Coins For Change: Returning Trust to Ohio

Bi-Partisan Investigative Committee Can be Convened Without Jeopardizing Prosecutions

A recent letter by the "Coingate" prosecutors to Legislative Leaders does not make a convincing case for waiting to convene a Joint, BiPartisan, Legislative Investigative Committee with full subpoena power to get to the bottom of Republican Pay to Play Scandals.

The letter refers to Ohio Revised Code Section 101.44 that provides an automatic grant of immunity to witnesses subpoenaed to testify before any Ohio Legislative Committee.

There is a simple solution: Repeal the immunity law. I will be introducing a bill next week to do just that. I will also be introducing a bill that creates rules regarding the operation of such investigative committees, including allowing the ability to grant immunity by a super majority vote.

The refusal of Speaker Husted and President Harris to conduct such hearings and to allow reform legislation to be heard until after criminal cases are complete allows for the pay to play rip-offs in executive agency contracting to continue to go on as Harris and Husted guard the door.

nbc4i.com - News - Democrats Unveil Plan To Stiffen Ethics Laws

Link: nbc4i.com - News - Democrats Unveil Plan To Stiffen Ethics Laws.

If Taft Doesn't Ask Hicks to Resign He Should At Least Appoint the Best People to the Upcoming Slots on the OSU Board of Trustee

If Brian Hicks cares about the future of Ohio State University he should resign as Trustee.

If Brian Hicks refuses to resign Governor Bob Taft should Ask him to resign.

If Bob Taft refuses to ask Hicks to resign, the OSU Board should do so.

If Bob Taft and the Board Refuse to ask him to resign, the least he should do is make sure the six new trustees that the legislature authorized in the budget ( I voted against it) and that Taft will appoint shortly are the best, brightest and most qualified in the school's history. NO CONSIDERATION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BY CANDIDATES FOR THESE IMPORTANT POSITIONS.

It wouldn't be the right thing to do but it would be something positive from this embarassment.

Anyone Surprised?

There's $3 billion on the line Wednesday as the Ohio Supreme Court will hear a case where FirstEnergy is arguing to maintain a "transition charge" that costs most consumers between $15 - $20 a month.

But the more interesting number is the $125,000 in campaign contributions that FirstEnergy has given to five of the seven justices.

Nearly half that money - $61,000 - went to Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justices Terrence O'Donnell and Judith Lanzinger after FirstEnergy Chief Executive Anthony Alexander threw a judicial fund-raiser in August 2004.

Given the way Ohio has been run for the last decade, is anyone surprised?

Dann cautions anti-RON contributors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                 
Contact: Senator Dann
(330) 233-0535

Tuesday, September 27, 2005                                                

Dann cautions anti-RON contributors
Senator warns Ohio First pay-to-play won’t be tolerated

(Columbus)- State Senator Marc Dann (D-32, Liberty) warned individuals fighting reform in Ohio that the kind of pay-to-play politics that led to Coingate and other Republican scandals will no longer be tolerated. 

In a letter sent today to potential contributors to Ohio First, the group that been formed by Republicans to fight and defeat the Constitutional amendments placed on the November General Election ballot by the Reform Ohio Now or RON coalition, Senator Dann said the following:

CJ Prentiss' Letter to Gov. Taft

September 26, 2005

Governor Bob Taft
77 South High St., 30th Floor
Columbus, OH  43215

Dear Governor Taft:

I am writing to urge you to claim the opportunity you've been given to become the reformer of Ohio's government that our people so desperately need.

In the days and weeks since your conviction, both your traditional allies and critics have called for your resignation or your impeachment.  For example, the Ohio Roundtable and Ohio Citizen Action announced they were joining forces to urge Ohioans to seek your resignation or impeachment. 

I have not joined such calls because you and I both know the culture of corruption in state government neither begins nor ends with you.  If you left office before the end of your term, the pay-to-play environment that permeates the executive and legislative branches would not end.  Your replacement would be a political appointee who is a product of the very same culture of corruption.  The other state officials who have perfected this pay-to-play system would remain in power.

Whether one is talking about special counsel contracts in the Attorney General's office, special audit contracts in the State Auditor's office, or voting machine negotiations with the Secretary of State's office, pay-to-play governance would continue to be the accepted way of doing business.

It doesnt have to be that way.  You have the power to take on your party and your government.  Ohioans deserve more than words right now.  Now is not the time for mere criticism.  Now is the time for bold, positive action.

Last week, the Bureau of Workers Compensation Oversight Commission (WCOC) took such bold, positive action.  The WCOC adopted an anti-pay-to-play policy that places strict limits on campaign contributions from investment managers.  Under the new policy, investment managers will be prohibited from contributing more than $250 to any state candidate or political party.

