This Battle Was Over Before The First Shot Was Fired

Massillon's Mayor for Life, Frank Cicchinelli, has informed Tuslaw School District Superintendent Al Osler that he plans on annexing the Tuslaw Local School District into the City of Massillon. This would include Tuslaw High School, middle school, and the new elementary school. Why is our Mayor for Life interested in the Tuslaw School District? Has he become a Mustang fan? Is the education of Tuslaw's young people a pressing concern of his?

Nope. The City of Massillon would be able to grab about $120,000 in income taxes from the teachers, administrators, and various support staff of the Tuslaw schools, and the mayor has a million dollar budget gap to close. The teachers of Tuslaw will be essentially taking a 1.8% pay cut, the amount of Massillon's income tax, so that our mayor can continue to pay for things like the debt at the golf course, which is a mere $527,885 dollars this year alone, and pay raises for himself and other city elected officials.

Superintendent Osler and Tuscarawas Township Trustees Terry Hemperly and Jerry Hollinger have vowed to aggressively fight this annexation. Their objections, while duly noted, are pointless. Their opposition is doomed to fail. They should save their time, efforts, energy, and legal fees on this hopeless last stand. This annexation battle was over before the first shot was fired.

According to our crack Massillon Review legal team, the mayor can proceed one of two ways. Either the mayor will invoke what is called an Expedited Type 2 annexation, whereby if the annexation meets various criteria, the Stark County Board of Commissioners MUST approve it. This would mean none of the property owners of the proposed annexation area objected. This is how Cicchinelli grabbed R.G. Drage School and its $70,000 of income tax. In this instance, Cicchinelli would be annexing a property owner, or two, adjacent to the Tuslaw schools, such as the Bit of Eden mobile home park, by promising them connection to the city's sewer system. If the Tuslaw schools can not legally object to the annexation, because they are a governmental entity, the request is made by 100% of the property owners allowed to have a say, and the annexation is summarily approved.

If the Tuslaw school district can legally object as a local, not state, governmental entity, the mayor can still file the annexation as a standard annexation. If a majority of the property owners, regardless of the property size or value, sign the annexation petition, a hearing is held in front of the Stark County Commissioners. Under most scenarios, the annexation must be approved. Our Mayor for Life wins either way.

The only reason he told Superintendent Osler about his plans, knowing the Tuslaw Schools would object, is because he knew this was a done deal. It was an "in your face" move, something the mayor is famous for. It's over. It's done, and that is why he told everyone.

You don't get to be Mayor for Life by fighting battles you can't win. And this battle was over before the first shot was fired.