A SILVER LINING EMERGING OUT OF THE FRUSTACI CASE?

Update:  1:00 PM

A lingering question is whether or not the theft by former Deputy Chief Treasurer Vince Frustaci of an admitted $2.46 million (2003 through 2009) of Stark County taxpayer money and questions of attendant hiring criteria by elected officials (in filling staff positions) has changed the basis upon which Stark's organized Republicans and Democrats select/encourage/support candidates to run for seek to be appointed to office?

The SCPR has doubts that it has.

It appears that running for office in Stark from a political party standpoint has, in bygone days, been factored more on whether or not a prospective candidate is in favor with the ruling circles of both the Stark County Republican Party and the Stark County Democratic Party; not on the capability of a candidate to properly manage the office he/she is running for or is in line to be appointed to.

Both parties proved in 2010 - if motivated by an aroused electorate - that they can recruit and get behind very able and qualified candidates as evidenced in the selection of Alex Zumbar (Republican) and Ken Koher (Democrat) to replace Gary Zeigler when he was unconstitutionally removed (via ORC 321.38) as Stark County treasurer by the then commissioners Bosley, Meeks and Ferguson in August, 2010.

Zeigler (who steadfastly maintained he did nothing wrong in the management of the Stark treasury and was not implicated in the Frustaci theft by law enforcement officials) was subsequently reinstated to office (by the Ohio Supreme Courth - June 23, 2011) only to negotiate his departure (resignation/retirement) on October 19, 2011.

The original (August, 2010) "replace Zeigler phenomenon" was an anomaly and Stark Countians should not expect either the Chairman Randy Gonzalez-led Democrats nor the Chairman Jeff Matthews-led Republicans to reach those heights again anytime soon.

The SCPR's position is that BUT FOR the Frustaci matter for a variety of reasons Alex Zumbar would not today be Stark County treasurer, nor Alan Harold (Republican) Stark County auditor, nor Janet Creighton (Republican) Stark County commissioner and nor Thomas Bernabei (Democrat) Stark County commissioner.

Canton Councilman Jimmy Babcock (Democrat, at-large), who worked for former Stark County Auditor Kim Perez until Perez was defeated by Harold in November, 2010, in a SCPR conversation with him this past Monday seemed to lamenting the turn of events (i.e. the Frustaci matter) which he said resulted in his old boss losing his job.

Rightly or wrongly; Perez has been perceived by the Stark County general public as being part of a Stark County Democratic Party "good ole boys" network which is thought to go back at least into the 1990s and to have also included Zeigler, Ferrero (Stark County prosecutor and Stark Dems chairman when Zeigler was selected to replace Mark Roach [forced from office because of a failure to meet continuing education requirements]) and Sheriff Tim Swanson and a number of other presently publicly employed persons.

Swanson (whom, The Report believes, could not have been re-elected because of his "good ole boy" political ties) is not running for re-election and it remains to be seen as to whether or not Ferrero can weather the political storm which has enveloped a certain segment of Stark County Democrat officeholders post-Frustaci.

By all accounts, Democrat Mike McDonald (current Chief Deputy - the Jail Division) of the Stark County sheriff's department is generally thought not to be a part of any Stark Dems "good ole boys" network.  He could be the odds-on-favorite to defeat the equally well thought of Republican Larry Dordea (former Alliance police chief and currently the Hartville chief).

However, McDonald was not Swanson's first choice to succeed him. Swanson had all but elected his other chief deputy - Rick Perez - (Kim's brother) as evidenced by his telling a visiting group (to the jail) of Rick's Leadership Stark County classmates that Perez would be his successor.  But again, a perception of Perez being part of the Stark Dems "good ole boys network" squelched Swanson's effort to have him as his successor.

Jeff Matthews should not be credited with the emergence of Zumbar, Harold and Creighton as quality candidates and officeholders.

Matthews just happened to be Stark GOP chairman when the Frustaci matter broke.

As of January 1, 2009 (Republican Jane Vignos having retired as commissioner as of December 31st, 2008), Stark County Republicans held exactly - 0 - countywide offices.  So rather than orchestrating a Stark County Republican resurgence, Matthews got extremely lucky.

