MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SCPR: ABOUT 41 MINUTES OF JOHNNIE A. MAIER, JR ON VIDEOTAPE!

Revised and Updated  (4:00 p.m.)

MASSILLON'S CLERK OF COURTS

TELLS YOU

HOW GREAT HE IS!

Regular readers of The Stark County Political Report know the history of SCPR blogs on Massillon's (or, should I say, Tuscarawas' Townships') Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.

Most politically involved Stark Countians are scared to death of Johnnie and therefore are generally loathe to cross him.

Johnnie became a political power in Stark County by good fortune from his perspective.

Every once in a while, a brave soul (LINK) will venture into those waters.  But such is indeed rare.  For there is likely a price to pay.

Accordingly, it has been up to yours truly to check the political power hungry Maier, Jr.

Of course, Johnnie, being the ultimate control person he is, keeps his distance from The Report and yours truly's probing questions.

Last night he was front and center in a rare in the public forum.

Usually he haunts the back rooms of political intrigue from which he can orchestrate getting persons in his thrall into Stark County elective office.

His political coup-d'-etat to date was getting his brother George T. Maier appointed and then elected Stark County sheriff in the unfortunate (for the Stark County public) circumstances of the well thought of elected in November, 2012 Mike McDonald being too ill to take office on January 7, 2013

Second, has been the election of Kathy Catazaro-Perry as mayor of Massillon over 24 years as mayor and political rival Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr.

He has had some close calls on both of this huge successes.

George came very close to not getting the appointment over a political unsophisticated former Stark County captain Louis Darrow (Maier won 92 to 84)  And George underwent a nearly two year ordeal of legal challenges before he eked out a narrow victory over Republican Larry Dordea.

It took a political goof on the part of Cicchinelli (good fortune for Maier in getting outraged Tuscarawas Township residents to go door-to-door for Maier's candidate) in attempting to annex real property on which Tuslaw High School sits to be in the opinion of the SCPR a critical factor in Kathy Catazaro-Perry's victory over Cicchinelli in the May, 2011 Democratic primary election.

And wouldn't you know it.

Cicchinelli made another "fortuitous for Maier" and his proxy as mayor (Catazaro-Perry) move in running for mayor as an "independent."

Catazaro-Perry almost lost the March, 2015 primary to neophyte political candidate J. David Ress.  A truly amazing political spectacle, to wit:

With Cicchinelli in the general election race, Catazaro-Perry won with 40% of the vote for her as compared to 60% of the vote going to Republican Lee Brunckhart who, despite having run against Catazaro-Perry in the November, 2011 general election, proved even less politically sophisticated and able than either Louis Darrow (re:  George T. Maier) or J. David Ress.

The way Maier, Jr. does math he was heard by yours' truly on election night by yours truly on terming Catazaro-Perry's 40% as compared to 60% against her as her doing a political ass kicking.

Wow!

An out-and-out goof by Maier, Jr was his support of Celeste DeHoff as a candidate for a similitude (i.e. a Republican indexed district in 2008; a Democratic indexed district in 1990 when Maier was elected) of his old Ohio House District from which he was term limited out of as of January 1, 2000.

DeHoff not only got pummeled in the 2008 election (LINK),
subsequent legal difficulties got her in some problems with the Ohio Supreme Court, to wit:

One has to wonder how reliable Maier, Jr's assessments of candidates/office holder is.

Not that long ago, his good friend and Massillon Municipal Court judge Eddie Elum got reprimanded by the Ohio Supreme Court for conduct unbecoming of a judge.  (LINK to Ohio Supreme Court case).  As part of the proceeding Maier, Jr. submitted a glowing testimonial in support of Elum.

Such was ironic to yours truly, given Elum's over-the-top reaction to the SCPR dealing with Massillon political matters (this blog is named The Stark County Political Report) in which Judge Elum embroiled himself  (LINK).

The Report clearly has a apology coming from Elum.  But knowing the judge, Hell would likely have to freeze over first.

Some folks are enamored with Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. and his take on political candidates and public officials, but the SCPR clearly is not.

The Report thinks that both his brother George as sheriff and his proxy Kathy as Massillon mayor are every bit as political as Johnnie is.

The Report recognizes that one does have to have a political side to get elected.

But to yours truly George and Kathy are way over the top on this score as is Johnnie A. Maier, Jr who is a former Stark County Democratic chairman who is chest deep in political machinations and intrigue in multiple Stark County political subdivisions.

Maier, Jr. is his own best public relations agent.

If the taxpayer supported website is an exercise in self-laudation ("The Honorable Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.), his appearance last night was an encore in-person self-promotion.

Even though the video (unedited) present below is about 41 minutes in length, it is a classic in self-promotion.

Maier goes back 16 years in comparing himself to his predecessor as a baseline of how much he has saved Massilon taxpayers.

In the time that the SCPR covered Massillon government and politics, it is apparent that some members of Massillon City Council chafe under the State of Ohio imposed via statute burden on Massillon taxpayers of paying from its general fund the bulk of support of both the clerk's office and for the courts themselves.

In one self-tribute, Maier, Jr. talks about benefiting Massillon taxpayers some $600,000 over 16 years and over $1M in another "how great I am" encomium.

Kind of like Canton soon-to-be ex-mayor William J. Healy, II blaming others (including former mayor Janet Creighton and the Ohio General Assembly) for Canton's financial difficulties going back 4, 5, 8 years and even decades  (e.g. prior Republican mayors) in casting the blame of his failures on others.

And, of course, recently re-elected by 40% of 100% of the total Massillon vote Kathy Catazaro-Perry does the same especially in castigating Frank Cicchinelli.

One could take Maier's self-laudation as being a "look what I have done for you" in ameliorating the burden.

But The Report for one is not buying.

Yours truly sees such as circular thinking of self-justification.

Let The Report have at Maier, Jr. one-on-one and see how well his "closed-loop" thinking/support artifice goes.

The Report's experience in life is that when one shamelessly self-promotes as Maier does in the accompanying video such is a cover for what that person knows in his/her heart-of-hearts a lot of insecurity.

Undoubtedly, his steadfast supporters will see it differently.

There are other parts of the SCPR provided Maier, Jr. video that make it for interesting viewing.

What should Massillon government's relationship vis-a-vis the police be in terms of how arrests/citations are done?

Council should tread lightly on approaching the Ohio General Assembly in correcting what some city councilpersons have long thought to be an unfairness.

And, of course, there is the Maier, Jr. fawning over council.

Probably more than one councilperson had to see the bootlicking as being a case of "ingenuity in the face, no?

For "icing on the cake," Maier, Jr. towards the end of his presentation patted himself on the back for not having, over his 16 years as clerk, Massillon City Council to court for an order mandating that his budget number be accepted.

What a magnanimous guy, no!

Undoubtedly, Maier, Jr. co-incidentally has done some good for Massillon and Stark County as the political power broker that he has positioned himself to be in.

However, the SCPR thinks "on balance" (LINK) is has been a negative factor in terms of taking care of himself and his political friends in the sense that everyday, taxpaying Massillonians and Stark Countians bear the brunt of his arbitrarily dispensing political patronage.

As the SCPR always does even from those public officials who think they are immune from being critiqued:   here is Maier speaking for himself; uncut, unedited!

AS PREDICTED BY SCPR: MAIER POLITICIZES STARK CO. SHERIFF DEPT IN SPADES!

As the Stark County Political Report sees it, neither Stark County Sheriff George T. Maier nor his brother Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. should be elected officials.

Stark County and Massillon voters, obviously not knowing the high degree of political paranoia that The Report thinks each of Maier brothers are afflicted with, have unwittingly placed the "bros" in positions of public trust from which they can - in pursuit of their personal political interests and objectives - inflict pressure on those who work for them to put personal political loyalty to them above the public interest.

The graphic above with its collection of Maier loyalists is an indication of what The Report thinks is required of one who wishes to prosper in public employment when the boss is either George or Johnnie.

