toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS - When it came to appointing a new trustee to the board of the Medical University of Ohio in 2003, the governor's office ignored doctor's orders and followed the advice of coin dealer and political confidante Tom Noe.

At the time, the choice of the school's acting president, Dr. Amira Gohara, was Geoffrey Meyers, an executive with Manor Care, a national nursing home company with headquarters in Toledo.

In a letter to Gov. Bob Taft on May 29, 2003, Dr. Gohara and William Connelly, MUO's general counsel, endorsed Mr. Meyers, saying he would bring "welcome expertise" in finance and reimbursement to the medical college.

But then Mr. Noe got involved, registering a complaint with Brian Hicks, Gov. Bob Taft's chief of staff in July.

Within a month, Mr. Meyers was out of the picture and one of Mr. Noe's friends, Carroll Ashley, was in.

Carroll Ashley: Medical University of Ohio trustee.

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When Mr. Ashley became a trustee that August, he was completely unaware of the machinations that took place on his behalf for the unpaid position.

"I didn't know that there was a second candidate considered," he said. "That's news to me."

Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, questioned Mr. Noe's backroom approach for a relatively minor appointment.

"If he was doing this for something without a paycheck attached to it, what would he do for something with a profit margin?" she said.

"It takes nepotism to a really different level."

Mr. Noe and Mr. Hicks could not be reached for comment, nor could Mr. Meyers, the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Manor Care who was away on vacation.

Friends for years

But one brief e-mail, part of more than 35,000 released last week by the governor's office, shows the depth of the relationship between Mr. Noe and Mr. Hicks, considered the most powerful nonelected official in Ohio.

The two had been friends for years; Governor Taft, like his predecessor, had appointed Mr. Noe to high-profile boards: the Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio Turnpike Commission.

But in July, 2003, Mr. Noe's focus was on the MUO position.

After learning that Mr. Meyers was in the running, Mr. Noe contacted Mr. Hicks.

Mr. Noe wanted the governor's office to consider Mr. Ashley, a long-time hospital executive who now works in the insurance industry. The conversation left an impression, with Mr. Hicks sending an e-mail to a colleague who was working on gubernatorial appointments.

"I got an earful from Tom and Bernadette Noe on the MCO appointment," Mr. Hicks wrote in a July 16, 2003, e-mail to David Payne, the governor's director of boards and commissions.

"Are we so far down the track that we couldn't reverse course? Can you send me resumes of both candidates we're looking at?"

A month later, Mr. Ashley got the appointment.

Currently being investigated for possibly laundering campaign donations to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and under civil and criminal investigation for his role with a failed rare-coin investment with state money, Mr. Noe's friendship has become a liability for many people.

Pair fined $1,000 each

Mr. Hicks was fined $1,000 last week for neglecting to properly disclose two vacations at Mr. Noe's Florida Keys residence. Mr. Hicks' long-time assistant, Cherie Carroll, was also fined $1,000 for an ethics violation because she accepted expensive meals paid for by Mr. Noe.

While those affected by the coin-fund scandal have recently distanced themselves from the Noes, Mr. Ashley defended the couple's years of work in the public arena.

"In spite of some of the allegations and charges that have been made, they've done a lot of good things for the community," Mr. Ashley said. "I'm certainly disappointed with some of the things I've read, but I still consider them friends."

Mr. Ashley discussed the MUO position with Mrs. Noe in June, 2003. Later that month, he sent his resume to Mr. Payne.

It was an impressive resume. The University of Toledo graduate was president of Riverside Hospital from 1983 to 1994, before leaving to work in the insurance industry. Since 2002, Mr. Ashley has been the principal in the Ashley Insurance Group.

$9,000 to candidates

Mr. Ashley also chaired the Toledo Cultural Arts Commission and the World Cup Wrestling Tournament. He was a member of several political campaign committees and has given $9,000 to mostly Republican candidates during the past 13 years.

In comparison, Mr. Meyers has contributed $2,100 to Ohio Republicans, all of it last year, well after the decision was made.

During the vetting process for the MUO board, Mr. Payne received letters supporting Mr. Ashley from state Auditor Betty Montgomery and then-state representative Lynn Olman, a Republican from Maumee who recently bought the Noes $500,000 condominium.

MUO officials say they consider Mr. Ashley a valued member of the board.

"Mr. Ashley has done an outstanding job while he's been on the board and has been a big contributor," said Alfred A. Baker, a veteran board member and vice president for labor and employee relations at Owens-Illinois Inc.

"The Noes haven't been involved with Medical University affairs to my knowledge," said MUO President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, who added that his own interactions with Mr. Noe were limited to regent business.

Mr. Ashley currently chairs the board's audit committee. He estimates that the board consumes 8 to 10 hours of his time each month. He views that time as helping to improve Toledo, not as a political prize.

"To be honest, I didn't know it was a position you competed for," he said.

Ms. Turcer said the exchange between Mr. Noe and Mr. Hicks and the resulting appointment continues to raise concerns about how business is done in Columbus.

"A lot of times we think, someone is trying to get a job for their kid or a second cousin," she said. "But what we're really talking about is the old boys' club, or to be politically correct, 'the old boys' and girls' club.' "

Contact Joshua Boak at: jboak@theblade.com or 419-724-6050.

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