The Report sees him as an opportunist who worries more about his personal place/stake in local politics and government (soon to be director of the Stark County Board of Elections (BOE); now deputy director) than the public interest.

Recently, it appears he brought former Stark County GOP Executive Director Travis Secrest into employment at the BOE.  Moreover, in 2010 worked to get Wadsworth car dealer Jim Renacci nominated/elected as 16th district congressman.  Guess who works for Congressman Renacci post-election?  Jeff's wife Heidi.  She formerly worked on the staff of former Congressman Ralph Regula. In 2008, Alliance Democrat John Boccieri wrestled the seat from the Republicans.

Who knows how many such trails might lead to the chairman's office located at 2727 Fulton NW, Canton, Ohio?

Stark Dems Chairman Randy Gonzalez has not had an answer to the political catastrophe that the Frustaci matter visited upon a certain type of Stark elected official Democrat, at least from a public perception standpoint.

Tom Bernabei is the long time Canton law director, former Canton city councilman and chief-of-staff/service director to Mayor William J. Healy, II.  He is thought to be his own person and not beholden to any political party machine nor, as Mayor Healy can tell one and all, to any single politician.

While he gets along with the party establishment types, he thinks for himself.

The SCPR read on Gonzalez is that, as a staunch ally of former Stark County Democratic Party chairman Johnnie A. Maier, Jr (who appears to have the city of Massillon under his political domination), former Stark County commissioner Gayle Jackson and their likes,  he is the titular personification of a political wheeler dealerism which seems to look out for primarily for political insiders and only secondarily/incidentally for the Stark County or political subdivision public interest.

Gonzalez appeared to do something magnanimous for the public good on October 31, 2011 when he steered the Stark County Democratic Central Committee into endorsing Republican Zumbar to fill out Zeigler's terms.

But as a practical political matter he had no choice.  No Democrat (including Koher who lost to Zumbar in 2010) was stepping forward to assume the office on what surely would have for a temporary period of time.

A while back, yours truly had a back and forth with Gonzalez about his contention that the Gonzalez family prolific involvement in local politics and/or government is a matter of public service going back years.

The Report listens but is unconvinced that such is the case.  Yours truly takes such a claim to be insulting to the intellect of everyday people. 

Assuming arguendo that those who work for Stark County government or a political subdivision do good work, they do get paid and in the mind of non-government folks, rather well -  when one includes the benefits.

But doing what one gets paid for is NOT public service.

What is public service is the thousands of hours (cumulatively) that volunteers (the unpaid) for the political parties and their candidates dish out.  The Report believes that they do so in the hope that the general public will benefit from having public officials elected who have the public interest as their first priority.

To the degree that political party chairmen and their consorts slice off part of the public action for political party and individual benefit, they profane the notion of public service.

And in brooking the same, the political leadership is NOT highly effective for the public benefit.

It is a sad, sad day in American politics from the White House to the courthouse that it takes a political crisis like the Frustaci matter to get out of the rut of self-serving "politics as usual."

At the end of the day, it seems as if the only thing we can hope for is for a "silver lining" peaking out from a dark political cloud of political crisis.

Highly effective politics/government of the people, for the people and by the people appears to be a mere pipe dream given the leadership model of the likes of Jeff Matthews and Randy Gonzalez.

HOPE FOR A UNIFIED STARK COUNTY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT? DOES THIS PROSPECT UPSET STARK GOP'S "PARTY LOYALTY OVER STARK COUNTY INTERESTS" JEFF MATTHEWS & CHRISTINA HAGAN?

The "rule of law" may turn out to be the saving grace for Stark County in terms of all of it ending up in the same congressional district after all.

However, an Ohio Supreme Court ruling instituting the rule of law may be upsetting to Stark County GOP Chairman Jeff Matthews and state Rep. Christina Hagan (Republican - Marlboro - the 50th) because both indicated that they were "pleased as punch" with an Ohio General Assembly redistricting plan fracturing Stark County into three districts.

Contrary to most Stark Countians, being the consummate partisans they are, Matthews and Hagan saw a silver lining in the gerrymandering of Stark in that (in their minds) it comes out that Stark has three times as much clout in Congress being in three different districts.

The SCPR's take is that, in fact, Stark residents in the lesser (in terms of Stark geography) districts, will likely take a huge back seat, if not shut out altogether, under the fractured plan.

