Three Cuyahoga County administrators indicted in corruption probe

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Cuyahoga County grand jury on Friday indicted a member of County Executive Armond Budish’s cabinet and two former county administrators on corruption-related charges.

Chief Talent Officer Douglas Dykes, former Director of Corrections Kenneth Mills, and former IT administrator Emily McNeeley are charged with a variety of felonies and misdemeanors.

The charges are the result of a year-long investigation by County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s public-corruption unit, which has focused primarily on the county’s troubled IT Department and jails.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/01/three-cuyahoga-county-administrators-indicted-in-corruption-probe.html

 

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Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish’s computer hard drive taken during FBI raid

By Chris Anderson | February 14, 2019 at 12:54 PM EST - Updated February 15 at 8:27 AM

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation and agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation raided the offices of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish on Thursday.

The search at the Cuyahoga County Administration Building near East 9th Street and Huron Avenue commenced at 11:45 a.m. and lasted for several hours before approximately nine federal and state agents left just after 3:30 p.m.

According to Cuyahoga County spokesperson Mary Louise Madigan, two computer hard drives, including the hard drive of Budish, one envelope, and five boxes of materials were taken during the raid.

 

 

http://www.cleveland19.com/2019/02/14/cuyahoga-county-executive-armond-budishs-computer-hard-drive-taken-during-fbi-raid/

Didn't we just go through this, maybe a decade back?  We did.  Local government is just filthy here.  This above all is why we can't get anything done.

 

lol @ Budish calling the FBI raid a political move.

What is the link between the PD editorial board and Armond Budish?? Something is very strange here.....

 

 

I don't know if he's a criminal or not and I'd like the investigation to go as long as it needs to.  No it's not good for business, but neither is rampant corruption.  At some point we have to start doing local government right.

On 2/25/2019 at 2:37 PM, 327 said:

I don't know if he's a criminal or not and I'd like the investigation to go as long as it needs to.  No it's not good for business, but neither is rampant corruption.  At some point we have to start doing local government right.

 

I don't think he's criminal, but I do suspect he's a poor enough administrator that criminal behavior is getting past him.   The investigation absolutely needs to continue and the idea that County Exec become an appointed position (as most city managers are) should be revisited.

Allard posted a lengthy piece about the PD's editorial last week. The lengths people go to apologize for Budish and his administration are odd.

 

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2019/03/04/the-watch-dog-sleeps-clevelandcom-defies-logic-to-defend-armond-budish

 

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The Watchdog Sleeps: Cleveland.com Defies Logic to Defend Armond Budish

 

Cleveland.com’s undulating editorial posture toward Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and the ongoing corruption investigation boggles the mind. 

In a schoolmarmish declaration Sunday, the editorial board professed to be “dismayed” by the way Budish handled a public records request. His office had provided a letter to cleveland.com concerning health care issues at the beleaguered county jail that did not include two key paragraphs from an original draft sent to county council in June. 

The deleted paragraphs dramatized the ways in which Budish prioritized revenue above all other considerations at the jail, (including quality health care), and just sort of cast him in a dickish light. 

“It should also be noted,” Budish wrote to council in one of the deleted paragraphs, “that we must operate under a very tight, balanced, budget. So along with your generous offer to provide additional funds for jail healthcare, I look forward to your suggestions as to which programs should be cut to pay for it.” 

I look forward to your suggestions. Sheesh. Not exactly a slam-dunk deployment of sarcasm, seeing as the letter was delivered shortly before the first of eight deaths at the facility in the second half of 2018. 

Budish’s spokeswoman said that the version sent to council was not the “final, official formal” draft of the letter, and that paragraphs had been excised in the version sent to cleveland.com to “adjust the tone.” 

No kidding. Well, cleveland.com wouldn’t be suckered by that BS, (the obvious explanation being that Budish’s people deleted the paragraphs because they knew it made him look bad). Or, rather, cleveland.com was willing to be suckered, but just this once!

...

 

Edited March 4, 20196 yr by Mendo

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/oh-cuyahoga/budish-appoints-former-cuyahoga-county-prosecutor-bill-mason-as-new-chief-of-staff

 

Wow.

 

 

birds of feather.

First domino falls. How many more will fall? Will it go all the way to the top? Yes, from what I hear....

 

 

Wow, Budish really knows how to sweet-talk someone...

