Resignation is insufficient punishment for Gerberry

If political stupidity were a major crime, state Rep. Ronald Gerberry would be on his way to prison because of the stunt he is reported to have pulled with his campaign finances.

Vindicator politics writer David Skolnick detailed the misdemeanor crime in a front-page story Tuesday, and he quoted three sources who said the veteran state lawmaker would plead guilty. On Tuesday, Gerberry issued his letter of resignation, effective Aug. 21.

Gerberry, a Democrat from Austintown who has been involved in Mahoning County politics for more than four decades, also will agree not to run for elected office for the next seven years.

Given that the sentencing was not official as of this writing, readers may wonder why we’re rushing to editorialize on Gerberry’s reported political fall from grace. The reason is simply this: We do not believe that resignation and a pledge not to run for public office for seven years is adequate punishment.

While we concede that what the state representative reportedly has done does not rise to the level of government corruption that is the foundation of the ongoing Oakhill Renaissance criminal-conspiracy case, we firmly believe that political stupidity on the part of someone who knows better should not be shrugged off. Note that we said, “who knows better,” rather than “who should know better.” We make that distinction because Gerberry has been a part of the Mahoning Valley’s political scene long enough to have witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly.

There has been a lot of bad and ugly: officeholders hauled off to prison in handcuffs; mobsters admitting to bribing government officials; prominent businessmen and women using the public sector as their private playground; and elected officials slopping at the public trough with little or no regard for the people who keep it filled – the taxpayers.

Gerberry has been one of the most prolific seekers of public office in the area, going from the Austintown school board to the Ohio House of Representatives to the Mahoning County Recorder’s Office and then back to the House of Representatives. He was 19 when he began his political career.

POLITICAL FIXTURE

In other words, Gerberry has been a fixture in the Valley’s political scene and has had the distinction of never losing an election.

In the interest of full disclosure, we admit that he has received the endorsement of The Vindicator more often than not.

Indeed, in our 2014 editorial supporting his re-election bid, we said the incumbent “wins hands-down in knowing the ropes of lawmaking in Columbus.” And we added this: “It’s not, however, merely Gerberry’s quantity of public service that makes him the best choice; the quality of his service also stands out.”

At the time of the editorial, there was nothing to indicate that we would be eating our words today.

Playing fast and loose with campaign- finance laws demands punishment that goes beyond Gerberry’s strolling off into the sunset with his lucrative public pension in tow.

According to Skolnick’s story Tuesday, Gerberry is cooperating with prosecutors and will plead to the crime of unlawful compensation. The story provides details of the crime, and while supporters of the state lawmaker may think this is much ado about nothing, we would pose this question to them: Should we not expect a higher standard of behavior from someone who has spent his entire adult life on the public payroll?

Yes, we should – which is why we believe he deserves harsher punishment than resignation and a seven-year ban on seeking public office.

What is the appropriate punishment for someone who has been around long enough to know better?

Our first inclination is incarceration – albeit for a brief period. It would send a clear message to others who are inclined to skirt the rules that there are serious consequences to breaking the law.

But we know that time behind bars is a nonstarter. Therefore, we urge prosecutors to add a stiff fine to Gerberry’s punishment because the bottom line of his crime was that he was too cheap to contribute his fair share to the Ohio Democratic Party.

Short of that, we would like to see the state lawmaker walking around town wearing a dunce cap (his specialty in the House was education) because that’s what he is, a political dunce.