Paul Kostyu reports on Day Two of Hazel Sidaway trial

STRS 'stars' enjoyed trips to Broadway

By Paul E. Kostyu

Copley Columbus Bureau Chief

Canton Repository, April 13, 2006

COLUMBUS - Idolized as stars at the State Teachers Retirement System, pension board members demanded the best in restaurants and entertainment when they traveled.

Itineraries were planned well in advance and altered to suit board members’ tastes. “Fancy restaurants that were exotic and unique,” including one owned by actor Robert DeNiro, were researched. Jazz and blues clubs, and who was playing when board members were in town, were checked out.

“It was very odd to me,” said Laura White, a former temporary retirement system employee who helped research and plan board travel.

White was the prosecution’s first witness Wednesday in the long-delayed trial of Hazel Sidaway of 2915 Parkridge Cir. NW in Plain Township. In July 2005, Sidaway pleaded innocent to seven charges of accepting and not disclosing gifts, a violation of state ethics laws, during a three-year span during her 17-year tenure on the board. On Tuesday, prosecutors dropped one charge “for strategic reasons” prior to selection of eight jurors, including one who contributes to the teachers’ pension system.

Chief Prosecutor Lara N. Baker painted a picture of Sidaway as responsible and diligent, but “wanting more,” which is why she took gifts and didn’t report them.

Baker has scheduled calling 12 witnesses during the trial, which is expected to end on Friday. Defense attorney H. Ritchey Hollenbaugh of Columbus said he will call two, including Sidaway.

White worked for Eileen Boles, executive assistant to the retirement board. Facing ethics charges herself, Boles agreed to testify at Sidaway’s trial in exchange for immunity.

Hollenbaugh said after Wednesday’s session that Boles “didn’t do anything that she needed immunity for.” He also said there were no surprises from the first day. Baker would not comment.

With her attorney in the courtroom, Boles took the stand and at times looked confused and bored. She said she was nervous. Boles said she accompanied the board and other staff on a real-estate inspection trip to New York City in May 2003.

One of the charges against Sidaway says she and her husband accepted and did not report tickets, each worth $250, to see the Broadway show “Hairspray.” The tickets were paid by Frank Russell Investment Group, which has overseen the pension system’s investments since 1991. Sidaway is also accused of accepting and not disclosing tickets to a Cleveland Indians game in 2001 and expensive meals at high-end restaurants in Columbus.

The Sidaway case is expected to have an impact on how prosecutors proceed in the coming months against other former and current retirement system staff and board members who received the same or similar gifts. The Ohio Ethics Commission initiated an investigation of the retirement system after media reports, including many by Copley Ohio Newspapers, in 2003 and 2004 raised questions about travel, bonuses, artwork and other items.

Herb Dyer, executive director of the retirement system at the time Sidaway is said to have accepted gifts, reached a plea deal and was found guilty of a single ethics violation in September 2005. Hollenbaugh was also his attorney.