CONLEY DECLARES VICTORY WITH JUDGE FORCHIONE'S CHANGE OF ORDER IN STUDER CASE

 UPDATED & REVISED

Legal counsel (Craig T. Conley) for Tom Marcelli tells the SCPR that he has filed a dismissal (Friday, February 15th) of Marcelli's declaratory judgment action which was  seeking judicial confirmation that that Ohio's sentencing statute which requires fines be paid to the county's general fund is constitutional.

The general fund is administered by Stark County treasurer Alex Zumbar.

Originally, Judge Frank Forchione had as part of his sentencing of Scott D. Studer ordered him to pay $5,000 for the benefit of the Sandy Hook Elementary School (Newtown, CT) shooting victims.

Here is a LINK to a prior SCPR blog which provides background and more detail on the Studer matter.

Conley says that while he thinks that Judge Forchione should have constituted the corrective entry differently, his client is not going to contest the niceties and particularities of the correction.

Judge Forchione held a video conference hearing with Studer (who is at the Madison Correctional Institution located in London, Ohio serving a 15 year sentence) on Thursday.

Conley says that he believes the video conference was unnecessary and could have been handled by a nunc pro tunc order.  He had provided Stark County assistant prosecutor Ross Rhodes with such an order which would have been acceptable to Mr. Marcelli.

The original order with respect to the fine read:

The replacement order with respect to the fine reads:

The SCPR compliments Conley for seizing the initiative to have the money paid into the Stark County treasury general fund.

Judge Forchione reclaimed the $5,000 from the Sandy Hook School Support Fund so that it can be deposited to the credit of the Stark County general fund as required by Ohio's rule of law, to wit:  Ohio Revised Code Section 2949.11

Conley has said all along that he is not anti-charity but that the law is the law and Ohio's law mandates that fines go to the county's general fund.

He has also said that he is not pleased that the $5,000 actually paid to the Sandy Hook Support Fund was reclaimed.

Conley reminded the SCPR that his representation of Mr. Marcelli was done pro bono (for the public good) meaning at no cost for his client and by extension for the Stark County public.

Here is Conley's order of dismissal:

And here is his press release:

IF TOM MARCELLI FOLLOWS THROUGH ON FILING HIS PETITION TO RUN AGAINST COUNTY AUDITOR KIM PEREZ, HE WILL ENSURE PEREZ'S RE-ELECTION.

Alan Harold, the putative Republican nominee; if he actually runs against county auditor and Democrat Kim Perez, will have no chance at all to defeat Perez if Bethlehem Township political gadfly Thomas Marcelli makes good on filing his petition to run, also.

Why does the SCPR make this observation?

Because any votes that Marcelli gets would be from the right wing of Stark County Republicans and from Democrats and non-partisans who fancy themselves as political teabaggers a la the Canton Tea Party.

None of these votes would ever, ever go to Kim Perez.  Only possible other person they might otherwise (other than Marcelli)?  Indeed, Alan Harold.

The SCPR does not believe that Marcelli understands political lineups and therefore has miscalculated if he thinks his being in the auditor race is going to be a significant factor.

Unless Kim Perez does something incredibly stupd - which is certainly plausible - between now and November 4th, the SCPR is calling this race for Perez on January 30, 2010; especially if Marcelli is in the race.  If not, then Harold has a outside shot.

One further point:  Is Alan Harold going to do a "deja vu, all over again" and pull out of the race like he did when he feigned running against Gary Zeigler for county treasurer in 2008?

The SCPR has been told and has asked Harold to confirm or deny (he refused to comment) that pressure was put on Harold's employer - Huntington Bank - to suggest to Harold that he not run against Zeigler.  


And Harold did not run.

He did run for a slot on the Stark County Educational Service Center (SCESC)and came pretty close to winning one of the two seats that were up for grabs.


The SCPR takes the SCESC run as an exercise in building up countywide I.D.

However, it will take a lot more than running in a "non-partisan" race to take out a powerful Stark County political figure like Kim Perez.

IS JEFF MATTHEWS TURNING THE STARK COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY INTO A "FAR RIGHT FRINGE" PARTY?

On September 6th, Dennis Williard of the Akron Beacon Journal wrote a piece (Republicans should reject the radical right).  His caution has a direct and immediate applicability to the Stark County Republican Party.

Yours truly could scarcely believe his ears on hearing Matthews on WHLO Matt Patrick's show which was on location at Tea Day, Tax Day - April 15, 2009 in Central Plaza in Canton.  Rather than doing an effective job of making the Stark County Republicans competitive, he's blazing bullets of bombast that cheered the ears of the right-fringers who dominated.

Not only was Matthews there, but so was, obviously, event organizer and Stark County Republican Party operative Jason Wise, Ohio Representative Todd Snitchler (Republican - 50th).

