Tom Neyer

        Tom Neyer has spent the past 18 months as chairman of an organization trying to raise money for the Regional Cultural Alliance (RCA), a nonprofit organization that will promote arts institutions in the Tristate. Next week, as Hamilton County Commissioner, Mr. Neyer says he will vote to give the RCA $600,000.

        The impending vote led an anti-tax group to file three complaints with the Ohio Ethics Commission since July, alleging that the commissioner has a conflict of interest.

CORRECTION

The Ohio Ethics Commission has made no formal finding concerning a complaint against Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer in this matter. This story contained incorrect information when originally posted. That has been deleted.

        County Auditor Dusty Rhodes, who calls Mr. Neyer's planned vote an obvious conflict of interest, said he would confer with the prosecutor before cutting a check to RCA based on such a vote.

        Mr. Neyer says his vote on the RCA is no different than commissioner Bob Bedinghaus being a champion for building riverfront stadiums, then voting on those matters.

        But public records obtained by the Enquirer show that Mr. Neyer was intimately involved with the group's fund-raising efforts — and its plan to ask the county government he presides over for money — through an organization called the RCA “Transition Team.”
       

No funds at first
               Mr. Neyer became chairman of the Transition Team in April 1999. At that meeting, he said there were no government funds to tap locally.

        Then, at the group's next meeting in June, Mr. Neyer said an economic development study could be used to secure funds from county governments in the Tristate. The team hired George Vredeveld, a University of Cincinnati economics professor, to conduct the study.

        “This will be necessary if support will be sought from each county,” Mr. Neyer said at the June 23, 1999, meeting.

        That support was indeed sought.

        The first public mention of Hamilton County funding the RCA came one year later, in June 2000, when the subject was brought up so hastily at a staff meeting that it didn't appear on the agenda.

        But minutes from a January 2000 Transition Team meeting show Mr. Neyer was already stating that Hamilton County taxpayers would give to the organization.

        The only questions: When and how to make it public?

        “Tom Neyer stated that, with a commitment from Hamilton County, the RCA can make a good faith recruitment gesture for an executive director,” the minutes from the Jan. 26, 2000, meeting say. “He questioned if Hamilton County should make public its contribution to the RCA or should seek funding from other counties before making the announcement.”

        Mr. Neyer then suggested that Hamilton County wait until one or two more counties announced their support before going public, minutes show.
       

Chief is chosen
               It would be six months before the county's funding of the RCA would be officially mentioned, but the search for an executive director proceeded after the January meeting. A list of 80 candidates has been whittled down to two.

        David Herriman, chairman of the RCA, said the group is just waiting for the commission to approve the grant before announcing its new director.

        Mr. Herriman said it was necessary to approach county governments so that the RCA wouldn't be stealing money away from other arts organizations.

        “We wanted to enlarge the pot rather than split it up,” he said.

        Mr. Neyer says he's not sure who came up with the idea of approaching county governments for funding, or when the idea was mentioned. But since there are three county commissioners, Mr. Neyer should have known in January 2000 that he had support from at least one other commissioner for the money to be secured.

        Commissioner John Dowlin opposes the grant, while Mr. Bed- inghaus supports it. Yet Mr. Neyer said he never discussed the issue privately with Mr. Bed- inghaus.

        “It is possible to discern where one's colleagues will come down on a particular issue,” Mr. Neyer said. “I know where Bob and John stand on a lot of issues.”
       

Political payback?
               Tom Brinkman, a member of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) and a newly elected state representative, said Mr. Bedinghaus' support amounts to political payback — Mr. Neyer voted with him on every major stadium issue and hosted a fund raiser in October that stuffed more than $52,000 into Mr. Bedinghaus' re- election coffers.

        “This is just Tom Neyer getting together with his rich friends and deciding how to spend our money,” COAST member Chris Finney said.

        Mr. Neyer wrote a letter to the Hamilton County prosecutor's office in July, asking for a legal opinion on whether his vote represents a conflict of interest.

        In the letter, Mr. Neyer states that he is on the board of several arts organizations and that he would not be a board member of the RCA. He did not, however, tell prosecutors about his role on the RCA Transition Team.

        When asked about the omission, Mr. Neyer said that his activities on the Transition Team were “well known.”

        “I have no fiduciary responsibilities with the RCA,” Mr. Neyer said.
       

"Potential problems'
               Mr. Rhodes, the county auditor, doesn't buy it.

        He said there is an obvious conflict of interest, and that the RCA grant received special consideration because of Mr. Neyer's support of the arts.

        “This whole process stinks,” Mr. Rhodes said. “Tom didn't disclose his leadership in the fund raising to prosecutors because he was more interested in getting an answer he wanted.

        “And if he was promising something before it was voted on, there might be some potential problems with that.”

        Mr. Rhodes said he plans to write a letter to the prosecutor before cutting a check to the RCA. He said he has the authority to withhold a check if he thinks a violation of law was committed.

        Mr. Brinkman said Thursday, however, that county Prosecutor Mike Allen should recuse himself from the case, since he appointed Mr. Neyer to the county commission.

        “Tom's leadership on the RCA is something that's going to have to be mentioned to the prosecutor before I write the check,” Mr. Rhodes said. “I have the authority to ask all the questions I want.”

        Mr. Neyer said he is confident that his work on the Transition Team presents no conflict of interest, and that the RCA will be a huge benefit to the region.

        “This region's cultural assets are among our most effective tools to build a bigger, stronger economy, create better jobs, ensure this city is competitive, enrich our education system and simply improve the quality of life for the people who choose to live here,” Mr. Neyer said.

       Alliance seeks $600,000 to promote arts, culture

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