Separated at Birth

IHC continues to be caught up in "business," but we spotted this today. How did this doofus get re-elected? 

Village Idiot of the Day, May 3, 2011, SC Democratic Party, Canton Democratic Voters

A big razzberry for Demos who voted to run Jamie I-know-what-I'm-doing-I-graduated-from-the-Stern-School Healy in the November election

We will leave the election analysis to Martin Olsen, but overall, we suspect that Smuckler had his day a long time ago--if he ever had one. Apparently Dems dislike Smuckler more than they dislike Healy, which is saying something. (For a hint of why this might be, check out Martin's report on who's financially backing Smuckler.) If these guys are the best that the Stark County Democratic Party has to offer the city, then Canton is in more trouble than we thought.

We are happy to bestow a double Village Idiot of the Day Award. One to the Stark County Democratic Party for fronting Healy and Smuckler (you do have better choices don't you or has everybody jumped ship?), and the other to Canton Dems who voted for Healy. We realize that supporting the lesser of two evils has ethical complications, but what were you thinking?

For more on Healty self-aggrandizement read Healy Credits Record, Positive Message with Mayoral Win

Does This Mean Adam Herman Will Now Have to His Freel Time Snooping on Martin Olson?

Martin Olson is keeping the heat on Mayor Jamie I-graduated from-the-Stern-School-and-know-what-I'm-doing Healy. And Healy's not amused.

According to Olson's, Hmmm, are we in Canton, Ohio or Canton, China? Healy has blocked access to Olson's Stark County Political Report from city hall computers. Does Junior Boy (a designation used by IHC's former boss for underlings he especially disliked) really think blocking Olson from on-the-job reading, like he's Dr. Tushy, will win friends and influence people? The folks on the 6th floor are all well aware that the flood is rushing through Healy Gate. If anything, Healy's latest attempt to stifle dissent will bring more interesting phone calls and emails Olson's way.

Who's purged next? The Repository? I Hate Canton?

I Hate Canton is not a Canton political "insider," though we once got as far as the vestibule. It doesn't take an insider, though, to recognize a megalomaniac. And this meglo is destroying the city.

We believed formerly that the thoroughly corrupt CC Curtis, removed from office by Gov. Vic Donahey, and returned by "the voice of the people" with a gracious assist from local bootleggers, was the worst mayor in Canton's history. We have downgraded him to second place. At least Charlie was an honest crook.

Facebook Members: Lose the Mayor!

Hey, look what we found on Facebook today:

Lose the Mayor and Keep Our Firefighters in Canton described as

A group for everyone that is sick of Canton's sorry excuse of a mayor

Amen! It looks like it went up in late August. As of this writing it's got 832 friends.

There's also the Canton,Ohio Firefighters, EMS and Police page.

Meanwhile the nuttery continues on the pages of the Rep. We shall wait, as is the custom, until tomorrow to name today's Village Idiot, but it's been tempting to jump ahead.

Additions: It's a rael shame we have to have a FB page I support the Canton Fire Department.

Village Idiot of the Day, December 18, 2009: Jamie Healy

Is there any doubt who today's Village Idiot is?

Canton Mayor William J. I-graduated -from-the-Stern-School-so-I-know-what-I'm-doing-but-don't-call-me-Jamie Healy.

A long-time coming, Hizhonor has even lost the support of the Rep's editorial board. Can it get much worse? Probably.

Sir William's latest blunder is to lay the city's $4.5 million shortfall (which in great part he created) on the backs of city firefighters, by laying off 28 union members to save $1.8 million--and rejecting all union alternatives to save jobs. These offers included an across-the-board pay cut to spread the loss over the entire department while keeping all firefighters working fulltime.

According to Rosario Carcione, president of the Canton Professional Firefighters Association, the city even rejected a buy-out offer for eight firefighters.

Friday, the inevitable happened. Members of the Canton Professional Firefighters Association voted 130-16 against Healy's union-busting proposal to stop the layoffs. You know it's pretty bad when firefighters vote against "keeping" their own jobs. Maybe it had something to do with Healy's demand that they waive their right to file grievances and protections under SERB. Ya think?

