COLUMBUS -- "When a Cleveland bridge that carries 35,000 vehicles a day has a problem, Ohio Department of Transportation Deputy Director Bonnie Teeuwen has to make calculations that are a lot less cut and dried than figuring structural stresses or materials strength: How much should she say to whom, and in what sort of tone?
On Sept. 11, 2007, Teeuwen sent ODOT's then-director, James G. Beasley, an emergency repair request for the Main Avenue Bridge that said, in part: "The localized buckling indicates that the lower chords are overstressed. Failure to repair these chords as soon as possible could result in the collapse of the suspended span." Chords are steel plates that support the bridge.
The next day, ODOT issued a news release telling the public the bridge was 'structurally safe,'" Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "The goal is to get through the 2010 election with their blessed jobs. Lust for control of a single political entity, the State Apportionment Board, squelches statesmanship. Whichever party wins two of the three races for governor, secretary of state and auditor next year will control the board and gerrymander districts to enhance its chances of dominating the House and Senate for the next 10 years.
Forthright lawmakers such as Rep. Peter Ujvagi, D-Toledo, and Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, acknowledge as much.
'To suggest that the political calculation of the Apportionment Board is not part of this budget process is disingenuous, because everybody wants to get two of those three seats,' said Husted, who has a bill aimed at depoliticizing the legislative line-drawing process," Joe Hallett, The Columbus Dispatch. Jun 30: Editorial: Wrong approach Don't use state constitution to set livestock-care rules or other detailed policies
COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio Constitution is not the appropriate vehicle for determining how the state should regulate the care of livestock.
Yet political interests continue to try to amend that venerable document to push their agendas. The agriculture lobby, with a proposed constitutional amendment to create a statewide board to set care standards for livestock, is just the latest.
The Ohio House, with the strong support of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, voted 84-13 on Wednesday to place an issue on the statewide ballot in November that would create a 13-member Livestock Care Standards Board. The Senate passed a similar measure yesterday," The Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- " In contrast (to principles of Ohio's founding), the Whig ancestors of today's Republicans never met a business subsidy they didn't like. So, as the Associated Press revealed, state Senate Republicans want to give Big Oil (example: BP, January-March net: $2.6 billion) a tax break worth $20 million a year.
But Ohio's 'Democrat'-run House ladled gravy, too, by stampeding to let factory farms self-police their treatment of livestock and poultry. The aim of the Farm Bureau and its franken-food allies is to pre-empt Ohio initiatives by the Humane Society or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Forget that Ohio has despicably weak animal-cruelty laws. Assume - though you'd be dead wrong - that Ohioans who care about humane treatment of animals are pinwheel-eyed kooks. Even then, look what happened at a Statehouse where windbags can take a month to tie their shoes:
Strickland endorsed the factory-farm shield four days after the proposed constitutional amendment's June 18 introduction; on Wednesday, two days after Strickland spoke, the House passed it, 84-13. (Celeste, Foley and Stewart were 'yes' votes.) That's whiplash-fast - faster, even, than Speaker Armond Budish, a Beachwood Democrat, can ask for donations," Thomas Suddes, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jun 29: Cuyahoga County commissioners go behind closed doors during 33 of 38 meetings, review finds
COLUMBUS -- "What makes the secrecy of Cuyahoga's commissioners especially troubling for advocates of good government is that it continues during the biggest corruption probe in county history, which focuses on one of the men behind the closed doors -- Jimmy Dimora... Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action said commissioners should have handled more business in public after the investigation became public 11 months ago with agents raiding Dimora's home and office and the home and office of Auditor Frank Russo. 'I'm surprised they didn't attempt to create as open a process as possible at that point,' Turcer said. 'It shows a lack of shame,'" Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Published June 28. Jun 29: Editorial: No special treatment Lawmakers should stop kowtowing to the dictates of nursing-home industry
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio's nursing-home lobby is pulling out all the stops to preserve the industry's unjustified privilege in Ohio's budget, even going so far as to claim that Grandma might die if lawmakers alter state support to nursing homes.
This emotional-blackmail strategy has worked on the General Assembly for decades, but it's time for lawmakers to call a halt to it. That's the only responsible thing to do when they're looking for ways to overcome a $3.2 billion deficit in the 2010-11 budget, which is supposed to take effect on Wednesday.... It certainly hasn't hurt the nursing homes' cause that they are some of the biggest donors to lawmakers' campaign funds," The Columbus Dispatch. Jun 29: Editorial: Line up for Ohio Draw improved legislative districts, and the likelihood is, the state will get improved representation
COLUMBUS -- "A recently concluded contest to redraw Ohio's congressional districts didn't attract a flood of entrants. Then again, it didn't need to do so. The academic exercise easily managed to produce revealing evidence of the flaws in the current, highly partisan method. Of 11 plans scored under a set of objective measures aimed at fairness, all beat the district plan actually adopted by the state legislature after the last Census. In other words, almost anything is better that what the state has now.
The League of Women Voters of Ohio, Common Cause Ohio, Ohio Citizen Action and others approached Jennifer Brunner, the secretary of state, to sponsor the event, in the pursuit of improved representation. The results, announced Thursday, should push lawmakers and the governor toward changing the ways both legislative and congressional districts are redrawn every decade. Much more is at stake than reflecting new population numbers," Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "How would Ohio’s legislative districts be drawn if politicians didn’t control the process?.... Specifically, reformers — including the League of Women Voters — held a contest to draw congressional districts. Under Ohio’s existing system, districts for the state Legislature are drawn by a commission that is completely controlled by one political party or the other, depending on which party holds what statewide offices at the moment. Meanwhile, congressional districts are drawn by the Legislature and approved by the governor," Dayton Daily News. Jun 24: Editorial: Narrow escape A critical provision of the Voting Rights Act survives the Supreme Court
AKRON -- "Listen to the oral argument in April, and the fair conclusion was: The Supreme Court appeared ready to cast aside a core provision of the Voting Rights Act. On Monday, the court ruled in the case involving a Texas utility district seeking to ''bail out'' of Section 5, an aspect of the law requiring covered jurisdictions, mostly in the South, to get permission from the Justice Department or a federal court before they make changes to voting procedures.
An 8-1 majority granted relief to the utility district, but it did so narrowly. It limited the option to small jurisdictions that do not handle their own voter registration. That amounts to a qualified victory for those concerned about the court acting hastily to remove a key tool in protecting civil rights, especially in view of the coming Census and the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts," Akron Beacon Journal. Jun 24: Editorial: Hurry to harvest State officials suddenly want a constitutional change for agribusiness
COLUMBUS -- "Amending the Ohio Constitution is serious business, changes made by a statewide vote achieving a permanency not enjoyed by statutes or regulations. Rushing the process, as the legislature is prepared to do today with a proposed amendment on livestock farming, merely increases the chances of locking in details that would benefit from a fuller airing, with future modification tedious and expensive. In a state as big as Ohio, it can take millions of campaign dollars to give voters even a cursory understanding of a complex issue.... More telling is a July 1 deadline for putting constitutional amendments before the voters in November, which the legislature can accomplish with a three-fifths majority in each house. Opponents, such as Dean Vickers of the state Humane Society, say the amendment would pre-empt an initiated statute his group would like to place on the ballot next year.
The Humane Society wants to phase out methods that immobilize animals such as hens, sows and calves in what it considers cruel conditions. He rightly fears the composition of the 13-member livestock board, with one practicing veterinarian and one member of a county humane society, would tilt in the direction large-scale farming operations. Vickers is threatening a competing ballot issue this fall," Akron Beacon Journal.
WASHINGTON DC -- "The Supreme Court on Monday left intact one of the signature legacies of the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The court, in an 8-to-1 decision, ducked the central question in a case that was the most closely watched of the term. Most election law specialists had expected the court to rule on whether a core provision of the law was constitutional, and many were betting the answer would be no.
