Cincinnati Public School's Lobbyist Files For Bankruptcy: $72,000 A Month Just Ain't Enough

CINCINNATI (TDB) - The news about Ohio super-lobbyist Neil S. Clark's bankruptcy filing in Florida is beginning to break today. He reported income of $72,000 a month. Clark's long list of clients as reported in state records includes corporations, charities and non-profits, including the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum and the Cincinnati Public Schools, which he worked for in 2009. At the moment, the fees he was paid are unknown. He also represented the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, payday lender Checksmart, and Apple Inc. Below is some of the data he filed with the state about his school lobbying activity:

Agent: Neil S Clark
File Date:
2/4/2009
Confirmation:
20090204EINA9986
I.
Engagement Date:2/2/2009
II.
Employer Information:
Name:
Cincinnati Public School
Real Party In Interest:
Type of industry:
Education
Address:
P.O. Box 5384
Address 2:
City:
Cincinnati
State:
OH
Zipcode:
45201-5384
Contact Person:
Jonathan L Boyd
Phone:
(513) 363-0425
E-Mail:
j
III.
Brief description of the Executive Agency Decision(s) to which this engagement relates:Decisions which would have an impact on the employer
IV.
Categorical listing of offices of Elected Executive Officials, Departments or Executive Agencies to which the engagement relates:-Attorney General-Auditor of State-Governor-Lieutenant Governor-Secretary of State-Treasurer of State-E-Commerce Center-Education-eTech Ohio Commission-Job & Family Services-Ohio Learning Network-Regents Board-School Facilities Commission-Schoolnet Commission, Ohio-State Controlling Board-Taxation-Youth Services

Cincinnati's Freedom Center Museum: Ohio Lawmakers Told It Would Create 1,404 Jobs

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Looking back, it now appears that legislators were misled. Former Gov. Bob Taft's administration convinced state lawmakers to spend $4.15 million on Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center by pledging the museum would create more than 1,000 jobs. In fact, Taft budget director Tom Johnson testified in 2005 there would be 1,404 jobs -- something that does not seem to have happened.

[UPDATE: 7:30 AM 1/17/08 -- Today's Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Freedom Center drew 160,000 visitors last year, which it describes as about the same total as 2006. If the newspaper is correct, the Freedom Center draws about 60% of the visitors projected when state financial aid was sought (see below). And 50,000 of the annual visitors are school kids bused in for tours. The lackluster attendance numbers reported by the Enquirer suggest the museum may not even be meeting the original mission that was set down for it merely as a cultural and historical attraction. Clearly, there are questions about whether it was oversold as an economic development engine for Cincinnati, a city that needs jobs and has one of the nation's highest poverty rates for its residents.]

Recent data published by the Butler County Economic Development Department listed the Cincinnati-Dayton area's 50 largest employers. The Freedom Center is not on the list. But based on what legislators were told, it should be on the list. Tied for No. 48/49 on the list are Toyota, which has 1,400 employees at its North American headquarters in Erlanger, and Cox-Ohio Publishing, which owns the Dayton Daily News and other SW Ohio newspapers. Toyota and Cox each have 1,400 workers. 50th belongs to the VA Medical Center in Dayton, with 1,382 workers.

Clearly, the Freedom Center does not have anywhere near as many employees as Toyota or the Daily News; the exact size of its payroll is not public. Johnson's testimony is available on the State of Ohio's website -- click here and check page 9.

He asked lawmakers for "$4.15 million for the Freedom Center that will be responsible for 1,404 jobs. The Freedom Center is expected to attract more than 261,000 visitors annually, who will generate $12.4 million economic benefits to the region. But the economic and job benefits are not limited to Hamilton County alone. Half of Ohio counties have one or more communities with Underground Railroad sites. It is projected that Underground Railroad tourism for these communities will increase from $3 million to $7.5 million by 2007, in large part because of the presence and support of the Freedom Center."

The list of the Cincinnati-Dayton area's largest employers is here. In all, the state has appropriated $14.65 million for the Freedom Center, which cost $110 million to build on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. The museum now is seeking $1 million from Cincinnati and Hamilton County officials for development rights so another riverfront project -- The Banks -- can be built on property the Freedom Center controls. The land was given to the museum by the city and county.