This is from yesterday's Rep, City firefighters reject proposal; 28 firefighters to be laid off Saturday

Rosario Carcione, president of the Canton Professional Firefighters Association, said firefighters rejected the proposal because they had no guarantee that the mayor’s office wouldn’t lay off firefighters in the future. Firefighters also didn’t think that the city administration should have placed the city’s financial burden on the 28 firefighters.

Under the proposal, the work hours for the 28 least-senior firefighters would have been reduced by 44 percent.

Union members also would have forgone their uniform allowance and would have agreed to dismiss a pending arbitration regarding minimum staffing.

Safety Director Thomas yes-man Ream responded:

We won’t be able to man as many apparatuses...We will provide the best service that we can with the reduced manpower.

Martin Olson has been covering this mess extensively, and we recommend you spend some time over at his Stark County Political Blog. His latest on the situation is Confront & conquer: "Sir William J. Healy" on the hunt again? We agree with Olson. While economics drive cut-backs, we believe that megalomaniac Healy is clearly out to avenge the uppity CPFA for refusing to play his game. Remember what happened Healy's brains Tom Bernabei and Tom Nesbitt when they exhibited autonomy from his body politic?

And in case you missed it, Sir William has saved the city a whopping $19,000 ($5,000 in his office alone) by forcing furloughs on city workers, though he claims he's not allowed to furlough himself (and shouldn't even have to pay $10 parking ticket).

We're all for share and share alike, but a loss of $250 to a staff assistant like Kathryn Wise who makes (excluding benefits) $26,000/yr is quite different than a loss of $487 for somebody like Development Director Robert Torres who makes (excluding benefits) $72,329/yr.

Let's hear it for saving the city on the backs of its working class workers! And safety forces, of course. For a listing of "savings" go to the Rep's Are furloughs paying off in Canton?

Though Sir William Jamie is our Village of the Day, we really need to mention this comment:

elnstench
I am tired of paying these guys to lift weights, cook ,sleep, and occasionally work. Contract it out . We can't afford the costs anymore!

We'd give him an award today, too, but his next house insurance payment should suffice.

We dedicate this video bonus to the long-suffering people of Canton:

Hold tight wait 'til the party's over
Hold tight we're in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house

otterk1 Reveals Truth About I Hate Canton Agenda: Clowns Without a Full Deck; Only Our Opinion Counts

What does I Hate Canton have to do with calling for the resignation of Canton Mayor William Healy? We don't know. But ottertk1 seems to.

Below is a full comment, posted this morning, by former Village Idiot ottertk1 under a Letter to the Editor: It's Time for Mayor to Go. After making a perfectly sound and agreeable observation about the Canton police and its handling of the two recent multiple murder cases, otter drags IHC into a cameo appearance, with no context. We don't mind making personal appearances, and we certainly can improvise, but we do like to be paid.

Ottertk1
'Zero tolerance' from the mayor means that he will work with the police to ensure that officers are present in high crime areas. After that, it's up to the police and court system. It's my opinion that the police did an outstanding job in the last couple of multiple murder cases here in Canton. Now it's up to the justice system.

The mayor of Akron is having a recall election later this month. If the writer thinks that the mayor should step down, then he should start a recall petition. He'll then find out just how many other people agree with him.

As far as the I Hate Canton websites go, they are managed by one person who believes that only their opinion counts and anyone who differs is a clown. Pay no attention to these. These managers have a severe personality problem and need to seek professional help. When visiting these blogs, please keep in mind that the blogger isn't playing with a full deck of cards. Take pity on them. Don't believe them.

We suppose there are worse things to be called than "clown." Like "satirically challenged."

Nonetheless, Otterk1 has brought us to our knees. We confess! I Hate Canton believes that only OUR opinion counts. DO NOT DISPUTE IHC!

Here is a documentary of an earlier attempt by I Hate Canton to control the world. Since that overly ambitious episode we have downscaled our mission and want only to control Canton, Ohio and environs.



PS Later this morning, in response to otter, Mary Parker posted a defense of IHC and Martin Olson's Stark County Political Report as sources of information and interaction not afforded by the Rep. Her post has been banished to the ether. Yet otter's remains. We understand that the Rep doesn't want to advertise its competition. For the Rep's welfare, we demand equal treatment for otterk1!