The provision allows federal oversight of election law changes in some places," Adam Liptak, New York Times. Court sidesteps major ruling over Voting Rights Act. NPR.org
COLUMBUS -- "At a time when nearly every state-funded service is threatened by a worsening budget crisis, Ohio's influential nursing-home industry appeared to have successfully lobbied for an additional $1.2 billion in state and federal aid over the next four years.
Amendments dropped quietly into the budget bill by Republican leaders in the Ohio Senate would boost the rate nursing homes are reimbursed for each Medicaid patient from $164 a day to about $196 a day by 2013, an increase of 19 percent.
Further, nursing-home owners persuaded GOP lawmakers to insert into Ohio law an annual rate increase beginning in 2013 -- a guarantee enjoyed by no other provider of Medicaid, the tax-funded health-care program for the poor and disabled," Catherine Candinsky and Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch. Jun 22: Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson unveils 'new and improved' ethics policy
Mayor Frank Jackson
CLEVELAND -- "Mayor Frank Jackson on Friday rolled out what he called a 'new and improved' ethics policy for city workers following a federal corruption probe that upended Cleveland's building department.... Councilman Mike Polensek said Friday that he thinks the mayor's push for city employees to understand the ethics policy is a good start.... Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action echoed that, but added, 'What the city needs, what Cuyahoga County needs, is ethics reform,'" Amanda Garrett, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Posted Jun 19; Associated Press Posted Jun 22. Jun 22: Editorial: Changes already being made in the way elections are run
COLUMBUS -- "While it would have been instructive to hear all the details surrounding former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell’s mishandling of the 2004 presidential election that made the state the butt of national jokes, the settlement of a federal lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Ohio is the proper course of action.
A full-blown trial would have cost Ohio millions of dollars — at a time of a deepening state budget crisis. The lawsuit was filed by the league in 2005 alleging that Blackwell, along with then Gov. Bob Taft, and their predecessors had failed to protect the fundamental rights of eligible Ohio voters to cast a 'meaningful' ballot.... 'The agreement reached represents the best interests of Ohio voters and guarantees careful planning, evaluation and oversight of the process that will provide greater access to the election process,' said Peg Rosenfield, elections specialist for the League of Women Voters of Ohio. 'It is our hope that it restores public confidence in our elections process,'" Youngstown Vindicator. Posted Jun 20. Jun 22: Editorial: Guidance, please Ohio judges need standards for complying with ruling on conflicts of interest
COLUMBUS -- "The U.S. Supreme Court recognized a clear conflict of interest in ruling last week that a West Virginia Supreme Court justice should have recused himself from a case. An interested party had spent an extraordinary amount, $3 million, in an election -- not directly on the justice's campaign, but to his benefit.
The majority opinion, however, declined to offer guidelines for states on when other judges should recuse themselves, so the Ohio Supreme Court might benefit from setting some formal guidelines for Ohio's courts.... Ohio is in less danger of campaign quid pro quo than some states. Campaign-contribution limits greatly reduce the chance that money from one donor will influence a candidate: An individual or a political-action committee can give no more than $11,395.56 to a statewide candidate," The Columbus Dispatch. Posted Jun 20.
COLUMBUS -- "Some county elections officials are criticizing this week's settlement of a lawsuit aimed at improving voting, saying it's unneeded and could hamper their ability to run elections.... [Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer] Brunner and league officials argue that continuing to litigate the lawsuit could have cost $5 million, and they downplay any additional costs or burdens while touting the improvements the settlement will bring to state elections.
The lawsuit was filed four years ago in the wake of the troubled 2004 Ohio presidential election. It argued that long lines and other problems dating back three decades meant not all Ohio voters had the same access to voting," Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch. Posted Jun 20. Jun 19: Cuyahoga patronage practices outlined in federal documents: Crisis in county government
CLEVELAND -- "Certain county officials used taxpayer-funded payrolls to give jobs and raises to each others' friends and relatives and pay back personal and political favors, according to federal documents filed last week.
Charges against three employees of the Cuyahoga County engineer's office show what can happen when a culture of patronage goes unchecked...
'It's like a round robin of gifts and perks and all at the expense of taxpayers,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action. Turcer said she's never seen anything in Ohio as vast as the quid pro quo that permeates Cuyahoga County's government.
'It is this kind of thing where you're trying to put the puzzle pieces together and it's scary how neatly they fit together,' she said," Rachel Dissell, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jun 18: Ohio Redistricting Competition partners announce competition winners
Contestant Mike Fortner,
Illinois State Representative,
(Republican - District 95)
COLUMBUS -- "Today the Ohio Redistricting Competition partners announced the results of the successful Ohio Redistricting Competition, a project years in the making. According to the partners, the competition provides concrete proof that Ohio can rely on an open process based on objective criteria to produce fair legislative districts in Ohio....
The competition was launched in March 2009 by a partnership of organizations and individuals, including Former Republican State Representative Joan Lawrence, The League of Women Voters of Ohio, State Representative Dan Stewart, Professor Richard Gunther - Department of Political Science at The Ohio State University, Ohio Citizen Action, and Common Cause Ohio.
After being approached by the partners, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner agreed to host the process, and to make resources and training available to the public. The competition began on April 10, 2009, and concluded on May 11, 2009. 'A picture’s worth a thousand words. The Ohio Redistricting Competition provides an opportunity for Ohioans to see reform goals, like compactness and competition, put into action' said Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action," Ohio Secretary of State
NEWARK -- "Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer reacted to the ruling by calling for his court to impose a state policy on judges to allow parties to request a judge be removed from a case if there's an appearance of bias based on campaign donations.
Ohio Citizen Action reports the top industries donating to the Ohio Supreme Court races came from insurance, the legal profession, health and manufacturing. A 2006 New York Times report showed that, in a 12-year period, justices on the Ohio Supreme Court rarely removed themselves from cases involving their campaign contributors and, on average, decided in their favor 70 percent of the time.
So we strongly support Moyer's proposal and think it's critical to maintaining the rights of voters to elect Ohio's Supreme Court justices," Newark Advocate. Jun 18: Election-rules lawsuit settled League of Women Voters of Ohio alleged state violated citizens' rights
COLUMBUS -- "The state and the League of Women Voters of Ohio have agreed to settle a 4-year-old federal lawsuit that argued in the wake of the 2004 election that the state failed to protect the right of all citizens to vote and have that vote counted.
Under the settlement, the state and county elections boards must provide uniform poll-worker training and complete pre-election plans for allocating voting equipment, providing security and other steps to minimize problems at the polls.
Elections officials also are required to better track provisional and absentee balloting, as well as post-election reporting of election data including precinct-level numbers from Franklin County and other large Ohio counties," Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch.
Election settlement troubling If you have been a voter for all or any part of the past 30 years, then a court settlement on Tuesday should be an insult to your democratic sensibilities.... In order for the league to drop the lawsuit, the state must promise to stop messing around with the most important aspect of our democracy and start taking elections seriously....
It took a federal lawsuit to get this promise? Dennis Willard, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner made the valid point last week that if blanket mailings of absentee-ballot applications go to any Columbus voters before the Aug. 4 special election, then they should go to all Columbus voters.
In declining to intervene in a matter involving the Franklin County Board of Elections, Brunner cited that principle. The board members are deadlocked in a 2-2 vote on whether to mail the applications to Columbus voters, who will decide whether to increase the city income tax. She said that, for all Columbus voters to be treated equally, the elections boards in Delaware and Fairfield counties also would have to mail absentee-ballot applications to voters who live in Columbus precincts within those counties.
She instructed Franklin County board members to talk to their counterparts in those counties and reach a common plan," The Columbus Dispatch. Jun 17: Who will stand against corruption in Cuyahoga County?
CLEVELAND -- "Who will break the silence? Which elected official will express the outrage that so many residents and taxpayers in Cuyahoga County are feeling? Which prominent Democrat -- because almost every major official in this county is a Democrat -- will have the guts to stand up and tell Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Auditor Frank Russo that they need to go?
