ALL BUT CERTAIN? MASSILLON IN OFFING FOR 15% "ACROSS-THE-BOARD" CUTS COME APRIL?

LAST UPDATE:  8:00 P.M.

VIDEOS

COUNCILMAN PAUL MANSON

SCPR INTERVIEW

ON

FINANCIAL RESTORATION PLAN

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SEGMENT 1

COUNCIL CONSIDERS

FINANCIAL RESTORATION PLAN

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SEGMENT 2

COUNCIL CONSIDERS

FINANCIAL RESTORATION PLAN
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SEGMENT 3

COUNCIL CONSIDERS

FINANCIAL RESTORATION PLAN
  =====================

SEGMENT 4

COUNCIL CONSIDERS

FINANCIAL RESTORATION PLAN
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SEGMENT 5

COUNCIL CONSIDERS

FINANCIAL RESTORATION PLAN
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COUNCILWOMAN
SARITA CUNNINGHAM-HEDDERLY
VOWS HER OPPOSITION TO
CATAZARO-PERRY PROPOSED
1.5 MILL REAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASE

Since December 19th, 2014 a new Massillon Financial Restoration Plan (Plan) has been in the works for the city.

On December 19th, the development of the Plan has been with the administration of Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry.

On March 9th, the mayor released the Plan to Massillon City Council for its approval or rejection.

On March 19th, council will have had to have acted affirmatively or in rejection of the Plan or provided alternative thereto in order for the Massillon Financial Planning Supervision Commission (Commission) to confirm a Plan at its next regularly scheduled meeting of March 24, 2015 at 1:30 p.m.

From what the SCPR saw at last night's council work session, The Report thinks there is no way council can see it way clear to adopt Catazaro-Perry's proposal.

SCPR Note: Councilwomen Andrea Scassa (Ward 3) and Councilwoman-at-Large Michelle Del Rio-Keller were absent from last night's meeting.

And in sort of way, a council rejection would in a fashion be a case of serving "poetic justice" to the administration.

For in two prior revenue raising efforts by council to get voters to pass an increase in income taxes,

• the mayor has either refused to support the effort (the first attempt, in May, 2013, before Massillon was put in fiscal emergency by the State of Ohio as the mayor's initiative), or 
• she pretty much "sat on her duff" as in the case of the November, 2014 tax levy to the voters proposal,
• both of which were soundly defeated!

Now apparently it is council's turn to play the role of the spoiler which in an ironical sense is likely to benefit the mayor in her 2015 campaign fore reelection in providing fodder to blame Massillon City Council for all the financial woes the city has been experiencing in recent years.

As far as the SCPR is concerned, the failure to resolve Massillon's financial dilemma is all on the mayor's plate and the public should not be buying her  "buck-passing-responsibility-avoidance" that is likely to unfold in her political war for survival against fellow Democrat and opponent for the mayor; namely, J.D. Ress.

Normally, an incumbent mayor should not have a worry in the world at being challenged by a political novice but the word is that the mayor is much more worried about being defeated by the Massillon born, bred and well-known journalist Ress than the the off-in-the-distance challenge that the Democratic primary winner has from Republican Lee Brunckhart in November.

While the SCPR is highly skeptical that Ress can pull it off, Stark County may be about to experience the largest political upset in the history of Stark County politics.

But the analysis of that race for future blogs between now and May 5th.

Now back to Massillon City Council's work session last night.

The structure of today's blog is to go through the video of last night's session in viewable segments (in terms of the length of a given video) and at the end provide the entire video for those SCPR readers who want to take in the session in its unbroken totality.

First, we start off today with a video interview with Councilman-at-Large Paul Manson which is a "summarize tonight's session and where the process now is and what are the potential consequences" interview.

Manson:

• expresses his/council's unhappiness that council has only been given some 10 days to consider the plan which in its essence is a property tax issue of 1.5 mills the proceeds of which are to be dedicated to streets repair and streets department equipment purchasing
• highlights a fundamental disagreement between most council members as the structure of proposed new taxes with the latter favoring an income tax (into the general fund) approach,
• predicts that council will not approve the mayor's plan "as presented,"
• addresses SCPR questions as to whom is responsible for council only getting 10 days to consider a plan in the making over four months,
• discusses the viability of Ward 4 Councilman Shaddrick Stinson's suggestion (last night) of an entertainment tax alternative,
• focuses on the reality that the Catazaro-Perry tax plan has Massillon real property owners paying taxes to support a Massillon government staff of which a significant number are not themselves Massillon property tax payers,
• commented on the absence of Mayor Catazaro-Perry from last night's session (represented by Budget Director and Income Tax Administrator Ken Koher) in that the mayor's presence might have b
• helpful, or
• resulted in a verbal brawl

