Son of Channel 19 CEO gave Former Mayor $119,000

[Donald Farris]

Hi,
Did you see this?
David Maltz gave $119,000 to Tom George's Lakewood campaign

Wow!

Isn't our new Mayor a "Progressive Democrat" too?

[Bill Call]

$24,000 was donated after the campaign.

Expenditures on the Post General campaign report were $134,000, About $115,000 to Melamed Communications. See

http://www.cleveland.com/chagrinheralds ... xml&coll=4

[Brian Pedaci]

We know what Giltz had at stake with his contribution -- what return on his investment could Maltz possibly have envisioned?

[Jim O'Bryan]

We know what Giltz had at stake with his contribution -- what return on his investment could Maltz possibly have envisioned?

Brian


Sometimes, money has to change hands just for appearance.

This was disappointing to say the least.


.

[Kenneth Warren]

Jim:

Of course you are disappointed. The spinning minions in LO media empire could have put $100K to excellent use.

But to make clearer sense of “the progressive Democratâ€Â￾ spin to this story, I suggest reading between the lines and unpacking Mayor’s George’s “progressiveâ€Â￾ campaign claims against Lakewood’s reputation as a neighborhood hospitable to the gay and lesbian community.

Perhaps through the Lee Fisher connection as noted by Ms. Kavanaugh, cultural concerns for Lakewood as a progressive space for the gay and lesbian community were expressed by George supporters among Stonewall Democrats.

Perhaps such concern could have generated an extraordinary check from Mr. Maltz, who was active in the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, which in turn supported the public relations services of Melamed Communications whose president, Alan Melamed “served as Campaign Manager for Ohioans Protecting the Constitution leading the statewide campaign against the so-called Gay Marriage Amendment to the Ohio Constitution.â€Â￾

It’s a sizable draw down from a war chest by players in the culture war to save the “underdogâ€Â￾ incumbent Mayor of a legendary gay city enshrined in Trivial Pursuit.

In retrospect, there is an irony when considering the first George campaign theme – “Stand Up For Lakewoodâ€Â￾ – which to my ear played an evocative contra-progressive tune – brilliantly timed to press buttons among both anti-47 voters those cultural conservatives disturbed by the Rainbow Flag at City Hall.

Anyway, that’s my reading of the cultural and political thematics motivating such an extraordinary check.

Kenneth Warren

[Jay Foran]

Okay, is anyone else catching the numeric symbolism?

$119,000....why not $120,000. Who writes a check for such an odd number? For someone writing a check in excess of $100K, $1,000 is a rounding error.

add in another $24,000...... adds up to $143,000 (not $134K as noted earlier). Again, why not $25,000?

Aren't 19 and 43 the call numbers for the channels this guy owns?

[Lynn Farris]

I think the 24,000 was a mistake and it was included in the 119,000. But your right Jay, I was puzzling on that. If one is inclined to donate that much, they give 100,000 or 120,000 or 125,000. It doesn't appear that this much was given as a donation in kind e.g., air time. So someone actually sat down and wrote a check for $119,000. So there had to be a reason and your answer Jay is as good as any I've heard.

In Obama's speech the other night he talked about a woman sending him a money order for $3.01. Another odd amount. I can see the $3.00 - but why tack on .01. I'm assuming the Bible verse that was inside the money order was somehow related. Just another odd amount sent to a candidate.

Ken, you may be right, as you frequently are, but somehow I don't see Tom George as the salvation of the Stonewall Democrats. Not enough for that kind of money. They did endorse him - but it wasn't as if he was running against a homophobic candidate. Fitzgerald had voted pretty much along democratic lines on Gay issues. In fact, I saw the two of them as fairly comparable on this issue.

I was wondering if George being tied to regionalism played a part.

Or if I was reading Jim's post correctly, money from another source e.g., perhaps Glitz was being funneled?

Very interesting.

I do hope we look into this and discuss seriously as a community if campaign finance reform needs to be done in Lakewood. Should there be a cap? Should only people from Lakewood be able to contribute?

