CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Franklin County magistrate says the Ohio House Republicans’ political arm is responsible for $1.67 million in a defaulted office lease.
We’re talking about whether the group will ever pay on Today in Ohio.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.
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Here’s what else we’re asking about today:
How are the sins of the very corrupt Larry Householder reaching into the campaign fund used to support Republican Statehouse candidates?
The NewYork Times put together a long piece on an interview with Ohio’s JD Vance. What are the highlights?
Why do juvenile court judges in Cuyahoga County feel like Prosecutor Mike O’Malley is attacking them, and what does O’Malley have to say about it?
Yesterday we talked about Ashtabula. Today, let’s talk about what people in Medina County are talking about as they approach this presidential election?
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced millions of dollars in help for urban transit agencies Monday. What is it for? Which city is getting the most?
To follow up on the story about the East Cleveland mayor being charged with using his position to steal from the residents of his city, we put together a list of all the officials who have been charged with crimes there. It’s a long list. Let’s go over it.
Three of the wealthiest people in the United States live in Ohio. Who are they?
Harlan Ellison is one of Northeast Ohio’s legacy authoris, and he’s hot right now.How so?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris Quinn (00:01.046)
Come on, guardians, take one from the dreaded Yankees in New York. You gave away a game last night. Let’s not do that again. It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Laura Johnston, Leila Tasi and Lisa Garvin. Laura, how are the sins of the very corrupt Larry Householder reaching into the campaign fund that normally supports Republican state house candidates?
Laura (00:29.762)
We’re talking about a $1.67 million debt that stems from this defaulted office lease on the Ohio Republican Alliance. That is a group that assists with campaigning for the slate of GOP House candidates. And if you remember this name, it’s been in the news fighting over who gets to control it because there’s the whole Derek Marin, Jason Stevens feud that’s still going on, still broiling in the Republican Party.
Lisa (00:43.163)
this. Do you remember this name? It’s been in the news fighting over who gets to control it because there’s the whole character and she’s even
Laura (00:55.308)
We don’t really know how much this decision is going to hurt Republicans’ of winning or whether they’ll end up paying at all. So what happened was Larry Householder’s top advisor, Jeff Longstreth, signed the seven-year lease with LCP Properties for the entire eighth floor of the Chase Tower in Columbus overlooking the Ohio State House. And if you remember Jeff Longstreth, he has pleaded guilty in the HB6 scandal, but has not actually been sentenced yet.
Lisa (00:55.547)
We don’t really know how much this decision is going to hurt Republicans’ chances of winning, or whether they’ll end up paying it all. So what happened? The Larry Householder’s top advisor, Jeff Longstreet, signed a seven-year lease with LCP Properties for the entire eight-cornered fatigue tower in Columbus overlooking the Ohio State House. And if you remember Jeff Longstreet, he has played a guilty in the HCP6 scandal, but has not actually been sentenced yet.
Laura (01:24.238)
which is kind of crazy. So the Ohio House Republican Alliance is a current version of the former caucus committee. And it’s trying to say, no, we’re different from that group that Jeff Longstreet signed for. But Magistrate Elizabeth Seakin, she found that after the termination of that predecessor group, this operates under the same state law committee, controlling caucus committees, shares the same physical location, strives to accomplish the same goals. So she says that it is liable.
Lisa (01:25.019)
Thanks
So the Ohio House Republican Alliance is a current version of the former caucus committee and it’s trying to say, no, we’re different from that group that Jeff Longstress signed for. But Natalie Elizabeth Maybach speaking, she found that after the termination of that credit-centered group, it’s operating in the same state law committee, polling caucus committees, here at same political location, she strives to help the same goals, but she says that it is liable for the $1.6 million in leased state money, $49,000.
Laura (01:52.782)
for the $1.6 million in le
Lisa (01:56.231)
you
Chris Quinn (01:58.506)
Yeah, it is. I mean, it is the fund and they did sign a lease. The corrupt guy signed the lease and socked them away. The problem is they don’t have any money because of all the battles over this fund. haven’t been contributions to it. So it has not been much of a factor in the races this year. We won’t see the campaign finance reports for a week, but there’s no way they can pay $1.6 million. They don’t have anywhere close to that, right?
