for Canton's current mayor.

So it should not be surprising that Creighton as shown in yesterday's blog and repeated in today's blog a SCPR video showing the ebullience she brought to last Wednesday's regular commissioners' meeting as evidenced in her celebrating the Bernabei filing on the prior Monday as an "independent" candidate for mayor.

As one of the circulators and likely a coordinating factor in obtaining other Republicans (as noted above) to participate in circulating Bernabei petitions over last weekend, Janet Creighton is likely to be a major player in asking Cantonians to vote for "independent" candidate Thomas Bernabei for mayor should he survive legal challenges that are sure to come.

And here is a video of what Bernabei had to say in last Wednesday's interview as to Creighton's involvement in his effort.

It appears that Bernabei and Creighton are attempting to do for Canton what they have teamed up to do for Stark County in restoring public confidence in local government processes and substance.

In 2010, it was Stark County government involving both of them running for office.

In 2015, it is Canton government with Tom Bernabei being the point person.

Tomorrow's SCPR blog:  Part III - "How Bernabei came to decide to run and how the 'last minute' effort unfolded."

PART 2: (A SERIES OF BLOGS) IS STARK COUNTY OVERPAYING FOR 9-1-1 DISPATCH BECAUSE OF A "FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE?"

Last Friday, The Stark County Political Report raised the question as to whether or not the county commissioners made a decision to upgrade the county's 9-1-1 dispatch system and in doing so might have cost county taxpayers $1 millon plus.

The Report believes that IF the commissioners made a costly mistake to Stark's taxpayers, it was all due to a "failure to communicate" by the commissioners' "expert" advisers and that the commissioners were acting on the information they had.

Chief of among the commissioners' advisers is former Canton fire chief and safety director in the Janet Creighton Canton mayoralty administration (2004 through 2007); namely, Joe Concatto.

Concatto was a surprise selection inasmuch as  many of those staffing Stark's emergency services domain thought the likely choice was Nimishillen Township fire chief Richard Peterson.

Peterson had tied himself to former Nimishillen trustee Todd Bosley (turned county commissioner in the election of November 2006; defeating the-then incumbent commissioner Richard Regula) who, as a primary campaign issue, pledged to fix problems with the county's 9-1-1 dispatch as an outgrowth of incidents whereby errant dispatching jeopardized the ability of needy Stark Countians to get the most efficient in emergency services.

The opportunity came for Bosley to push a 9-1-1 dispatch rehab (described in a 2007/2008 commissioned analysis as being "broken") when in December, 2008 he and fellow commissioners Tom Harmon and Jane Vignos "imposed" a 1/2 cent county sales tax increase with half of the increase targeted to the 9-1-1 project.

The "imposed" nature of the increase fired up opposition in Stark and in the November election the opposers successfully repealed the increase.  However, the increase tax collection had begun in April, 2009 and continued through March 31, 2010.

The SCPR believes that the "imposed" nature of the tax made it impossible for Bosley to be reelected as commissioner (or to any other Stark County-based office) and therefore he was not around - as commissioner - to guide the use of the several millions set aside for fixing 9-1-1 dispatching.

Before he left office, Bosley was a player in the process of determining whom was going to be the 9-1-1 rehab project manager.

Though it appears Bosley tried to have Peterson named 9-1-1 project manager (whom, the SCPR thinks, had - at the time, at least - more familiarity with Computer Aided Dispatch systems than Concatto); he failed.

Eventually, Bosley accepted Concatto, the apparent choice of the political power brokers among Stark's fire chiefs, and, of, perhaps, former Stark County Democratic Party chairman Randy Gonzalez who long served as a Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) member and chairman of the Governance Committee on 9-1-1.  Gonzalez worked tirelessly for some 20 years or more trying to centralize Stark's 9-1-1 call receiving and dispatch in order make it more efficient/effective.

To put Gonzalez's contribution into perspective as affecting the county's neighborhoods; every time a citizen needs emergency services and a benefited recipient wants to direct appreciation to a person, Gonzalez, the SCPR thinks, is the guy.

The SCPR thinks Gonzalez deserves more credit than any other Stark County official for getting the 9-1-1 system in its present vastly improved state.

Officially, SCOG selected Concatto in mid-March of 2009 to be the project manager.

There have been many twists and turns for Concatto (working very closely with Gonzalez) over the past five (5) years plus as he has endeavored to get some semblance of a centralized Stark County 9-1-1 dispatch system up and running.

Finally on July 30, 2014 the Stark County commissioners acted on Concatto's (and his CAD Project Team members) recommendation that nearly $2 million (when a six year maintenance plan is included) of the remaining $2.35 million that the commissioners have on hand be spent on a "new" Computer Aided Dispatch "software-based" system from New World Systems.  (a top-tier CAD provider according one publication)




As indicated in Part 1 of this series, the SCPR suspects that in the CAD Project Team "standing on ceremony" (i.e. "form over function") on timeliness of bids/proposals, Stark's taxpayers may be paying nearly $2 million to a Michigan based company for what might be had from a 29 year old Ohio company for in the neighborhood of "a $1 million plus" lesser or more number.

