The Cincinnati Beacon - “Seeking The Spheres To Connect Them”

We all know the familiar mantra: “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Thanks to online resources like Newsbank, some history is easy to acquire. (The database requires a public library card to access.) Newsbank only goes back to 1999 with issues of The Enquirer, but all the way back to 1990 for The Post. That’s the year of Richard Weiland’s involvement in the DeCourcy scandal.

The following are relevant excerpts from just a sample of articles published in 1990, mostly by The Post, one by the Dayton Daily News. They shed light on the past work of Richard Weiland. Also, the connections to some contemporary stories are uncanny (or, as Freud would have said, “un-heimlich").

For example, the story features Weiland and backroom deals for the sake of manipulating property taxes. The Cincinnati Beacon has long questioned Phil Heimlich’s motivations in leveling levies with his real estate business partner Chris Finney.

Noteworthy, also, is the appearance of City Councilmember Chris Bortz’s father, Neil Bortz, and Towne Properties’ involvement with Chris Bortz’s political rival Phil Heimlich’s friend Richard Weiland. Sound confusing? Oh, the tangled webs we weave…

From “CINCINNATI OFFICIALS SAY AUDITOR CHEATED SCHOOLS,” Dayton Daily News (OH), February 18, 1990

City and education officials reacted angrily to a published report that reduced property valuations Hamilton County Auditor Joseph L. DeCourcy Jr. granted some property owners cost local governments more than $1 million in revenues since 1988.

“He’s cheating school children,” said Tom Mooney, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. “For many of these kids, this is their best, if not only, chance to break out of the cycle of poverty, and he’s doing it because of corrupt political considerations.”

The Cincinnati Post reported Friday that DeCourcy reduced the assessed values of more than 1,000 properties since early 1988.

DeCourcy said that for 20 years, he has reduced assessments on some properties whose owners complained about tax increases. The auditor said he relied on a 1972 opinion by then-Hamilton County Prosecutor Simon Leis Jr. that said he had authority to change valuations at any time.

From “TAX COMPLAINTS HIT $152 MILLION,” The Cincinnati Post, April 3, 1990—by RANDY LUDLOW, POST STAFF REPORTER

The vast majority of the city’s complaints cite improper reductions by DeCourcy and his staff as the reason for the appeals, but city lawyers also seek some increases on the basis of recent sales and questionable valuations.

For tax purposes, the assessed value of properties is set at 35 percent of their market value.

From a proposed $4.8 million increase in the assessed value of Federated Department Stores’ downtown headquarters to a proposed $1,400 increase in a vacated alley in Over-the-Rhine owned by Cincinnati City Council Member John Mirlisena and his family, the city aggressively filed complaints.

“We feel we’ve done everything we can up to now to protect our interests and as events unfold, we’ll evaluate where things stand,” said Assistant City Solicitor Nancy Simmons.

The city also has asked the board of revision to investigate DeCourcy’s practices and potentially collect property taxes for the past five years on properties found to have been improperly valued, Ms. Simmons said.

The largest increase in assessed value sought by a complaint is $56.3 million for Kenwood Towne Centre, filed by the Indian Hill Board of Education. The mall is valued at $54 million and the auditor’s office proposes to increase it to $93 million, but the school board believes it still would be undervalued by $17.3 million.

From “INSIDERS REMOVED FROM DECOURCY AUDIT,” The Cincinnati Post, October 12, 1990—by RANDY LUDLOW, DAN HORN AND MOLLY KAVANAUGH, POST STAFF REPORTERS

References to an acquaintance of Ohio Auditor Thomas E. Ferguson and the law firm of Ohio Senate President Stanley Aronoff were removed from a draft of the state audit that found former Hamilton County Auditor Joseph L. DeCourcy vastly undervalued some property in the county.

