End of the Year Close Out

"Mayor Cicchinelli told 4th Ward residents there are no plans to sell Shriver park, or many others, and he pledged to Councilman Tony Townsend that he would help him rename Shriver by urging his Parks and Recreation Board appointees to vote in favor of it."

- Massillon's Mayor for Life, after being pressured at a Ward 4 Town Hall meeting, pledging his support to rename Shriver Park after former Ward 4 Councilman, the late T. Roy Roberson (The Independent, August 31, 2010).
 
As we all know, Mayor Cicchinelli's famous pledge was a ruse, a smokescreen, and a scam.
 
He wanted to publicly curry favor with the residents of Massillon's Southeast side, while still killing the proposal to rename Shriver Park after trailblazing former council member, the late T. Roy Roberson.
 
When the issue of the name change finally came before the Parks and Recreation Board, Park Board lackeys Tim Muzi and Michelle Del Rio-Keller, both appointed by our Extraordinary Mayor for 30 days, voted against the name change.
 
But how could they have? Cicchinelli "pledged" he would urge his appointees to support the name change.
 
He "pledged!"
 
Many believed the name was not changed because there was a plan to sell off Shriver Park.
 
"(Park Board Chairman Tim) Muzi, personally, also wouldn’t rule out the sale of a portion of Shriver Park, which in 2010 was the subject of a name-change fight when Councilman Tony Townsend proposed renaming it in honor of late Councilman T. Roy Roberson. At the time, some speculated that attempts were being made to block the name change because the city wanted to sell Shriver Park" (The Independent, December 1, 2011).
 
But what about, "there are no plans to sell Shriver Park?"
 
When, apparently, there are plans to sell Shriver Park.
 
And many other parks as well.
 
Looks like the "speculation" was on target.
 
It's an end of the year Massillon parks sale extravaganza!
 
Low, low prices!
 
Everything must go!
 
The Parks Board is in the process of selling Hetrick and Lawdale parks and is determining which parks to sell after that.
 
And why do we have to sell of our parks? Didn't the residents of Massillon pass a .3% income tax hike to maintain our park system?
 
Well, technically yes, but we siphon off the money that should be used to maintain our parks to pay the debt on the Legends of Massillon Golf Course.
 
So now we can't maintain our parks.
 
And have to sell them.
 
So we may finally end the argument over where the parks money should be spent.
 
If we sell off the parks, no one can complain about the money not being spent on parks.
 
Problem solved.
 
Parks Board Chairman Tim Muzi appears to be leading the charge to sell off our parks, and has been working on this scheme for some time;
 
"Parks board member Timothy Muzi has asked Law Director Perry Stergios to research which parks have deed restrictions that would prohibit their sale or future use, Stergios said. Kaminski said that he, Muzi, and Mayor Frank Cicchinelli met three months ago to discuss potential park property that could be sold" (The Independent, August 19, 2010).

They have been working on selling off our parks for almost a year and a half.

But they really have to speed up the process.

The Extraordinary One is out of office in 30 days. Tim Muzi's term as a member of the Parks Board ends at the same time.

Better hurry up.