Who are the Democrats' Dancing Bears??

Two of Coughlin's six publicly stated supporters!

Senator Kevin Coughlin lists among his six supporters City of Green Mayor Dan Croghan and uses a rant from former Green City Council Member David Reilly on his website in support of his case. An article in today's Akron Beacon Journal sheds some light on Reilly and Croghan.

For most of this year, the rumor in Green has been that Croghan, a registered Republican, was giving only lipservice to the Summit County Republican Party's candidate for Mayor, Dick Norton, and that Croghan was actually supporting the Democrat in the race, Andy Padrutt (a former director of the Summit County Democratic Party). Croghan held a fundraiser for Padrutt earlier in the year and is said to have justified this action by explaining that he had to hold the event to get Padrutt's vote as a City Councilman on a key piece of legislation.

Today's ABJ article (link will be posted as soon as ABJ uploads it to the Internet) states that both Croghan and Reilly circulated petitions along with one of Padrutt's key supporters, Democrat Jim Colopy, to get another Democrat, Chris Slates, into the mayor's race. Slates will be competing with Republican Dick Norton in the September primary election. (Green as a nonpartisan, charter city does not have partisan primary elections.)

According to the Beacon Journal, Democrat Slates, age 24, has criminal convictions for DUI, and disorderly conduct and was sued separately by both the City of Green and the State of Ohio for not paying his taxes and will be under house arrest (355 day sentence) during the primary election in which he is a candidate for Mayor.

Republican candidate for Green Mayor Dick Norton said it best when he labelled this effort, "seedy". How can Croghan and Reilly call themselves Republican supporters when they are gathering signatures for Slates, a Democrat, along with another Democrat? Some may say that this was a covert effort to help Norton. If so, then why did Democrat Padrutt and his family sign Democrat Slates' petition?

Clearly, Croghan and Reilly are acting in the best interests of the Democrat Andy Padrutt and not the Republican candidate Dick Norton. If they are willing to conspire with Democrats against a Republican candidate, then we can see the type of "leadership" Kevin Coughlin espouses.

One third of Kevin's stated supporters are involved in this illegitimate and seedy effort. This is a reflection of Kevin's ability as a leader and his ability to recruit supporters. Can the Summit County Republican Party afford Coughlin's "leadership"?? We think not.

Here's the ABJ Article that discussed this issue:

Akron Beacon Journal, August 26, 2007

HOUSE ARREST FOR CANDIDATE
MAN RUNNING IN GREEN MAYORAL RACE AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO THIRD DRUNKEN-DRIVING OFFENSE

Rick Armon, Beacon Journal staff writer

GREEN The five-way race for mayor of Green features a candidate who will soon be placed under house arrest after pleading guilty to his third drunken-driving offense in the past four years.

Christopher M. Slates, 24, whose criminal history includes resisting arrest and two disorderly conduct convictions, also was sued this year by both the city of Green and state of Ohio for failure to pay taxes.

Despite that -- and a court order in February that will place him under house arrest for 335 days -- his name will appear along with the four other mayoral candidates on the nonpartisan Sept. 11 primary ballot.

Slates is scheduled to begin serving his time on Sept. 5.

In a further twist, his effort to get on the ballot was helped by current Mayor Daniel Croghan and city Councilman James Colopy -- both of whom don't support Slates but are promoting other candidates.

Slates, who also ran unsuccessfully for council in 2005, has not returned phone calls from the Beacon Journal. He canceled a scheduled interview with the newspaper's editorial board and has not returned a questionnaire mailed to candidates.

He, along with city worker David Lauby, retired banker Dick Norton, Councilman Andy Padrutt and Councilwoman Susan Ridgeway, are running for the four-year position, which pays $78,786. The top two vote-getters in the primary move on to the general election.

Croghan, who cannot run again because of term limits, and Colopy helped gather signatures to place Slates' name on the ballot.

But Croghan supports Norton, and Colopy serves on Padrutt's campaign committee.

So what's going on?

"That's a great question," Ridgeway said.

It's a common strategy for political parties and candidates to place an unknown name on the ballot to suck votes away from rivals or to create a primary, forcing candidates who are not well funded to spend their cash before the general election.

"I'm assuming they wanted to force a primary because they know I don't have a lot of funds," Ridgeway said.

So were they trying to ensure a primary?

"I wouldn't argue with that," Croghan said.

Asked why, the mayor responded: "No comment."

Colopy, who has known Slates since high school, said he wasn't trying to force a primary and instead was just helping out a friend who approached him about running. Even though he was working on Padrutt's campaign, he said he didn't see a conflict in assisting another candidate.

He also said he questioned Slates about his past.

"His response was, 'I want to get my name out there and put that stuff behind me' and I didn't have a reason to say I wouldn't help him out," Colopy said. "I told him straight up, 'Chris, I don't think you have a chance.' He realized he was a long shot."

Slates has been convicted in Akron, Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls municipal courts of drunken driving, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, driving under suspension and underage drinking.

In February, he pleaded guilty in the Barberton court to his third drunken-driving offense, which stemmed from a traffic stop by the Summit County Sheriff's Office in August 2006, according to court records. Judge Michael Weigand sentenced him to 335 days under house arrest, fined him $1,000, suspended his license for three years and ordered him to attend an alcohol treatment program.

The city of Green sued him in the Barberton court this year for not paying his taxes. And he was sued by the state in Summit County Common Pleas Court for not paying taxes.

In addition to Colopy and Croghan, former Green Councilman David C. Reilly also circulated a petition for Slates. The signatures gathered include the names of Croghan, Padrutt and Councilwoman Christine Croce. Croghan, Padrutt and Colopy's relatives signed the petitions, too.

However, it's not unusual for candidates to sign each other's petitions, knowing how difficult it can be to gather signatures.

Other than signing the petition, Padrutt said he didn't support Slates' efforts.

Norton said he's heard about the Slates issue, but had nothing to do with his appearance on the ballot. If people did conspire to put him on the ballot, Norton called it "seedy."

A primary is required if there are four candidates for mayor. With five candidates, a primary was inevitable.

Colopy and others said that shows there wasn't an attempt to force a primary.

There also had been a question of whether Lauby would really run -- either he was going to drop out or be encouraged not to run. Another candidate, Slates, apparently was needed to ensure a primary just in case, Ridgeway and others said.

As for who's supporting whom, Croghan said he's sticking with Norton.

"He's without a doubt the most qualified candidate," he said.

Colopy, who helped get Slates on the ballot, said he hasn't wavered in his support of Padrutt.

"Andy is the most qualified candidate," he said.

Padrutt doesn't think Slates would be a good mayor.
"I don't think he should be the mayor," he said. "There's no question about that."