Political birds of a feather flock together, especially when the state has lined a nest with $2 billion worth of school-construction contracts.

Aides to former Gov. George V. Voinovich have spread their wings as lobbyists, using their friendship with the outgoing head of the Ohio School Facilities Commission to help clients land a share of the $2 million a day that Ohio is spending to build and renovate schools.

A perusal of Randall A. Fischer's office-appointment calendar, obtained through a Dispatch public-records request, shows that the executive director met frequently with former colleagues from the Voinovich administration who are now lobbyists.

In fact, eight former Voinovich aides met with Fischer 48 times since 1999. That's more meetings than he had with all other companies' lobbyists combined, according to the calendar.

The businesses represented by the ex-Voinovich staff members received more than $25 million in contracts -- most of them unbid and approved at the time solely by Fischer.

Although there is no proof that Fischer steered work to his former co-workers, their obviously cozy relationships and the big-dollar contracts given the companies they represent add more fuel to allegations that Fischer showed favoritism in Ohio's school-building program.

Last week, The Dispatch reported that the way many specifications for school-construction jobs were written froze numerous vendors out of bidding for the work because only certain products were allowed.

Fischer's actions have come under increasing scrutiny since a Franklin County judge ruled on May 30 that he exceeded his legal authority by approving contracts that hadn't been approved by the three voting members of the commission. Inspector General Thomas P. Charles launched an investigation July 2; three days later, Fischer turned in his resignation, effective Aug. 1.

Fischer declined to comment on the gatherings with former Voinovich colleagues, saying his secretary and the commission's public-relations staff member would explain them.

Commission spokesman Rick Savors called Fischer an honest person who would "absolutely not'' give preferential treatment to former Voinovich aides.

"Sure, he knows all of those guys,'' Savors said. "But that doesn't give them any better access.''

Fischer landed his first job with Voinovich as a campaign advance man in 1990. He later served as special assistant to the governor, who then appointed him as state architect. Voinovich named Fischer to head the new school-facilities commission in 1997, and Gov. Bob Taft kept him in the post.

Consultants and lobbyists who had not worked for Voinovich typically did not get as much access to Fischer, at least according to his calendar. For example, Johnson Controls lobbyist Dennis L. Wojtanowski, who worked for the Celeste administration, never had a scheduled meeting with Fischer.

"That's kind of a stale relationship,'' the registered Democrat conceded.

Yet Johnson Controls' former lobbyist, Thomas F. Needles -- once executive assistant to Voinovich -- met with Fischer six times. Needles, who also represented construction manager Barton Malow and Tremco roofing, said he does not think his past work relationship and friendship with Fischer has benefited his work as a lobbyist or his clients.

"Randy has always been a consummate professional, and I'm confident that he did or did not grant meetings based on his past relationships,'' Needles said.

Several other construction companies -- Gilbane, Panzica, Ruscilli, O'Brien Kreitzberg and BBL Construction Services -- typically sent their own staff members to meet with Fischer instead of lobbyists.

None of the companies that brought ex-Voinovich staff members on board as lobbyists returned Dispatch calls seeking an explanation for their hiring.

One lobbyist who wished to remain anonymous said: "If you're a newcomer to the business, and you don't know your way around Columbus, maybe you can be convinced you need a lobbyist. I'm not sure what value they do bring sometimes.''

But Voinovich's former executive assistant, Andrew J. Futey, openly markets his connections, emphasizing the importance of his experience in the governor's office and knowledge of "what's happening in Columbus.''

Futey represents RP Carbone, a construction-management company that has received $7.6 million in unbid school work since 1999. Futey's other school-facilities clients include InterActive Expert Systems and Parma City School District.

However, Douglas J. Preisse pointed out that his client, Quandel Group of Pennsylvania, got work from the commission before he was hired as a lobbyist in July 1999.

Preisse is Voinovich's former director of constituent services; Quandel is a construction manager that has received $12.2 million in unbid contracts from the commission since 1998. Preisse also represented Kenmore Construction of Akron.

Fischer's performance is defended by Preisse and several other former colleagues-turned-lobbyists.

Preisse said scrutiny of Fischer's golf outings has overshadowed his accomplishments.

Fischer announced his resignation a week after disclosing he received four rounds of golf worth $295 from the presidents of Gilbane Building of Rhode Island and Quandel.

Fischer's calendar shows at least nine official golf outings were sponsored by construction companies on weekdays during the past three years.

Futey said he didn't attend any, including an August 2000 day of golf sponsored by his client, Carbone.

But golf is an important work-related tool used by construction managers in the private sector, Futey said.

"It's not a stuffy shirt, button-collared atmosphere,'' he said. "You get to know (each other) on a personal basis -- just like politicians have them as fund-raisers.''

Sometimes the former Voinovich staff members who met with Fischer were seeking help for their own companies. For example, Voinovich's former chief of staff, Curt Steiner, has landed public-relations work for the school-facilities commission.

State records show Steiner's former company, HMS Success Public Relations, and, more recently, Steiner Lesic Communications received almost $60,000 the past two years in school-facilities work.

R. Gregory Browning, former state budget director for Voinovich, said he hasn't represented any construction firms when lobbying the school-facilities commission.

Browning paid visits to Fischer on behalf of KnowledgeWorks Foundation of Cincinnati -- a nonprofit education-research group -- and the Ohio Coalition for Education of Children with Disabilities.

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