My Way or the Highway

Massillon's Mayor for Life, King Francis the Eternal, isn't one for compromise.

When city council, by a five to four vote, rejected his unbalanced 2011 budget back in December, the mayor had a plan.

Was it a plan to trim spending?

Nope.

Did he reach out to individual members of city council to hear their concerns?

Nope.

Did he negotiate with council, so that they could come to an agreement that would be acceptable to everyone?

Nope.

Did the Mayor's Lap Dog of the Treasury, City Council Finance Chairman Paul Manson, propose any budget fixes?

Nope.

Surely Manson held budget hearings, and led council through detailed discussions about the city's budget?

Nope.

So what is the mayor's plan to ensure Massillon has a budget that passes council's muster?

Do nothing and blame city council.

See, doing nothing to fix a serious problem is something our mayor for life is very good at.

Cicchinelli stated his detailed budget plan in yesterday's Independent;

"Cicchinelli said Friday that if council votes against the budget when it comes up for a third reading on March 9, that it is its (council's) responsibility to make changes" (The Independent, February 22, 2011).

See? The buck stops some where else. Again.

But it never stops at the mayor's desk. Ever.

The plan, if you could call it one, is to have either Donnie Peters, or Larry Slagle change his vote.

According to Peters, it ain't gonna be him;

"I'll vote against it again," he (Peters) said (The Independent, February 22, 2011).

It's now up to Larry Slagle to roll over and play dead.

It's up to Larry Slagle to prop up the mayor's house of cards, and the fiction that is masquerading as Cicchinelli's proposed budget.

We are confident the Mayor's Loyal Enforcer, Council President Glenn Gamber, is working over time to secure Slagle's vote.

In the end, we predict that Slagle will fold.

Slagle will want to prop up Cicchinelli and will not want to embarrass our Mayor for Life before the May election.

Even though Cicchinelli's "my way or the highway" bluff with our city finances deserves to be called.

Slagle will be a team player, and take a bullet for the mayor.

Taxman Hersher and Jayne Ferrero do it all the time.

Larry Slagle shouldn't fret.

It probably gets easier and easier to sell out your integrity and ideals for the mayor's benefit.

And after all, what could possibly be more important than helping the mayor win a seventh term in office.