An STRS FLASHBACK- 6 YEARS AGO - Mirror, mirror on the wall and who was Beth Foley? By the way...pour me a double, Damon! Also an unanswered question

From John Curry, July 17, 2009

Note from John...I just happened to be cleaning out some odds and ends and to my surprise, I found an oldie and goodie that was not on my master STRS saved articles CD! Glad I did.....you can read about a "professional courtesy" and you can check out this $4,100 dinner (at your expense)!

"Foley was assured it wasn’t extravagant, but wasn’t told of the cost. Case said Foley questioned whether she should go because of the issues raised about STRS spending. She went as a “professional courtesy” after Sidaway personally invited her."

"Damon Asbury, deputy director for administration, said retirement system executives personally covered the $110 tab for the wine served with the meal and an open bar, with more than 20 bottles of whiskey, vodka and other spirits, proceeding the dinner. They also paid for a $129 wall mirror as a gift for Sidaway, and board members split the cost of a $310 bracelet with an STRS charm attached to it."

STRS board wines, dines

Canton Repository, June 25, 2003
By PAUL E. KOSTYU
Copley Columbus Bureau chief

COLUMBUS — $4,100.

That was the food tab for a three-hour, invitation-only party Thursday evening at the State Teachers Retirement System for Hazel A. Sidaway, a Canton teacher who is leaving the pension board.

Twelve hours later and just feet away from where the party was held on the sixth floor of the pension board’s headquarters, Chairwoman Deborah Scott of Cincinnati publicly chastised STRS Executive Director Herbert L. Dyer for excessive spending, particularly on staff bonuses and travel.

Scott attended the buffet dinner with 60 retirement system officials, former and current board members and staff, their spouses and guests. They dined on beef, fish, potatoes, salad and dessert prepared by Michael Jones Personal Chef Services, a Columbus caterer.

The retirement system is paying for the meal.

“That’s outrageous. It’s unbelievable,” said Rep. Michelle G. Schneider, R-Cincinnati. “They have built their own little fiefdom and it’s out of control. That aggravates me.”

“That is entirely too much money,” agreed Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Jackson Township, when he heard about the cost of the dinner.

Damon Asbury, deputy director for administration, said retirement system executives personally covered the $110 tab for the wine served with the meal and an open bar, with more than 20 bottles of whiskey, vodka and other spirits, proceeding the dinner. They also paid for a $129 wall mirror as a gift for Sidaway, and board members split the cost of a $310 bracelet with an STRS charm attached to it.

Sidaway attended her last retirement system meeting last week after 17 years on the board. She’ll retire Monday from her Canton City Schools teaching position; that makes her ineligible continue to serve as a teacher representative on the STRS board.

Schuring and other lawmakers, teachers and retirees have been calling for Dyer’s resignation ever since news reports revealed millions of dollars have been spent on bonuses, artwork, travel and subsidized child care.

Sidaway spent the most on travel of all board members, $54,217 in the last three years.

The retirement party is “another reflection of the posh, opulent behavior of the board,” Schuring said. “It’s a culture created by the director. It’s a culture so deeply embedded that they’re oblivious to the real world.”

Representatives of Ohio Auditor Betty Montgomery and State Superintendent of Schools Susan Tave Zelman, who are members of the STRS board, attended the party and then criticized Dyer on Friday at the board meeting.

“The department thought it was proper to attend the retirement event for a fellow board member,” said J.C. Benton, a spokesman for the Department of Education. “But Steve (Puckett) stands by his comments to the board (on Friday).”

Joe Case, a spokesman for Montgomery, said the dinner was not something the board voted on. He said Mary Beth Foley, Montgomery’s representative, told STRS staff that she would not attend if the dinner was “champagne and lobster.”

Foley was assured it wasn’t extravagant, but wasn’t told of the cost. Case said Foley questioned whether she should go because of the issues raised about STRS spending. She went as a “professional courtesy” after Sidaway personally invited her.

Case said Foley’s attendance did not change Montgomery’s view that “everything needs to be subject to close scrutiny. The administration and the board need to be looking at expenses like this. They need to be sensitive in these hard economic times on where pensioners’ money is spent.”

Attempts to reach Scott for comment were unsuccessful.

Now, for Hazel....this comes from the Ohio Ethics commission website and also begs another question....just who were the "investment advisors?" Isn't there such a thing called "complicity?"

Ohio Ethics Commission Press Release
May 12, 2006
http://www.ethics.ohio.gov/PressReleases/05122006.html

FORMER STRS BOARD MEMBER SENTENCED FOR ETHICS VIOLATIONS

On May 11, 2006, Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Carrie E. Glaeden sentenced former State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board Member Hazel Sidaway to two years probation and 200 hours of community service on convictions for two conflict of interest charges for accepting $670 worth of tickets to sporting and entertainment events from investment advisors to STRS.

The criminal conflict of interest charges were filed by the Columbus City Prosecutor's Office after an investigation and referral by the Ethics Commission. On April 14, 2006, a Franklin County Municipal Court jury deliberated and returned guilty verdicts against Sidaway on charges that she unlawfully accepted four tickets worth $120 to a Cleveland Indians baseball game in 2001 from Salomon Smith Barney and two Broadway musical tickets worth $550 to a New York City performance of Hairspray in 2003 from Frank Russell Investment Company. Both investment firms provided investment services to STRS at the time they paid for entertainment events for Sidaway and various members of her family. (The jury had acquitted Sidaway on a remaining conflict of interest charge and three related financial disclosure falsification charges.)

For her unlawful acceptance of the Cleveland Indians tickets, Judge Glaeden sentenced Sidaway to 180 days in jail, suspended on the conditions that Sidaway pay a $120 fine and costs, and reimburse the Ethics Commission $5,381 towards its costs of investigation. For her unlawful acceptance of the Hairpray tickets, Judge Glaeden sentenced Sidaway to 180 days in jail, which the Judge suspended, placing Sidaway on probation, requiring she pay a $550 fine and costs, and perform 200 hours of community service. 100 hours of the community service is to be performed at the Canton City Schools and the other 100 hours is to be served at a Canton-area senior citizen center or retirement home. (Sidaway resides in Canton, Ohio and is a former teacher in the Canton City School District.)

Sidaway apologized for the ethics violations, but asserted that except for the "two instances," she had attempted to best represent teachers in her 17 years on the STRS Board, and was unaware of ethics restrictions. Judge Glaeden questioned Sidaway's professed lack of awareness of the Ethics Law, citing several individual and widely publicized ethics convictions since 1997. Judge Glaeden accepted Sidaway's apology, but challenged her assertion that her failure to best represent the interests of STRS members was limited to the two ethics violations for which she was convicted. Based upon trial testimony that included Sidaway's, the Judge urged her to reconsider her statements, noting extensive travel funded by contributions made to the retirement system, and meals and entertainment, not only for Sidaway, but her family members, and questioning the underlying necessity of the extent of her travel in what the Judge said simply appeared to be "junkets." The Judge further indicated that the idea of community service in a senior center or nursing home was actually suggested by retired teachers in letters to the Judge regarding sentencing.

"The Ethics Commission cares that protections under the Ethics Law against personal enrichment, or some misguided notion of entitlement, for service to the public, are enforced," said David E. Freel, Executive Director of the Ethics Commission. "That is exactly what Judge Glaeden did here."

The Ohio Ethics Commission is an independent state agency that applies and administers the Ethics Law for state and local public officials and employees outside of the General Assembly and judiciary. It has the power to investigate allegations of unethical conduct of public servants. The Commission was created over 30 years ago upon the enactment of the Ohio Ethics Law in 1973.