Statehouse's Blog

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, admits an affair with his scheduler, who got a 32.5% raise when she was transfered to a job that broke the close connection she shared with Dann, but Dann says he will not resign because his office is doing great work for the people of Ohio. Moreover, the Attorney General asserts that he has done nothing that reaches the threshold for impeachment.

On the great work front Marc Dann could point to recent articles in U.S. News & World Report and Portfolio magazines, detailing Ohio's task force on home foreclosures, the attorney's giving homeowners aid in the legal process and how the interests of banks and their shareholders are actually better served by the forced workouts that Dann is helping make happen. You will not hear about this from the Attorney General. He can't change the subject from scandal until all of the questions about his conduct are answered in a legally challenging way.

Example: One of the women bringing the sexual harrassment complaint against the AG's buddy, room-mate and $87,500 General Services Director, Tony Gutierrez, has multiple criminal convictions. The woman says Attorney General Dann knew this and coached her not to reveal these facts in her application. If this is true Marc Dann has clearly tripped the wire of impeachable offense. Marc Dann told investigators this is not true. Someone has lied under oath and deserves criminal punishment. The inhouse investigation by the Attorney General's staff did not answer this, but makes clear the hiring was way outside policy because the application did not have the most important background information included.

Conclusion: A special prosecutor out to put someone is prison is needed to get the truth.

2nd example: The Attorney General got a text message at 11:36 one Friday night after the start of the investigation from a witness in the case named Jenn Urban, a lawyer on the AG's staff. Urban's text message told Dann, she loved him, Tony and Leo Jennings the Communications Director, but Urban wouldn't lie like Leo wanted her too, because it would risk getting her disbarred as a lawyer. Why would Urban communicate this to Dann? It begs the question, did Jennings indicate Dann knew and wanted Urban's cooperation? Under oath Urban downplays the conversation and Dann says he has no idea why Urban sent him the text message. Urban, still an important lawyer for the Attorney General, says Leo Jennings should not have been suspended for the conversation, she called a requested lie that could get her disbarred. Investigator former Senator Ben Espy, says the matter doesn't rise to perjury because it was not important to the investigation.

Conclusion: A special prosecutor should be going after Urban hard, why did she communicate to the Attorney General, a trained attorney worried about being disbarred if she went along with a request to lie but later blowing the incident off as unimportant should be grilled in front of a grand jury and shouldn't be doing any important legal work for the people of Ohio.

Leo Jennings, fired now for interfering with the investigation, should also have criminal issues to worry about. If his conduct was serious enough to warrant firing it may have been obstruction of justice. Bottling this up in the Attorney General's office is also grounds for impeachment.

PROSECUTORS FIND TRUTH WHEN THE PRINCIPALS IN CRIME FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS. IF JENNINGS AND URBAN HAVE VULNERABLITY THEY MAY SHED LIGHT ON WHY MARC DANN WAS IN THE COMMUNICATION CHAIN.

IF THE WOMAN CLAIMING MARC DANN HELPED HER GET HIRED DESPITE HER CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS IS A LIAR OUT TO RAKE IN BIG BUCKS IN A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE STATE SHE SHOULD FACE YET MORE CRIMINAL CHARGES, BUT IF MARC DANN HAD ANY ROLE IN GETTING THIS WOMAN HIRED HE SHOULD BE MORE THAN IMPEACHED...HE SHOULD BE JAILED FOR PERJURY.

IT WILL TAKE AN INDEPENDENT PROSECUTOR TO TELL US WHICH IT IS.

"You're running with the big dogs now."  That quote comes from the sexual harrassment complaint filed by a woman in the Attorney General's office against her boss, General Services Director Anthoney Gutierrez.  The woman says Gutierrez used his power in the office to presure her for sex, and utilized his close friendship with Attorney General Marc Dann to enhance his allure.  Gutierrez was a "big dog," because of his proximity to political power through his room-mate in Columbus, Marc Dann.

