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Ex-state Rep. Ron Gerberry slow in giving campaign funds to charities
YOUNGSTOWN
Despite saying after a criminal conviction five months ago that he would give what was left of his campaign fund to charities, ex-state Rep. Ronald V. Gerberry has given only a small portion of money to those organizations.
And the rest of the donations from his campaign fund may not be given to charities by June 30, Gerberry said.
“It takes time to write a check,” Gerberry said Friday in his first interview since Aug. 21, 2015, the day he was found guilty of a misdemeanor count of unlawful compensation of a public official.
Gerberry, an Austintown Democrat who, with 27 years was the most-senior member of the Ohio House before his resignation, told The Vindicator that he was too busy after his conviction – completing 500 hours of community service – to write checks.
“From Sept. 9 to the week before Thanksgiving, I was working full time – sometimes 50 hours and six days a week,” he said. “It was two months and eight days. I wanted to get it over.”
The community service was split between the local St. Vincent de Paul dining hall and Goodwill Industries, Gerberry said.
A campaign finance report Gerberry filed Friday with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office shows he had $46,469 in his campaign fund as of Aug. 21, his resignation date from the Ohio House.
Since then, Gerberry has written $3,180 in checks to charitable organizations.
That includes two $1,000 checks from his campaign fund to Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries on Nov. 17, a $180 check to Goodwill Junior Group on Dec. 7, and a $1,000 check to the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley on Dec. 21.
That leaves $43,140 in his campaign account as of Dec. 31.
Gerberry said he’s “given more away since Jan. 1 and will continue to do that.” He added he didn’t remember how much he’s given.
When asked if he would have the donations disbursed before June 30, the deadline date for his next campaign finance report, Gerberry said, “I don’t know how long it will take.”
The conviction stemmed from Gerberry’s hiding campaign money from the Ohio House Democratic Caucus in 2009 and 2010 so he wouldn’t have to pay higher contribution amounts to the caucus. That money is used to help Democrats get elected to the House.
Gerberry admitted to “intentionally overpaying my media consultant with the understanding that what money was not spent on media would be refunded to my campaign.”
His media consultant was Harry Strabala of Youngstown. A review of Gerberry’s campaign finance reports showed he had about $45,000 refunded by Strabala’s two consulting firms.
It was later disclosed that Strabala has worked for years with law enforcement related to local government corruption by secretly taping various politicians. Strabala’s tapes are key pieces of evidence in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-corruption case. Gerberry is also a prosecution witness in that case.
Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court found Gerberry guilty Aug. 21 of the misdemeanor and gave him a 180-day suspended jail sentence, three years of unsupervised probation, a $1,000 fine and 500 hours of community service.
Giving the money in his campaign fund was not part of his sentence, but Gerberry said after his conviction that he would give it to six charities he wouldn’t name.
“Then I gave it more thought and decided I didn’t want to give that amount of money to six charities,” he said Friday. “I decided to give money to a number of charities.”
Gerberry said he asked some of his donors to give him suggestions as to what charities should receive the money.
“The process of writing checks takes a long time,” he said without giving details.