Mayor Mallory under investigation in BWC probe
Cincinnati mayor being investigated in BWC probe
By PAUL E. KOSTYU COPLEY COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF
COLUMBUS Mayor Mark Mallory of Cincinnati, a former state senator, is under investigation for trying to influence the Bureau of Workers' Compensation to lower premium rates for an electric company.
But the mayor didn't know he was under investigation. There's some confusion about who knew what when.
Jason Barron, a spokesman for Mallory, spent several days trying to correct stories last week, including one by Copley Ohio Newspapers, that reported an investigation of Mallory by the offices of the Ohio inspector general and legislative inspector general.
Copley Ohio printed a correction Tuesday, while The Associated Press ran a correction Saturday. Both corrections were unnecessary.
Similar investigations all tied to the bureau and lower premium rates are under way involving the governor's office, state Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Jackson Township, and five other lawmakers. Sources familiar with the investigation expect more lawmakers to be named as investigators weed through 500,000 e-mails and other correspondence related to the issue.
All of the lawmakers and Gov. Bob Taft have denied wrongdoing, saying they were providing constituent services. Lawmakers received letters sent Nov. 13 from the legislative inspector general asking for material dealing with premium and claim issues before the bureau, typically the first step of an investigation.
Mallory said Tuesday he did not receive the letter, which included a request for records from 2004 involving Bertke Electric. Its bureau rates went down after Mallory's office contacted the bureau, apparently more than once.
The letter didn't go to the mayor. It went to his successor, state Sen. Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati, and was passed on to Mike Deemer, the legal counsel for Senate Democrats.
Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe said he could not acknowledge whether any investigations are under way, but he did not dispute press reports about the investigations. He said his office loses jurisdiction when a lawmaker leaves the General Assembly.
The issue of lawmaker influence came to light after the release of bureau records following requests by newspapers. There is an ongoing investigation of the bureau by a state task force.
No one from Kearney's office nor the Senate Minority Caucus contacted Mallory to let him know he was under investigation.
Schuring said Tuesday he asked Bledsoe to expedite his case, but Bledsoe said he can't.
"We cannot change the investigative process," he said. "We have to do due diligence for all the people involved."
Reach Copley Columbus Bureau Chief Paul E. Kostyu at (614) 222-8901 or e-mail: paul.kostyu@cantonrep.com
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This story has just come to my attention. I have to admit that I don't know any more than is in the article. What strikes me as odd is that this investigation is not being reported by the Cincinnati papers.
Feel free to comment and clarify any issues. One question I have off the top is: Who is Bertke Electric?
posted by Male Dallory at 8:35 PM
15 Comments:
Bertke Electric is one of the largest electrical contractors in the tri-state.They're primary work is large commercial and industrial.I would be curious to know how much they have contributed to the Mallory political machine. The Enquirer ran a story about this several weeks ago, Mallory states he was just helping a constituent. Something any elected official bought and paid for would do,what's the big deal? Anything for a few dollars. Daddy didn't raise no fools!
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061209/BIZ01/612090333/1002/COL02
The Enquirer did run a story related to this. I am living in la la land.
Check out the difference between this Enquirer article and the Goggle Cache:
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061208/BIZ01/612080357/1076
Cache:
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:f_9FKgDRV0oJ:news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20061208/BIZ01/612080357/1076+%22bertke+electric%22+Mallory&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
Every bit of Mark Mallory's involvment was scrubbed from the article.
It is interesting the Bertke didn't appeal their rates or work to change them within the system.
http://www.bertke.com/bertke.asp
really good family owned company close to Northside. Larger contractor, civic minded.
BERTKE ELECTRIC CO., INC.
1645 Blue Rock Street
Cincinnati, OH 45223
(513) 542-2350 / fax: (513) 542-5033
KEVIN BERTKE
E-mail: klbertke@bertke.com
Secretary of State filing:
http://www1.sos.state.oh.us/pls/portal/PORTAL_BS.BS_QRY_AGENT_CONTACT_DET.SHOW?p_arg_names=charter_num&p_arg_values=132473
and
http://www1.sos.state.oh.us/reports/rwservlet?imgc&Din=B154_0714
from ages ago.
The route through the 9th Senate seat is normal in this particular matter; the routing of someone not knowing is intentional protocol so that legal types do not violate their statuses among the party system. Do not worry. 3Ms people knew, he does not have to know anything except how to focus on Being There.