Of course, The Report knew that a blog series such as this one would raise the hackles of the deciders of the matter (primarily Concatto, the CAD Project Team and, perhaps, Commissioner Tom Bernabei who is said by Concatto to be "next to him [Concatto) in knowledge of 9-1-1 dispatching) and is not surprised to receive emails on the publication of Part 1 on August 8th.

Unlike many in Stark County officialdom, The Report welcomes differences of opinions.

In one of the emails Concatto typed in CAPITAL LETTERS which for those of us familiar with the significance of same is like "shouting" at a person.  Maybe that is not the case at all.  Perhaps he inadvertently hit the "caps lock" key.  In Part 3 of this series you will see the entire email; you - the reader - decide for yourself.

Of course, the SCPR could be off on a tangent on being suspicious, and, if such turns out to be the case, the likes of Concatto and other knowledgeables should be able to "clearly" show point-by-point why The Report's suspicions are ill-founded.

The Report's sources are the "unsuccessful" bidder's employee Tom Craven and an unnamed safety forces person (Source), who, of course, does not want to face recrimination if the name was known.

Before going through the SCPR's timeline, readers who want to get the most out of this series should read a 2012 magazine article entitled:  Are CAD Systems Becoming Too Complicated? (Mike Scott and Randall D. Larson, authors)

Here is what the SCPR thinks is a poignant observation for readers to mull on (an extract from the article) in light of Stark County's proposal being 160 pages along:

TriTech’s Chris Maloney said such systems often are designed too broadly which detracts from the basic fundamentals of dispatch.  “When procuring a new system, agencies try and make sure that any and all requirements are thrown into the RFP to make sure they don’t miss anything,” he said.  This leads to “featuritis” – systems that can do everything poorly and not important things well.”

Yes, Concatto's group put out a 160 page specifications list in a Request for Quote.

Was this a case of Stark County overdoing it?

And, of course, by implication of the first, a second question is whether or not the commissioners did the best thing for Stark County taxpayers in light of the county's needs (e.g. a completely revamped 800 mhz radio system) and scarce finances in not exploring whether or not TAC Computer would have provided for those needs at a much lower cost?

SCPR Note:  See TAC's proposal at the very end (i.e. the Appendix) of The Report's Part I blog.

What follows is a chronological timeline of conversations/correspondence that the SCPR has had on the matter and how The Report thinks the issue of "frugality with Stark County taxpayer money" plays out.

JULY 30, 2014

WHAT CAUSED THE SCPR TO QUESTION?

In making his presentation to the commissioners on July 30th, Concatto spent about 30 to 45 seconds in referring to the untimely bid of TAC Computers (TAC) of Bedford, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland).

Because of the brevity of Concatto's reference to TAC's proposal, it might be that Commissioners Creighton and Regula did not know that the TAC proposal was for much less money than the New World bid.

In fact, Commissioner Janet Creighton, after the meeting of the 30th, told The Report that she was not familiar with the TAC proposal (a copy of which the SCPR provided her).  However, she was quick to jump on the fact that TAC's bid had not been timely submitted.

The Report has reason to believe that Commissioner Bernabei did know well before July 30th and therefore it is disappointing to the SCPR that he did not at the meeting of the 30th (as he is so prone to do in many of the presentations made to the commissioners) draw Concatto out on the TAC factor.

As readers of the SCPR know, The Report is well taken with Commissioner Bernabei as being a no nonsense, due diligence commissioner.

It is a sad day indeed for The Report, as is suspected, when it appears that Commissioner Bernabei has taken a pass on matter of critical importance to the county.

That's how much confidence that the SCPR has had in him.

AUGUST 4, 2014 (SCPR's "SOURCE")

The Report contacted a person referred to in this blog as being the "Source" and posed the question:

"What do you think of the commissioners' accepting the bid of New World Systems' proposal for a state-of-the-art countywide CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch)  at their July 30, 2014 meeting?"

Answers:

• The commissioners did not purchase a "countywide" system and for PSAP's (public-safety answering point) other than the Sheriff's dispatch, the Canton Communications Center's dispatch and the Regional Emergency (RED) dispatch to connect, they likely will have to purchase a "software" patch (estimated at about $10,000 annually) to join in with the New World system
• SCPR notes/comments:  
• This is a point that Director Concatto and the commissioners readily concede.  Moreover, they are optimistic that in "build it and they will come" fashion (a la "A Field of Dreams), once Stark County political subdivisions (i.e. villages, cities, townships and boards of education) see the operation in action over a period of time and at the urging of county officials, they will "see the light" and over time merge to form an actual countywide system.  
• Concatto and the commissioners have not publicly addressed the additional "patching" cost factor to the five outside the county system PSAPs.
• The system purchased is not fully integrated down to the police cruiser in the context the cruisers "mobile data points" and thereby having laptop computers and having access to the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS, the county's records management system) so as to have more or less "real time" information on the person the officer is dealing with on the scene,
• Comment:  Isn't this latter point a factor of police officer safety?
• Raised questions about whether or not New World has had problems in implementing its system.
• Comment:  The SCPR does not recall ever hearing in the discussion of the New World proposal anything about the New World system's reliability factor.
• It could be that New World is the very best available and, if so, Stark Countians through the commissioners should have affirmative user based testament(s) to that effect dug out by the CAD Project Team
• Notwithstanding the CAD Project Team, as reported [including a video of them saying so] by the SCPR, standing behind Concatto, most if not all Stark County fire and police chiefs oppose [according to the Source], the July 30th commissioners decision because of the ongoing projected costs of maintaining the system in years beyond the current maintenance agreement and because they preferred that the money be used for new 800 mhz radios, and
• TAC Computer's Tom Craven, being a technology geek, lacked the marketing sophistication of TAC's competitors

