Taft faces questions on ethics

BY DENNIS J. WILLARD
Beacon Journal Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS: The Ohio Ethics Commission appears poised to take a fresh look at an old practice -- the free tickets given to governors for prime seats at Ohio State football games.

Around the Statehouse, it is jokingly being referred to as Tailgate.

But it is no laughing matter to Gov. Bob Taft, whose administration was clean and dull for the first 16 months.

In the past two weeks, however, Taft has been forced to defend his use of the governor's mansion and the free tickets to reel in large contributions that were deposited in a secret fund maintained by the Ohio Republican Party.

Taft's latest problem involves a practice acknowledged with a wink and a smile for years: Ohio State gives free tickets to governors, who invite guests who ride a private elevator to the top of Ohio Stadium, where they take their seats near the 50-yard line in a cozy, all-weather box.

The ethics commission's problem is that at times Taft's guests may have been part of Team Ohio -- a secretive core of conservative contributors who give up to $50,000 in unreportable and untraceable funds to the state Republican Party.

Taft's name is on a Sept. 10 recruiting letter aimed at signing up deep-pocketed Republicans to Team Ohio. A basic membership was $25,000, but $50,000 could buy a seat in the governor's box at Ohio Stadium.

Scott Milburn, Taft's spokesman, tried to downplay the relationship between Team Ohio and Taft, but he refused to disclose whether anyone in the exclusive club was with Taft at football games.

Milburn said the governor and preceding governors have reported the OSU tickets on their financial disclosure form.

Milburn said David Freel, the ethics commission executive director, did not raise the Ohio State tickets issue when he addressed Taft and his Cabinet at its inaugural meeting in 1999.

``This is a tradition that has been in existence for 30 years,'' Milburn said.

Freel gave the governor credit for reporting the tickets, and said he could not comment on an issue that may come before the commission.

He acknowledged appearing before the governor and his Cabinet, and said the commission's position always has been that public officials should pay their own way.

The commission generally examines whether individuals knew they were violating an ethics law before issuing a finding, and it appears the governor believed he was doing everything required, Freel said.

But Democrats are pointing to a 1995 advisory opinion issued by the ethics commission that said public officials could not receive freebies from private companies.

David Leland, Ohio Democratic Party chairman, said Taft has broken two laws and gone against the 1995 advisory because the governor took gifts from a group subject to his ``decision-making authority.''

Ohio State's budget is approved by the governor and he appoints trustees to the university's board, Leland said.

He further charged the law states Taft should not be compensated beyond his salary and legitimate expenses.

Guests are a mystery

``No other governor ever scalped their OSU football tickets for $50,000 a pop,'' Leland said.

Leland said no one knows who was with the governor because state laws does not require the Republican Party to disclose its list of Team Ohio contributors.

Milburn, Ohio State officials and the State Highway Patrol that guards the governor maintain none of the organizations compiled lists of guests in the governor's box.

Changes possible

Gary Abernathy, a state Republican Party spokesman, said the GOP is not against full disclosure or a change in the law, but he would not reveal the names or contributions of Team Ohio members.

``We're not going to retroactively and go back and do something that was perfectly legal at the time,'' Abernathy said.

Merom Brachman, ethics commission chairman, is quick to point out Taft fully reported receiving the tickets, but he stops short of dismissing the issue by indicating there may be other ``political'' issues that come before the panel.

He said the 1995 advisory opinion focused on the relationship between private companies and public officials, and does not necessarily extend to gifts between public institutions and officeholders.

Brachman has been a longtime supporter and contributor to Republican politics although he was first appointed to the ethics commission in 1974 by a Democratic governor, John Gilligan -- who incidentally does not take advantage of freebies offered to former governors and their guests in Ohio Stadium.

Although Brachman contributed $1,000 to Taft's 1998 campaign for governor, he said he does not see any conflict of interest in his reviewing this issue.

At least one member of the commission, Herb Asher, will recuse himself.

Asher is the interim director of the John Glenn Institute at Ohio State and has been a lobbyist, professor and adviser to OSU presidents. He defended the university's all-expense paid trips to bowl games in the early '90s -- a practice that was discontinued after news reports.

Ray Cadwallader, Common Cause of Ohio executive director, said Ohio State should discontinue offering the free tickets to governors.

``I've known Bob Taft for 40 years and I know him to be an honorable man so I don't question his integrity, but I do question the whole system,'' Cadwallader said.

William Napier, OSU special assistant to the president for government relations, said the university still is planning to make the seats available but would stop if given an ethics commission opinion to the contrary.

``We want governors and former governors at our ballgames and we're delighted that they're Buckeye fans,'' he said.

Dennis J. Willard can be reached at 614-224-1613 or dwillard@qn.net