As an aid to readers of the SCPR to evaluate whether or not it is reasonable for Mayor Catazaro-Perry to desire to raise property taxes in Massillon, The Report has obtained data from the Stark County's auditor's office which shows that Massillon ranks 14th among Stark County's some 100 political subdivision taxing entities in terms of its "effective" tax rate, to wit:

The very first person to say "flat-out" she would not she would not support the Catazaro-Perry proposed 1.5 mill real property tax increase was Ward 1 Councilwoman Sarita Cunningham-Hedderly.

Here is a SCPR video of Cunningham-Hedderly reiterating her opposition.



Winding our way through last night's one hour session (in ten minute video segments), we begin with the open of the session:

SEGMENT 1

• Manson talks about his attempt to get council more time to consider the Plan,
• Informs council he will not be in Massillon past next Monday night,
• That he will make his opinion known on the Plan before leaving,
• Sets out timeline for the Commission's next meeting and the mayor having submitted a council approved Plan to the Commission by March 19th,
• Gets concurrence from council to meet next Monday (March 16th) at 6:00 p.m. for further deliberations on the Plan,
• Discusses the imminence of 15% across the board cuts should council fail to approve the Plan as is or in alternative form,
• Stinson:  timeline for council consideration is unfair,
• Stinson:  Commission really wouldn't implement 15% across the board cuts in that council has done everything asked of it before?
• Stinson:  "As far as I am concerned, if we don't make the 19th we don't make the 19th, we don't make it.
• Lewis: Asks Koher about who put the Plan together and how long it took with the question being the basis of his objection to the dearth of time that council has to consider a somewhat complex plan a long time in the making in a 10 day, more or less, time span,
• Koher: Provides some details on why the delay in discussing a process in which the administration asked Massillon Law Director Perry Stergios his opinion on whether or not Massillon could combine a streets property tax levy with one for police and fire,
• Stergios' opinion was asked for on March 2, 2015,
• Lewis: Administration should have presented a preliminary plan to council so that council had a longer block of time to mull over the Plan.
• Lewis: As things now stand, he doubts he can be prepared on 9 days notice to vote to approve the Plan as submitted by the mayor

SEGMENT 2

• Continuing on with the video of last night's council work session, the conversation picks up with:
• Paul Manson moderating the discussion:
• Cunningham-Hedderly (referring to the compressed timeline - "we are are not Superman,"
• Lewis:  Where are the numbers for this plan which were provided with the "old" plan.  The lack of numbers, Lewis says, is another reason why council cannot deal with the current plan in terms of approving it,
• Koher:  "We'll have those number before Tuesday (which would be March 17th, the day before council's deadline for approving/disapproving of the plan),
• Lewis:  We cannot possibly continue on with this consideration, this plan "is just words, until I see the numbers,"
• Manson:  "I agree.  There is no way I can get on board right now,"
• Chovan:  Clearly gets it in saying that with council not having time enough to thoroughly digest the plan will then be the fall guy for causing Massillon departments of government to be cut 15% across the board,
• Stinson:  "I already have talked to several neighborhood associations in my ward and they already saying no to the property tax,"
• Halter:  She has had anti-property-tax-increase calls,
• Cunningham-Hedderly:  Also cites receiving anti-property-tax calls and reiterates her published comments that she will not support the proposed 1.5 mill levy,
• Starrett:  Asks why is the levy being proposed for the ballot in February, 2016.  She says she is not of a mind to support that timeline IF she were to support a property tax levy ballot initiative,

SEGMENT 3

• Continuing on with the video of last night's council work session, the conversation pickS up with:
• Paul Manson moderating the discussion:
• Manson and others:  talk about a possible conflict with a school levy which, according to Manson was soundly defeated the last time it was on the ballot,
• Cunningham-Hedderly: "Can Massillon do a Sales Tax?"  [Stergios from the audience:  "no,"
• Stinson: "How about a Sin [i.e. entertainment] tax?"
• Stinson:  Brings up whether or not Massillon will receive FEMA grant ($192,000 or so) for safety forces which led to an extended council discussion on that significance of such a factor,