On September 26th, Ohio Republicans jammed down the throats of all Ohioans (Democrat, Republican, and Independent) a U.S. Constitution which required every 10-year redistricting plan designed to keep Republicans in control of the overall political makeup of the Ohio delegation to the United States Congress.

Under the likely direction of Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, a group called Ohioans for Fair Districts formed, and filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court to require Republican Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to accept petitions, preliminary to gathering a required larger number of valid voter signatures, to permit rank-and-file Ohioans to weigh-in on the Republican plan.

On Thursday last, the Ohio Supreme Court followed legal precedent established by itself in 2009 in LetOhioVote.org v. Brunner and Taft v. Franklin Cty. Court of Common Pleas (1998) in arriving at its decision of Ohioans for Fair Districts v. Husted.

As things stand now, Ohioans for Fair Districts needs to collect a total of 231,149 votes in order to get the measure on a statewide ballot (get this - the November, 2012 ballot) by December 26, 2011. 

However, Ohioans for Fair Districts say they plan to ask the court to extend the amount of time within which they are required to collect and submit signatures to Husted.

It would be interesting to watch Matthews and Hagan in the eventuality that Ohioans for Fair Districts get the redistricting enabling legislation (Ohio House Bill 319) on the ballot.

Would they stick to the Ohio Republican Party line, or will they bend to local pressure and fall into line with the predominant view (Republicans and Democrats alike) in Stark County?

The Report uses "would" rather than "will" because the SCPR does not believe that a vote will actually take place even if enough valid signatures are collected.

What "will" happen is that Republican Ohio Speaker of the House will call a special session of the Ohio General Assembly and Republicans will be forced - by virtue of the Supreme Court ruling - to compromise with Democrats to the extent that Democrats will prevail on the Ohioans for Fair Districts to withdraw the planned referendum.

That, folks, is political reality!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS. AFTER ALL STARK CO. HAS BEEN THROUGH WITH STARK PROSECUTOR JOHN FERRERO, THE STARK GOP IS ABOUT TO GIVE HIM ANOTHER FREE RIDE?

To the SCPR there is nothing more disgusting than this:

Readers of the Stark County Political Report know how utterly unimpressed yours truly is with Stark GOP Chairman Jeff Matthews.

For him to allow Ferrero and Zeigler to go unchallenged in the election of 2008, should tell you all you need to know about the grit and determination of this politico.  Oh yes, the Stark GOP has had some success because of what local attorney and civic activist Craig Conley has coined "Zeiglergate."  But that is the only reason for the Stark County Republican turnaround.  Not at all from the political skills of one Jeff Matthews and his cushy job at the Stark County Board of Elections.

It is looking more and more like 2008 in the case of Ferrero.  The Report learned recently that Conley is not going to run against Ferrero and in a chat today with 2004 Ferrero foe:  Attorney Jeff Jakmides - The Report came away thinking that he is not going to run either.  Only a few weeks ago, the SCPR was told that Jakmides definitely would be Ferrero's opponent.

Of course, readers of the SCPR know how utterly unimpressed yours truly is with Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero. 

Because of what the SCPR believes to have been examples of  Ferrero's sorry prosecuting in the Devies (criminal) case and the Zeigler (civil) cases, the voters of Stark County should be ready to replace Ferrero as prosecutor in November of 2012.

In the Devies case he allowed Marlboro Police Chief Ron Devies and his son to be charged with fourth degree felonies (along with misdemeanors) in what it appears to yours truly to have been a communications problem between the Devies family members and former Marlboro Township trustees Wise and Wolfe.

That he exercised poor judgment in carrying the case to prosecution was validated in the opinion of the SCPR when Judge Lee Sinclair sustained defense counsel's (Jakmides and Reinbold) motion to dismiss.  This folks is about a close as one can get to a legal slam dunk

Ferrero should never have handled this case.  He should have farmed it out to a special independent counsel or to a prosecutor from a neighboring county.  The Report is confident that either would have handled the matter short of prosecution.

Actually, any time a Stark County based public official (including Zeigler) is being looked at, the look should not be by a former political ally or even an acquaintance (Ferrero on Zeigler).  It should be like in the Mark Roach case (Zeigler's predecessor who ran into legal difficulties).  A special independent counsel was appointed to do the assessment.

