Mayor Summers Receives Advisory Opinions From The OEC

[marklingm]

From the front page of the most recent edition of The Lakewood Observer (http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/issue_pdfs/Observer_Vol_11_Issue_17.pdf) and at the front page of the website at http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2015/08/18/mayor-summers-receives-advisory-opinions-from-the-ohio-ethics-commission:

Mayor Summers Receives Advisory Opinions From The Ohio Ethics Commission

by Jim O'Bryan


Wendy and Mike enjoying LHF's Starry Night Celebration in 2012.

On May 1, 2015, the Ohio Ethics Commission sent Law Director Kevin Butler an advisory opinion based, in part, on Butler’s hypothetical question of: "Can the Mayor participate in decisions regarding the closing of Lakewood Hospital if his wife serves on the board of the foundation?" In response to Butler's question, Ohio Ethics Commission Staff Advisory Attorney John Rawski opined that, "If the proposed agreement with the Cleveland Clinic would result in the dissolution or alteration of the foundation from its present form, the mayor cannot participate in decisions regarding the closing of Lakewood Hospital."

A second Ohio Ethics Commission advisory opinion dated May 8, 2015, clarifies that, as long as Wendy Summers remains Mayor Summers' wife and on the Lakewood Hospital Foundation Board, Mayor Summers is forbidden from participating in any discussions regarding the closing of Lakewood Hospital.

And, yet, Mayor Summers has not only participated in discussions surrounding the closing of Lakewood Hospital in the past and present, Mayor Summers has been on record as leading the discussion, and recommending the closing of the Lakewood Hospital.

So what role does the Ohio Ethics Commission have in addressing potential ethics violations?

The Ohio Ethics Commission has many functions. One function is to address "hypothetical” questions like the two Butler submitted on behalf of Mayor Summers and his wife in the form of advisory opinions, which are intended to help individuals such as Mike and Wendy Summers avoid ethics violations in the future. These advisory opinions are not intended to address prior or current ethics violations.

In order to address prior or current ethics violations, someone must first file a "charge or allegation of unethical conduct" with the Ohio Ethics Commission. These charges/allegations can be filed anonymously and the investigation process is explained further on the OEC's website at http://www.ethics.ohio.gov/investigation/index.shtml.

According to the Ohio Ethics Commission's website, conflicts of interest "are first-degree misdemeanor criminal offenses, punishable by a fine of up to $1000 and/or a maximum of 6 months in jail." Likewise, having an unlawful interest in a public contract is either a “fourth-degree felony criminal offenses, punishable by a fine of up to $5000 and/or a maximum of 18 months in prison" or a “first degree misdemeanor criminal offenses, punishable by a fine of up to $1000 and/or a maximum of 6 months in jail."

The Ohio Ethics Commission does not address issues of "incompatible positions" as those issues are addressed by the Ohio Attorney General as explained at http://www.ethics.ohio.gov/education/factsheets/authority_of_the_ohio_ethics_commission.pdf.

The May 1, 2015 and May 8, 2015 Ohio Ethics Commission advisory opinions only address issues relating to the Lakewood Hospital as submitted by Butler. Neither decision addresses any hypothetical questions relating to Mayor Summers serving on the Board of Directors for First Federal Lakewood or as an At-Large Member for LakewoodAlive.

The purpose of this article is to provide the facts as known at the time of submission relating to both ethics opinions regarding Mayor Summers and his wife. Additional ethical issues are reserved for future articles and discussion.

The two letters submitted to the Ohio Ethics Commission by Butler, as well as both responses, can be viewed at:
2015.04.24.LawDept.Butler-OEC.Nick.Ltr
2015.05.01.01.Rawski-Butler.Ltr
2015.05.01.02.Butler-Rawski.Ltr
Ethics OMG 2015.05.08.Rawski-Butler.Ltr

Questions, comments or concerns regarding the various ethics issues facing public officials and employees should be directed to the Ohio Ethics Commission, which can be contacted at http://www.ethics.ohio.gov/index.shtml.

[cameron karslake]

I love it. Helping to raise money for an entity he's trying to close. Outright fraud anyone? Good job, Mike!

[marklingm]

Here is the May 1, 2015 letter that Law Director Kevin M. Butler sent to Attorney Christopher M. DeVito:

[Bridget Conant]

So Butler HAD that letter since May and the mayor has NOT recused himself from the situation?

Joe Gibbons DID resign from LHA so he apparently knew it was a conflict for him. It also means everyone knew about the OEC letter.

Frankly, its astonishing.

[Brian Essi]

Ethics (also moral philosophy) is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. The term ethics derives from the Ancient Greek word ἠθικός ethikos, which is derived from the word ἦθος ethos (habit, “custom”).

Some people have it---some people don't

[Jim O'Bryan]

So Butler HAD that letter since May and the mayor has NOT recused himself from the situation?

Joe Gibbons DID resign from LHA so he apparently knew it was a conflict for him. It also means everyone knew about the OEC letter.

Frankly, its astonishing.

Bridgette, the Joe Gibbons/Ryan Nowlin piece of the puzzle is in the letters as well.

This is why Joe stepped down, and Ryan can't vote on these things,

I would point out that this is all through public record requests and court discovery.

This is one of the biggest frustrations. This was 4 questions, and took us months to get. All 4
Questions came back as problems or issues. As no one is forth coming, every person has to be
looked at and looked into.