SEGMENT 4

• Continuing on with the video of last night's council work session, the conversation picks up with:
• Paul Manson moderating the discussion:
• Manson:  Initiates discussion of the 1.5 mills as to the duration thereof and the proposal to put the measure on the ballot in February, 2016 and finally whether or not council might not want to abate the street lighting assessment recently imposed,
• Lewis:  Notes that the 1.5 mills is dedicated streets and street department vehicles and initiates a discussion how the plan deals with the need to eliminate a projected $1 million general fund deficit within 5 years,
• Chovan:  Opens up a discussion about staff efficiencies including job combinations, consolidations and outsourcing,
• Lewis:  Queries Koher again on administration measures designed to close general fund projected deficits plans,

SEGMENT 5

• Continuing on with the video of last night's council work session, the conversation picks up with:
• Paul Manson moderating the discussion:
• Chovan:  Asks Koher about selling or leasing of non-essential city assets,
• Manson:  Queries Koher about the fuel usage efficiencies line item in Plan,
• Manson:  Says he has "a hard time supporting this thing" and that council should push for about a month's extension,
• Lewis:  If council members think they are going to reject the administration's plan to come prepared at next meeting (Monday, the 16th at 6:00 p.m.) prepared to discuss alternatives,
• Manson:  Says his alternative is going back to an income tax increase and remove street lighting assessment,
• Starett:  Agrees with Manson on income tax approach and doing something with the street lighting assessment,
• Council members in general:  Discussed the numbers and dynamics of going to an income tax alternative,
• Halter:  Recommended that if council develops an alternative to go with an income tax that the campaign be run by professionals and not by council,
• Lewis:  Talks about the citizens having spoken twice in rejecting an income tax increase and that consequently he is going to have a hard time getting behind a third try of any kind for a tax increase,
• Halter:  Pointed out to her fellows that all city employees have to pay the city income tax but that relatively few pay Massillon real property taxes because many of them live outside the city, and "that," she says "is a hard pill to swallow by the citizens,"
• Manson (and Lewis):  Pose questions to Koher on the actual numbers implied by Halter's observation,
• Starrett:  Raises the topic of if Massillon does the 1.5 mill property tax levy where does that put the city in Stark County political subdivision rankings of the amount of effective millage that residents pay,

At the end of the day, the SCPR agrees with the general sentiment impliedly expressed last night by council members that for council to approve the Plan with only some 10 days to mull it over would be irresponsible.

The entire Plan development process shows how utterly incommuncative that Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry is with council and therefore the likelihood that council will reject the plan as presented looms large.

The mayor only has herself to blame, no?

Here is the full - unsegmented - video of last night's council consideration of the Catazaro-Perry Massillon Financial Restoration Plan.

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!

MASSILLON'S "DIVIDER-IN-CHIEF" WORKING POLITICAL MAYHEM IN MASSILLON CITY COUNCIL?

UPDATED:  10:30 AM

Scott Graber sent in this clarification of his role in Edward Hampton having filed to run in Ward 4, to wit:

Point of Order: 

[Q]u[i]nessa agreed that it was wise to have Ed file as a backup in case the DoDd 1344.10 did apply to her. 

You can see the date of this clarification from Brig Gen Harris came only on May 1, which was 5 days before filing deadline (May 6 Primary election)
Qu[i]nessa and Edward made the decision and I do not claim anything.  I advised them on what they could do. 

[T]hey did it on their own judgement and initiative, and I would appreciate it if you report it that way sir. 

Scott

UPDATED:  09:45 AM

Traditionally, Labor Day is the first day of intense and purposeful political campaigning.

And this year Labor Day is early: September 2nd.

Beyond the beginning of Campaign Season - 2013, the end of it all is a mere 76 days away.

In Stark County, the question is where within the county will "the most raucous" and "the most 'at-stake'" election contests will be taking place?

For the SCPR's part, the answer is:  the ward races in the city of Massillon.

And the hottest spot in Tigerland is Ward 4.  This ward is the Democrats strongest ward in terms of registration majority.

As readers of this blog know, Massillon Democratic Party politics are the personification of humorist Will Rogers statement:  "I belong to no organized political party, I am a Democrat."

You have:

• the Francis H. Cicchinelli, Jr. Wing of the Massillon Democratic Party,
• the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. Wing of the Massillon Democratic Party, and
• the John D. Ferrero, Jr Wing of the Massillon Democratic Party

Must be something about the "Junior" factor, no? (lol)  Or, perhaps, something in the water?