 AUGUST 6, 2014

On the 6th, the SCPR spoke with TAC's Craven and summarized that conversation in an email to Concatto for his response.

[Regarding:] TAC

        Martin Olson, Aug 6 at 9:39 AM

To:  Joseph Concatto

Joe,

Spoke with Tom Craven of TAC yesterday [actually on the 4th] regarding your statement at last week's commissioners meeting that TAC was too late in submitting a proposal for Stark's CAD.

He denies that such is the case.

Says that the 9-1-1 project team has known about TAC for four years and the team has had a presentation made to it.

He claims that Stark is overpaying by at least $1 million with the New World bid.

He says that Canton already has TAC's up-to-date system and the PD does not want to change but that the CFD (which I believe you once headed) does.

I would like to hear the details about your side (the team's side) of the recommendation to the commissioners to buy into New World.

Craven says that he has sent you an e-mail detailing a proposal for CAD for Stark without the GIS factor.  Please forward a copy of that e-mail and any other correspondence from TAC to you/the project team.

What is the GIS factor and how critical is it to a properly functioning system?

Thanks,

Martin Olson
Stark County Political Report

Concatto's response:

Re: TAC

        Joseph Concatto, Aug 7 at 11:07 AM

To:  tramols@att.net
        andrea.perry@cantonohio.gov
        Dean McKimm
        John Whitlatch
        Raymond Friedmann
        majorbrink@jtpd.com
        Jamie Wood
        Mark Busto
        Joseph Concatto
        Thomas Bernabei
        Bruce McAllister
        maier@starksheriff.org

Martin,

Please see attached for my response to your e-mail.

SCPR Note:  Interesting cc:  list, no?

Concatto's letter:

Martin,

Here is my response to the e-mail sent to you by Tom Cravan [sic, actually name is spelled Craven] on August 6, 2014.

“Tom Cravan [sic] denies that TAC was too late in submitting a proposal for the Stark’s CAD.”

First, the proposal that TAC sent me on July 21, 2014 was a just that, an unsolicited proposal not a bid.

Let me begin by saying that the safety of the first responders in Stark County was always, and remains, our top priority.  

The CAD Project Team, which you met at the Commissioner’s meeting, has been involved with this project since April of 2010.  They include representatives from the Sheriff’s Dispatch Center, the Canton Communication Center and the RED Center and they have been involved in all aspects of this project.

This Team designed and issued a Request for Qualification for the purpose of contracting with a national consulting firm to help write the specification for a countywide CAD/Mobile System.  RCC Consultants, Inc. was chosen as the consulting firm and Mr. Leo Birbilas was the lead consultant.  Mr. Birbilas came to Stark County and met with the dispatch centers in Stark County, the Stark County Fire Chief’s Association, the Stark County Police Chief’s Association, a number of Fire Chiefs and Police Chiefs, County officials and the CAD Project Team.  These meetings formed the background for the specifications for the CAD System.

On October 31, 2012 the County released a Request for Competitive Sealed Proposals for a Computer Aided Dispatching System and a Mobile Data Computer System.  This proposal consisted of approximately 160 pages of specification for both of these Systems.

Thirteen vendors requested and received bid packages for this Proposal and this included TAC Computer.  On November 19, 2012 we sent out an addendum to this Proposal to all thirteen vendors including TAC Computer.

Nine of the thirteen potential vendors submitted a bid for this project and the bids were opened on January 17, 2013.  TAC Computer did not submit a bid.  We eventually reduced the number of vendors to three.  After having all three vendors demo their product we picked a final vendor which was New World Systems.

This was a very extensive project.  We always had the safety of our first responders as our first priority with cost of the project our second priority.

I am not sure why TAC Computers did not submit a bid but the fact was they did not.  It was important that all the vendors that submitted a bid could conform to our specifications.  Whether or not TAC could or could not conform to our specifications is a question for TAC Computers.  There last minute proposal will not be accepted by the County.

“Craven states that the 9-1-1 project team has known about TAC for four years and the team has had a presentation made to it.”

The CAD Project team has known about TAC but they were never given a demo of his system.  Tom Craven did give a demo to the Canton Police and Fire Department and I was present at one of these demos around 2010.

“Craven claims that Stark is overpaying by at least $1 million with the New World bid.”

As stated above we had nine vendors who bid on this project and their bids ranged from$1,176,935.00 to $2,664,882.00.  These bids were based on the specifications for the CAD System.  TAC Computer did not submit a bid saving the County 1 million dollars.
“Craven states that Canton already has TAC’s up-to-date system and the PD does not want to change but that the CFP (which I believe you once headed) does.”

