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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Is Dave Hobson above the law?
Beavercreek, Ohio, Friday, May 9, 2008: Dave Hobson and other state and local politicians, including Steve Austria and Marilyn Reid, seem to take all the credit for preserving Wright Patterson jobs and attracting others. Recently released documents relating to the 2003 Base Reallignment And Closure (BRAC) Intiative Agreement between the Greene County Commission (GCC) and Dayton Development Coalition (DDC) tell a different story altogether. That agreement between the GCC and DDC indicates that Greene County and Ohio taxpayers paid nearly $2 million to private corporations to fund BRAC support for Wright Patterson. The BRAC Initiative Agreement also reveals a complex, but clearly identifiable trail of money laundering, pay-to-play politics and kickbacks to Hobson’s and Austria’s political campaigns.
For example, the 2003 Greene County budget was certified on January 31, 2003, but subsequent to that date on October 8, 2003 (one week after the GCC and DDC signed the Agreement), the Greene County Auditor authorized the Greene County Treasurer to cut a check to Miami Valley Development Projects, a shell corporation established by the DDC, for $400,000 for the purpose of “economic development.” Documents indicate that the Greene County Department of Development approved budget for all of 2003 was $438,000, so in effect, Greene County spent more than 90 percent of its 2003 budget for economic development in just one day. That presents a strong argument that the $400,000 obligated by Greene County officials on October 8, 2003 was not included in the budget enacted on January 31, 2003. If that is true, by law (Ohio Revised Code 5705.41), the earliest Greene County Commissioners could have expended those funds was January 1, 2004, the start of the next fiscal year. In parallel with BRAC Initiative Agreement negotiations, the DDC noncompetitively selected the Greentree Group as prime contractor for BRAC support. The Coalition also assigned work for at least $560,000 to Paul Magliochetti and Associates (The PMA Group), a Washington lobbying firm. There is no evidence that Greene County officials approved the assignment of work to Greentree or PMA as stipulated in the BRAC Initiative Agreement. During the 3-year agreement, officers and associates with Greentree and PMA contributed over $50,000 to “Hobson for Congress,” and since then, over $15,000 to “Steve Austria for Congress.” During that same timeframe, “Hobson for Congress” paid Mrs. Austria over $50,000 as a “political consultant” in addition to her salary of over $400,000 from the U.S. Treasury as Hobson’s 7th District Director.
You may agree that this money trail validates a quid pro quo, not to mention a clear and unequivocal conflict of interest, especially in light of the fact that State Senator Steve Austria and Mrs. Austria, Congressman Dave Hobson’s District Director at the time, both sit on the Dayton Development Coalition’s Wright Patt 2010 Committee, a group that advises the DDC on BRAC issues. However, whether or not you agree that Hobson, Austria and Greene County officials broke the law, e.g., ORC 307.07 and/or 5705.41, it’s time we demand these politicians come clean on their claims that without their advocacy, Wright Patterson Air Force Base would have been a lost cause.
John Mitchel
(937) 427-8442
www.patriotpressohio.com
www.reformcongress.com
Paid for by Americans for John Mitchel
