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Port authority members and staff attend ethics training
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Ohio laws regarding conflict of interest can put a port authority in a difficult position, but it also can put a port authority member in prison, two attorneys advised during a training session Friday.
Five of the eight members of the Western Reserve Port Authority and several WRPA staff members attended a presentation by attorneys David Rogers and Lark Malory of Frost, Brown, Todd LLC of Columbus.
The session at the Wean Foundation offices advised officials on Ohio’s open-meetings and public-records laws and gave them a short course on ways their business and private interests can conflict with their position as a public official.
In one example, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority asked the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority to handle financing for the $230 million Crocker Park shopping mall near Cleveland in 2003 because a Cleveland port authority member had close ties with the project.
The Toledo port authority earned about $1 million that normally would have gone to the Cleveland authority.
In that situation, the Cleveland port authority had to decide whether to lose the financing deal or lose a valued member of its board, Atty. David Rogers said.
John Loftus, longtime port authority official in Toledo and Cleveland, said the Cleveland port was overly generous by giving the financing deal to Toledo and that the resignation of the port authority member would have made more sense.
Loftus said it can be complicated to interpret Ohio ethics law relating to these types of conflicts, and it can take more than a year to get guidance from the Ohio Ethics Commission.
But the alternative to getting good legal advice is running the risk of being convicted of a felony, he said.
Gov. Bob Taft was convicted of violating Ohio’s ethics laws in 2005 for failing to file a financial disclosure form relating to golf outings and gifts from lobbyists and businessmen that exceeded $75. The misdemeanor resulted in a $4,000 fine and an apology to Ohioans.
A discussion of gifts and lunches by Atty. Lark T. Malory produced a warning that the port authority members should “be careful” and “write a check, pay for the lunch.”
She said officials won’t have problems with Ohio law regarding having a public interest in a private contract if they don’t participate in discussions or vote on matters that benefit them, their family member or their business interests.
“If you’re feeling uncomfortable, talk to your [legal adviser] and abstain from it,” Malory said.
No Trumbull or Mahoning county commissioners attended the session, and port authority members Rick Schiraldi, Don Hanni III and Scott Lynn were absent. The port authority has had at least one previous training session in recent years.