A draft audit by Ferguson’s office obtained by The Cincinnati Post linked Cincinnatian Richard Weiland of Richard Consulting Corp. and the law firm of Aronoff, Rosen & Stockdale to a voided property tax increase on the Alms & Doepke Building. The draft said that Weiland and Aronoff’s firm were paid about $40,000 to arrange the tax break on the building. However, none of that information appeared in the final audit of questionable property valuation practices of DeCourcy released by Ferguson May 15…

A draft audit, with a written notation that it was the “latest” version as of last March 23, stated Weiland and Aronoff’s law firm were paid about $40,000 to handle the taxes on the downtown building. An increase in its value was approved by the county auditor’s office, but later was voided and “whited out” on permanent tax records with correction fluid.

The audit said unjustified action deprived the county and other governmental units of $44,000 in taxes. If the audit had not detected the voided tax increase, which has been appealed to the board of revision, the property owners could have saved $44,000 annually.

The tax treatment of the Alms & Doepke Building apparently is among those being investigated by the FBI and Ohio Special Prosecutor Thomas R. Smith…

After receiving notice the property taxes were to be increased, “Powers stated he then contacted the building owner’s law firm of Aronoff, Rosen & Stockdale and was informed that Dick Weiland could help…

“Powers stated that he first gave Weiland a check for $14,000 and later when Weiland asked for more money, he (Powers) gave him another check for $8,000. In total, he said he paid Weiland and the law firm of Aronoff, Rosen & Stockdale about $40,000,” the draft audit said.

On Thursday, however, Powers denied being interviewed by state auditors, saying it was a “complete untruth.” Powers said he was interviewed by the FBI and the special prosecutor about the building’s tax treatment.

Documents also show that a reference to Weiland in connection with tax cuts awarded to the Evergreen Retirement Community appeared in the draft audit, but was not included in the final version…

Weiland also helped form the invitation list for a reception for Ferguson last summer when the state auditor was considering seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. The reception came three months after state auditors began investigating DeCourcy’s office.

The reception aboard the yacht of developer Neil Bortz - while not a fundraiser - later led to campaign contributions for Ferguson, a four-term Democrat and former Cincinnatian seeking re-election this fall…

Weiland also has worked for Bortz’ Towne Properties, which received tax cuts from DeCourcy’s office. Towne Properties is a partner in the Kenwood Towne Centre, cited in the audit as being vastly undervalued by the auditor’s office. Bortz contributed $250 to Ferguson on Nov. 26, 1989.

Bortz, who said he did not attend the reception, said he was unaware his yacht was used. He said he often lends it to charities and business associates. Weiland said he did not know who organized the reception.

Weiland also is an acquaintance of Buck, Ferguson’s regional administrator. Buck did not return calls from The Post.

From “AUDITOR MESS REACHES INTO LOCAL POWER ELITE,” The Cincinnati Post, October 19, 1990—by DAN HORN, POST STAFF REPORTER

For most of his career, Richard A. Weiland has been an invisible man behind Cincinnati’s movers and shakers.

Charity groups called him when they needed help soliciting donations. Politicians asked him to organize fund raisers. And wealthy property owners hired him to get their taxes cut by the Hamilton County auditor.

Although such high-profile activities earned him a reputation as “a big player,” Weiland usually remained in the shadows while those he worked to support basked in the public spotlight.

All that changed, however, when he became mired in a political debacle that forced the resignation of Auditor Joseph L. DeCourcy Jr. and prompted a grand jury probe into the methods used to reduce property values.

Weiland, president of Richard Consulting Corp., now has emerged as a key figure in the controversy because references to his role in some tax cuts were removed from an audit prepared by the office of Ohio Auditor Thomas E. Ferguson.

His link to Ferguson, one of several politicians he has supported, is part of an extensive network of connections that Weiland has built over the years from his office in Cincinnati to the statehouse in Columbus.

“Everyone knows Dick Weiland,” said Alfred Cohen, a long-time friend who went to high school with him. “He’s one of those guys who always gets the job done . . . he’s a hard worker"…

Among those he has supported: State Sens. Richard Finan and William Bowen; Cincinnati City Council Members Pete Strauss and David Mann; Mayor Charles Luken; former council members Arn Bortz, Sally Fellerhoff and Jerry Springer and former council candidate Roxanne Qualls.

