Dann's ethics form for Washington trip missing
His office says a Cincinnati law firm has yet to bill the state for the June trip.
Friday, May 09, 2008
COLUMBUS — As a state senator, Marc Dann railed against then-Gov. Bob Taft for failing to disclose golf outings and other freebies on his annual financial disclosure statements filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission.
But Dann's last financial disclosure statement is missing a trip from June when, as attorney general, he flew to Washington, D.C., on a private jet owned by Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley for an overnight trip to deal with a securities case.
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The cost doesn't show up on Dann's financial disclosure statement or his state travel records because Chesley's firm has yet to bill Dann for the ride, Dann spokesman Ted Hart said.
If Chesley had charged Dann the minimum fair market price for the trip — either before or at the time of the flight — the trip wouldn't be considered a gift and the attorney general wouldn't be required to disclose it, according to a 1996 Ohio Ethics Commission opinion.
Hart said Chesley plans to bill the state for the trip once the lengthy case is finished and he is paid his contingency fee. Until then, it amounts to free travel.
Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a good government watchdog group, says you can't wait years to disclose a freebie from a government contractor.
"We need to know how state contractors are trying to influence the process. They can do that with campaign contributions or gifts or services to the officeholders," Turcer said. "The way we addressed that in Ohio is we say you can accept that but it must be disclosed and fairly soon. Disclosure only works if we know about it fairly soon. You can't wait years."
Ethics Commission Director David Freel declined to comment on the matter.
Dann disclosed $52,960 in travel expenses on his 2007 financial disclosure statement, including $30,000 paid by the state, $12,297 paid by his campaign, and $7,687 paid by the Democratic Attorneys General Association.
And while he shared a suburban Columbus apartment — paid for at least in part by his campaign fund — with AG staffers Anthony Gutierrez, and Leo Jennings III, Dann and Gutierrez do not list the campaign as a source of gifts. Jennings does.
Freel said that in general, "Private lodging or lodging provided by someone other than the person reporting has to be listed."
Earlier this month, Dann fired Jennings and Gutierrez for their roles in a sexual harassment scandal in the attorney general's office. And Dann's office asked the ethics commission to investigate allegations that Gutierrez had been running his construction business, MTV Construction, on state time.
Gutierrez did not disclose the business on his 2007 statement, although he transferred it to his wife early in the year.
Jennings did not disclose his business name, Progressive Solutions Group, which received consulting work from the Dann campaign and Ohio Democratic Party in 2007.
"The form requires the listing of any business you use to do business in the state of Ohio, any one you're a partner in, you or your spouse are a partner in, you or your family are a significant shareholder in, or you or your family own," Freel said.
The disclosure forms for the trio also indicate they aren't wealthy men. Both Gutierrez and Jennings said they don't have any investments worth more than $1,000 and Dann disclosed that he owes or has owed more than $1,000 to 10 different creditors, including a dentist, two utilities and the Internal Revenue Service.
Taft's criminal charges stemmed from failure to list sources of freebies and golf outings on his annual disclosure statements. Dann blasted Taft's ethics troubles, questioning what he knew about the Bureau of Workers' Compensation coin scandal as well as how Taft could've not disclosed freebies.
"Taft, like all governors, lives in a bubble world," Dann told the Akron Beacon Journal in the midst of Taft's ethics travails. "He has schedulers, a highway patrolman assigned to him 24/7, and in-house lawyers to advise him and review his disclosure statements. The idea that this was an oversight is just not believable."
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@DaytonDailyNew
s.com