When the "big dogs," are "smart dogs" they don't bark.  My buddy Joe Robertson is a perfect example.  Joe was the Assistant Director of Development for many years during Voinovich and Taft Administrations, before a short stint as Director at the end of his career in government.  In this position Joe was literally Mr. Inside for economic development in Ohio.  Joe was hands on, emershed in the details of every major development deal for a decade.  Moreover, Joe was a key architect in the coordination of economic development efforts at the state and local level.  Improvements to Ohio incentive programs and marketing efforts were powered by his zeal.

Joe was so motivated to excel and enjoyed his duties so much he worked hours that far exceeded expectations.  I once got a memo from Joe written on July 4th.  He came into the office to clean up some of his projects.  You don't often see the kind of work ethic and commitment to excellence in government service that Joe Robertson brought to the Ohio Department of Development.

Joe died last night and his many friends on Capitol Square have kept the phones buzzing all day.  Joe was way to young and full of life to die in his sleep of a heart attack.  Everyone who worked with Joe is in shock over the loss and we will all miss his combination of friendship and counsel.

For me, Joe was one of those people in Columbus who've been around long enough to know the history on issues and people.  Joe was always helpful to me as a reporter with tips and story ideas and knowledge of the facts that could be counted on.  Plus, Joe could give me perspective on what it's like to be the guy answering tough questions.  Joe was the director of development when Ohio gave Cincinnati a large sum of money to apply for the Olympics.  Of course that was not Joe's idea and Joe knew the odds of winning the lottery were better than bringing the Olympics to Cincinnati four years after the games were in Atlanta.  

It is illustrative of life in government that a guy like Joe had to front a bad deal to help the Governor in his hometown as the top official in development, but as the number two man, he was a vital factor in dozens of large development deals that created new jobs or protected existing jobs.  Joe quickly learned the ins and outs of dozens of programs and helped craft changes to make them work more effectively. 

The odds are very high that you don't know and have never heard of Joe Robertson.  But if you've seen a new factory or office building, or work in one, your life has been improved by Joe's work.

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann got the Bob Taft question this week: Have you considered resignation?  Right now, in Dann's case I consider the question unfair, there is no evidence the Attorney General is guilty of a crime connected to the sexual harrassment investigation rocking his office.  Governor Taft got that question after revealing ethics law violations that made him the only Governor in Ohio history convicted of a crime in office.

Dann told reporters resignation is a ridiculous idea because he's doing a great job, listing many accomplishments that make him proud of his service as Attorney General.  It sounded so much like Bob Taft, who thought comprehensive tax reform and an economic development bond package called Third Frontier would make people forget about Coingate.

Bob Taft's fate was sealed in history the moment he said "what's the problem we're making money,"  in response to related party transactions directed by campaign contributor and political appointee Tom Noe in rare coins.  Turns out those transactions put money in Mr. Noe's pocket and subtracted dollars from the Bureau of Workers Compensation.

No one was quicker to grasp the political implications of a Governor willing to facilitate crime than state senator Marc Dann.  Before any evidence of a loss or a crime existed, Dann warned that Noe's status as a fiduciary on both sides of a deal opened the door to crime.  Being right and being early drove Dann to the Attorney General's office and every statewide Democratic office holder owes Dann a debt of gratitude for developing the scandal as a platform for change in the statehouse.

Now, Dann has made a mistake as big as Bob Taft's misread on Coingate.  A close friend who shared a Columbus condo with Dann is accused of sexually harrassing, to the point of sexual assault, a woman who works in the Attorney General's office.  Moreover, the woman says she came to the  Attorney General's condo, where the alledged assault took place, because of a phone invitation from Dann.  Text messages from the woman to a friend said she was drunk, with Dann and his buddy Tony Gutierrez and needed to be picked up because the situation was weird.

In a huge political mistake Dann ordered an internal investigation when the woman's complaints went public.  Ohio Republicans are silent while every major state newspaper hammers Dann on the impropriety of an internal investigation.  Governor Ted Strickland quickly backed off a comment to the Dayton Daily News, saying he had no problem with Dann's internal investigation to make it clear he would use an independent investigation if in similar circumstance.

