BuckeyeBlog

The Cleveland Plain Dealer finds that Cuyahoga County had a chance to save $2 million on the construction of its juvenile justice facility. The construction of that facility is being investigated by the FBI in connection with the Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo raid. The story speaks for itself but I figured I’d link to it because this involves state taxpayer money and you’d have a hard time hearing about this if you weren’t a Plain Dealer reader (calling the Columbus Dispatch…):

Cuyahoga County Commissioners celebrated as they signed a $2.75 million deal to buy land from Sunrise Land Co., a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. That deal ended a more than 14-year battle to find a home for a much-needed county juvenile detention center. There were lengthy speeches, applause and even jokes, according to a tape of that Feb. 29, 2000, meeting.

Commissioner Jane Campbell introduced her newest colleague, Jimmy Dimora, quipping that after “14 years of sturm und drang … you come here and in one year it got fixed. Want to, like, enlighten us?”

“It’s being Italian,” Dimora wisecracked. “You make people an offer they can’t refuse.”

Everyone laughed.

But the deal really wasn’t funny. Just seven months earlier, the county could have saved taxpayers more than $2 million by snatching up the property itself up before the land was sold to Sunrise.

The Plain Dealer reports that prominent Democrats are calling for Jimmy Dimora to resign his position as county Democratic chairman in light of an investigation that centers on him and Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo. Although these “prominent Democrats” aren’t named, Governor Ted Strickland isn’t one of them. He says that it wouldn’t be “appropriate” for him to ask Dimora to resign.

Strickland’s reticence on this is amazing. Here he has a powerful Democratic Party county chairman who is also a county commissioner who is under federal investigation for a rash of financial improprieties and other misbehavior. A few months ago we had an Attorney General some of you may remember named Marc Dann. It was alleged Dann did some bad things, too — sexual harassment and an affair with a subordinate. No one investigated Dann for funneling money to his cronies or for getting free work done at his residence or for the systematic abuse of power that seems to be pervasive in Cuyahoga County. But for his relatively minor transgressions Dann faced a united Democratic front — led by Governor Strickland — who called for his resignation.

So why is the case of Dimora and Russo any different? Dann wasn’t under indictment, only under investigation, just like Russo and Dimora. But Dann’s alleged crimes pale in comparison to the alleged crimes of Dimora and Russo. The governor was correct in asking Dann to resign. I’m curious as to why he seems to have lost his zeal for ethical behavior in the Dimora and Russo case.

While the state’s main papers seem oblivious to the scandal unfoding in Cuyahoga County, at least some members of the media are asking why Governor Strickland is treating this differently than the Marc Dann episode. From the Hillsboro Times Gazette:

Shortly after former Attorney General Marc Dann held a news conference in May to answer questions about a sexual harassment scandal involving a top aide, the response from Democrats was quick and forceful: resign or be impeached.

Yet two weeks have passed since the FBI in Cleveland raided the offices and homes of Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy DiMora and Auditor Frank Russo, and the Democratic Party’s response has been muted.

The party issued an initial statement that the two men should be held accountable if there was wrongdoing, but has not supplied the almost daily pressure it did with Dann.

The FBI seized documents related to fundraising, travel and deals with contractors in the searches, which were also conducted at local businesses with county contracts.

What explains the differences in the party’s reactions to the developing scandals? After all, neither Dann, who did eventually resign, nor DiMora or Russo, have been charged with any crimes.

The answer? Politics:

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After the police raid targeting Cuyahoga County officials Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo, David Hansen wondered why the New York Times had spent so much attention on Senator Ted Stevens but didn’t mention this scandal at all. Well, about a week-and-a-half late, the Times did indeed feature an article about the shenanigans in Cuyahoga County, although its angle was about how it would affect Barack Obama’s chance of winning the state.

It’s shameful that it took the Times this long to report on the story and it’s even worse that they chose not to actually delve into the details of the issue. As pointed out in David Hansen’s post on the issue, there are twice as many people who live in Cuyahoga County than live in Alaska. These folks under investigation are responsible for spending over a billion dollars in tax money. This investigation is a big deal. But I guess stories about things like the judging of baked goods at the Marquette County Fair are more important.