Marc Dann warns ‘Ohio First’ pay-to-play won’t be tolerated

This release and letter were sent today.

(Columbus) - State Senator Marc Dann (D-32, Liberty) warned individuals fighting reform in Ohio that the kind of pay-to-play politics that led to “Coingate” and other Republican scandals will no longer be tolerated.

In a letter sent today to potential contributors to “Ohio First,” the group that been formed by Republicans to fight and defeat the Constitutional amendments placed on the November General Election ballot by the Reform Ohio Now or RON coalition, Senator Dann said the following:

“I and others who are concerned about the scandals that have rocked state government will be monitoring the fundraising activities of Ohio First both now and in the future. I assure you that we will not hesitate to speak out loudly and often if it becomes apparent that Ohio First is nothing more than another arm of the Republican pay-to-play operation in which contributions made to the anti-reform campaign are rewarded in the General Assembly, by members of the executive branch, or by statewide officeholders.”

The letter (see attached) will be mailed to the state’s registered lobbyists, entities and individuals that contributed to Citizens for a Strong Ohio, the coalition of special interests that conducted the independent expenditure smear campaign against Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick in 2002, and other groups that traditionally support Republicans candidates and causes.

Students think double standard stinks

I would like to commend the group of Ohio State University students, including Steve Miller, a Republican from Los Angeles, who designed and are maintaining Hicks Must Go, a website dedicated to educating the OSU community about the activities of Brian Hicks and the need for him to do the right thing and resign from the OSU Board of Trustees.  Since neither Mr. Hicks, Governor Taft, or the other members of the OSU Board appear to even have any idea what the "right thing" to do is, I am grateful for the student's efforts to enlightem them.

I would also like to salute Nick Benson, speaker of the University Student Government Senate for his logic and sense of fair play. In a Toledo Blade report about the creation of Hicks Must Go, Mr. Benson noted that an undergraduate with a comparable ethical lapse, such as cheating on a test or plagiarizing a term paper, would be forced to leave school.  "It sets a bad precedent when students are held to one standard and the leaders of our university are held to different standards," he said.

Yes, Nick it does. It also sets a bad precedent when the people who are supposed to be leading our state and the university don't give a damn.

OSU Student Government Calls for Brian Hicks' Resignation

Ohio State students get it. Ohio Republicans do not.

From the Lantern:

"I believe that Brian Hicks should have resigned after the criminal nature of his transgressions became clear and, while I wish that we could avoid this situation, I feel that he should do the honorable thing and step down from his position on the Board of Trustees as soon as possible," said Brennan Howell, chairman of USG's Policy and Governance Committee.

Here, here. Brian Hicks should have stepped down long ago. And the members of his party, the so-called "party of personal responsibility," should have stepped up by calling for him to step down. After all, that would be the responsible thing to do.

What's worse is, because of the acts of Brian Hicks, students at Ohio State who should be focused on their studies have been put in to a position where they feel they need to "distance" themselves from Hicks.

"This piece of legislation is important because it is imperative that USG separate themselves from the actions of Brian Hicks and demand accountability," Howell said. Emphasis added. -Ed.

Mr. Hicks should save himself, the state, and the students of The Ohio State University, the time and trouble of a protracted battle over his continued position and step down now.

Press Roundup

Interesting News and Views from Around Ohio

Akron Beacon Jounal:
BWC Became Fundraising Operation
Election IDs?
Medicare drug plan will fill up mailboxes
Beware of fraud
Help with plan

Canton Repository:
Voinovich's reversal mystifying

Cincinnati Enquirer:
Election system itself on ballot

Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Finding, and filling, BWC's gaps
Greater Cleveland overwhelmed by inmates
Making the move from home schooling to traditional schools

Columbus Dispatch:
BWC privatization
BWC's work obscured by scandal
Cincy police, council want wider use of cameras
Predatory lending letters to the editor
and here too.

Dayton Daily News:
Campaign cap necessary evil
Predatory lending victims getting no help from Ohio
Scandals, smelling coffee

Toledo Blade:
The workers' comp mirage
cartoon
Election reform needed
Intelligent design trial
Ford/Finkbeiner clash on Westgate project
Panel says Ford campaign tactic could be program
Timely college graduations on rise
Windpower not risky to wildlife

AP:
Cincinnati ready to expand police use of remote cameras
Economy, energy trump social issues in legislature
Few changes in Cleveland police shooting probes
Judge threatens Parole Board with contempt
Turnpike drug busts hit mostly minorities