Money & Politics News
Jul - Sep, 2004
Unwritten policy merely attempt to avoid conflict of interest, Testa says
COLUMBUS -- "Franklin County treats elected officials differently when considering requests to increase taxes on commercial properties, costing schools and others operating dollars. When commercial properties sell for more than their appraised value, school districts frequently ask the county Board of Revision to increase the appraisal to the sale price and charge the new owner additional property taxes. . . But if the property buyer is an elected official, Auditor Joe Testa said, it's his policy not to change the appraisal, to avoid a conflict of interest. He views that as not taking a position and said, 'It's no different than judges recusing themselves.' . . . Catherine Turcer, legislative director of Ohio Citizen Action, a government-watchdog group, disagrees that the policy is needed to avoid a conflict of interest. 'There's no written policy, just a secret, quiet, unwritten policy? And one that favors the elected officials? OK,' Turcer said. 'Sometimes inaction is action,'" Barbara Carmen, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
GOP activist's slur against governor is wrong and uncalled for
COLUMBUS -- "The Dispatch couldn’t begin to catalog and correct all the incivility perpetrated in this election season. But the recent attack on Gov. Bob Taft by a Republican bombthrower named Grover Norquist was particularly vicious and undeserved. . . . Taft is neither stupid nor corrupt. Even Taft’s critics know that he is as intelligent, decent and hardworking a governor as the state has had," editorial, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
COLUMBUS -- Candidate says court failed Ohio schools; General Assembly is in contempt for not fixing funding, O’Neill says.
"[Supreme Court candidate Judge William] O'Neill’s comments come after a federal judge [Ann Aldrich] last week granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel from enforcing parts of the Code of Judicial Conduct. . .[prohibiting] judicial candidates from 'pledges or promises of conduct in office other than the faithful and impartial performance of the duties of the office,' as well as statements that appear to commit to a decision on a case 'likely' to come before the court. . .Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, said Aldrich's ruling allows voters to learn more about the candidates. 'It means we’re able to get to know them from the candidates instead of the interest groups,' Turcer said," Catherine Candisky, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
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| Grover Norquist |
COLUMBUS -- Inside view of political influence; Legislator tells tale of impropriety, Ted Wendling, Sandy Theis, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Rules on gifts for judges get overhaul. "Watchdog groups complained when a utility company flew Rehnquist on its corporate jet to Ohio in May to speak at the dedication of the state Supreme Court's new building. Ohio Citizen Action questioned the trip because of a pending lawsuit by the government claiming the utility, American Electric Power, violated the clean air laws. The case could eventually reach the Supreme Court," Gina Holland, Associated Press.
Latest political maneuvers show continued need for campaign-finance reform
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Republicans' game of musical chairs won't eliminate the stench of campaign finance disgraces. State Treasurer Joseph T. Deters, tainted by scandal, is fleeing Capitol Square for his home turf of Hamilton County, where he's running for county prosecutor to replace Mike Allen. . . .Switching seats and changing political directions won't remove the stains. But enacting reforms on campaign financing might begin the process of restoring integrity to Ohio’s GOP. . . .The state's leaders have kicked around campaign reform for four years, but despite promises of action, nothing has been enacted. The embarrassment of scandals might result in action this time. The disgraces can't be swept under the rug, particularly during a presidential election year when the battle for Ohio is expected to go down to the wire," editorial, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
AKRON -- Joe Deters and friends; Paying to play in the state treasurer's office, editorial, Akron Beacon Journal.
Councilman working for firm that gets contracts from city
COLUMBUS -- "Columbus City Councilman Michael C. Mentel has a new job as general counsel to a consulting and engineering company that has been paid millions under city contracts. . . Catherine Turcer, of the government watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, questioned how Mentel can do both jobs effectively. 'If you're going to be the general counsel for an organization or company that wants something very specific from the city -- a contract or unbid contract -- you can't serve two masters,' she said. 'Is your loyalty going to be with the city of Columbus or the company you're now going to work for? I don't know how he's going to manage that,'" Suzanne Hoholik, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
A Statehouse story of big money and blind ambition
AKRON -- "The activities of [fund-raiser Kyle Sisk and cohort Brett Buerck, the former chief of staff to House Speaker Larry Householder] did expose the larger problem of what can happen when one party is in charge too long, breeding a culture of arrogance and an insatiable appetite for money. In that sense, [Secretary of State Kenneth] Blackwell is right about a fund-raising system in Columbus that is out of control," editorial, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "Voters will have access to more information about Ohio Supreme Court candidates with the release Monday of a statewide voter guide. The nonpartisan guide provides background information, photos and a statement from each candidate," Cleveland Plain Dealer.