I assume the “you once headed” is referring to me and I am not sure why the reference.  

I had no input into the Canton Fire Departments decisions regarding TAC.  However I did reach out for a response from Canton and received the following:

Canton Fire Department did an evaluation of the TAC CAD system in 2012.  They actually ran it as their CAD for about a week and the Fire Department found that the TAC software was not functioning very well with their Firehouse records management systems.  Report times and run numbers were some of the issues.  That was a problem for the Fire Department in reporting to state for NFIRS and EMS and they had to make manual corrections.  

Canton discontinued using the TAC CAD and never felt a need to revisit it.  The Canton Police Department and the Canton Fire Department still uses Enroute as their CAD provider but will move to the New World System.  

Canton personnel did view the demo from New World and are very comfortable with the New World product and they believe this System will serve their needs well.

Martin you had a question regarding the importance of GIS mapping in a CAD system.  

GIS mapping is vital to a properly functioning CAD system.  Stark County’s GIS Department and their mapping system is one of the best in the state.  GIS mapping will run within the same bandwidth as the new CAD System.  It will include Pictometry and will be updated on a daily basis.  

You can contact Brian Hall the director of the Stark County GIS Department for more detail regarding the importance of the GIS mapping system. 


SCPR Note:  The SCPR was way ahead of Concatto on this suggestion.  The Report captured Hall and Stark Emergency Management deputy director Rich Weber after the commissioners' meeting of August 6th and put the question of GIS compatibility direct to Hall and Weber, to wit:



Continuing with Concatto's letter:

I hope this information will enlighten you on how this project came about and the extensive time and effort it took to pick the vendor that will provide Stark County with a Countywide CAD System.

So ends this Part 2 of the SCPR series on the question of whether or not "a communications failure" was a key factor in the concern of The Report and various Stark County fire and police officials that the commissioners may have overspent Stark County taxpayer money in agreeing on July 30, 2014 to pay New World Systems nearly $2 million for a new CAD system.

Within days, the SCPR will pick up this series with Part 3.

In Part 3, The Report will share with readers, in detail, the Craven's (for TAC) response to the various issues raised by Concatto and his CAD Project Team in recommending that the commissioners award the county's CAD business to New World without digging - it appears to the SCPR - into the details of the TAC proposal.

Moreover, the SCPR will share it its entirety, Concatto's point-by-point rebuttal to various parts of Part 1 of this series.

In concluding this Part 2 however, The Report does take the final paragraph of the Concatto letter referred to in the paragraph immediately above this one, to wit:

Martin, though I may not always agree with you, I respect your effort to get your opinions and documentations out to the public.  I have always responded to your questions in a timely manner, however, I will not debate Tom Cravan [sic] nor your "person of considerable knowledge" on your blog.

An interesting statement, no?

Especially, the I will not debate language.

Well, Mr. Concatto can "rest at-ease."  This  series of blogs has never been about getting interested parties to debate.

What it is about about is Stark County citizens being fully informed about whether or not those paid by Stark County and Stark County political subdivision tax dollars have looked carefully and thoroughly at all options available to the best advantage of the Stark County taxpaying public, whether or not the proposals were timely submitted.

Taxpayers are likely interested in "Substance over Form," when it might mean saving $1 million plus.

It has taken Concatto and his close advisers over five (5) years to get to recommending to the commissioners on July 30th.

And that is all well and good.

So what was the big rush to "short-shrift" (what the SCPR is thinking) the TAC Computer proposal?

As persons who is paid with Stark County taxpayer dollars, Concatto, the commissioners and the CAD Project Team have an obligation to convince Stark County taxpayers that there are substantive reasons why they recommended/approved spending $1 million plus over what TAC's proposal called for.

In pushing for answers, the SCPR makes no apology.

These days, the only media place the Stark County public will get a thorough examination of the questions raised with the TAC Computer proposal is with The Stark County Political Report.

The Report compliments Concatto with being willing to respond to each and every question the SCPR has ever posed to him on his and the CAD Project Team's effort in coming to a recommendation on which company the commissioners should award the CAD contract to.

And that is how it should be.

To his credit and to Commissioner Tom Bernabei's credit, they do not take the route that a few politically cowardly Stark County politicians have taken vis-a-vis the SCPR.

The political cowards know they cannot handle The Report's questions so they avoid and they make snide, derogatory remarks about "the blogger" in their handpicked loyalty groups.

Agree or disagree with the SCPR, The Report publishes every word written and every camera interview done.

The Report thinks well of the commissioners and thinks well of Concatto and his CAD Project Team.

But thinking well of or, for that matter, ill of a public official or figure is not a SCPR consideration.

The Report's thing is to delve into what no other media in Stark County will.

In this vein, it is a fiduciary-esque public obligation of the commissioners, Concatto and the CAD Project team to satisfy the Stark County public that the recommendation and concomitant decision was in the overall best interests of Stark Countians.