Yes, it's true that Dimora and Russo have not been charged with any crime. And it's also true that last Friday's criminal information filed by the U.S. attorney is largely based on allegations by four men who are expected to plead guilty and hope to save what they can of their own hides," editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jun 16: Settlement of dispute not public record?
COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio Concrete Construction Association and the Ohio Department of Transportation have reached a settlement in a mandamus action alleging the state agency illegally withheld public records.
But, ODOT says, the settlement of the case since dismissed in the Ohio Supreme Court.. is not a public record because it is not final.... According to the state's Sunshine Laws manual, if a draft record would be a public record in final form (such as settlement agreements) and it has been shared with others -- which obviously is true in this case -- it is a public record," Randy Ludlow, Columbus Dispatch.
WASHINGTON DC -- "The Supreme Court's landmark Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. ruling has prompted sweeping predictions on both sides of the debate over judges and campaign money.
Some see the high court's June 8 ruling as a signal that states should reconsider the system of installing judges through election campaigns, which have become increasingly costly and hard-fought. Thirty-nine states elect at least some judges.... he circumstances of the Caperton v. Massey case were unusual, but they represented an extreme example of a problem that's been building over the past decade. As the cost of judicial elections has risen, judges in Illinois, Ohio and other states have faced criticism for failing to withdraw from cases involving individuals who bankrolled their campaigns," Eliza Newlin Carney, NationalJournal.com Jun 16: Brennan Center for Justice Report: Can the U.S. register every voter?
NEW YORK, NY -- "Yesterday, the Brennan Center released a new study of sixteen countries that shows that in nearly every democracy surveyed, government assures that every eligible citizen is registered to vote. If the United States modernized voter registration in this way, it would add between 50 and 65 million citizens to the rolls. 'Can American build a system where every eligible citizen is registered? Most other democracies already have,' said Michael Waldman, Executive Director of the Brennan Center," Brennan Center for Justice
CLEVELAND-- "The first major charges in a three-year county corruption investigation -- filed in U.S. District Court Friday -- paint a portrait of government leaders who saw the public till as a bankroll for personal fun. The behavior of political leaders laid out in the charges is staggering both in its scope and its audacity... 'We deserve better,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a public watchdog group. 'It's not enough to be disgusted. Voters need to ask for better or else they'll continue to be taken advantage of,'" John Caniglia, Peter Krouse and Rachel Dissell, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Published June 12. June 15: State foots bill for some fancy travel
COLUMBUS
-- "Bracing for a budget crisis back in January 2008 that now engulfs state government, Gov. Ted Strickland issued an executive order prohibiting all non-essential travel overseas and in the United States for state workers.
But a Dispatch investigation shows that, although total state travel costs have declined, state employees continued to travel for an array of conferences, association meetings and other purposes, both out of state and overseas... 'During this economic crisis, our public officials and government officials need to really, really look at what is essential,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a nonpartisan government watchdog," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch. Published June 14.
COLUMBUS-- "Yes, all seven justices on this state's highest court are Republican, and they got there either by raising piles of cash themselves or with assistance from their party, or in recent years with more than a little help from their third-party independent-expenditure friends... Ohio Citizen Action asked [Chief Justice] Moyer on Friday to put together a study committee to examine third-party campaign funds, their influence on judicial campaigns and recusal standards.
In her letter, Catherine Turcer, with Citizen Action, quoted some staggering figures from the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake in New York," Dennis Willard, Akron Beacon Journal. Published June 13. Jun 15: Critics: Ohio Treasurer shouldn’t be spending on self-promotion
COLUMBUS -- "As Ohio’s budget swells with red ink, state Treasurer Kevin Boyce spent $32,469 in taxpayer money on promotional items such as water bottles, grocery bags and pencils and plans to buy another $47,457 in swag plastered with his name.
Boyce defended the purchases as routine and said his marketing budget is about 30 percent less than what fellow Democrat Richard Cordray spent when he was state treasurer...
And Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a good government watchdog, said just because other statewide officers spend budget money on promotion doesn’t make it right.
'So many office holders see this as a perk of incumbency without thinking through the cost to the taxpayers,' Turcer said," Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News. Published June 13. Jun 15: Editorial: Bias on the bench
TOLEDO -- "THE U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged the obvious this week in a decision from West Virginia with sobering consequences for the 39 states (including Ohio) that elect judges. In a 5-4 ruling, the court found for the first time that judges who take huge sums in campaign contributions from those whose cases come before them should recuse themselves.
As encouraging as the outcome was in marrying common sense with legal sense, it also gives rise to several depressing thoughts. In the first place, the obvious problem here did not move the dissenting four justices past their ideological moorings to the point where they wanted to do something about it.
Consider the facts that the moderate and liberal majority sought to address and the conservative minority would have ignored. Hugh Caperton, a West Virginia coal company owner, had sued a Massey Energy affiliate alleging fraud and in 2002 a West Virginia jury awarded him $50 million in damages. Massey appealed to the West Virginia Supreme Court," Toledo Blade. Jun 12:Brunner requests blessing of deal Senate campaign's use of equipment bought by state campaign is at issue
COLUMBUS -- "Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is asking the Federal Election Commission to determine the legality of a secret agreement designed to allow her U.S. Senate campaign to use equipment bought by her now-defunct state campaign.... Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a nonpartisan government watchdog, said the arrangement between Brunner's state and Senate campaigns may turn out to be legal but doesn't pass what she called 'the giggle test.'... 'It is so disheartening to have the chief elections official attempt to find a way to avoid election law,' she said," Joe Hallett and Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch. Jun 11: Ohio chief justice wants new ethics policy
COLUMBUS-- "[Ohio Chief Justice Thomas] Moyer plans to address the issue [a new policy at the state's highest court] with his fellow state Supreme Court justices, Davey said. He also plans to hold a conference later this year to discuss judicial policies... Catherine Turcer, who directs Ohio Citizen Action's Money in Politics Project, called on Moyer Wednesday to create a study committee to examine the influence of issue advertising on judicial elections in Ohio....
'It really highlights all the money that swirls around these judicial campaigns,' she said," JoAnne Viviano, Associated Press. Letter to Chief Justice calling for recusal study committee Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action. Jun 10: Ruling on 'Probable Bias' spotlights political reality
NEW YORK, NY-- "From 1999 to 2008, state supreme court candidates raised $200 million nationwide, more than double the amount they raised in the previous nine years, according to Justice at Stake, a Washington, D.C. organization that opposes campaign spending in judicial races.... Last year in Ohio, where two supreme court seats were up for grabs, insurance companies and corporate-defense law firms were among the largest contributors to the victorious Republican candidates, while labor unions gave heavily to the Democratic candidates, according to a study by Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group.
Recently, Ohio business groups have donated more than their pro-consumer counterparts, one reason the state's supreme court is all Republican, said Catherine Turcer, the director of Ohio Citizen's Money In Politics project," Nathan Koppel, Wall Street Journal. Jun 9: Ohio justices may rethink recusals in light of U.S. Supreme Court decision
COLUMBUS -- "Catherine Turcer, of Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, said the ruling will finally force Ohio to deal with the worsening perception that opinions too often are influenced by cash donations.
'It brings into light that a good three out of four Americans believe campaign spending impacts what happens in the courtroom,' Turcer said. 'It allows, really for the first time, that at the state level we do something about this by establishing recusal standards.'... A 2006 New York Times investigation of the Ohio Supreme Court found that justices routinely sat on cases involving their donors and voted in their favor 70 percent of the time during the previous 12-year period studied," Reginald Fields, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
DAYTON -- "Ohio's elections chief has ordered up the utility records of a state senator accused of not living where he's registered to vote.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has directed the Montgomery County Board of Elections in Dayton to consider the subpoenaed documentation of water, electric and natural gas usage by Jon Husted.
Republican Sen. Husted is the former Ohio House speaker. The investigation by Democrat Brunner concerns whether he lives in a Dayton suburb," Associated Press.