Wise was, on April 15, and continues to particularly insulting to rational people.  To top it off, Wise has the temerity to tell a Repository reporter:  “I’m just a normal guy here to educate the voters.”  (Citizens at tea party sound off on the issues, Ed Balint)

Wise has been pushing hard the propagandistic (Wise's version of  "educate) notion that these tea party events are not a Stark County Republican Party promotion.  But rather a spontaneous grassroots movement springing from the bowels of a frustrated public.

There may be elements of  non-Republican connected personages in Wise's portrayal.  But not in the main.  Wise is being disingenuous - at the very least.

Mostly,  the teabagger movement is a creature of the Republican Party; federal, state and local.  However, there are some "wise ones" (just not Jason Wise) in the Republican Party at all these levels who see the danger lurking in identifying with this group which seems to be, in essence,  made up of "radical right types."

Astonishing was the appearance of state Representative Todd Snitchler at the April 15th event.

Why astonishing?

Snitchler, a lawyer, in one-to-one conversation seems fully collected and rational. 

But he has to know that one is known in politics by one's associates.  Snitchler is new to politics and has lessons to learn.  And, if he has aspirations to move on from the Republican gerrymandered 50th, he is not going very far with a history of connecting with tea-baggers.

By and large, the SCPR has not taken the tea-bagger movement seriously.

Why's that?

Because as Williard says in his piece:

The far-right fringe should be embarrassed ... [and] its repeated actions clearly indicate it has no shame and no true understanding of the importance of civilized, thoughtful discourse.

The Alliance Review did a nice piece yesterday which summed up the anti-using-one's-mind sentiment that ravaged the Tea Party Express crowd assembled in Canton on Wednesday, to wit (Signs of Tea Party times):

Real thoughtful stuff, huh?  Why don't we all communicate with bumper sticker mentality?

Notice that the SCPR has pictured Stark Citizens for the Right to Vote leader Tom Marcelli.  Stark County voting records show that he is a registered Republican.  He may not be a party official or an elected Republican who supports the tea-baggers (a la Snitchler), but he too, in the opinion of the SCPR, is operating at the direction of the Stark County Republican Party leadership.

To sum it all up, the SCPR believes Stark County Republican Party chairman Jeff Matthews is intent on making the local GOP irrelevant to "we have a better idea" discursive politics.

If Stark County Republlcan Party Executive Committee does not intervene, then the Party becomes even less competitive than it is now. The political shrillness and insubstantiality of Wise et al is not going to play with most Stark County voters.

Is the Wise-led tea-bagger direction where sensible/moderate Stark County Republicans want their party to be heading in?

THE STARK CITIZENS FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE COMMITTEE TO EXPERIENCE THE FURY OF STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER TODD BOSLEY?

The SCPR knows Commissioner Todd Bosley well enough to believe that he has been working non-stop since the Stark Citizens Right to Vote Committee (The Committee) formed in early 2009 to find ways to defeat the committee's initiative.

What is the initiative?

To get an issue on the ballot come November to repeal the imposition of a 0.50 county sales/use tax designed to generate money to fix Stark County general fund woes and to come up with the wherewithal to repair Stark's broken 9-1-1 system.

And Bosley is not alone.

He will have the full force of Stark County government behind him.

Already, according to a Massillon Independent article Legal questions remain as sales tax foes submit repeal petitions (online - August 18):

... Assistant Stark County Prosecutor Deborah Dawson, prompted by a news article on a sales-tax repeal effort in Allen County, began researching whether the Right to Vote Committee needed to file a petition to also repeal the county use tax ...

Doesn't surprise the SCPR.

This move has Stark County commissioner Todd Bosley's handprints all over it.

Bosley does not play nice. It is hardball all the way with this guy. Just ask Richard Regula and anyone else who gets in his way.

Bosley's political future is tied to two key factors:

(1) He promised to fix 9-1-1 in his campaign against Richard Regula (2006) and he must deliver or be tagged as a failure on an issue that he said was all-encompassing.

(2) The 0.50 sales/use tax imposition was his idea and a loss means that Stark County Republicans (even lead by the squeamish Jeff Matthews) will scurry about to get an opponent for Bosley in 2010. A loss on the tax issue likely means that even a John Hagan could be problematical to Bosley's re-election prospects.

The moral of the story: Bosley is motivated.

Stark Countians and The Committee should expect a number of measures like the Dawson one and others that try to short circuit validation of the petitions.

The SCPR questions whether Debbie Dawson came up with the "news article" all by her lonesome. Perhaps a little prompting from Bosley?

And if The Committee gets by the the pre-certification challenges, the committee members can expect a full scale warfare from the hand of Bosley but also from nearly every other Stark countywide elected official (except for the judges).

The SCPR believes that committee leader Tom Marcelli will be a focus of the anti-repeal forces. Marceill's past Stark County property tax problems (he paid up on August 7, 2009) and his intemperate remarks to county officials widely reported in area media make him - in the opinion of yours truly - a distraction and perhaps a reason the repeal effort fails.

Stark Countians only need to look to the north to see what Mayor Don Plusquellic's forces did to Plusquellic recall leader Warner Mendenhall.