If Dann's investigation does not excoriate him for taking no action when a 26 year old female employee passed out drunk in his condo, Republicans will scream for an independent investigator and force Dann to go through the process all over again.  Because no Democrat has defended Dann's process, his mistake will keep the story alive, just like coingate and define Dann's legacy.  Dann's investigation will start but not end this process.

If Dann's own investigation shows he ignored a drunken woman's distress the resignation question will come every time he's out in public.  Then it will be fair.

There is a distinct theme emerging from Governor Strickland's office which will be the measuring stick when it comes time to evaluate his performance as Ohio's CEO.  Strickland is devoted to closing the gap.   A 10 year masterplan for the University System of Ohio is intent on closing the gap between Ohio's education levels and the national average.  Success will require getting more Ohioans into and through college and then selling a higher percentage of college grads on making their home in Ohio once they have the ticket to a higher income.

Governor Strickland and legislative leaders have agreed on a $1.57 billion economic stimulus package, to close the gap between per-capita income in Ohio and the national average.  The plan is to spend on infrastructure to create jobs right now and invest in high growth pockets like bio-tech, advanced energy and logistics.  If Ohio can get incomes inline with the national average, we'll all share an extra $39 billion and the state income tax will take in an extra $1.1 billion.

Sometime next year the governor promises to unveil his plan to close the funding gap between rich and poor school districts in Ohio.  You can be sure this plan will contain assertions that it will make Ohio's overall economy more competitive and will help create prosperity.

Both the governor and legislative leaders deserve credit for focusing on the key issue in Ohio, ecomomic competitiveness is easily the most important issue confronting the state, so it needs to have a determined push, not status of one issue among many.  But past efforts to close the gap between Ohio and higher performing states have not achieved their mission.

Right now the average Ohioan has $3,412 less than the typical American.  In the good old days the average Ohioan had more money than the natioanal average, so things have have been going south here for a long time despite many gubinatorial plans and legislative agreements.  When Governor Strickland promised to "turn around Ohio," he was really pledging to close the income gap between Ohio and the nation. 

In a couple of years IRS tax data will tell us in a high measurable way whether Ohio has closed the gap. 

 

Most of the sports journalism community, especially former NFL players, come out as heavy critics of Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector's call for Congressional hearings on Spygate.
The growing storyline is Spector's effort to look at the NFL investigation of Patriot taping for the purpose of signal stealing is an over-reach to grab headlines.

I would normally back that line of thinking, given many years of near daily proximity to political figures with a desire attract attention. However, the NFL is built on tax subsidies from citizens who deserve at the very least a totally honest product, because of the impact professional sports has on America's cultural values.

All of Cleveland's professional teams play in sleek ultra modern facilities financed with tax free municipal bonds.  Cincinnati's new stadiums were built using the same finance method and of course Ohio State's wonderful sports complex was built with this help from tax payers.

Ohio, home of one the weakest economies in the nation has used limited debt capacity on nine new sports facilities in recent years, so I don't buy the argument that the league can take care of it's own business.  The fact is, no major sports enterprise in Ohio fails to extract huge value from state and local taxpayers.

This business model is the standard across all of pro sports.  Moreover, Congress gives professional sports an anti-trust exemption that allows teams to work together in ways that benefit the leagues but hurt pure capitalistic competition.

If there is widespread cheating in any professional sport, this taxpayer wants to know so I can loudly challenge tax free financing for stadiums and arenas in my home.  There may be others who feel the public benefits of professional sports require fair competition.  If it can not be assumed, I break strongly with those in sports who say seeking an extra edge is part of the game.  I think you can make a case for that thinking in a closed loop where a group of rich men put up all of the capital required to run their league, if they don't care why should I.

But, most NFL games are played in facilities owned by taxpayers, built for the public purpose of providing a forum for athletic excellence.  The business model of the NFL is like a public company on the stock exchange, once they bring taxpayers into the fold with public stadiums, NFL issues are bigger than the league.

There is a debate raging in the financial market over the current status of our economy.  Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch say we are currently in a recession, the U.S. Treasury Department says we are not.  The stakes are big for the economy and for the election.