WASHINGTON DC -- "The Supreme Court ruled Monday that elected judges must step aside from cases when large campaign contributions from interested parties create the appearance of bias.
By a 5-4 vote in a case from West Virginia, the court said that a judge who remained involved in a lawsuit filed against the company of the most generous supporter of his election deprived the other side of the constitutional right to a fair trial.... The West Virginia case involved more than $3 million spent by the chief executive of Massey Energy Co. to help elect state Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin. At the same time, Massey was appealing a verdict, which now totals $82.7 million with interest, in a dispute with a local coal company. Benjamin refused to step aside from the case, despite repeated requests, and was part of a 3-2 decision to overturn the verdict," Associated Press.
"Just as no man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, similar fears of bias can arise when—without the other parties’ consent—a man chooses the judge in his own cause. Applying this principle to the judicial election process, there was here a serious, objective risk of actual bias that required Justice Benjamin’s recusal."Justice Anthony Kennedy, Page 11-16, Decision Caperton v Massey.
Judges can't rule on big donors' cases, Supreme Court says Precedent-setting decision could affect Ohio judicial elections "I believe judges should be elected," said Catherine Turcer, a lobbyist for Ohio Citizen Action, which is critical of the way Ohio finances its judicial campaigns. "If we continue to have problems, then it's worth thinking about alternatives, such as merit selection or public financing of judicial campaigns." Jack Torry and James Nash, The Columbus Dispatch.
In favor of the petitioner Caperton: Justice Anthony Kennedy,
Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the dissent. Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas also dissented.
COLUMBUS -- "Most public employees in Cleveland work about 240 days each year, but Cleveland Clerk of Courts Earle Turner worked in his office just 84 days in 2008, a Plain Dealer investigation shows.... Catherine Turcer of the watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action was troubled by the findings. She said taxpayers are entitled to know what work public officials perform in or away from the office. Turner, she said, probably does not keep an appointment book or calendar for a reason.
'He doesn't want the public to know what he's up to,' she said. 'He doesn't keep a calendar because it avoids a public-record request,'" Mark Puente, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Posted June 7. Jun 8: Column: As Ohioans struggle to survive, senators lose their focus
COLUMBUS -- "So, to please police unions, the Senate budget rewrite would shield from the public most personnel data of Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation investigators. And to comfort Ohio's (un-elected) port authorities, the Senate would shield them from some parts of the Open Records Act.
The argument, legislative analysts report, is that the Open Records Act 'unnecessarily [burdens] the process by which . . . port authorities promote their authorized purposes.' That's lawyer-speak for 'taxpayers might find out how we spend their money.' In Columbus, while blue-collar unemployment doesn't seem to be a no-no -- that would be.
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University," Thomas Suddes, The Columbus Dispatch. Posted June 7. Jun 8: Which Brunner campaign fund paid for what?
COLUMBUS -- "Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is reviewing purchases made by her state campaign to determine whether they included equipment for her U.S. Senate campaign, which would be a violation of federal regulations.
'If there's a problem, we'll fix it,' Brunner said last night.
Brunner said she has directed her campaign staff to investigate purchases made in the final days before she shut down her secretary of state campaign and announced her Senate candidacy on Feb. 17," Joe Hallett and Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch. Posted June 6. Jun 5: Blog: CPS board prez insists on violation of Open Meeting laws
CINCINNATI -- "Wednesday evening, Cincinnati school board President Eileen Cooper Reed angrily approached an Enquirer reporter (me), yelling at him to leave a public meeting even though he was entitled to be there.
At the conclusion of a regular committee-of-the-whole meeting, the board voted to go into private, planning to discuss a legal matter. (Which they are allowed to under state law.)
But there was a problem: The board's lawyer was not present. Under Ohio's open-meetings laws, a public body can't go into "executive session" to discuss lawsuits without an attorney. By definition, a qualifying legal conference can't occur without your lawyer," benfischer, Cincinnati Enquirer.
CLEVELAND -- "Cuyahoga County's commissioners want nothing to do with efforts to reform its government operations, at least if the state legislature has a hand in it. "No one is clamoring for Cuyahoga County government reform beside the local Cleveland newspaper and the Republican leadership," the Democratic-led commission wrote in a letter this week to members of the Ohio Senate.
Ohio Senate Republicans slipped into their budget passed Wednesday a backup plan for county reform in case local leaders can't reach an agreement. The plan -- which still would need approval from county voters -- would create an elected county executive position and 13 county council districts mirroring the county's 13 state House districts.
The commissioners ridiculed the idea, arguing, among other things, such a council would hurt efforts to promote regionalism," Mark Naymik, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jun 4: Ohio Senate cuts hit Census outreach
COLUMBUS -- "On June 3, the Ohio Senate passed their version of the budget bill. (pdf) This version of the budget bill eliminates funding for many different program areas including 2010 Census outreach. The Ohio Senate has proposed a 45% budget cut to the Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs. This would greatly reduce the work that they are planning to do to reach Ohioans.
Ruben Castilla Herrera
rherrera2457@yahoo.com
'The office of the Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs is critical to our efforts in counting all Latinos, especially the hard to count Latinos in Ohio.' Ruben Castilla Herrera with Cuenten Conmigo Ohio – 2010 Census said. 'They have existing relationships with Latino based non-profit organizations in the You Can Count on Me - Cuenten Conmigo Ohio target areas. Our work with their office has already begun. We will need their full staff and resources in this effort. It is important that they be fully funded,' stated Ruben Castilla Herrera.
You Can Count on Me Ohio - Cuenten Conmigo Ohio 2010 Census and the Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs recently began to develop a strategy using the Commission’s existing networks, services and resources to assure that Latino/as are counted. Census information is used to determine how more than $300 billion in federal funding is distributed. This information is also used for Congressional and legislative redistricting. The challenge of undertaking a complete count is formidable. You Can Count on Me Ohio - Cuenten Conmigo Ohio 2010 Census and the Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs intend to focus upon those that are the most difficult count— recent immigrants. It is especially difficult to reach immigrants due to language and cultural barriers and anxiety about providing the government information.
The Ohio House and the Ohio Senate need to reconcile their versions of the bill. The next step for budget discussion is in conference committee," Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor today launched a new Web site intended to track the more than $8 billion in federal stimulus money coming into the state.
'Ohio is expected to receive more than $8 billion in federal stimulus funds and Ohioans deserve to know how that money is being spent,' Taylor said in a statement. 'Accountability and transparency are important to the proper function of government and my office is making this site available to the public as we gather information necessary to properly audit the receipt and use of those monies.'
At OhioStimulusTracker.com, visitors will be able to see which local governments are receiving funds and for which projects. Taylor said the Web site will allow people to report allegations of fraud," Reginald Fields, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
WASHINGTON DC -- "'Government data is a national asset. It belongs to the tax payer,' said Beth Noveck. Noveck is the Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government. She points to a brainstorming session at whitehouse.gov/open. 'We do not have a monopoly on the best ideas,' said Noveck. 'And we do not have all the answers to the questions that we need, in order to face the tremendous challenges that we confront today.'
So the reaction from government watchdogs – three words: more, more, more. 'My understanding is that the government intends to put up a lot more information as time goes on,' said Marcia Hoffman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation , 'But it remains to be seen what exactly that information is going to be and how they are going to encourage agencies to voluntarily put it up there.' Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation said that the government should make it a priority to get the most important information up sooner. She highlighted lobbyist information and said, 'There are many lobbying reports that filed in the Justice Department that have never seen the light of day. That is to say that they are not on-line, that being the definition of ‘light of day’ in the 21st Century,'" Andrea Seabrook, Washington, National Public Radio, All Things Considered.
Valerie Jarrett is Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for
Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison.
WASHINGTON DC -- "Senior White House officials in the Office of Science and Technology Policy... announced an exciting new experiment the Obama Administration is conducting to develop policy on open, transparent, participatory, and collaborative governance [on May 21, 2009]. If you are interested in civic engagement, collaborative public management, public-private partnerships, dispute resolution in government, freedom of information, or access to government data, this is an initiative you may wish to participate in. There is a transformational change in the use of technology underway in this administration," The White House, open government blog.
