LaFlavour of the Month

According to Vince Scarpitti of the band LaLavour, our new mayor needs to re-prioritize her efforts.

She needs to find the time to deal with the critical issue facing city government.

While dealing with the multi-million dollar budget chasm inherited from our former mayor for life may seem to be important, it isn't.

While trying to keep our safety forces paid and protecting the community may seem like big deals, they aren't.

While cleaning up the mess and putting out the fires left by the prior regime may seem critical, we need to focus on the big picture.

We need to work on what's important.

The Summer Concert series.

Scarpitti is concerned about the future of these downtown concerts.

And he believes Kathy Catazaro-Perry is being political by not focusing like a laser to bring them back.

She's been in office 47 days now.

She needs to get to work and put politics aside.

“Any reason they give is null and void if they don’t even ask the people who have always paid for it,” he said. “If they (sponsors) say ‘no,’ then naturally there is some validity in saying let’s let it die. But to not ask is quite blatantly politics – ‘well, Frank did that. It was his baby. I’m not going to do it.’ It wasn’t Frank’s baby, that belonged to the community” (Vince Scarpitti, The Independent, February 15, 2012).

"blatantly politics."

We agree.

Catazaro-Perry needs to get serious, roll up her sleeves, and raise the money for summer concerts so she can pay musicians... like Vince Scarpitti, and his band LaFlavour.

The community should be grateful for the purity of motive exercised by Vince in his sincere concern for the cultural renaissance of Massillon.

Thank you, Vince. Your unselfishness is greatly appreciated.

But we have an idea, too.

Vince and the band love to play in our fair city, as evidenced by their availability to play at a fundraiser for our prior mayor;

"Mayor Frank Cicchinelli is holding a fundraiser for reelection from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, April 7 at the Massillon Knights of Columbus, 988 Cherry Road NW, Massillon.

Tickets are $25 and are available by calling 330-832-3373 or 330-844-2597. The ticket price includes a full meal, beverage and desert, and entertainment by the band LaFlavour" (The Independent, March 31, 2011).

We believe Vince and LaFlavour should get the ball rolling in this drive for summer concerts and play the Summer Concert series for the exact same cost they charged Frank Cicchinelli.

It would be greatly appreciated by the City during these precarious fiscal times, provide much needed entertainment for the masses, and would confirm that Vince Scarpitti's comments were neither "blatantly politics," nor self serving.

We can't wait for the show!