Laura (02:10.232)
Mm-hmm.
Laura (02:24.43)
No, they only have tens of thousands of dollars right now. And apparently it ebbs and flows because it doesn’t keep a huge balance. It collects for election season, spends all the money, and then regroups two years later. But you’re right, because they’ve been fighting over this, I don’t think that people have been donating it to it. Instead, they’ve been donating to their specific candidate. So if you’re a Republican and you know they’re on the hook for this $1.67 million,
Lisa (02:24.633)
No, they only have…
Lisa (02:39.311)
I don’t think
Laura (02:54.444)
you’re probably not going to pay into that group because you don’t want your money to go to that lease fee. You’re just going to spend directly to the candidate of your choice.
Lisa (02:56.397)
you don’t want your money to go to that lease to you, it’s going to be spent directly to the candidate of your choice.
Chris Quinn (03:01.654)
Householder must have been counting on First Energy or somebody to make the lease payments for him. This is not a fund that is used for that kind of thing. It’s just more of the abuses of that guy when he became the house speaker and put the state into such a dire shape with his bribery scheme. Ugly business. It’ll be interesting once this election is over and we know who will be in charge of that fund, what they try to do. I guess they could…
just declare bankruptcy, close it down, and then try and start something new.
Lisa (03:29.339)
you
Laura (03:32.162)
But if they did that, wouldn’t that be the same logic here that you terminated this one and you have a new group that supports the same purpose?
Chris Quinn (03:41.294)
But maybe it’s a different group of people. I don’t know. I mean, they don’t have it. So what happens? There’s nothing to attach. They don’t have anything. They won’t raise money for it. So I don’t know how that that ends. I guess you could sue Larry Householder for it.
Laura (03:52.322)
I mean…
Laura (03:55.882)
Right. I don’t know that he has the millions of dollars anymore for that either. We can’t
Chris Quinn (04:00.374)
I don’t know, his commissary fund, what’s it worth? He did have a lot of power. What’s he using to buy his chocolate bars?
Laura (04:06.828)
I mean, I think the quote was you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip or something like that, so…
Chris Quinn (04:11.006)
Well, Larry Hilselder is definitely a turnip. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. New York Times put together a long piece on an interview with Ohio’s JD Vance. He’s still being sleazy and refusing to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the election. What are the highlights, Lisa?
Lisa (04:27.675)
And there aren’t any highlights. I think they’re all lowlights, but this was a New York Times article that was published over the weekend by reporter Lulu Garcia Navarro. She asked during a long interview with JD Vance, five times if Donald Trump won or lost the 2020 election.
Chris Quinn (04:31.079)
Hahaha
Lisa (04:44.815)
He never answered yes or no. He kept saying that the focus on the 2020 election is an obsession. He says he’s more interested in big tech censorship that may have cost Trump millions of votes. And what he’s referring to is the whole Hunter Biden laptop story. Some social media removed the story from their platforms. It was a New York Post story. They cited that it possibly was Russian disinformation. Trump supporters say that it’s corruption.
So Navarro asked the third time, Vance, did they censor the story? He said, no, he actually answered with a question. Again, he’s talking about what he calls industrial grade censorship by the Harris Biden administration. The fourth time she asked him, he said, you answer my question and I’ll answer yours. So Navarro did say, you know, there’s no proof that Trump didn’t lose the election. And he says, you’re just repeating a slogan. And then again, when again,
against the tech firms again. He says, you know, the censorship led to Harris’s governance, which screwed up the country in a big way. And I’ll stop there.
Chris Quinn (05:54.132)
He’s like, he’s in bed with tech firms. That’s where his money comes from. So it’s bizarre. He’s attacking them. He has an out on this. He could say, look, when the votes were counted, Joe Biden won. But I think the censorship involving the Hunter Biden laptop skewed some of those votes. So I think if that wouldn’t have happened, he would have prevailed. Then he’s got his way out. But Donald Trump doesn’t want him to say that. And he does whatever Donald Trump tells him. Donald Trump.
