AP confirms blog story on Senator Ray Miller…
There’s been some recent discussion on several blogs in Ohio on the Columbus Dispatch story, Campaign reports years late, panel told which points out the issues Senator Miller has had with campaign finance laws. Openers covers a blog post written by Jerid from Buckeye State Blog that says there are also some issues with money owed to Columbus Hyatt that he’s caught wind of. WTOL is reporting:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A big hotel debt has helped to put a question mark over State Senator Ray Miller’s selection as the new Senate Democratic leader.
Public records obtained by The Associated Press show the longtime lawmaker from Columbus owes the downtown Hyatt Regency more than $26,000 for a 2006 banquet.
Senate Democrats are meeting to discuss whether to reverse last week’s choice of Miller to replace Toledo Senator Teresa Fedor (feh-DOHR’as minority leader. There were concerns that Fedor had failed to focus campaign money on key races or to hold the caucus together on important votes.
I did some research and found that Ohio Citizen Action had the following:
During early 2005, the JLEC (Joint Legislative Ethics Committee) investigated veteran State Senator Ray Miller (D-Columbus) for “theft in office,” a fourth-degree felony. JLEC conducted an inquiry and determined that there was evidence that Senator Miller used both his Senate staffers and government equipment to work on his private nonprofit get-out-the-vote campaign called “Reclaim Our Democracy.” Senator Miller received a salary from this nonprofit. On March 28, 2005, JLEC sent a letter to the Franklin County Prosecutor indicating that there was substantial evidence of theft in office. The prosecutor decided not to press charges. Senator Ray Miller made a public apology in December 2005 and reimbursed the state $936.35 for “improper utilization of State assets.” JLEC eventually accepted Senator Miller’s apology and ordered him to complete one hour of ethics training.
The Dispatch has more:
Plain Dealer has the same AP story.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:24 pmSeems like, if a resignation is made based on one set of facts but other info (that changes the picture so dramatically) emerges in a timely fashion, it should be a no-brainer to let them take back those resignations.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:53 pmThe Blade has just updated their website to include the AP News story with some additional information on Senator Miller.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:54 pmSounds like as soon as the caucus is done we’ll hear more…
January 15th, 2008 at 1:56 pmTo clarify, I was talking about what came out in the WTOL story, not the theft story (which dates to 2005).
January 15th, 2008 at 1:56 pmSenate Democrats voted unanimously to keep Miller, a long-serving Columbus Democrat, as their leader during a lengthy closed-door caucus meeting.
That statement according to the last update of the Blade…And the earlier linked Dispatch story has been updated.
January 15th, 2008 at 4:05 pmJerid’s raised the question of Senator Miller is still the minority leader. It’s a valid question, I hope he gets some answers as I’d like some too. Rather than duplicate what he’s pointed out, I suggest you read his thoughts on this issue that is important to the credibility of the General Assembly.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:00 pm