As published in Toledo Business Journal - September 1, 2008

 

 

A clear conflict of interest

Finkbeiner candidacy for Port Authority president would raise issues

In early August, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority board of directors terminated with cause the employment of its president of 14 years, James Hartung.

Hartung's termination followed the demand for his immediate removal by Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and The Blade and then an investigation conducted by the Port.

The Port Authority is moving forward to set up a search committee to fill Hartung's position. The Blade has reported, in the past, that Finkbeiner has been interested in obtaining this position.

Finkbeiner is separately considering a campaign for reelection. However, early polls indicate that he will have difficulty getting voters to support him. The Port president's position would represent a significant salary increase for the Toledo Mayor and allow him to avoid an election campaign in which he appears to be facing strong voter opposition.

Finkbeiner's efforts to engineer Hartung's termination make it a clear conflict of interest for him to obtain Hartung's position. His name should be quickly removed from any possible consideration for the position of Port Authority president. There would be damaging national and international attention that would result from his consideration for and placement in this position.

Further, some of the Port board members who will make this decision are appointees put in place by the Toledo Mayor and their reappointment would be at his discretion.

Conflicts of interest on multiple levels exist for Finkbeiner's possible candidacy for this position.

The Toledo Mayor stated that he initiated the effort to have Hartung terminated because of his concern for the "moral reputation of the Port Authority."

Was this the true and complete reason for Finkbeiner's actions?

The Toledo Mayor could continue to protect the Port's moral reputation by quickly removing any possible consideration of his name for Hartung's position.

In his recent efforts, Finkbeiner's demand for Hartung's immediate removal was accompanied very closely by the same demand from The Blade.

In an editorial in the August 1st issue of Toledo Business Journal, we provided the background information on the ten-year effort of The Blade and its co-publisher, John Robinson Block, to conduct a personal vendetta against Hartung and the Port Authority. Information on Block and The Blade's use of the daily newspaper to conduct this personal vendetta can be found at www.toledobiz.com.

A number of The Blade's most talented personnel have left their jobs in order to avoid any involvement with the wrongful activities initiated by Block and the newspaper against leadership in the community.

The vendetta has been carried out in order for Block to obtain revenge for the Port board's refusal to follow his direction. Block wanted the board to wrongfully restrict competition at Toledo Express Airport and prevent Grand Aire Express from bringing over 100 new jobs to the area. Block had an associate with a business at Toledo Express Airport and he wanted to limit competition for the benefit of this company.

Hartung's termination represents a significant leadership loss to the region. The former Port Authority president is known internationally for his leadership skills in the transportation industry and is a highly respected figure in the United States and abroad.

Information recently released by the Port Authority documents an affair that Hartung had with lobbyist Kathy Teigland. The information shows that Hartung, at the same time, managed the fiscal affairs of Teigland's contract with the Northwest Ohio Legislative Consortium of which the Port was a member.

Hartung maintains that the affair did not compromise his position at the Port. He has stated that decisions involving Teigland's compensation were made by the members of the Consortium and he did not have the authority to do this on his own.

Hartung's action concerning the extramarital affair was the ammunition that Block and The Blade have needed.

During the past ten years, Block and The Blade have targeted a significant number of talented community leaders as part of their personal vendetta campaign and for other issues not related to this situation. They have been successful in getting almost all of these individuals out of positions of public service and community leadership.

There has been significant cost and damage to leadership in the region from The Blade and Block's actions over the years. Quite a few of the most capable individuals in past leadership roles have left their positions. Further, many talented private sector professionals refuse public community leadership roles because of Block and The Blade's actions.

The negative political atmosphere most prevalent in Toledo and Lucas County is also cited as part of this issue. As a result, talented private sector leaders give their time and service elsewhere.

A recent example involves the resignation of Rob Robinson as the chairman of the board of directors of the Lucas County Improvement Corporation (LCIC). Robinson cited the way that Finkbeiner conducted his attack on Hartung and Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop's obstruction to economic development as examples of the harmful negative politics that have hindered job creation for years.

It has usually taken less than a year of intensive publication by The Blade to damage the reputation of a community leader and the organization to which his or her community service was being provided.

Hartung's successful service to the community made it difficult for The Blade and Block to achieve their personal vendetta against him. A number of wrongful attempts were undertaken during the past decade with the involvement of The Blade in order to smear Hartung's name and to try to force his firing. The newspaper published falsified information and participated in a number of sham attempts to discredit Hartung.

It is a confirmation of Hartung's service and contributions to the community that he withstood over a decade of The Blade and Block's efforts to conduct their vendetta campaign against him through the daily newspaper.

Hartung's own actions involving an affair with a lobbyist who was also a vendor to the Port Authority led to his recent termination.

The affair appears to have ended at least two years ago. However, Finkbeiner stated that he only learned about this recently. He then put significant effort into engineering Hartung's removal.

There has been much speculation about the Toledo Mayor's motives behind his actions and unprecedented initiatives employed against Hartung.

Will Finkbeiner move quickly to remove his name from any possible consideration for Hartung's position in order to ensure that no injury occurs to the "moral reputation of the Port Authority?"