AT AGE 50: MASSILLON MAYOR CATAZARO-PERRY - FRIEND TO A PRESIDENT AND A GOVERNOR AND PROMINENT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS. LIFE DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER FOR A POLITICIAN, NO?

Recently,  Massillon Mayor Catazaro-Perry threw a 50th birthday bash for herself at Massillon's Firehouse Grill and Pub to shore up campaign finances (she raised upwards of $9,000) for her re-election drive still some three years away.

Now the party is over and she has to deal with the reality of actually being the mayor of Massillon.

Up to the age 50, life does not get any better than it has been for the mayor of  Tigerland, at least over the past 10 years in so far as her political life in concerned.  In fact, to most of  Massillon/Stark County's politically astute, Catazaro-Perry life must seem as her life has been perfect and perhaps a fairy tale too.

• She swept into town around the year 2002 and took up residence with a doctor she is married to (Anthony) into the posh (purchased for $410,000 [now valued at $325,101] according to Stark Co. auditor records) Mill Ridge Path enclave in Massillon's third ward,
• In 2003, she ran against Republican incumbent Claudette Istnick and bested her by an impressive margin:

• Her victory over Istnick caught the eye of Massillon's two Democratic power brokers, to wit:
• Mayor Francis H. Ciccihinelli, Jr., and
• Clerk of Courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.
• A tussle ensued between Cicchinelli and Maier (an outgrowth of their competition going back to their days as students at Kent State/Stark) for Catazaro-Perry's political alleigance,
• Maier wins out and the two collaborate to put Catazaro-Perry on a course to confront Cicchinelli as a proxy for Maier for control of the executive branch of Massillon city government,
• In May, 2011 the confrontation takes place in the Democratic Primary and Catazaro-Perry walks away a victory,

• In the lead up to the May, 2011 confrontation, Catazaro-Perry holds a fund-raiser (July 23, 2010) for the-then Governor Ted Strickland (a confidant and political pal of Maier who was the first Democratic Party chairman to endorse Strickland in the Democratic gubernatorial primary of 2006) at her well-appointed Mill Ridge Path digs.   How many Massillonians can say that the Governor has been to their homes?
• On August 1, 2012, President Barack Obama lands at Akron-Canton airport (in route to Mansfield and Akron for campaign appearances) and who gets an invitation, among other politicians and dignitaries,  to visit with him at the airport?  Kathy Catazaro-Perry, that's who.  You talk about a perfect end to birthday year number 50.  How can you top that!  
• Next up?  President Obama visits 900 Mill Ridge Path on October 27, 2012 immediately before the McKinley/Massillon game:  a mere 10 days before the nation decides whether or not the country's top Democrat will continue to lead America.  Wow! Wow! and Wow! again.

So the SCPR rests the case on Kathy Catazaro-Perry having a fairy tale Year #50.  From a political standpoint, things do not get any better.

However, there has been a tinge of trial and tribulation as the realities of having to govern set in with her taking office on January 1st.

Nevertheless, the SCPR has to believe that Catazaro-Perry is still basking in ten year ride of bliss that she has experienced for 94.5% (120 months/8months as mayor) of the decade.

Upon her becoming mayor, it could be that Mayor Kathy is undergoing an Alice in Wonderland-esque realization of not being protected by a childlike innocence of everything being perfect and of being shielded (by the likes of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr) from the harsh realities of the world of politics as it really is.

For the next three years Catzaro-Perry will experience the adult political world in spades.  

Already she has had to layoff firemen and policemen.  Her administration is desperate for revenues just to pay the day-to-day bills of Massillon city government.  She is getting bounced all over the place on her effort to get the relatively benign matter of getting a reduction in the city's income tax credit.

And, of course, there is the reality of campaign fund raising.  

On July 31st, Ohio candidates for political office were required to file their semi-annual reports.  And on Catazaro-Perry's report we find out the names (and the amounts contributed) of those who presumably took the occasion of Kathy's 50th to wish her a Happy 50th Birthday with perhaps a dash of Merry Christmas having been thrown in by Robert Senkar of Medina.