If we're in a recession the prudent thing to do  for many businesses is cut expenses, meaning layoffs and investors see their holdings decline in a recession even if profits don't, because stocks have less value when a company has limited prospects for growth.

I am all but sure voters will be acting upon the assumption we are in a recession no matter what the experts conclude.  You see, home values are falling.  That's a much different experience than growing slowly, an experience last felt on a national basis during the great depression.

I know the feeling well!  The home I bought four years ago is worth less than I paid, despite the fact that the economy in my suburb is very strong and there are no nearby homes being foreclosed.  There are simply more homes on the market than there are buyers interested in making an offer at a time when prices are falling.  So prices keep falling because buyers won't make a deal unless it's an rockbottom price and sellers won't take that unless they're desperate.

Even if the economy is growing slowly, wages are stagnating and home values are falling.  This means the average guy is feeling like we're in a recession, a recession unlike any this generation has seen, because home equity losses subtract a huge financial crutch for his personal balance sheet.

While the economists debate the political candidates yell change because they know in a recession voters want to shake things up.

If state's have karma Ohio has trouble coming.  Mark D. Lay, Chief Executive and founder of MDL Capital Management was convicted this afternoon on investment advisory fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.  Lay is the Pittsburgh businessman behind the $216 million loss at the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.

Lay's hedge fund, comprised solely of BWC dollars, used massive leverage, bet the wrong way on interest rates and was wiped out.  A federal court jury, (where tv cameras are not allowed to cover hearings) decided Lay acted outside the scope of his contract with Ohio and violated a FIDUCIARY responsibility to the state. 

The qualms I have about this verdict stems from the actions of the other fiduciaries involved in this scandal.  In September of 2004 when top management at the Bureau of Workers Compensation, Ohio Attorney General's office and the the Governor's office, learned of the $216 million loss, they did not act as gurdians of the public good.  There was no criminal investigation of Mark D. Lay and possible fraud behind the loss.  These high powered political leaders, knew revealing the loss and instigating legal action would bring headlines like this: Republican Campaign Contributor Accused of Illegal BWC Contract......$216 Million Lost.  The prominent national  Democratic contributor was all for Republicans in Ohio.

The BWC investment chief, Terry Gasper, now imprisioned for his role in the scandal, accepting bribes from favored contractors, was allowed to resign citing health issues. BWC Administrator Jim Conrad communicated the loss to Governor Bob Taft's Chief of Staff and Attorney General Jim Petro had special counsel on the case, but both Taft and Petro deny they were told of the MDL Capital loss in 2004.

When The Toldedo Blade began asking questions about another BWC hedge fund investment in rare coins, the Governor said "what's the problem we're making money," while memos to Taft from Conrad showed active management to kill the story.  Conrad knew then of the much bigger $216 million dollar loss, Taft's staff knew too, but not the Governor, according to his news conference responses.

Ohio lawmakers never performed their fiduciary responsibility to put Taft and Petro under oath and see if they had really been kept uninformed about this loss.  There was never one moment spent seeking to find out why a terrible crime had been covered up at levels of the Governors and Attorney General's office just below the constitutional office holder.

Mark D. Lay now faces 20 years in prison. I would feel much better about watching him sent away to pay for the $216 million loss if Ohio office holders at any level had acted for even a nanosecond like the victim of a crime.    Ohio's top officials acted in a way to obstruct knowledge of the crime. Ohio lawmakers never once did their constitutional duty to find out why, and now Mark Lay goes to prison for activity that was actively ignored in 2004.

The jury can only consider the facts of the case before them and based on those facts Mark D. Lay has been convicted.  I have no qualms with their work or their decision, just the limited scope of the case before them.  

 

 

Hillary Clinton proposes a national 401K program targeting the 75 million workers with no company provided pension, promising a cash match from the government of up to $1 thousand.  The matching dollars and tax deferals make the American Retirment Account program a $25 billion annual expense.   The money will come from estate taxes on the richest Americans.  It is classic redistribution and critics will claim this is pure vote buying.