Put on Your Gas Masks: Stinkbombs Lob Repository

On Monday the Washington Post published the transcript of a WaPo chat with Daily Beast writers Tucker Carlson (Fox News contributor) and Ana Marie Cox (Air America). Cox addressed the issue of a "private" blogger outed by a "public" blogger, aka "the Whalen episode" which had the blogsphere all awhirl last week. We are publishing a substantial part of Cox's comments below:

Ah yes, the Whalen espisode. I've written under a pseudonym more than you'd guess (HA!), and I think it's important to make a distinction between "pseudonymous" writing and "anonymous" writing. Anonymous writing, to me, means taking every care that no one knows who wrote the item -- or if the author has ever written anything else or ever will again. An article that is anonymously authored exists in a vacuum. An article written by someone who consistently identifies himself the same way (as "Publius") did is at least giving readers a way to engage/argue/fact-check/hold accountable. "Anonymous writing allows you to throw a stinkbomb and run away with no one having spotted you. Pseudonymous writing allows you to throw a stinkbomb while wearing a mask, but you can't run away.

Stinkbomb is the perfect word to describe what's been tossed at online Rep readers the last couple days.

I Hate Canton published one example yesterday--a malicious attempt by someone using the quite suitable pseudonym "cowardbehindascreenname" linking long-time poster Don Cirelli to accused killer James Mammone implying that Cirelli is a potential murderer. A couple months ago "another" poster suggested that Cirelli had an unhealthy interest in children.

Obviously, using murdered children to pursue a personal grudge has limited efficacy. Even the most wingnutty Reppie draws the line at some things. Fortunately, (for it) our ubiquitous vendettaist with more agendas than J. Edgar Hoover, has enough stinkbombs in its old kit bag to smell up the Rep for months unless it's caught and caged. We keep waiting for it to blow itself up, but like Jason (or is that the Energizer Bunny?) it just keeps going and going and going.

Here for instance, is a libelous comment about Mayor William Healy. Not that I Hate Canton rallies 'round the Team Healy flag, but, let's face it, if the writer had attached its real name to the allegation, it would be staring down the barrel of a libel suit:

Mayor owes Hawk, citizens an apology
zer0cool
REMOVED BY REP
I believe Healy is trying to attempt to hide who he really is from the public by promoting this Ethics thing. This is a man that probably cheats on his wife. Why should Canton expect this kind of man to be an honest and forthright leader? The self centeredness that some of you have noted about this guy is a bi-product of how he conducts himself within his private life. It's a known fact that this man is Coo Coo for CoCo Puffs. That's his real agenda. The Mayor's office impowers him so he can go to the hood and find what he likes. Why do you think rumors about this guy circulated in the first place? Someone who hes at political odds with knows this about him. During his campaign, it was not uncommon to see this guy hanging in clubs where you need to know how to 'Drop It Like Its Hot'. He's there to Pick It Up... Is everyone really surprised when it comes to this guy's political performance? I guess he's supposed to be like his Daddy was. Let me tell you; he aint his Daddy, but he has been known to be called Daddy... Wake Up, Canton and smell the coffee... Its burning!!!!

And how about this libelous attack on recently resigned Stark County Dem Chair Johnnie Maier:

Mandim
To PLeper..yeah, your're right except that... who will kill Canton off faster, Healy or DEMOCRATS. Stark County and Canton will ALWAYS be a 'good ol boys club'. NOTHING will ever change. Little Chicago is ALIVE & WELL; always has been. Petition for a new Mayor? That's a good idea except that, it takes time, effort and SMARTS. No one in this town has iany smarts. Where's the Dem Chairman at? Doesn't he think this is shameful? Shouldn't he be stepping in; or, perhaps, he's too busy having his head in a bottle. OOPS... DID I SAY THAT? As for the Rep, I think it's a great paper. I think they're only reporting the news. They just aren't thorough enough when it comes to the 'Good Ol Boys Club'. Who knows, perhaps they'll catch on some day. By the way.... in the words & music of the McDonald's theme........ 'I'M LOVIN' IT'. Going out on a limb here, I think 'YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET'.