Here is the complete list of the Catazaro-Perry Happy Birthday! wishers which includes such luminaries as Stark County Common Pleas Judge Tayrn Heath, many of the Elums of Massillon (including Massillon Municipal Court Judge Edward Elum and his wife Margaret who works for the mayor), Richard Jusseaume (president of Walsh University), David Waikem (co-owner of the Waikem Auto Group), Jayne Ferrero (Massillon auditor), Marshall Weinberg (Massillon Board of Education member), Robert J. Shearer (co-founder, chairman and CEO of Shearer's Foods), Perry Stergios (Massillon law director), David Held (Republican and North Canton mayor), Richard Regula (Republican and former Stark County commissioner running to retrieve his seat), Jeannette Mullane (deputy director Stark County Board of Elections), Ronald Frailly (former editor of The Massillon Independent who Catazaro-Perry recently tried to get hired in with the Massillon Parks), Joseph Martuccio (Canton law director), Sam Ferruccio (Democrat member of the Stark County Board of Elections), Thomas Cecconi (president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center), Andrea Scassa (member of the Massillon City Council), Chuck Maier (former Massillon councilman and brother of Clerk of Courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr and Safety Service Director George Maier), Greg Hawk (Canton councilman and former employee of Johnnie A. Maier, Jr.), William J. Smuckler (former Canton councilman running against Richard Regula for a commissioner's seat), and Ken Koher (Massillon's finance director and former Stark County treasurer).  Quite an impressive list, no?

But where are Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., Shane Jackson (Maier's "right-hand-man and political director of the Stark County Democratic Party), and, of course, Safety Service Director George Maier.

Do they really think that their absence from a published campaign contributor list obscures their controlling of the mayor factor?  Hmm?

ON THE WRONG SIDE OF MAYOR KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY: FORGET GETTING AN ANSWER TO YOUR MASSILLON CITY GOV'T QUESTIONS?

A primary factor that voters should check out when considering who to vote for in any given election is the candidate's sense of personal security (i.e. being confident in oneself) in terms of whether or not she/he is willing to answer tough questions.

Recently, Mitt Romney campaign spokesman Rick Gorka, when media following Romney on his recent visit to Poland besieged him with questions, told them to “Kiss my ass, this is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect."

Gorka later apologized and said that his conduct was inappropriate.

And that's all well and good, but that attitude is all too common with political figures and public officials (elected and unelected) when it is not convenient for them for them to field questions.

Lest we think that the affliction is at the national political/public figure level only, think again.

Stark County and its political subdivisions have a number of political personages and public officials who take the same tack attitude-wise when asked questions not to their liking, or if the questioner is likely to ask tough questions, the answers to which might embarrass or show an out-of-touchness.

A front and center example of such a person is Massillon's Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry.

The Report's take on the new Massillon mayor is that she is so insecure in her knowledge of city government operations or in formulating answers to the problems which plague the city that her ego will not allow her to be abide questions that might betray her deficiencies.

Never mind that she had eight years as councilwoman to get fully schooled in Massillon operations, figure out where the problems are, and be up and ready to go if and when she was ever elected mayor to propose specific solutions to resolve the city's troubles.

Rather that do that, she instead has chosen to let others (i.e. the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr faction of the Massillon Democratic Party) feed her with a prepared script to communicate with the Massillon public when she has no other choice.

An interesting thing about Maier and his sidekick Shane Jackson (the latter of whom the SCPR believes to have been the "anonymous" [a profile in courage, no?] poster of the Massillon Review), is how it appears to The Report that the blog unwittingly shared with the general public an inside look into the thinking going on in the Maier/Jackson et al political strategizing and tactical approach creation for Catazaro-Perry.

In late April or early May yours truly appeared on a local talk radio show and shared the "inside look" observation.

Guess what?  The last blog publication date of the blog (according to a Google search) as of the writing of this blog was May 10th.

Hmm?

Because Catazaro-Perry did not advantage herself with ample opportunity and time to prepare, the mayor appears to know that she cannot handle incisive questioning and consequently blows off anyone who poses a question - the answer to which she has not been cleared with the Maier faction.

The mayor can refuse to answer questions and her supporter(s) can ramp down a telltale blog, but there are alternative sources for information about the inner workings of the administration.

It is strange indeed that someone who is on the public payroll receiving taxpayer dollars doing the work of a chief executive officer of a unit of Ohio government thinks she has a right to only answer questions she pre-approves in terms of the question, and, in terms of who the questioner is.

Residents of Massillon can do as Mayor Catazaro-Perry beckons:  "E-mail the Mayor."

And if the questions are benign enough or if you contributed to and/or worked on her campaign or are otherwise perceived to be a political friend, then the e-mailer is likely to get an answer.

However, if there is a hint of critique in the question(s) posed or if the questioner is known for tough questions; forget getting an answer.

For heavens sake, one should not think a impromptu question can be asked her (outside official proceedings) and to expect an answer, that is, unless you have proven to her satisfaction and her handlers' satisfaction you are a friend of Kathy and, even then, a response may well have to wait vetting of the question(s) by George, Johnnie, Shane or any of a number of members of the Maier-led faction.
 
