Paul Kostyu on Sidaway sentencing: Judge schools teacher in ethics
Hazel Sidaway of 2915 Parkridge Cir. NW in Plain Township was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, 100 of which must be performed in her former school district. The other 100 hours must be spent working in a nursing home or retirement facility, where a Franklin County judge said she hoped Sidaway would have to help retired teachers.
The sentence came in part, Judge Carrie E. Glaeden said, from retired teachers who wrote her about the case.
Suspended jail term
Sidaway, who was convicted in April on two counts of accepting gifts, was sentenced Thursday to two separate 180-day suspended jail terms and will be on probation for two years.
She was fined a total of $670, or the cost of the four Cleveland Indians tickets and two Broadway show tickets she illegally accepted as a member of the State Teachers Retirement System board. She also has to pay court costs and for the Ohio Ethics Commission for its investigation of her. That comes to $1,204 and $5,381 respectively.
Sidaway apologizes
In a statement before she was sentenced, Sidaway repeatedly apologized.
“I tried for 17 years to represent teachers of Ohio on the retirement board with dedication and to the best of my ability,” she said. “I strove to be an example to other board members who cared about the needs of teachers and retirees. I realize now that on two occasions I let them down.”
But Glaeden didn’t buy it. She blasted Sidaway for not accepting responsibility for her actions during the trial. Glaeden also said she was concerned that Sidaway blamed retirement system staff for not informing her about the state ethics laws. “You’d have to be hiding under a rock not to know about the ethics law,” she said.
Glaeden said Sidaway’s attempt to hide her tickets by reporting them as “meals” was troubling. The judge said Sidaway’s “long list” of trips came at the expense of retirees, teachers and school districts. She said it cost money to replace her in the classroom with substitutes while she was gone.
The judge also sent a message to other board members, who could face charges themselves. She said it appeared they used their positions “for some type of compensation that (they) thought would be nice.”
H. Ritchey Hollenbaugh, Sidaway’s attorney, criticized the jail sentence.
“Based on the circumstances, I thought (it) was harsh,” he said. “That’s not been done in any other case and I was surprised. I’m glad it was suspended.”
Prior to the sentence, David E. Freel, executive director of the ethics commission, told the court the commission was “extremely concerned about this notion of entitlement for service on a public board.”
He said the commission found that “repugnant and thought it has to change.” He said part of the reason there is an ethics law is “so retirees and other citizens have more confidence that public officials are working in the public’s interest, not their own interest or their family’s interests.”
Prosecutor Lara N. Baker said the investigation into retirement system board members who served with Sidaway is continuing.
Reach Copley Columbus Bureau Chief Paul E. Kostyu at (614) 222-8901 or e-mail: paul.kostyu@cantonrep.com
posted by Kathie Bracy at 9:38 PM
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