Remarks of Ned Wigglesworth of TheRestofUs.org Regarding Attorney General Jim Petro's Involvement With Ohio First

Good morning and thanks for coming. My name is Ned Wigglesworth. I am an analyst for TheRestofUs.org, a nonpartisan watchdog group that works on campaign finance and other issues affecting democracy in America. We are a member of the Reform Ohio Now coalition, and in addition to the Ohio initiatives, are working on campaign finance initiatives in Oregon and redistricting initiatives in California and Florida.

We are here today to ask some questions about the Attorney General's recent efforts to involve himself and his office in the latest lawsuit filed by Ohio First against the Secretary of State and the Reform Ohio initiatives, and to provide some possible answers, based on new information relating to special counsel contracts issued by Attorney General Petro's office to Ohio First's law firms and campaign contributions from these firms to Petro and his party.

Mr. Petro's attempt to join forces with a private group in a lawsuit against a state official has raised a number of questions:

1) Why did Attorney General Petro choose to attack these particular initiatives? Reform Ohio Now gathered the signatures of more than half a million Ohio voters in the same way that signatures were gathered for other initiatives and in a manner expressly approved by current Secretary of State Blackwell and Governor Taft when he was Secretary of State, and tacitly approved by Attorney General Petro through his inaction in challenging past initiatives which used out-of-state circulators.

2) Why did the Attorney General choose sides with Ohio First in a lawsuit filed against the Secretary of State - whom the Attorney General is obligated to defend? The Attorney General's actions on behalf of a private group left his colleague and fellow constitutional officer without representation.

3) And if the Ohio law on circulators is as the Attorney General claims, what the heck was he doing last year on Issue 1 and this year with the TABOR and RON initiatives? Put another way, if the alleged duty Mr. Petro is fulfilling by filing an amicus brief is important enough to leave the Secretary of State without counsel and the people of Ohio in the lurch - why hasn't he fulfilled that duty before?

Ohio First's legal representation also raises a number of questions. The group has retained three of the state's biggest firms to represent it, even though its spokesmen insist that the group hasn't raised a nickel. Already, Ohio first has filed two frivolous lawsuits, one of which the Supreme Court threw out faster than last week's fish. All these legal machinations beg the question: who is paying for all these lawyers? And if no one is, why are these law firms providing free legal advice to the group?

Well, we checked the records, and found the following:

1) The law firms representing Ohio First received millions of dollars in special counsel fees from the Attorney General's office. Since Petro took office as A.G. in 2003, two of the three law firms representing Ohio First have seen their revenues from special counsel contracts nearly double. Calfee, Halter, & Griswold, the firm for which Dick Finan lobbies, saw its revenues from the AG's office go from just under $1.5 million in 2002 to nearly $2.7 million in 2005. Squire, Sanders, and Dempsey saw its revenue from special counsel contracts go from $470,000 in 2002 to over $870,000 in 2005. the last firm, Bricker & Eckler, appears on pace to exceed its 2002 revenue from special counsel contracts in each of the last two years.

From 2003-2005, these three law firms saw some $10 million in special counsel contracts steered their way by Attorney General Petro's office.

2) Over the last fifteen years, these three law firms gave Petro and his party's committees hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. Calfee and its employees have given at least $35,250 to Petro and at least $217,105 to Petro's party's committees. Bricker & Eckler and its employees have given at least $66,000 to Petro and at least $191,600 to GOP committees. Squire, Sanders has given at least $39,150 to Petro, although only $2,375 to GOP committees.

That's nearly $140,000 that these firms have given to Mr. Petro, and that's a very conservative figure. The firms have also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to party committees, which in turn have contributed to Mr. Petro's campaigns. And then there's that little matter of next year's gubernatorial election.

3) These law firms are now representing Ohio First!, even though their spokesmen say the group hasn't raised a nickel. Which backers will be footing the bill for Ohio First's defense of the status quo?

So, the law firms get their special counsel fees, Mr. Petro gets his campaign cash, and Ohio First and its backers who are opposed to reforming Ohio get a well-connected insider as spokesman and an attorney general to do some of their lifting. And what do the people of Ohio get? Less say at the ballot box, less say in government, less oversight of their tax dollars, more corruption, and more scandal.

Clearly, something has gone wrong here. This triad of interests is threatening to subvert the people of Ohio's clearly expressed demand for reform with a network of campaign cash, special counsel contracts, and lawsuits.

Today, TheRestofUs.org calls on the Attorney General to withdraw his request to file an amicus brief and get back to work for the people of Ohio. As Mr. Petro has shown a clear bias against the Reform Ohio Now initiatives, we further call on him to recuse himself from further actions relating to these initiatives. Perhaps then, the people of Ohio can have confidence that decisions about the initiative process will be made by an independent authority, rather than to perpetuate a system which benefits the wealthy and powerful.

Thanks for your time and attention.

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TheRestofUs.org is a nonpartisan group working with Reform Ohio Now coalition to pass the four reform initiatives. We are also working on redistricting initiatives in California and Florida and campaign finance initiatives in Oregon.