Go ahead e-mail the Mayor.

But whether or not you get a response will depend if it is deemed friendly or critical and/or whether or not you are a persona grata or non-grata in the minds of those who are minders of the mayor.

MASSILLON'S MAYOR CATAZARO-PERRY'S "OWN WORST ENEMY?"

Indeed, it appears to the SCPR that none other than Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry is her "own worst enemy" in terms of getting Massillon headed in the right direction.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the ongoing saga of the Catazaro-Perry administration's decision to layoff a combined total of 19 policemen (9) and firemen (10) effective May 20th.

Ostensibly, it was designed to pull Massillon out of a $1.1 million or so deficit that Catazaro-Perry says political bogeyman Frank Cicchinelli (the former mayor) left her.

But there is disagreement as to whether or not the layoffs will do the trick in pulling Massillon even in its budgetary numbers.

In the short term, they certainly will not.

Perhaps, over the longer term.

But Massillon needs financial relief and it needs it now!

And there is some thought that the layoffs were a "roll of the political dice" calculated to scare Massillon City Council into approving Catazaro-Perry's insistence that Massillon needs to reduce the city income tax credit for those who work outside the city by 50% then 35% so that the city can get several hundred thousands of dollars into city coffers this year.

If such was the motivation of the mayor's closest strategists and advisers (e.g. her "kitchen-cabinet" of the likes of de facto mayor Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., [former Stark County Democratic Party chairman] and Shane Jackson [Stark Dems political director] and others), Mayor Kathy should be looking for advice elsewhere.

Reading Matt Rink's piece Layoffs complicates fire talks, June 17 (The Independent) CLOSELY, it seems to The Report that all the mayor succeeded in doing with the layoffs was to "dig her financial hole deeper" and complicate her life "by leaps and bounds" and she has to attribute the troubles to no one other than herself thus being her "own worst enemy."

From Rink's article:

Layoffs announced in April threw a wrench in contract talks between the city and its firefighters union, says union President Pat Perkowski.

And an excerpt on Safety-Service Director Maier's take on the talks:

If you had asked me this question a week ago, I would have told you ‘soon.’ But some things have changed a little bit. So, to be straightforward, the answer now is ‘I don’t know.’ I’m hopeful we can come to an agreement on a few things, but I’m guessing there will be some things we’ll have to go to the next level (mediation) on.

For the layoffs to provide the kind of budget savings her numbers cruncher (Budget Director Ken Koher) projects there will have to be a rework of the "minimum staffing" mandates that are in the current working agreement.

Getting to such an agreement has to be a road the fire fighters do not want to take.  For if they agree, then the need to hire back the 10 laid off firefighters evaporates, no?

The SCPR asked Massillon Fire Chief Tom Burgasser (last Thursday) whether or not he was hopeful that the 10 would be coming back.  Yes, he said, he is hopeful.  However, he added he could offer no concrete specifics to justify his hopefulness.

And this is just the firefighter negotiations.  The police union negotiations will not begin until the end of this month.

It appears that Massillon City Council for the most part wants to work with the mayor, but is not about to be politically manipulated and bullied into doing things just because "word has come down from on high."

If Catazaro-Perry wants to be successful mayor of Massillon, she should be learning by now that that her "kitchen-cabinet" is not going to get her there.

Establishing a mutually trustworthy relationship with Massillon City Council will be far more productive for her becoming NOT her "own worst enemy!"

MASSILLON MAYOR KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY MOTTO: "IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN?"

It is becoming obvious that the new mayor of Massillon has less ideas on fixing the city's budget shortfall than the the man she chased from office.

Moreover it appears that Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry is prepared to engage a prolonged stand-off with Massillon City Council in order to get some semblance of financial stability in Tigerland but being fixated on one idea.

The most immediate relief to the financial woes for Massillon is to get council to go along with a reduction in the city's income tax credit for taxes that Massillonians pay to other villages/municipalities where they work.

She failed on a 8 to 1 vote (only Councilman Slagle voting for her proposal) on March 5th. (LINK to prior blog) to reduce the tax by 50% for a two year period of time.

She now proposes a reworked credit reduction of 35%  for an indefinite term.

But where are the changes of heart coming from for Mayor Kathy to prevail this time around?

Trouble is for Mayor Kathy is that Republicans (who now control council 5 to 4)  do not like to raise taxes in any way, shape or form.