Johnnie is a former Stark County Democratic Party chairman who many think still runs the party from behind the curtain is a sort of Wizard of Oz fashion who is the Massillon clerk of courts.

Both George and Johnnie, were it not for their political paranoia (which, unfortunately, is a common malady among politicians), are run-of-the-mill politico-government worker (i.e. nothing exceptional; merely journeyman-esque) in the sense of being able to do the basic functions of the offices they old.

But it seems to the SCPR that these two guys are so much into personal political loyalty that perhaps it really does seep down into the way they administer their particular offices to the point that "the personal loyalty factor" becomes the main thing and serving the public is an "oh! by the way" thing.

As an example of what in concrete ways loyalty to a Maier might entail, The Report shares with readers a story as told by Lawrence Township trustee Michael Stevens (running for re-election this coming November) tells when he was serving as the Ohio House Democratic Caucus appointee to succeed Johnnie as the-then state representative (on the brink of being term limited out) for the 56th (now, more or less the 50th) Ohio House District.

`

Stevens on a routine day in his office at the Ohio House was in the midst of a telephone call with a constituent.  While on telephone with the constituent, Stevens received a call from Maier, Jr.

Stevens' administrative aide came to him interrupting with the message that Johnnie was on the phone.

As it turns out, the aide knew the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr expectation whereas Stevens did not.  Naively, as it turns out, he thought the constituent was the priority.

Steeped deep in his belief that ordinary persons back home trumped the likes of Maier, Jr, Stevens told the aide to tell Johnnie that he would get back to him just as soon as the constituent telephone call ended.

After the constituent call ended, Stevens immediately called Maier, Jr. back.

Stepping outside the story, what do you SCPR reader think Maier, Jr's reaction was to having had to play second fiddle to a Stevens constituent and what's more a taxpaying citizen of his district?

Pick one:

____  Michael, what a terrific representative your are.  You have your priorities straight!

____  Michael,  when I call you you better damn well from here on out drop everything and ditch the  constituent and get on the phone with me!!

Anybody who knows Johnnie A. Maier, Jr knows the answer is the latter and definitely not the former.

Just one more story from Maier, Jr's days in the Ohio House.

Yours truly's daughter while a student at The Ohio State University was a page assigned to Johnnie's office but at the call of the general obligations of the House support administration.

Heidi tells stories of Maier putting her in positions of personal political loyalty to him opposed to her responsibility as an employee of the State of Ohio and by extension the taxpayers of Ohio.

On at least one occasion, she got herself with House administrative leadership.

The only redeeming thing about Johnnie is that he did come to her defense in the incident mentioned.

However, she should not have been put in that position in the first  place, no?

But that is what people who focus on personal political loyalty will do.

Heidi was most fortunate.  Mostly people like her get "thrown under the bus."

When George was elected sheriff, yours truly said that The Report expected George to pursue a course as the head of Stark County's countywide law enforcement apparatus which course could prove to be disastrous for the public's confidence in county government.

Stark County has already been through a "crisis of confidence" with the Stark County treasury beginning in April, 2009 which only ended with the-then treasurer Gary D. Zeigler (originally a Stark County Democratic Party appointee [1999] like George T. Maier [February, 2013]) retiring/resigning on October 19, 2011.

The context will undoubtedly be different, but the destabilizing effect on Stark County government will be just as profound if - as the SCPR thinks he will -  Sheriff Maier continues what yours truly believes is his course of action to totally and completely politicize employment with the Stark County sheriff's office to include an unstated/unwritten but clearly understood requirement of "personal political loyalty" to George T. Maier.

When George T. Maier (once appointed to the second in command in the Ohio Department of Highway Safety, The Report surmises through the political connection of brother Johnnie to former Democratic Ohio governor Ted Strickland) took office, The Report repeatedly chided him that he needed to make one of his first hires from among the plumbing trade inasmuch as the leaks to the The Stark County Political Report from within the bowels of the the county sheriff's office (on personnel matters) approaches the flood stage.

Today's blog is focused who some particulars on that front that George is reportedly up to.

But first why would the SCPR has concerns about George T. Maier having high-handed ways as an department of government administrator.

Readers should take a few minutes and read this (LINK) account from his days as number 2 in the Ohio Department of Highway Safety.

Now granted that was some time ago and one might argue that he has matured as Sheriff George T. Maier.

We should only wish.

If anything, The Report thinks Maier the sheriff has regressed.

Picking up on his needing a plumber thing as written above, reports that the SCPR receives from leakers from deep inside the sheriff's department, Maier now that he #1 and having been elected and therefore accountable to no one except the voters in the 2016 election indicate that his arrogance grows by the day.

Here are some the allegations being leveled at George T. Maier in terms of his administration of the sheriff's office:

•  A sergeant in the department seemingly because of his alleged political support of Maier has the sheriff's cell number and is thought to have parlayed such access into an "I'm untouchable" stance notwithstanding incidents which occurred during his supervision stint that were not dealt with by Maier for some three months.  
• Maier was reportedly told going back to September, 2014 that the rank-and-file deputies had no confidence in the leadership of the sergeant.
• The point is that "property political alignment" is suspected by some deputies as being the reason that the offending sergeant was not dealt with sooner.
•  Though Maier did post a job to be filled (a 25 year retiring employee) on a child abuse/sex offender investigator position and promised interviews; no interviews were conducted and Maier ended up - according to The Report's source - rehiring the retired investigator (retire/rehire which is contra a policy for Stark County government as promulgated by the Stark County commissioners),
• With respect to the SCPR's blog on Maier's plan to rent out spare jail space to Summit County this comment from an inside source:
•  I read your report today. HAHAHAHA!!!  Housing Summit County inmates. A JOKE!!!  We have NO ROOM NOW. Though our number might be under 500.You have to consider we have over 20 inmates on medical housing,then we have the mentally ill area (30,maybe at times more). You can't house mentally ill with violent offenders. These are things the public does not know about. NOT even sure IF the Sheriff himself knows. 
•  More on point with the tenor of this blog about the inordinate role that politics plays in George T. Maier's administration of personnel matters, take look at these observations:
• I've learned that it's very common for Sheriff Maier to flex his authority within the office.  My sources could not confirm what Maier said during his meeting, but it does not sound out of character for him.
•  It's well recognized within the Sheriff's Office, that specialized positions such as Evidence/Property Officer, Detective, Child Support Officer, Sex Abuse Investigator, School Resource Officer are assigned to loyal campaign supporters of Sheriff George Maier. 
• Example[s]:
•  Deputy Rick Stauffer was recently reassigned from the Inmate Transport Officer to County Detective.  Stauffer was such a proud supporter of George Maier, he used his antique fire truck to display Maier for Sheriff signs in several local parades.  
• Deputy John Von Spiegle who retired from the Stark County Sheriff's Office last year, was just REHIRED by Sheriff Maier as the Sex Abuse Investigator.  The same position he retired from last year.  Von Spiegle can be seen in several of parade photos from George Maier's campaign.  
• Deputy Laura Blackstock was just announced as one of two new Lake Local School Resource Officers.  Blackstock is currently in training on the Road Patrol Division.  So when she starts her new assignment as a School Resource Officer, she'll have three months of Road Patrol training/experience.  She was also a proud supporter of George Maier's campaign. 
• Deputy Mike Greene was rehired by Sheriff George Maier this year after he lost his job as Judge Belden's bailiff in Canton Municipal Court.  Greene's rehiring was expedited and bypassed the normal hiring process.  He was also a proud campaign supporter of George Maier, prior to him being rehired.  I'm learning from my sources that the "Friends-N-Benefits" list with Sheriff George Maier keeps growing longer and longer.   
•  Today it was passed on to me that 5 road patrol deputies put letters of request to be transferred to Jail Operations. UHM? This is due to position of property/evidence officer being given to an officer who has NO experience in such a position. Ask yourself why would they want to put there hard work in to solving a case an have the evidence/property not handled correctly for a conviction.
•  The following comments may harken back to George T. Maier's attitude as #2 in the Ohio Department of Public Safety: to wit
• It was mentioned at the union meeting [probably held on July 21st] the Sheriff has made it clear he will place WHO  he wants WHERE  he wants. Experience, seniority do not matter. 
• Our moral is at the lowest I have seen .When the moral issue was brought up at the union. A union board member stated that Major Stantz told the same union board member, moral is great he sees no issues. It is my opinion, Major Stantz only speaks to his fellow George T. Maier groupies.

