Pepper: Blame Heimlich, but don't point fingers
The audit released last week that calls for Hamilton County’s Department of Job & Family Services to pay back $224 million in money spent on poor children and families has become a political issue for Democrats.
David Pepper, the Democrat trying to oust incumbent Republican Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich, is holding a joint press conference this afternoon with Barbra Sykes, the Democrat running for Ohio Auditor.
They will “call for an end to the blame game” over the audit’s financing, they announced in a Sunday press notification that had a headline of “Stop Pointing Fingers & Start Providing Answers.”
That came less than a day after Pepper issues a Saturday press release pointing the finger of blame for the audit’s findings at his opponent.
Calling it “Phil’s $2 Billion Dilemma,” Pepper noted the audit – that admitted it’s pronouncement that Hamilton County improperly $1.7 billion in federal funds for poor families and children was speculative because a real number couldn’t be determined – ran from 2002 to 2004.
Those are Heimlich’s first two years as commissioner.
17 Comments:
at 12:34 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 12:34 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 12:52 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 1:21 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 2:24 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 3:44 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 5:44 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 5:49 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 6:12 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 7:27 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 7:58 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 8:30 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 9:42 PM, September 18, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 1:11 AM, September 19, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 7:21 AM, September 19, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 8:16 AM, September 19, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 8:22 AM, September 19, 2006 
Anonymous said...
-
-
Post a Comment*Didn't Phil renovate his office with county money, hire some friends for several boards, and then refuse to spend 6 million on a jail, but yet he's overseen the county that is 1.7 billion in debt? Hard to explain this was Philly.
Didn't Phil renovate his office with county money, hire some friends for several boards, and then refuse to spend 6 million on a jail, but yet he's overseen the county that is 1.7 billion in debt? Hard to explain this was Philly.
That guy that robbed the Fifth Third this morning in Price Hill was said to have brown hair and a young looking, clean shaven face. I think it was Cranley.
I didn't even have to see your name before I knew that you had written this piece Kimball. Your little jab at Pepper and subtle defense of Heimlich in the closing paragraph are your trademarks. Why don't you go work for the Heimlich campaign instead of just being their waterboy. Or is it that you are not confident enough that Heimlich will win and you're hedging your bets?
Duh. What's outrageous is that the two entities caught in the middle here are blaming one another, when the whole system is broken.
Of course people who are not in power, and have nothing to do with it, can blame them. They're the ones who caused it.
Two BILLION dollars are misappropriated and the Enquirer runs an editorial the other day that attempted to minimize the disaster by saying it was only a matter of "beauracratic bickering", and not a real problem. In the same editorial, they quoted Ron Roberts-he of the innumerable bankruptcies- as a credible county representative saying that all is well, nothing to see here folks, keep moving. Well, that settles that.
Heckuva job, Enquirer.
kimball -what the hell??????
carrie
are you dense or what? - what they are saying to all the republicans running this state is -stop blaming each other ( GOd knows you can't pin this incompetence on a single democrat)and you guysin office should try to find a resolution.
the finger is clearly pointed at heimlich and the republican party's rule by corruption program for the current office holders
Pepper acts like Heimlich is the only Hamilton County Commissioner. Lest we forget that Odd Todd was also a commissioner during during the time the alledged overpayments were made.
Nice try. Lest we forget Heimlich and Dewine ignore Portune because they have their 2 against 1 votes
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060904/NEWS01/609040345/-1/back01
Portune battles party lines
Democrat remains odd man out on commission
BY KIMBALL PERRY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
He's the longest-serving commissioner.
He has received more votes from the electorate than the other two commissioners.
But Democrat Todd Portune is almost powerless to shape Hamilton County government because the other commissioners - both Republicans - rarely support his initiatives.
Since the three current commissioners began serving together in 2005, there have been 28 times when an issue resulted in a 2-1 vote. Portune was on the losing end on all but two of those votes. Does it matter? It does if these issues - on which Portune lost - are important:
Who the county administrator is - the man who runs the county's daily operations.
How the county's $250 million annual operating revenue should be spent.
