GOOD FOR MARLBORO! TRUSTEE WISE BLUSTERS; THEN FADES

It is not often that one is thankful when a public official turns wimpish.

But Marlboro Township residents should be appreciative that Trustee Tim Wise turned into jelly on Friday, May 22, 2009.

A sudden onset of Wise mellowness (excuse the pun), likely, spared Marlboro more bitterness and strife.

Reports were that he was still bristling that Ron and Kyle Devies were victorious in their felony trial that got started with Trustees Wise and Wolf (Schilg was slated to be a witness for the Devies) referring an incident involving township computers to Stark County prosecutor John Ferrero's office.

Sources indicate that Wise was balking at reinstating Ron Deives as police chief unless certain unspecified conditions were met.

So the stage was set for a possible confrontation when the trustees were to meet on Friday evening to consider whether or not Devies was to be reinstated.

Just to back up a little.

The Report has reason to believe that on Wednesday (presumably before Judge Sinclair dismissed all charges against Ron and Kyle Devies), an area policeman had been put on alert to prepare for a Marlboro Township meeting that night to be sworn in as the "new" Marlboro chief of police.

Then came Judge Sinclair's decision which set Wise and Wolf back on their heels and all of a sudden plans for a replacement police chief were changed.

But Wise, for one, was not done. With the conditions/stipulation talk, it was clear that he was not going to capitulate easily. His opening line of "nothing personal" (see video below) has to be hard to take for Ron and Kyle Devies in the light of all the acrimony that has coursed through the relationships between Wise and Trustee Wolf and the Devies duo (mostly Ron Devies), since Wise and Wolf took office in January, 2006.

In fact, in a conversation with Marlboro fiscal officer Pete Brelish immediately after the restoration of Devies to police chief status. Brelish described to the SCPR the uncertainty he was experiencing during the day as whether not to release township money to buy a cake to celebrate the return of Devies. Would or wouldn't it happen? Brelish was relieved that the chief was put back on the job.

Reading between the lines of all that has been said and written, The Report believes that Wise was subjected to intense conversation from friend and foe alike in an effort to get him to drop the conditions/stipulations he had been insisting on.

In unleashing their silly quest (not silly to the Devies nor the Marlboro community who suffered greatly, of course, but as perceived by outside observers) to build a mole hill into a mountain, the SCPR believes that Wise and Wolf set in motion strong tremors that will shake the Stark County law enforcement establishment.

The SCPR will have more to say on the countywide ramification aspect of the case in a later blog.

As seen in the video clip, Wise is still infected with a tinge of bravado at the emergency meeting. The Report is not sure why Wise ultimately caved in. It most likely the pressure that the SCPR speculates was being applied to him from the time Judge Sinclair handed down his legal shellacking of the prosecution through Friday was the cause.

In a little bit of theater, the SCPR understands a number of Stark County deputies escorted Trustee Wise to his car after the judgment of the Court.

As, again, can be seen in the video, Marlboro citizens who supported the Devies heeded the admonition of Trustee Schilig to be orderly at the Friday emergency meeting.

The Report has not seen nor heard anything from involved Marlboro citizens that indicated a need for the demonstrated Swanson forces reaction. It appears to be another in a continuing line of insults visited on the good folks of Marlboro.

Trustee Tim Wise has taken out a petition to run for reelection. It boggles the mind that he thinks he can win. Of course, taking out a petition is not filing a petition. It will be interesting to see if he actually follows through and files.

If Wise wants to say he stood strong through it all, let him believe what he wants.

The SCPR believes that in the end, Wise bent to the will of the good folks of Marlboro Township. Sometimes it's a good thing when someone turns wimpish!

Here is the video of the reinstatement.

MARLBORO TRUSTEE WISE CHURNS IN QUICKSAND. THIS GUY IS HIS OWN WORST ENEMY, NO?