He also contributed to DeCourcy’s 1986 re-election campaign and has handled real estate matters for Ohio Senate President Stanley Aronoff’s law firm…

It was a remarkable rebirth for a man once imprisoned after a housing fraud scandal in the mid-1970s.

At the time, Weiland was president of a company that put together urban development projects funded by the Federal Housing Authority. He ran into trouble when federal officials accused him of improperly claiming $9,245 in connection with one of the projects he was handling.

“The idea was, ‘Let’s see what we can do to make ghettos better,’ “ said Robert Jewell, president of a Dayton-based firm that put some investors in touch with Weiland. “But I think maybe the money began to take precedent over the social aspects of it. Then greed took over.”

Weiland eventually served four months of a one-year prison sentence in Lexington, Ky., and gave up his law license for life after pleading guilty to making a false statement to the government…

In some cases, Weiland’s connection to influential Cincinnatians dates back more than 40 years, when he attended Walnut Hills High School with Aronoff, U.S. Rep. Willis Gradison, R-Cincinnati, and developers Neil Bortz and Philip Meyers Jr.

He represented Bortz’s Towne Properties and Meyers’ Evergreen Retirement Center when they received tax cuts from the county auditor ...

From “HIGHER-UPS ALTERED AUDIT, MEMO SAYS,” The Cincinnati Post, October 24, 1990—by RANDY LUDLOW, MOLLY KAVANAUGH AND DAN HORN, POST STAFF REPORTERS

The state auditor’s top official in Cincinnati was pressured by superiors to remove references to Richard Weiland - a supporter of Ohio Auditor Thomas E. Ferguson - from a report on the Hamilton County Auditor’s office, according to a memorandum obtained by The Post.

The memo written by Michael Geoghegan, who supervised the audit as district manager of Ferguson’s Cincinnati office, questions Weiland’s treatment in the audit of the practices of former county Auditor Joseph L. DeCourcy Jr.

References to Weiland - a Ferguson campaign contributor and acquaintance whose clients received some of the largest property tax cuts granted by DeCourcy - were removed from the final audit that found the cuts improper, The Post reported previously.

Geoghegan wrote, “. . . Every time I had put a reference to Weiland’s activities in the report, it was taken out” ...

Anonymous comments are allowed, but you can log in above to stamp your name and to avoid typing the anti-spam code.

Influence Peddler says:
22 Mar 2006 at 08:40 am | #

The pattern here is disturbing. The same weasels that ran this scam are back and very much involved in Hamilton County politics. Weiland, Roberts, Bortz, Aranoff are all still here. The poor sap, DeCoursey, left in disgrace. Good to see that democracy still works. Maybe the Enquirer will pick this story up. Thanks Dean for letting us know who we are dealing with.

Lucian Wilbanks says:
22 Mar 2006 at 08:48 am | #

The reference of Tom Mooney within Cincinnati Schools is way too funny.
Here’s another web thread. Very few honorable people exist within public life that will be principled enough to abide by bylaws of organizations. My 35 years in CPS saw evolvement of teacher participation on a broader scale within the union, then, 8 years ago that ceased and the Teacher’s Union became a pawn. Votes of rank and file teachers were turned around at the State House, from what they had asked for in the cities and farms, to what lobbyist told representatives. Southwest Ohio held pretty tough in that folks like Senator Mallory, his Father before him, Democratic Representatives Barrett, Driehaus, and Yates, along with Republican Seitz have gone beyond the lobbyist�s grasp back to the people at home for the real needs. Recently teachers sent one name to Columbus from Cincinnati as endorsed, so as to receive PAC funds. That person has gotten our support before. Mooney, now housed in Columbus, reversed the matter after discussions there with State lobbyists at the behest of several Senators. The support was reversed for another candidate, not the one the teachers had selected. Maybe Mooney did read history and decided to follow where there was more influential money.