It is interesting to see Stantz's name come up.

Stantz has seemingly to the SCPR replaced Derrek Loy has Maier's chief administrative and political enforcer with in the department.

Stantz used to out do himself in being "apparently" friendly to the SCPR in the early days of Maier's coming to 4500 Atlantic Blvd.  Of course, The Report knew what was at play and played the game with him.

Nowadays, Stantz just passes by as if he doesn't have a clue as to yours truly's identity.

Now that he has jumped from being Lt. Stantz to being Major Stantz, that is.

How disappointing for top level law enforcement official who drinks at the trough of Stark County taxpayers to think he can disrespect citizens on the obvious command of a politicized sheriff.

So there you have it Stark Countians.

You have made your choice and The Report thinks it is only a matter of time until "all Hell breaks lose" at the Stark County sheriff's office.

When daughter Heidi was the Statehouse she says Maier, Jr. would pester her about what yours truly thought of him and his public persona?

Well, Johnnie, why not ask me?

Clue to the answer.

Even back in those day it was clear to me that political paranoia was in full play with Johnnie.

And, it is a compliment that he knew intuitively that such

If anything, it has grown.

It appears that Johnnie being the older of the two brothers has passed this characteristic on.

And that is not a good thing for the citizens of Massillon nor those of Stark County!

PART 2 - MASSILLON'S "TROUBLES, TROUBLES & MORE TROUBLES," THE LEGENDS GOLF COURSE

UPDATED:  11:00 a.m.

VIDEOS

COUNCILWOMAN DEL RIO-KELLER

PRESENTS AT COUNCIL MEETING

PARKS & RECREATION PLANS

FOR

"THE LEGENDS GOLF COURSE"

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

SCPR INTERVIEW
OF
COUNCILWOMAN MICHELLE DEL RIO-KELLER

In the slickly done "Fall, 2014" edition of Massillon Magazine in line with Catazaro-Perry/Maier penchant for doing a "Madison Avenue" style cover up of brewing troubles beneath the surface, the mayor portrays herself as Saint Kathy of Massillon in being on the brink of saving Massilon from a financial crisis that may never have existed in the first place.

A case can be made that Her Honor forced the issue with the State of Ohio Auditor (SOA)  which on October 8, 2013 made a thinly justified finding (only one of six assessment criteria met) that Massillon is in fiscal emergency.

As Mayor-elect Catazaro-Perry in December, 2011 she was writing the SOA asking that an audit be done which she was confident would result in a finding that Massillon was in fiscal emergency even before the man she defeated in the Democratic primary election of May, 2011 (24 year mayor, Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr) was officially out of office.

The SOA refused her "out-of-hand" because a superficial look at Massillon's numbers showed the state auditors that the mayor didn't understand basic math which clearly indicated that no emergency financial condition existed in Massillon.

The SCPR sees the Catazaro-Perry initiated effort of December, 2012 as possibly being a political set up engineered by the "all things political" duo of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and R. Shane Jackson.

Though the two are public officials (clerk of courts and chief deputy clerk of courts, respectively) supported by Massillon taxpayers. The Stark County Political Report sees them primarily as politicians working up or on one political intrigue after another, after another.

Johnnie is a former Stark County Democratic Party chairman who many think still controls the Dems through current chairman and Canton Municipal Court clerk of courts Phil Giavasis.

And before him through Randy Gonzalez (a former chief deputy clerk for the Canton Municipal Court) who immediately after Maier's tenure as chairman until the Giavasis appointment was chairman of the Stark Dems.

Jackson is a long time political director of the Stark County Democratic Party.

So it is hard to believe that this duo don't look at all of life as being "one big political playground" and they are having "one big ball" playing "political football."

And that it appears to the SCPR is what they and their group of loyalists are doing with Massillon and Stark County government.

It may be "having fun" to Maier and Jackson.

But the consequences of them romping in the "political sandbox" could prove damaging to Massillonians and to Stark Countians in terms of a lack of quality of leadership and government.

In Massillon, the government unit which has to deal with the political mischief which seems to be being "dealt out is spades" by Maier and Jackson is Massillon City Council.

It was quite revealing to the SCPR, in sitting through council's work session Monday night as a number of troubles which currently plague Massillon were being addressed, to see the hands of Maier/Jackson all over "the troubles, troubles & more troubles" which had boiled to the surface.

Today, we cover the effort of Councilwoman-at-Large Michelle Del Rio-Keller's (a Democrat) to fix the long time broken problem of the Massillon City Government Legends golf course.

SOURCE OF PHOTOS:  
THE LEGENDS WEBSITE)

The city owes about $5.4 million in a mortgage on the 27 hole course which is currently being paid out of the .3% of income tax revenue approved by Massillon voters in 1995.

Formerly, the mortgage was paid out of Massillon's general fund.

The SCPR thinks the notion of a government unit owning a golf course to generate revenues to finance usual government services to taxpayers is one huge mistake.

Massillon started off with 18 holes in 1995.

However, Cicchinelli decided that things were going so well with 18 holes that "the more, the merrier" was in order and 9 holes were added in 1998.

Now he admits that the addition was a mistake.

But, of course, Massillon taxpayers are "left to pick up the pieces."

And such is exactly what Del Rio-Keller is trying to do.

Here is a video of her presentation on Monday.



And here is a post-meeting interview by the SCPR.





Just to spice things up a bit, the SCPR cannot pass up this opportunity to show how gullible Mayor Catazaro-Perry and her close-in political advisers are in terms of thinking they could solve The Legends' troubles by placing a "aquarium/waterpark" at the location.

From a April 11, 2014 SCPR blog:

Last month an out-of-state developer stepped forward with a project which should have been a "no-brainer" in terms of Catazaro-Perry and council working together to bring the proposal (an aquarium/waterpark combo) to reality.
But that hasn't happened and the SCPR will not happen as long as the site contemplated is the city owned "The Legends" golf course. 

Originally the plan was for the developer to lease the "excess" (i.e. the 9 holes added to the original 18 holes) part of the golf course for $10 per year for a term of 30 years. 

The neighborhood surrounding The Legends is one of Massillon's posh neighborhoods and to have a very large aquarium/waterpark in the daily eyesight of the residents in an idea that is never, ever going to fly.

As sweet as it would be for Massillon to be out of the golf course business for many Massillonians, there is indication that council may reject any such overture because members would not want to leave those who live in the vicinity of The Legends having to deal with the visage of the proposed commercial enterprise ... .

As it turned out, the excitement bought into The Legends "solve a problem" matter by the naive Catazaro-Perry entourage has to be disconcerting to Massillonians inasmuch as it appears that the developer(s) may have been looking for a government give-away and the Catazaro-Perry folks appear to have been biting.

The Report thinks the naivete was born of the administration's frustration of "having something on the table" to deal with Massillon's many troubles only one of which is what to do with The Legends.

In getting back to the Del Rio-Keller presentation, the questions is which of her ideas is likely to float with council and, probably, more importantly Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry and her behind-the-scenes-prop-ups?

Hire a full time manager? (favored by Del Rio-Keller and Paul Manson)

Bring in a full/part-time management firm?

Develop a Master Plan?

Off the table is a reduction of the course to an 18 hole course (opposed by Ward 4 residents who live next to or in the vicinity of the course), at least, as far as council is concerned contrary to the wishes of Massillon's Parks and Recreation Board which meets tonight to once again mull over the future of the the course.