If, on the other hand, there was indeed "a failure in communication" that caused the on-the-face-of-it TAC Computer money saving proposal to the tune of $1 million plus to get "short-circuited, then those same public officials should own up to it.

In the end, once this series is completed, Stark Countians will be equipped to make a determination for themselves as to whether or not they have been well served by those in whom they have placed their trust.

(VIDEO) ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR A "CONSOLIDATED" 9-1-1 STARK SYSTEM?

UPDATE:  11:45 AM

ENTIRE VIDEO  OF 07/11/2013 SCOG 9-1-1 GOVERNANCE BOARD MEETING

VIDEOS

FORMER STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER

JANE VIGNOS

MAKES MOTION 

TO RECOMMEND TO 

STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

THE PURCHASE OF A 

CAD SYSTEM & 800 MHZ RADIOS

RANDY GONZALEZ

UPDATES

STARK'S EMERGENCY FORCES

ON

9-1-1 REHAB

JOE CONCATTO

UPDATES

STARK'S EMERGENCY FORCES

ON

9-1-1 REHAB

ENTIRE 07/11/2013
SCOG 9-1-1 GOVERNANCE BOARD MEETING

It was a touch ironic yesterday that former Stark County Commissioner Jane Vignos made the motion requested by Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) 9-1-1 Governance Board Chairman Randy Gonzalez that SCOG recommend to the Stark County commissioners:

• that they spend some $2.35 million (according to County Administrator Brant Luther) being held by them to purchase a Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) system, for
• a "consolidated," not yet a "regionalized" (see Burgasser correction in Vignos motion video posted below),
• and to apply the rest of the money towards buying state-of-the-art 800 mhz radios for Stark emergency forces who do not presently have them.

Vignos motion - "somewhat ironic?"

Yes.

Republican Vignos was one of three Stark Commissioners (Democrats Todd Bosley and Tom Harmon being the other two) who "imposed" as 0.5% county sales tax which was highlighted as being to fix what was term then (December, 2008) as being a broken Stark County emergency call receiving and dispatching operation.

But the tax did not last long.

Local attorney and civic activist Craig T. Conley soon figured out that the imposed tax was not entirely for a 9-1-1 fix.  Half of the revenues were for the county general fund.  However, that fact was glossed over by the-then commissioners and other county officials who wanted to see the tax remain on the books.

Because of the tax being "imposed" and due to the secretive treatment of the general fund aspect of the collections, voters responded to a Conley put together effort to repeal the tax in November, 2009 with an overwhelming vote to squash the tax.

Nevertheless, subsequent boards of county commissioners including the current one of Commissioners Tom Bernabei (Democrat), Janet Creighton (Republican) and Richard Regula (Republican) have set aside and protected the 9-1-1 fix share of the revenue generated by the imposed tax for 9-1-1 purposes.

The set aside and protection has been necessary because  county government went through a crisis of confidence from December, 2008 through November, 2011 generated by the imposed tax and the revelation that former Stark County chief deputy treasurer Vince Frustaci had stolen upwards of $3 million in Stark County taxpayer funds over several years but undetected by county officials until April 1, 2009.

During the crisis, pressure was put on commissioners to appropriate the $2.3 million to overall Stark County government operations.

It seems to the SCPR that the multiple boards of commissioners have understood that it would not set well with county taxpayers to give in to the pressure.

Back in 2011 it appeared that a countywide, centralized "regional" dispatch system was a "go" for Stark County when out-of-the-blue Canton mayor William J. Healy, II and his then-safety director Thomas Ream became a problem.

Along with the Stark County sheriff's office, the Canton Communications Center are to be the bulwarks (as backups to one another) of any countywide, centralized emergency call receiving and dispatch operation.

The SCPR's analysis is that Healy realized his Canton Communications Center was a key component of whether or not centralized 9-1-1 was going to be a reality and further realizing that Canton would not be in charge of a "regionalized," centralized system, all of a sudden became uncooperative.

All of that is all changed because now it is obvious even to the mayor of Canton that Canton's CAD system is out-of-date and the city can ill-afford to spend the million or so to update its system.

Beyond CAD, there is the issue of having a universal countywide radio system in which all county emergency forces have 800 mhz radios and that a capital fund be built up to upgrade the current radios (which will not be supported by vendor Motorola past 2017) and be part of the wave of the future in which nearly all if not all emergency force radio communications will be done through a state of Ohio system called MARCS (Multi-Agency Radio Communications System).

So he is all too happy now to join in with the county (though headed up by arch-political-enemies Creighton and Bernabei) and in a sense dip into the county's $2.35 million and thereby solving the need for Canton to find that much money plus to keep Canton's communication's center up-to-date.

SCOG's Gonzalez being the politico he is, to wit:

• Stark County Democratic Party chairman, 
• Jackson Township fiscal officer, and 
• an employee of fellow Democrat Phil Giavasis in the Canton Municipal Court clerk of courts office [CJIS], 

though humiliated by Healy on 9-1-1 (in the opinion of the SCPR), is willing to let bygones be bygones and is apparently overjoyed at the prospect of getting a "scaled down" system which he and others at yesterday's  session  were distinguishing as being a "consolidation" (Massillon Fire Chief Tom Burgasser was most emphatic on this point) and not a regionalization of a rehabbed county system.