Yet, as a long time investor and capitalist fan, I'm convinced the law of unintended consequences should be considered when debating Mrs. Clinton's proposal.  1.) The new accounts could go to old investing companies, there is no demand that the federal government pick the investment vehicle for American Retirment Account holders.  2.) The world view of these new investors will surely improve with profound future results.

Imagine the change in the U.S. electorate if 75 million new investors start to see solid financial gains delivered by their ownership in global business.  Democratic capitalism will work with synergy as it becomes politically difficult to build support for policies that  hurt business.

If you think I'm wrong, just glance at the closing numbers on the Standard & Poors 500 for the next five days.  You will likely see flucuations in the range of  .25% to .75%, not big movements, no headlines here.  Now, imagine you have $100,000 in the market.  Suddenly that daily movement is adding or subtracting $250 to $750.  Suddenly you see a connection between government policy that adds money to that figure or subtracts from that number.  It doesn't take very long in the big scheme of things for capital to accumulate so in due time these accounts will contain large sums of money.   Moreover, the proposal would allow money to be withdrawn without penalty for home purchase, education or medical expenses or during times of unemployment.  Linking investing to these huge issues.

I do not believe Hillary Clinton's intention is to make the United States a fundamentally more conservative nation.  But I am sure the unintended consequence of her American Retirement Account will be creation of a much more business savvy and business friendly electorate, bringing emense change to both political parties.   

That's worth $25 billion a year to me.

Twice a week I'm on a conference call with Fox news crews from around the country.  The topic is election  2008, and in many large markets a high intensitity campaign  has been raging for months.  It's just a distant roar in Ohio, like a storm blowing our way soon but not impacting our climate now.

This is good!  The political reporter in me would love to have a blazing, controversial campaign to cover.  But, Ohio has too many problems to stop for a presidential campaign.   We've seen what battleground status is like, with reporters from around the world, campaign staffers and volunteers here by the busloads and post election conspiracy scenarios spun by disappointed losers.

The upcoming campaign will deeply divide Ohio once again,  It is inevitable.  But in waiting to bring the campaign to Ohio to the last possible moment, Ohio political leaders have bought time to work on big local issues in bipartisan fashion.  The budget this summer is the classic example but a utility re-regulation bill now winding through the legislature and bills on gambling devices need cooperation from people who will be fully engaged in competition in a few short months.

So many states were ignored as uncompetitive in the 2004 campaign that a rush to matter through early primaries has ensued.  Ohio doesn't need to join this rush because we have learned, the general election campaign begins in the Ohio primary and extends through election day.  We can look forward to the longest campaign in state history, before it begins state leaders are racing to get something done, while they still can.

Jim Tressel told me it is inevitable that the Big 10 Network will makes its way on to basic cable and inevitable that all major conferences have a network of their own.  My first thought was this is the company line from a public relations master.

BUT, I have readjusted this view after reading a Wall Street's concerns with cable company stocks.  It turns out some of the people who follow cable stocks for a living, worry that Comcast and Time Warner have left themselves vulnerable to a problem at the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC is pushing a cable pricing structure called A La Carte rates.  In short, every channel has a price  and you can pick whatever you want and that's what your bill will be.  The cable companies strongly favor bundled packages like we have now.  You have choices based on the way they tie channels together, take it or leave it.  This is why so many of the channels have programming that cable companies have an ownership stake in.  History channel, Entertainment Network, The Golf Channel are just a few examples.

Now, with the Big Ten Network, as with the NFL Network, the cable companies want to them on a sports tier, arguing people who don't want the networks shouldn't have to pay for the networks.  The smart guys on Wall Street have just concluded this argument may hasten A La Carte pricing as federal law, reduce cable revenues and blast a hole in the business value of many cable owned networks.

As that news begins to impact cable company stock values Jim Tressel's prediction will look like the perfect call.

Synergy is the magical word behind the University System of Ohio.  USO is a name change from the old Ohio Board of Regents.  The idea is, USO is a united system of higher education in Ohio while the Board of Regents is a bureaucracy passing out state money to an independent group of universities.  "This is not just a name change this is a new way of thinking," says Governor Ted Strickland.