Keep saying, I won, I won, it was stolen from me. And this guy is just a marionette. He does whatever his boss tells him.
Lisa (06:31.875)
And he did say during this interview that he insists that he and Trump will support a peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses. But he’s previously said that if he had been in Mike Pence’s position, he would not have certified the election results. So who do you believe?
Chris Quinn (06:47.83)
The big difference this time is Trump is not in the White House. So he will not be able to use his power as president to try and corrupt the system. But I expect Bedlam after election day. I expect that Donald Trump and what he’s done to election boards across the country and all the wacko stuff that they’ve done in Georgia is going to put this thing into complete chaos. And it might be Congress that ends up picking the president. We know how that’ll go.
Chris Quinn (07:24.96)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Why did juvenile court judges in Cuyahoga County feel like prosecutor Mike O’Malley is attacking them? And what does O’Malley have to say about it, Leila?
Leila (07:36.665)
yeah, tensions are running pretty high between the juvenile court judges in O’Malley and it’s all centered around a social media campaign that O’Malley launched over the summer. The campaign highlights juvenile cases where kids with serious criminal histories were given what some see as light sentences. O’Malley’s posts have detailed these cases and then they sometimes name the judges involved and even have shown their pictures in these posts. And he says his goal
is to give the public a clearer view of how juvenile cases are handled and let people draw their own conclusions about that. But the judges feel differently about this. They say they won’t be swayed by public pressure and that juvenile courts focus on rehabilitation rather than just punishment. Then they argue that sending kids to prison often does more harm than good and that second chances through probation and other services can lead to better outcomes for many kids. O’Malley insists he’s not
criticizing the judges, he’s just sharing the facts, but his most recent post, like one about a 17-year-old with a long history of carjackings who later caused a fatal crash, have really sparked this heated debate while O’Malley is emphasizing public safety as his top priority. The judges stress that their decisions are about balancing that safety with a child’s potential for change. It’s this back and forth that kind of brings into sharp focus the ongoing struggle in the juvenile justice system between
holding youth accountable and giving them the opportunity for reform.
Chris Quinn (09:10.142)
I get where O’Malley’s coming from. He’s frustrated. He knows that youth are responsible for most of the violence that we’re seeing and he doesn’t think people understand it. But there’s no way what he’s doing will not be viewed as an attack on the court, which doesn’t make sense for a prosecutor because your team is in before those judges every day and you’ve kind of declared war on them. I’m just surprised he’s not having more of a
Leila (09:24.559)
Yes.
Chris Quinn (09:39.232)
collaborative discussion with them saying, look, we get that you’re trying to rehabilitate kids. But when somebody does a carjacking with a gun, you know, our history is they’re going to do it again. And we’re looking for something to get them off the streets to talk to the judges in a more congenial way is much more likely to get what he wants than this. mean, of course, they’re going to be defensive. He’s holding them out.
The only conclusion people looking in this can draw is, the judges are soft on crime because they’re not looking at the facts of the case the way the judges are. I’m a little bit surprised he’s taken this tack. It’s also odd. It started right after our series ended called Delinquent, where we really looked at what was going on in the juvenile system. And it wasn’t that, that
Leila (10:25.625)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (10:33.706)
We said we should be softer on the criminals. It looked at it from the victim standpoint. It looked at it from what works, what doesn’t work. But it definitely pointed out places where it’s too hard line. And it shouldn’t be that hard line. The judges should be doing what they do, looking at these cases in their totality. So it’s sad it’s broken down like this.
Leila (10:44.824)
Thank
Leila (10:54.381)
Yeah, O’Malley can say what he wants about this, but it will be viewed as a smear campaign against the judges. And that’s because while he’s saying that this is supposed to educate the public about their judges and the consequences of the decisions they make, but I mean, just as important to that discussion are the positive outcomes of the decisions that are made in juvenile court when kids are given second chances or are routed through programs and it does pay off for them.