Here is Gonzalez (who has worked for over 20 years for a "fixed" Stark County 9-1-1) yesterday updating a number of Stark's police, fire and emergency workers at the Stark County sheriff's training room on the status of Stark 9-1-1 dispatch upgrade.

During the session, Gonzalez said that he believes "it is now or never" for Stark County to get on the track towards regionalization of 9-1-1 dispatch.

Also weighing in yesterday was 9-1-1 Project Manager Joe Concatto who outlined:

• the CAD bids and emphasized that the county would only proceeding IF that the effort at rehabbing 9-1-1 ultimately results in a "regionalized," 
• the transition from a "consolidated" - at the start - to a "regionalized,"
• in a vague sense the costs of consolidation (e.g. historical average of 236,000 divided among 44 dispatchers [from Canton Communications Center, the sheriff's center and the RED center],

So it appears that the Stark County commissioners are willing to spend the $2.3 million for something less than ideal.

Eight dispatch centers will not be a part of a Stark County CAD at least at the start of operations.

Gonzalez, 9-1-1 Project Manager Joe Concatto and others expressed the "hope" that one day - down the road - the eight non-participants will see the light and join in with the "consolidated" system and thereby make the Stark County consolidated operation a true "regionalized" system.

The stark reality that the Stark commissioners now face is whether or not to take the tax dollars paid by "all" Stark County taxpayers and apply it for the benefit of about 75% of Stark's local government units.

The SCPR believes that they will.

It appears that they will buy into Gonzalez's "it is now or never" rationale.

For those SCPR readers who want to see the entire video (53 minutes long) of yesterday's SCOG 9-1-1 Governance Board meeting, here goes.

VIDEOS: STARK COUNTY TO BECOME PART OF THE STATE OF OHIO'S "CAD" SYSTEM? EMS/FIRE/POLICE RADIO SYSTEM? THE REPUBLICAN PHILOSOPHY OF GOV'T TAKING HOLD IN STARK CO.?

 UPDATED AT 08:45 AM

Normally, one does not like to be thought of as being a guinea pig.

But such might not be all that bad for Stark County officials charged with providing:

• emergency medical services,
• fire and
• police services

to Stark County's residents.

Back in 2007/2008 the Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) commissioned a study on the condition on the county's emergency call receiving and dispatching services and the verdict was not good.

For a copy of the complete copy of the original GeoComm report, go to this LINK at the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) site.

For more background on the continuing effort (Jackson fiscal officer Randy Gonzalez has been working on fixing Stark's 9-1-1 system for the better part of 20 years or more), here is a LINK to a prior SCPR blog.

It had to be music to Gonzalez's ears to hear recently that there might be an opportunity for Stark County to become the first in Ohio to join the State of Ohio (MARCS - "Multi-Agency Radio Communications System" Computer Aided Dispatch [CAD] system.

The reason that the news might be "music to the ears" is that joining the state system might mean more dollars remaining of the $2.35 million (from revenues collected for 9-1-1 rebuild purposes from the Bosley, Harmon and Vignos December, 2008 imposed 0.5% sales tax [repealed overwhelming by Stark County taxpayers in November, 2009]) that the Stark County commissioners are holding to be used for upgrading the radios being used by Stark's EMS, fire and police forces to state-of-the-art 800 mhz, platform 7X, P25 radios.

Here is a video in which the possibility of Stark County (the very first non-state agency) is presented by Joe Concatto (a Republican and a former safety director for the Janet Creighton administration) at a SCOG Executive Committee meeting held at Canton City Hall this past Tuesday.



The SCPR likes hearing about what is being worked upon by Concatto, Gonzalez (Jackson Township fiscal officer, and also the manager of Stark County's CJIS) and others in terms of integrating Stark County emergency forces into the bigger picture of statewide communication capability.

Along with the CAD, there is the need for the county to keep pace with state-of-the-art technology in its radio communications system in and of itself.

Stark County emergency forces are working with radios, for the most part, that will become outdated in 2017 and it is estimated replacing them could cost as much as $10 million to $15 million.

Accordingly, in addition to studying the possibility of joining the MARCS CAD system, Stark County is very interested in looking at joining the State of Ohio MARCS Radio system.

Right now, it appears the latter is more likely than the former.  However, if the numbers can be worked out as being beneficial to Stark County, then Stark may well become the very first county (i.e "the guinea pig" experiment works) in all of Ohio to become part of the MARCS CAD.

It is commendable that county officials are interested in being "on the leading edge" of working out partnerships with other government entities.

Stark County at the urging of Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar (R-Alliance) is at the forefront of counties in Ohio who are in the process of putting together a "land bank" (officially, the Stark County Land Reutilization Corporation - SCLRC [a non-profit]) designed to remove abandoned houses, which are a huge blight on community aesthetics and serve as havens for crime, from Stark County neighborhoods.

A powerful motivating force for Stark County's first responders to come together within the county to reform and restructure emergency services is the draconian cutback in state funding of local government instituted by the Republican Kasich administration which is currently in charge in Columbus.

