Lori Allen _ wrote:Meanwhile, we are still waiting for an explanation from Councilperson Cindy Marx regarding her relationship with a James W. Kemp Jr. from Huron Consulting. Ms. Marx received a $1,000 campaign contribution from this James W. Kemp Jr. From what I gather, if he would have given $1,000.01, it would have been an ethics violation. It appears this was planned and thought-out.
Slightly off topic, but also note that Ms. Marx's boss, Dr. Raj Joyesh, is Chief of Plastic Surgery at Fairview Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic hospital.
Ms. Marx, care to clear the air and comment on all three issues now?
Thank you for bringing this up Lori. I was going to do it myself today but you got here first!!!
Lakewood's guideline calls anything over a $1000 contribution within 2 years to be an ethics violation. Ms. Marx received her contribution from a Huron Director 18 months before the City officially hired Huron but as you noted, it is $1 shy of the violation mark. (Please note that Kemper is no longer with Huron and I was unable to determine exactly when he left but he definitely WAS a Huron Director at the time Cindy Marx received her campaign contribution from him. )
Not illegal but smells bad...
As does to me the fact that her employer, Plastic Surgeon Dr. Raj is located in the 850 Westlake building that Lakewood gave away ..er sold for under market value to the Cleveland Clinic. While he is NOT a CCF employee ( he was a CCF employee sometime in the past), Dr. Raj heads the small plastic surgery unit at CCF's Fairview Hospital. There may definitely been consequences if Lakewood had sold that building to another bidder, especially another hospital. We will never know what those would have been as Mayor Summers & Friends & City Council refused to consider any other proposals.
In my mind, I believe that Cindy Marx benefitted by CCF being given an unfair advantage in this Master Agreement via her employers close connection to CCF.
I really believe that she should have recused herself from both the vote on City Council's hiring of Huron Consulting to the tune of $90,000 and from the Master Agreement vote that closed our hospital and gave away our assets to CCF for pennies on the dollar.