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9/17/2010
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$1.50/SEPTEMBER 20 - 26, 2010
Vol. 31, No. 37
CUYAHOGA COUNTY CORRUPTION
Scandal spurs defensive maneuvers By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
Businesses on periphery of investigation seek counsel
The federal government’s public corruption investigation in Cuyahoga County is coming to be known in legal circles as the Full Employment Act for the White-Collar Criminal Defense Bar. The filing of corruption charges over the last two weeks against the investigation’s central figures — former county Auditor Frank Russo and county Commissioner Jimmy
Dimora — may have brought the government’s work to a head. However, the tentacles of the scandal have stretched out to touch dozens of business people who may have some connection, tangential or otherwise, to the growing and ongoing investigation. And those tentacles create a conundrum for business people who know or suspect that they are
referenced in the investigation: Do they sit tight and hope that they never are charged with a crime, or do they seek legal counsel just in case? It appears some, at least, are favoring the latter option. A number of leading law firms and criminal defense lawyers who have not yet made appearances for defendants in the county corrup-
Fingerhut, KSU spar over tuition costs
tion case were contacted by Crain’s last week to discuss the situation. Those who responded declined to comment because the lawyers and firms already were engaged by someone who was in the case’s orbit, while the rest did not return calls at press time. With the indictment last Wednesday, Sept. 15, of William Neiheiser, president and CEO of the
former Reliance Mechanical LLC, on two counts of public corruption, a total of 21 business people have been charged with a variety of public corruption offenses. But while Mr. Neiheiser was the only business person identified by name in the latest round of indictments, the federal bill of particulars filed last week obliquely identifies 36 business people and 40 businesses — with names such as “Business Executive 3” and “Business 30” — that See SCANDAL Page 8
LANDS OF LITTLE OPPORTUNITY
Clash could stymie plan to borrow $210 million By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crian.com
Lots that were targeted for future homes head to sheriff’s sales
Disagreement over tuition costs at Kent State University’s regional campuses has led to the possibility of Ohio’s top higher education official scuttling the university’s plans to borrow $210 million at a low interest rate to help finance a quarter-billion dollar upgrade of facilities at the main campus in Kent. Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, must approve the borrowing plan, and he said he’s not inclined to do so unless tuition is lowered at Kent State’s seven regional campuses. University officials say his refusal could threaten the estimated 7,500 construction jobs connected with
By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
R
andy Lacey, owner of the One Sixty Mile Transportation Inc. limousine service in Cleveland, jokes that gambling with $900 is less cash than it takes to buy a used car. That is how he views the sum he and his wife spent to buy as an investment for potential future use two vacant home lots at 4415 and 4421 Fenwick Ave. in Cleveland at the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s Aug. 23 foreclosure sale. The purchase ended a foreclosure that Third Federal Savings and Loan Association of Cleveland launched last year on two properties of struggling homebuilder Rysar Properties Inc.
See KENT Page 25
INSIDE
See LOTS Page 24
Manufacturers hiring STAN BULLARD PHOTOS
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While not all companies are adding to their ranks, those that are expanding abroad or into new markets are bringing on more employees who were on lay off. The state of Ohio also is using federal stimulus dollars to entice the sector to add staff. Page 3
ABOVE LEFT: Empty home lots along Falcon Ridge Drive in Medina drew no outside bidders besides the foreclosing bank at a recent Medina County sheriff’s sale. LEFT: This unfinished house at 4724 Primrose Path in Medina went on the block at a recent Medina County sheriff’s sale, the same day 11 vacant home sites developed by the same homebuilder, Pelton Design & Construction of Medina, also went up for sale.
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SPECIAL SECTION
HEALTH CARE DIRECTORY
Crain’s provides a comprehensive list of Northeast Ohio’s health care providers ■ Page H-1
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