To The Report, every Stark Countian should be nervous about the possible import of Ferrero's handling of the Devies case:  something like - "there but for the grace of God go I." 

Had he owned up to his miscalculation on Devies and publicly apologized to the family and had he publicly apologized for his outrageous act of filing a grievance with Ohio's Disciplinary Counsel against yours truly (dismissed out of hand) in response to The Report's political analysis and editorializing on his handling of the Devies case, then perhaps Stark Countians can look beyond these matters in assessing whether or not he has the political maturity to continue as county prosecutor. 

The Stark County Political Report is not now nor has it ever been about yours truly blogging as an attorney.

To carry on, there is Conley's Zeiglergate.

It was Conley who got the ball rolling to ensure Stark Countians had an opportunity to recover monies from Zeigler by operation of Ohio Revised Code Section 321.37 on the basic fact that $2.96 million of taxpayer was missing from the county treasury in the wake of Zeigler's (cleared of any involvement in the theft by Ferrero and federal prosecutors) former chief deputy having stolen at least $2.46 (admitted) of the missing money.  There are people that think he stole the entire $2.96 million.

How did Ferrero respond to the Conley initiative?

He got mad and lashed out at Conley in the press.

Go figure!

So if Jeff Matthews is anything other than a political grandstander, now is the time for him to get moving to find a viable candidate to oppose Fererro next year.

RENACCI MORE FRUGAL THAN BOCCIERI ON CONGRESSIONAL STAFFING EXPENSE? STARK GOP CHAIR'S WIFE (HEIDI MATTHEWS) ROCKETED TO TOP IN PAY UNDER FORMER CONGRESSMAN REGULA. HMM?

UPDATED:  07/08/2011 AT 1:45 PM

Apparently, kudos are in order for Congressman Jim Renacci for - perhaps - putting the taxpayers' "money where his mouth is."

The SCPR has obtained data from LegiStorm which shows Renacci's congressional office staffing payroll for the first quarter 2011.  It is too early to tell but it seems as if Renacci (at a project per annum payroll of about $729,000 is well under what his predecessor (whom he defeated in November, 2010) John Boccieri spent while he was congressman.

In examining the Renacci data, The Report came across an interesting phenomenon.

It appears that Heidi Matthews, wife of Stark County GOP Chairman Jeff Matthews, has been an employee as a congressional staffer (mostly for retired Congressman Ralph Regula - a Republican) that must be an exemplary employee who personifies the type of person who does well under a merit pay system.

Republicans are known to favor merit pay plans over union "everybody gets a raise" or teacher union "negotiated step-increases" (aka longevity raises) plans.

Matthews started out with former Congressman Regula in 2011 making about $28,000 per annum.  By the time Regula was in his final term, she made nearly $100,000.  A 257% increase over 10 years.  WOW! 

There is an interesting pattern to the Matthews increases.  Either Regula decided to play Santa Claus with taxpayer money or Matthews really ratcheted up her job performance in each and every fourth quarter each year and merited getting a raise on her superior performance.

The question is:  will Congressman Jim Renacci to the Regula thing (big increases in the final quarter to avoid turning money back in)?

 It "appears" he is doing better than Boccieri did in terms of frugality on staff pay.  But the annualized numbers are project numbers based on extrapolating from 1st quarter numbers.  If Renacci does what Regula did with Matthews (huge raises in each and every final quarter of the year), the Renacci will like be "less" frugal than Boccieri was.

Time will tell!

A sidenote to the Republican nomination process one has to wonder what Chairman Jeff Matthews' (also a government employee - deputy director of the Stark Board of Elections at $105,286.97 per annum:  $76,707.80 as salary, $14,580.00 as annual health insurance and $13,999.17 as annual retirement) role was in getting his wife a job with Renacci. 

The recollection of The Report is that Matthews played a pivotal role in getting Renacci the Republican nomination over the likes of Ashland County hopeful Matt Miller.  Could there have been a "wink and a nod" understanding that should Renacci be elected that wife Heidi would be in line for a big paying job at taxpayer expense?  And remember, THESE ARE TAXPAYER DOLLARS, the general public has a right to have a fair opportunity to qualify for these jobs!!!