COLUMBUS -- "Sisk was a top fund-raiser for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and other GOP politicians. However, he fell from favor in 2005 after investigators began looking into complaints that he and others working for Householder shook down lobbyists and others for campaign contributions....
In an item posted today, Sisk opines that the Ohio Hospital Association 'doesn't get it' because the group doesn't understand how terribly important it is to contribute financially to politicians in power. On the other hand, Ohio's nursing home industry 'gets it,' according to Sisk, because officials have been handing politicians fistfuls of money for a long, long time. As a result, they generally do well in the state budget; hospitals, not so much.
Sisk doesn't use the term, but in layman's language, this is 'pay-to-play.' Ante up enough contributions, your interests are heard and often acted upon favorably," Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch. Jun 1: Editorial: Unhealthy treatment Putting squeeze on Ohio hospitals while coddling nursing homes is wrong
COLUMBUS -- "Under the governor's budget, nursing homes also would have been dunned for $285 million in increased fees to help draw down federal matching funds for Medicaid. But in the budget plan adopted by the Ohio House, nursing homes were held harmless.
This was no surprise, because the nursing-home lobby long has held sway over the legislature. House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, has received $62,000 in campaign contributions from nursing-home political committees and executives in the recent two-year election cycle. Last year, the industry gave about $380,000 to state lawmakers.
This largess is to preserve the gravy train for nursing homes,'" The Columbus Dispatch. Jun 1: Blog: Benjamin J. Marrison: Response to request for records lacks logic
COLUMBUS -- "A federal law prohibits universities from releasing "educational records," and parking tickets qualify at Ohio State.... And the former U.S. senator who wrote the law 35 years ago is aghast by how it has been bastardized. What it was supposed to do, James Buckley told us, was keep grade cards and transcripts private unless a student wanted them made public.
Now, the law is used by some schools to block the public from seeing who got parking tickets or whether they're paid. It prevents the public from knowing whether sports agents or other people with questionable motives have too much access to student athletes. It prevents donors and taxpayers from knowing whether sports programs that spend billions every year are being held to the highest standards," Benjamin J. Marrison, The Columbus Dispatch. May 29: Hiding contributions costs family $125,000 Elections panel doubles expected fine for broker
COLUMBUS -- "Slapping aside a pre-arranged deal as too lenient, the Ohio Elections Commission hammered a Dublin securities broker and his family yesterday with fines totaling a record $125,000 for illegally disguising campaign contributions.... The prosecutor said he initially suspected that [Montford S.] Will was disguising the contributions because he was limited to giving $1,000 as a state vendor, since he handles investments for the state treasurer's office.
However, O'Brien said he discovered a 'gaping hole' in state law that doesn't cover brokers. He said he hopes lawmakers quickly amend the statute," Darrel Rowland, The Columbus Dispatch. May 29: Blog: Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo has reported gifts since corruption probe started
CLEVELAND -- "Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo for years reported receiving no substantial gifts as a political office holder.
But that changed last year, when Russo became one subject of a sweeping federal corruption investigation. His state-mandated financial-disclosure lists ballooned from no gift-givers in 2007 to 11 in 2008 and 22 in 2009. And the latest filing, reflecting gifts received in 2008, includes money that he or his supporters solicited for a legal defense fund," Rachel Dissell and John Caniglia, Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 28: Bond trader must pay record fine
COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio Elections Commission on Thursday May 28 imposed a record $125,000 in fines against bond trader Montford Will, his wife and two step-children for illegally funneling $121,000 in campaign contributions to Republicans and Democrats across the state but did not refer the case for prosecution.
The fines are more than twice the amount recommended by Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and Will’s attorney, Ritchey Hollenbaugh.
Hollenbaugh said the $125,000 in fines were not reasonable, given the circumstances, but that the financial penalty was still preferable over criminal prosecution," Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News.
COLUMBUS -- "Fueled by the scandal that drove former Attorney General Marc Dann from office, the Ohio House cast a rare unanimous vote yesterday to rein in the unregulated use of transition accounts by statewide officeholders.
After completing an investigation into Dann in December, Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles urged legislators to do something to either regulate or eliminate transition accounts, which can accept unlimited and unreported donations from corporations, political action committees and others.
Yesterday, the House responded by passing House Bill 5, which would limit how much contributors can donate to the funds: $10,000 for the governor-elect and $2,500 for any other elected official. Contributions also would have to be disclosed to the secretary of state's offic," Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch. May 28: League of Women Voters testimony on Senate Joint Resolution 5: Redistricting
COLUMBUS -- "Any redistricting process should not permit either political party to manipulate the process to gain advantage disproportionate to its strength in the electorate. The process set forth in SJR 5 improves on our current process of one party gerrymandering by providing a division of power between the two major parties in the drawing of districts. The public interest is better served by this division of power, but care must still be taken to assure that the process does not benefit only the two political parties and become a process by which both parties divide the state into a predetermined number of seats that are safe for each party," Ann Henkener, League of Women Voters of Ohio.
NEW YORK, NY -- "Between 2 and 4 million Americans were unable to vote in the last election because of problems with their registration. And that's just people who tried to vote; in 2006, there were more than 65 million who were eligible to vote, but weren't even registered. That's a third of potential voters.
It doesn't have to be this way. Registration rates in other countries frequently run upwards of 90 percent (both Canada and France hit that mark, for example, while Venezuela stands at roughly 94 percent, and Russia about 97). Now reformers are seizing the moment to use existing law to expand registration, as well as considering new laws that could finally put the United States on an equal footing with many of the world's other democracies," Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation. May 27: House finance Chairman Vernon Sykes retracts suggestion for private meetings on budget
COLUMBUS -- "A key House lawmaker rescinded his call for private meetings between Democratic subcommittee chairs and Senate Republicans after a reporter asked if the talks could violate the state's open meetings law....
Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a public watchdog group, said the joint meetings Sykes called for would have violated the state law.... 'So often we don't know what happened in the discussion leading up to the final decisions because of all of the caucusing that goes on,' said Turcer. 'We need a process that is more open, not less open,'" Aaron Marshall, Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 27: NonprofitsCount! Census 2010 Update for Nonprofits
"Please join us on Thursday, June 4th at 2:00pm ET (11:00am PT) for an hour long discussion of Census 2010 and the role of nonprofits.
Please join us on Thursday, June 4th at 2:00pm ET (11:00am PT) for an hour long discussion of Census 2010 and the role of nonprofits. We are pleased to be joined by special guest Terri Ann Lowenthal, member of President Obama's Transition Team on the Census, former Director of the House Census Oversight Subcommittee and legislative and policy consultant," Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network.
COLUMBUS -- "Gov. Ted Strickland has made a fifth and the governor’s office says “final” release of information to Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, in response to Morgan’s request for information on Strickland’s “evidence-based” model for school reform.
Strickland’s office announced the release on Tuesday, May 26 and referred to Rep. Morgan’s “overly-broad public records request.”
Morgan said he was reviewing the material. He said the latest release came after he sent Strickland’s office a letter on May 19 complaining that he hadn’t received any additional material after an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in the case. Morgan had gone to the Supreme Court in an effort to get the material," William Hershey, Dayton Daily News. May 26: Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul's contracts studied for links to campaign donations
CUYAHOGA COUNTY -- "State officials are investigating $34 million worth of contracts handed out by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office since 2004 and whether vendors had to contribute to former Sheriff Gerald McFaul's campaign fund to get them, according to interviews and a subpoena obtained by The Plain Dealer. Catherine Turcer of the watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action said pay-to-play politics goes on throughout the state but is difficult to investigate.