The answer to "the future of The Legends" question, the SCPR thinks, is wrapped up in Massillon government politics.

Look for the decision, whatever it turns out to be, to be one grounded in "political muscle" and not "on the merits" of whether or not Massillon should be in the golf course business in the first place.

There probably isn't a poorer time to try to deal with "troubles, troubles & more troubles" in Massillon with the city being on the cusp of an election year.

In 2015, all of city council and the mayor's office is up for election.

Accordingly, the SCPR predicts that there likely will be no solution to The Legends problem because it is hard to see how the political objectives of the Catazaro/Maier/Jackson crowd can square up with the interests of the various council persons running for re-election.

And that 'ain't' all.

The Report thinks it is likely that Francis H. Cicchinelli will not challenge the mayor in Democratic primary in May but that she will be challenged by Republican Ed Lewis, IV (Republican, Ward 6, and chairman of the 'powerful' finance committee).

The Maier group is still smarting from having lost control of council (i.e. the Democrats losing control) to the Republicans in 2011.  Though Democrats regained control in 2013, the 'ain't' Maier group Democrats except for Shaddrick Stinson and council president Tony Townsend (who only votes in the case of a tie).

Look for Maier et al to try again to gain at least a plurality on council.

One of the seats that they will have to go "all-out" to defend with be that of Shaddrick Stinson (Democrat, Ward 4) as he is said to be the target of Ward 4 citizens who live in the area of The Legends.

The Report does not know where he ended up on supporting Stinson.  But Frank Cicchinelli was flirting with the idea of supporting him in 2013 face off with Republican candidate Jim Triner.

Stinson did not get a majority of the votes in the 2013 race.

Stinson was telling Cicchinelli that he was not a Johnnie A. Maier loyalist.  The SCPR's analysis is that he is beholden to the Maier Massillon Political Machine.  And his stances on most if not all issues between council and Catazaro-Perry have been with the mayor.

If Republicans can talk Triner or a viable alternative person (perhaps from among The Legends interest group) into running next year, it appears that the campaign factors on The Legends' issue are enough to put Stinson on the political sidelines.

Losing in Ward 4 would be  on the order of being stunning for the Maier Demcorats.

For they understand that notwithstanding the "political spin" they have tried to put on the "success" of the mayor's administration, the truth of the matter is within the perception of voting Massillonians as to whether or not Catazaro-Perry deserves her self-serving billing.

Should Catazaro-Perry get through the 2015 election year successfully, a second term will be disastrous for her and Massillon if she continues to be at odds with a majority of council.

That the Maier faction will be focusing on council as well as reelection of Catazaro-Perry enhances Lewis' chances, so the SCPR thinks.

Lewis is one of the unique elected officials who comes off as being "non-political" in nearly everything he does.

Even as Catazaro-Perry has tried to insult him, badger him; he has come off as looking like the statesman and she as the thorough going politician.

Should Lewis decide to run, the SCPR is saying now that it is likely he will win in November, 2015.

Already, the SCPR is told, scores of Republicans are organizing at the prospect of a Lewis candidacy.

One of his prime encouragers has been Stark County Republican commissioner Janet Weir Creighton.

However, a question of her reliability as a supporter of Republican candidates is in doubt insofar as the SCPR is concerned.

She could have been the person:

• in her role as a if not "the" leading Stark County Republican in terms of popular support, and
• as one of Republican governor John Kasich's hugely successful (wining by some 37,000 votes in Stark) 2014 campaign as northeast Ohio campaign coordinator 

to put Larry Dordea "over-the-top" in his race against Maier Loyalist Group candidate George T. Maier (Johnnie's brother, of course).

But she didn't lift a "significant" finger for Dordea.

She even refused to endorse Dordea when asked in public.

It would have been one thing had Dordea's qualifications to be sheriff was in question.

On the policing experience factor, it appears to be pretty much of a wash as between him and Maier.

However, on "the character question" the SCPR thinks Dordea was "head and shoulders" superior to George T. Maier.

The SCPR suspects that Creighton has ties to at least one in the Maier Loyalty Group that caused to her to withhold out-and-out support for Dordea.

If that is the case, the question for Lewis has to be:  Will she do the same to me if the Maiers use their SCPR suspected avenue to Creighton to prevail on her to back off on supporting the Ward 6 councilman.

Nobody should underestimate the ability of Maier (Johnnie) to worm his way into the councils/counsels of the Stark County Republican Party.  

Republican Stark County commissioner Richard Regula is a pretty obvious example of that, so the SCPR thinks.

If Lewis decides not to run, the SCPR thinks that the Creighton factor could be the deciding factor.

BAD TIMES IN MASSILLON: PART 1

Last week "the roof fell in" on Massillon.

For "true" Massillonians, the most devastating thing had to be the annihilation of the Tiger football team on Friday last:  56 Perrysburg, 7 Massillon.

Things were so bad that the Massillon superintendent of schools apparently couldn't take any more and left in the 3rd quarter.

And it wasn't long after that he announced that the highly successful football coach was fired.  A coach who was the second most winning coach in all the glory of Massillon Tiger football.

Those of us who live outside of Massillon instantly think "football" when Massillon is mentioned.

Though the Massillon "football" Tigers are never, ever likely to be the Tigers of the Paul Brown era ever again; football will be repaired and "hope springs eternal" will once again be "the heart throb" of the "true" Tiger fans.

One Massillon City Council person did tell the SCPR that the days of Massillon football glory are over and the fanatics (the SCPR's word) will just have the deal with "the new realities."

Another person who has trouble dealing with "the new realities" in Massillon is Mayor Katherine Catazaro-Perry.

Mayor Kathy is one of those "splash and dash" politicians who dot the Stark County government/political landscape who the SCPR thinks has very little substance and consequently is not a match for the daunting problems which currently plague Massillon city government.

So what does one do?

Go into denial?

Maybe she has been spoofing Massillonians all along.

Look at this chart that she had placed in the glossy public relations quarterly.

And view this video of long term Councilman Paul Manson (Democrat, at-large) as he says he now has reports that the deficit Massillon now faces is not $2.6 million, not $1.1 million (see April 4, 2014 SCPR blog), but rather $700,000.

• From the October 17, 2013 SCPR blog:
• The SCPR is being told that Massillon's unions are doing their own audit of Massillon's books and are reporting that the deficit is not the reported $2.4 million

While she was spouting her $2.6 million stuff, the SCPR alone of all Stark County media wrote questioning the validity of her number.

Before she became mayor, she wrote the State of Ohio auditor asking that "the once great city of Massillon" be placed in fiscal emergency.

This move rather obviously was designed to make former mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr "the fall guy" for all the troubles that Massllion and every other Stark County city is facing as a consequence of drastic State of Ohio local government funding cuts.

Catazaro-Perry  took Cicchinelli on and defeated him in the May, 2011 Democratic primary as the candidate of Massillon clerk of courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr (a former Stark County Democratic Party chairman and long time antagonist to Cicchinelli) who, in the estimate of the SCPR should be billed as Massilon's "co-mayor."

So maybe she has been (on the advice and instruction of Maier and his appendage R. Shane Jackson [Johnnie's chief flunky err deputy) gaming Masillonians with "phony-baloney" financial numbers all along during her three years as mayor and the voting Massillon public has figured that out in twice defeating an income tax.

It is appearing more and more that her game plan all along since (actually as mayor-elect) becoming mayor has been to paint a bleaker picture than she knew to be the case so that she could appear at re-election time (next year) to have been a managerial wizard of sorts and brought Massillon from the dire to nearly break even.

And in the process she - in her and Johnnie's mind -  will have played Massillon City Council for being "the fool" in taking her seriously.

Catazaro-Perry and Maier may find out soon that the fools are not the city council folks at all but the two of them.

