Butler Guilty of Public Records Law Violations-Part I
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:04 pm
I have made numerous Public Records Requests that law Director Kevin Butler has failed to comply with in violation of Ohio law and his sworn duties.
The request below is the first in a series of my requests that I plan to make public on the Deck if Mr. Butler continues to violate the public records laws.
I received no response at all to this request.
Mr. Butler's concealment of this information calls into question the validity of the Huron Report and Butler's and Summers' role in the results.
Here is the full request:
From; Brian Essi
Aug 18, 2015
ToKevin Butler, Mary Hagan, John Bodine
CCMary Madigan, Tom Bullock, and 8 more...
Re: Public Materials Provides to Huron
Dear Director Butler, Ms. Hagan and Mr. Bodine,
Pursuant to public records laws, kindly produce the following materials all of which are referred to on pages 5, 6, 47, 54 and 55 of the Huron Report dated August 14, 2015:
1. Cleveland Clinic' 2014 Shared Admin Service Allocation (Lakewood Brief) Presentation (undated)
2. Cleveland Clinic's LHA 2014 Admin Services Details and Allocation Methodology Excel File (undated).
3. Subsidium Healthcare's Lakewood Hospital Data Book (undated)
4. Patient day data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 through 2014 and the year-to-date period ended June 30, 2015.
5. Subsidium Healthcare's Lakewood Hospital Association Board of Trustees Strategic Options Evaluation Process, dated January 12, 2015.
6. Key Performance metrics for Lakewood Hospital for the year-to-date period ended November 30, 2013 and the fiscal yea ended December 31, 2014.
7. "Lakewood City Council Committees of the Whole Considering the Letter of Intent."
8. Thompson Hine opinions: The Huron Report at page 47 states "According to Thompson Hine LLP, counsel for the City, pursuant to the terms of the Definitive Agreement and the Lease Agreement, the Cleveland Clinic does not have a general obligation to fund operating losses." Please produce all records provided to Huron Consulting by Thompson Hine, the City or any of their representatives regarding this statement or opinion of Thompson Hine. Also please produce any and all records of communication between or among Thompson Hine and Huron Consulting or either of their representatives regarding Lakewood Hospital and/or Thompson Hine's engagement as attorneys for the City.
9. Administrative Services. Please produce:
a. all records of the interviews of representatives of LHA and the Cleveland Clinic referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
b. any confidentiality agreement signed by Huron Consulting or any of its representatives regarding "proprietary and confidential documentation provided by Cleveland Clinic regarding specific fees incurred and the allocation thereof" referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
c. all "documentation provided by Cleveland Clinic regarding specific fees incurred and the allocation thereof" that was provided to and reviewed by Huron Consulting and referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
d. all "correspondence and written documentation" reiterating statements that formed Huron's "understanding that the clinical and administrative service fee are direct costs that are incurred by Cleveland Clinic and allocated to Lakewood Hospital"---referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
As to this request number 9, kindly be advised that the Lease (a public contract with a public charity) requires "full disclosure of hospital operations" to the general public of which I am a member. In that regard, the claim that "specific fees incurred and the allocation thereof" to LHA are somehow "proprietary and confidential documentation" in the hands of the Clinic has no basis in law or fact. Indeed, the Clinic is the managing fiduciary of a public charity pursuant to a public contract, has custody of public money and property and is in sole possession of said public documentation substantiating the fees charged---claiming that they have "proprietary and confidential" rights to keep the information from us turns logic and the law on its head. On the contrary, that documentation directly relates to hospital operations, the viability of the hospital and the legitimacy of the fees charged---one issue both City Council and the Executive Branch of the City apparently agreed upon when they tasked Huron to investigate it and, therefore, the public has the right to know.
Finally, while I understand that Huron was at the mercy of the Clinic as to the information produced, it is unsettling to me that the information the Clinic did produce was so limited that Huron had to use the following qualifiers in reporting to us about it: "It is our understanding...If so, and assuming...is reportedly determined by...it is reasonable to assume....and the Cleveland Clinic has claimed..." On April 8, 2015, Mayor Summers expressed similar concerns when he told me "our partner is not being very transparent" referring to the same issue of administrative fees.
Why would we consider any future arrangement that would benefit an entity that treats us this way in regard to basic information we have a full right to know?