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 08:51 am | #

Why should Dick Weiland have any more influence, as a citizen, than the rest of us? (And I ask that ideally, or theoretically, and not practically.)

The more I read this kind of stuff, the more I like Justin Jeffre’s idea to lower campaign contribution maximum limits to $100.

Ian Troy says:
22 Mar 2006 at 09:20 am | #

"Why should Dick Weiland have any more influence, as a citizen, than the rest of us?”

Ideally, we would all be equal. We would all have the same amount of money, ambition, intelligence, and influence. Wait a second, the world would be one bland, cookie-cutter place if that happened.

True equality is a myth. It doesn’t fit with the laws of nature. I challenge you to point out one place in nature where things are equal. Is the gazelle equal to the lion? Is the zebra equal to the cheetah? For that matter, is one cheetah equal to another? By nature, nothing is the same; some people are born smarter than others, or stronger than others, or better looking than others. Winston Churchill once said, “life is like a game of cards, the hand you are dealt is fate, how you play it is free will.”

So, “Why should Dick Weiland have any more influence, as a citizen, than the rest of us?” Probably because by pure chance of nature, he was born with above average political savvy and he decided to use it.

As for JJ2K5’s “brilliant” idea, it wouldn’t change a damn thing. If you look at campaign finance reports, you’ll see that, by and large, it’s the same group of people donating to political campaigns. You could lower the maximum contribution to $1 and it will still be the same people. You’ll also notice that it’s a very small group of people. You bloggers always bitch about how a small handful of people control politics, and there’s a simple reason for that. It’s because the overwhelming majority of people don’t get involved. Hell, we’re lucky to get 33% voter turnout on an off-year election. Out of that 33%, 5% actually get involved. If only 5% of the public gets involved in politics by donating time and money, then politicians are going to value that 5% over the other 95%. As much as you want to blame people like Weiland and Heimlich for screwing the little guy, you have to realize the facts: the little guy screws him or herself.

I used to be idealistic. I used to be against against the screwing of the little guy. As a result, I got involved in politics. I’ve worked on numerous campaigns, as a volunteer and paid staff. The more I got into politics, the more cynical I became and it’s because people just don’t care. They’re getting screwed and they just don’t care.

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 10:09 am | #

One reason no one gets involved is a failure to believe individual contributions matter, for all the reasons you just state.

I understand there is no limit on the HamCo CC race. Is that right? The Weilands and Lindners of the world have more say-so than the rest of us.

Political equality has nothing to do with biological equality, or intellectual equality, etc.

IT is a simple matter of representation.

Influence Peddler says:
22 Mar 2006 at 10:10 am | #

I disagree that people don’t care. I contend that they have tried and failed many times to correct this condition. Many have given up, but, many still intend to change the political landscape. This article is a step in a process that is long overdue. Should bagmen have more say in government than ordinary citizens? They do under the present system. Based on Ian Troy’s post we should resign ourselves to the fact that that is the way it has always been done and we might as well kick off our shoes and get comfortable with the deceipt and lies fed to us by the local news. The politicians should provide vasoline for us so we won’t complain too much.

Finance reports will tell the story behind the story. Where did Dick’s money come from? Where did it go? Abramoff is a lightweight compared to Weiland. The survival of the fittest rules nature and it is correct to say that it is not fair. Government, on the other hand, is in place to care for our disadvantaged and provide services that are not profitable for the private sector. If we place our trust in politicians that are operated by unseen forces that puts everybody at risk. We risk losing confidence in the corrupt system that results in voter apathy. Being fed bullshit by the media leads us to believe that everything is hunky dorie. When the corruption reaches the top change occurs. Fish rots from the head and our government has been hijacked by bandits. The criminals have purchased respect among many in the community by their good deeds. Change is in the wind and summer is coming.