While they were sincere in saying that they regret the need to layoff 27 city workers (all union employees - 10 firemen, 9 policemen, 6 street department workers and 2 from the city sanitation department); philosophically, these Republicans appear to be committed to "living within one's means" and sometimes that means incurring the pain of cutting jobs.

So it would be really, really surprising if the mayor is going to be able to convince any of the Massillon Republican council members to come over to her side on a relatively minor modification of the old idea.

The SCPR believes that she may well pick up Democratic councilpersons Scassa and Townsend on a second go round.

But perhaps not Paul Manson who seems to be committed to putting on a 0.2% add on to the city income tax subject to the approval of Massillon voters.

A burning question has to be whether or not she will lose Councilman Slagle's vote this on her second try.

Really?  Why?

How about because he is getting trashed in the media by the Maier faction of the Massillon Democratic Party.

Safety-Service Director George Maier and his brother Clerk of Court Johnnie A. Maier have lashed out (George - "shame on them") at those (Slagle, Townsend, Manson from council; Auditor Jayne Ferrero, Law Director Perry Stergios and Treasurer Paul Lambert)  who recently took an "automatic" (by virtue of 1995 city council legislation) 3.5% pay increase in the midst of Massillon's current financial crisis.

Moreover, it appears that a Massillon based "anonymous" (indicative of cowardice, no?) political blog which hammers away at any who criticize, or are uncooperative with, or do not bend to the will of the Catazaro-Perry administration, has been assigned the task of politically hatcheting Slagle in that the blog focuses on him over beyond others taking the raise.

The SCPR believes that the blog is the work of Johnnie A. Maier,Jr. political operative (political director of the Stark County Democratic Party) and  Maier chief deputy Massillon clerk of court Shane Jackson. 

A move that The Report believes borders on being politically moronic in that Slagle so far as been Catazaro-Perry's only support on the tax reduction issue.

It will be interesting to see exactly how politically mature Councilman Slagle is.

If he sticks by the mayor in a second vote in the face of the severe criticism leveled to him by Catazaro-Perry's nearest and dearest political allies, one has to be completely impressed with this councilman-at-large doing what he thinks is best for Massillon notwithstanding the bashing he is taking from the mayor's friends.

The SCPR would not be surprised to see Slagle stick with the mayor notwithstanding the thumpings he has gotten.

The Report sees him as a thoughtful guy who has a thick political hide.

Moreover, as a liberal Democrat he undoubtedly feels more comfortable with tax increases that the Republicans do.

But on the other hand he has gotten bounced around by the Maier political family.

In the end, his decision will probably depend on how much ego he has.

While the mayor is likely to get up to two and, perhaps, as many as four votes;  do not look for her to get to the magical number of five.

At least, not this time around.

The police and firefighters are turning up the pressure big time.

The laid off police just did a media event designed to elicit empathy/sympathy from the Massillon electorate to the point of motivating voters to put pressure on council to approve the quickest route to generating new revenues.

Will the Republicans be able to withstand the pressure of emotionally driven constituents calling them and insisting they give in to the administration?

The laid off firefighters have appealed their layoffs the Massillon Civil Service Commission.

If they persist and it looks like they are ultimately going to win a demand that at least five of the ten laid off be reinstated, will the prospect of their prevailing cause one or more of the Republicans to yield?

Perhaps not.

Republican Councilman Donnie Peters, Jr (chairman of the finance committee) says he is not considering changing his vote unless and until  "the contracts of police officers and firefighters are settled."

The Report believes he likely expresses the attitude of all his fellow Republicans.

Catazaro-Perry says she has "ideas" (emphasis added) about solving Massillon's financial dilemma.

Really?

Why then is she back to council for a second round on the same old idea that was so thoroughly trounced on March 5th?

MASSILLON: A "POLITICAL CESSPOOL" OF INFIGHTING. AND THE MAYOR EXPECTS TRUST TO PREVAIL?

It is sadly bemusing that Kathy Catazaro-Perry's administration thinks that the "trust climate" in city government is such that she can ask Massillon City Council (Council) chairman Donnie Peters, Jr., to give Council's blessing to a proposed passing of the city's street lighting costs to Massillon taxpayers.

It appears to the SCPR that a number of the new Massillon city administration's words and actions have had the effect of sewing seeds of mistrust during its first four months plus in office, that it is mind-boggling for the administration to presume that Peters would sign off putting the matter on Council's agenda without having needed information.

What I  (Peters) was really upset about was they wanted me to approve the assessment before they told me how much.  It’s like saying I’m going to pass an income tax, but I’m not going to tell you how much until you decide.  (Will residents have to pay for street-lighting assessments, Matt Rink, The Independent, May 5, 2012)

But it is not just the street-lighting situation that is creating "trust havoc" in Massillon.

