Plunderbund-Inspired IG Complaint first real test for Randy Meyer

When Randy Meyer was appointed to replace Tom Charles as Inspector General, no one seemed too unhappy (or elated) by the choice.

Despite having worked for Mary Taylor in the Auditor’s office – and having been appointed by Kasich – we expected he’d do a decent job. We’d heard he was an OK guy. And there is no way could possibly be any worse that Tom Charles.

Modern was hopeful when he heard that Meyer immediately replaced “at least half” of the existing IG staff when he took over.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the only thing he’s done since his appointment.

Yes, this is still better than the disturbing pattern of politically-motivated investigations initiated by Charles.

But at some point the guy needs to step up and start doing some work.

He’s put out exactly Zero press releases this year (Charles put out 13 last year) and according to his website, he’s worked on a total of three investigations so far this year – two of which were started under Charles.

It looks like he’s finally going to get a chance to act.

Today State Rep Debbie Phillips submitted a complaint with the IG’s office based on our story and ethics complaint about Stan Heffner. Phillips’ IG complaint reiterates what we’ve been saying for weeks:

Mr. Heffner has been serving as interim superintendent for public instruction. Prior to becoming interim superintendent, he had accepted a position with Education Testing Service (ETS), the company that provides certification tests for all Ohio teachers. After he accepted the position and while still in his official position, Mr. Heffner gave testimony before the Senate Finance Committee in support of legislation that likely meant significant revenues for his new employer. This official action on his part seems to violate the spirit, if not the letter, of Ohio’s ethics law.

Greg first wrote about Heffner’s conflict of interest SIX WEEKS ago. And a week ago we filed a complaint with the Ohio Ethics Commission – a day before the State Board surprised everyone by actually choosing Heffner as their new Superintendent of schools.

Meyer had plenty of time and incentive to pick up this case without anyone filing a complaint. And now he has a great deal more incentive to do so since a sitting member of the Ohio House of Representatives has also asked him to look into the matter.

Obviously there is merit to this claim. I’ll leave it to the Ethics Commission and IG’s office to determine if Heffner broke the law. But there’s no doubt this apparent conflict of interest needs to be investigated.

The question is: will Randy Meyer step up.

I’m confident the Governor’s office has recommended that Meyer sit on his hands. And I’m sure Meyer is seriously considering this option.

But this is Meyer’s chance to show he’s not beholden to the Governor. Or the Lt Governor.

This is Meyer’s chance to show he’s not a paper tiger.

What’s it gonna be Randy?