Who should be in charge of the $600 million Banks riverfront development.
Portune believes his input is vital to guiding county government - deciding issues including whether a landfill can expand, which property taxes the public can vote on and what the rate of sewer bills should be.
The political reality is the Republican duo - Pat DeWine and Phil Heimlich - controls the commission and uses that, they say, to run a more efficient government that uses less taxpayer money.
IN LIMBO
The Hamilton County commission is the only one in Southwest Ohio with a 2-1 party split. In Butler, Warren and Clermont counties, Republicans enjoy a 3-0 advantage.
That leaves Portune in political limbo when he can't attract a second vote.
Portune recalled the time from 2000 to 2002 - when he served with Republican Commissioners John Dowlin and Tom Neyer Jr. - "the good old days." That's because the commissioners were more willing to compromise on key issues.
Now, Portune has lashed out. He:
Publicly lambasted the other commissioners, accusing them of "hijacking" the county budget;
Chewed out County Administrator Patrick Thompson in a public meeting, saying Thompson needs to keep him better informed on what he is working on;
Complained he often learns of major decisions - such as the deal to sell Hamilton County-owned property at Drake Hospital to another private health-care alliance - by reading the newspaper or talking to reporters.
Just last month, Heimlich proposed a quarter-cent sales tax increase for 20 years to build a new jail. DeWine fought to earn a compromise with Heimlich to decrease it to 10 years.
Portune was almost irrelevant, despite his efforts to change the sales tax proposal on this fall's ballot.
At the Aug. 21 meeting, Portune offered four resolutions aimed at amending the jail funding plan. None was voted on because neither Heimlich nor DeWine seconded the motion to have them voted on.
Portune views Heimlich and DeWine as unwilling to compromise or listen to his ideas.
"They act around the hardball style of politics which is 'We don't need your vote and therefore we don't need you,' " Portune said.
They suggest Portune is a whiner unwilling to accept political reality. "Sometimes you're outvoted. That's not a federal case," DeWine said.
NOT THAT UNUSUAL
Portune's situation isn't unique.
"The minority party, to some extent, is always marginalized," said Doug Putnam, an attorney for the County Commission Association of Ohio, an agency that helps promote interests of county governments to Ohio lawmakers.
end
One party rule. How's that working out Ohioans?
Coingate:
In 2005, the party faced what some have labelled the "Coingate" scandal, in which Republican fund-raiser and coin dealer Tom Noe was awarded contracts by James Conrad, the chief of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, to invest $50 million of government funds in rare coin collections. Noe's organization, the Capital Coin Fund has been unable to account for $12 million of that money and 121 coins (worth a total of $400,000) have been lost.
Noe, who headed the Bush re-election campaign in Lucas County, and his wife, Bernadette Noe (the chairwoman of the Lucas County Republican Party through 2004), had, over a period of 15 years, contributed a total of $200,000 to Republican candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. A grand jury is currently considering whether there is evidence that Noe, a Bush Pioneer, violated campaign funding laws by funneling further donations to Republicans through dummy parties, and whether some or all of this money came from government coffers.
It has subsequently been revealed that over the course of the Taft administration, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation made more bad investments, resulting in a total loss of $225 million.
Bob Ney
In four separate guilty pleas, Jack Abramoff, former DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz all said Ney had used his position to grant favors to the Abramoff lobbying team in exchange for gifts, including a free trips to the Super Bowl, Northern Marianas Islands, Scotland, the use of luxury boxes at sporting events, and concerts and meals.
In November 2005, it was reported that Ney had set up a legal defense fund for himself in connection with the Abramoff case. Documents filed in the House in January 2006 showed that the Ethics Committee had approved the organization papers for the fund. The fund raised $40,000 between January and March 2006, and nothing between April and June 2006. As of June 30, 2006, the fund had not yet spent any money for Ney's legal expenses.