There are Massillonians who think the administration's layoff of 27 employees (19 police and fire) is not all that its cracked up to be in terms of savings.   These folks think the administration may be playing politics with the layoff to make it appear it is taking bold action when the reality is that it is engaging in a shell game.

It has been pointed out to The Report that contractual safety force staffing requirements may cost the city enough in overtime pay and unemployment compensation expenditures that Massillon will end up saving very little if any towards closing its projected $1.1 million 2012 deficit.

In fact, the source says, the layoffs could end up costing more than if no layoffs had taken place.  The administration failed to provide Council certifiable numbers on the costs.

Moreover, some look at the layoffs as a political move designed to give the administration the upper hand in getting Council to approve tax increases in one form or another for the city.

Not sharing the actual numbers showing the savings or extra cost is hardly a way to build confidence in the credibility of the administration's move.

Sources also tell the SCPR that it is very uncomfortable working for Massillon government with Mayor Kathy in charge.

Mistrust, suspicion and paranoia is said to be running rampant within the halls of the city administration.

There is the disparity in the financial treatment between different sets of employees which work for the city.

The SCPR has heard for years (even going back into the Cicchinelli administration) about a frosty relationship existing between administration employees and Massillon Municipal Court employees over disparate pay package treatment.

It is somewhat ironic that Catazaro-Perry has not been able to or willing to get a handle on the differences and get court officials to bring court employee remuneration packages into line with the rest of Massillon city government employment.

After all, her biggest booster is none other than Johnnie A. Maier, Jr (Massillon clerk of courts) who is thought by the SCPR to be - in league with his brother and Safety Service Director George Maier - the de facto mayors of Massillon city government.

One would think that if they want the titular leader to succeed, they would be working a breakneck speed to smooth over the dissonance between administration workers and court employees.

And, of course, there is the pay boost thing for members of Council as well as the law director, the city auditor, the city treasurer and the mayor.

Apparently, the mayor is not content in refusing the raise for herself thereby making her an example-in-action as to what she thinks the right thing to do is.  She has an "out-of-control" safety/service director shaming Auditor Ferrero, Law Director Stergios, Treasurer Lambert and council members Townsend, Manson and Slagle for taking automatic pay raises.  Hardly a trust inducing move.

That the safety/service director would do such a thing is more evidence that Catazaro-Perry is not in control and therefore cannot be trusted by council members or independently elected officials as the person who really is in charge.

Add on to all the foregoing, the flap over possibly ending Massillon's trash collection function.

With Republicans controlling Council by a 5 to 4 margin, it is predictable that sooner or later the city will be getting out of the trash collection business.

Most Republican officeholders these days seem to be bent on privatizing any and everything they can get their hands on.  Especially if union jobs are at stake.

Catazaro-Perry is a huge beneficiary of union contracts in her successful run to become mayor.  It is not going to set well with her organized labor supporters that she is not likely going to be able - over the long haul - to protect the sanitation worker union jobs.

There are two trust problems for her in the trash collection issue.

It appears that the majority of Council (i.e. the Republicans) does not trust the mayor's ability to manage trash collection to the overall benefit of taxpaying Massillonians.

And, her inability to protect union jobs has to be an opening for distrust to creep in and eventually disrupt an important political relationship for her.

It seems to the SCPR that Mayor Kathy Catzaro-Perry is keeping "the faith" that in the end that things will work out for her administration.

But how can faith thrive in a sea of mistrust?

MASSILLON MAYOR KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY: "A JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT?" "TO THE VICTOR BELONG THE SPOILS?

It is becoming more and more apparent to the SCPR that newly serving Massillon Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry seemingly is taking the advice of her prime political mentor and minder Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. (former Stark County Democratic Party chairman) and politicizing employment in Massillon government to the extent she can do so.

Back on April 2nd, The Report published a blog (CLICK HERE TO REVIEW) which detailed actions of her administration to replace predecessor Mayor Frank Cicchinelli employees (Stevens and Kaminiski) with her own.

Unfortunately, how well either did their jobs seems to yours truly to have been irrelevant as to whether or not the Catazaro-Perry folks were going to abide them as carryover employees.

One of the concerns of many including the SCPR was that the Kathy Catazaro-Perry would not be in control if elected and that she rather would be dependent on the likes of Maier and his political handmaidens.

A tip off on her dependence on Maier et al is a common refrain she uses when asked a question the "approved" answer to which she is not clear on, to wit:  "I will have to get back to you on that."

