Civility Has Left the Port

Massillon's Mayor for Life, Frank Cicchinelli, was busily bemoaning the fact that local politics has become increasingly nasty and personal. He told the Independent that "Civility has left the port." In reference to his campaign for a 7th four year term as Massillon's monarch, he was quoted as saying, "If there is some opposition, I want it to be concentrated on the issues."

"I absolutely anticipate (personal attacks)... It's going to get nasty. I do not like to get nasty. I do not like to get into those types of elections. They are not productive. They are not good" (The Independent, July 31, 2010).

"During his press conference Friday, he talked about a changing political landscape mired by the instantaneous ability to disseminate information on web forums and blogs" (The Independent, July 31, 2010).

Hypocrite Alert

Uh, Oh. The Massillon Review Hypocrisy Early Warning System has been activated. It goes off when hypocrisy starts to permeate the atmosphere around Massillon.

It has been alleged, and the crack Massillon Review investigative staff has concluded, that our honorable scion of civility, Frank Cicchinelli, has been spotted on a local web forum, one which is mainly dedicated to the discussion of high school sports, using a pseudonym and launching personal attacks against a Massillon resident, and accusing this poor citizen of not paying his taxes, and questioning how much income tax this person pays to the city.

Mayor, this behavior is "increasingly nasty and personal." We are shocked to see you disseminating personal attacks on web forums and blogs. Civility has indeed left the port.

Yes, we made a copy of the mayor's post, because yes, we fully anticipate that he will delete his post when this article is published.