Democrats propose state-government watchdog measures

From The Columbus Dispatch Even though they know it’s probably futile because they’re Democrats in a GOP-dominated legislative world, a quintet from the minority party rolled out five proposals yesterday to open up state government and bring more accountability to public officials.

“I don’t think this is a Democratic issue or a Republican issue,” said one of the group, Rep. John Patrick Carney of Columbus. “I believe that there are Republicans in the General Assembly who completely agree with us on this issue, and I’m hopeful that they’ll step forward.”

Rep. Mike Curtin of Marble Cliff, said, “The issues we are talking about today are all foundation stones for good government: transparency, accountability, honoring citizens, honoring taxpayers.”

Rep. Connie Pillich of Montgomery acknowledged that the Democrats weren’t raising new issues; some already are contained in Democratic bills, although none has gotten a hearing. But she said governments both in Washington and Columbus are highly unpopular now, and “people are really crying for accountability.”

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Blade investigation discovers half of companies receiving state job-creation grants failed to generate promised jobs

From The Blade It’s a numbers game when it comes to job creation in Ohio.

A Blade investigation into whether taxpayer funding creates jobs revealed state documents contain vastly skewed numbers — inflating the number of jobs created by more than 11,000.

Officials at the Ohio Development Services Agency said they improved the process for tracking whether state loans, grants, and tax credits stimulate job growth, but The Blade found the state agency still is largely unaware if companies create the jobs they promise.

About 37 percent of the grant reports that businesses submitted to the state contained errors, including incorrect job-creation numbers. The Blade received reports that were dated as early as 2006 and continued through 2013.

The inaccurate grant reports are an example of lapses in the way Ohio manages its business incentives. The state often is in the dark about problems at firms and is hard-pressed to recoup the money it lends or gives to companies that fail to create jobs.

The state is dependent on the word of companies to assess whether they actually create jobs. Firms self-report their employment numbers via the Internet. Although the Development Services Agency, formerly the Ohio Department of Development, is responsible for keeping track of job-related data, its employees almost never visit businesses that receive state incentives.

And now, most of the records related to job growth are shielded from public scrutiny.

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Ohio Supreme Court rules that a governor's pardon does not automatically seal records of the crime

From The Plain Dealer The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that a person granted a pardon by the governor is not automatically entitled to have the records of their crime and conviction sealed from public view.

Rather, absent requirements in Ohio’s law that it be granted automatically, it should be evaluated on a case by case basis to determine if it is appropriate, the court ruled.

The case involved a woman from Cleveland, Montoya Boykin, who had multiple convictions for theft and receiving stolen property from the early and mid-1990s.

In 2007, Boykin requested a pardon for her crimes. The state’s parole board voted unanimously to recommend clemency, and in November 2009 then-Gov. Ted Strickland pardoned Boykin for four crimes.

Following the pardon, Boykin sought to have her convictions sealed in Summit County Common Pleas Court and in Akron Municipal Court. She argued that the governor’s pardon entitles her to have her records in these cases sealed.

Both courts denied her motions, as did the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals. She then appealed to the Supreme Court.

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There's good as well as the bad and ugly about JobsOhio

Editorial from The Plain Dealer At this stage of Campaign ’14 –- formalities aside, it’s well under way -– Democrats seem be advancing two key arguments for replacing Republican Gov. John Kasich with Cuyahoga County’s Democratic executive Ed FitzGerald.

The first is this: That Kasich and fellow Republicans in the General Assembly are reducing the financial subsidies that local governments (among the multitude, 88 counties, 938 cities and villages and 1,308 townships) have long received from Columbus. That topic requires comment all its own, in a later editorial.

The second anti-Kasich thrust is this: The General Assembly authorized Kasich, as he desired it to do, to incorporate the quasi-private JobsOhio to replace most functions of the very public Department of Development. And that law requires JobsOhio to promote “economic development, job creation, job retention, job training, and the recruitment of business to [Ohio].”

Politically, that’s as safe as praising motherhood. In so many words, though, Democrats imply JobsOhio is (a) little more than a publicity stunt to sell brand Kasich; (b) a now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t scheme to make Kasich’s rich allies richer by shoveling state resources their way; or (c) both.

Actually, JobsOhio’s political message (as opposed to its policy message) is that Kasich, at a time when confidence in government action is low, uses a private-sector model to promote private-sector jobs. That has to be a powerful theme to out-of-state Republicans looking over other Republicans for higher office.

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OCOG Supreme Court Analysis:

In 2015 the Ohio Coalition for Open Government analyzed Ohio Supreme Court cases to determine if the court was favoring the government or the public in cases involving access to public records and meetings.

To access this analysis, which is continually updated as new open government cases are decided, go here.

Ohio's OVI offense database is error-ridden

From The Newark Advocate Ernest Kirk, of Ross County, doesn’t appear in a database created so the public can track habitually drunken drivers, despite facing his 11th operating a vehicle while under the influence charge after 10 convictions.

He’s not the only one. The registry doesn’t include Mark J. Welsh, a Licking County man serving five years for his ninth OVI, or Steven Cole, a Columbus man arrested last week on his eighth OVI.

The online registry of habitual OVI offenders was established by a 2008 law to inform the public about dangerous drivers — those convicted of at least five OVI offenses within 20 years. But in the five years since its inception, the database has become a clearinghouse of misinformation, according to a CentralOhio.com investigation.

Only 75 courts from 46 counties have submitted data to the habitual OVI offender registry in five years. The registry provided to CentralOhio.com includes 522 names, but 38 are duplicates and two individuals are listed three times.

Licking County Municipal Court clerks have submitted 18 names to the registry since 2008, and the most recent entry was in November 2012. Three names were listed twice on the registry and one woman was listed three times. Licking County Common Pleas Court, where Welsh was sentenced, has never submitted a name to the registry.

Municipal court Clerk Marcia Phelps said her staff marks case files of individuals facing their fifth OVI conviction and sends forms to the department of public safety if they are convicted of driving impaired.

Ohio law requires the state department of public safety to establish and maintain the registry, which includes individuals whose fifth or subsequent OVI conviction occurred after Sept. 30, 2008. A person with five OVI convictions before 2008 would not be listed on the registry.

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