With the failure of the latest levy effort which Mayor KCP only gave lukewarm support to (having outright opposed the first levy effort), it appears that there is no way to make up even a $700,000 deficit and that the city department of governments may be looking at 15% across-the-board cuts which will be the equivalent to "cutting into the bone" of the provision of city services and will be felt by rank-and-file citizens in virtually every aspect of what Massillon does; not just police and fire.

Relations (see the Manson video above) between the mayor and council continue to deteriorate.

Catazaro-Perry has not attended Committee of the Whole work sessions for some time.

If Catazaro-Perry and Maier are gaming council, they will find one thing, after another thing, after another to "go to war" with council over in order to make council appear to be the culprit come the elections of 2015.

To the SCPR, Catazaro-Perry and Maier are into political gamesmanship, pure and simple and, of course, the citizens of Massillon are the real victims.

If Cicchinelli decides to take her on in the May, 2015 Democratic primary; undoubtedly, she will say that a return to Cichinelli will be the pathway to insolvency.

In such an eventuality, should she win; the SCPR thinks that she is looking at facing Republican Councilman Ed Lewis, IV in the general election.

She will once again attempt to scapegoat.

She and Lewis have been at each other from time-to-time over the past three years and she will drag those confrontations up as evidence that council's voting majority (following Lewis' lead) are to blame for Massillon's troubles.

Never mind that she is the one who lashed out at council (not an uncommon phenomenon) and even called council racists for questioning the financial underpinnings of the Dwan St. John hiring.

The essence of this blog is that the SCPR sees co-mayors Catazaro-Perry and Maier playing it "every which way."

On the one hand, in her glossy Massillon Magazine she portrays the city as coming out of the difficult times.

Look at what she wrote in the Fall 2014 Massillon Magazine:

• I began my term as Massillon’s mayor in 2012, we started with a token carryover of only $416.79 in our general fund, and inherited $2.6 million dollars of unpaid bills. Massillon was in serious financial trouble as a result of habitual deficit spending, and our city had been going deeper into debt for five consecutive years. As we conclude my third year in office, Massillon has made great strides in lowering that debt.  Our city is on the right track and headed towards financial recovery.This did not come easily. We made tough decisions, cut spending, and created the change necessary so our city grows and is able to best serve our residents. Massillon is moving forward again. There is still much work to be done ... .

But the reality,  as the SCPR sees it, is that such is the equivalent to Mister Rogers' "Make Believe."

Massillon was once the City of Champions.

Nowadays it appears that those days are long gone and, whether Catazaro-Perry realizes it or not, Massillon these days is a city of "troubles, troubles & more troubles" much of which is the making of an intransigent mayoralty.

She is a "my way or the highway" type person just like her mentor and co-mayor Johnie A. Maier, Jr.

The end game for anything Maier touches, as the SCPR sees it, is for his personal political aggrandizement.

It is hard to see how the "do it my way, or else" and personal political benefit game plan gets Massillon truly on the rebound.

On Monday night a number of issues came up:

• some discussion of the levy failure, the 2015 budget and the path going forward,
• Councilwoman Michelle Del Rio-Keller's work on resolving what to do to make The Legends golf course a profit making activity,
• the location/relocation of the Massillon Health Department, and
• the Massillon Municipal Court's (represented at the meeting by Judge C. Roland Centrone) dicey relationship with council

The SCPR has extensive video to share with SCPR readers on these troubling issues that Massillon faces.

Accordingly, this introductory blog is billed as "Part 1."

Additional parts will be published in coming days to cover all the Monday night discussions.

BREAKING NEWS! FORMER DEMOCRAT SHERIFF SWANSON TO ENDORSE REPUBLICAN DORDEA FOR STARK COUNTY SHERIFF!

The Stark County Political Report has learned that the broken glass of the Stark County Democratic Party will become scattered shards with the impending "press release" later today by former Democratic Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson that he endorses Republican Larry Dordea over fellow Democrat George T. Maier.

Swanson, as captured in the photo above by the SCPR with former Stark County sheriff department Captain Lou Darrow (now retireat a Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) meeting on November 12, 2013, just days after the Ohio Supreme Court removed Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee appointee George T. Maier (02/05/2013) from office as "unqualified" by the Ohio Supreme Court on November 6, 2013.

A Swanson filed quo warranto on February 12, 2013 was the basis for the November 6, 2013 decision.

Swanson and Democratic Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero (a former chairman of the Dems) opposed Maier in supporting Darrow on February 5th and again on December 11, 2013 when the Stark Dems once again appointed Maier.

At the February meeting Darrow received 84 votes compared to Maier's 92.  In December, there were still 66 Democratic precinct committee members who were willing to face down the Maier Massillon-based political machine.

Long term Stark County political observers were stunned at the closeness of the February vote.

Had the vote been by secret ballot, many observers think that Darrow would have won.

There are those who think that Maier's brother Johnnie, Jr (a former Dems' chairman) hatched the "open to public scrutiny" vote change in the local Democratic Party bylaws justified by an argument that central committee members are "elected" officials and therefore are obligated to vote out-in-the-open.

While the SCPR agrees with the political theory behind the "out-in-the-open" vote, The Report does not buy into the notion that Gonzalez and Johnnie A. Maier, Jr are "transparency-fostering" party leaders.

The Report thinks that Gonzalez and Maier, Jr will shift with the wind depending on their personal political interests.

As far as the SCPR is concerned, there has never been a definitive answer by the Ohio Supreme Court as to whether or not Maier is currently qualified under relevant Ohio statutes to be sheriff.

And the possibility remains that should he be elected on November 4, 2013, Maier will once again face a quo warranto action like that initiated by Swanson on February 12, 2013 that could keep the Stark County sheriff's office in a state of flux.

With Swanson's endorsement, Dordea - who the SCPR thinks already has an advantage in that the Democratic gubernatorial candidate (FitzGerald) self-destructed and therefore Democrats across-the-board are in for a real shellacking in less than two weeks - picks up another advantage with dissident Democrats who look to Swanson and Prosecutor John Ferrero for leadership.

Ferrero has not, so far as the SCPR knows, endorsed Dordea.  However, it is hard to imagine that he would be telling anybody that he thinks it is okay to vote for Maier after his (Ferrero) being humiliated on February 5th by then Stark County Dems' chairman Randy Gonzalez for having submitted an affidavit expressing his assessment that Maier was not qualified under Ohio law to be sheriff.

To repeat, the Ohio Supreme Court vindicated Ferrero's opinion on November 6, 2013.

George Maier was removed as the Stark County Democratic Party appointed sheriff.

Though The Report thinks Dordea is disadvantaged in that he is a classy guy who runs his political campaign at a very high moral level as compared to the political "rough and tumble" Maiers (to be nice about them); it could be that the "stars are aligning" for him and the rift within the Stark County Democratic Party in combo with the coming Republican tide will put him over the top on November 4th.

SWANSON'S ENDORSEMENT

After careful consideration I have decided I cannot remain silent any longer concerning the Sheriff's race. Having spent the last forty years of my life dedicated to serving the citizens of Stark County and for fourteen of those years you trusted me as  your elected  Sheriff (1999-2013), I must speak out.

There is only one qualified candidate appearing on the November ballot, Larry Dordea. I cannot believe the audacity of the Democrat candidate, who was found to have illegally occupied the office of Sheriff by the Ohio Supreme Court. 

I implore you not to be deceived by the rhetoric and untruths being shared by Mr. Dordea's opponent. 

There is only one candidate appearing on the ballot who truly meets all the necessary qualifications. That candidate is Larry Dordea.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. 
-- Sir Edmund Burke  1729-1797     

Tim Swanson retired

Stark County Sheriff

Tim Swanson 

OH! HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN FROM "BACK IN THE DAY?"

Circa 2006, 2007, & 2008, former Stark County state representative Johnnie A. Maier, Jr was "at the top" of his political game.

During his stint as Stark Dems chairman (2003 through 2009), the Dems managed to capture every Stark County-wide (non-judicial) elected office.