CLEVELAND -- "Ever since Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell turned his office into a spot light on the campaign finance sleaze drowning Columbus, he has been a leading voice for reform. Earlier this summer, however, Blackwell overreached when he launched an investigation into a termination payment made by Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro to controversial fund-raiser Kyle Sisk. Blackwell called the payment illegal and referred it to the Ohio Election Commission. . . there is a big difference between advocating for true reform and going after future opponents through their campaign treasurers. As 2006 approaches, Blackwell must avoid doing the right things for the wrong reasons," editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer.COLUMBUS -- Millions keep pouring in for justices, T.C. Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Ohio legislators will have a lot to do in their next session, but no job is more important than cleaning up campaigns
CLEVELAND -- "The Ohio Republican Party eventually will preside over its own funeral if it does not enact meaningful campaign finance reforms. Its current hold on power is primarily a function of the continued weakness of the Ohio Democratic Party, surely not because of any enlightened leadership from GOP leaders. Eventually, the Democrats must rally -- a process that continued Republican corruption will, if anything, hasten," editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- Outdated gear casts doubts on Ohio's vote. "Catherine Turcer, campaign finance reform director for Ohio Citizen Action, said voters have not forgotten Florida but were alarmed almost into a frenzy over the security risks associated with electronic touch-screens. 'I really thought that the implementation of a whole new [electronic] system, all new machines, in a presidential election year, could have been a horrible situation,' she said. 'So Ohio is really between a rock and a hard place,'" Scott Hiaasen, Julie Carr Smyth, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- Ohioans help keep Bush flush with cash; Kerry camp raises $4.5 million less in state. "'Think about how popular our President was after 9/11, the power of incumbency, and the ability to raise hard dollars over a longer period of time,' said Catherine Turcer, who does database and research work on campaign finance for Ohio Citizen Action. 'Hard dollars' refers to contributions to candidates, which are limited to $2,000 to a federal candidate for each campaign," James Drew, Toledo Blade.
Blackwell says ruling threatens system
COLUMBUS -- "If you're keeping score, Attorney General Jim Petro hung a PKO Thursday on Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. That's a political knockout. In a 5-2 vote, the Ohio Elections Commission ruled that Blackwell, the state's chief elections official, misinterpreted elections law when he accused Ohio's top lawyer of illegally paying a $35,000 early-termination settlement to fund-raiser Kyle Sisk after Petro fired Sisk in January. Blackwell responded by criticizing the commission for ruling that "contract law trumps campaign finance law. I think the Ohio Elections Commission . . . has opened up the floodgates in regard to how campaign funds can be spent in Ohio," Blackwell said. 'In addition, I think they have crippled the integrity of our campaign finance system,'" Ted Wendling, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Householder paid aides' legal fees, Blackwell says
COLUMBUS -- "Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has accused House Speaker Larry Householder of misusing his $1 million campaign war chest by tapping it to pay the legal fees of his fund-raiser and top political consultant. 'We're investigating the matter for a referral to the Ohio Elections Commission,' Blackwell's spokesman, Carlo LoParo, said Wednesday. 'We believe that this may be yet another instance of using contract law to skirt campaign finance regulations. Our argument is that Citizens for Householder is not a legal defense fund,'" Ted Wendling, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- Challenge likely in use of campaign cash for legal bills; Householder’s attorneys say it’s legitimate, Jon Craig, Robert Ruth, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
Why hasn't the White House told Taft to clean up the Ohio GOP scandals before the election?
CLEVELAND -- "Republicans in Ohio have long been known for their ability to sort out internal rivalries and clean up their political messes relatively quickly and quietly. So it is unusual to see the Ohio party now floundering in scandal, especially in a presidential year when Ohio might make the difference. One would expect that the White House would have intervened by now, insisting that Gov. Taft bring the legislature back to pass a series of campaign finance reforms to get this scandal behind them before the election. So far, however, Bush has not weighed in, or he has not done so emphatically enough," Paul Ryder, Organizing Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
COLUMBUS -- "The news conference might as well have been called an 'olds' conference. Gov. Bob Taft and Republican legislative leaders, or those pretending to be, appeared in front of the Statehouse press corps and the TV cameras last week and announced that they are going to clean up the campaign finance law. We'll believe it when we see it. These folks have promised meaningful reform before. 'No, this time we really mean it,' was their latest message. Right. When that day comes, William McKinley's statue will hop on an elephant and fly over the Statehouse. . . when Taft and the legislative leaders get up and say they might as well wait until after the election, they're stalling. They haven't done anything all summer on tax reform, civil-justice reform or campaign-finance reform. They say any new rules wouldn't apply to the 2004 campaign, so let's just take our time. Did they ever consider getting something done early for a change?" Lee Leonard, column, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
Ohio scandal and GOP unrest could cost Bush a swing state
COLUMBUS -- "Young, tough and brazenly ambitious, Brett Buerck and Kyle Sisk made quite a name for themselves behind the scenes at the state capitol. They made money, lots of it, and then – to their regret – they became famous. Ordinarily, this state’s GOP, which has held a virtual lock on power since 1990, would be a clear asset for the president. He could take advantage of the party’s grass-roots organization, official surrogates and good will with the electorate. But a host of local scandals have scuffed the Republican brand name in Ohio. The most malodorous of these involves allegations of improper fund raising and self-dealing by the two consultants to Republican House Speaker Larry Householder.“There’s always game playing in politics,” Householder said. He described Buerck and Sisk as aggressive and shrewd and said they helped him add to the Republican majority. The two would have been shrewder still if they had refrained from putting their most mischievous thoughts in writing," John F. Harris, Washington Post.
