Saturday, April 23, 2011

CAMPAIGN FINANCE: KATHY CATAZARO-PERRY - WHO SUPPORTS HER?


In the race for mayor of Massillon an interesting sidelight issue is:  who among the candidates represents the interests of everyday people best?

Actually, it could be Republican Lee Brunckman.  He is a Stark Area Transportation Authority (SARTA) driver who has had to miss a number of campaign events because he doing what?  Out doing his job:  driving a bus over the roadways of Stark County.  Can't get more everyday than that.  But, then, why does he bill himself as a Republican who many people think are anything but working for the financial interests of everyday people?

Democrat Kathy Catazaro-Perry has tried to position herself as the working class candidate.  But when one looks at her pre-primary campaign finance report it is really hard to garner from the list of contributors that everydays are the bulk of her contributors.  Unions have a significant place among her financial supporters and undoubtedly are providing a huge part of her "on-the-ground" door-to-door campaign workers.

The SCPR's impression of Catazaro-Perry (which is substantiated by the identity of many of her contributors - see the list below) is that she is about as well of a politically connected person as one can get in Stark County politics.  Granted, she does espouse union positions (for Project Labor Agreements [PLAs) and is against Senate Bill 5), her campaign finance report suggests that he has at least one foot planted firmly in the camps of the pooh-bahs who control the Stark County establishment.

In this regard, this only thing little about the Catazaro-Perry list is the amount - per contribution - of most of the contributions.  Mostly, they are under the $100 mark with only a few over $100 and $500 being the top contributions.  But one should not be fooled by this phenomenon.  In the opinion of the SCPR, Kathy Catazaro-Perry is a player in the very top strata of Stark political, economic and social stratosphere!

Here is here list of contributors:


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