The idea is a united system will create efficencies that allow "Ohio to work harder and smarter to do more with less," oops, that's former Governor George Voinovich's line.  No one said that at the USO announcement, but that was the basic thrust of the news conference.

There is a new Internet site selling USO the state unveiled last week and there is a directive to USO chief Eric Fingerhut to come up with a plan to uncover all the productivity improvements a unified system can bring.  "Every Ohioan, no matter where they live or what their income will have as their birth right, access to high quality affordable advanced education," says the Governor.

My personal measuring stick is the Internet.  If USO can deliver an online diploma process in multiple majors, Ohio will have the lowest cost option available.  Ohio will also have a force multiplier in the outside world.  Not only will citizens in Cleveland be able to sign up for this education.  Young people in China, Mexico, India or Korea could also take these courses, bringing new dollars to Ohio and opening new doors for Ohio.

Ohio is an export driven state, with the state doing all it can to encourage employers to enter foreign markets.  The benefits have long been obvious to Ohio manufacturers and farmers but the service industries have been slow to follow.   If Ohio emerges with a net based system that allows global access to courses from all public universities with a USO diploma option, the state will be forever changed.  If USO is nothing but a marketing facade. a new name and a little joint purchasing, the effort will be rightfully judged a failure.

Gordon Gee's return to Ohio State is hailed primarily as a signal of success for the state of Ohio.  As the highest paid and most experienced university president in America, Gee's decision to take a pay cut to come to Ohio seems unlikely.  Just as unlikely in a state where volunteers invited to state government projects are required to bring their own lunch, is a million dollar salary for any university president.

Gordon Gee is worth a lot of money!  He is a brilliant man, with skills to successfully lead a $2.5 billion dollar private fund raising campaign at Ohio State.  His ability to link public education to the American dream of upward mobility is unique and heartfelt.  Ohio State aspires to be the leading public university in the land and to assume global thought leadership on higher education.  Gordon Gee is the one man who can make that happen.  In terms of economic value to the state, that a priceless contribution, so the money is well spent.

However, the expectations awaiting Gee are unprecedented.  Higher Ed czar Eric Fingerhut tells me Gee proves Ohio can move mountains.  House Speaker Jon Husted says selecting Gee is like winning the NCAA Championship of college presidents.  Trustees gush, editorials swoon and I worry there is no way for Gordon Gee to meet the expectations awaiting him.

My other concern about Gee's future is what it says about us.  I have interviewed every Ohio State President since Novice Fawcett.  They have all been obviously outstanding people.  Only Gordon Gee has the personality of a national political figure, the need to connect with people and win their affection. 

The post Gee president's at Ohio State, like the pre-Gee president's, were solid people of great achievement.  Odds are the next leader at Ohio State will be much more like them than like Gordon Gee.  The odds are Ohio will be disappointed with the next president for not being Gordon Gee just as we will be disappointed when we find out Gordon Gee can't move mountains.

Gordon Gee has left disappointment in his wake throughout his career.  Normally because people believed him when he said he was happy and planning to stay at their university, only to leave shortly thereafter for a better opportunity or a new challenge.  I believe this is Gee's last job and I believe Ohio State is likely to become widely recognized as a public Ivy with excellence in athletics.

But Ohio State will not save Ohio's economy and the political leaders expecting Gordon Gee to perform magic will be disappointed, not by his performance but by their expectations.

 

Front and center in row one of Franklin County Municipal Courtroom 4-C sat a lady awaiting shoplifting charges.  She wore a green teeshirt that said: Don't let my concerned expression convince you that I actually care."   Her routine case was eventually heard, well before the crush of media and state investigators took over the court to see Cleveland powerbroker George Forbes plead to ethics violations connected to the coingate investment scandal at the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.