This crew has been at it for over a decade. Mike, Wendy and others involved in this sit on many
boards public and non-profit that could benefit one way or another from this. Also there is the
money from Cleveland Clinic to LakewoodAlive in the past. Many of those people are involved in
this and stand to benefit from the closing of the hospital.

This does not end soon, or without many WTFs.

.

[Brian Essi]

Wendy and Mike enjoying LHF's Starry Night Celebration in 2012.

Note: The guy on the left is ANKIT CHHABRA, Finance Director for CCF/Lakewood Hospital. Mr. Chhabra attended meetings in and prior to 2012 to formulate and implement the "DECANTING PLAN"--a plan to siphoned Lakewood's money, equipment, personnel and property for Fairview Hospital and CCF's benefit.

So he is seen here "smiling" while he and CCF were secretly planning and implementing the DECANT and while he knew that the money raised for Lakewood Hospital would ultimately benefit Fairview Hospital and CCF.

At an LHA Trustee meeting just last week (8/13/15), Chhabra blocked answers to a Trustee's question during the public session about, among other things, CCF's intentional sabotaging of Lakewood Hospital in furtherance of the DECANT. So he continues his participation in a RICO style secret criminal conspiracy to steal from Lakewood through concealment, manipulation and lies.

Remarkably, Attorneys John Brzytwa and Kevin Butler representing Summers and the City signed joint legal briefs with co-conspirators Cosgrove and CCF in the taxpayer lawsuit---so the GANG of thugs is hanging together for now.

Mike and Wendy Summers might be advised that the first ones to the prosecutor gets usually the best deal--I would get there soon before the "Perp" walks begin.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I would like to remind all...

This group has also worked overtime in being allowed to themselves to PURGE THEIR DOCUMENTS
sooner than they had too.

I think we can all agree that that is so less of their illegal actions can be discovered, and so they
can retain the power they need to keep the bullshit going.

4TB hard drive is $129.00 at Staples.

Let's all vote for longer record retention.

We must not reward unethical and possibly illegal behavior.

.

[marklingm]

Oh, Bruce Geiselman and Northeast Ohio Media Group, Where Art Thou?

See the "Charter Review Commission To City Hall - Get Ethics Training" thread at http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13796.

While Team Summers and Build Lakewood have a media crush on the Northeast Ohio Media Group, the TS/BL folks constantly marginalize residents who use their real names to bring forth facts, as well as their own opinions, here, on The Observation Deck, as well as in The Lakewood Observer.

[Brian Essi]

SUMMERS CANNOT BE TRUSTED IN WORD OR DEED !

He needs to Go!

[Bridget Conant]

I'm still concerned that he has not addressed this issue. Remaining silent indicates to me that he isn't taking this seriously. It is a serious matter.

Is he recusing himself? If not, how does he justify ignoring the OEC ruling?

[Brian Essi]

Denial, in ordinary English usage, is asserting that a statement or allegation is not true.[1] The same word, and also abnegation (German: Verneinung), is used for a psychological defense mechanism postulated by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I'm still concerned that he has not addressed this issue. Remaining silent indicates to me that he isn't taking this seriously. It is a serious matter.

Is he recusing himself? If not, how does he justify ignoring the OEC ruling?

Bridget

I would imagine the answer to that would be that, either they do not think it is a problem, or they
do not care. I believe they do not think it is an issue, as can be seen in Law Director's follow-up
letter sent within in minutes of getting the advice from the OEC.

We call it, "Lakewood, we have trouble, Oh S***"

In it, Butler addresses the problem, but again, as a hypothetical in the future...


pdf here: http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/media/docs_1439844143.pdf

Asking if the Mayor's wife resigns does the conflict cease to exist immediately.

The OEC, confirms it would.

The OEC has no idea these talks have been going on for years and years. They are answering as
if in the future, before any talks started it would end.

OEC's answers...
http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/media/docs_1439844176.pdf

If you wanted to test the ruling, one could read it as, "The Mayor has not ACTED TO CLOSE the
hospital, yet, ie, nothing has been signed. Something the mayor says all the time.

This is not the issue, as I tried to point out yesterday. No one thinks Wendy Summers is a criminal
and no one wants to see her serve time. She is just a side story, what started the ethics issue was
Mike, working around the clock to close Lakewood Hospital.

Seriously, there is so many bad parts and bad decisions in this deal, we should really start to think
about making sure it is legal. You accept a counterfeit, and try to spend it, they take it, and you
get the VERY NOTHING Build Lakewood fears.

It is bad enough the mayor has worked so hard to get rid of 1,100 good jobs, has worked to destroy
healthcare in Lakewood, and is set on setting up friends in a new non-profit. It is bad enough the
city will lose over $100 million in assets and get nothing back. It is bad enough that the Mayor and
Council President continually mislead and lie about important facts. It is terrible that 4 people are
now under potential criminal ethic violations.

When do the good honest people of Lakewood say, "no más"

.

[marklingm]

When do the good honest people of Lakewood say, "no más"

Jim,

That actually appears to be the Team Summers and Build Lakewood plan.

But, the Team Summers and Build Lakewood folks seem to think that the good, honest people of Lakewood are like Roberto Duran ...





Matt

[Brian Essi]

NO MAS