Jim, this pay-to-play thing looks like it could be for real

Sunday, February 19, 2006, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sandy Theis, Plain Dealer Columnist

As an inoculation against allegations that he's employed heavy-handed fundraising practices, Attorney General and candidate for governor Jim Petro outlined a proposal to ban any political donations to an elected official from vendors doing state business with that office.

Unveiled Thursday, the initiative came as Petro continued to field questions about allegations from lawyers - both Republicans - who say their firms lost state legal business after they dared to support a Petro rival. He called the assertions "hardball politics at its worst" and said he is neither surprised nor worried that the FBI has begun interviewing the lawyers.

His bravado was expected. The new ethics plan came just hours before the deadline to file the petitions needed to qualify for the May 2 primary. It also came after his rival for the nomination, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, accused him of using outside counsel he'd hired as "an ATM for campaign funds."

What was unexpected was Petro's contention that it's a "misperception" that a pay-to-play culture permeates Ohio's capital.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane.

About 17 months ago, lobbyist Andy Futey was the third supporter of then-state Treasurer Joe Deters to plead guilty for his role in a pay-to-play scheme involving Deters' office. Specifically, Futey admitted to helping now-jailed broker Frank Gruttadauria direct $110,000 in political donations to Deters' campaign in exchange for an inside track at the treasury.

By turning the state's portfolio over to brokers who give, rather than perform, Deters provided taxpayers with some of the nation's most sluggish returns.

Although Ohio's investment guidelines are among the nation's most restrictive, a past Plain Dealer analysis couldn't find a comparable group of short-term investments with less impressive returns.

About 19 months ago, we learned that former House Speaker Larry Householder was among the central figures in a federal probe into the operation of the House Republicans' campaign fund and into allegations that Householder had allowed political donations to influence legislation.

The investigation is ongoing.

Within the last 2½ years, two former trustees of the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund pleaded guilty to criminal charges that stemmed from golf, trips, football tickets and meals they received from pension fund vendors.

At the sentencing of one trustee, Ohio Ethics Commission Executive Director David Freel told the court that the commission had never in its history seen a higher level of gratuities to a public official.

Six months ago, a Franklin County judge found Gov. Bob Taft guilty of four misdemeanors for breaking state ethics law by failing to report golf outings, meals, hockey tickets and other gifts from some of the state's most influential business and political leaders. The list includes one round of golf and some gifts from rare-coin dealer and big-time GOP fundraiser Tom Noe.

This past week, Ohioans learned more about the scope of Noe's shady deals when the Lucas County prosecutor handed down a 53-count indictment that accused him of theft, money laundering, forgery and tampering with records in connection with his handling of a $50 million investment fund used to benefit injured workers.

Shortfalls in the funds he managed could reach $13 million.

The state charges came after federal officials charged Noe with illegally funneling $45,400 to President George W. Bush's re-election campaign.

At the time of the federal indictment, Noel Hillman, who helped lead the yearlong investigation for the U.S. Department of Justice, called it "the most blatant case of campaign finance abuse" since a 2002 law stiffened penalties for campaign finance violations.

Under Deters, our investment returns were the lowest. At the pension fund, the ethics watchdog found the gratuities paid to some trustees to be the largest. Federal officials described Noe's alleged campaign laundering as the most blatant.

Now, Ohio's top law enforcement official wants to convince us that all of these pay-to-play examples add up to a misperception. If Petro truly wants to address Ohio's ethics problem, he first needs to acknowledge that it exists.

Theis is chief of The Plain Dealer's Columbus bureau.

Contact her at:

stheis@plaind.com, 800-228-8272