|
|
|
|
June 1, 2008
Mark Dann’s private expenditures from campaign fund just the tip of the iceberg
As the Mark Dann scandal unwinds, Republican and Democrat party bosses reveal their true colors by pouring out the righteous indignation that former Attorney General Dann used his campaign stash to pay private expenses. However, if the mainstream media would accomplish their due diligence, they would come to the inescapable conclusion that even before Watergate, career politicians have been using campaign cash as a personal ATM. But the ultimate outrage is not that this violates the law, but that campaign funds spent on private expenses often include tax dollars money-laundered through quid pro quo earmarks and other back room deals engineered by local, state and federal elected officials.
Take for example the sweetheart deal in 2003 between the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC) and Greene County Commissioners Marilyn Reid, Ralph Harper and Reed Madden with Congressman Dave Hobson and State Senator Steve Austria cheering them on. The secretive BRAC Initiative Agreement between Greene County Commissioners and the DDC serves as poster-boy for fraud, waste, abuse and corruption in government. All we need to do to prove the point is “follow the money.”
The trail begins with a $100,000 grant and $900,000 interest-free loan from Greene County coffers under the pretense that the Dayton Development Coalition was the only entity that could save Wright Patterson from losing jobs or even complete shutdown. That’s a stretch to say the least, especially since politicians like Steve Austria and Marilyn Reid are pinning their hopes on winning in November on their self-proclaimed success in single-handedly “saving” Wright Patterson. In any case, on September 30th, 2003, the Greene County Commissioners signed the $1.9 million dollar BRAC Initiative Agreement with the Dayton Development Coalition. By the way, someone needs to explain what gave Greene County politicians the authority to obligate their $1 million contribution in the first place, let alone the $900,000 that came from taxpayers outside Greene County. It’s also worth noting that Steve Austria sits on the Coalition’s Wright Patt 2010 Committee as does his spouse Eileen Austria on behalf of Congressman Hobson as his District Director.
Next, through a front organization called “Miami Valley Economic Development Projects,” the Coalition noncompetitively selected The Greentree Group, a Beavercreek information technology support contractor, that in turn noncompetitively assigned work to PMA, a Washington lobbyist, for $560,000. You may find it interesting that Sam Greenwood from Greentree and Briggs Shade from The PMA Group sit on the Wright Patt 2010 Advisory Council. Furthermore, in 2005, the second year of the BRAC contract, JP Nauseef, President and CEO for the Coalition, received a salary of $285,854, more than the Vice-President of the United States and more than twice that of the Ohio governor.
To continue, during the three-year BRAC contract, Greentree officers and Greenwood family members (Sam, Carolyn, Lisa and Travis), contributed over $30,000 to “Hobson for Congress,” and associates and partners with PMA more than $15,000. The Greenwoods also have contributed over $10,000 to “Steve Austria for Congress” since the Greene County Republican announced his candidacy. But the money trail to Hobson and Austria does not stop here.
Most egregious in my opinion, is over $50,000 that “Dave Hobson for Congress” paid Eileen Austria as a “Political Consultant” during the period of performance of the BRAC contract. And this is over and above more than $400,000 dollars Mrs. Austria received in salary as Hobson’s District Director from 2003 to 2006; however Congressman Hobson’s personal and business bank accounts may have benefited as well. His Federal Election Commission disclosures indicate that in 2006, the last year of the BRAC Initiative Agreement, Hobson for Congress paid $5663 to Columbia Gas & Electric, $2307 to Ohio Edison, $1950 to Critter Control of Dayton (to my knowledge, Mr. Hobson did not have a campaign headquarters in Dayton in 2005-2006), $3175 to Magic Master (Painter), Springfield, $1857 to Premier Lawn Maintenance, Springfield and, $38,591 to the Springfield Country Club. All these are appropriate expenditures if they are used exclusively for campaign related expenses, however if
these expenditures provided a benefit unrelated to election or reelection campaigns or were used to maintain Mr. Hobson’s personal residence or his real estate investments, they would clearly violate the law. Furthermore, for the 2006 election cycle, “Hobson for Congress” disclosed $90,044 for “Mastercard Charges,” but did not specify for what purpose(s). If these were for personal or business expenses, Mr. Hobson may have also violated tax laws if he did not declare the expenditures as income, or if he deducted the expenditures as business expenses relating to his real estate investments. This could also explain why Mr. Hobson will retire a multi-millionaire after more than 30 years as a public official on a public servants salary.
While Democrats scramble to minimize the damage done by one of their insider cronies and Republicans continue the recriminations for political gain, let’s not allow the broader corruption to go unnoticed. Before career politicians on both sides of the aisle criticize Democrat Mark Dann, Republican Congressman Bob Ney and others, don’t you think it’s time they come clean on their own campaign finance abuses that illegally or otherwise allow them to gorge themselves at the public trough at taxpayer expense?
John Mitchel
Beavercreek, Ohio
(937) 427-8442
www.patriotpressohio.com
www.reformcongress.com
Paid for by Americans for John Mitchel
