Businessman violated elections law

The Ohio Elections Commission voted 4-2 to find that Republican businessman Jim Moody violated state ethics law by failing to report money spent to criticize city councilman D. Michael Collins. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

COLUMBUS -- A state regulatory panel Thursday found that Republican businessman Jim Moody violated Ohio elections law by failing to report money spent to criticize Toledo City Councilman D. Michael Collins in the midst of his successful re-election bid last year.

In a case that one member called "a really, really tough one," the Ohio Elections Commission voted 4-2 to find that a violation occurred. It then voted unanimously to impose no penalty.

The commission also unanimously found no violations in connection with allegations made against former Lucas County Republican operative Larry "Matthew" Bartow of Perrysburg. He was accused of working with Mr. Moody as an undeclared political action committee to distribute postcards and to make robo-calls against Mr. Collins, an independent, without disclosing who was paying the bill.

The complaint was filed by Dave Schulz, who in 2006 ran for an at-large city council seat and is leader of a political group called Citizens Organized to Bring Reform and Accountability. He did not attend the commission meeting to support his complaint.

The commission focused on the postcard, which was to be financed by Mr. Moody but produced and distributed by Mr. Bartow. The postcard depicted a mock report card containing a D-minus across the board for various attributes and parodied Mr. Collins' name as "D-Collins." The postcard characterized Mr. Collins as "Bad for Council" and "Bad for TOLEDO."

The commission struggled with whether the postcard qualified as election material at all under the panel's jurisdiction because it did not expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate. In the end, it found that it was election material.

"It is tough sometimes sorting these out," commission Chairman Bryan H. Felmet, a Republican, said.

But then Commissioner Helen E. Balcolm, a Republican, added, "But 'Bad for Council'?"

The commission declined to find that Mr. Bartow and Mr. Moody worked together as a PAC on the postcard and then failed to disclose that PAC as the source in violation of election law. Instead, it found that Mr. Moody acted as an individual who had hired Mr. Bartow to do the work and that Mr. Moody alone was responsible for filing the required report indicating the expense.

The commission could have imposed a fine of up to $1,000 against Mr. Moody but chose instead to impose none.

"I authorized it," Mr. Moody, a local real estate agent, told the commission. "I said I'd pay for it. I haven't gotten the bill for it yet."

But he stressed that the postcard did not advocate for the defeat of Mr. Collins.

"Here's a postcard that we sent out, saying here's the record, and now I'm talking to you," Mr. Moody said. "I don't get it. Where do we draw the line?"

Mr. Bartow did not attend the meeting. Instead, he sent a written affidavit in which he referred to his association with Mr. Moody as both "public" and "notorious." He was an unpaid adviser to Mr. Moody's own unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2009, a contest in which Mr. Collins was one of his opponents. Neither man made it past the primary election.

Mr. Bartow denied that he and Mr. Moody had formed a PAC and said he didn't work on behalf of any candidate in 2011.

Mr. Collins, who was not a party to the complaint, also did not attend the meeting.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.