If O’Malley’s trying to simply show the public what goes on in court, he’s omitting the other half of the picture. And by doing that, he’s creating the impression that he’s simply trying to publicly shame the judges for the times when showing grace to young offenders has backfired.
Chris Quinn (11:41.802)
What’s odd too is he had put out quite a few social media items just laying out the cases against kids with no mention of judges. He does this with adults too. Look at what I’m dealing with. This is the person that’s charged. The twist is, and I think the story said there have been seven cases where he starts to put the judges on front street. really, it doesn’t matter what he says. People are going to see that as you should criticize this judge for being soft on crime.
Leila (12:03.684)
Right.
Chris Quinn (12:12.202)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Yesterday we talked about Ashtabula. Today let’s talk about what people in Medina County are talking about as they approach this presidential election. Laura.
Laura (12:24.11)
So Medina County, obviously southwest of Cleveland, it’s part of the Cleveland suburbs with Brunswick. It’s part of Akron suburbs with Wadsworth. And it’s also a large rural community. The majority of it is rural. I remember growing up, we used to go to the Medina County Fair and it has backed Republicans in 15 of the last 16 presidential races. So most people who Sean McDonald talked to think that Medina County will be some shade of red again in November.
There’s a lot of residents and business owners that are upset about inflation and they just are are Republican through and through. But they are one of the counties that voted for Trump in 2020 and then voted in favor of reproductive rights for Ohio’s constitution last year. There’s a group called Medina Mavens. These are women who banded together after the Dobbs decision. 300 members strong. They’re nonpartisan. They want to be a safe place to land regardless of political affiliation.
But they are talking about American ideals that need saving. That includes protecting public schools from issues like book banning, advocating against the private schools voucher program, trying to protect transgender rights, and trying to end gerrymandering in Ohio. Most of those align with the Democratic Party in Ohio. But also, issues are facing where a lot of places are. Development.
healthcare, the economy, a lack of affordable housing. Medina County, it’s been growing and employers have a hard time finding some employees because they can’t afford to live nearby and that inflation has made it worse.
Chris Quinn (14:04.466)
I was disappointed though. The story focused on a farmer who said, yeah, me and my fellow farmers, we prices are too high for stuff. So we’re going to vote for Trump because we just want it changed. that kind of shows an ignorance about global economics. I mean, when economic professors talk about it, they know that the president doesn’t have a whole lot to do with inflation and what’s going on with the economy.
And to make that the single issue was just kind of sad. I know a lot of people are doing it, but we had a pandemic that caused all sorts above evil in everything about our lives. And a lot of the inflation worldwide was the result of that. And to say, well, we didn’t have inflation until the end of Trump’s term and we have inflation under Biden. So I want Biden out of there. It’s just, that’s not very thoughtful approach. And I was disappointed to see it.
Laura (15:00.11)
Well, I think that’s what happens though. If anyone’s unhappy, they just want the change, right? They want to say, okay, I don’t like those guys. I want the new guys in. And so there’s that idea of change. But I also think that these, a lot of these people have been Republican through or through, and they’re saying this now, they could have a different reason. You know, it’s to make America great again, right? It’s looking back. And farming is difficult and weather is hugely important in farming. And it’s, you know,
You’re right. That’s the global economy and to blame the president for that seems small-minded.
Chris Quinn (15:34.128)
And what Trump is talking about doing with his tariffs is only going to jack it up even more. If you look at what he’s saying he’ll do, it’s not going to get you what you want. I think you’re right. It’s just I’m voting for the Republican. I just want change. I wish people went into the polls giving things a little more study and thought. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Laura (15:53.87)
I agree. I… Go ahead.
Chris Quinn (15:56.316)
Okay, Governor Mike DeWine announced millions of dollars in help for urban transit agencies Monday. Lisa, what is it for? Which city is getting the most?