 

 

Edited December 12, 20195 yr by KJP

 

Frank Russo released from a prison in North Carolina as coronavirus rips through federal lockups

https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2020/05/corrupt-former-cuyahoga-county-auditor-frank-russo-released-from-federal-prison-amid-coronavirus-pandemic.html

Edited May 9, 20205 yr by KJP

It sounds as if cleveland.com wants to revive this topic.  Budish shows why legislators generally don't make good executives.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2021/01/inside-the-investigation-into-cuyahoga-county-executive-armond-budish-the-wake-up-for-monday-jan-25-2021.html

 

 

12 hours ago, KJP said:

 

On "Today in Ohio", the PD Editor Chris Quinn finally admitted aloud that Armond Budish is incompetent as an executive. Have they ever said that in print? If only Fitzgerld hadn't blotted his copybook.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/11/cuyahoga-county-revelation-bill-mason-told-a-prosecutor-to-drop-a-criminal-investigation-of-armond-budish-or-face-election-day-consequences-today-in-ohio.html

 

 

29 minutes ago, Dougal said:

On "Today in Ohio", the PD Editor Chris Quinn finally admitted aloud that Armond Budish is incompetent as an executive. Have they ever said that in print? If only Fitzgerld hadn't blotted his copybook.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/11/cuyahoga-county-revelation-bill-mason-told-a-prosecutor-to-drop-a-criminal-investigation-of-armond-budish-or-face-election-day-consequences-today-in-ohio.html

 

Budish created his "image" by hosting those 1/2 hour senior citizen legal shows.  It was a carefully crafted presentation that painted him as a caring, smiling, kind individual that goes out of his way to help the less fortunate, especially the "vulnerable" seniors.  No politician ever capitalized in campaigning against Budish by using the video segments from his two years as Speaker of the State House of Representatives where his real image as a shrill, obnoxious individual in his true light.  Now in his second term as county executive, even the Plain Dealer has called him out as incompetent.  He has had almost 7 years as county executive to further damage the county, building on the disasters of Fitzgerald and the county commissioner system before the position was created.  Don't know if the county executive position has term limits, but if it doesn't, will the county's residents face the possibility of Budish running for re-election and maybe winning again?

6 hours ago, LifeLongClevelander said:

 Don't know if the county executive position has term limits, but if it doesn't, will the county's residents face the possibility of Budish running for re-election and maybe winning again?

I don't know that he has actively done much damage; it seems more like missed opportunities to me.  The Budish Administration is a real hotbed of inactivity.

11 hours ago, LifeLongClevelander said:

Budish created his "image" by hosting those 1/2 hour senior citizen legal shows.  It was a carefully crafted presentation that painted him as a caring, smiling, kind individual that goes out of his way to help the less fortunate, especially the "vulnerable" seniors.  No politician ever capitalized in campaigning against Budish by using the video segments from his two years as Speaker of the State House of Representatives where his real image as a shrill, obnoxious individual in his true light.  Now in his second term as county executive, even the Plain Dealer has called him out as incompetent.  He has had almost 7 years as county executive to further damage the county, building on the disasters of Fitzgerald and the county commissioner system before the position was created.  Don't know if the county executive position has term limits, but if it doesn't, will the county's residents face the possibility of Budish running for re-election and maybe winning again?

I’m reasonably confident that Chris Ronayne will easily defeat Budish. But who knows - predicting the future is a good way to end up being wrong. 

22 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

I’m reasonably confident that Chris Ronayne will easily defeat Budish. But who knows - predicting the future is a good way to end up being wrong. 

 

That's why I hate when people ask me if I think a proposed project is going to get built. 

 

Meanwhile...

 

 

On 11/12/2021 at 7:20 AM, Boomerang_Brian said:

I’m reasonably confident that Chris Ronayne will easily defeat Budish. But who knows - predicting the future is a good way to end up being wrong. 

 

I just wonder how Ronayne is going to play in the suburbs. His career has been based in the City, and his campaign website right now talks almost solely about urban planning issues. It's music to my ears personally and I have long admired Ronayne, but I don't know how he's going to appeal to suburbanites.

 

Obviously it's very early, and Budish is unpopular at this point so Chris certainly has a good chance by default, but playing devil's advocate,that's my concern.

On 11/11/2021 at 7:03 AM, KJP said:

 

 

So the guy who is rumored to have (involuntarily) provided much of the initial evidence in the original corruption probe is now trying to deflect the new one.   This of course is exactly why he was brought on board.  