"The route through the 9th Senate seat is normal in this particular matter; the routing of someone not knowing is intentional protocol so that legal types do not violate their statuses among the party system. Do not worry. 3Ms people knew, he does not have to know anything except how to focus on Being There."
What does this mean in Endlish?
"What does this mean in Endlish? "
The author's name is Peter Sellers...the star of "Being There"
The comments refer to "Being There"
sellers played an idiot...Chauncey Gardener that was "just there"
Idiot Gardner winds up solving the world's problems by "Being There"
My guess is the author says 3M is an idiot that was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.
At least that's my take on his comments. Being there is a wonderful old flick....see it if you can.
The Enquirer did write this up in the last 2 weeks, but it was an extremely sanitized version. Basically what's out on the blog from Copley News Service is what was featured in a Canton Ohio newspaper article. (You know who you are who sent it to me - thank you!)
3M knew all along what was going on.
It appears to me that Bertke had workers injured, laid off, dismissed, whatever, & their worker comp rates skyrocketed, which they generally do. So, Bertke picks up the phone to call in a little favor. 3M has his staff take care of the untidiness, & everyone's happy.
Now that an audit & investigation is taking place, 3M gets dimed out & in typical Mallory fashion, he's denying the whole thing. This outfit developed, trademarked & patented non-stick coating. Look at all the messes they've created & walked away without getting a drop on their fine, shiny suits & shoes.
With years of use, that non-stick coating starts to peel away from the pan. And it's starting with the next generation of Mallory criminals.
If the Bertke family contributed to any/all of the Mallory Mafia campaigns, they funnelled the money thru another source.
I got extremely nauseated looking thru the Mallory's list of union contributors, including the National office of the IBEW.
We're talking AFL-CIO, AFSME, even Fire/Police Retirees of Ohio.
Takes all sorts of money from the unions, then turns around & screws the employees.
This BWC crap comes on the heels of 3M wanting to steal from the City's Municipal Employees' Retirement Fund to shore up freeloaders' programs. Why am I not surprised?
Gosh, when in the holy hell are people going to wake up???!!!
In a recent case, an employee of Bertke & at times, other electrical contractors, settled out of Court. On a job, he was exposed to silica & asbestos. BWC denied his claim.
Then, in an older case, a former employee died of mesothelioma, his widow filed suit, & the BWC denied her survivor funds. To add insult to injury, the Court sided with BWC, Bertke & everyone else.
Memo to Peter Sellers: Bertke Electric's corporate offices ARE located in Northside. Yes, they are a respected electrical contracting firm in the region.
However, if one believes the BWC premiums are too high, one needs to be doing some workplace safety due diligence, rather than pick up the phone & whine in the ear of a legislator.
Everyone, expect more of the same. Slippery people wanting favors only need to dial City Hall to get the wheels turning in Columbus. Save on the long distance minutes.
Betcha the brothers put in red batphones that go direct to their respective offices. At the taxpayers' expense, of course.
I pray that no stone is left unturned in this BWC fiasco. I only hope whoever is doing the auditing cannot be touched by the long arm of the Mallory Mafia. Hopefully, this will lead to the uncovering of other messes made by the Mallorys.
Cridy! Wake up Cincinnati!
Sellers knows that Kearney's people contact the State Democratic Party to alert of such matters. Kearney knowing something of law does not contact 3M directly, that's part of protocol. Either the ODP attormey does or the calls are made away from the 9th Senate offices so they cannot be traced. Or I'll have my girl have lunch with your girl and we will work it out. Do not alert the press (is there still a press that releases information into Censorednati?) or citizens, keep people clueless. The group around 3M is aware, but he remains clueless so the disavowals can be "true".
Good Lord, has Endlish come back into vogue? Did it replace the Pythonphrases? Anyone know where I can get a Male Dallory Clown nose for Christmas? Make great stocking stuffers and to wear to public meetings.
Remember that moving character that faces 75 (from the West End) that used to be dressed up w/ a Reds or Bengals flag - depending on the season? Doesn't the rest of the sign that houses that character read Young and Bertke? Is this Young and Bertke Electric building, located on the corner of Bank and Winchell in the West End, the same Bertke that is located in Northside? If so, it makes sense to me why Bertke contacted Mallory - both used to be in the West End.
Interesting WECC meeting last night.
D4S showed up to see who was at "the Shirley Club" he saw too many Truth Squaders and quickly departed.
A crew from Parktown attended to make nice to the WECC. They don't want the WECC to fight their liquor licence becaue of the shootouts. The Jet Inn knows how determined the WECC can be.
Learned that Nate L. has run PAC's to assist the 3M campaign.