Lisa (16:05.048)
So this money is coming from the ODOT Urban Transit Program. They awarded $23 million in grants for public transit upgrades to 26 urban transit entities. Cleveland RTA got the most at $4.2 million. Columbus behind them at $3 million. Cincinnati $2.4 million. And the Akron Metro RTA got $1.1 million. All this money comes from the Ohio General Revenue Fund.
They also gave out about four and a quarter million for smaller urban transit systems and small bus transits within larger urban areas. So Lake Tran in Lake County, they got about $950,000 as did Lorraine County Transit. So the mission for this is to make public transportation more accessible and more affordable across the state.
Chris Quinn (16:51.562)
Yeah, I hope that Cleveland RTA uses it for the rail car replacement program, because I don’t think they had all the money they needed it for. But it was nice to see Cleveland getting the most for once, because generally in recent years, we haven’t been getting that kind of cash infusion. Odd that it was just announced out of the blue. There was no press availability or anything like that. I mean, it was a holiday yesterday. So I think most people in government were off. But good news for Cleveland.
Lisa (17:15.567)
Right.
Lisa (17:19.483)
And we have no idea how RTA is going to spend it. I mean, they just got the money. So we’re reaching out to see what plans they have for this $4.2 million.
Chris Quinn (17:28.754)
All right, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. To follow up on the story about the East Cleveland mayor being charged with using his position to steal from the residents of the city, we put together a list of all the officials who’ve been charged with crimes in that city. It’s a long list. Let’s go over it, Leila.
Leila (17:46.755)
Yeah, as we’ve reported, Mayor Brandon King is the latest in this long line of city officials to face criminal charges. Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted King on charges related to his involvement in city contracts, and he’s facing multiple counts, including theft in office and filing a false disclosure statement. And as you said, you know, this is not the first time an East Cleveland official or mayor really has faced criminal charges. Emmanuel Ononwar, people might remember that name.
He was mayor from 1998 to 2004 and his time in office ended dramatically when he was convicted of taking bribes. The case against him was part of a broader investigation into businessman Nate Gray, who was convicted of bribing multiple officials. Onanwar was caught on tape asking Gray if Santa had brought him anything, which was a coded reference to cash payments. And in the end,
Oninwar was convicted of extortion, racketeering, mail fraud, tax fraud, and he was sentenced to nine years in prison. Then after him came Saratha Goggins. She was briefly mayor, the first female mayor of East Cleveland after Oninwar went down, but her tenure came with its own controversy. It was revealed that she had a violent past. She was convicted of fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 1982. And Goggins had initially faced a murder charge.
she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. She was claiming self-defense. What’s strange about her case is the reduction of her sentence. It was initially set at up to 25 years, but it was reduced to just 90 days in jail and weekends behind bars for nine months. The reasons for the sentence reduction were never fully explained and the case was sealed in 1991. Frankly, I was a young reporter at the time when this all came to light.
I remember there being controversy over whether or not this record should have been sealed because it was a violent crime. So that was a mystery to us. And then after her came Gary Norton, who served as mayor from 2009 to 2016, but he was recalled by voters. Even after his time in office, Norton’s legal issues didn’t end. In 2021, he and his assistant pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. Federal investigators had opened a bribery and fraud probe related to demolition contracts.
Leila (20:01.781)
had instructed Norton to keep their conversation confidential. But instead, Norton told his assistant about the investigation and both of them ended up getting a year of probation there. corruption hasn’t been limited to the mayor’s office. Council members, Ernest Smith was charged alongside King for misuse of city resources and former police chief, Gardner, pleaded guilty earlier this year to failing to pay state taxes on his private security business. And then Gardner’s successor, Brian Gerhart,
resigned amid allegations of sending racist and anti-Semitic memes. And also former police commander Larry McDonald has been indicted for his role in failing to report fatal police chases. And really the whole East Cleveland Police Department has been faced with scandals. There were 18 officers charged with a bunch of crimes, including brutality and civil rights violations. And the department has had a history of misconduct with several officers.
sentenced for robbing residents and one case resulting in a $30 million payout to a man who was beaten and mistreated by officers. So long checkered history amongst city officials and others in the city of East Cleveland. Yeah.