Shortly after the disrespectful teeshirt woman left, Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles moved into to the front row.  Charles led the investigation that uncovered illegal gifts  of travel and entertainment from investment brokers doing business with BWC while Forbes was a member of the BWC Oversight Commission.  In January, Fox 8 was the only media outlet in all of Ohio to report that Inspector General Charles solicited Ohio State University for tickets to the BCS National Championship football game between the Buckeyes and the University of Florida.  Mr. Charles paid face value for tickets going for thousands of dollars more, if you could acquire tickets with the official Ohio State party at any price.  The Ohio Ethics Commission blessed the activity because Charles paid face value for his tickets.  But then Governor Elect Strickland told me that would never be allowed under his watch, days later he reappointed Inspector General Charles.

George Forbes commited a serious crime the state tells us.  The man leading the investigation did much the same thing but escapes punishment because he paid face value for his tickets.  The Ohio State University Vice President Charles asked for championship tickets, Curt Steiner was Chief of Staff to Governor George Voinovich when state law changed allowing alternative investments at BWC.

A state audit on Coinfund I, the Tom Noe managed coin fund that eventually grew to $75 million, says the intial investment was illegal because the Oversight Commission had not changed BWC investment policies.   State statutes on BWC say the administrator shall follow oversight investment policy.   Perhaps BWC Administrator Jim Conrad ignored that law, perhaps he got encouragement to do so from the Governor's office, where major campaign contributor Noe was a VIP.  Governor Voinovich put Noe on the Board of Regents and the Turnpike Commission after a stint on the Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees.  Perhaps the Inspector General and the former Chief of Staff should have no football entertainment relationship.  An investigation that doesn't include Steiner isn't an investigation.  Steiner was number two when the law changed and when an illegal investment was rushed to Noe, who faced insolvency over financial issues with National City Bank.  Tom Noe stole money from BWC on the first day of his coinfund contract!

Mr. Forbes undisclosed gifts are important because the Security and Exchange Commission says Ohio paid excessive commssions to Patrick White, one of the brokers paying the tab.  The other broker, Clark Bilizzard is all ready in prison on bribery charges related to investments from BWC to his company.   Forbes left the BWC Oversight Commission in June of 2005, when a $215 million dollar loss in a hedge fund run for BWC by Mark D. Lay was announced.

Forbes Daughter is employed at MDL Capital.  Mark D.Lay got his first contract as a hedge fund manager from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.  Normally institutional investors with the kind of capital held at BWC are able to get the very best of hedge fund managers, the sort of people with long track records of extrodinary success. How did a rookie get the job?    Did it help that big Democratic campaign contributor Lay made Republican campaign contributions in Ohio?  When the loss was discovered on September 30th 2004, known to BWC management ,Governor Taft's executive assistant and Chief of Staff, why did they keep that information to themselves.  Why did the high priced, politically connected lawyer Attorney General Jim Petro had on the BWC contract, keep him in the dark about the loss?  Petro and Taft say they never knew of the Lay losses, had they known they would have told us they say.  Of course that means the month of October in 2004, when Ohio decided the presidential election and when George Voinovich was on the ballot seeking re-election, would have been much different. Why is  David Robinson, the outside lawyer Petro fired for concealing the MDL Capital loss, attempting to build support for election to the Ohio House of Representitives?  Are Republicans mad at him or grateful to him?

Come to think of it, Tom Noe was a rookie when he got his no holds barred investment fund from BWC.  Noe's contract was so loose audits couldn't even verify the existance of many coins and showed some investment grade coins valued at under five cents. How did that happen? Why were BWC internal auditors who warned that theft could be easily concealed under the terms of Noe's contract, years before his $13 million dollar heist was discovered, ignored and scolded?  Former State Senator Marc Dann rode to the Attorney General's job asking questions like that, railing against a "pay to steal" culture in Columbus.  Dann has since joined the BWC Coingate investigative task force and he's hired as his First Assistant Attorney General, Tom Winters, Tom Noe's former lobbyist.  Winters helped Noe get coins exempted from Ohio sales tax laws in the 1980's.

Maybe that lady's teeshirt should go on sale in the giftshop here at the statehouse.

 

 

I have been following Ohio politics as a reporter for more than 25 years and I have never seen a budget passed without opposition.  How fitting that this incredible feat comes as the Cleveland Cavaliers play in the NBA Championship Series for the first time in team history.