The center of the "faction fight" is within the six wards of Masillon.

Only Ward 3 Democratic councilwoman Andrea Scassa is escaping the political mayhem this time around.

And who is the main actor in perpetuating the "faction fights" this election go around?  

For some Massillonians, the provocateur is Maier, Jr. who serves as the city's clerk of courts.

Hence this blog's title suggesting that he is viewed as a "divider-in-chief" in Massillon politics.

The SCPR would not for a nanosecond argue the point.

Interesting in that he does not live in Massillon.  He has lived in Tuscarawas Township for years.

It is more than likely that Maier, Jr. in concert with his political appendage Shane Jackson (who also serves as his clerk of courts chief deputy making a higher salary than Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry) are engaged in an initiative to produce some support on Massillon City Council for the mayor.

Nearly all of the current council opposes - to one degree or another - Catazaro-Perry on controversial issues that come before council.

If this trend continues with the new council to be elected this fall, it is becoming increasingly obvious that Catazaro-Perry will be a "one term and done" mayor.

A focal point of the Maier faction's effort will be in Ward 4.

Back on May 10th, the SCPR broke a story to the effect that the-then relatively newly appointed (February) Quinessa Hampton might be forced out of the November election because of questions of compatibility on her being in the military and a politically-identified (i.e. a Democrat councilperson) public official.

By all accounts, Quinessa has served effectively in her short stint as councilwoman (she recently resigned) and, most importantly, being her own person.

This is what Councilman Milan Chovan says about Quinessa:

It's a shame [her resigning] because I really like working with her.  She thinks for herself.

In light of Hampton's resignation, the Massillon Ward 4 Democratic Central Committee met on August 8th and selected Shaddrick Stinson to succeed her as the ward's councilperson and, of course, to be the Party's standard-bearer in the November 5th election.

The Report does not know precisely who participated in the August 8th selection conclave, but does know that former Massillon mayor Frank Cicchinelli's wife was not among those assembled.

A source indicates to The Report that Stinson appears be the handpicked candidate of Maier, Jr. et al because those (thought to include at least Greer and Townsend) controlling the vote are politically aligned with Maier.

Although Ward 4 is a bastion of Democratic strength according to a SCPR analysis of Ward 4 voters identifying themselves either as a Republican or Democrat, The Report sees that the "unthinkable" might actually happen in Massillon:  a Republican, Jim Triner - who lives in The Legends residential complex of the 4th which is also home to former Massillon mayor and avowed Catazaro-Perry/Maier, Jr. political enemy Frank Cicchinelli -becoming councilman-elect for the 4th.

Triner's precinct (4D) is decidedly Republican.  Moreover, the SCPR thinks that many Democrats in 4D will vote for him this fall.

Can you imagine, for instance, Frank and Joy Cicchinelli voting for Maier ally Stinson?

They have to be thinking that he is a Maier, Jr. stand-in through and through, no?

In what is evolving into a sort of political irony, The Report has received indication that Hampton seemingly believes that the Cicchinellis (at least tangentially) were somehow involved in the military putting pressure on her to withdraw her candidacy for election Ward 4 councilperson as a follow up to her having been appointed.

The Report says "seemingly" because Hampton was told in an April meeting with the mayor that a person (who Hampton did not name) had told Catazaro-Perry that she could not defeat Republican Triner in November.

The Report thinks that the "person" well could have been either Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. or Shane Jackson.

Yours truly is skeptical of any suggestion, if she making it,  that the Cicchinellis had anything to do with the military getting after Hampton for holding a partisan political position.

It is likely that the Maier group originally supported Hampton's appointment (by the Ward 4 central committee in February) but got nervous about the military question and her continued political viability and got squeamish about continuing to support her.

Hampton rejected the mayor's offer of help to keep her on council.   Such was likely "the straw that broke the camel's back" in terms of the mayor and her political support group staying the course with the councilwoman while she endeavored to convince the military that she should be permitted to remain in the military and remain as councilwoman.

For if she failed in her endeavor, Democrats were left with no choice but to get behind Quinessa's husband Edward running as a nonpartisan against Republican Kriner.

By the way, Massillon political gadfly Scott Graber credits himself with having advised Edward Hampton that he could take out and file petitions when his wife's troubles staying in office surfaced.

