Dec 30: College trustees shell out millions in contributions
Cash goes to Taft, Voinovich, gubernatorial hopefuls

COLUMBUS -- "In the past year, lawmakers quadrupled contribution limits to $10,000 per election cycle, $20,000 per election year. Catherine Turcer, the legislative director of the watchdog group, Ohio Citizen Action, said appointments are considered a 'wonderful perk'for contributors. 'The people who give in this kind of significant way ... can be rewarded in a variety of ways,' Ms. Turcer said. 'And this is one of them.' The appointment process has allowed for the selection of high-dollar contributors, like Tom Noe. Despite being a college dropout, Mr. Noe was appointed to the Ohio Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s colleges and universities," Steve Eder, Toledo Blade.

Dec 28: Kick ’em when they’re down
Marc Dann launches his Attorney General campaign with attacks on hapless state Republicans

COLUMBUS -- "That such a pattern might exist is what Catherine Turcer, an open-government advocate with Ohio Citizen Action, is worried about. 'I’ve been very disappointed in what appears to be a very lackadaisical attitude towards his business,' Turcer says. 'It goes towards responsibility, which is a cornerstone for a politician.' Still, she admits, these could also be isolated incidents. 'Wouldn’t it be nice,' she asks, 'if everyone who was a reformer was also a boy scout?,'" Charu Gupta, Free Times.

Oct 3:  Too many masters
When judges owe their jobs to voters and contributors, how sure can Ohioans be that justice is their first concern?

COLUMBUS -- "Anyone with doubts about the benefits that merit selection of judges would bring to Ohio should consider a recent story about $125,000 in campaign contributions made through FirstEnergy Corp. The contributions went to five of the seven justices on the Ohio Supreme Court in the last nine years. The revelations came just before the court heard a controversial FirstEnergy rate case last week. Ohio Citizen Action argues that all five justices are so tainted by the utility's donations. that they should recuse themselves - as five of them did during a recent case related to the Bureau of Workers' Compensation scandal," editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Oct 2:  The math is simple. Just divide $125,000 by five.

COLUMBUS -- "What’s not so simple is why there’s even a question that five Ohio Supreme Court justices should remove themselves from a case involving FirstEnergy Corp., which feathered the campaign nests of the five to the tune of $125,000 during the past nine years. Though they received different amounts, an average of $25,000 would be enough to raise fears in any of us were we facing a legal adversary who had this kind of dough to bestow on the folks who make the decisions," editorial, Rick Senften, Canton Repository.

Sep 28:  Group wants justices out of utility case


Cartoon by Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Citizen Action is calling on five Republican Supreme Court justices to remove themselves from a FirstEnergy Corp. rate case that's before the court today. The watchdog group, which is not a party to the case, said Monday the five received $125,000 in campaign contributions from people connected to FirstEnergy in the last nine years. Nearly half the money, $61,000, went to Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justices Terrence O'Donnell and Judith Lanzinger from an August 2004 fundraiser arranged by FirstEnergy Chief Executive Anthony Alexander. The other justices are Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Maureen O'Connor. Only Stratton responded on Monday, saying she would not step aside. Court spokesman Chris Davey said Moyer will also participate in the case and that the other justices are likely to as well. 'Campaign contributions alone are not a basis' for removal, Davey said. 'There are a number of different parties to this litigation, and none of the parties have requested' removal," Associated Press.

Sep 28:  Democrats seek to limit contractors' campaign donations
Bill expected to cap contributions to candidates at $250 each

TOLEDO -- "Democratic state legislators will propose today knotting the loopholes in the 20-year-old law designed to restrict campaign donations from Ohio's contractors... Modeled on a set of policies in New Jersey, the bill is expected to say that executives at companies receiving state money could give no more than $250 each to statewide candidates and political parties two years before receiving a contract and during the length of the contract, said state Sen. Marc Dann (D., Warren), one of the bill's sponsors... Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog, said she supported reform but cautioned that legislation alone would not cause issues such as the give-to-get method of campaign finance to disappear. 'We need to own up that there's no magic cure-all except vigilant citizens and putting in buffers between the government and those who are trying to get something from the government,' Ms. Turcer said,'" Joshua Boak, Toledo Blade.

