Toledo City Council seated Councilman Robert McCloskey last night as chairman of its economic development committee.
Councilman Frank Szollosi called the move "an embarrassment" and urged his colleagues to deny Mr. McCloskey the committee chairmanship because of a $10 million lawsuit against both the city and Mr. McCloskey, alleging improprieties.
"McCloskey's distractions have damaged City Council [and] the City of Toledo and undermine our collective efforts to attract and maintain jobs," Mr. Szollosi said.
He said his amendment was intended to "spare Toledo and our region the embarrassment and damage" of having Mr. McCloskey in charge of the economic development committee.
Mr. Szollosi offered an amendment to the resolution naming the new appointments that would have deleted mention of Mr. McCloskey, thereby keeping himself as committee chairman. That amendment gained only one other vote, that of Councilman Michael Ashford, and was defeated. Mr. McCloskey, Mr. Szollosi, and Mr. Ashford are all Democrats.
The resolution containing the appointments recommended by council President Rob Ludeman, a Republican, was then approved 11-1, with Mr. Szollosi voting no.
Mr. McCloskey stayed mum during Mr. Szollosi's broadside, but said afterward he didn't see it coming. "I was kind of surprised by his comments," he said. "I was asked by a number of people to take the position."
He claimed Mr. Szollosi had offered to appoint him chairman of economic development if he would support Mr. Szollosi's bid for council president.
Mr. Szollosi lost to Mr. Ludeman in the Jan. 3 vote for council president. He has charged that Mr. Ludeman's appointment of Mr. McCloskey as committee chairman was political payback for Mr. McCloskey's support.
Mr. Szollosi denied that he offered the committee chairmanship to Mr. McCloskey. He said it was raised to him by a third party as a way of gaining Mr. McCloskey's support, and he did not reject it out of hand.
Mr. McCloskey is accused in a $10 million lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court of trying to coerce Pilkington plc, his former employer, into establishing a $100,000 prescription drug fund for company retirees for his support for a 2002 rezoning that was being sought by Pilkington.
A Michigan developer, EJS Properties LLC, which had applied for the rezoning with Pilkington, sued in 2004, saying Mr. McCloskey worked to defeat the rezoning when the demand for money was refused.
A trial is scheduled for Aug. 29. Council so far has allocated $90,000 for Mr. McCloskey's legal defense. Both he and the city law director have denied wrongdoing, and have asked Judge James Carr to dismiss the case.
The matter is also under investigation by the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office.
Prosecutor Julia Bates said her investigator, former Toledo police Detective Frank Stiles, is getting close to being done.
The prosecutor's office is looking into a possible felony bribery charge as well as misdemeanor coercion. Ms. Bates said coercion has a two-year statute of limitations, starting with the date a crime is discovered.
Pilkington and EJS Properties owner Erich J. Speckin claimed they were asked for the contribution in mid-2002, but Ms. Bates said it was not certain when the statute of limitations would have begun to run.
In other action, council approved:
●A 15-year tax abatement for the General Motors Corp. Powertrain plant, 1455 Alexis Rd., to encourage GM to select the plant for a $504 million investment in building a new transmission.
●A 25-year lease with Ann Arbor Railroad for development of two former landfills in North Toledo into a parking lot and rail loading yard for distribution of new vehicles from the Jeep Assembly plant.
●A resolution calling on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to conduct a full financial audit of Columbia Gas Co.
Council members signed a letter to PUCO Chairman Alan Schriber demanding the audit, and invited Columbia Gas customers to copy the letter from the city's Web site, www.toledo.oh.gov, and e-mail it to Mr. Schriber.
First Published February 1, 2006, 12:13 p.m.