The ongoing persuit of truth in public finance will continue and grow until the head of the beast is severed and it is driven out of town. Help is needed to access the public records of the parties involved and citizen watchdog groups are forming. We are at the beginning and have much work to do.

funnelcake says:
22 Mar 2006 at 10:24 am | #

Here is one thing we can do and it is FREE if your Ohio Taxes are more than $50.

Ohioans “can claim a credit against your tax for contributions of money you made during the year to the campaign committee of candidates for any of the following Ohio offices:
� Governor � Lieutenant governor
� Secretary of state
� Auditor of state
� Treasurer of state
� Attorney general
� Chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
� Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
� Ohio Board of Education
� Ohio Senate
� Ohio House of Representatives
The amount of the credit is the lesser of the combined total cash contributions you made during the year or $50 ($100 for married filing joint returns).”

If you file your ohio taxes by computer, web, have someone prepare them for you, there is no reason not to do this. You contribute your $50 bucks now and you get it back when you file your 2006 tax return.

Even if you do your taxes by hand, its on the Ohio 1040 Line 8 (for 2005). Just fill in schedule B (same Ohio 1040 form) line 56. *BAM* There is your $50 tax credit right back in your pocket.

I am surprised by the number of political junkies who don’t know about this. If we could educate the public about this and get a lot of people to take advantage of this we could really take the bite out of big money donors & even the playing field.

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 11:15 am | #

Dean, I’m not sure if the Ham Co CC has no limits. But I believe this still holds true. Regardless of how far down we pare campaign contributions, there’s always going to be some slick operator who will know how to circumvent the entire process & slip in the back door with a truckload of money. They’ve already changed the rules & we still have individuals doing things the old way & have developed methods to make it look perfectly legal. It’s no wonder that there’s so much voter apathy & cronyism is at an all time high.

This is excellent research, Dean. Keep it up!!!

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 11:39 am | #

I hope you caught the meeting between the City & the County yesterday on this Banks Project. We need to keep our eyes open & ears to the rail on this. Many of these notable slippery rascals had their lackeys seated out of the camera range, taking attendance & making notes. Regardless of how much elected officials screamed for RFPs, there’s going to be a lot more backroom deals & exchanges of serious cash on this. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

Chuck says:
22 Mar 2006 at 11:58 am | #

Ian Troy,
If people could only give a dollar then people would be able to match the Pepper’s and Lindner’s. You can argue that they’ll still get around because their so smart, but big dog Carl only has so many family members. He gave Phil Heimlich $25,000 all by himself in the county race compared with the $1,000 he was limited to in the city race for Pepper. There are other solutions like forcing media outlets to give more indepth and fairer coverage.

People do care that they are getting screwed, but they know the system is rigged and don’t bother voting. Our honest candidates like Mayor Dumas don’t get covered by biased media outlets like the Enquirer because they get most of the money that these crooked politicians raise.

People are finding alternatives like the Beacon and we can learn from real democracies in Europe. This rigged system isn’t a universal law and these things do change over time. It’s been a long time cominin but I know a change is gonna come.

Ding Dong says:
22 Mar 2006 at 12:35 pm | #

Chuck - Thanks for your post. Can you upload those campaign documents showing the Lindner contributions or send them to The Dean via the Tip Jar?

Ian Troy says:
22 Mar 2006 at 12:45 pm | #

There are no finance limits in a County race, so Carl Lindner can give as much money as he wants. The lack of limits is why I think David Pepper could be a serious contender against Heimlich.

Chuck,

“There are other solutions like forcing media outlets to give more indepth and fairer coverage”

How would you go about doing this? I would argue that forcing media companies to provide free air time to political candidates would be far more affective. The Supreme Court has ruled that the public owns the airwaves, so this isn’t a far-fetched solution.