He must have had a premonition that "all Hell was going to break loose" as he resigned as party chairman and left his successor and prime member of his personal political loyalty group; namely, Randy Gonzalez, to "pick up the pieces" as what local civic activist Craig T. Conley termed as being Zeiglergate broke loose on April 1, 2009.

Since then:

• Zeigler resigned/retired in an agreement with Stark County commissioners on October 19, 2011, 
• In 2012 Republican Richard Regula (in a major political surprise defeated by Democrat Todd Bosley in 2006) reclaimed his commissionership in replacing Democrat Pete Ferguson (elected in 2008 but who decided not to seek reelection)
• In 2010, Republican Janet Creighton easily defeated Maier/Gonzalez political confidant Steven Meeks (appointed by the Dems in 2007 to replace Tom Harmon [resigned in 2009]),
• In 2010, Bosley
• who along with Harmon [appointed by the Dems to replace Strickland administration appointee [lottery commission] and therefore former commissioner Gayle Jackson [2007],
• voted in December, 2008 to "impose" a 1/2 cent sales tax on Stark Coutians,
• and, therefore, apparently concluding that he could not win reelection as commissioner instead ran for state representative, the 50th District, a suffered a massive political defeat
• In 2010, Democrat Stark County auditor who was apparently thought by Stark County voters to be too politically close to Zeigler and did not do enough to raise alarms that "all may not be well" in the Stark County treasury headed by Zeigler, lost in convincing fashion to Republican Alan Harold,

So there you have "a thumbnail sketch" of how the Stark County political empire that Johnnie A. Maier, Jr had worked so hard to create had come crashing down.

Maier got his start back in 1988 when he had the good fortune "be in the right place, at the right time."  Stalwart Republican icon "Red" Ash (the, at the time, 49th House District, which became the 56th and then the 50th) had run into legal troubles and Maier was there "to pick up the pieces."

Over his years of chairman and a Massillon clerk of courts, Maier worked equally hard - if not more so - to develop a cult-like following of his personal political aspirations, to wit:

He had come home (Massillon area) from "the high reaches" of Columbus where he fraternized with the all-powerful Vern Riffe, Jr. (Speaker of the House 1975 - 1995) and learned "the art of cultivating and mastering" political power.

Many think Riffe used political power for the public good whereas there are those who think that student Johnnie, Jr applies it to his personal interests.

One of the devices of governance that the Republicans used in 1992 to wrest power from te Democrats was to support voter passage of term limits in Ohio.

Under the term limits legislation, representatives were limited to eight (8) consecutive years in office.

Accordingly, Maier, Jr had to find a more secure and nesting place and in a show of what was to come from this disciple of Vern Riffe, he put a political power move on fellow Democrat Edward L. Radel, Jr and ousted him as clerk of Massillon Municipal Court earlier in 1999.

Maier went on to defeat Republican Richard Reichel by an overwhelming majority in 1999 general election.

All of the foregoing is to demonstrate that Maier is now "on life support" to salvage what remains of his Stark County based political empire.

And that, folks, is his "all-out, all consuming" effort to get his brother George (who he likely got Ted Strickland to appoint as assistant director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety) elected as Stark County sheriff.

A victim of the Maier obsession with getting his brother elected may be "top-gun" prosecutor Chryssa Hartnett.

Chryssa works for Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero (who along with former sheriff Tim Swanson have worked against George becoming sheriff, appointed and/or elected).

The SCPR believes that the Maiers are soaking up nearly all the financial resources that Stark Dems can raise and that Hartnett may not be able to garner enough campaign funds to get her message out to the Stark County voting public that she is - so the SCPR thinks - is vastly more qualified to be judge of the Stark County Court of Common Pleas that Republican Curtis Werren.

Before being appointed by Republican governor John Kasich to a court vacancy,  Werren was president of the Stark County chapter of the American Red Cross.

Republican Larry Dordea who ran a, more or less, "gentlemens' campaign" when he ran in 2008 against incumbent sheriff Tim Swanson (who is now on the outs with the Maiers), is now in, what he says (as interpreted by the SCPR) is - to be kind to the Maiers, not that they deserve it - a "political hardball" fight in its harshest form with George (Link to blog detailing Dordea's accusations, implied and otherwise).

But Dordea needs to understand, this may be Johnnie's "Custer's Last Stand."  That is to say, electing George sheriff.

For next year, it might be that his political creation Kathy Catazaro-Perry, mayor of Massillon, whose election in 2011 Maier engineered over long time Maier political foe and two decades plus mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr, will be defeated for a second term if she chooses to run.

Even with Catazaro-Perry's election in 2011, Maier showed he was slipping in that, while he was focusing on Catazaro-Perry's mayoralty quest, the Democrats lost control of Massillon City Council.

For those who do not know, Massillon is staunchly Democratic.

Not to be forgotten is Maier's "all-out" sponsorship of Celeste DeHoff for state representative in his, more or less, old District.

He prevailed on then Governor Ted Strickland (who, recognized Johnnie to be the first county chairman to endorse him in the Democratic primary), former U.S. Senator John Glenn, Senator Sherrod Brown, and then-Ohio treasurer Richard Cordray to come to Canal Fulton to campaign for DeHoff.

Since then, DeHoff has fallen on hard times.

But she was and out-and-out Maier loyalist.  And that appears to be all that matters to Johnnie and George.

In 2012, perhaps, Johnnie's closest political ally; namely, Judge Edward Elum of the Massillon Municipal Court was disciplined by the Ohio Supreme Court.

In a rare display of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr loyalty to anyone other than himself, so the SCPR thinks, he did submit a letter in support of Elum's quest to avoid discipline by the high court.

The SCPR thinks Dordea may have seen nothing yet compared to "what is yet to come."

When the political end comes for Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., he will go down - not in a whimper - but in a thunderous crash.

There will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth with Maier, Jr and his cult of followers.

But Maier's political demise might not be yet.

It all depends on the November 4, 2014 outcome between brother George and Dordea.

That's "how high the stakes are" in this election!

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS "COUNT FOR 'EVERYTHING'" IN STARK COUNTY & POLITICAL SUBDIVISION GOVERNMENT? ESPECIALLY MASSILLON!?

SCPR Note:  material presented in this blog in graphic format on issue of "whether or not to hire" has been "excerpted" for format purposes (i.e. to make more readable in blog format) and for brevity sake which is to say to include what the SCPR thinks is pertinent information.

The seeds for a political controversy to take hold were planted when the Massillon Mayor Kathy Catzaro-Perry administration on June 23, 2014 hired Dwan Gordon-St. John as the city's parking enforcement officer and coupled it with a part time position in the city income tax department to make it a full time position with full benefits.

Earlier in the month (June 16, 2014), Massillon City Council had authorized funds to hire a parking enforcement officer, but as can be seen from the following extracts from Massillon government records, the Kathy Catazaro-Perry administration made the St. John hire a "full time" hire by combining the council authorized parking enforcement job with one in the income tax department (a vacancy having recently have been created by the departure of an employee).

As the SCPR sees it, to expand on the opening paragraph of this blog, the controversy developed because: 

• the expansion of the parking enforcement job into a full time position without the mayor  having indicated to council her "apparent" plan to use council's approval in the way of joining it with a part time version of the income tax vacated job to create St. John's full time position,
• the full time job would, of course, include benefits, which generally means an increased expenditure of about 1/3rd the base hourly rate
• A SCPR example:  If a employee has a $10.00 per hour rate on a full time position, the total expense to the employer when calculating in the cost of benefits (retirement, health care, workers compensation, unemployment insurance and the like) would likely bring the hourly rate in terms of city expense to about $13.00 plus per hour
• Massillon is currently in fiscal emergency (likely as a consequence of the mayor's initiative with the Ohio State of Auditor Office) and can ill-afford the extra financial burden of a seeming "manufactured" need for the creation of a full time position that smacks of possibly having "political connectedness" underpinnings.