This new intel on the sex mafia that runs City Hall showed up a few hours ago. Who knew City Hall was really a "gay and lesbian front" (for what?) and what in the world does Eric Resnick have to do with anything? Maybe he wasn't deferential enough to the poster at some Democratic potluck.

cbr
Is Healy and Herman an item-you never see one without the other-noticed they both act like they are a little light in the loafers.Is it true herman has a gay web site along with their pal resnick- The mayors office is being run over by the gay and lesbian front...hope this guy is a short timer-Pesqualic in akron is being recalled and he is at least a success-healy has done nothing and still gets to keep his job--forgot he has done somethings-kickbacks for favors-been linked to a underage female--spreads lies about hawk and will more than likely suffer a *** kicking from hawk..;...

Not satisfied with inventing actionable gossip, our anonymous poster(s) sent these veiled threats of FBI investigations of "the Cirelli's." Even a 5-year old would notice the similar "Lovin' it" language with "Mandim" "Canton Bachelorette" and "Sweet Kristin." Just sharin' the luv?

Canton Bachelorette
I also hear that 'anonymous' emails went to council members, candidates for council and other elected officials slamming certain city residents because No. 1 they are not dems and No.2 because of some jealousy thing. I hear that the author of those emails is about to get served civilly because of barking up a wrong tree. Unfortuantely, the plaintiff probably will receive no satisfaction because it is common knowledge that dumpy spends all her money on whiskey and expensive Virginia Slims. Lovin' it too.

sweet kristin
Hey Secret Idenityblackdaliaavengeroldfatdumpydoncirelli--Couln't find anything before huh. Maybe you can try again to create some dirt like maybe some letters. No boss has the right to curse at an employee. I worked in the office for 40 years and never heard any boss do this. You can use other means to disciple an employee.

I hope the FBI is taking a good look at you secret idenity. The rep should be ashamed to allow this mud slinging by the Cirelli's.

We don't believe for one moment that Jeff Gauger and the Rep find these antics amusing. Gauger wrote recently in his blog that he is looking into a new registration system that will stop much of this online harassment and abuse. In the meantime certain anonymous posters with unstable identities have, after a brief stay, once more gained the upper hand getting comment threads shut down just for the fun of it. And that's no fun for decent Cantonphiles who simply want to say their piece in peace. No newspaper should be the repository of hateful, vicious, vile remarks by anonymous people who get their kicks from hurting others.

I Hate Canton Isn't the Only One....

...who finds it curiouser and curiouser that comments were disabled on Saturday's
Canton's Quarterly Magazine Produced in Partnership with Gatehouse-Ohio story.

Martin Olsen, who broke the Repository-Canton Connection deal back in March nearly two months before the Rep got around to it, has published two blogs in the last three days about the Connection connection. We recommend you read them both in full but here's a preview of each:


May 9, 2009
Rep Publisher Kampman Thinks Stark Countians are Stupid and Naive
Olson's leads off with what a lot of Rep readers are asking:

Will this commercial relationship between Canton and The Rep embolden Healy's effort to manage, massage and spin the news coming out of City Hall? The SCPR thinks so.

The SCRP has been questioning the dependability of The Rep's coverage of the Healy Administration ever since a source tipped The Report off about the impending deal between the city of Canton and the newspaper. Moreover, The Rep has always had a coverage and editorial romance going with Ohio legislators Oelslager and Schuring.

and follows through with a series of hard questions about the relationship between City Hall and the Rep that nobody at the Repository has the cajones or ability to ask their boss, publisher Kevin Kampman, (the same Kevin Kampman who blew off Don Cirelli's request for intervention with Octopuppet smears.)

May 11, 2009
Proof That Rep Will Not Separate Commercial Relationships from the News?
To the SCPR, this denial of opportunity to comment is evidence that the news operation at The Canton Repository. canton.com is not independent of its commercial operations contrary to Rep publisher Kevin Kampman's assertion in the story itself...