Investigators will have to determine if the donations were given as a genuine expression of political support or as a bribe, she said," Mark Puente, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Posted May 25. May 26: Democrats not shy about chasing cash Despite recession, lobbyists note increase in requests for campaign contributions
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio House Democrats returned to power in January after 14 years in the minority and brought with them an aggressive fundraising style that some lobbyists wish they had left behind.
Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe, who keeps an eye on ethical issues related to legislators and lobbyists, said fundraising requests cross a tough-to-prove legal line when official action is taken in exchange for a contribution.
'Usually to show these kind of cases, you have to get someone on a recording,' he said. 'Otherwise, it's two people with perhaps different interpretations of what occurred,'" Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch. Posted May 24. May 26: Political donor admits laundering Dublin man agrees to fine for funding family's contributions
COLUMBUS -- "A Dublin securities broker who has openly contributed more than $400,000 to political parties and candidates since the 1990s admitted yesterday that he also laundered more than $100,000 through relatives.... In all, Will faced 19 counts of election-law violations, each of which carried a fine of up to $10,000. He and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien's office reached a settlement in which Will agreed to pay $2,500 per violation.... The Ohio Elections Commission is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to approve the settlement. If the commission rejects the deal, O'Brien could bring criminal charges," James Nash and Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch. Posted May 23. May 22: Problems with provisional ballots
COLUMBUS -- "More than 5.7 million Ohioans cast ballots in the general election last year and nearly 207,000 of those were cast provisionally. The Advancement Project is strongly committed to reducing the number of provisional ballots. “We want to guarantee that voters who make every effort to vote are able to cast a regular ballot in the election, and that those ballots are counted,” said Donita Judge, the State Lead Attorney for the Advancement Project.
40,000 provisional ballots were not counted in the 2008, primarily because the Boards of Elections determined that the voters were not registered in Ohio. “You transpose a name or number or leave off an apartment number and that’s considered a non-match, said Judge. “We believe that those voters really should be registered voters. There are just too many instances of database problems."
Of the 40,000 provisional ballots cast last November, more than 14,000 were cast in the wrong precinct or county. “HAVA (Help America Vote Act)
left it up to the states to determine 'jurisdiction' and Ohio narrowly
defined it to mean precinct,” said Judge.
Ohio has the narrowest definition of voting jurisdiction. Ohio voters must vote in the correct precinct. Some voters find their polling location but not the correct precinct when they arrive to vote.
The Advancement Project is an innovative civil rights law, policy, and communications “action tank” that advances universal opportunity and a just democracy for those left behind in America.
," Catherine Turcer and Leontien Kennedy, Ohio Citizen Action.
COLUMBUS -- "Past estimates of Franklin County's Somali population have ranged from 30,000 to 80,000. But a new report says that it's more like 15,000.
Mussa Farah, president of Horn of Africa Community Center, a social-services group for Somalis, said the study also missed the students in charter schools.
Farah is working with the U.S. Census Bureau to spread the word in the community about the 2010 census and the importance of being counted," Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohioans who want to report fraud or waste as the state spends millions in federal stimulus money might have a hard time figuring out whom to call.
The state is one of 36 that have no guidelines on their recovery-tracking Web sites for reporting abuse, according to the Project on Government Oversight, an independent nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., that investigates government corruption.... 'Citizens of Ohio who wish to provide information concerning possible wrongdoing with the distribution or execution of contracts using stimulus funds would never find where to report it judging by the current state Web site,' [Marthena Cowart, spokeswoman for the Project on Government Oversight] said," Doug Caruso, The Columbus Dispatch.
Report fraud In Ohio, the inspector general's office investigates allegations of fraud and waste, including those relating to misuse of federal stimulus money. The stimulus bill offers protection to contractors and government employees who report problems. Here's how: • Phone: 614-644-9110 or toll-free 1-800-686-1525
• Fax: 614-644-9504
• E-mail: oig_watchdog@oig.state.oh.us
• Web site: http://watchdog.ohio.gov/oigcont.htm Source: Ohio inspector general's office May 20: FDA trusted lobbyists on BPA, e-mails reveal
MILWAUKEE-- "As federal regulators hold fast to their claim that a chemical in baby bottles is safe, e-mails obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show that they relied on chemical industry lobbyists to examine bisphenol A's risks, track legislation to ban it and even monitor media coverage.
In one instance, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's deputy director sought information from the BPA industry's chief lobbyist to discredit a Japanese study that found it caused miscarriages in workers who were exposed to it. This was before government scientists could review the study.... The FDA relied on two studies -- both paid for by chemical-makers -- to form the framework of its draft review declaring BPA safe," Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger, The Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "House Democrats slipped a provision into the state budget last month banning some uses of a new style of competitive bidding over the Internet that has netted big savings in Portage County.
Inserted at the request of the Ohio Contractors Association, the provision added during the early hours of April 28 bans Internet reverse auctions for supplies and services related to construction projects.... The Ohio Contractors Association has given $10,650 in contributions to lawmakers since early 2007," Aaron Marshall, Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 20: Anthony Gutierrez, aide to former Attorney General Marc Dann, pleads not guilty
COLUMBUS -- "Anthony Gutierrez, who was a top aide to former attorney general Marc Dann, pleaded not guilty Monday to a 10-count indictment charging him with theft in office and other crimes.
Gutierrez was released on bond after his arraignment in a Franklin County courtroom.... Gutierrez, of the Youngstown area, was a close friend and Columbus roommate of Dann's while Dann was in office. Gutierrez was at the center of a sexual harassment scandal that eventually forced Dann from office. The investigation into that scandal eventually spilled over into how Dann was spending his campaign cash," Aaron Marshall, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
NEW YORK, NY-- "In early spring, the Brennan Center hosted The Next Democracy—a conference at the White Oak Conservation Center that brought together a distinguished group from law, academia, advocacy, philanthropy, government and media for two days of conversation and reflection. The aim was to spark fresh thinking from across communities and disciplines, with hopes of crafting a new vision of democracy and a strategy for realizing it," Brennan Center for Justice.
Goodwin Liu is an Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the UC Berkeley School of Law. His primary areas of expertise are constitutional law, education law and policy, civil rights, and the Supreme Court.
"The difficulty of participatory democracy is in trying to use all this energy [the use of the internet] in productive ways to solve long-term problems in our society. I think one risk of the technologies that we have is that it tends to accentuate or advantage the reflexive portions of our democracy, rather than the more deliberate portions of our democracy," said Prof. Liu "We don’t have as deliberative a system as we really need for some of the real long-term challenges." May 19: Blog: College asked to pay for records destruction
COLUMBUS -- "A Columbus lawyer wants Hocking College to pay for a trustee’s destruction of public records.
The two-year public school violated Ohio’s public records laws when Trustee Alan Geiger discarded faculty, staff and student evaluations of a presidential candidate, contends lawyer Ryan Stubenrauch.... 'Ohioans have a right to public records and you’re never going to get that if people keep deleting them,' [Stubenrauch] said," Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch. May 18: Interested in local government?
COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio Commission on Local Government Reform and Collaboration is meeting on Friday, May 29 at 10:30am on the 31st floor of the Riffe Building (77 S. High St.) in Columbus. The Commission is charged with developing recommendations for ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local government operations. The Commission is interested in hearing suggestions from the public on ways to save taxpayer money and to facilitate economic development in Ohio. The commission is required to issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor by July 1, 2010," Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action. May 18: Census nominee vows no sampling, no politicization of 2010 count
WASHINGTON DC-- "President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the U.S. Census Bureau pledged Friday that he will keep politics out of the 2010 population count and will not push for sampling – a controversial method he has previously advocated.... After numerous reports that the Obama administration allegedly sought to move oversight of the Census from the Commerce Department into the White House, thus making it prone to potential politicization, Groves asserted to the panel that credibility and accuracy will be the cornerstones of the enumeration.
