Cloak and Dagger

A complaint was filed against Republican Lee Brunckhart with the Ohio Election Commission.

The complaint itself seemed relatively minor.

Mr. Brunckhart failed to state who paid for a flyer he was circulating throughout our fair city.

The political handout read "From Massillon. For Massillon. In Massillon."

See, because Lee Brunckhart needs to show that he his "plenty Massillon."

Instead of talking about limited government, conservative spending, or growing jobs, Mr. Brunckhart had to focus on his deep Massillon roots.

Because he is a "Massillon" guy.

But why the switch in campaign strategy from May to November?

What's different about the Brunckhart campaign?

Is it the 'extraordinary' help he is receiving?

When queried about the aforementioned campaign handout that lacked the required legal information stating the source of the flyer, Lee took the bull by the horns, and firmly put the issue to rest;

"He (Brunckhart) would not disclose to the newspaper who donated the placards..." (The Independent, October 17, 2011).

Why wouldn't he disclose who bought the placards?

It seems apparent that he did not buy them himself.

So who did?

Mr. Brunckhart later stated that the disclosure would be made in his campaign finance reports.

Which are due, according to one of our faithful readers, today.

Any guesses as to the source of this donation?

Let's see if this generosity is indeed disclosed.

And who this 'extraordinary' benefactor may be.

A benefactor who believes it is critically important to state that Mr. Brunckhart is "From Massillon. For Massillon. In  Massillon."

Lee's the Key

Earlier in the year, in discussing the Republican primary for Mayor of Massillon, we pointed out, as Martha Stewart would say, it was a "good thing" that the Republicans of Massillon were once again showing signs of life.

Lee Brunckhart won the primary and was Massillon's GOP standard bearer for the November election.

It would be an up hill fight for Brunckhart in a city dominated by Democrats, but we were confident he would extol Republican values, such as fiscal responsibility and limited government.

Now, it would appear, he is merely an echo chamber for someone far more 'extraordinary'.

According to the Independent, "Brunckhart believes the city is running a "bare bones" operation..." (The Independent, October 22, 2011).

Of course the problem is "You must find a new source of revenue" (Lee Brunckhart, The Independent, October 22, 2011).

"Bare bones operation"

"new source of revenue"

Not exactly the Republican talking points.

We have heard this terminology from someone in the recent past.

He lost the Democratic primary.

Word is all over the street that our Extraordinary Mayor for 67 days is helping the Brunckhart effort.

It would appear that a Brunckhart win will help ensure that the Cicchinelli loyalists maintain a continued place in city hall;

"In fact, he (Brunckhart) has no plans to immediately change city department heads" (The Independent, October 22, 2011).

We had hoped the Republican candidate would be, well, a Republican candidate.

We don't expect Brunckhart to win at this point.

But we had hoped that Brunckhart would become a part of the next generation of Republican leadership.

That a good campaign would spring board him to future opportunities, on city council, or possibly the school board.

He needed to be "the key" to a resurgent Republican party.

Not someone talking about "bare bones" operations and "new revenue sources."

The Dalai Lama

"I know this is an extraordinary request, but he (Frank Cicchinelli) is an extraordinary mayor."
- Safety-Service Director Mike "The Committee" Loudiana, in his request that Massillon Republicans temporarily switch their political party, and pull a Democratic ballot so that they could cast their vote for our extraordinary Mayor in the Democratic primary.

Massillon's Republican party is on the ropes. They have elected but one councilman and one judge.

Meanwhile, the Democrats hold the other eight council seats, the council presidency, the mayor, law director, treasurer, auditor, the clerk of courts, and the other judge's seat.

But this year looked like things would be different in Tiger Town.

This year, the Massillon GOP put up an actual slate of candidates.

And we even had our first Republican mayoral primary in 20 years.

We assumed this Republican resurgence would be led by, well, led by an actual Republican.

Someone like Nancy Halter, or Sarita Cunningham.

Apparently, Massillon Republicans have a new 'Spiritual Leader.'