The SCPR predicted that while, if elected, Catazaro-Perry would be the de jure mayor,  Maier would be the de facto mayor appears to be in full swing.

It may be that the firing of Matt Rice is the most egregious case of all of the mayor's attempt to apply a political litmus test as to whether or not one remained a Massillon employee or qualifies to become a city employee.

To his credit, Rice is fighting back.

And it appears that he has a fighting chance of surviving.

So much so that the administration seems hellbent on stopping Rice's creative strategy of claiming civil service protection as a classified employee.   If an employee is determined to be a classified employee,  he/she can only be fired on commission (Massillon Civil Service Commission) validation that the firing was for cause?

Does the Catazaro-Perry administration doubt its ability to show cause in the case of Rice?

Apparently so.

Under the political spoils system started Andrew Jackson (the 7th U.S. president) which the likes of Maier bask in, firing of employees for no reason(s) other than political patronage purposes to the benefit of the supporters of the victorious candidate is the order of the day.

The Catazaro-Perry folks are not following the lead of Republicans Alan Harold (Stark County auditor) and Alex Zumbar (Stark County treasurer) who, when elected, in the wake of public perceived administration problems in the county treasury and auditors office.

They distinguished between carryover employees who had very little going for them but for their political connections in getting their jobs in the prior administration and those who had demonstrated that they the competence to do the job and merited being kept on in the replacement administration.

In the case of Massillon, the new administration has decided to take its civil service commission to court in order to stop it from even considering whether or not Rice's claim of civil service coverage has any legal heft.

A SCPR source alleges:

... the administration has dragged its feet for three months, canceling scheduled meetings and hearings at the last minute and doing everything it can to keep the commission from performing its duty.  Motions were made and votes taken by the board but then were somehow disregarded and discarded when the employee prevailed.

A more disturbing allegation by The Report's source is that Mayor Catazaro-Perry is trying to get a member of the Massillon Civil Service Commission to resign.

The Report is told that former Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli appointed commissioners Dale Walterhouse (a Republican)  and Marcus Simpson (Massillon Middle School principal).

Assuming the allegation that Catazaro-Perry has asked for a resignation of one of the Cicchinelli appointees is correct, the question becomes:  which one?

A SCPR discussion with a source in the best position to assess says that Walterhouse - if the allegation is true - is the likely target.

Why Walterhouse?

Because Walterhouse ran against Catazaro-Perry in 2007 for the 3 Ward city council slot and that Cicchinelli was one of his "in the background" supporters.

Massillonians should be deeply troubled at the way the new mayor, from an employment standpoint, is getting her administration up and running.

It seems to be just the type of environment that 1829 - 1837 president of the United States Andrew Jackson would fit into perfectly.

"To the victor belong the spoils!"

MAYOR CATAZARO-PERRY IS - LET'S SAY - "INCONSISTENT?" MASSILLONIANS THINK CRONYISM IS OKAY?

Whatever hope that there may have been that newly sworn-in Massillon Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry (C-P) would be her own person appears to have vanished like the warm weather on being pushed out by a strong cold front.

Last week she (err the Parks & Recreation Board) acted in emergency fashion (on the abrupt resignation of former Mayor Frank Cicchinelli supporter Kenn Kaminski) in naming campaign team member and transition arranger Bob Straughn as the Parks & Recreation Department director.

Who likely arranged for the the Straughn appointment?

Apparently, Safety Service Director George T. Maier who was invited into the Parks & Recreation Board executive session midway.

The SCPR does not believe for one New York nanosecond press reports quoting Maier that the Catazaro-Perry administration had a "wait-and-see" posture vis-a-vis Kaminski.  The Internet mouthpiece for the mayor and her political sycophants have been all over Kaminski for some time now. 

Of course, Straughn is just one of quite a number of  C-P political friends who ended up with jobs with Massillon city government since she took office at the beginning of this year.

One hopeful from the Cicchinelli administration thought he was going to have the opportunity to remain with the city, but as it turns out he seems to be the victim of what appears to be a cruel political hoax on the part of the mayor (she had to know better).

Former Roads and Streets Superintendent Michael Stevens tells the SCPR that back in July he received a "surprise"telephone call from Catazaro-Perry.  She was calling him to induce him to buy a ticket to a fundraiser for her campaign against Republican Lee Brunckhart to be held within a matter of days.  He says the tone of the call was as if his association with the Cicchinelli administration was not a problem.

Stevens responded to C-P that once the November election had come and gone, he would surface as a wholehearted supporter.

While he could not attend her fundraiser because of a conflict he had with the need to tend to Lawrence Township business (Stevens is a Lawrence Township trustee), he did send her a check for her campaign.