Snubbed By Feds: Cincinnati's $100 Million Underground Railroad Museum

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a $100 million-plus facility built partially with federal and state funds, has failed to win inclusion as a site listed in the National Park Service's Network to Freedom. Congress created the Network To Freedom during the 1990s as a method of preserving historic sites, plus supporting important interpretive and educational programs about the Underground Railroad. Twenty-eight of 36 sites that applied for inclusion were approved last month during a meeting at Georgetown College in Kentucky, The Daily Bellwether has learned.

Diane Miller, a park service official who coordinates the Network to Freedom program, said the Freedom Center filed an application that fell short of details. The museum is on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati and is supposed to be a leading tourist attraction. So far, attendance has not lived up to expectations, and it has failed to stand on its own financially without infusions of government subsidies.

"It has to do with technical issues related to the application. It's not a sense that it will never get in. It's a sense it's just not quite, well, not yet. There are typically in any given round quite a lot that don't make it. Maybe next time.''

Miller said there are 203 historic sites on the list, along with 60 interpretive programs and 37 facilities -- which are museums or heritage centers, a classification that would have included the Freedom Center if it had made the cut. Miller said the Freedom Center can apply again in January.

Ohio Has No Doubt Over Armenian Genocide: Bush Worries About Insulting Turks

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- President Bush prefers that the House scrap a resolution that calls the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians genocide. But across Ohio there seems to be little concern about offending the Turks and expressing outrage over the 1915 slaughter of more than a million humans. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a state and federally financed museum on the Ohio River in Cincinnati, premiered the film Screamers about genocide and genocide denial about Armenia. It screened the film a few hours after the President complained House action could damage diplomatic relations with Turkey. Nick Clooney, a Cincinnati Post newspaper columnist and the father of actor George Clooney, introduced the film for its first showing in the state.

Bush, of course, had valid diplomatic concerns. He dismissed the House resolution as "not the right response" to the killings, a crime whose mention can lead to imprisonment in Turkey, a nation that officially contends genocide never happened in Armenia. Historians say otherwise.

Last April, Gov. Ted Strickland (D) signed a resolution calling on Ohioans to recognize the genocide that took place between 1915 and 1923. He said nearly 2 million people were forcibly deported by the Ottoman Turks, an action that is now described as ethic cleansing.

"Of these, 1.5 million men, women and children were killed and one-half million were expelled from their homes. These acts succeeded in the elimination of a more than 2,500-year presence of Armenians from their historic homeland. All Ohioans embrace freedom, justice and human dignity. We have a collective responsibility to uphold these values and to focus the world's attention on human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing and genocide."

The mayors of Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati -- all Democrats -- signed similar proclamations between April and July. Cleveland's Frank Jackson, Cincinnati's Mark Mallory and Mike Coleman in Columbus all used the word genocide to describe the atrocities inflicted on the Armenians. Mallory said that by "remembering the Armenian Genocide, we acknowledge the pain and suffering endured by those affected, and firmly assert that these types of injustices should never happen again."

The Armenian National Committee of America has more about Screamers, which condemns the world's inclination not to act when horrific events occur.

Bill Clinton: Honored By Ohio Museum His Administration Opposed

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A top Clinton-administration appointee from the National Park Service told Congress in 2000 that earmarking $16 million in federal funds for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati could stress the agency's budget. He warned the appropriation would divert money for badly needed deferred work at other sites across the country. Now the museum -- which got the money from Congress anyway and depends on government subsidies -- plans to give former President Bill Clinton a major award later this year.

Clinton visits Cincinnati today on a different mission -- a fundraiser for his wife Hillary's 2008 presidential campaign. News of the Freedom Center award broke just ahead of the fundraiser.

What hasn't been mentioned is that Clinton was completing his last year in office when his administration explicitly told Congress the Freedom Center would "compete directly for funding" with the National Park Service. That agency was cash-strapped and could not get enough from Congress to maintain and improve its own properties. The Clintonites wanted to focus money on those priorities.