It strikes the SCPR how naive activists are in terms of "they better be 'squeaky clean'" on matters like taxes and personal conduct because if they are not; their political enemies will make them the issue and the issue they care about goes down in flames.

So if Marcelli remains "the visible one" for The Committee, then watch for Bosley et al to concentrate on him.

Once Bosley and friends are done with him, an unfamiliar out-of-towner would be asking: what office is Tom Marcelli running for?

IS THE ANTI-SALES/USE TAX PETITION DRIVE FLOUNDERING?

2ND UPDATE: (05/26/2009) The opinion expressed in the "original article" below is the opinion of Martin Olson and is not intended to represent the view of a source Michael Mouse who yours truly used as a source for the article.

Mouse as asked The Report to affirmatively express his point of view that the collectors of signatures will be successful in their quest.

1ST UPDATE:

The SCPR has learned that Tom Marcelli was in Paris Township on Memorial Day collecting signatures.

Marcelli even approached Stark County Commissioner Todd Bosley (who was the Memorial Day speaker in Paris) and asked him to sign the petition.

Approaching Bosley was one matter, but apparently not all attending the Paris Memorial Day parade were as cordial as Bosley when asked to sign the Marcelli's petition to get vote on whether or not the commissioner imposed tax should stand. Reportedly, Marcelli got into a shouting match with a parade watcher when Marcelli asked for a petition signature.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE (PUBLISHED 05/16/2009)

Is anyone signing up? Of course.

But are the petition circulators getting enough signers? (about 14,000 are needed) Are they getting qualified signers?

The SCPR has learned that the originator of the petition drive, Michael Mouse of Canal Fulton, is no longer a member of the group of a half-a-dozen or so circulators.

Why not?

The SCPR believes it is because the circulating group has become a renegade (the SCPR's term) effort.

Mouse, who was formerly an elected official in Canal Fulton (city councilman), knows how one circulates petitions effectively. The first step is to obtain what is known is political circles is a "walking list" of registered voters. Secondly, from that list, one focuses on voters who do what? Vote consistently. Petition signers might actually show up at the polls and vote for the issue, if it gets on the ballot.

Commissioner Todd Bosley is on record as chiding almost taunting the circulators about their ability to get the repeal effort to the ballot.

Could he be on the mark with his observation?

It appears so.

Mouse says he was not pleased with the focus, dedication and leadership of the group.

Focus?

Towards the end of Mouse's direct involvement with the petition drive, it became apparent to him that circulators were just collecting signatures. No walking list, no nothing, except - of course - the petition itself.

A main reason petition drives fail is just this way of getting signatures. When the board of election folks start checking the voters rolls, many signers get stricken from the list for a very simple reason; they are not registered voters. Duh?

Dedication?

When Mouse organized the group, he was careful to ask each participant to ante up a equal share of the expenses that the effort was going to engender. Feeling assured that the money would be there, Mouse advanced $220 to get the drive underway. A Defiance attorney was hired to draft the petition and off and running was Mouse and friends.

It soon became apparent to Mouse that promising to share in the expense is one thing; actually forking over the money proved to be another. Mouse did get some members to pay but got discouraged with the hassle of pushing for the promised monetary participation.

Leadership?

Initially, Michel Mouse was to be the leader. He would be working closely with the Defiance attorney and he would organize and monitor the collection of signatures.

Before the petition was finalized, it dawned on Mouse that the he had lost control of the group; if he ever had control. Petitions were being circulated before a circulation plan was agreed to and one Thomas Marcelli appeared to be emerging as the de facto leader.

So?

Well, Mouse didn't seem to think putting Marceilli front and center was a good idea.

Why?

Because Marcelli has been the subject of several local media pieces detailing how Marcelli is way behind in paying his Stark County property tax bills and providing chapter and verse about Marcelli challenging Commissioner Bosley and Stark County auditor Kim Perez to what appears to be a physical confrontation.

Another troubling development to Mouse was the suggestion by group member James Bailey that he go to the Stark County Republican Party and ask the party leadership to get behind the repeal effort.

Mouse wanted to make the effort an "across the board" grassroots movement; not the capture of the Stark GOP.

The SCPR believes that is exactly what Bailey did and the result was a Stark GOP (engineered by Stark Republican operative Jason Wise) coup d'etat of the Tax Day, Tea Day - Canton, Ohio April 15, 2009 event crowned by the appearance of Stark County Republican chair Jeff Matthews.

What does all this "trouble" mean to the success or failure of the petition drive.

The SCPR believes that the incorrigibility some of the petition-drive-group-members, that Mouse describes could cause two things:

First, they fail to come up with the needed nearly 14,000 valid signatures, and

Second, if they do, when Bosley et al come out with their political canons; all the discord and dissonance of the petitioner-group may prove to be the group's undoing at the polls.

While the SCPR supports the need for the 1/2% sales/use tax increase (which will be parceled out to a reworked 9-1-1 countywide emergency system and to the county general fund); yours truly also supports the notion that Stark County voters should have a right to vote on the measure.