Official says he isn’t required to be neutral

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An Ohio official who’s accused of favoring unions says his job description doesn’t prohibit him from being biased.

Ohio School Facilities Commission director Richard Murray says the state watchdog was wrong when he called for Murray to be neutral with unions.

The inspector-general’s report says Murray backed a $37 million labor agreement that would pay a union to which Murray still belongs.

Murray says he never twisted school officials’ arms to get them to contract with union labor like the report claims.

The School Facilities Commission hands out more than $1 billion a year for school construction. It was created in 1997 to work with local districts on school renovation and construction projects.

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