Ms. Gordon-St. John landed a job with the Strickland administration in November, 2007, to wit:  (per her resume)

Communications Information Officer

Bureau of Workers Compensation - November 2007 to August 2010

Duties include monitoring day-to-day operations regarding Injured Workers. I was responsible for transforming HR from a strategic role to an administrative role. I was a part of the Senior Management Team - thus being responsible for conducting current existing HR Policies and finding glitches to revamp what was NOT working for the Agency as a whole. I re-organized and re-developed business plans to update policies and procedures when needed. In addition, I handle all Attorneys, Doctors and Politicians for the agency. I was responsible for all communications and requests from any source requesting said information and was also responsible for handling Agency EEO Issues. I manage the largest team in the office of 500 employees' which was the second largest Worker's Comp Office in the State. I was also responsible for communicating with the Industrial Commission (IC) - preparing reports and gathering evidence regarding Legal Issues and Appeal Hearings and Leading team meetings.

Taking Ms. Gordon-St. John's account of the significance of the Communications Information Officer position to be accurate, one would think that her appointment to the job was approved at the highest levels of the Strickland administration and therefore is evidence that she is - as she asserts - "very politically connected."

If she lacks political connection in her own right, she certainly has them in spades in being the wife of Deametrious.

Readers have read a number of SCPR blogs wherein The Report went into great detail about husband Deametrious' political involvement in Stark County politics.

He is a former Stark County Board of Elections appointee by the Stark County Democratic Executive Committee (2013) who was a critical factor in the decision making process whereby Johnnie A. Maier, Jr brother George T. Maier was allowed to be on November's ballot in the Stark County election to fill out Mike McDonald's term as county sheriff.

St. John as a Democratic central committeeman voted twice (February 5, 2013 and December 11, 2013) to appoint Maier to serve as sheriff until this November's election when McDonald (sheriff-elect from the November, 2012 election) was unable to take office because of what turned out to be a terminal illness.

Dwan Gordon St. John was present at a Board of Elections hearing on a challenge to George T. Maier being qualified under R.C. 311.01 to be a county sheriff.  Deametrious voted to reject the challenge.

Deametrious has a political consulting business and he along with Dwan were earlier this year the recipients of expenditures from the Coalition for Greater Cleveland's Future.

Deametrious has been a key figure in the Stark County Black Caucus.

Deametrious St. John hails from Cleveland.  At one time he says he was involved in Cleveland politics when George Forbes was in his heyday.

Undoubtedly, the St. Johns have other political connections that the SCPR is not aware of or does not recall at the moment.

Suffice it to say, it is quite believable that Dwan has the political connections and clout to impress Catazaro-Perry and the Massillon Maier Political Machine that that criterion in and of itself is enough to justify to them that it would be a wise thing for them within Stark County Democratic Party political life to find a place for her in Massillon city government.

Who can forget the outrageous outburst of Her-Highness when Massillon city councilman-at-large Milan Chovan (a Republican) raised questions about the hire.



The SCPR believes the "racist/sexist" charge was:

• a calculated "get ahead of the critics" political gambit 
• put together by Catazaro-Perry, her political godfather Johnnie A. Maier, Jr (a former Stark County Democratic Party chairman) and his political protege R. Shane Jackson, Stark Dems' political director
• designed to serve "as a smokescreen" to deflect suspicion and concomitant criticism that the Gordon-St. John hire was grounded in politics

The Report thinks that the St. John hire likely was due to her self-described being (her exact words in her resume) "Very Politically Connected."  (see in graphic below, highlighted in the color blue for emphasis)

There is suspicion galore that the Catazaro-Perry as mayor of Massillon hires for city jobs primarily on the basis of political connections and does very little, if any, posting of positions so that general tax paying public has an opportunity to be considered for city of Massillon employment.

Moreover, it appears that doing background checks on prospective employees is not a part of the administration's hiring process.

And it needs to be pointed out that Catazaro-Perry is not alone in Stark County in being thought in Stark County government circles as being susceptible to making primarily political hires.

The SCPR has written quite a few blogs over the past six years plus fingering a number of county and political subdivision elected officials as being suspected taking care of the politically connected with taxpayer supported public positions and the general public having had no chance whatsoever to apply for the jobs; let alone actually get hired.

Whether it is Republican Stark County treasurer Alex Zumbar, Republican Stark County auditor Alan Harold, Democrat Stark County recorder Rick Campbell or Democratic Canton Municipal Court clerk of courts Phil Giavasis doing the hiring, the SCPR thinks that it should be unacceptable to the Stark County public for hires to be made on seeming political connectedness.

But Catazaro-Perry probably stands out in the public perception - because of her owing her own election as mayor of Massillon to the Maier/Jackson Massillon Political Machine and her seeming inability to govern without chapter and verse guidance from Maier, Jr and Jackson - as being the most political of all Stark County elected officials.

Other names brought up to the SCPR as conjecture that "political connections" was a primary reason for being a Catazaro-Perry hire include:  Safety Director Al Hennon (a close friend to the Maiers, going back many years), Administrative Assistant Larry St. Jean (nephew of former Stark County Dems chairman Randy Gonzalez), Administrative Assistant Margaret Elum (wife of Massillon Municipal Court judge Eddie Elum, a confidant of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr [JAM]), Building Department employee David Maley (husband of JAM administrative assistant Tammy Maley) and, of course, George T. Maier, the current Stark County Democratic Party appointed county sheriff, as safety director as among the very first hires when Catazaro-Perry became mayor of Massillon on January 1, 2012.

And there are a number of others that readers of the SCPR think were hired primarily because of political connections to Maier, Jr and Jackson.

It is not that folks with political pedigree are by that factor unqualified to do the job they are hired for.

There is ample evidence that folks with a political connectedness as a background and therefore are suspected as being employed primarily because of the connections go on to do workmanlike job performance if not above average work.

The rub is that these are public jobs funded by taxpayer dollars that the general public should have access to.  Moreover, nobody should be hired in a public position without having been vetted.

The Report did ask for records evidencing posting on the St. John hire.

Here is the exchange between the SCPR and administration official Ken Koher:

RE: Public records request (PRR)

        Kenneth Koher, Jun 30

To:  Martin Olson
        City Law Director

Good Afternoon,

The city is not in possession of any documents responsive to your request.  We can’t produce records that we do not have.  [SCPR COMMENT INSERTION:  In other words, position was not posted, not advertised to the general taxpaying public]
Kenneth Koher
Records Compliance Officer

...

From: Martin Olson [mailto:tramols@att.net]
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 2:21 PM
To: Kenneth Koher
Subject: Re: Public records request (PRR)

...

One question I forgot to ask, was this job posted for the general public to have an opportunity to fill it?

If not, why not?

If, as it appears to some, St. John is taken by the Massillon voting public as being primarily "a political connections hire," it may turn out in the end to be a political disaster for Catzaro-Perry, JAM and Jackson.

It is less than a year away from the May, 2015 Democratic primary election for the Democratic voters of Massillon to choose whether or not Kathy Catazaro-Perry will continue on for another four years as mayor.

As the SCPR sees it, making a racist/sexist (the latter of which is interesting and inasmuch as five women are members of Massillon City Council (Republicans Sarita Cunningham-Hedderly, Nancy Halter; Democrats Andrea Scassa, Megan Starrett and Michelle Del-Rio Keller) may well backfire on the mayor come the primary.

But no way.

Maier, Jr in in the opinion of the SCPR is infected with political bravado to a degree far superior to any other Stark County political figure, certainly among the current crop, and, maybe, going back through the entire political history of Stark County.

The Report sees him as a "power and might" politician who bullies his way towards realizing his political objectives.

That Steve Okey, a Canton attorney, has gotten involved in the Massillon fray is no surprise to the SCPR.

He seems, when he dons the robe of being a political figure, to The Report to share Maier, Jr's propensity to politically "bowl people over" like they are "ten pins" rather than living human beings.