Publisher Kampman and Executive Editor Jeff Gauger (who, in the opinon of the SCPR grossly mismanages the Comments section) know full well that they are not going to get congratulations from Rep/CantonRep.com readers on GateHouse's blurring of the commercial operations with hard news operations.

So the solution?

Don't allow comments!

And speaking of comments...another curiosity:

I Hate Canton has been online since March 31, mainly for the entertainment of a small band of Rep Alienateds. As far as we can tell, Octopuppet had no knowledge of the blog, (and no Octopuppet, this is not all about you!) Yet within a very short time of Kevin Kampman, Jeff Gauger, a few Rep reporters, and a member of the mayor's staff being informed of IHC, a flurry of log-ons by Octopuppet began. We have no idea what this means exactly, but Octopuppet's interest in I Hate Canton is too great of a coincidence to be accidental--especially when he/she/it seems to have a special relationship with somebody at the Rep and a slavish adoration of Mayor Bill (Jamie to his friends) Healy. There's a rat somewhere. We hope it's not at 500 South Market. Personally we think it's a bit north.

Rep Blocks Comments on Production Deal with City Hall

Speaking of comments...

I Hate Canton knows that stupid (or insane) comments are the bane of every editior. It's quite another story, though, when we see that comments, with no explanation, weren't even an option for Saturday's controversial Canton Quarterly Magazine Produced in Partnership with GateHouse Ohio.

According to Rep City Hall reporter Ed Balint, the paper has taken over advertising, design, production and distribution of the City Hall-generated Canton Connection magazine. Mayor William J. Healy II is the publisher and Adam Herman, the mayor’s communications director, is managing editor. The publication, under the name of Canton Quarterly, (see Spring 2008 edition here), started in 2006 under the reign of Republican Janet Weir Creighton.

According to the agreement:

The city is responsible for all of the written content and has final approval before the pages are printed, said Chris White, general manager and senior vice president of marketing and sales for The Repository. Photographs and artwork are to be provided by GateHouse Ohio...

and more:

Savings will be realized in changes in distribution and how the vendor is compensated for losses, according to a city memo from the selection committee. In addition to advertising revenue, the city agrees to subsidize the vendor up to $5,000 per issue ($20,000 maximum per year) to finance the production and delivery costs. In December, council unanimously approved the one-year agreement with GateHouse Ohio; the city can extend the contract for one year by notifying the vendor by Sept. 30. In March, council unanimously approved accepting donations of $2,500 each from the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, ArtsinStark and the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District to fund portions of The Canton Connection in 2009.

Funding for the publication also includes $2,500 from the Police Department’s law enforcement trust fund and $10,000 in federal Housing and Urban Development funding.

Repository publisher Kevin Kampman assures us that unlike Cyndi Lauper's admonition "money changes everything," this special arrangement won't change a thing at the Rep. (We could be snarky here, but we won't, since I Hate Canton is nothing if not ladies and gentlemen.)

This business relationship does not involve our newspaper newsrooms and will not shape the independent coverage decisions made by GateHouse Ohio journalists.

The Repository-City Hall contract is not new news. Back on March 17, Martin Olson in his Stark County Political Report, reported this deal, including how it was brokered, in great detail. and questioned the Rep's silence on it. Olson, a local lawyer who is highly critical of what he perceives as the paper's lack of political news coverage and inappropriate relationship with city and county officials wrote:

[SCPR] [R]eaders have been amazed at the low key, extremely conservative and, at times, non-existent coverage (both reportorially and editorially) of Stark County controversies and/or issues (including the Healy matters) by The Repository - Stark County's ONLY major countywide news outlet.

The feeling is that The Rep has way too many cozy relationships with the personalities, businesses, organizations and government institutions that its reporters and editors cover.

The revelation of The Rep/Canton Connection connection does nothing but add to the suspicion or at least a perception on the part of many Stark Countians that The Rep has a lot of "sweatheart" [sic] relationships within Stark and that readers get jaundiced reports and editorials as a consequence.

It is not I Hate Canton's intention to re-hash Olson's blog. Read it for yourself. He's in a much better position to follow these events than we are. We do find it curious, though, that it took the Rep nearly two months to "break" its own story and then pre-emptively block reaction. The Rep can subject others to abuse, but can't take it.