Ney's withdrawal from the race means that can use his remaining campaign funds (almost half a million dollars) for his legal defense
Abramoff's plea agreement also details his practice of hiring former congressional staffers. Abramoff used these persons' influence to lobby their former Congressional employers, in violation of a one-year federal ban on such lobbying. Named in the DoJ indictment are two Abramoff colleagues, “Staffer A” and “Staffer B”, who are Tony Rudy and Ney's former chief of staff, Neil Volz (who left Ney's office to work as a lobbyist for Barnes & Thornburg.
Ney is also implicated in the separate Abramoff SunCruz Casinos scandal. The conduct alleged is that Ney twice entered statements into the Congressional Record at Scanlon's request in exchange for a $10,000 contribution.
In March 2000, before a deal for Abramoff and others to purchase SunCruz was closed, Ney entered the following comments into the Congressional Record that were critical of the management of SunCruz. It is alleged that this statement was intended to pressure SunCruz to sell to Abramoff on terms favorable to the latter.
Boulis sold SunCruz to Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan.
In a truth is stranger than fiction twist soon after selling SunCruz, Boulis was shot to death in his car on a Fort Lauderdale street. Anthony Moscatiello (Big Tony) and James Fiorillo (Pudgy), both Florida residents, were arrested in September 2005 in connection with the murder. Anthony Ferrari (Little Tony) was also detained in connection with the killing at the same time in New York.
On August 11, 2005, Abramoff and Kidan were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on fraud charges relating to a fake $23 million bank transfer as downpayment on the purchase of SunCruz. Kidan pled guilty on December 15, 2005. Abamoff pled guilty on January 4, 2006
In addition in October of 2000, it s alleged that Ney, like other Republicans in the House, was under pressure to raise money for the Republican National Congressional Committee (RNCC) in October 2000, a month prior to the November elections. In an October 23 e-mail from Abramoff to Scanlon, Abramoff asked “Would 10K for NRCC from Suncruz for Ney help?” Scanlon replied, “Yes, a lot! But would have to give them a definite answer — and they need it this week….”
The $10,000 was sent to the RNCC within days, and Ney got credit for raising it. Scanlon wrote a draft statement for Ney that praised Adam Kidan, the main partner of Abramoff in purchasing SunCruz. Ney then inserted the statement into the 26 October Congressional Record, praising the new more responsible management, under Kidan, of Sun Cruz.
Pepper acts like Heimlich is the only Hamilton County Commissioner. Lest we forget that Odd Todd was also a commissioner during during the time the alledged overpayments were made.
Oh, like the wRong wingnuts would listen !
Give us a Break !
heimlich and company should be taken to court for their tactics to exclude portune ( and the 250K voters he represents) fromcounty business. point in fact,last weeks contract with butler county -portune's office had no advance knowledge prior to the bocc meeting.,
heimlich has successfully protected portune from any accountability for events in this county since he came into office.
bad move heimlich - at least if you had included him - you could have blamedhim-- instead, it is all on you.
take those "tax savings" you got for screwingover people who needhelp (like seniors, mr/dd, poor,etc) and use them to pay off the $200M +, heimlich .
Let me guess who made this comment? Is that you Smeagol? Or is it Gollum?
More biased reporting from the Heimlich campaign, er, Kimball....
Lest we forget who reviews the amount of property taxed levied?
Dear Anonymous 12:52 p.m.
Shoulda been catchin those 40 winks instead of slamming Cranley.
Slam dunk: Cranley didnot use police to cut line, stop parade, and join half way like Chabot did a while back. He shoulda stayed home that day. Lost my vote.
Two points: Hoot with owls, cant soar with eagles.
Anonymous 12:52 p.m. (You still eating lunch! Get back to work!)
No, that was craven-Hobbit DeWine, remember?
* Our online blogs currently are hosted and operated by a third party, namely, Blogger.com. You are now leaving the Cincinnati.Com website and will be linked to Blogger.com's registration page. The Blogger.com site and its associated services are not controlled by Cincinnati.Com and different terms of use and privacy policy will apply to your use of the Blogger.com site and services.
By proceeding and/or registering with Blogger.com you agree and understand that Cincinnati.Com is not responsible for the Blogger.com site you are about to access or for any service you may use while on the Blogger.com site.
<< Home