As published in Toledo Business Journal - October 1, 2008

 

 

Personal vendetta exposed: Anatomy of revenge

Finkbeiner manipulating Port board appointments

New information about the events that immediately preceded the termination of James Hartung, past president of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority (Port), provides important insight.

Recent appointments to the Port Authority board by Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner shed light on issues that have been raised concerning the Toledo Mayor’s motivations for his efforts to terminate Hartung. The Toledo Mayor has long had an interest in obtaining the Port president’s position.

A unique set of events that took a number of weeks to unfold preceded Hartung’s termination.

Last spring, representatives of the Port traveled to Pittsburgh to meet, in private, with The Blade co-publisher, John Robinson Block. The Port’s chairman of the board of directors, Bill Carroll, and the agency’s vice chairman, G. Opie Rollison, met with Block in his hometown.

One of the issues that Block regularly raised with current and past Port board members was the termination of Hartung, the president of the agency.

At the time of the meeting in Pittsburgh, it was close to ten years since Block and The Blade had begun their personal vendetta campaign against Hartung and the Port.

The failure to have Hartung terminated was a challenge to Block’s power and authority.

During the past decade, the newspaper has been used to publish falsified information and to initiate a number of sham efforts to smear Hartung’s name and attempt to force his termination. Information documenting some of the wrongful actions undertaken by the daily newspaper and its co-publisher concerning this vendetta campaign can be found at www.toledobiz.com.

In addition to the wrongful use of Toledo’s daily newspaper for this personal vendetta, Block put significant effort into influencing the appointment of individuals placed on the Port Authority board of directors.

In a past editorial, we disclosed information about wrongdoings in this area involving Jerry Chabler, an associate of Block. In the editorial, we stated, “We have learned that Chabler spoke to key community leaders concerning Finkbeiner’s appointment. Allegations have been made that Chabler threatened a number of these individuals with attacks by The Blade if they did not cooperate in support of Finkbeiner. These allegations further state that Chabler claimed he was speaking for The Blade publisher and editor-in-chief John Robinson Block.”

At the time of the meeting in Pittsburgh last spring, Port officials were aware of plans being made by Hartung for his pending retirement. The past Port president is 65 years old and his contract was scheduled to expire in December 2008.

We have not been able to confirm whether Port officials, during their meeting in Pittsburgh, shared information with Block about Hartung’s pending plans to retire. This information would have allowed Port officials, during this meeting, to address Block’s long-standing demand for Hartung’s removal.

If Hartung retired from his position as president, it would ruin this decade-long vendetta campaign by Block and The Blade to obtain revenge against him.

The vendetta had been launched because of the Port board’s refusal to follow Block’s direction and prevent Grand Aire Express from relocating over 100 new jobs to the Toledo area. There has been significant effort by Block and The Blade during the past ten years to punish the Port and Hartung for not following the direction they were given.

We have learned, from inside sources, that Block and Finkbeiner spoke on a number of occasions during June and July and earlier. Their conversations included an effort to have Hartung removed from his position at the Port. It was in early July that Finkbeiner moved to contact Port Authority chairman Bill Carroll demanding an investigation of an alleged affair between Hartung and lobbyist Kathy Teigland.

Information about Finkbeiner’s request to the Port Authority board chairman for this investigation was then quickly leaked to the Toledo Free Press. We have not confirmed the source of this leak.

However, many have asked why this information was not leaked to The Blade. Block’s newspaper would have been the most likely media to publish any information about an affair involving Hartung. The quick timing of this leak to the media and use of the Toledo Free Press instead of The Blade for this purpose raised more suspicions about the motivations behind this effort against Hartung.

Finkbeiner has not revealed the identity of the source of his information about Hartung’s affair. He has only described the source as an individual who is a prominent Toledoan.

Finkbeiner claimed in a letter to the editor of Toledo Business Journal that he was angry about the information being leaked to the media.

In the same letter to the editor, Finkbeiner stated, “The Blade had nothing to do with my request of Port Authority chairman Bill Carroll to investigate allegations that Jim Hartung was both having an affair with and serving as the principal backer . . .”

Finkbeiner further stated publicly that his motivation for his actions against Hartung was his concern for the “moral reputation of the Port Authority.”

There has been much speculation about the truthful motives behind Finkbeiner’s actions.

From the information that we have now gathered, it appears clear that the Toledo Mayor provided vital assistance to Block and The Blade in their long vendetta campaign against Hartung and the Port.

Both Finkbeiner and The Blade called for Hartung’s immediate removal before the results of any investigation had been completed.

Further, when there was early speculation that Hartung would not be terminated, Finkbeiner took the unprecedented action of setting up a separate investigation by the City of Toledo law department.

It was important to Block and The Blade that Hartung not be allowed to retire in dignity at the end of his contract in December. Past actions show that power and revenge are what matter to Block.

It was Hartung’s own actions - involving his affair with a lobbyist who was also a vendor to the Port — that resulted in his termination.

It was Finkbeiner’s unprecedented efforts employed against Hartung in support of Block’s personal vendetta campaign that engineered the termination of this past area leader.

Finkbeiner and Block’s motivations for this action are not in the interests of the community.

It is Finkbeiner who is attempting to make appointments to the Port board for what appears to be his own personal gain. The Toledo Mayor is doing this with complete disregard for the harm to the community.

Finkbeiner’s recent nomination for the appointment of Jerry Chabler, an associate of Block, to the Port board has incensed many business and community leaders. Letters to the editor from community leaders in opposition to Chabler’s appointment can be found at www.toledobiz.com.

Chabler has caused significant damage to the Port Authority and the community in the past (an article providing one example of Chabler’s activities titled, “Wrongdoings allegedly committed by Chabler,” can be found at http://devel.toledobiz.com/Files/tbj_editorial_chabler.html).

Will the Toledo Mayor obtain benefits for his role in assisting Block and The Blade in their long-standing vendetta against the Port? Will he benefit from his efforts to support The Blade and Block’s actions against United Way of Greater Toledo?

Will Finkbeiner and Block use appointments to the Port board by the City of Toledo and the Lucas County Commissioners in an attempt to have Finkbeiner named to the Port president’s position?

Will current and future area leaders stand up to Block and Finkbeiner after witnessing Block’s decade-long vendetta and his destruction of so many talented and giving past community leaders?