Chris Quinn (21:09.736)
Right, all abusing of the residents. Every one of them abusive of the residents. It’s just one of the saddest spectacles you can see for the longest time now. That city has not been served by its public officials. wouldn’t Gary Norton was was the best mayor of the bunch. He he was working to merge the city with a neighbor to bring it some financial help. But he was recalled because people scorn that you’re giving away our authority.
Leila (21:30.522)
He was.
Leila (21:38.105)
right.
Chris Quinn (21:39.446)
and he was replaced by somebody who’s now been charged with robbing the citizens blind. So that’s.
Leila (21:43.225)
Right.
It seemed like that was the one moment when things could have turned around. The city of Cleveland was very interested in this annexation of East Cleveland. Uri Norton was on board, but then it was like the entire city of East Cleveland turned against him. And he went down because he supported that idea, which really would have changed their fortunes there.
Chris Quinn (22:07.862)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Three of the wealthiest people in the United States live in Ohio. Who are they, Laura?
Laura (22:14.734)
So this is from the Forbes 400 richest people in America list and the newest edition is number 338. Mike Brown, owner of the Cincinnati Bengals worth nearly $4 billion. He’s 83. He helped his father Paul Brown found the team after the elder Brown was fired as a coach from the Cleveland Browns in 1963. Then another football family, Denise York, owns over 90 % of the San Francisco 49ers. She’s a
184, she’s 73 years old and from Youngstown, worth $6.7 billion. That’s nearly, actually, that’s up nearly a billion dollars from 2023, just another billion. And then the wealthiest person in Ohio is Les Wexner. He’s the founder of L Brands. That’s global retail group in Columbus that has Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Body Works, it had the Limited, Express. So they’re from New Albany. They rank at
146 with $7.9 billion. That’s up from $6 billion in 2023. maybe these, especially with these football families, want to get on the Haslam’s $2.4 billion dome. They have cash, right? They’ll just sign it over.
Chris Quinn (23:23.67)
A lot of money. They’re all getting up there in years though. So I thought it’ll all be part of their state when they’re gone. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Harlan Ellison is one of Northeast Ohio’s legacy authors and he’s hot right now. Lisa, how so?
Lisa (23:41.583)
Yeah, the late great speculative fiction writer, Harold Ellison, his third and last installment of his anthology series will be published this fall. It’s called The Last Dangerous Visions. Also, the first two in the anthology are being republished. The first one was Dangerous Visions, published in 1967, and again Dangerous Visions, published in 1972. So the new one has never before published poems, essays, and short stories by authors.
including one of my favorites, James S.A. Corey, who wrote the Expanse series, Corey Doctorow, and Mildred Downey-Broxson, among others. Ellison was born in Cleveland. He moved to Painesville and went to elementary school there. Then he came back to Cleveland when his father died and he attended East High School in Cleveland. He died in 2018 at the age of 84. But TV producer and writer, J. Michael Straczynski, who’s the executor of Ellison’s estate,
He has put his career on hold to bring Ellison back into the cultural conversation. Ellison famously went through a massive writer’s block in the mid-1980s and he struggled with undiagnosed mental health struggles. Straczynski called him an iconoclast, a troublemaker, a rabble rouser, and a force of nature.
Chris Quinn (24:58.646)
Yeah, it’s kind of cool that some name from the past like that is having such a revival with the publishing of the book and on all of that. Bring some attention to Cleveland’s art past.
Lisa (25:12.421)
I did not know he was from Cleveland. I was surprised to learn that. And of course, cartoonist Harvey Picar is another Clevelander who’s actually buried in Lakeview Cemetery. So we do have our literati.
Chris Quinn (25:24.286)
Yeah, I used to see him walking around Cleveland Heights before he died. You’re listening to Today in Ohio, short episode today. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thank you for listening. We’ll be back Wednesday talking about the news.
