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Ohio News |
Article published Tuesday, June 4, 2002
Ohio official moves to silence fund-raising
critics
By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE
COLUMBUS BUREAU
COLUMBUS - Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters said
yesterday he sees nothing wrong in encouraging political backers to
donate to the Hamilton County Republican Party in hopes the money
would benefit his campaign.
Formerly county party chairman,
Mr. Deters has been its biggest beneficiary, receiving more than
$300,000 last year in party contributions, far more than has gone to
other hometown boys such as Gov. Bob Taft and Secretary of State J.
Kenneth Blackwell.
Mr. Deters insists there was no agreement
with county Chairman Mike Barrett that the contributions would be
earmarked for his campaign.
"The Hamilton County chairman is
one of my closest political allies," said Mr. Deters. "We don’t have
any deals, so to speak. I’ve never had a conversation with Mike
Barrett in which he said he would give it back to me."
Dogged
with questions about his campaign’s fund-raising practices, Mr.
Deters has instructed professional fund-raiser Eric Sagun, who
doubles as the party’s fund-raiser, to stop soliciting on behalf of
the party from bankers, brokers, and others who do business with the
treasurer’s office.
But Mr. Sagun may continue to solicit
from such people directly for Mr. Deters own campaign where the
contributions would be publicly disclosed.
"At worst-case
scenario, it’s an appearance [of impropriety] problem," said Mr.
Deters. He also announced he would list all his campaign
contributions and donors on his campaign Web site within two
business days of their receipt.
Giving to a party in hopes a
contribution will aid a candidate is legal, according to Carlo
LoParo, spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State’s
Office.
Under campaign-finance law, any contribution made to
a party that is formally earmarked for a specific candidate must be
counted toward the total limit an individual donor can make to one
candidate, $2,500 in the case of a candidate for statewide
office.
If no earmarking agreement is made, a contributor can
give up to $5,000 to a county party and $16,500 to a state party.
Mr. LoParo said it is up to the party how it wants to use that
money.
"All this wink-wink, nudge-nudge worries me," said
Catherine Turcer of the Ohio Citizen Action watchdog group. "It may
not be illegal, but it seems to me that if you encourage
contributions to a party knowing the policy of that county party is
to give the money back to you, what difference does it make whether
you earmark it or not?"
Mr. Deters’ Democratic opponent is
former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Mary Boyle, who, a recent
University of Cincinnati Ohio Poll indicated, has an early lead over
the incumbent. Mr. Deters said his internal polling shows a dead
heat.
Mr. Deters defended the practice of taking money from
those in the financial community doing or seeking to do business
with the treasurer’s office, noting his opponent is doing the same.
He denied steering business to campaign contributors.
"The
challenge for anybody who runs for public office, particularly
high-profile ones, is to make sure you have internal processes in
place to ensure that the best possible return is given to the
taxpayer, and that decisions are not based on political
contributions," he said.
Mr. Sagun had also solicited a
contribution for the Hamilton GOP’s operating fund from Frank
Gruttadauria, the former Lehman Brothers broker in Cleveland who has
since admitted diverting millions from clients’
accounts.
Party operating funds are not subject to campaign
finance disclosure law, prompting Democrats to suggest the
undisclosed contribution illegally made it to Mr. Deters’ campaign
coffers.
Mr. Deters said the fund-raiser recently informed
him of the details surrounding that solicitation.
"They
literally were not going to make rent and payroll," said Mr. Deters.
"Eric had a list of people to call and one of them was Gruttadauria.
He sent in 50-grand.
"Frank Gruttadauria, in the Italian
American community in Cleveland, was very respected," he said. "A
lot of people whom I respect a great deal got
taken."
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