Taking Their Sweet Time

According to a story in Friday's Independent, Massillon City Council will not be voting to pass a statement of services regarding the annexation of the Tuslaw School District when they meet this Tuesday night.

To annex the property, which includes the Tuslaw High School, Middle School, and Elementary School, as well as the 'Bit of Eden' trailer park, city council must approve a "statement of services," outlining the city services the proposed area to be annexed will receive.

The City of Massillon must do this before the annexation can proceed. For City Council to stop this annexation, if they were so inclined, they would have to vote down this "statement of services." City Council voting down the "statement of services" is the only way to stop this annexation.

"Mayor Cicchinelli will not request that a required statement of services be passed under emergency by council when it meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Massillon Municipal Government Center, according to council President Glenn Gamber" (The Independent, 9/03/2010).

Because it is not being presented as an emergency measure, the proposal must be given three readings before a vote can be taken. The first reading will be Tuesday night. This also means that the contentious annexation proposal will be on the agenda of the next three council meetings. Should make for lively entertainment.

Why didn't our Mayor for Life have his rubber stamps on council introduce this proposal as an emergency measure? Surely he didn't want this to be a topic of discussion for three straight council meetings spanning the next month?

Perhaps he wanted vigorous public debate and ample opportunity for discussion before city council voted, so that every voice, for and against the annexation could be heard.

Nope. Our Mayor for Life works hard to pass proposals under an emergency measure, especially controversial ones, so that public discussion is muted, and some argue, so that council members don't actually have time to read his ordinances before they vote on them.

To pass something as an emergency measure, council must approve it with at least seven of the nine council members voting to do so. Our mayor needs seven votes. He doesn't have seven votes. This is why he didn't request that it wasn't passed as an emergency measure. This is the only reason why. He doesn't have the votes. He has five.

Reports to the Massillon Review claim that Councilmen Ron Mang, Paul Manson, David McCune, David Hersher, and Larry Slagle will be voting for the "statement of services," to support the annexation. Donnie Peters, who some have claimed opposes the annexation, will be allowed to vote no, because our Mayor for Life will have five yes votes, and doesn't need Peters for this one. Kathy Catazaro-Perry, Gary Anderson, and Tony Townsend will likely vote no.

Even if Peters did vote yes, the Mayor would still be one vote short of being able to pass the "statement of services" as an emergency measure.

So now they must take their sweet time.