While Heidi Matthews is getting HUGE increases, Social Security retirees are getting ZIPPO in cost of living increases.  Hmm?  What's wrong with this picture?

(VIDEO - RICHARD REGULA) HOW GOOD IS THE STARK REPUBLICAN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AT PICKING WINNERS? GUILEY, HAGAN AND REGULA SURVIVE THE CUT (FROM 10 CANDIDATES) TO GET THE STARK GOP NOD AS POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR TO SNITCHLER

UPDATE:  02/28/2011 AT 12:30 PM


Candidate Richard Guiley has contacted the SCPR with a denial that he made the statement attributed to him, to wit:  "I'm in favor of allowing concealed-carry into a bar as long as the person is not drinking."


The Report has reflected on Guiley's presentation and after doing so is of the belief that Guiley was the candidate who made the statement.


The Report generally provides subjects of SCPR blogs with space on the questioned blog to respond.


Here is Guiley's actual e-mail:

ORIGINAL POST

THE RESULTS

Will Richard Guiley, Christina Hagan or Richard Regula impress the Ohio Republican House Caucus screening committee (Caucus) as the recommendees of the Stark County GOP Executive Committee ("Committee") for appointment as state representative in the 50th Ohio House District?

The SCPR believes that either Regula or Guiley is likely to be the choice of the Caucus.

On the Committee's vote, as Stark GOP chairman Jeff Matthews explained to the Committee; its recommendations are not legally binding on the Caucus.

THE BACKGROUND

Still reeling from The Report's coverage of the Committee's September 8, 2010 meeting in which its members chose Alex Zumbar as the Stark GOP nominee to run for Stark County treasurer as a consequence of the Stark Commissioners having removed Democrat Gary Zeigler (though Zeigler was not implicated in the theft) from office on August 23, 2010 in the wake of losses of taxpayer money from the Stark Treasury at the hand of former Chief Deputy Vince Frustaci who was convicted in 2010 of stealing from the treasury; the leadership of the Stark GOP denied the SCPR the right to videotape or audiotape today's proceeding.

Readers will recall that Phil Davison (a Minerva city councilman) was one of the applicants for the treasury nomination and that he made a spellbinding presentation that went viral on the Internet.  The last time yours truly checked, over 2 million hits on the Davison video have been made.

Local Republican leaders realized immediately that what many viewed as an "over-the-top" caricaturization of a consummate Republican candidate had been captured by the SCPR.  Accordingly, the leadership sent one of its members (with whom The Report has fairly frequent contact with) to kill publication of the video.

Well, as SCPR readers know, the attempt was foolhardy.  A leading virtue of the SCPR is that the blog presents the "unvarnished" truth and does not bury or hype a story at the entreaty of anyone.  The Report, of course, does not have the resources to publish everything that comes in, however, no one, absolutely no one, can pressure yours truly to publish or not to publish a given piece.

So it appears that the Stark County Republican Party leadership decided that the citizens of Stark County, and, more specifically, 50th House District voters would not have the opportunity to see the candidates make their presentations today via the SCPR.

Only 36 Stark Countians (all Stark County Executive Committee members) get to evaluate the candidates.  Had the SCPR been permitted to videotape, then Stark Countians could have availed themselves of the videos on The Report and could have e-mailed their thoughts on the matter to the Republican Caucus on Monday.

Apparently, "party image" is the primary concern of local Republican leadership; not providing the people to be represented with information on which to weigh-in on upon the Columbus deciders.

While Republicans may be chortling over recent electoral successes, hiding from the public is exactly the kind of thing (i.e. image management) that makes the public skeptical, even cynical about each of the major political parties.

Chairman Matthews mentioned yesterday morning how the GOP bungled its prior turn at leadership (16 years controlling Ohio government) and fall into public disfavor.  The SCPR sees early signs that Republicans are in the process of repeating previous mistakes.  There seems to be something about having power that makes all too many leaders (especial the political types) arrogant and therefore unheeding of the public they serve.

Republicans are on a very short leash with the voters.  The "McDonalds syndrome" is very much a part of the American makeup these days.  More than it has ever been before.  If the GOP does not produce and produce quick; they will be out on their ears. 