Have Statehouse Republicans discovered the value of disclosure?
AKRON -- "Delaying campaign finance reform is a time-honored legislative practice. Republican majorities in the Ohio legislature have been perfecting the art since 2000, despite efforts by Bob Taft and J. Kenneth Blackwell to establish a system that would give voters a clearer idea of who is giving how much to whom in state political campaigns. This week, the governor and secretary of state said they would try, try again. They hope for passage of a bill by the end of the year, but not before Election Day," editorial, Akron Beacon Journal.
Aug 24: Taft promises
reform after election
Blackwell disagrees with others in GOP,
wants faster change in campaign financing
COLUMBUS -- "Gov. Bob Taft, Secretary
of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and other leading Republican lawmakers yesterday
called for campaign-finance reform in Ohio — again. But Blackwell
ruined the show of GOP unity by advocating immediate changes. Delaying
the controversial issue until a lame-duck legislative session after the
Nov. 2 election was fine with Taft, Rep. Jon Husted, of Kettering, and
Sen. Randall Gardner, of Bowling Green. But Blackwell asked, "Why
wait until the end of the year and try to get it done in a few days?"
Blackwell said it would be just as easy to debate the issue for a few
days in September as it would in December. 'We now stand in a Statehouse
awash in scandal," he said. "The erosion of public confidence
is the cost of continued secrecy. We must act swiftly to stem that erosion.
. . . The only thing secret in Ohio elections should be the secret ballot,'"
Jon Craig, Columbus Dispatch.
Access fee; no link.
COLUMBUS -- Taft,
Blackwell, call again for campaign finance reform, "In
a scene repeated from two years ago, Gov. Bob Taft and Secretary of State
Kenneth Blackwell called Monday for sweeping changes to the way campaigns
are funded in Ohio. The two said the changes should be lawmakers' top
priority after the Nov. 2 election. Ohio Citizen Action, a nonprofit advocacy
group that studies campaign finance, supports the proposals but wants
more details about the plan," Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press.
What Catherine Turcer said was: "We agree with the stated principles,
but the devil is in the details, and we need to look at every paragraph."
COLUMBUS -- In
2-year echo, Taft, Blackwell call for overhaul, Minority leader skeptical
of prospects, Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.
COLUMBUS -- Campaign
reform gets new push, Blackwell says 'scandal' in Statehouse underscores
need, Jim Siegel, Cincinnati Enquirer.
A candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court asks a pertinent question
AKRON -- "Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the way for judicial candidates to speak more broadly about their views. That is a good thing. So would requiring public disclosure of the contributors to the offending ad campaigns. They would have to take responsibility for their words -- just like Judge O'Neill," editorial, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- Recommendation for Crane Plastics; Company could miss goal for new jobs, keep tax abatement. "Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, said that it appears the city is going easy on Crane by giving it another chance to reach its goal. 'How in the world do you expect to create 71 new jobs over the next three years if you haven't created one?' Turcer said. 'I would say at this point, taxpayers are being taken advantage of,'" Mark Ferenchik, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
COLUMBUS -- "Following a year of investigations, controversies and questions about fund-raising tactics, state lawmakers are preparing to change the system. . . 'Basically, we created a system that legalized money laundering,' said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a nonprofit government watchdog. 'If you can't track the money easily, it's not meaningful, and people can get into all kind of shenanigans,' she said. 'The current system doesn't encourage ethical behavior,'" Jim Siegel, Cincinnati Enquirer.