Moreover, it appears that Graber has been a confidant and political adviser to Quinessa all along.

Isn't that interesting.

The Report is told that Edward is a political unknown within Ward 4.

For political pros like Maier and Jackson, the prospect of losing in Ward 4 would be unbearable.

Look at those numbers (in the above graph) of declarants in precinct 4D: 410 strong! compared to Ward 4's other precincts.

And these "on the higher end of the economic spectrum" voters vote in much greater numbers than those of lower socioeconomic area that constitutes the rest of the 4th.

The SCPR feels that volume of voters and their commitment to actually vote bodes well for Republican Triner.

The Report believes that Edward Hampton will take enough votes away from Stinson in precincts A, B and C to facilitate a Triner win.

Triner will undoubtedly get all of Ward 4's Republican votes, some Democratic votes (e.g. the Cicchinellis and other 4D Democrats) and likely the lion's share of "independent" voters in 4D in enough volume to make it highly possible he wins overall in the ward.

Massillon's Republicans have a double-pronged incentive: to put a Republican in council from this thought to be sure-fire Democratic ward, and to hang an election defeat on the Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. faction of the Massillon Democratic Party.

What happens in precinct 4D could have a huge impact in the make up of Massillon City Council.

Currently, the GOP has a 5 to 4 majority.  A question is, can they maintain it into the 2014/15 term? Winning in Ward 4 would go a long way with the Republicans continuing to control.

The Report's current analysis is that:

• They are likely to win in Wards 2 and 6 because of the personal political strength of Nancy Halter (a former councilwoman a number of years ago) and Ed Lewis IV who The Report believes is being groomed by the Republicans to run for mayor in 2015,
• Note 1:  Yours truly has learned that John Ferrero is supporting Halter for re-election in Ward 2,
• Note 2:  The Report hears that Lewis is being mentored by Republican Stark County commissioner Janet Creighton.  
• Note 3:  Although the registration numbers show a 60/40 majority Democratic, Lewis beat Dave McCune.

• They have a shot at Ward 1 in re-electing Cunningham-Hedderly because the ward has the most voters identified as being Republican of all of Massillon's wards.  
• Note:  The numbers indicate a 51% to 49% registration edge Democratic which is close enough so as to indicate a competitive race,  
• Note:  The problem with Republican Cunningham-Hedderly winning is named Mike Loudiana who was Frank Cicchinelli's service director and previously served on council and thereby has proven vote getting ability,

The formula for the Republicans maintaining their control of Massillon council is to win in 1, 2, 4, 6 coupled with the certainty that they retain Milan Chovan's at-large seat.

With Donnie Peters, Jr. not running for re-election and the Democrats holding a 60/40 party declared registered voters edge, it is virtually certain that the John Ferrero, Jr supported Megan Starrett wins in Ward 5.

There is no doubt in the estimate of the SCPR that former Massillon City Schools superintendent Al Henon will win as council president.  However, that only helps the Republicans if there happens to be a tie in a council vote.

In terms of the political stakes to Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry, the upcoming election offers little solace.

Even if her Maier led support base surprises us all and defeats Halter in Ward 2, Lewis in Ward 6 and elects Stinson in Ward 4, she ends up with a grand total of three reliable votes out of nine and still will be unable push her agenda through council.

All the introduction of three solid votes for Catazaro-Perry will prove is that Massillon's relatively harmonious city council is no more.

Moreover, some Massillonians will undoubtedly think that Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. will have succeeded in becoming Massillon's "Divider-in-Chief!"

MASSILLON COUNCIL PRESIDENT STEPPING DOWN. HOW WILL IT SHAKE OUT IN THE POLITICS OF COUNCIL?

In a somewhat surprising move Massillon City Council President Glenn Gamber is resigning on December 28th.

In an e-mail sent out to area media, this is how Gamber put his resigning:

... I will resign my position as Council President on December 28.  As I did not plan to run for another term in 2013, I feel that this year-end is a convenient time to step down.  Personal priorities change with time; I am now in my 60's, my wife is retired and we have two out-of-town grandchildren.  And who knows, the Mayans might be right.

City Council is a constantly-changing body.  There have been 35 council members and 4 council presidents since I was first elected in 1995.  I offer my best wishes to all council members and thank those in the community who have supported me over the past 17 years.

Glenn

The political effect?

It depends.

Depends on what?

