Money in Politics Ohio

COLUMBUS — “Do John and Jane Ohioan have a right to attend public meetings without identifying themselves?  The question is playing out in court in Trumbull County, where a judge has refused a request to order the children services board to allow members of the public to attend meetings without signing a registration sheet, according to The Vindicator of Youngstown.

Ohio law grants Ohioans an unqualified right of access to public meetings with no seeming conditions. Ohioans are not required to identify themselves to obtain public records, so why should they have to sign a piece of paper or fork over an ID to attend a public meeting?

Security and safety considerations — cited as the need for a public sign-in procedure at the Trumbull County Children Services board meetings — are far from unique.” Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch.

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State officials take exception to report

COLUMBUS — “The arrest of a state lawmaker last week on corruption charges provided fodder for a new national study released today that says state governments, including Ohio, are ripe for corruption. It says states do a poor job of delivering transparency and accountability to their citizenry.

…Catherine Turcer, a government watchdog with Ohio Citizen Action, said she found some of the grades assessed the state as unduly harsh. Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, Chris Davey, a spokesman for the Ohio Supreme Court, and Paul M. Nick, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, also took exception to the report.

Turcer, Bledsoe and Nick were all contacted when the Ohio portion of the study was being conducted.

‘I wonder,’ Turcer said, ‘if this is about encouraging us to have a discussion about what makes a good democracy.’” — Paul E. Kostyu, Cincinnati Enquirer.

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Dayton completed the records request within two months

COLUMBUS — “Yost released the results Monday to celebrate Sunshine Week, a national effort advocating open government and freedom of information. The auditor’s office is not seeking any legal action against any of the cities, rather the exercise was intended to evaluate the process at the city level.

‘These are the public’s documents,’ Yost said. ‘The government belongs to the people. The documents belong to the people.’

Yost said if his office has a hard time collecting “routine documents,” the average citizen won’t be able to do it.

Yost also said public records battles could be costly for local governments and suggested policy makers look for ways besides costly litigation to hold accountable public entities for their records responsibilities.

‘Although public records law in Ohio is alive it’s not particularly well,’ Yost said.” — Jackie Borchardt, Springfield Sun-News

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This is Sunshine Week which is an initiative to promote a national dialogue about the need for open government, open records and to promote your right to know.   http://www.sunshineweek.org/

Columbus lawmaker indicted on bribery, other charges

After his indictment today, state Rep. W. Carlton Weddington, D-Columbus, is booked by a Franklin County sheriff's deputy. Chris Russell | Dispatch

COLUMBUS “State Rep. W. Carlton Weddington of Columbus surrendered to the FBI today and resigned his seat in the legislature after he became what officials say is the first sitting state lawmaker in Ohio indicted on a bribery charge in 100 years.

The FBI set up an elaborate undercover sting against Weddington, creating a phony businesses entity that spent more than $16,000 to send the two-term Democrat on lavish, all-expenses-paid trips to Miami and Napa Valley, Calif., plus cash and campaign contributions. In exchange, Weddington agreed to introduce legislation on the entity’s behalf, said Edward Hanko, FBI special agent in charge of the Cincinnati field office.

Weddington also failed to publicly disclose the trips and contributions on his campaign-finance filings and his financial-disclosure report, authorities allege.” — Jim Siegel, Columbus Dispatch

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Jimmy Dimora, left, and his attorney William Whitaker, outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Akron.

CLEVELAND — “Since FBI agents fanned across Cuyahoga County in July 2008, raiding the homes and offices of public officials and contractors, Catherine Turcer has served as the voice of citizen outrage.

The legislative director of watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, Turcer has spoken against corruption and in favor of reform. She’s been the go-to person for reporters looking to put in perspective all the schemes and the costs to taxpayers.

And now that former county Commissioner Jimmy Dimora has been led away in chains, convicted of racketeering and other corruption-related crimes?

‘It’s a huge sigh of relief for the voters in Cuyahoga County,’ Turcer said Friday. ‘It shows the system works. It provides some closure to the story.’

…’The price of democracy is vigilance, she said. ‘We all need to be more vigilant. We need as many eyes as possible on the government.’” — Laura Johnston, Cleveland Plain Dealer

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High court decision ensures public access to property records

COLUMBUS — “A recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling smacking down Cuyahoga County’s attempt to charge extortionate fees for providing public information isn’t a victory just for real-estate professionals and wonky journalists who might be interested in copious mortgage data. It is a victory for the public, against a highhanded attempt to effectively disregard public-records law.

Obtaining public information that already exists in electronic form should be simple and routine, and it was in the Cuyahoga County recorder’s office until 2010….

That’s when Recorder Lillian Greene informed two California real estate-information companies that her office no longer would provide a CD of each day’s transactions for $50. Instead, she said she would provide only paper copies of the documents, at the premium price of $2 per page.” The Columbus Dispatch.

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