toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS - Former Attorney General Marc Dann threatened the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation that if it didn't rescind its contract giving away $190 million of its funds, it would be dissolved, the now defunct organization's executive director testified yesterday.

A few weeks later, the General Assembly and Gov. Ted Strickland passed a law killing the foundation created by lawmakers eight years earlier with funds from the state's multibillion-dollar settlement with tobacco companies.

Mike Renner, who lost his job as executive director when the foundation was shut down, said some trustees were led to believe by the Attorney General's Office that they could be personally held liable for their decisions.

"Absent a dismissal of the lawsuit and an assurance that the American Legacy Foundation would not pursue any interest, preparations were being made to terminate the foundation," Mr. Renner said Mr. Dann told him in a telephone call.

The Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders announced on April 2 that they planned to take $230 million from the foundation's $270 million endowment to help pay for $1.57 billion in targeted investments to jump-start the state's weak economy.

The foundation's board, in response, voted to give its anti-tobacco counterpart at the national level $190 million of its funds, preserving that much for the continuation of its mission to help smokers kick the habit and encourage youths not to start.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Fais will hear a third day of testimony today as he considers whether to make permanent his temporary restraining order preventing either side from touching the money.

Testimony about what representatives of the Attorney General's Office told the state foundation had several assistant attorneys general leaping to their feet to object. Five are sitting at the defense table representing the governor, General Assembly, Treasurer Richard Cordray, and the Department of Health, while a sixth is there to protect potentially confidential discussions between the foundation and its lawyers.

Judge Fais, however, refused to recognize privilege when it came to the conversation with Mr. Dann, who officially joined the case on the governor's side before the conversation took place.

Assistant Attorney General Steve McGann specifically objected to Mr. Renner's testimony that Assistant Attorney General Susan Walker led trustees to believe they could be personally on the hook for their actions.

"This is clearly attorney-client privilege, and he just back-doored it in," said Mr. McGann.

Robert G. Miller, Jr., 51, a Toledo resident and plaintiff in the lawsuit, testified that he relies on a smoking cessation program at St. Luke's Hospital in Maumee to keep him from relapsing in his constant battle.

He began smoking as a teen-ager and tried repeatedly to quit without success until joining St. Luke's program last year. The program was funded by a grant from the foundation, and he now considers it "at risk."

"I definitely would like to continue in that program," he said. "It's a long-term process. It's not something that goes away and you don't need it anymore."

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

Permanent Link