If the make up of the new council coming out of the elections of 2013 results in 50/50 votes in the 2014/2015 term of council.  Council president is only significant in terms of breaking ties on council votes and making parliamentary rulings.

The main political division in Massillon politics is between those loyal to Clerk of Courts Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., and those who line up behind former longtime mayor Francis H. Chiccinelli, Jr.

So for what it is worth, you can bet your bottom dollar that when the Stark County Democratic Party (the Massillon branch) precinct committee persons meet after the first of the year to select a successor to Gamber, the choice will be someone to Maier's liking.

The SCPR notes that Maier's "gofer;" namely, Shane Jackson (Maier's chief deputy who, at last check, makes more money than the mayor) appears to be back at it with a shill of a blog "for all things Maier."

Prior to a post on December 6th, the last post was May 20th.

The main value of checking in on Shane's handiwork is to get it "straight from the horse's mouth" what Maier is thinking and doing in Massillon politics.

There is no doubt that the Maier crowd is glad to seem Gamber gone.  But seeming paranoia persists that Gamber is not "really" gone.

It could be that the surprise of the 2011 election, with the Republicans taking control of council, will be undone in 2013. 

Councilman-at-Large Milan Chovan says that business considerations may force him not to seek reelection. 

With Mike Loudiana (former safety-service director) taking out petitions in Massillon's first ward, it is likely that Republican Cunningham-Hedderly will not be returning.

So Massillonians will likely see a "shake out in the politics" of Massillon City Council, but not because of Gamber's resignation.

But because of the "cloak and dagger" machinations of the Maier and Cicchinelli camps, with a dash of Republicanism thrown in.

IF JOHNNIE A. MAIER, JR. WERE TO LOSE THIS FALL IN MASSILLON, WOULD MASSILLON EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN?

There is some good political news coming out of Massillon these days insofar as the SCPR is concerned.

Really?

What's that?

First, Johnnie A. Maier, Jr., apparently, is going to have a general election opponent this year.  For The Report it is particularly good to see because Maier is an "old school" politico who sees political power in and of itself.  Power used to place in office those whose primary goal seems to be to have a public job.  The public good for these folks is an afterthought at best.  Moreover, The Report believes that Maier is a "divide and conquer" type politico for his personal political advantage.

Second, Ward 6 Councilman David K. McCune, it seems, is going to have opposition to retain his seat.  McCune generated a flap in Massillon over trying to get the administration of Frank Cicchinelli to "forgive" his daughter's handicap parking place ticket (which was refused), and, then got into a imbroglio with other Massillon councilpersons over his effort to get Massillon's timeline for paying parking tickets extended.  Problem was, he never told the chair of the appropriate committee (Kathy Catazaro-Perry) about the personal element to his pursuit.

Third, it could be that there is going to be a Republican candidate for council-at-large that may be a threat to Democratic dominance at that level.

ON THE MAIER RACE

In 2005, Stark County Democratic kingpin Maier was challenged by Republican Megan Todaro.  Well, it wasn't much of a race as Maier swamped Todaro.

One would think that Maier would have been happy to win and just let it go at it.  But not Maier, he took offense that Todaro had the gall to run against him.  From a blog of May 5, 2009:

Hopefully, the passage of 6 years will make Todaro-Kirchner more competitive.  The SCPR believes that Massillon would be a whole lot better off if Maier was not part of the political mix in Massillon.  Undoubtedly, the mayor would at least "privately" say amen! to that.  One has to wonder as to whether or not Cicchinelli will be lurking in the background rooting for Todaro-Kirchner. 

ON McCUNE

When one acts the way McCune did on the handicap parking incident, the remedy is for voters to remove the politician from office.  The SCPR has the feeling that McCune is a political bully.  It is wonderful to see that there is a possibility of opposition come November.  It would be icing on the cake if a Democrat were to surface to take him on in May.


ON COUNCIL-AT-LARGE

If only Massillon Republicans could elect someone citywide for any office, it would be good for Massillon just to give a political competition (not Democrat fighting with one another) factor at play.

However, the mayoralty does not look likely and probably not even the clerk of courts race (which probably includes more than just the city).  Perhaps, council-at-large?

Chovan appears to be a serious candidate.  He has a website up and running in which he deals more with issues than personalities.

So if Massillonians would vote Maier out, an opponent to McCune in and, perhaps, a Republican councilman-at-large to boot, then maybe things would change for the better in Tigerland?