Saturday, October 31, 2009

You can expunge it from the court records but...you can't expunge it from our memories!

From John Curry, October 31, 2009
$112,000-a-year job
Convicted ex-union leader gets state post
Saturday, October 31, 2009
By Catherine Candisky
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Michael Billirakis, the former Ohio teachers-union chief convicted of ethics violations while on the State Teachers Retirement System board, has a new state job.
The School Employees Health Care Board hired Billirakis, 63, of Pickerington, as its executive director. He started the $112,000-a-year job Wednesday.
The board was created by the Ohio General Assembly in 2006 to study the feasibility of creating a statewide purchasing pool for all health-care benefits. The group released recommendations the following year that it said could save school districts up to $120 million a year in health-care costs.
Board Chairman Stephen Loebs said Billirakis was a unanimous choice. Billirakis disclosed the ethics violation in an interview for the job and told members that the conviction had been expunged from his criminal record, Loebs said.
"We did a complete vetting on Mr. Billirakis," said Loebs, professor emeritus with the Division of Health Services Management & Policy at Ohio State University. "We checked to make sure this was true (and learned) a court order expunged that from the record."
Loebs said Gov. Ted Strickland's office also reviewed Billirakis' record and approved the appointment. Amanda Wurst, spokeswoman for Strickland, said the governor's office did not approve the hire but merely verified that funds were available.
Billirakis could not be reached for comment.
In 2006, Billirakis and three other members of the State Teachers Retirement System board were convicted of ethics charges for accepting gifts from investment companies doing work for the board.
All four were fined $250, ordered to perform community service and pay back the money, and put on probation for a year.
Billirakis was charged with two counts of conflict of interest for accepting tickets to the musical Hairspray from one company during a 2003 trip to New York, and tickets to a 2001 Cleveland Indians game from another firm. He pleaded no contest in Franklin County Municipal Court to one count, and prosecutors dropped the second.
The panel's executive director and another board member were previously convicted.
Billirakis resigned from the board, which manages billions in a pension system, a few weeks before he was charged.
Previously, he led the Ohio Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.
In his new position, Billirakis will help oversee implementation by school districts of four best practices recommended by the health-care board, Loebs said. For example, districts are being urged to implement wellness programs and to review policies to make sure that employees and their independents are eligible.
The board is to issue a report at the end of 2010 detailing how much progress the districts have made.
The governor, Senate president and House speaker make an equal number of appointments to the 12-member board and an 18-member advisory council. The board operates on an annual budget of $800,000.
So...who are the members of the "School Employees Health Care Board?" Just click on this link [below] below TO SEE WHO APPOINTED THEM! You might want to let them know how you feel!
John

posted by Kathie Bracy at 7:12 AM

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