Okey is the appointee of the Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee (SCDP) Central Commtee (CC) as president of Alliance City Council (April 30, 2014).

The Report thinks that some political strong arming likely got him the nod as the appointee over fellow Alliance Democrat Sue Ryan.

In what the SCPR thinks was a major political miscalculation, in his first meeting as president, Okey tried to force a change in the way Alliance City Council votes (SCPR Link).

He failed in that quest and The Report is being told that he has apparently learned a lesson in Alliance in that he is acting much more like a number of the Alliance councilpersons think a council president should conduct him/herself.

The SCPR brings Okey into today's blog because of a Massillon Independent report on Thursday that he is representing Ms. St. John's legal interests.

She filed a violation of civil rights complaint (racial discrimination) with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission as of July 21, 2014, two weeks to the day that Massillon's council voted to defund the parking enforcement position.

However, his role as legal counsel, is not The Report's primary interest.

The SCPR considers Okey to be one of the most if not the most politically active attorneys in all of Stark County.

Not particularly "politically astute" though.

Okey, a former member of the Alliance City Council before his recent appointment as president, not long ago sued Alliance over the voting procedures that council had employed in certain instances (which, interesting enough, Okey himself has participated in while still a councilman).  The lawsuit has been dropped.

He tried to make himself out to the SCPR as being a champion of political sunshine in government.  And that may be.  But The Report thinks his primary purpose in the Alliance situation was to embarrass Alliance councilman Larry Dordea who is the Republican November election opponent to guess who?

You've got it!

None other that George T. Maier.

Is he a part of the Maier/Jackson Massillon Political Machine machinations, whatever they may be?

Ya have to be believe he is, don't ya?

The Report does not see the Massillon Catazaro-Perry administration/city council flak over the Gordon-St. John hire as being a legal fight but as an extension of the continuing political battles that have been the hallmark of the mayor/council relationship.

The SCPR agrees with those who think that St. John's OCRC complaint will not succeed.

What it will do, The Report thinks, is keep the mayor's racism/sexism allegation front and center in Massillon politics and likely undermine her chances to be reelected mayor.

One would think that the political geniuses who the SCPR thinks may have put Catzaro-Perry up to the racist/sexist thing would have, by now, figured out that this gambit is not going to fly and have the maneuver slink off into obscurity hopefully to be forgotten by May, 2015.

Take a look at Massillon's demographic numbers on race/gender:

It could be that some voters might buy the mayor's argument that race was a factor in the decision to defund the parking enforcement position, given that only two council members of ten (including the presidency) are African-American.

But the SCPR thinks that most of the voters will agree with The Report that the defunding racial allegation is grounded in political gamesmanship, and, if anything, voters might well punish the mayor in May, 2015 for having made what they think to have been politically motivated allegations.

Should she survive the Democratic primary, The Report thinks it is likely she will face Republican Ward 6 councilman Ed Lewis, IV November's general election.

And in that election she will have to face up to the entire Massillon community; not just Massillon's Democrats.

While the SCPR does not buy the racist tag the mayor tried to put on Councilman Chovan and by implication on all those who did not vote her way; council's vote: just looking at the racial makeup of council

• the Catazaro-Perry/St. John allegation might be bought "on the face of the racial make up numbers disparity" by those who want to think the worst of those councilpersons voting to defund,
• the "sexist" allegation is way out there in "left field somewhere" in terms of council being sexists when a majority of council is guess what?  

Female!

To the SCPR, the sexist allegation is pretty clear indication of "the stretch" (i.e. throw everything in, including the kitchen sink) that the Catazaro-Perry/Maier Massillon political cabal was into in apparently formulating the administration attack on the voting majority of council.

But to reiterate, the SCPR thinks the attempted racist tag is a "red herring" also.

In short, the tussle over the Gordon-St. John hire is part of the ongoing struggle between council and the mayor as to who is in charge of Massillon city government.

It is obvious that the mayor and the voting majority of council do not trust each other.

And it could be that council members have looked at the public trail that Dwan Gordon-St. John has left out there on the Internet and in publicly available public records and question the basis on which - in light of the overall information - Mayor Catazaro-Perry, if not based on political considerations made the hire.

The SCPR has not read nor heard reasons why the mayor thought Gordon-St. John was a good hire for Massillon.

Of course, The Report hasn't seen nor heard heard her vouching the merits of her many hires, other than "glittering generalities."

Since the mayor has made the Gordon-St. John's initial hire an issue with her racists/sexists allegation, doesn't she have an obligation to tell the Massillon public what in her resume and public record (Internet based and otherwise) recommends her for city of Massillon employment?

Here is Massillon's record of her current position of her current hire: (note:  July 21, 2014, the day she filed her Ohio Civil Rights Commission complaint against the City of Massillon)

First of all, Gordon-St. John's submitted resume:  (an extract)

What apparently was not part of the the consideration of the Catazaro-Perry administration of whether or not to hire Gordon-St. John was the number of listings for her on the Stark County Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) website, the federal bankruptcy court for Northern Ohio and the executive clemency branch of the Ohio Adult Parole Authority.

At least, if the administration knows about these matters and considered them, it did not indicate such to the SCPR in The Report's employment application public records request with regard to Ms. Gordon-St. John.

If the administration has not troubled itself to have at a minimum Massillon Police Department check of a prospective employee (not only Gordon-St. John but all new hires, no matter whom) as former mayor Frank Cicchinelli tells the SCPR his administration did without fail, then shame on the Catazaro-Perry administration and its its failure in its fiduciary duty to protect the public interest.

If the administration does have information that some might deem to be negative in a particular hiring situation, then it owes the public an explanation as to why a given hire was made notwithstanding such information.

These points apply not only to the Catazaro-Perry administration but to all Stark County-based units of government.

The SCPR does not think that merely because a person has a troubled past that such does in and of itself disqualify that person from public employment.

However, the taxpaying public in entitled to know that political considerations are not short-circuiting the employment vetting process.

One of the richest experiences (in the sense of seeing political sausage made) the writer of The Stark County Political Report has ever had has been rubbing shoulders with the power brokers of Stark County politics and government as a candidate for office in 2002/2004.

One particular breakfast fundraiser in the Fall of 2004 stands out.

The "good ol' boys" (mostly boys, there may have been a girl or two) were sitting around at table downing eggs, bacon and orange juice and, in general, having "a laugh-filled, back slapping time" reminiscing on political "war stories."

One of the stories had to do with a person in need of a job who as a politically active citizen was giving a certain Stark County office holder fits.

Solution to the problem?

Hire the person into a public, taxpayer supported job.

End of the person being a problem!

"Knowing" guffaws filled the room.

The SCPR believes and has written that there are many other scenarios of how all too many of Stark County's elected officials seemingly use your and my tax dollars to solve their particular political-based hiring needs.

From early in the days of this blog's existence, the SCPR has been writing about this all too common phenomenon.

To say it again, major damage is done to the public perception of fairness in government when politically based/motivated hires occur in that there is no "posting of the position" inviting the general "taxpaying" public to apply. 

In an incremental but sustained fashion, those elected officials who promote, condone or "look the other way" on such hirings turn out to be "their own worst enemy" in terms of undermining public confidence in the fairness of our system of government and thereby make their own jobs more difficult in the sense that they feed the growing cynicism of the public.

And, of course, a failure by public officials to do thorough background checks can and should come back to haunt an offending official.

Let's hope that with all the political connectedness hirings that seem to be going on in Stark County government that one or more do not end up costing the taxpayers because the discoverable was not subjected prudent due diligence discovery processes.

While, perhaps, an offending official will lose his/her job; in the end it likely will be the tax paying public who get left holding the bag.

And thusly the public's distrust of government and "playing politics" public officials will continue to grow.

The overall Massillon hire situation, the SCPR thinks, reeks of "political connections count for everything."

And in such a hiring process the tax paying public gets counted out!