Massillon Idol

The search is on to find our beloved Mayor for Life, King Francis the Eternal's most reliable rubber stamp, his most loyal lackey, his most dependable minion.

The search is in full swing for the mayor's next park board lackey.

Consummate city insider Ron Pribich has resigned from the "independent" Parks and Recreation Board. Pribich was reappointed in 2009 despite being rejected by six of the nine members of city council.

A lawsuit ensued, which included the legality of the Pribich appointment. State law stated city council had to approve the mayor's park board appointments. City law stated the mayor didn't need council's approval. Stark County Judge John Haas ruled in the mayor's favor, and the Pribich appointment stood.

Council then changed city law, and the mayor's future appointments now require council's approval.

It is believed that Pribich resigned from the parks board because he didn't want to be an issue as his wife, Mary, runs to replace Kathy Catazaro-Perry in Massillon's third ward.

It is expected that Mrs. Ron Pribich will be a faithful rubber stamp as a member of council, and will vote for any thing the mayor wants.

The mayor once again has a choice.

Will he appoint a person to the parks board who will actually do whats best for the park system?

Or will he appoint a lackey who will vote however the mayor tells him (or her) to vote. A person who will continue to allow the mayor to raid park funds to subsidize the golf course, buy restaurants, and pilfer insurance settlements that rightly belong to the park system.

We all know what the answer is.

If you want to know who the city's biggest mayoral lackey is, wait to see who Cicchinelli appoints to the parks board.

It certainly won't be someone who has the best interests of our parks at heart.

It will be someone who has the best interests of the mayor at heart.

And the mayor can continue to use the funds that the voters of Massillon earmarked for parks and recreation to subsidize his own mismanagement of city finances.

Because as we all know, you don't get to be mayor for life by having parks board members who think for themselves.