Thread by @DavidPepper

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UPDATE on what should be a big scandal:

There is a specific, legal process to remove members of Ohio pension boards.

Which makes sense, since so much is at stake in the decisions these boards make. Billions of dollars. Thousands/hundreds of thousands of lives.

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I believe Gov DeWine egregiously violated the required process when he (hours before election results which changed the majority of the teachers pensions board were made public) unilaterally announced that he had replaced a board member (a “reformer”) w a contributor of his.

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The last-minute replacement created outrage, not only because it looks to violate the law, not only because the reason he gave for the termination was clearly a bald-faced lie but because it also looked to be a blatant form of election interference—preventing a new majority…

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…which would change the approach and direction of the board.

Something is clearly lurking beneath this move, and my guess is, it’s not pretty.

The board member who was ousted is now in court, arguing that the attempt to remove him violates the law. It’s a very strong…

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…argument.

But the update here is to highlight an absolutely blistering but appropriate editorial by the @toledonews about this scandal.

The language of this editorial underscores why we should all be paying attention:

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toledoblade.com/opinion/editor…

Excerpts: “The long-running battle over investment management of Ohio’s State Teachers Retirement System is now in front of the 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus. If justice prevails, Gov. Mike DeWine will be reminded that he is not a law unto himself.”

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“At issue is Mr. DeWine’s expulsion of Wade Steen as his appointed investment expert on the STRS Board in the middle of Mr. Steen’s four-year term.”

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“Mr. DeWine never followed the process for removal that starts w a complaint alleging willful neglect of duty filed in Common Pleas Court. Mr. Steen disputes Mr. DeWine’s charge and has filed suit against the governor & the entire STRS Board, claiming his removal was illegal”

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“Ultimately the court must decide whether a specified four-year term of office with detailed standards on grounds for dismissal and process for dismissal can be reduced to service at the pleasure of the governor.”

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“If anyone deserves a historic judgment of dereliction of duty in regard to STRS and the entire Ohio public pension system it is Mike DeWine. As attorney general Mr. DeWine reached malpractice-level malfeasance in his failure to require legally mandated fiduciary…”

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“…and actuarial audits from all of the state’s pensions…Mr. DeWine turned a blind eye to the loss of $32 billion by the five Ohio pension funds last year but seeks the ouster of Mr. Steen, the first and most ardent voice for investment management reform…”

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“…. in the entire state pension system…. Transparency of investment holdings and reduction of fees is at the top of Mr. Steen’s list. …and Mr. DeWine claims to support those goals. But firing the one board member on any state pension questioning blind investments and…”

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“…conflicted asset valuations directly contradicts mere words.

Ohio has poured tens of billions of pension dollars into assets it can’t specify and value solely on the word of the fund managers it’s given capital. “What’s the problem, we’re making money?”…”

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“…The pathetic first response from Ohio government in the Coingate scandal is still the operative investment strategy. Underperforming, politically connected fund managers still get rich in Ohio.”

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“…. Eventually the ramifications of years of underperformance by all of the pension funds will confront taxpayers. Coingate has shown how Ohio voters will react to an investment management scandal. Mr. Steen’s push for transparency and cost control seeds…”

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“…the cloud for political scandal and is behind his ouster from the STRS board.”

This is 💯 right.

I’m glad the Blade, the paper that never gave up on the Coingate scandal, is raising the alarm here again, and so loudly.

They know!

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And speaking of dereliction, there’s one other wrinkle to all this.

OH Rev. Code 3.07 defines “misconduct in office” as: “Any person holding office in this state, …who willfully and flagrantly exercises authority or power not authorized by law,” among other things.

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We’ll see what the court says, but I believe it could not be more clear that in trying to oust Mr. Steen from the pension board on his own, without following the very clear legal procedure required to do so, Gov. DeWine clearly did “exercise [] power not authorized by law…”

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…to oust a sitting board member amid an election of another board member.

And I strongly believe THAT is the misconduct that needs to be investigated by the relevant prosecutor, w every detail of what led to this lawless ouster being uncovered through that investigation…

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And my guess is that should such an investigation take place, as it should, with every email and text message surrounding the ouster retrieved along with depositions taken, this will quickly become yet another ugly scandal for Ohio.

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At long last, it’s time for accountability for the never-ending lawlessness in Ohio.

And this attempted ouster of a position where billions were at stake was as lawless as it gets.

END