Matthews et al fail to see that denying the right to videotape in not really a denial to the likes of the SCPR.  It is an "in-your-face" to the voting public.

The SCPR believes that Matthews went one step further than denying The Report the opportunity to videotape the session.  It appears that he "advised" the winning candidates not to speak to The Report on camera.  Yours truly asked all three for an on-camera after the selection process concluded.    All three agreed to the interview immediately post-selection (Hagan - somewhat equivocal).

Only Richard Regula kept his word.  Should Guiley out an or Hagan who be selected by the Caucus, then we can expect a state representative who cherry picks whom he/she will talk to.  Or, at the very least, consults with Jeff Matthews as to whom he/she should talk to.

Yours truly believes Matthews did the same thing in 2008 (tried to interfere with SCPR access to candidates to The Report) at the Stark County Fair when Larry Dordea was the Republican candidate for Stark County sheriff.

It is more than ironic that a man who serves on the Stark County Board of ELECTIONS as deputy director appears to be into the business of shutting down the public's right to be informed so that they can make "informed" decisions in the ballot booth.

And just think about it, Matthews is supported by taxpayer dollars.

At yesterday's meeting, while killing time as the ballots were being counted, Matthews relayed an interesting tale.  It had to do with the Stark Area Transportation Authority (SARTA) project of transporting those without means (both automotive and financial - in other words "poor people") to the polls. 

Matthews thought it was a misuse of taxpayer dollars to get people to the polls (now mind you, this guy is deputy director of the Stark County Board of ELECTIONS).

Why so?  Matthews did not say this, but The Report believes because he understands that anyone who needs to use SARTA will not likely be voting Republican.

But this is not all of the story.

Nowadays SARTA is combing Stark County for any support it can get for its tax initiative on the May ballot.  The Report ran into a SARTA rep in Alliance this past Tuesday evening.

One of the organizations that SARTA targeted was the Stark GOP, according to Matthews.  Well, this was a grand opportunity for Matthews to express his displeasure to Kirt Conrad (executive director of SARTA) over the transporting of likely Democratic voters to the polls.

Again, according to Matthews, his pressure politics may have worked.

As The Report understood Matthew's account, Conrad is going to "revisit" the matter.

Hmm?

An act that likely was not motivated by political considerations (a civic enhancing transporting to the polls available to the rich and poor alike) gets squelched by a clearly political agenda of the Stark County Republican Party head Jeff Matthews who also - more than ironically - emphasizing once again,  who happens to be deputy director (formerly a long time director) of the Stark County Board of ELECTIONS.

So his interest as Republican Party honcho takes priority over getting citizens to exercise their franchise rights?


BACK TO THE STATE REPRESENTATIVE SELECTION PROCESS

THE STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT TOP 3 RANKINGS

NUMBER ONE

RICHARD REGULA 

As a politician, as a fundraiser, as an elected official (county commissioner, Bethlehem Township trustee and Navarre councilman) and by political pedigree (son of retired Congressman Ralph Regula), Richard Regula has to be the best prepared of all the applicants to get the Caucus selection to succeed Todd Snitchler.

Richard was quintessential Richard in his appearance before the Committee.  He did all the right things in terms of emphasizing the factors that are likely to appeal to the Caucus.  While he did not mention it to the Committee (you can bet he has already done so with the Caucus), The Report is told by an elected Republican Stark County-based official that Regula raised $130,000 when he last ran for commissioner.

Raising that kind of money for a commissioner seat is hard to do.

Moreover, of all the candidates, he and he alone has run District wide and won.  Even when he lost to Bosley in 2006, it was by the slimmest of margins and he did win the 50th District.

His biggest problems with local Republicans is that it is not right-wing enough.  He is not especially liked by the likes of Jeff Matthews and a surprising number of Stark County "organized" party Republicans.  In fact, his being a moderate Republican is the reason why Snitchler is supporting Richard Guiley out of Louisville.

I know, I know - you say Snitchler isn't supporting anyone.  For public purposes he isn't, but in the realpolitik world he is.  And Guiley is his man.

