Monday, June 9, 2008

DISCUSSION: STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER TOM HARMON - PROTECTING THE TAXPAYERS!


Stark County Commissioner Tom Harmon with a “straight” face tells the media that he has saved taxpayers money.

A whopping $4,000!

He initiated action to raise Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District Executive Director David Held’s $72,800 to $90,000.

But it could have ben $94,000.

Harmon heroically resisted the recommendation of a Franklin County wage analysis firm to raise Held’s income about 30% and held (no pun intended) out for 25%.

The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT wonders why the announcement was made at a press conference. For all the penetrating questions The Repository reporter asked, the announcement could have been make by press release which would have satisfied The Rep’s curiosity.

Not a word in The Rep’s report that Held was demanding a wage increase as a condition for staying on the job. And, of course, The Rep did not report that David Held draws income from North Canton as it elected mayor.

Those of us who have read The Rep for years note how “less favored” public figures, when reported on by Canton’s only newspaper, get everything but the “kitchen sink” thrown in the news article.

The questions: Does Tom Harmon deserve a “big thank you” for saving taxpayer money? Does The Rep deserve a Pulitzer for investigative reporting?

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