It is clear to the SCPR that whereas all state of Ohio funding of local government in its heyday cost some $600 million or so and the state currently is at about $2 billion or so in budget surplus, the real reason for the local government funding cutback is no longer - if it ever was - to be justified on a reported deficit in state finances.

The Report believes that the governor is using the purported financial crisis at the time he took office (January, 2011) to force elimination of duplicative local government services and nudge local governments into regional alliances and collaboration with state agencies in order to make government more efficient and effective.

While the dollars involved are important and taxpayers expect government at all levels to get the most bang for the taxpaying public's bucks, what we are seeing from Columbus is the implementation of Republican ideology of cutting government wherever possible and, to the extent that government cannot be cut, to make it as lean and mean financially as possible.

Out of this philosophy of government, or non-government, if you will, is born the Ohio Local Government Innovation Fund initiative and the like.

Sometimes rank and file citizens do not understand how political ideology affects their day-in, day-out lives.  Well, the SCPR is here to say that the Kasich administration is in the process of branding all of Ohio with its signature ideological stamp.  And it is apparent to yours truly that brand is making its mark in Stark County.

A quintessential part of the Kasich administration's unarticulated "government reduction and consolidation political philosophy at all levels of government plan" are pilot projects (i.e. let's use Stark County as a guinea pig) like the proposed integration of Stark into the MARCS CAD system.

And key Stark County elected officials, like local government officials across the state, are feeling the financial pressure and are wittingly or unwittingly responding with streamlining/consolidating moves which are consonant with the Kasich administration "Republican philosophy of government" objectives.

SCOG executive committee chairman Tom Bernabei (a Democrat) seems to be an effective coordinating force lead player in providing a structure in the context of the Stark County commissioners' meeting work sessions to prod the development of key information so that the commissioners are in a position to make a decision soon (probably within the next 60 days) as to which direction the county is going to go with its $2.35 million.

And the underlying impetus is the need to be efficient and effective.

While $2.35 million may seem to be a lot of money, it really is not in terms of all that needs to be accomplished in bringing Stark County emergency forces to state-of-the-art status.

Here is a video of a discussion that took place as the SCOG meeting that focused the Radio side of Stark getting its 9-1-1 dispatch system in order:



An interesting question that came up for discussion was whether or not Stark County signing up with the MARC Radio system is inevitable?

While the answer is clearly "no,"  it seems to be the thinking of many Stark County EMS, fire and police officials that there is a trend in that direction.

Trend?

The SCPR believes it is more than a trend.  As argued above, The Report thinks that the political forces resident in Columbus largely constitutes the so called trend.

Local Democrats such as Canton's Mayor Healy, Canton Council president Allen Schulman, Jackson Township fiscal officer Randy Gonzalez (also Stark County Democratic Party chairman) have fired back at the governor and his austerity moves, but it appears that like them or not, they are more and more falling into line.

The termination of the Ohio Estate tax has, for instance, denied Jackson Township on average $1 million a year with which to operate and maintain its park system.  Only after the second try (the May, 2013 election) did Jackson voters approve a parks levy.  In the meantime, Jacksonians had to put up with a curtailed use and availability of their parks and also risked a deterioration of the capital facilities of the parks due the lack to financial resources with which to maintain the facilities.

Locally, Republican controlled North Canton government is already a part of MARCS system as an efficiency and effectiveness measure and Democratic controlled Summit County government is looking at whether or not MARCS will be efficient and effective for Summit Countians.

Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II (Democrat - Canton), Chairman Bernabei, and Sheriff George Maier (a Democrat) weighed in on the Stark County discussion at Tuesday's SCOG meeting, to wit:



It is apparent that Ohio's MARCS' managers are working hard with Stark County officials to make Stark County integration into the MARCS CAD and Radio systems a reality.

If integration happens, it will be a testament to the likes of Concatto, Gonzalez, Bernabei, and a core of other Stark County officials that they never lost their vision of putting together the very best of emergency force systems to the benefit of everyday Stark Countians.

Near the end of his presentation at Tuesday's session, Concatto once again reaffirms his belief (see video at the end of this blog) that Stark County can achieve a "one dispatch center" operation.

Undoubtedly, he and Randy Gonzalez have some tales to tell and some huge frustrations to share to any who are interested in hearing about the many peaks and valleys they have gone over and through in their quest to make Stark County one of the state's if not the nation's very best emergency response local government.

This is work that most Stark Countians do not witness.

But the product of their work especially if coupled with a Stark County integration into a statewide MARCS CAD and Radio system (even if, as a state/county "guinea pig" operation) will prove to be life saving to many Stark Countians.

Here is Concatto on video expressing his belief that a Stark County "one dispatch center" is, perhaps, once again on the county's horizon:

LACK OF FINANCING, COMMUNICATION & TURF WARS KILLING COUNTYWIDE 9-1-1? SHOULD THE EFFORT BE SCRAPPED AND THE REMAINING $2.51 MILLION FOR 9-1-1 PUT INTO THE COUNTY GENERAL FUND?

It is becoming clearer and clearer to the SCPR that Stark County's attempt to rebuild 9-1-1 from being on life support according to a 2008 GenCom report, is now in jeopardy.