Sep 27:  Justices got $125,000 via FirstEnergy

COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a FirstEnergy Corp. rate case that could cost consumers nearly $3 billion. Less visible than the rates in question is $125,000 in campaign contributions that people connected to FirstEnergy gave five of the seven justices in the last nine years. Nearly half that money - $61,000 - went to Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justices Terrence O'Donnell and Judith Lanzinger after FirstEnergy Chief Executive Anthony Alexander threw a judicial fund-raiser in August 2004. Ohio Citizen Action, citing other cases in which justices stepped away after receiving campaign money, asked the three, along with Justices Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Maureen O'Connor, all Republicans, to remove themselves from the FirstEnergy case. 'The justices at the very least need to recognize the appearances of this,' said Sandy Buchanan, executive director of Citizen Action, which is not a party to the case. 'It is an extremely tight relationship with incoming contributions and a case before the court,'" T. C. Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Sep 25:  FirstEnergy vs. Coingate: A difference?

COLUMBUS -- "In announcing his decision to recuse himself from the Tom Noe 'Coingate' case in May, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer said, 'It is not necessary for a judge to recuse himself just because an attorney or party has contributed to his campaign. However, this is a high-profile case with political implications and with potential personal consequences for the campaign contributor in question.' Let's apply the chief justice's own standard to the FirstEnergy case pending at the Supreme Court. Is the case high-profile? No doubt about it. FirstEnergy's actions have been the focus of national attention twice in the last three years, with the near nuclear disaster at Davis-Besse and with the largest blackout in U.S. history. At stake in the case pending at the Ohio Supreme Court is at least $1 billion in rate hikes for residential customers in northern Ohio, including $20 a month for three years for every residential customer of Toledo Edison," Sandy Buchanan, letter to the Editor, Toledo Blade.
MORE ON SUPREME COURT RECUSAL

Sep 25:  Pay-to-play law never enforced, critics say
Loopholes let donors avoid serious scrutiny

COLUMBUS -- "What a difference a few months make. On April 7, 1998, Tom Noe gave Bob Taft a check for $2,000 for his gubernatorial campaign. The check raised no eyebrows. But if it had been written four months earlier, that contribution may have derailed any chance that Mr. Noe would have landed the first $25 million from the state workers' compensation fund. Why? It would have been a violation of the state's never-enforced pay-to-play law designed to restrict the influence of big campaign donors on unbid state contracts... Critics say there's a reason: There are so many holes in the law, it would be hard to violate it. Ohio's pay-to-play law is 'crafted in such a way that it creates more loopholes than it creates limitations,' said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a statewide advocacy group that is pushing for campaign-finance reform," James Drew and Mike Wilkinson, Toledo Blade.

COLUMBUS -- Recent scandals put movement in spotlight , Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.

Sep 22:  Those 'inadvertent' omissions

TOLEDO -- "When Gov. Bob Taft went to court last month to accept his punishment for failure to report gifts received in office, Ohioans were rightly dismayed that Mr. Taft had become the first governor in the state's history to be convicted of a crime... But the transgressions, it appears, were still piling up... But even if they barely meet the $75 threshold for disclosure, the truly astounding aspect of the new revelations is the governor's retreat behind the plea bargain he accepted in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in August. Terms of the agreement, reached with city and county prosecutors, included what one Ohio Citizen Action official described as a 'get out of jail free' card. In other words, Mr. Taft could not be charged with any additional counts, going all the way back to when he first became governor in 1999. That should enrage every citizen of the state," editorial, Toledo Blade.

Sep 21:  The Noe precedent

TOLEDO -- "The question is not new but it remains compelling: Can a court be expected to render a fair decision when the judges have received political contributions from a party to the case? The latest call for 'recusal' - the legal term for self-disqualification - comes from Ohio Citizen Action, the government watchdog group, which claims a conflict of interest because five justices on the high court have received nearly $125,000 in contributions over the past decade from FirstEnergy, the electric utility that serves Toledo and much of northern Ohio. The court members in question are Chief Justice Tom Moyer and justices Evelyn Stratton, Maureen O'Connor, Terrence O'Donnell, and Judith Lanzinger, all Republicans. The court is due to hear oral arguments next week in an appeal filed by the state Office of Consumers' Counsel of a 2004 FirstEnergy case," editorial, Toledo Blade.