Somewhat of a counterbalance to Snitchler's (private) support for Guiley is Representative Kirk Schuring's support of Regula.  Snitchler - being a primetime Governor's man - does carry more clout than Schuring, but when you mix all the factors together (electability, fundraising, being the son of a former congressman, the strong likelihood of being a loyal Speaker Batchelder supporter, et cetera) The Report believes that Regula could well get the Caucus nod.

NUMBER TWO

DEAN WINDHAM

Windham was a pretty impressive presenter as far as the SCPR is concerned.

Raised in Lake Township, but now a resident of Marlboro; Windham is in the healthcare business and the home building business.  Moreover, he is a certified public accountant (CPA).

The most impressive thing about Windham is his authorship of the Stark County Education Initiative (SCEI):  a program designed to keep the area's youth right here in Stark County.

Almost all the candidates spoke about the need to keep Ohio educated (for the most part, at taxpayer expense) young people in Ohio, and, of course, for Stark Countians like Windham, in Stark County.  But only Windham has articulated a specific plan.  This show The Report that if he were to be selected by the Caucus he would hit the ground running with legislative initiatives designed to deal with Ohio's many problems.

He worries about the aging of Ohio and hence his SCEI, however, he knows about, cares about and has hands-on experience working with the senior population with Haven Homes (home care) business and his company's interaction with the Area Agency on Aging.   In other words, he seems uniquely equipped to deal with issues of young adults and older adults that come up in the Ohio Legislature.

While a number of the candidates have a business background, Windham's involvement in the home healthcare and the home construction business (a regionally based business - northeast Ohio) have been enduring, significantly sized and he has had ample opportunity to apply his CPA credentials.

He more than any other candidate understands that a primary focus of a legislator needs to be in creating conditions for the private sector to create jobs. 

Windham has enough political experience having worked with the Snitchler campaign and having run for office himself (county commissioner against Jackson trustee and fellow Republican James N. Walters) to provide the Caucus with assurance that he has gotten his feet wet in that arena.

Windham and Walters are to be applauded for running a "gentlemanly" campaign.  However, if he is to get the nod out of Columbus, he will need to prove to Caucus members that he knows how to take the gloves off and duke it out with a Democratic opponent.

Notwithstanding the favorable impression that Windham has made on the SCPR, do not look for him to get selected by the Caucus.
 
NUMBER THREE

RICHARD GUILEY

Because he is personally close to outgoing state Rep Todd Snitchler, Richard Guiley could well end up becoming Snitchler's replacement.

The Snitchler connection reality is the only reason that the SCPR thinks that Guiley has a shot at the job.  While he has been on Louisville Council for six years, he exhibited very little political sophistication at Saturday's selection meeting.

Guiley said a couple of really dumb "political" things.

First:  "I'm not intending to be a 21 month wonder."  Hmm?  Of course, not, right?  Goes without say, right?  For all the candidates, right?

Second:  "I'm in favor of allowing concealed-carry into a bar as long as the person is not drinking."  Wow!

He did say one smart thing:  "I have raised $26,000 as of Wednesday, and another $2,000 since then."

Other than that, he played the role of being more right-wing than "Attila the Hun."  Like the Caucus is interested primarily in what his view on abortion and gun control is.

Hello, there candidate Guiley?

In a sour economy, he may be a 21 month wonder if he campaigns - even in the staunchly Republican 50th House District - on abortion and gun control.

If he becomes the state Rep. for the 50th, he will owe it all to Representative Todd Snitchler winning the political infighting war in Columbus.

OTHER CANDIDATES

The also-rans as far as the SCPR is concerned include Christina Hagan (Marlboro Township - daughter or former 50th House District representative John Hagan), Brewster councilman Steven Tharp, Jr., Todd Truax (Lake Township), Jeremy Graber (Canal Fulton), Justin Brown (Lake Township), Antonio Guillan of Massillon and Michael Grady (Lake Township).

The only noteworthy one in the "other candidates" list is Christina Hagan.  Her presentation focused on being a female and a young person.  The SCPR does not see a Republican Caucus being impressed with her pitch.

Moreover, The Report suspects that the Caucus has not forgotten the snit she raised when she tried to best Snitchler in the 2006 Republican primary.  As The Report recalls, Hagan and Snitchler filed ethics complaints against each other with the Ohio Ethics Commission.  To boot, Hagan accused the Caucus of trying to entice her out of the race with a job offer.