6 hours ago, mu2010 said:

 

I just wonder how Ronayne is going to play in the suburbs. His career has been based in the City, and his campaign website right now talks almost solely about urban planning issues. It's music to my ears personally and I have long admired Ronayne, but I don't know how he's going to appeal to suburbanites.

 

Obviously it's very early, and Budish is unpopular at this point so Chris certainly has a good chance by default, but playing devil's advocate,that's my concern.

 

If I recall correctly, he recently advocated limiting the availability of ammunition as a dodge around federal and state limits on gun laws.   If so, even though it wouldn't make much difference that could be toxic among a lot of suburban and even some city voters.   

He will also have to be extremely careful discussing regionalization.   Saying anything that could be construed as pro merger or annexation can and would be used against him, effectively, in the suburbs.      Not just the outer ring ones either. 

Edited November 13, 20213 yr by E Rocc

On 1/18/2019 at 2:49 PM, tklg said:

Three Cuyahoga County administrators indicted in corruption probe

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/01/three-cuyahoga-county-administrators-indicted-in-corruption-probe.html

Quinn talked about this and other county business in his weekly podcast.  He said (paraphrasing) everybody knew it at the time, but we couldn't publish because we couldn't prove it.  Second week in a row he has blasted Budish for, at best, total incompetence.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/11/we-were-misled-in-2019-but-heres-the-real-reason-cuyahoga-county-executive-armond-budishs-law-director-abruptly-quit-today-in-ohio.html

2 hours ago, Dougal said:

Quinn talked about this and other county business in his weekly podcast.  He said (paraphrasing) everybody knew it at the time, but we couldn't publish because we couldn't prove it.  Second week in a row he has blasted Budish for, at best, total incompetence.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/11/we-were-misled-in-2019-but-heres-the-real-reason-cuyahoga-county-executive-armond-budishs-law-director-abruptly-quit-today-in-ohio.html

 

Despite bringing in Bill Mason, I still don't suspect Budish of being profoundly corrupt.   He's just a horrible administrator.   As has been said many places including this thread, legislator and executive are very different skill sets.

It may be time to revisit the city manager model where the County Council selects the administrator.  I say that even though I despise certain members of the CC.    We might get someone who has skills other than fooling voters and can balance the priorities of all stakeholders, not just voters.

20 hours ago, E Rocc said:

 

Despite bringing in Bill Mason, I still don't suspect Budish of being profoundly corrupt.   He's just a horrible administrator.   As has been said many places including this thread, legislator and executive are very different skill sets.

It may be time to revisit the city manager model where the County Council selects the administrator.  I say that even though I despise certain members of the CC.    We might get someone who has skills other than fooling voters and can balance the priorities of all stakeholders, not just voters.

Budish is corrupt or incompetent, but in the end it doesn't matter.  Even if he isn't corrupt, due to his incompetence that has been repeated and repeated time after time, he has a complete inability to do a better job of screening the people he brings on board.  Even if nothing is identified before the hires come aboard, where are the checks and balances to flag the questionable or illegal activities?  It shouldn't take indictments and probes repeatedly to bring the problems to light.  It should also be asked why is there a regular revolving door of key staffers at top levels.  Budish is enabling and fostering the dysfunction of the county's government. 

 

Nobody should be able to give themselves a bonus.  Especially a 7 figure amount.

Jimmy Dimora’s sentence commuted by President Joe Biden

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Biden issued clemency for nearly 1,500 people who were convicted of non-violent crimes and released at least one year ago under the CARES Act. The act sought to ease the burden on crowded federal prisons during the coronavirus pandemic.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2024/12/jimmy-dimoras-sentence-commuted-by-president-joe-biden.html

I have to admit my initial reaction to this was revulsion. I'm not particularly swayed by his health issues, it's not like he's on hospice. But after reading some other comments from people about the sentencing (purportedly) out of proportion to other corruption cases I guess I'm not as heated about it. 12 years in prison isn't nothing. I just really hope Householder isn't pardoned but fully expect him to be.

9 minutes ago, Jax said:

I have to admit my initial reaction to this was revulsion. I'm not particularly swayed by his health issues, it's not like he's on hospice. But after reading some other comments from people about the sentencing (purportedly) out of proportion to other corruption cases I guess I'm not as heated about it. 12 years in prison isn't nothing. I just really hope Householder isn't pardoned but fully expect him to be.

12 years is a long sentence for his crime which the Supreme Court says isn't even illegal but merely gratuities.