Sep 20:  Taft under fire again for failing to list gifts; 2 more cases investigated

COLUMBUS -- "'Frustrating' is how Mr. Freel described the commission’s re-action when learning that even after his conviction, Mr. Taft had not submitted an accurate addendum to his ethics statements. But the issue is moot because Mr. Freel said the plea agreement that prosecutors signed last month with Mr. Taft says the governor cannot be charged with more counts dating back to when he took office in 1999. Catherine Turcer, legislative director of Ohio Citizen Action, said Mr. Taft had included a 'get out of jail free' card into the plea agreement he signed with Franklin County and Columbus prosecutors. 'Taft had to know more stuff would come out, because he asked for it to be part of his plea agreement. It’s a slap in the face of the voters,' said Ms. Turcer, whose group has joined with the Republican-leaning Ohio Roundtable in calling for Mr. Taft’s resignation, Steve Eder and James Drew, Toledo Blade.

COLUMBUS -- Taft plea deal precludes gift-report prosecution, T.C. Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Sep 19:  Big spenders funnel cash to Coleman; ODOT contractors pad candidate's war chest

COLUMBUS -- "Catherine Turcer, the legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, said Ohio needs to explore limiting — or even eliminating — contributions from people who do business for the state. For now, some candidates are stuck with a system where they must raise money to be competitive in closely contested races, and that means taking contributions from people who have or want contracts, she said. But, Ms. Turcer said, 'It is always worth a look at large contributors, and try to figure out what the heck it is that they want and who is actually supporting candidates. We need to look very closely at anybody who is raising money for the gubernatorial race.' Mr. Mauk, the Ohio GOP spokesman, said there is nothing wrong with firms receiving state contracts and also contributing to state officeholders. 'Companies that do business with the state make contributions to take part in the political process. That is not corruption,’ he said," Steve Eder and James Drew, Toledo Blade.

Sep 16:  Skip FirstEnergy case, 5 Ohio justices urged
Watchdog cites $125,000 in campaign gifts

COLUMBUS -- "Five of seven sitting Ohio Supreme Court justices have received nearly $125,000 in campaign cash connected to FirstEnergy Corp. over the last decade, prompting a call for them to remove themselves from an upcoming case worth billions to the company. Recent recusals in two high-profile, politically charged cases have raised questions as to where the bar has been set for when the government's umpire should take itself out of the game to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest... 'Giving money to the referee in the middle of the game is not workable,' said Catherine Turcer of the government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.

• Letter to Supreme Court Justices, Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action, (30kb doc)

Sep 14:  More polls, publications call on Taft to resign
Governor maintains pledge to finish term

COLUMBUS -- "Nearly a month has passed since Gov. Bob Taft took his punishment for breaking Ohio ethics laws, but the calls for him to leave office still linger... On Monday, one of the nation's leading conservative magazines, National Review, called for Mr. Taft to resign in light of the scandal that has engulfed his administration. 'Taft said he accepts 'total responsibility' for his mistake,' National Review wrote. 'If so, he should resign, at least creating a possibility that a conservative Republican can run for statewide office without Taft's legacy hanging from his neck.' A number of statewide and regional polls show that about half of Ohioans believe Mr. Taft must step down," Steve Eder and James Drew, Toledo Blade.

Sep 11:  Election changes on ballot
Absentee voting, limit on campaign monies among 4 amendments


Cartoon by Jim Borgman, Cincinnati Enquirer

COLUMBUS -- "Call it serendipitous, the planets aligning or just dumb luck, but the coalition that wants permanent change in the way Ohioans vote, run campaigns, and draw legislative and congressional districts believes it could not have picked a more fortuitous time to be on the ballot... Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action's legislative director, calls the timing a 'wonderful synchronicity. People are angry, angry, angry about Coingate,' she said. 'They are mad that Taft is not talking openly about his golf outings.' Turcer said groups knew something was wrong with elections and campaign finance, and the problems that were percolating have surfaced at the right time to push for change. 'We got ripped off. We got lied to by a governor who got slapped on the wrist. What can you do? Well, we can ask for more accountability in government. We can ask for a better government,' Turcer said," Dennis Willard, Akron Beacon Journal.