The Report attended a meeting of the Stark County Council of Governments [Governing Board] (SCOG) meeting of March 15th and comes away with the impression that rebuild effort is falling apart.

Until the 15th, the board had not met for some months.

Rehabbing Stark's emergency call receiving and dispatching system started out being troubled.

The Report believes it continues in that mode and it is appearing more and more that a fully state-of-the-art system that encompasses all of Stark County as originally envisioned will never be realized.

So what are the problems with getting 9-1-1 to where the shakers and movers of Stark County government leadership say they want to take it?

The funding problem.

At great political cost to himself, former Stark County Commissioner Todd Bosley persuaded his fellow commissioners to impose a 0.5% sales tax in December, 2008 which collected the necessary money to get the project underway.  However, Stark voters reacted to having the tax "imposed" by repealing it in November, 2009 which had the effect of limiting the original goal of the 9-1-1 portion of the tax (the remainder being for the county general fund) of providing the service "free" to Stark County's political subdivision.

A lingering problem continues to be?  Yes, you have it funding.

Although some $2.51 million remains set aside by county commissioners to be spent on the capital side putting together countywide 9-1-1, there is not enough of it.

Not enough of it because not all of the political subdivisons which would make up a countywide system have state-of-the-art radios (800 mhz).  So officials are scrambling to get federal grants to supplement some money available from the $2.51 million in order to get everyone equipped with appropriate communications gear.

North Canton has broken ranks with a Stark County's 800 mhz radio plan by signing up with the state of Ohio MARCS system.

Another aspect of funding revolves around the question of maintaining the system.

Since a continuing dedicated sales tax for maintaining 9-1-1 is gone, how will - assuming that a true countywide system is put in place - it be maintained from a continuing financial operations standpoint?

The apparent answer is user fees.

However, it seems that Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II does not believe such is a proper and, perhaps, realistic financial structure for maintaining Stark's 9-1-1 system. And, apparently, he worries that the entity itself (Stark County Council of Governments - SCOG) which would own and operate the system, with 2012-13 severe cuts in state of Ohio local government funding, will have it own financial problems in terms of its own survival.

As things stand now, SCOG is struggling to fund, going into 2013 and beyond, the Stark County crime lab.

The word is that the state of Ohio may totally eliminate local government funding going forward.

The Report uses the terms "seems" and "apparently" in discussing Healy's position because it is unclear to yours truly that financial viability concerns are his "real" concern.

Yours truly is more apt to believe that it is more an issue of ultimate Canton control of countywide 9-1-1 (i.e. a turf problem) for Healy than his suggestions of financial integrity concerns.

Beyond funding concerns, then there is a communications problem between Healy and his safety director Tom Ream (who is president of SCOG) and SCOG governing board Chairman Randy Gonzalez and Project Manager Joe Concatto.

It is really weird that Healy, Ream, Gonzalez and Concatto, who undoubtedly cross one another's paths in multiple forums on a regular basis, just shake their heads in a "I don't know" fashion when asked why they cannot get together and resolve the differences they have and moving forward with rehabbing countywide 9-1-1 with Canton being a key player.

Communications on this topic are so nonexistent that  Gonzalez and Concatto with the apparent acquiescence of the Stark County commissioners (Commissioner Tom Bernabei is the lead commissioner on the 9-1-1 project) no longer talk optimistically that Canton will be part of a countywide system.  Rather that it will be narrowed to include the RED Center (mainly Jackson Township and Massillon) and the Stark County sheriff and a few other political subdivisions.

Even the sheriff's participation is problematical (Sheriff Swanson has been back and forth on the issue) and a "real" answer awaits the outcome of November's election to determine who - among Republican candidate Larry Dordea and Democratic candidate Mike McDonald (currently a chief deputy in charge of the jail division) - will succeed Sheriff Tim Swanson.

Anyone who knows anything about the 9-1-1 consolidation project knows already that Nimishillen Township's CenCom will not be part of a countywide system.

The SCPR has written frequently that The Report believes that Nimishillen opted out for two reasons.

First, Nimishillen Fire Chief Rich Peterson was not chosen to be the project manager for the rehab and his pride and joy CenCom will not be the hub of a countywide system.  Another manifestation of a turf problem?

Second, Nimishillen is so saddled with debt for the fire station that houses CenCom that in order to generate revenue to pay the mortgage, its only choice is to compete with a countywide system.

Today, there is a media report that North Canton is considering joining up with CenCom.  Recently, Lake Township signed on.

Canton, North Canton, Lake et cetera not in a countywide system.   Does it make any sense to proceed with spending the remaining $2.51 million being held by county commissioners on a fragmented (countywide?) 9-1-1 system?

During 2012 county budget considerations, the Stark County Common Pleas Court judges proposed "lending" the $2.51 to 2012 appropriations.

Perhaps the time has come for the commissioners to square up with the realities of:

• financial problems,
• communication problems,
• and turf wars,

that plague the effort to get to a true "state of the art" countywide 9-1-1 system and defund it entirely?

Stark County general fund operations sure could use that $2.51 million, no?