COLUMBUS -- "Referring to the money-laundering suggestions, Catherine Turcer [legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action] added, 'They may be legal, but they are deeply unethical. I'm amazed these people felt so confident and comfortable about this kind of stuff that they risked putting it all down in writing. It's shocking,'" Robert Ruth, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
GOP representative said work on proposal likely won’t take place until after election
COLUMBUS -- "Despite cries to reform the system of financing election campaigns in Ohio, Republicans apparently are in no hurry to bring the state legislature back to do the job before the Nov. 2 election. . . . Senate Bill 214, a campaign-finance reform bill for the judiciary, already has cleared the Senate, and Speaker Larry Householder apparently has no plan to bring the House back in September. . . .Catherine R. Turcer, legislative director of Ohio Citizen Action, said donors to political parties, including to their operating accounts, should be made public. She also recommended requiring the identification of the employers of donors to political parties. If a donor were self-employed, he or she should have to list the name of the business. Turcer said a campaign-finance bill should limit campaign committees from transferring funds, which makes it easier to hide money," Lee Leonard, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
COLUMBUS -- "Moving any legislation is important but groups that track contributions and spending would like to see more, said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action. Her group wants stricter reporting requirements that include the employer of each contributor, not just the donor's occupation; an expansion of finance reports that must be filed electronically; and a ban on public officials raising money for issue advocacy groups, which have spent millions of dollars on negative ads in Supreme Court campaigns in recent years. 'People are really trying to think, 'If we only do this every 10 years, let's do it right,'' Turcer said," John McCarthy, Associated Press.
COLUMBUS -- Integrity impugned by comments as candidates raise millions. "The Ohio State Bar Association recently criticized comments posted on Judge William O'Neill's campaign Web site. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and Supreme Court of Ohio candidate, suggested that seats to the state's highest court are being sold in a manner similar to seats on the New York Stock Exchange. . . 'When we did Election 2000, I thought this was an aberration, but it has continued,' said Catherine Turcer, campaign finance director for Ohio Citizen Action. Turcer has studied judicial campaign contributions," Jeremy Holden, Columbus Daily Reporter.
COLUMBUS -- "The usual suspects are sending gobs of cash to Ohio Supreme Court candidates, easily outstripping the amounts they sent in the 2002 election, according to an Ohio Citizen Action study. From November to April, the average individual contribution to candidates for chief justice and justice was nearly $410, up from $273 two years ago. All told, this year's candidates raked in $1.7 million during that period, with the Republicans far outpacing their Democratic opponents," T.C. Brown, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
CINCINNATI -- Mister Fix-It: Problem-solving skill could win mayor seat. "[Gene Beaupre, director of community and government relations at Xavier University] said he expects any mayoral candidate will have to raise at least $250,000. [State Sen. Mark] Mallory puts the total at closer to $500,000, and he's never raised more than $280,000 for any campaign. That came in 1998, when Mallory secured $55,000 in donations from business contributors and an equal amount from labor groups, according to a campaign-spending profile developed by Ohio Citizen Action," Dan Monk, Lucy May, Cincinnati Business Courier.
A promising proposal to reinforce the state's open records law
AKRON -- ". . . state Rep. Scott Oelslager and James Petro, the state attorney general, have taken the lead in crafting legislation that would improve access to public records. They unveiled their bill last week. It includes many valuable steps forward. One provision would establish fines up to $1,000 per day for offices that violate the law, adding a necessary penalty long missing. Another would require training for public employees. A third would reinforce that those requesting records should not be asked to provide identification or otherwise face obstacles," editorial, Akron Beacon Journal.
Lawyers, insurers big donors in high-court races
COLUMBUS -- "An analysis by Ohio Citizen Action of three contested Supreme Court races found Democrats receiving significant campaign contributions from personal-injury lawyers, while Republicans were receiving notable donations from insurance industry political-action committees and workers. The nonpartisan public advocacy group studied $1.7 million raised from Nov. 2, 2003, through April 9. . . . Ohio Citizen Action recommended the Supreme Court adopt rules requiring candidates to identify attorneys and their law firms who have had business in their court in the past year," Jon Craig, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
COLUMBUS -- "'Our study shows that Supreme Court contributors attempt to pick the referees,' according to Ohio Citizen Action's Catherine Turcer. Her remarks came as she released a new study examining contributions to candidates for Chief Justice and Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from November 2, 2003 to April 9, 2004. 'There is a stark difference between the source and type of the contributions to opposing candidates. These contributions reflect the kind of decisions that that contributors want, rather than an interest in impartiality.' The top three organizational contributors mirror the over all contributing patterns. The top organizational contributor, American Financial Group ($39,200) is a financial and insurance provider; Porter Wright Morris & Arthur ($36,550), is a corporate law firm; and Weisman Kennedy & Berris ($27,300) is a personal injury law firm. Eight of the top ten organizational contributors are law firms. Of those law firms, five of them are personal injury firms," Catherine Turcer, Legislative Director, Ohio Citizen Action.-
Full text study, 131 KB .doc; full database, 1.86 MB xls.