Christina Hagan may have it brought home to her on Monday that politicians do have long memories.

Here is Richard Regula's video reaction to being selected as one of three recommendations of the Stark County GOP Executive Committee.

A "NO BRAINER" WHICH PROBABLY MEANS STARK GOP CHAIRMAN JEFF MATTHEWS WILL NOT THINK OF IT AND CERTAINLY WON'T HAVE THE BRASS TO HAVE IT DONE

The Report was talking with a local Republican today when he related that he was trying to talk Republicans from over on 2727 Fulton NW (the headquarters) into taking a petition, that Stark Republicans are circulating as a prelude to filing a case in Stark County Common Pleas Court to have Stark County Treasurer Gary Zeigler removed involuntarily, to a Stark County commissioners office for the commissioners to sign.

The Report's question to the local Republican:  "Why would you have to call?  This is a no-brainer.  Jeff Matthews (the Stark GOP chairman) should have thought of this already and recruited someone to be at today's commissioners meeting."

Why the commissioners?

Because all three have very publicly stated that Zeigler should resign.

So at Public Speaks, a petitioner should present him/herself to have Commissioners Bosley, Meeks and Ferguson (all Democrats) sign up.

How could they refuse?

The petition needs to get approximately 21,000 signatures before the complaint can be filed in Stark Common Pleas.  The petition, the court filing, and the court decision will all have to be done and over with (with a finding removing Zeigler from office) by September 7, 2010.

A veteran petition circulation manager has told The Report that the Republican effort is not likely to succeed.  Unless the Stark GOP has a core of a dozen or so petition circulators plus some occasionals, it will be nearly impossible to collect the needed signatures.

Here is a copy of the first page of the petition.

A NEW TYPE OF "RINO?" Renacci In Name Only?

The Stark County Political Report is told that it may "appear" that 16th District Republican congressional candidate Jim Renacci has the Stark County vote wrapped up, buy that such is not the case.

The reality, a source is telling The Report, is that Stark County Republican chairman Jeff Matthews and his minions at party headquarters are putting the political squeeze on Stark Republicans to demonstrate their allegiance to Matthews' choice (Jim Renacci) by supporting his events and making contributions to his campaign.

Fair enough.  That's just politics, no?

But, the source goes on, the truth of the matter is that many of these folks, when it comes to the secrecy of the voting booth, will mark an "X" by the name Matt Miller.

Hmm?

So the message seems to be that Jim Renacci is in for a big surprise come the early morning hours of May 5, 2010.

Wow!  Really?

The SCPR's take on Matthews et al is that they think Miller is too conservative and rigid in appearance and demeanor to defeat Democrat John Boccieri.  Stark Republicans were humiliated when Boccieri steamrolled Stark Republican and Ohio senator Kirk Schuring in Stark alone by about 15 percentage points.

Schuring's problem was that he ran at the wrong time.  2008 was a Democratic year - just plain and simple.

2010 is a different kind of year.  The SCPR believes that if Schuring were the candidate this year, he would have the best chance of any 16th district Republican to defeat Boccieri.  But he's not and the GOP is left with Renacci, Miller, Smith and Schiffer.

Renacci is a sophisticated businessman who has big money and Madison Avenue marketing techniques, and RNCCC backing (in a presumptive sense) in his bag of political tricks to take out Boccieri.

And there are signs that Renacci, in his own mind, has already won the Republican primary and is already focusing on Democrat Boccieri.

Just last week, yours truly's wife (a registered Democrat and an elected member of the Stark County Educational Service Center), received a mailing from Renacci asking for her support.  Moreover, Renacci is said to be billing himself as running against John Boccieri.out in the campaign hustings.

But Miller supporters believe that Renacci is engaging in an exercise of fooling himself.  They think that while 16th district Republicans are being told that the only way for Republicans to take back the "Regula seat" is to support a candidate who matches John Boccieri in "spit and polish," and that this message  "appears" to be taking; the truth of the matter is that the "hearts" of the "apparent" Renacci supporters are with Miller and thus the big surprise come May 5th.

Hence, there you have it folks.

A new manifestation of the acronym R.I.N. O.

Many Stark County Renacci supporters are "Renaccis In Name Only!"

Interesting, no?