“People do care that they are getting screwed”

Work on a political campaign, trust me, people really don’t care. After a 45 minute communte to and from work, most fat, stupid, and lazy Americans are more concerned with who got kicked off the island on Survivor than who is going to be their next congressperson. Watch people’s reaction when you try to hand them literature about a certain political cause or candidate…

“But they know the system is rigged and don�t bother voting”

There’s the conundrum. The system is rigged, but it’s because people don’t vote. We’re lucky to break 50% voter turnout in Presidential elections and lucky to top 30% in all other elections. That’s pathetic. Keep in mind that those percentages aren’t of the population as a whole, those are percentages of the population who have registered to vote. This is very advantagous to politicians, which is why we’re seeing voter suppresion and low turnout being turned into the status quo.

We’re going to be stuck with this system until people remove their heads from their asses, realize they’re getting screwed, get involved, and most importantly, start voting. There won’t be any change until the cycle of apathy is broken.

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 12:59 pm | #

And it’s people like Brinkman that tag along with groups such as Coast and tell people not to vote… Brinkman is wrong for telling people not to vote and this election I won’t be voting for him… My vote against him will be a vote against groups such as Coast, that mislead and deceive.

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 01:03 pm | #

Thanks Ian Tory for the clarification on the contributions. Up off the top, I couldn’t recall whether a cap was in place.

And Ian’s right, folks, on this voter turnout business. In those percentages, are a boatload of senior citizens who have voted along party lines that were established generations ago by their families. Grandma continues to vote the same way dead Grandpa insisted she vote, once she got the right to do so. Grandpa controlled her vote, because, politics is a man’s business. Same goes for that name recognition.

All these people from the next generations are too lazy to pay attention. It’s clock out of work, go to the burger drive-thru to get dinner & flop on their behinds & flip on the TV. Everyone with the same line, “Oh, we’ll figure it out when we get to the polls.” They aren’t paying attention at how their issues & concerns are being addressed by these politicians, nor are they holding them accountable when they waffle on their campaign stump rhetoric.

I’ve worked as a volunteer on many, many elections & the people are ridiculous. Plenty of them will see a name on a petition, recoil like the paper has anthrax & scurry away. Ian’s spot on with the attempt to hand out literature. Some people get rather nasty these days, especially if it isn’t their candidate. The rest will coyly look & run away.

Until people start to wake up, Ian’s right again. Nothing will change. The crooks will continue to buy elections so that their interests are being served & we’ll have nothing. As long as we have people who don’t have backbone enough to stand up & be counted, we’re going to continue to be infested with worms like Weiland, Roberts, Lindner & we’ll have politicians on the take like Heimlich.

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 02:18 pm | #

There�s the conundrum. The system is rigged, but it�s because people don�t vote. We�re lucky to break 50% voter turnout in Presidential elections and lucky to top 30% in all other elections. That�s pathetic. Keep in mind that those percentages aren�t of the population as a whole, those are percentages of the population who have registered to vote. This is very advantagous to politicians, which is why we�re seeing voter suppresion and low turnout being turned into the status quo.

It’s a chicken-egg argument. We need to work on both fronts at the same time.

says:
22 Mar 2006 at 07:15 pm | #

Memo to Blue Gill: You were wondering about Roger Ach. Here’s the latest about Roger Ach. Not surprising.

And in Hamilton County, all those FODs thought they were really getting great breaks.

Speaking of breaks, here’s somebody who’s finally and deservedly out of breaks. We told Blower readers that it would be a busy month for scofflaw/deadbeat/socialite Roger Ach down at the Hamilton County Courthouse, what with the out of state judgments, disputes over padlocked offices, and judgment debtor exams. Now Roger’s been served with another judgment, this one from the State of Ohio for not paying his income tax. Watch out, Roger. You’re fat and don’t look very good in orange.

How can anybody at the SEC or US Attorney’s office think this guy is doing anything other than committing securities fraud?

anon says:
23 Mar 2006 at 12:46 am | #

Dickie is a republican and a democrat. Cranley has in the past been attatched to him. His level of sucess in consulting comes from a wilingness to be scummy. I don’t think he is as powerful as you all think. He has consulted for my dad on a few occasions and let’s just say the results were less than desirable. He has no problem asking anyone for money for any pet project. Keep it up it does make for a great read.

What's outside?