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A Northeast Ohio Mayor Wants to Ensure Candidates Pay the Bill for Campaign Stops

Supporters packed the Romney-Ryan rally at Walsh University in 2012.
WKSU
Supporters packed the Romney-Ryan rally at Walsh University in 2012.
Supporters packed the Romney-Ryan rally at Walsh University in 2012.
Credit WKSU
/
WKSU
Supporters packed the Romney-Ryan rally at Walsh University in 2012.

The mayor of North Canton has advised the presidential campaigns of both parties that their candidates are welcome in town, but the cost of extra local police and support services will have to be paid up front. 

According to Mayor David Held the city provided thousands of dollars in added security and logistical help for the Romney-Ryan campaign in 2012. The campaign said the Secret Service would take care of the bill. Then the Secret Service said it didn’t have a way to do that and referred the city back to the campaign. 

So it has gone for four years.

And Held says the best way to avoid any similar problems in the future is a strict ‘pay-in-advance,’ policy. 

“We felt it is important to secure payment that the payment is made ahead of time.  In 2012, we had a bill for over $10,000. For a city our size, that’s pretty hefty.  So, we want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Held, a Republican, says the rule applies to any candidate of any party. 

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Tim Rudell
Tim Rudell has worked in broadcasting and news since his student days at Kent State in the late 1960s and early 1970s (when he earned extra money as a stringer for UPI). He began full time in radio news in 1972 in his home town of Canton, OH.