Aug 7:  Scandals rekindle debate for private workers' comp
Ohio is 1 of just 5 states to run its own system

COLUMBUS -- "In light of what's transpired at the bureau, it's 'time to think outside the box about reforms,' said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action. Ultimately, Ms. Turcer said, the key to effective policy will be to make public officials more accountable and transparent when it comes to running the agency. '[Privatization] might be a reform that's worth considering, but it doesn't get to the real root of a lot of the problems here - which is corruption and influence peddling,' she said. 'What we don't want to do is say we need to radically change things and jump on the first thing that comes to mind, which is let's just throw the baby out with the bath water and go to privatization,'" Steve Eder and Jim Drew, Toledo Blade.

Aug 6:  Ohio First group formed outside state
Nonprofit opposes voting-reform proposals

COLUMBUS -- "Ohio First? Well, maybe second. Ohio First, Inc., the nonprofit organization quietly created last month to fight proposed constitutional reforms of Ohio's election system, was incorporated in the state of Delaware...The organization, whose public face so far has been lobbyist and former Senate President Richard Finan, made its public debut Thursday when it sued in Ohio Supreme Court to invalidate petitions being circulated by a coalition of mostly liberal to moderate-leaning groups calling itself Reform Ohio Now...'It doesn't pass the giggle test,' said Catherine Turcer of government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action. 'People have complained about money coming from outside Ohio [for the coalition], and it's interesting to think about people living in glass houses,' she said," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.

Aug 5:  Taft’s outings included rounds with coin dealer

COLUMBUS -- "On at least four occasions since 1999, Gov. Bob Taft accepted free golf outings but didn’t disclose them on his annual financial statements as required by Ohio ethics laws. Catherine Turcer, of Ohio Citizen Action, said the public should be frustrated by Taft’s slow release of information during the past two months. 'I can’t figure out why he just doesn’t rip the Band-Aid off,' she said. Turcer said the issue might focus on golf, but it’s really about 'open communication with the people of Ohio about who is influencing the governor and what their policy influences are,'" Alan Johnson, Randy Ludlow and Mark Niquette, The New Philadelphia Times-Reporter .

Aug 2:  Tax reformists get cash infusion
Anonymous funds back Blackwell group

COLUMBUS -- "A newly created nonprofit group has anonymously funneled nearly a quarter million dollars into an initiative seeking a constitutional amendment to restrict state spending. Citizens for Tax Reform, the ballot initiative fronted by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, has received five contributions totaling $225,000 from Ohioans for Responsible Government, incorporated in March by a pair of lobbyists and an attorney in Columbus...But Responsible Government, which has received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service, does not have to report the sources of its revenue, at least not until well after the election. Catherine Turcer, of government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action, said it's disingenuous to suggest Tax Reform has voluntarily disclosed when the origins of 75 percent of its money remain unknown. 'They have voluntarily given us enough information to know that we have no information,' she said. 'That makes us more suspicious,'" Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.

Aug 1:  Noe used influence to select trustee
E-mails show how Hicks made change

COLUMBUS -- "When it came to appointing a new trustee to the board of the Medical University of Ohio in 2003, the governor's office ignored doctor's orders and followed the advice of coin dealer and political confidante Tom Noe...Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, questioned Mr. Noe's backroom approach for a relatively minor appointment... 'If he was doing this for something without a paycheck attached to it, what would he do for something with a profit margin?' she said. 'It takes nepotism to a really different level,'" Joshua Boak, Toledo Blade.

COLUMBUS -- Lobbyist Paul Tipps retires, vows to reform political system, William Hershey, Dayton Daily News.

Jul 31:  Scandal escalates, yet Taft stays mum
Governor still vows account on free golf

COLUMBUS -- "Ohio's most important political leader has become its most muted on the ethical problems tarnishing his administration and his legacy...Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, wants greater reporting and harsher punishments. Ms. Turcer suggested that politicians and bureaucrats file their ethics reports quarterly, instead of annually. That way, the reports could be compared with similar reports made by lobbyists each quarter. 'If you think about the pay-to-play system and the culture in Columbus, everything is sort of rumoresque,' she said. 'It's like a soap opera, isn't it? We don't know exactly what is going to happen, but we do know that the penalties aren't stiff enough. One of the things we need is good clear rules,' she said. 'The second part we need is enforcement. But in order to get enforcement, you need to audit things,'" Steve Eder and Christopher D. Kirkpatrick, Toledo Blade .