COLUMBUS -- "Voters would be able to peek into now-secret campaign accounts. Republican legislators -- including one with a history of resisting such changes -- unveiled details of their far-reaching reform proposals Thursday, predicting that Ohio will have tougher campaign and ethics laws by the end of the year. 'The longer I'm here, the more I learn about things the law books don't teach about the legislative process,' said Sen. Jeff Jacobson, a Dayton-area Republican responsible for some of the loopholes he now wants to close. 'We need to make some changes.' Catherine Turcer, who heads the government watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, welcomed Jacobson's conversion. 'Some of the best security specialists used to be safecrackers,' she said," Sandy Theis, Ted Wendling, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Political funds face scrutiny
COLUMBUS -- "[Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green], the No. 2-ranking GOP senator, is working with Rep. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, the presumptive speaker of the House in 2005, on reforms requiring full disclosure of party operating accounts and third-party issue advocacy groups. . . .Gardner said he supports eliminating operating accounts at the county party level, to avoid having to develop a lengthy set of regulations spelling out how they should be used. But others, including Husted, are not committing to going that far, instead focusing solely on full disclosure," Jim Siegel, Cincinnati Enquirer.
Rep. Husted working on legislation to force nonprofit groups to reveal donors, spending
COLUMBUS -- "The lawmaker expected to be House speaker next year is calling for full disclosure by nonprofit groups that raise and spend money affecting Ohio elections. Rep. Jon Husted of Kettering said he’s working on legislation, to be introduced this summer, that would require issue-advocacy groups to disclose the names of their donors and details of their spending. . . Ohio is not the only state where such groups have been active, and the tactics are not new, said Paul Ryan, political reform project director at the Center for Governmental Studies, in California. But Ryan and other experts say they’re not aware of another state specifically trying to require disclosure from nonprofit groups," Mark Niquette , Jon Craig, Lee Leonard, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
Ohio needs laws now to require disclosure of all campaign cash
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Reforms passed in '95 let lawmakers raise, keep more money
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COLUMBUS -- The current campaign-finance investigation. "A state investigation by Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell was initiated in October after a complaint from Auditor Betty D. Montgomery about heavy-handed tactics by Kyle S. Sisk, GOP consultant to a rival for the 2006 GOP gubernatorial nomination. The FBI, Internal Revenue Service and the Public Integrity section of the U.S. Justice Department are investigating subsequent complaints made anonymously about Sisk, former House Republican consultant Brett T. Buerck and House Speaker Larry Householder. Among the allegations are a kickback scheme involving candidates and campaign vendors," Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
COLUMBUS -- Curtailing corruption; Political parties' operating funds should be open for inspection. "Taft has supported openness regarding political parties’ records. He should push harder for legislation to open these secret accounts to public inspection. Ohioans should demand that their legislators pass a bill to make these operating accounts transparent. This newspaper more than four years ago called for the loophole to be closed. Ohio’s leaders since have paid lip service to reform while hoping voters forget about it," editorial, Columbus Dispatch.
Buckeye bucks are crucial
COLUMBUS -- "Catherine Turcer, campaign finance director for Ohio Citizen Action, said donating large sums to political causes is usually motivated by self-interest -- and a drive to be a mover and shaker. 'This is a way to basically get out there,' she said. 'People like to be players, they like to be in control, be respected, and they like to have influence.' . . . Turcer said, to some extent, big political giving is 'a personality thing.' 'Peter B. Lewis and Carl Lindner are so ideologically different, but they're probably very much alike in this way,' she said. 'They want to have their thumb in the pie and they don't care who knows about it.' . . . Turcer said new campaign finance limits have made it more difficult to ferret out the big money going to national races -- and that most of the big givers from Ohio continue to be white males. 'The power is often in the hands of middle-age white men, so it's not surprising that political dollars and political power are in the hands of middle-age white men,' she said. 'What is distressing, of course, is that many of us are not middle-age white men,'" Julie Carr Smyth, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Legislature considers broader public-records bill
COLUMBUS -- "Government agencies would be required to provide public records the same day they are requested and could face fines for excessive delays under the terms of draft legislation to broaden state laws giving Ohioans access to the documents. Current law requires that public records be released 'promptly' and doesn't impose fines. The proposals would also prevent agencies from requiring that people identify themselves or give a reason for asking for a record, and they would require record keepers to help people make requests," Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press.
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