Governor Ted Strickland emerges in this scenario as the Lebron James of state government.    Passing a budget with a yes vote from every lawmaker is the political equal of Lebron's dunks over three Detroit Pistons.

Now, just like Lebron vs the Spurs, the future will be decided by the ability of others on the team.  I was joking with Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut that he is the Boobie Gibson of government.  Fingerhut's longshots will do much to decide our economic future 25 years from now.

In addition to freezing tuition for the next two years at state supported universities, the state budget now calls for $400 million dollars in new spending controlled by Fingerhut over the next four years.

The idea is that Fingerhut funds 40 projects at $10 million each, dependent only on his judgement of their ability to use Ohio's public and private universities as an economic development force.  It's a stunning tribute to the high esteem for Fingerhut in the Ohio legislature.  It's also a daunting task, akin to knocking down long three point shots when the NBA championship is on the line.

Here's one example why.  Last week I interviewed a 15 year old graduate of Ohio State, the youngest in OSU history.  I also interviewed his 13 year old brother, currently an OSU Sophomore.  Each boy started college at 12, each earns near perfect marks in science and each wants to work on the cure for cancer.  These young men will educate themselves in Ohio, but their dream is to work elsewhere, the National Institute of Health.

In sports every team gets a draft pick and the worst teams get the first picks.  In economic development, there is no draft, there is no salary cap, everyone can play for the Yankees.  Just because Ohio has $400 million doesn't mean Eric Fingerhut will see 40 wonderful economic development opportunities over the next four years.  Those who understand the current economy know the very best ideas can get exponentially more money with much less hassle factor from the venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road in Santa Clara County California.

Ohio lawmakers are faith based with this money, they put it in the budget,  they've made the pass to an open shooter, Fingerhut, deep in the corner outside the three point range. As we Cavs fans know, that doesn't mean the game is won.  Back in the 80's covering the Celeste budgets I followed his programs that did much the same thing as the current plan.  There was initial success, some exciting programs and projects emerged, but when an $8 million state investment spawned the need for $80 million in the next round it was time to move to California.

Cisco, Google, Yahoo are all giant California companies spawned with university connections.  If one of Eric Fingerhut's 40 shots score big like that Ohio's future budgets will have much more money, but other good Ohio players have missed this shot in the past.

 

What does hope look like?  Imagine the benefits to Cleveland if a symbol of hope were not only widely recognized as the answer to that question, but the one place in the world where you could see and touch the sculpture that inspired a symbolic representation of hope.

There is enough money in the Cleveland + marketing budget to buy global attention with a contest to depict hope.  A million dollars to design and construct the symbol of hope would draw international attention.  Moreover, big names with links to the Cleveland + region could be recruited to judge the entries and select the winner.   Famous people making important choices about symbolic representation of a universal human emotion like hope would surely attract news coverage with a value far above the cost of the prize.

Imagine this sculpture unveiled in Cleveland with fanfair unseen since the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame grand opening event.  It could easily happen if Cleveland's + is seen as hope.

I think the hope message works across the region, so all of the +'s = hope.  Canton, where the NFL was launched with little more than hope certainly knows the power of this emotion.  Akron, once one of the nation's hottest boom towns is filled with people who are the offspring of people drawn solely by hope.

The stories are endless and you know them all too.  Cleveland's status as a world leader in medicine, a pioneer in progress, is only about hope.  People are drawn to Cleveland by hope for the best possible outcome in  bleak circumstance.

We can not begin to predict the future, yet we know with complete assurance, hope will always be vital condition to the human experience.  Thus, Cleveland + = hope, or Cleveland, city of hope, is a brand that can endure no matter what the future brings.

Hope is powerful enough to draw tourists and no business has ever been started without hope.  This is a brand promise big enough to work on both fronts it's been assigned, specific enough answer why cleveland,  unites a proud history to a bright future and integrates public relations with advertising  to leverage assets for maximum impact.

I would love to read some comments on concepts that answer the question: What does hope look like.