Sincerely,
Brian J. Essi
The request below is the first in a series of my requests that I plan to make public on the Deck if Mr. Butler continues to violate the public records laws.
I received no response at all to this request.
Mr. Butler's concealment of this information calls into question the validity of the Huron Report and Butler's and Summers' role in the results.
Here is the full request:
From; Brian Essi
Aug 18, 2015
ToKevin Butler, Mary Hagan, John Bodine
CCMary Madigan, Tom Bullock, and 8 more...
Re: Public Materials Provides to Huron
Dear Director Butler, Ms. Hagan and Mr. Bodine,
Pursuant to public records laws, kindly produce the following materials all of which are referred to on pages 5, 6, 47, 54 and 55 of the Huron Report dated August 14, 2015:
1. Cleveland Clinic' 2014 Shared Admin Service Allocation (Lakewood Brief) Presentation (undated)
2. Cleveland Clinic's LHA 2014 Admin Services Details and Allocation Methodology Excel File (undated).
3. Subsidium Healthcare's Lakewood Hospital Data Book (undated)
4. Patient day data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 through 2014 and the year-to-date period ended June 30, 2015.
5. Subsidium Healthcare's Lakewood Hospital Association Board of Trustees Strategic Options Evaluation Process, dated January 12, 2015.
6. Key Performance metrics for Lakewood Hospital for the year-to-date period ended November 30, 2013 and the fiscal yea ended December 31, 2014.
7. "Lakewood City Council Committees of the Whole Considering the Letter of Intent."
8. Thompson Hine opinions: The Huron Report at page 47 states "According to Thompson Hine LLP, counsel for the City, pursuant to the terms of the Definitive Agreement and the Lease Agreement, the Cleveland Clinic does not have a general obligation to fund operating losses." Please produce all records provided to Huron Consulting by Thompson Hine, the City or any of their representatives regarding this statement or opinion of Thompson Hine. Also please produce any and all records of communication between or among Thompson Hine and Huron Consulting or either of their representatives regarding Lakewood Hospital and/or Thompson Hine's engagement as attorneys for the City.
9. Administrative Services. Please produce:
a. all records of the interviews of representatives of LHA and the Cleveland Clinic referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
b. any confidentiality agreement signed by Huron Consulting or any of its representatives regarding "proprietary and confidential documentation provided by Cleveland Clinic regarding specific fees incurred and the allocation thereof" referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
c. all "documentation provided by Cleveland Clinic regarding specific fees incurred and the allocation thereof" that was provided to and reviewed by Huron Consulting and referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
d. all "correspondence and written documentation" reiterating statements that formed Huron's "understanding that the clinical and administrative service fee are direct costs that are incurred by Cleveland Clinic and allocated to Lakewood Hospital"---referred to on page 54 of the Huron Report.
As to this request number 9, kindly be advised that the Lease (a public contract with a public charity) requires "full disclosure of hospital operations" to the general public of which I am a member. In that regard, the claim that "specific fees incurred and the allocation thereof" to LHA are somehow "proprietary and confidential documentation" in the hands of the Clinic has no basis in law or fact. Indeed, the Clinic is the managing fiduciary of a public charity pursuant to a public contract, has custody of public money and property and is in sole possession of said public documentation substantiating the fees charged---claiming that they have "proprietary and confidential" rights to keep the information from us turns logic and the law on its head. On the contrary, that documentation directly relates to hospital operations, the viability of the hospital and the legitimacy of the fees charged---one issue both City Council and the Executive Branch of the City apparently agreed upon when they tasked Huron to investigate it and, therefore, the public has the right to know.
Finally, while I understand that Huron was at the mercy of the Clinic as to the information produced, it is unsettling to me that the information the Clinic did produce was so limited that Huron had to use the following qualifiers in reporting to us about it: "It is our understanding...If so, and assuming...is reportedly determined by...it is reasonable to assume....and the Cleveland Clinic has claimed..." On April 8, 2015, Mayor Summers expressed similar concerns when he told me "our partner is not being very transparent" referring to the same issue of administrative fees.
Why would we consider any future arrangement that would benefit an entity that treats us this way in regard to basic information we have a full right to know?
Sincerely,
Brian J. Essi