How much was needed? According to the White House, NPS estimated the deferred maintenance backlog was nearly $4.9 billion, with about $2.7 billion related to roads, bridges, and transportation projects. The current White House recommended action to eliminate the NPS deferred maintenance backlog over five years, and allocated $440 million for non-road projects, a 30-percent increase over 2001

But that all seems forgotten today. It looks like the museum is making an effort to cash in on the popularity of Democrat Clinton and former Republican President George H.W. Bush, who both are slated to become recipients of the International Freedom Conductor Award later this year in Cincinnati. But Clinton's administration expressed clear concerns before Senate and House panels in March and May 2000 that providing federal financial assistance to the Freedom Center could suck money away from the national park system, the nation's crown jewels.

"Mr. Chairman, to emphasize again, our opposition to the legislation is not a judgment about the Freedom Center. The Department recently testified against two other bills that authorized funding for two worthy institutions that are not part of the National Park System -- the Palace of Governors in New Mexico and the Lincoln Interpretive Center in Illinois. We opposed those bills, as we oppose this one, because unless there are unexpected substantial increases in funding for the National Park Service in coming years, funding for institutions that are not part of the National Park System will compete directly with funding that the NPS needs to manage units of the National Park System. That includes funding for the long and costly list of deferred construction projects in our national parks."

That was from Denis P. Galvin, deputy director of the National Park Service. His testimony is HERE and HERE. Below is a bit of what the Freedom Center -- which cost $110 million to build on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati and includes $41 million in public funds -- has to say about prior recipients of its Freedom Conductor awards:

"Modeled after the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, the award was created by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to recognize contemporary individuals who by their actions and personal examples reflect the spirit and courageous actions of the "Conductors" of the Underground Railroad. The Conductors risked their lives and livelihoods to help those who were enslaved escape through the secret network of houses, churches, and barns known as the Underground Railroad. In 1998, the award was endowed by a $1 million gift from the Firstar Corporation (Today known as US Bank).

"The award is presented at the International Freedom Conductor (IFCA) Gala, a black-tie awards celebration of human rights and individual courage on an international scale. The first honoree (1998) was Mrs. Rosa Parks, the mother of the modern-day Civil Rights movement. The second recipient (2000) was Bishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Cape Town in South Africa.

"Dr. Dorothy Irene Height and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights are recipients for the 2003 International Freedom Conductor Award. Both Dr. Height and the Kennedy Memorial Center, represented by Ethel Kennedy, were honored on October 4, 2003 at a gala award ceremony for their contributions to freedom and human rights across the world."

Clinton and Bush I raised money together for tsunami victims and Hurricane Katrina relief.

Scooter Libby's Trial: Ohio $$$ Connections

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Cincinnatian Mercer Reynolds III, who was a major fundraiser for President George W. Bush and co-chaired the second term presidential inaugural committee, has been raising money for the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust. So has former GOP vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp, who is on the board of directors of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center museum on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. Kemp shows up on the Freedom Center Web site HERE.

The Freedom Center is dedicated to espousing the cause of human rights and honoring those who opposed government abuses. Of course, it is mostly focused on the era of America slavery, but also notes horrors in places like Darfur. For some reason, any possible rights abuses in the corner of the world affected by the Iraq War don't seem to be on its radar. ( Maybe that is because it has gotten millions of dollars in financial support from legislative bodies controlled by Republicans, who for the most part have backed the war. Perhaps it is hard to express opinions about human rights abuses -- no matter where or when they occur -- when dollars are at stake.)

Libby goes on trial this week in connection with the outing of former CIA operative Valerie Plame. There is a Web site, http://www.scooterlibby.com/ dedicated to portraying Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff as a neo-c0n hero and the victim of an overzealous special prosecutor -- a portrayal that is not universally shared. There are plenty of Americans who view Libby and Cheney as Bush administration insiders who could share some responsibility for the Iraq War, which even Bush now admits is not faring well.

This Libby Web site apparently is inoperative (to borrow a catch phrase from the Nixon White House).

The role of Kemp, the underground railroad honcho Libby fundraiser, is disclosed HERE , where the trust is seeking donations for the Veep's ex-chief of staff's defense fund. And there is a lot about Reynolds, who has long been a partner of St. Louis Cardinals' owner Bill DeWitt (another Cincinnatian) HERE.