Konop, Moody spar on origins of ideas

6/10/2009

Republican mayoral candidate Jim Moody yesterday called for more detailed disclosure of politicians' votes and their campaign finance reports - and then got accused by Democrat Ben Konop of cribbing his ideas from his 2006 campaign for Lucas County commissioner.

At a morning news conference, Mr. Moody announced his plan for "a more transparent Toledo."

It included a plan for a new Web site called "myopentoledo" which would compare legislators' voting records next to their list of campaign finance donors to guard against "pay to play."

Mr. Konop, a Democrat, claimed Mr. Moody's "proposals for bringing transparency to government are nearly identical" to his own proposals when he ran for county commissioner in 2006. "It seems Moody has hijacked [Mr.] Konop's ideas and speech lines," the Konop campaign declared.

Mr. Konop said he proposed and then succeeded at ending the practice of awarding no-bid contracts, placing financial disclosure forms for elected leaders and candidates online, and requiring businesses seeking contracts with the county to disclose campaign contributions and other conflicts of interest.

He also noted a similarity in Mr. Moody's logo and that of 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's logo.

Mr. Moody said a Web designer produced his logo.

"Utterly ridiculous," Mr. Moody said of Mr. Konop's claims to have borrowed from his 2006 platform. He said he came up with his proposal by searching the Internet for ideas that have been proposed in other municipalities.

"Ben Konop's assertion that I have plagiarized his ideas are an illusion and a complete fabrication of the truth. On the other [hand], it's nice that he agrees with me," he said.

In his proposal, Mr. Moody vowed that he would put "real-time accounting" of the city budget online. And he would implement a Web site that would allow citizens to comment in written or video form on proposed legislation.

He proposed something called "easy share technology" that would make it easy for Toledoans to share legislative initiatives, budget proposals, and voting records.

Mr. Konop said his re-

forms didn't cost anything but Mr. Moody's plans for a Webcast will be costly to the city.

Mr. Konop also said Mr. Moody ripped off the term "ol' boys network" from him.

"The phrase is "nearly identical to the 'good ol' boys network' label Commissioner Konop has used for years to describe the back-scratching, back-room politics in Toledo," the Konop campaign said.

The term "good ol' boys network" has appeared off and on in The Blade since 1992.

Contact Tom Troy at:

tomtroy@theblade.com

or 419-724-6058.