Fourth Ward Councilman Tony Townsend and former mayor Frank Cicchinelli were never quite BFFs.
Remember The Pledge?
"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" (The Independent, August 31, 2010).
Tony Townsend wanted to rename Shriver Park after trailblazing former Councilman, the late T. Roy Roberson.
Cicchinelli "helped" him.
Cicchinelli "helped" him so much, that the name change Townsend fought so hard for never occurred.
Then Joy Cicchinelli, our Extraordinary Former First Lady for Life, circulated candidate petitions for Townsend's last opponent.
Joy must have believed the Fourth Ward needed new representation.
And now, much to Joy's relief, the Fourth Ward will indeed get new representation, because Fourth Ward Councilman Tony Townsend is moving on.
Massillon's Democrats chose Tony Townsend to serve as the next President of Council.
Team Cicchinelli can't be happy.
The Loyal Enforcer is gone, and we don't imagine Council President Townsend enforcing Frank Cicchinelli's will to the extent his predecessor did.
Strangely enough, Cynthia Bratton, allied with Scott Graber, once a fierce Cicchinelli critic, teamed up with none other than Joy Cicchinelli, who's husband once received the brunt of Graber's attacks, to nominate and second Cicchinelli Loyalist Paul Manson for Council President.
Manson didn't want the job, although it appears Team Cicchinelli, perhaps through faithful Aide-de-camp John Kurtzman, tried to recruit Manson for the job.
Manson told the Independent he didn't want the job, but that he had been approached to take it.
So now we have President Townsend.
Who probably won't be spending his days working to advance the Cicchinelli agenda, helping to hasten the return of the Extraordinary One.
The City Council Clerk, who we hear has never been a Townsend supporter, now has a new boss.
Joy Cicchinelli will now have a new ward representative, something she clearly wanted.
And perhaps Massillon will finally have a City Council President who is more concerned with running a fair meeting than serving as council enforcer for our former mayor.
