When the Rubber Stamps Meet the Road

An article in this weekend's Independent hypothesized that the majority of Massillon City Council were opposed to annexing the Tuslaw Local School District.

"Councilmen Gary Anderson, Tony Townsend, Donnie Peters and David Hersher told The Independent on Friday that they oppose or are leaning against the annexation" (The Independent, August 21, 2010).

Some of them may be opposed. Some of them may be leaning against it, but when the rubber meets the road, how many will actually dare cast a vote against Massillon's Mayor for Life, Frank Cicchinelli?

Gary Anderson, Tony Townsend, and Kathy Catazaro-Perry will probably vote no. They are not the die hard mayoral loyalists the other members of council are.

David Hersher may actually think the annexation is a bad idea. His constituents may think it is a bad idea, but he will not vote against the mayor. He never does. His loyalty to the mayor constantly trumps what is best for the city. Why should this time be any different?

Ron Mang, Paul Manson, and David McCune are consummate rubber stamps. They always vote for whatever the mayor wants. They may not personally like this annexation, but they will vote for it.

Then we have Larry Slagle. Slagle likes to pretend to be independent, but in the end, the mayor and his allies will pressure him into supporting the annexation. He wants to go along and get along. He will follow the mayor's lead.

Donnie Peters. Peters is the one wild card in this vote. He normally does whatever the mayor wants, but on rare occasion, although less and less so recently, he opposes the boss. He may not vote for it. Who cares, with Manson, McCune, Mang, Hersher, and Slagle, the mayor has the five out of nine votes he needs. Annexation passes.

This is a big issue for our Mayor for Life. If he doesn't get council's support, he will look weak going into his next election. More importantly, Cicchinelli doesn't like to lose. He won't care that his rubber stamps blindly supported everything else he ever wanted. If they don't climb on board for this vote, there will be hell to pay.

No, the rubber stamps can talk tough, but at the end of the day, when the rubber meets the road, and the vote is taken, they will fall in line.

They always do.