'If the information is believed to be slanted by partisan influence, the credibility of the statistics is destroyed,' he said. 'Once destroyed, the public trust cannot be easily restored. I am pursuing this post because I believe strongly that the country needs an objective, nonpartisan, professional Census Bureau. If confirmed, I will give my full energy toward that end,'" Fred Lucas, CNS News. May 15: Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office employee roster includes 350 workers related to other employees
CUYAHOGA COUNTY-- "The employee roster at the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office resembles a towering family tree with hundreds of branches.... Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a public watchdog group, said it is time for Cuyahoga County officials to end the rampant practice of hiring friends and relatives.
'We expect this kind of nepotism from the mob,' she said. 'This kind of big family is not what we expect from our government. It's time to break this cycle,'" Mark Puente, Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 15: Dann's former cohort indicted Most charges stem from Gutierrez's personal business
COLUMBUS -- "A year to the day after scandal chased former Attorney General Marc Dann from office, Anthony Gutierrez, one of his personal friends and top administrators, was hit with a 10-count criminal indictment.
Gutierrez, the Youngstown-area neighbor whom Dann hired as his $87,500-a-year general services chief, is accused of using state time and computers to run his private construction business, tapping Dann's campaign account for personal use, and lying on workers' compensation and financial-disclosure forms.
A Franklin County grand jury indicted Gutierrez yesterday on six felonies and four misdemeanors. There are two counts of unauthorized use of property; two counts of soliciting or receiving improper compensation; single counts of theft in office, engaging in prohibited activity and ethics violation for failure to disclose; and three counts of workers' compensation fraud," Allan Johnson, James Nash and Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch. May 14: Bill lets whistle-blowers secretly go to auditor
COLUMBUS -- "Government whistle-blowers would be able to go to the state auditor's office to anonymously report fraud or misuse of public money under a bill passed by the Senate last week.
Senate Bill 7 would require the state auditor to maintain a system that allows people to report fraud through a toll-free hot line, the auditor's Web site or traditional mail. The bill, which the Senate passed unanimously and sent to the House, also would expand the state's Whistleblower Protection Act to cover anyone who reports suspected fraud to the appropriate authorities.
'This legislation will help make our government more transparent and allow Ohioans to take an active role in eliminating corruption by those individuals who have abused the public's trust,' said Sen. Mark Wagoner, R-Toledo, who sponsored the bill," Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch. May 14: Blog: Brinkman sues, wants to lobby
COLUMBUS -- "Former Rep. Tom Brinkman may be out of the legislature, but that doesn’t mean he isn't still a thorn in the side of legislative leaders.
Brinkman, a Cincinnati Republican, has sued legislative leaders and Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe, arguing that he should be allowed to lobby on behalf of a Cincinnati-based group called COAST, the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes.
Brinkman, who was term limited at the end of 2008, wants to lobby the legislature on the state budget bill. However, the state 'revolving door' law prevents him from doing so for one year, which he and COAST argue is a First Amendment violation of free speech and a 14th Amendment violation of equal protection under the law," Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "The nonpartisan advocacy group Ohio Citizen Action has accused Canal Winchester of violating free-speech rights with a law that requires annual licenses and background checks for some canvassers.
In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio Citizen Action says it is being singled out because of its liberal politics. The nonprofit group speaks out on behalf of the environment and against political corruption and collects money to promote its causes," Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch. May 13: Treasure trove of fraud is revealed Documents in box link former ODOT official to schemes
CUYAHOGA COUNTY -- "Documents found in the garage of a former state transportation manager helped expose a wide-ranging corruption scheme that involved kickbacks, phony bids and front companies, a watchdog report revealed yesterday.
Investigators probing alleged fraud at the Ohio Department of Transportation seized a box of documents that shed light on a decade-long system of rigging bids, the state inspector general said.... [Inspector General Thomas P.] Charles' office forwarded those allegations to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office. No one has been charged," James Nash, The Columbus Dispatch.
CLEVELAND -- "Catherine Turcer, director of Ohio Citizen Action's Money and Politics Project, scorned the idea as 'a road map for taking advantage of the state of Ohio'.... Turcer said the amendment could spur abuse and favoritism, by 'smoothing the path' for businesses to cozy up to state agencies that issue licenses and permits. For instance, she said, a manufacturer needing permits to release chemicals into the air and water might curry favor with the Environmental Protection Agency by contributing to its nonprofit arm.
'It would be another way that wealthy interests could affect policymaking,' she said. 'It's time to put the brakes on a really bad idea,'" Margaret Bernstein, Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 13: Blog: Ex-lawmaker wants to remove revolving door
COLUMBUS -- "Former State Rep. Tom Brinkman has gone to federal court in a bid to overturn Ohio's revolving-door law that prevents former legislators from lobbying state government for a year after they depart office.
The conservative Republican from Cincinnati contends the ethics law provision violates his constitutional rights of free political speech, freedom of association, equal protection and ability to petition government over grievances," Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch. May 12: Editorial: Fallout at the elections board Jennifer Brunner copes with local partisans and a misguided court ruling
AKRON -- "No surprise Jennifer Brunner is in a tough spot these days dealing with the Summit County Board of Elections. Her authority to appoint members crimped by an overreaching Ohio Supreme Court decision last year, the secretary of state must now work with a board that cannot come to grips with how to trim a payroll out of line with other counties of comparable size.
The board deadlocked last week. Republicans Brian Daley (on the board thanks to the high court) and Jack Morrison support a plan to cut 18 jobs. That's a good start, but Morrison and Daley have taken a highly political tack, targeting employees who sided with Don Varian, a moderate Republican put on the board by Brunner instead of Daley, at least until the court intervened," Akron Beacon Journal. May 11: State nonprofit plan likely a nonstarter
COLUMBUS -- "Concerns over possible conflicts of interest appear to have doomed a plan that would have allowed state agencies to seek corporate donations to pay for certain government operations.... Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a nonprofit government watchdog, said the intentions behind the proposals may have been good, but the potential for 'shenanigans' is too great.... 'Why would you want to create a system for making really bad choices?' she asked," Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch. Published May 9. May 9: Voting standards are the key to avoiding long lines on Election Day
CAMBRIDGE, MA-- "Voter queues in U.S. presidential elections drew national attention when the 2000 and 2004 nail-biter elections warned American society that voter queues might have affected the outcomes of both elections. Yet, long lines reported in the 2008 election don't seem to have stirred much interest, though, according to the Cooperative Congressional Election Survey conducted in October-November of 2008, they contributed to discouraging from voting up to 2 percent of all eligible voters.
Does society really care about the integrity of the voting process, or is this issue no more than a seasonal topic entertained by a part of the media unhappy with the election result? If society does care, what can be done to keep long voter queues from affecting the election outcome,?" Alexander S. Belenky and Richard C. Larson, Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 8: Critics raise concerns with non-profit funding plan
COLUMBUS -- "A new approach to funding state government through the formation of non-profit organizations has been endorsed by Gov. Ted Strickland, but critics said Thursday the plan could put public interest up for auction.... The amendment would make it legal for state agencies, like the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, to form non-profit corporations to fund operations.... 'You can imagine the problems,' said Catherine Turcer, director of Money in Politics. 'This is really a time when we don't want to be giving away state resources to contributors,'" Paul Aker, WBNS 10TV News. May 8: Editorial: Get serious Election laws should either be enforced or changed to be enforceable
COLUMBUS -- "A $31.7 million pileup of ancient, unpaid fines for election-law violations doesn't inspire much respect for those laws.
