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Phone harassment, sign and campaign literature trouble add to interest of election
By Bill Lilley
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Oct 31, 2009
CANAL FULTON: The City Council race that will be decided in Tuesday's election was practically guaranteed from the beginning to feature some interesting small-town politics.
Numbers alone forecast as much: 10 candidates vying for four seats.
The cast of candidates includes controversial former Councilman Mike Mouse, a retired Cleveland schoolteacher and coach. He and three others — Paul Bagocius, Eric Buwala and Kenneth Gabbard — have banded together and become known as the ''slate of four.''
Also on the ballot are incumbents Diane Downing, James Deans and Nellie Cihon, along with Susan Mayberry, Donnie Poling and Linda Zahirsky.
This fall, the slate of four found itself, according to Mouse, ''in a fight with the mayor, law director, finance director, city manager and an incumbent councilman rather than the six other candidates'' over campaign literature and signs.
The group placed in yards several 4-by-6-foot signs — 24 square feet — featuring all four candidates. The city's zoning ordinance permits political signs to be a total of six square feet.
Mouse said a letter from the city about the signs threatening their removal would violate First Amendment rights. The group secured the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union.
''The ACLU sent a letter to the city, but they have not responded to it to the best of my knowledge,'' Buwala said. ''We know of only one person who took one of our signs down.''
In a matter related to campaign literature, City Manager Mark Cozy sent out a release that said a political flier, with the names of the four on
the slate, contains several quotes from a Financial Sensibility 2008 and Beyond report that are attributed to him.
''I did not write the report,'' Cozy said. ''Several other fliers have been distributed over the last few weeks that may contain incorrect, and possibly misleading, information about the city of Canal Fulton's administration.''
There have been threats to file complaints with the Ohio Elections Commission.
In a separate incident, in Parma Municipal Court, Buwala is facing a charge of telephone harassment filed by the North Royalton Police Department. He was charged Aug. 26 and has a Nov. 9 pretrial.
According to a police report, the charge stems from incidents June 24 in the 9700 block of Beechwood Drive in North Royalton. Buwala is accused of making seven calls to a woman's cell phone.
Buwala said the incident stemmed from his position as a representative of Rapid Mailing Services, a direct-mail marketing company based in Cuyahoga Falls.
''It's really a nonissue [in the election],'' Buwala said. ''It involves a collection matter with a client of my employer who is no longer a client. I expect the situation to be resolved shortly.''
Joseph O'Malley, a Cleveland attorney who prosecutes cases for North Royalton, said he could not say whether the case was close to being resolved.
Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.
CANAL FULTON: The City Council race that will be decided in Tuesday's election was practically guaranteed from the beginning to feature some interesting small-town politics.
Numbers alone forecast as much: 10 candidates vying for four seats.
The cast of candidates includes controversial former Councilman Mike Mouse, a retired Cleveland schoolteacher and coach. He and three others — Paul Bagocius, Eric Buwala and Kenneth Gabbard — have banded together and become known as the ''slate of four.''
Also on the ballot are incumbents Diane Downing, James Deans and Nellie Cihon, along with Susan Mayberry, Donnie Poling and Linda Zahirsky.
This fall, the slate of four found itself, according to Mouse, ''in a fight with the mayor, law director, finance director, city manager and an incumbent councilman rather than the six other candidates'' over campaign literature and signs.
The group placed in yards several 4-by-6-foot signs — 24 square feet — featuring all four candidates. The city's zoning ordinance permits political signs to be a total of six square feet.
Mouse said a letter from the city about the signs threatening their removal would violate First Amendment rights. The group secured the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union.
''The ACLU sent a letter to the city, but they have not responded to it to the best of my knowledge,'' Buwala said. ''We know of only one person who took one of our signs down.''
In a matter related to campaign literature, City Manager Mark Cozy sent out a release that said a political flier, with the names of the four on
the slate, contains several quotes from a Financial Sensibility 2008 and Beyond report that are attributed to him.
''I did not write the report,'' Cozy said. ''Several other fliers have been distributed over the last few weeks that may contain incorrect, and possibly misleading, information about the city of Canal Fulton's administration.''
There have been threats to file complaints with the Ohio Elections Commission.
In a separate incident, in Parma Municipal Court, Buwala is facing a charge of telephone harassment filed by the North Royalton Police Department. He was charged Aug. 26 and has a Nov. 9 pretrial.
According to a police report, the charge stems from incidents June 24 in the 9700 block of Beechwood Drive in North Royalton. Buwala is accused of making seven calls to a woman's cell phone.
Buwala said the incident stemmed from his position as a representative of Rapid Mailing Services, a direct-mail marketing company based in Cuyahoga Falls.
''It's really a nonissue [in the election],'' Buwala said. ''It involves a collection matter with a client of my employer who is no longer a client. I expect the situation to be resolved shortly.''
Joseph O'Malley, a Cleveland attorney who prosecutes cases for North Royalton, said he could not say whether the case was close to being resolved.
Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.
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