Then he says two days after the November election (mind you the Catazaro-Perry folks have had the check since July), he received his uncashed check back with no word of explanation in an anonymous-esque mailing package.

In the meantime he had information from mutual acquaintances that C-P was telling them that as far as she was concerned Mike Stevens was an okay guy.

Then the returned, uncashed check?

Stevens was let go by personal notice delivered by George Maier and Bob Straughn on December 27th or 28th.

According to Stevens, Mayor Catazaro-Perry fabricated a tale that she was telling mutual friends that she could not keep Stevens on because of blemishes in his personnel file.

Interesting, no?

Catazaro-Perry's seeming politization of Massillon city government is drawing a lot of attention these days in Tigerland.

The Massillon Independent yesterday put up a poll, to wit:

The Report is receiving word that the political mentors to the mayor have sent out an e-mail to her supporters rallying them to skewer the vote.

Notwithstanding this apparent effort by C-P loyalists to "stack-the-deck," 38% of voters (presumably Massillonians) simply want the very best in governance.

Filtering out the campaigning element, it is likely that the "real" numbers are exactly the opposite those that the poll shows:  60% or more in favor of the "best qualified" and 40% or less for political cronyism.

The tragedy of the hyper intra-partisanship (one Democratic faction against another) with, perhaps, a number of Republicans joining in or the good government side, is that Massillonians are apparently getting less than the best city employee (at the management level) in place to deal with some very serious if not critical problems facing the city of Massillon.

The SCPR no longer believes that a plausible case can be made that Mayor Catazaro-Perry is separate and apart from the political shenanigans being foisted on Massillon government operations.

The Stevens incident has the hand and footprints of Stark County Democratic operative Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. all over it (i.e. - the return of the campaign contribution check and his rejection as a Catzaro-Perry administration member).

While The Report finds it believable that the mayor has no problem with Stevens at a personal level, it is equally believable that decisions like whether or not he should be permitted a place in her administration IS NOT HERS TO MAKE!

THE FERREROS (JOHN & JAYNE) OF MASSILLON POLITICAL SCENE GETTING IN THE WAY OF MAYOR KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY'S CHANCE FOR SUCCESS? JOHN: INCONSISTENT ON TAXATION QUESTION?

It is becoming more and more apparent to the SCPR that Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero is all about John Ferrero and/or his corner of Stark County government and little, if anything, else.

According to Stark County Auditor records (circa 12/07/2011), Ferrero was set to take in somewhere around $120,000 in Stark County taxpayer dollars as the elected Stark County prosecutor.

Now we have a situation where he was for a Stark County sales tax increase which would benefit his office, but he is against a 50% reduction in Massillon's income tax credit (for non-Massillon taxpayers).

The kicker is that Ferrero works in Canton, but lives in Massillon and a 50% reduction in the Massillon income tax credit would compel him to pay some Massillon city income tax.

THE STARK COUNTY TAX ISSUE

Last year Stark County commissioners were mulling over exactly how much of a levy they would ask Stark Countians to approve and for how long.  It was generally thought that they were gravitating to a 0.5% increase for a period of 8 years.

John Ferrero deferred on the projected 0.5% increased at a public meeting the commissioners held with elected officials in 2011.  He and Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson wanted commissioners to go for a full 1% increase and they wanted it to be permanent.

The commissioners made it clear that for the 0.5%, eight year levy,  that they ultimately decided to go forward with, would require the hard work of each and every county employee and county departments heads such as Ferrero.

Well, we all know "the rest of the story" - sort of.

The levy passed by a surprising margin which was a big, big relief to the commissioners who just recently passed appropriations for the 2012 calendar year county budget.

Who objected to his share of appropriations?  You've got it!  None other than Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero.

As the SCPR sees it, Ferrero tried to muscle down the commissioners by putting out the prospect of asking Stark County's judges (Municipal and Common Pleas) to appoint "special counsel" which - to get to the short of it - would force commissioners in the long run to pay out substantially more than Ferrero was asking for in 2012 appropriations.

Ironically, one leading Stark County public figure contacted yours truly after the successful levy campaign to say that Ferrero sat on his duff during the campaign and did very little to help it pass.

The Report asked Ferrero about this allegation and asked him for some details as to exactly what were the specifics of his effort in promoting the levy.

He refused to respond in any kind of detail.

Hmm?

Stark County Commissioner Tom Bernabei says that he is confident that Ferrero will not make good on his suggestion to "blow up" (The Report's words and assessment in a figurative sense of the expression, not Bernabei's nor Ferrero's) the county budget/appropriations with "special counsel" expenditures.  The Report does not know how Bernabei can be so optimistic.

Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar is making a gallant effort to bring down the delinquent Stark County property taxes which now stand at $43 million.  Zumbar wants go from referring 520 collection cases to the prosecutor's office in 2011 to 700 this year.  (Confirming:  Stark collects $2.4 million in revived tax-collection effort, Kelli Young of The Rep, February 18, 2012).

Good luck Treasurer Zumbar! Take this quote from Young's article, to wit:

More recent collection efforts have been stifled by the county’s budget woes that forced Prosecutor John Ferrero to reassign temporarily one of the paralegals in his delinquent tax collection unit into another division due to layoffs.

Also, The Report recalls that in a Delinquent Tax Assessment Collection (DTAC) work session with commissioners last year that Prosecutor Ferrero noted that the county only gets about 3 to 4 percent of real property taxes collected in Stark County.

So why would he want to put resources into an activity that benefits the cities, villages, townships and boards of education sprinkled across Stark County but which does relatively little for Stark County government?

But he was for the sales tax increase.


THE MASSILLON TAX ISSUE

John Ferrero lives in Massillon and he was Massillon's law director and prosecuting attorney from January, 1988 through February, 2003. 

A Massillon public official for over 15 years and he has a problem paying taxes to the city?

Apparently, so.

The SCPR has learned that Ferrero and his chief assistant John Kurtzman (who also lives in Massillon) appeared at Massillon's city council meeting of November 21, 2011 to object to a plan being pondered to reduce the income tax credit by 50% to Massillonians who work outside the city.

Massillon voters recently elected Johnnie A. Maier, Jr (Massillon clerk of courts) and Shane Jackson (Maier's chief deputy) political protege Kathy Catazaro-Perry as mayor over long term and now former Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr. last November.

One of the problems that Catazaro-Perry faces is that Massillon is not in very good financial/fiscal shape.

Of course, she knew this going in and decided to run anyway.

Last year John Ferrero's sister-in-law Jayne Ferrero (Massillon city auditor) proposed the 50% income tax credit as a way to help Massillon (Cicchinelli was still mayor when the tax credit reduction was proposed) get money to at least make an effort to be more current on its expenses which were and continue to run months behind.

So it was a bit confusing when Massillonian John Ferrero and Kurtzman showed up to object and Auditor Jayne Ferrero was nowhere to be seen and, in fact, is reported in the Massillon Independent as now having no opinion on the income tax credit reduction.

Exactly what was the Ferrero/Kurtzman objection?

“You [Massillon City Council] are now pitting families against families ... they [because of the credit reduction?] are taking food away from their children"  (The Independent, February 8, 2012).

The real reason, the SCPR believes, for the Jayne Ferrero turnabout and for the Ferrero/Kurtzman objecting appearance on November 21st is because of their political alliance with the electorally deposed Cicchinelli forces. 

In one sense, the SCPR thinks that the contending political forces (all Democrats) deserve each other.

On the other hand one must pause for thought and consider that it is not the politicos who suffer if the reduction does not pass council.  Rather it is the residents of the city of Massillon.

If Catazaro-Perry does not get additional revenue that the reduction would bring in (estimated at $600,000 this year; $1.5 million next year), cuts will have to be made that likely will affect the well-being of Massillonians.

Catazaro-Perry by virtue of having been elected by the citizens of Massillon deserves an opportunity to govern.  Notwithstanding her knowing what she was getting into, it is in the interest of Massillonians that she have a fair chance to show what she can do to right the fiscal structure of the city of Massillon.

The SCPR has criticized and continues to admonish Mayor Kathy for relying too much on the likes of Maier and Jackson.  A major reason she is in her current fix is because of the political warfare that is obviously continuing post-election between the Maier-led forces and Cicchinelli loyalists.

CONCLUSION

John Ferrero could be a major factor in helping to stabilize both Stark County government as well as Massillon's.

But it appears that he is not inclined to do so as evidenced by uncooperative attitude vis-a-vis commissioners in the budgeting process post-0.5% sales tax increase (which he supported) and by his opposition to the proposed 50% reduction in the Massillon income tax credit.

Inconsistency is the hallmark of a person who is doing his own thing.

So it is not surprising that John Ferrero is for increased taxes to help solve Stark County's fiscal emergency but not Massillon's.

Coming full circle:  It is becoming more and more apparent to the SCPR that Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero is all about John Ferrero and/or his corner of Stark County government and little, if anything, else.

And consistency be hanged!