Nate's always been a Mallory shill, but the evidence always was circumstantial. I'm seeing some smoking gun type evidence lately.
WECC is cleaning up the by laws that D4S and Junebug changed with no approval. You know, that 12/04 Christmas gift that changed the rules and eliminated term limits for D4S.
Dear West Enders,
This past year was chalenging but dont forget that you have accomplished a lot more than you may realize. You succesfully removed D4S from the WECC. You suceeded thus far to stop CityLink, you have managed to expose a number of things including the Empowerment zone, and you have opened peoples eyes about what they can expect from the new WECC. For this I thank you!
The D4S spotting is amazing.
Did he bring part of his goon squad with him? Outings like this should be good for the 32nd House. Was his campaign manager Joe "BOE" Mallory along? Fearful Phoney-si? If not, D4S is acting on his own and we all know that when D4S starts acting on his own the Mallory clean-up crew has to be flown in to tidy up.
Wonder if he was just picking up his kick-back protection collections from neighbors, or was he taking Genuine Genesis orders for copper piping? It's that time of year, you know. A little green and some copper piping in your D4S longstocking makes for a very elite holiday.
Dear Antares,
He was alone.
He smoozed with the Parktown crew (maybe a payoff from them to avoid liquor licence problems?)
Mrs. Junebug was there taking notes.
D4S ran out with his sorry tail between his spindly legs when he saw the angry looks he got from many truth squaders.
Who knows why he was there.
All I know is that if Dale's doin it ....it's crooked.
While wife had clothes in the spin cycle she bounced into the on-line and noticed this newest update to the IMB.......then she remembered one of her friends who go her to place a Dann for Attorney General sign in the yard saying something about Dann and the BWC and what he'd do if he was elected AG.
We should use this to remind him how he pledged his troth to Ohio voters on such matters, and this from his DANN'S OWN blogspot.
http://www.blogforohio.com/
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Dann calls on Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to release internal audit that shows political favors helped reduce some employer’s rates
(Toledo)- State Senator Marc Dann, the Democratic nominee for Ohio Attorney General, publically called on the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Director William Mabe to release an internal audit which allegedly shows that some employer’s BWC rates and assessments were reduced after complaining to their state legislators about the high premiums they were paying. Senator Dann, who first asked for this audit to be released at the beginning of October, spoke directly to Director Mabe today and again asked for the release of the audit.
“Once again, the public records law in Ohio is being ignored,” said Senator Dann. “The allegations of impropriety in the BWC are serious and deserve a closer look. By not releasing the audit, it begins to appear as just another cover-up. I have asked Director Mabe to reconsider his decision and release the audit to me by Friday.”
On October 4, 2006 Senator Dann requested by letter all the documents related to the audit on premium rates and assessments paid by public and private employers as part of Ohio’s public records law. Keith Elliot reportedly completed the internal audit requested by Dann. Elliot, an internal Auditor within the BWC, recently testified in the Noe ‘Coingate’ trial as a witness for the prosecution and is credited for raising questions within the BWC about their investment in rare coins.
“Today I stand at the Lucas County Courthouse, where ‘Coingate’ mastermind Tom Noe is on trial for stealing millions of dollars from Ohio’s injured workers and ask for the BWC to do what’s right,” Senator Dann said. “Once again the BWC has the chance to allow the bright light of public scrutiny to shine upon their work. They should release the audit immediately and implement recommendations that level the playing field of premiums for all businesses in this state.”
Posted by admin at 09:50 PM.
On that tinnote, let me see if I can find out if the briefcase toting kid that worked the Mallory for Mayo-Bananas-Nuts-&-FrootLoops can be found. She gave me a copy of the prospective Mayor's outreach to the community if the sale of the Blue Ash Airport went through and I lost it. Something like major seed money for the neighborhoods like 20K as best I remember. Unless they've booted her to Columbus she was the only reliable neighborhood contact they had. All the little schleps set around, she got her hands out into the crowds with the average folks. Would even explain matters in laymans terms. Nothing like that exists in city hall to connect with the neighborhoods. The airport plan had good money for the neighborhoods, and seemed to seed the matter more properly. Know that's not usual Mallory tactic, but it looked good on political paper as it faded. Berding and Bortz seem to have other ideas for the funds to be used. I'd like to see that resurface and revisited to see whose got game and who's just gaming.
Check out this satirical article about Mark I discovered on City Beat's web site. It's part of a slew of humorous stories on local topics and people.
http://www.citybeat.com/current/cover2.shtml
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