Canton Mayor Healy's denial and linkage is heard on the embedded audio (above) which is an excerpt from the Friday, February 6, 2009 "Points to Ponder" (Ron Ponder host on WHBC-AM 1480).
The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) hopes that the mayor's denial are substantiated by investigation authorities. However, The Report is less than impressed with the Healy suggested linkage.
The Report believes Canton and Stark County needs to change. Obviously, what has been done in preparing for the future of both Canton and Stark has not been visionary. Rather both entities have been led by "caretaker" type administrations.
Change for the sake of change is not productive either. As The Report has written about Healy before, he is not one to take counsel easily. He does talk "come and let us reason together." But The Report suspects he doesn't really mean it as evidenced by in conduct in office (i.e. - not getting along with council, firing Bernabei and general "imperial" bearing).
If The Report is correct about the arrogance factor, Healy will be a one-term-mayor and Canton and derivatively Stark County will be four years further behind other communities in getting our financial/economic act together.
The Report's take on the Ponder part of the interview (not included in the recording), is that Ponder seemed to agree with the mayor that the allegation(s) are baseless. It is not clear what the basis is on which the seeming agreement rests. It would be a service to his listeners for Ponder to elucidate. The Report's take is that the Ponder position is basically: (paraphrase) "This is what happens to public officials trying to get change."
Really? Someone makes up stuff and starts sending it to law enforcement, media outlets, the accused and family members.
Oh yes, The Report remembers the Tawana Brawley matter. As described in a Slate magazine piece (9/8/2003) about the presidential campaign of Brawley advocate Al Sharpton:
Charge: In 1987, a 15-year-old black girl named Tawana Brawley went missing and was found four days later covered in dog feces and with racial slurs written on her body. She claimed that at least two and possibly six white men, one of them carrying a badge, had repeatedly raped her in the woods in upstate New York.Most Americans accept the results of official investigations that conclude that the story was made up. From Wikipedia:
After hearing evidence, a grand jury concluded in October 1988 that Brawley had not been the victim of a forcible sexual assault and that she herself may have created the appearance of an attack. The New York prosecutor whom Brawley accused as one of her alleged assailants successfully sued Brawley and her three advisers for defamation.While contrivances do happen, The Report does not accept that they are commonplace as The Report believes Ponder suggested.
In any event, The Report compliments WHBC and Ponder for the public service they render in bringing Canton and Stark County news makers on the air so that citizens can ask questions and evaluate.