Their own political dalai lama.

Some would call him extraordinary.

Others would call him bitter.

We call him Massillon's Mayor for 75 days.

Word on the street is that Frank Cicchinelli has thrown his lot in with the local Republicans this November.

It has been argued that he is bitter about his defeat in the mayoral primary, so he wishes to oppose those Democrats he blames for his defeat.

Others would argue that, politically speaking, the mayor is merely coming home.

The story has been often told how our future leader was a Republican in college, but affiliated with the Democrats because to achieve his dream of one day leading our fair city, he needed to be a member of the dominant political party in the city.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Now that our mayor is freed from the shackles of elected office, he can return to his GOP roots.

And Massillon Republicans can have a new leader.

A prophet to take them to the promised land of political triumph.

So, to the brand new Republican Team Cicchinelli, we offer you good luck!

It should be an extraordinary ride!

Word on the Street

Yes, we get emails from our faithful readers.

We thought we would share and respond to a few of them.

"David Hersher is probably the smartest person on city council. He has a deep grasp of the issues and knowledge about finance. Why do you pick on him all the time."

David Hersher, aka "Taxman" Hersher may be the smartest guy in town. He may have an IQ of 180.

Unfortunately, it appears to many he lacks independence, and it seems he supports Massillon's Extraordinary Mayor for 78 Days 100% of the time.

If he has an original idea, we have yet to see it.

"It was Frank Cicchinelli who was behind Judge Elum's complaint. It was done by police chief Williams and Fred Stergios who is the uncle of law director Perry Stergios..."

Shocking. Just shocking. Who could possibly believe our mayor would go to such extremes to destroy someone who doesn't agree with him? We are indeed shocked, surprised and stunned at this allegation.

"The newspapers won't write about it, but you guys are right. Massillon can't pay its bills. The city is broke and Jayne Ferrero is covering Frank's ass as best she can... everyone knows it is only a matter of time before the state has to come in and take over..."

Word on the street is strong that the city has abdicated bill paying. Our guess is that they will save a mountain of bills for the incoming mayor, with little money on hand to pay them. We realize what is truly important in Massillon municipal government. "Covering Frank's ass."

"I drove down the mayor's street the other day and it is not in that bad of shape..."

So did our crack Massillon Review research team. It certainly does not appear to be one of the "five worst streets in the city." It needs some patching along some of the concrete seems, the emphasis on some, but there are far worse streets. But hey, who are we to question City Engineer Dylewski's patented street ratings system?

And our favorite;

"Lee Brunckhart may be the 'Common Man,' but he has 'Extraordinary' friends."

Indeed. It appears so.

Tick Tock

Not only is the lengthy career of Massillon's longest ever serving mayor coming to a conclusion in 86 days, it appears our mayor will have company in retirement.

The much shorter political career of Massillon's very own taxman, At Large Councilman Dave Hersher, appears to be coming to a conclusion as well.

When Taxman Hersher began his tenure on city council, his first big legislative priority was to raise sewer fees.

Right out of the box, he knew our sewer rates were too low.

Yes, it was a 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' moment.

Then he brought us the "Storm Water Utility Fee."

It appeared that when ever the mayor needed a fee increase, Taxman Hersher was only too happy to take the lead.

Hersher received only 43% of the Democrat vote in Massillon in the May primary.

Running unopposed.

The odds appear high that Republican Milan Chovin will bounce the least popular Democrat serving at large.

If the Taxman has any more taxes to increase, he better do it quick.

Time is running out.

Absent Again

Massillon's Ward 6 Councilman, David McCune, missed last night's council meeting.

He has attended just one council meeting since August 1st.

Just one.

He has missed eight out of 22 voting sessions of city council this year, giving him an absence rate of 36%.

But he is running for another term this November.

And if he wins, he will be rewarded with the unvoted, automatic, annual pay raise that the members of city council get.

He gets paid whether he shows up or not.