Are outside developers having undue influence? I did think it was intriguing also to see the amount of contributors to the campaigns from Lakewood citizens and people outside Lakewood.

While we have had campaign finance laws at various levels does this infringe on the 1st amendment? Or does it keep Lakewood from being bought from rich outside interests?

What is your opinion?

[Ryan Salo]

"George paid an amount almost equal to the Maltz contribution to Melamed Communications. The company provided consulting services and helped devise TV commercials and brochures.

The Cleveland firm has worked for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and has been a long-time adviser to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.

Years ago, George worked for then-Attorney General Fisher.

Company President Alan Melamed said Maltz called after the mayor placed a distant second in the October primary. Maltz asked if Melamed could help George's campaign in the general election.

Melamed agreed, but told him it would be a "significant long shot." "

Quote from original link

Doesn't this answer the odd donation amount question? It sounds like Maltz called before he wrote the check to Tom, got a quote and then wrote Tom a check to cover the expense.

Bill - Do you have the exact amount George paid Melamed Communications?

[Bill Call]

Bill - Do you have the exact amount George paid Melamed Communications?

$114,677.20 during the period covered by the most recent report.

I was more intrigued by the Melameds involvement in various development projects around the county. Coupled with the large donation given to the George campaign by the buyers of Drug Mart Plaza it led me to wonder if the donations were purchasing more than air time.

At least the large donations enabled George to pay himself what what was owed to him by his campaign.

I am not sure I believe that the donations given by Maltz were just given to offer support to a "progressive" Democrat. There is something else. I posted a post on this for about ten seconds but deleted it because it seemed a little harsh. Now that it is out in the open...

What was promised? If it was a promise for support of development in Lakewood I would like to know what those promises were. If there were promises made for development projects George would have been better served by campaigning on them rather than keeping it a secret.

The only campaign finance law I support is one of immediate disclosure. People should be able to raise and spend as much money as they can raise or spend.

Cain outspent George, George won. George outspent Fitgerald, Fitgerald won. John McCain is out of money and he is the next Republican nominee.

Just one other disjointed thought: Who runs this City anyway?

[Dee Martinez]

Just one other disjointed thought: Who runs this City anyway?

Nobody runs this city. Thats the good news and the bad news.
Its good because no one really seems to be making a huge profit out of Lakewood. Its bad because nothing really seems to ever get done. Im of the belief that you can be TOO clean. It wasnt the Quakers who built the railroads
Whatever the donation was expected to gain for Mr Maltz, he didnt get it. The guy who had the money lost., as you astutely pointed out.

Maybe at the end of the day, the PEOPLE conflicted and disjointed as we are actually run the city. Is that good?

[Joe Whisman]

Here's a quick summary. $119,000.00 + 3961 votes cast for Tom George= $30.04 per vote.

[sharon kinsella]

Everyone is assuming that the donation that David Maltz gave was quid pro quo.

I am not a friend of David Maltz, but I have seen him at different functions and know his reputation. His reputation is that of a philanthropist that channels funds to organizations and causes he believes in.

He is not a developer and $119,000 when measured against the funding he manages is a drop in the bucket.

He can't take a deduction for his contribution because it is over the limit, well maybe $5,000.00. Obviously he believed in Tom George and wanted to help him get the PR backing to get elected. Unfortunately for Tom George, it was too late.

Conjecture is all well and good, but unless someone can show how he would have personally benefited from that contribution, consider the option of his backing someone who he thought was doing good in public service.

[Bill Call]

Nobody runs this city. That's the good news and the bad news.
Its good because no one really seems to be making a huge profit out of Lakewood. Its bad because nothing really seems to ever get done. I'm of the belief that you can be TOO clean. It wasn't the Quakers who built the railroads

Graft is the oil of the bureaucracy.

It's not graft that bothers me, its small town graft.

That's a generalization and is not meant to cast aspersions on our City officials past or present.