Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Tom Callinan, Editor
Cincinnati Enquirer
Mr. Callinan:
I welcomed your recent e-mail in which you said you value my blog, especially that “You give voices to those who can’t get our attention.” Today I’d like to bring to your attention one of those voices.
As a matter of fact, the voice is mine.
As you know, the Beacon has devoted considerable coverage to Phil Heimlich, president of the Hamilton County Commission. We’ve published stories about his politics, his business interests, and his ethics. I’ve regularly written public letters to Heimlich trying to get answers. He refuses to respond.
Last year I turned up information about two companies, Three Centurions LLC and Three Centurions II LLC. These are residential real estate investment companies which until last year were owned by Phil Heimlich, attorney Chris Finney, and Jeff Eichhorn. (Eichhorn is a former Heimlich aide who now works as Attorney General Jim Petro’s communications director. As you know, Heimlich was Petro’s running mate for Lt. Governor until Heimlich dropped off the ticket in January.) According to public records, the Three Centurions companies own a string of single-family homes around the greater Cincinnati area.
Shortly after I mentioned Three Centurions on my blog last year, Heimlich, Finney, and Eichhorn transferred ownership of the businesses to their wives—Rebecca Heimlich, Diane Finney, and Jill Eichhorn. I sent separate letters to all the principals in the companies, asking for details about the companies. No one would respond. I followed up with phone calls that also went nowhere. It’s hard not to draw the conclusion that this is a business arrangement that the participants would prefer not to discuss because of the appearance of conflict of interest.
Here’s my concern. The first week of January this year, I was ready to publish my own story on Three Centurions. But I knew how important the story was, so I decided to give the Enquirer the opportunity to publish it so it could get wider circulation. I gave the information to Enquirer reporter Kimball Perry and I informed him I had all the supporting documents, which were easily accessible public records.
About 10 days later, Mr. Perry wrote a lengthy article, Citizen Advisory Councils Potent, about the growing influence that hand-picked citizen review committees have on local government. Commisioner Pat DeWine agreed: “I think the work done by the managed competition committee will change how we will think of government.” Commissioner Todd Portune sounded a similar, but more ominous note about the power of these unelected groups: “It creates a whole new shadow arm of government who are incredibly influential.”
From the first sentence—“Even though he has never been elected, Chris Finney could have a big say over what Hamilton County residents pay in taxes”—the article gave plenty of space to Finney’s influence over our government, but failed to mention that Finney and Heimlich are in business together.
Plenty of time before the article went to press, I handed your reporter what many would consider a smoking gun. I can’t think of a better way to make the case for behind the scenes political influence than a clandestine business partnership between Heimlich and Finney, which they hastily transferred to their wives shortly after I started poking around.
I waited a few weeks to see if Mr. Perry would cover the issue. After it became clear that the Enquirer wasn’t running the story, I wrote it up for the Beacon on February 9, along with links to all supporting documents.
How can Heimlich or Finney pretend to be politically independent when they’re in business together? Public records also show that Finney has been the attorney for Heimlich’s other real estate investment company, Oakley-Arlington LLC. Do they have other business interests together? When Heimlich became a commissioner in 2002, Finney even administered his oath of office. As for the Centurions quickly transferring ownership to their wives, that speaks for itself.
As a reader of my blog, you may know we get plenty of comments claiming the Enquirer gives cover to Phil Heimlich because of his ties to powerful businessmen like Carl Lindner, who just contributed a mind-boggling $75,000 to Heimlich’s re-election campaign. Your own short-lived blog received a slew of similar complaints—that the Enquirer goes easy on Heimlich and regularly fails to include critical quotes and context provided by his fellow commissioner, Democrat Todd Portune. As you know, Portune was so frustrated by the treatment he was receiving from Enquirer editors and reporters that he posted a public letter on my blog.
The purpose of this letter is to ask you why the Enquirer does not report the Three Centurions story. Considering the ongoing Drake Hospital upheaval and the role Chris Finney may be playing in those negotiations, your readers deserve full disclosure about the business relationships between Heimlich and Finney.
Am I proud that the Beacon is breaking important Cincinnati stories and attracting readers? You bet. Am I pleased that politicians who feel ignored by your paper have found an outlet on my blog? Absolutely. I’m just a part-time unpaid journalist who does this during my off hours.
But that’s what bothers me. I don’t want to be doing the Enquirer’s job. I want the Enquirer to do the Enquirer’s job.
Thanks for your time and I look forward to publishing your reply.
Sincerely,
The Dean of Cincinnati
cc:
Sue Clark-Johnson, President, Newspaper Division Gannett Inc.
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