The Final Count Down

One week ago today, Massillon City Council rejected the Mayor for Life's unbalanced 2011 budget. Both Larry Slagle and Donnie Peters voted no, leaving our beloved Mayor for Life with only his die hard, loyal to the death rubber stamp bloc of Taxman Hersher, Lap Dog of the Treasury Manson, Dave McCune, and Ron Mang.

Of Course, the mayor and the finance chairman, Paul Manson, immediately began meeting with members of council to try and negotiate a budget that would get five votes, right?

Nope.

The mayor, and or Paul Manson introduced a temporary spending plan while they worked on a permanent budget, right?

Nope.

The New Year is only four days away, and the city has no budget, surely Mayor Cicchinelli and Finance Chairman Paul Manson have some plan to move the city's budget forward, right?

Nope.

We believe the Mayor's plan is to do nothing.

Faced with the prospect of the city falling into the financial abyss, we believe the mayor believes either Donnie Peters or Larry Slagle will change their vote and see the light.

That the mayor's budget will pass as submitted, as other wise the resulting financial chaos would, of course, be city council's fault.

Because the buck always stops some place other than the mayor's desk in Massillon.

Besides, negotiating a new budget would be an admission that something wasn't quite right with the mayor's original budget. And our mayor doesn't make mistakes.