The Ohio Elections Commission, charged with interpreting the laws, and the attorney general's office, which is supposed to enforce penalties, should work together to see that they aren't ignored.... If the Elections Commission and the attorney general's office don't have the resources to spend time tracking election-law violations, then lawmakers and executives should review the state's priorities," The Columbus Dispatch. May 7: The death and life of Great American Newspapers
WASHINGTON DC -- "Communities across America are suffering through a crisis that could leave a dramatically diminished version of democracy in its wake. It is not the economic meltdown, although the crisis is related to the broader day of reckoning that appears to have arrived. The crisis of which we speak involves more than mere economics. Journalism is collapsing, and with it comes the most serious threat in our lifetimes to self-government and the rule of law as it has been understood here in the United States.... Mired in debt and facing massive losses, the managers of corporate newspaper firms seek to right the sinking ship by cutting costs, leading remaining newspaper readers to ask why they are bothering to pay for publications that are pale shadows of themselves. It is the daily newspaper death dance-cum- funeral march," John Nichols & Robert W. McChesney, The Nation. Posted Mar 18. May 6: Letter to the Editor: State on short end of election-law mess
COLUMBUS -- "It's a shame that some of our state legislators have chosen to ignore the election law about campaign financing that they, in fact, drew up.
The Friday Dispatch article 'Election-law violators owe $31.7 million' said that there is $31.7 million owed to the taxpayers of Ohio because of noncompliance with the law and that the likelihood of collecting even a fraction of what is owed is doubtful.
That the state is settling for pennies on the dollar with these people is a travesty. Couple that with the report that the Ohio Elections Commission can't seem to keep up with its responsibility to report election-law violations in a timely manner, and the public is getting shortchanged two ways," The Columbus Dispatch. May 6: Fudge, Jackson, Kucinich weigh in on Cuyahoga County government reform
CLEVELAND -- "Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, and a couple of big-name supporters, this morning called for a purposeful approach to reforming Cuyahoga County government -- one that eliminates back-door deals and concentrates on health care, education and jobs.
Fudge's proposal was short on specifics, but it was clear participants were not interested in a reform push if the result was not going to make things better for residents, not just county officials.... 'To just have structural change and believe these things [improvements] will happen is foolish, and I believe naive,' [Cleveland Mayor Frank] Jackson said," Patrick O'Donnell, Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 5: Editorial: Make it better Ohio lawmakers should act on recommendations to improve voting system
COLUMBUS -- "Add Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's recommended election reforms to a report issued in March by the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice, and the General Assembly has a good roadmap for improving voting.
Legislators should make it a priority to have new laws and rules in place in time for the 2010 elections for governor and other statewide offices.
Brunner and the Brennan Center, which she invited to conduct election summits in Ohio following last November's presidential contest," The Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Given the number of human beings involved and the issues at stake, it's probably impossible to run an election that is either perfect or completely free of controversy. But Brunner -- who early on earned a reputation for unilateralism -- has proposed a set of reforms that would make Ohio's voting system less confusing, more transparent and maybe even cheaper.
She did so after convening two lengthy meetings in Columbus of Ohio election officials, national voting experts, legislators, party leaders, nonpartisan watchdog groups and law professors to discuss what Ohio had done right and wrong in 2008 and what it needed to improve in the future.
To that end, Brunner has proposed a shorter early-voting period, with no chance for anyone to register and cast a ballot the same day. She wants to limit the number of reasons why someone would need to cast a provisional ballot and to streamline voter identification requirements, both of which should aid harried poll workers," Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 4: Almost half of Cuyahoga County deputies didn't take civil service exam
Gerald McFaul approved all the hires. (Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND -- "Cuyahoga County sheriff's deputies have the power to carry a gun and arrest people, but nearly half of them never took a required civil service test to qualify for the jobs, and the positions were never posted for the public to apply.
The Sheriff's Office hasn't given a hiring test in a decade, but that hasn't stopped the office from hiring 62 deputies.
Fifty-five of the 62 people hired since the last civil service test was given listed police officers, other deputies or politicians as references on their applications. Eleven of them are relatives of sheriff's office employees... Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a public watchdog group, said elected officials shouldn't skirt state law to hire friends and relatives.
'It's like one big family there,' Turcer said. 'We should expect more from law enforcement. It's nepotism at its best,'" Mark Puente, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Published May 3. May 4: Fewer early voters for off-year primary
COLUMBUS -- "Lines of Franklin County voters snaked through the grand foyer of Memorial Hall, spilling out doors and down the sidewalk to Gay Street during early voting for last year's primary election.
Those voters said democracy was worth the wait.
A week before polls are to open Tuesday for the 2009 May primary, voters again were making their way to the Franklin County Board of Elections," Barbara Carmen, The Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Once again The Dispatch has reported that state Sen. Ray Miller, D-Columbus, has been fined by the Ohio Elections Commission, a bipartisan, seven-person panel, for failing to accurately account for his campaign's spending (article, April 24).
By a vote of 4-1, Miller was fined $1,000 despite the fact that two Democratic members recused themselves because of their connections to Miller.
What is the point of having a bipartisan committee if members recuse themselves on important matters involving their own party? Don't they know the difference between right and wrong? Miller was initially fined $1,500 in February 2008 by the commission. Why does a second offense within a two-year period rate a $500 reduction in fines,?" The Columbus Dispatch. May 4: Blog: Brunner backs expanded use of voting-equipment fund
COLUMBUS -- "When Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner initially proposed a new revolving-loan fund to help counties pay for new voting equipment, she wanted to restrict the funds solely for the optical-scan systems with paper ballots that she prefers over touch-screen voting machines.
But after the Ohio Association of Election Officials complained that counties should be able to buy the system best suited to their counties, Brunner relented and recommended that the funds could be used for any type of approved voting system," Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch. May 1: Election-law violators owe $31.7 million Fines, fees mount, but state may end up getting little back
COLUMBUS -- "As a four-time candidate for local office in the Cleveland suburb of Willowick, John Foxx never paid much heed to the requirement that he file campaign-finance statements each year.
The lawyer and accountant ignored the rule for four straight years in the 1990s, an oversight for which he now owes the state a whopping $345,757.46, according to the attorney general's office.
Foxx's case isn't unusual. Hundreds of former candidates and campaign committees collectively owe the state $31.7 million in fines, interest and penalties, Attorney General Richard Cordray's office told the Ohio Elections Commission yesterday," James Nash, The Columbus Dispatch.
Money in Politics: But what have the penalties been for prominent incumbents? "For the second time in 14 months, state Sen. Ray Miller has been fined by the Ohio Elections Commission for failing to accurately account for his campaign's spending.
Miller, a Columbus Democrat and 24-year legislative veteran, was fined $1,000 yesterday by the bipartisan seven-person panel. However, two of the three alleged elections-law violations filed by the secretary of state were dismissed.... Board Chairman Chuck Calvert, a former GOP legislator from Medina, voted against the fine, saying it was not strong enough." The Columbus Dispatch.
"Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann was found guilty Thursday [March 19] of violating election laws for misspending his political campaign funds on personal items. The commission could have referred Dann to the county prosecutor for criminal charges but instead fined him $1,000 for the security system spending and ordered up a public reprimand on the cellular phone issue." Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 1: Utilities, nursing homes support Ohio lt. gov.
COLUMBUS -- "Nursing homes and utility companies, two powerful interest groups that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has taken on publicly, are both contributing to the U.S. Senate campaign of his right-hand man, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.... Catherine Turcer, who monitors campaign finance issues for the watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, said it is difficult to know exactly how money influences the budget process — but it does.... 'There are so many different ways to clean up money so that the actual decision makers do not appear to be influenced by that money,' Turcer said. 'Whether the money goes to the political party or the people that surround the decision maker, we can't necessarily figure out what it means — other than we know that these monied interests want something very specific from state government,'" Associated Press.
CLEVELAND -- "Certain county officials used taxpayer-funded payrolls to give jobs and raises to each others' friends and relatives and pay back personal and political favors, according to federal documents filed last week.
Charges against three employees of the Cuyahoga County engineer's office show what can happen when a culture of patronage goes unchecked...
'It's like a round robin of gifts and perks and all at the expense of taxpayers,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action. Turcer said she's never seen anything in Ohio as vast as the quid pro quo that permeates Cuyahoga County's government.
'It is this kind of thing where you're trying to put the puzzle pieces together and it's scary how neatly they fit together,' she said," Rachel Dissell, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Of the 40,000 provisional ballots cast last November, more than 14,000 were cast in the wrong precinct or county. “
