Flashback 2 years ago: STRS Board member Hazel Sidaway convicted; more to come

From John Curry, April 26, 2008
Subject: FLASHBACK-2 YEARS AGO- STRS Board member Sidaway convicted...the first of many more to come!

"Prosecutor Lara N. Baker said Sidaway and the board were part of a retirement system culture of entitlement. She said the board abandoned its responsibility to retirees and teachers. She said Sidaway took so many trips on the pension fund’s dime that it became a full-time job for her."

Ex-STRS board member Sidaway guilty

Canton Repository, April 15, 2006
By PAUL E. KOSTYU
COPLEY COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF

COLUMBUS - Hazel Sidaway was found guilty Friday of two counts of violating state ethics laws. The former Canton City Schools teacher faces a $1,000 fine and a 6-month jail term on each count. Eight jurors took two hours to arrive at their verdict after listening to testimony for three days in Franklin County Municipal Court. They said Sidaway was innocent of four ethics charges.

She was convicted of accepting four tickets, valued at $120, to a Cleveland Indians game in July 2001 and two tickets, valued at $550, to the Broadway show Hairspray in May 2003. She took family members to both events.

Sidaway’s attorney, H. Ritchey Hollenbaugh, said an appeal is unlikely. He said Sidaway had no regrets about going to trial. “She never considered a plea because to this day she believes she did nothing wrong.”

Judge Carrie E. Glaeden will sentence Sidaway on May 12.

Hollenbaugh said he will ask for leniency and that the judge “take into consideration other cases, like the governor’s.” Gov. Bob Taft was convicted of four ethics violations last year in a plea deal that netted him a $4,000 fine and court costs, but no jail time.

Hollenbaugh referred to Taft in his closing arguments Friday. “Did (Sidaway) play golf 52 times and not report it?” he said.

This was the second conviction in an ongoing investigation by the ethics commission of the State Teachers Retirement System, where Sidaway was a board member when she broke the law. Former Executive Director Herbert Dyer was convicted on a single ethics charge in a plea deal in September 2005. He was fined $1,000 and court costs and ordered to pay $394 in restitution to the retirement system.

Dennis Leone, the former superintendent and now retirement system board member who initiated questions about how the fund was operating years ago, said he hopes Sidaway is ordered to pay restitution.

“I wish other spending abuses that board members engaged in could be part of this decision,” he said.

Other board members and staff are on the prosecutor’s radar, some of whom went on the New York trip with Sidaway and others who may have violated ethics laws in other ways. Retirement system attorney Bill Neville attended the trial and took notes.

“We’d like to resolve (future) cases expeditiously,” said Paul Nick, chief investigator for the Ohio Ethics Commission. “I think they can see what is coming.”

“I think people will be paying attention,” Hollenbaugh said.

Sidaway cried and her lips quivered as Hollenbaugh made his closing arguments, telling jurors “she is not a criminal.” He said, “This case is an insult to the people who do public service.”

Prosecutor Lara N. Baker said Sidaway and the board were part of a retirement system culture of entitlement. She said the board abandoned its responsibility to retirees and teachers. She said Sidaway took so many trips on the pension fund’s dime that it became a full-time job for her.

Under cross examination by Assistant City Attorney Mickey Prisley, Sidaway said she considered the Broadway show a board meeting because conversations occurred before the show, during intermission and on the walk back to the hotel after the performance.

Prisley was incredulous, asking her repeatedly to justify the expense.

“I’m telling you,” Sidaway said firmly, “we had conversations at appropriate times in the evening.”

The 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.

Reach Copley Columbus Bureau Chief Paul E. Kostyu at (614) 222-8901 or e-mail: paul.kostyu@cantonrep.com

Note from John....what did the OFT have to say about this? Well, click here to see their commentary.