I Can See Perry Township From My House

During the mayoral primary back in May, Our Extraordinary Mayor for 89 Days, King Francis the Whisperer, Lord Sovereign of the Smear Campaign, had his minions, lackeys and loyalists attack his opponent, Third Ward Council Representative Kathy Catazaro-Perry, because she just wasn't "Massillon" enough.

She was an outsider. She graduated from (gasp) Perry High School.

One particular lackey criticized her fidelity to our beloved city because she went to church outside the corporate limits of the City of Massillon.

"Why does she go to St. Joan of Arc church. Is it really Massillon first with her?"

Yes, we learned two things from the primary.

Firstly, salvation may only be found within the corporate limits of the City of Massillon.

Secondly, Kathy Catazaro-Perry, who chose to live in our fair city, who was elected to council four times, wasn't really one of "us."

She was "anti-Massillon."

Our beloved mayor was resourceful.

Misguided, but resourceful.

He couldn't run on the real issues.

City finances are a wreck.

His sweetheart development deals were crashing all around him, as we learned that the Mayor's economic development "miracle" was propped up with our tax dollars, and was collapsing like a house of cards.

We didn't even know the Duncan Place Senior Housing project had crashed, and that the City Auditor was quietly paying the mortgage when the owner stopped.

We didn't learn about that one until after the primary.

The owner is still collecting the rents.

We are still paying the mortgage.

Sound familiar?

No, our Extraordinary Mayor could not campaign on the real issues.

So he decided to make the race about which candidate was "more Massillon."

He drew a "line in the sand" and implied that only our own god fearing native Massillonians should participate in city politics.

Of course, there were several exceptions.

The mayor's contributors, department heads, "citizen endorsers," ad agency, and wife were excused from the "Massillonians Only" rule.

While our mayor was a "native," Catazaro-Perry was portrayed as the outsider.

We can just imagine his rants;

"How can she run for mayor when her last name is Perry?"

Controlled by "carpetbaggers."

A foreigner within the castle walls.

Unfortunately for the Extraordinary One, his strategy failed.

The election was about the issues.

And our mayor lost.

But our mayor is no quitter.

According to numerous faithful readers, word on the street is our mayor and his crew are quietly supporting and advising Lee Brunckhart.

Now, if this is true, and we hope it isn't, but if it is, Lee Brunckhart better realize our mayor isn't helping him out of the goodness of his heart.

Apparently, Team Cicchinelli has a plan.

If the Democrats who voted for Cicchinelli vote for Lee Brunckhart, and if he takes the Republican vote, he wins.

The Extraordinary One just can't stand the thought of the "Third Ward Diva" sitting in his office.

His office.

It appears Mr. Brunckhart is adopting the strategy that has failed our mayor.

That Lee Brunckhart is "more Massillon" than Kathy Catazaro-Perry.

His signs have gone from green to orange.

Orange being a proper "Massillon" color.

And he has a new slogan on his signs and handouts;

"From Massillon. For Massillon. In Massillon."

"Someone" must have worked on that for weeks.

We are guessing that the inference is that his opponent, Kathy Catzaro-Perry, just isn't "Massillon enough" to be mayor.

Back to the "From Massillon. For Massillon. In Massillon."

We assigned our crack Massillon Review research team to find out if Kathy Catazaro-Perry is "From Massillon. For Massillon. In Massillon."

She appears to be "From Massillon," as by law, you can't run for Mayor of Massillon if you don't actually reside in the city. Our research team does have some doubt, as no one at the Elections Board would provide us with the long form version of her voter registration.

If she's running for Mayor, we must assume she is "For Massillon." Unless of course she is running to try and take our city down from the inside. But that doesn't make a lot of sense, as the current administration has successfully taken our city down from the inside. No need to do it twice.

As far as "In Massillon," it would appear, except for church naturally, that she must spend a good deal of time in our city. Her house is here. That must count for being in Massillon, right?

The city has real issues. Serious issues. That require serious people.

Arguing over which candidate is "more Massillon" is nothing more than escape from the reality of the seriousness of governing our city.

We deserve better.