Tomorrow night (Friday) at 8:00 PM an emergency meeting of the Marlboro Township Board of Trustees at township hall has been called for the purpose of considering the reinstatement of Police Chief Ron Devies (currently on paid administrative leave) at the initiative of Trustee Wayne Schilig.

But there is likely to be trouble.

Why?

Because Trustee Tim Wise (and, perhaps Dave Wolf) is/are mired in political quicksand of their own making and are struggling to find a "face-saving" way out.

Trustee Wise has let it be known that he will only agree to reinstatement under certain conditions.

Chief Ron Devies has told the SCPR that he will only accept discussion of the conditions in public and will not allow the matter to be discussed in executive session.

The SCPR believes that Trustees and Wolf are not done in trying to make the knuckle under. Although both, in all likelihood, only have until December 31st remaining as trustees (for surely they will be defeated if they stand for reelection); all signs point that they will go down fighting with Chief Devies.

According to Devies, Wise and Wofl began their fight with him shortly after they took office in January, 2006.

Chief Devies is in the catbird seat vis-a-vis Wise and Wolf. He announced some time ago that he would exercise is constitutional rights as a Marlboro citizen to work for the defeat of his two antagonists.

If for some reason, Devies is unwilling to accept Wise's edict of conditions (assuming Wolf is on board with him), the Chief will simply bide his time until they are no longer in office. Then, presumably, the new trustees would join Trustee Wayne Schilig to rehire Ron Devies.

Who would take the job as chief in the meantime?

For a lame duck trustee or trustees to impose conditions indicates to the SCPR that someone does not have a handle on the political reality of the situation.

When your truly was a kid, we used to watch the "Friday Night Fights" on TV.

Will Friday, May 22, 2009 be a visitation of a "political Friday Night Fight?"

Or will Wise and Wolf get politically real and begin a conciliatory departure process as township trustees?

WILL WISE AND WOLF APOLOGIZE TO THE DEVIES AND TO THE MARLBORO COMMUNITY?

"EGG ON THE FACE" is a graphical euphemism for how Marlboro trustee Tim Wise and Dave Wolf came out of the trial of Kyle Devies and his father and Marlboro Police Chief Ron Devies.

From the beginning the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT has said that the Wise/Wolf generated investigation and resulting indictment of Kyle and Ron Devies was way over the edge.

The SCPR repeats its criticism of Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson and Stark County Prosecutor John Ferrero for not putting the breaks on Trustees Wise and Wolf. Anyone who knows the history of the relationship between Wise and Wolf and Chief Devies (or who should have probed into what the relationship was) could figure readily that there was more to this situation than being put out there to law enforcement by Trustee Wise, in particular.

Chief Devies has told The Report that he believes that political factors were the bases on which the sheriff and prosecutor failed to screen out the bringing of criminal charges on what obviously was a communication problem between Kyle Devies and the trustees.

Chief Deputy Rick Perez (with the vast police experience he has - being the retire/rehire person he is) bears a special burden for not having figured out that the computer incident was just that and not something that merited further processing through the criminal justice system. Perhaps he should be calling a press conference and owning up to his rookie-esque way of handling this matter, and apologizing?

Moreover, Swanson and Fererro owe the Devies, Marlboro citizens and Stark Countians public apologies for their failure - in the first place - to opt out of the investigation and prosecution in favor of out-of-county law enforcement officials whenever there is any political sensitivity whatsoever about a matter that comes before them.

It hurts all of Stark County law enforcement when there is a public perception that politics has anything to do with who gets prosecuted and who does not.

For Swanson and Ferrero to disrespect public perception - right or wrong - is unacceptable.

The remedy for Swanson and Ferreo was all so obvious and all so easy to implement.

Bring someone in from outside Stark County the next time a political figure (e.g. Devies out to defeat Trustees Wolf and Wise as well as supporting Swanson's opponent in 2008 [Larry Dordea]) is the subject of a complaint.