(upbeat music) - More than 100 organizations have come out in opposition to a proposal to change the process for amending the Ohio Constitution.

The dispute over the firing of Metro Health's chief executive officer took another turn this week.

Former CEO, Dr. Akron Boutros, filed a lawsuit in relation to his firing.

Cleveland chooses a new location for its police headquarters, but it's not the one that the Jackson administration planned for.

"Ideas" is next.

(upbeat music) Hello and welcome to Ideas.

I'm Andrew Meyer in for Mike McIntyre.

Thanks for joining us.

The dispute over the firing of the Metro Health chief executive officer took another turn this week.

Former CEO, Dr. Akram Boutros, went to court to nullify an investigation into his compensation and his termination for cause.

The hospital system's board says it fired Boutros over unauthorized bonuses he gave himself.

Boutros denies wrongdoing.

A proposal supported by Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, would change the requirement to pass a constitutional amendment to a super majority of voters, or 60%.

A broad range of groups came out to oppose the proposal this week.

Cleveland has chosen a new location for its police headquarters, but it's not the planned site on the Opportunity Corridor, and a bill that would restrict access to gender affirming care for transgender children is sidelined, but its sponsor says the bill will be reintroduced next session.

We'll talk about that and the rest of the week's news on the Reporter's Roundtable.

Joining me this week from Ideal Stream Public Media, digital producer Stephanie Czekalinski, and supervising producer for Newscast, Glenn Forbes, and in Columbus, Andy Chow, news editor for the State House News Bureau.

Let's get started.

The former chief executive officer of the Metro Health Hospital System, Dr. Akram Boutros, this week, filed a lawsuit against his former employer in Cayuga County Common Pleas Court.

Stephanie, let's back up and talk a little bit about the allegations that the board has leveled against Boutros as the cost for firing.

- Yeah, at issue are these performance bonuses, and Boutros had his base salary as dictated by his contract, and the board had approved, and knew about certain performance incentives that he was receiving as part of his package.

What they say happened, though, was that there were supplemental or additional bonuses that Boutros gave himself without the board's knowledge, and that he used metrics that he determined, and then evaluated himself as to whether or not he deserved those bonuses, so, that's the heart of the issue, but there's been a lot of back and forth.

- So, the back and forth now, there's this lawsuit, what's he looking for in the suit?

- According to his attorney, he wants the nullification of a recent investigative report that came out.

The hospital worked with a Cleveland law firm to investigate exactly what happened with these bonuses, and they made that public earlier this week.

He also would like his termination with cause to be nullified.

- So, the investigation came from the law firm, Tucker Ellis, what were some of the key findings in that?

- Well, at its core, the report determined that the hospital had the right to fire Boutros with cause, according to their employment contract, but there were lots of other things in the investigation as well, including the suggestion that Boutros might be facing additional charges.

- So, Boutros is claiming that the firing is simply in retaliation for him blowing the whistle on hiring practices by the board.

Can we drill down a little bit on what his accusations are?

- It's a little bit murky, as to, specifically, what he's referring to here, but his attorney says that the hospital board has retaliated against him after he raised questions regarding Ohio's Sunshine Laws somehow connected to the hiring of the CEO that will be coming on board in December.

- And Sunshine Laws are, basically, the idea that, if you're a public entity, you have to hold your meetings in light of the public, where they can see everything that's going on.

- There are rules about when you can talk about things in public, especially, HR matters and that sort of thing, so, we're not exactly sure which aspects of the Sunshine Laws he's alleging were violated, but I'm sure more information will be coming.

- So, the report said there was cause for termination, but it also said, and there could be more, what's the more that Dr. Boutros could be facing?

- According to this report, they say it's possible that he could be facing criminal charges for "Ohio ethics violations, theft in office, and other relate statutes."

Obviously, that will be determined by prosecutors, and at this point, we haven't heard anything from them.

- Metro Health has an interim CEO in place right now.

The new CEO, Dr. Airica Steed, is expected to start soon.

When's her first day?

- I think it's December 5th, and they moved up her start date to accommodate this issue.

- And, has she said anything about this?

- I don't believe so.

- Any sign that this back and forth between Metro Health and Dr. Boutros is having effect on the standing of Metro Health among the community?

- In terms of people... Well, it's important to differentiate between the people that work at Metro Health and the caregivers that people interact with, and Boutros, and perhaps the board.

The public loves their Metro Health caregivers, and they recognize that caregivers at Metro Health and at other hospitals, and medical establishments around the country have had a really tough three years, and so, I don't think that there's been any damage to that reputation, but this isn't a good look.

This is a county hospital.

It's our safety net hospital.

They're caring for people who are vulnerable, and a fight over millions of dollars in unauthorized bonuses, it isn't a good look.

(upbeat music) - Akron police are investigating after a viral video surfaced this week that shows officers removing a sign supporting justice for Jayland Walker.

Walker died in June after being shot multiple times by officers.

He was not armed.

Glenn, do tweet know where the video came from that's prompted all this interest?

- Yeah, and it's viral video, that's the key phrase these days.

Once a video goes viral, there's gonna be a lot of attention placed on it.

This is from a resident, her name was Amanda Bryant, on the southeast side of the city, pretty close to East Akron.

She says she started taking the video when she saw the officer use box cutters to remove this poster.

That's when she started filming.

You can see the car being driving away, whatever, a couple of sad elements to this story.

Not only the situation as a whole, but the signs were placed on utility poles by a man named Terry Riddle, and he kind of made it his mission, if you will, I guess, according to his family, to bring exposure to this case.

Terry Riddle died last month from lung cancer, and his family is trying to carry on his legacy and make sure that attention continues to be paid to this situation, so, that's where the video came from.

That's the genesis of these posters that are being seen around Akron.

- This is not a good look for Akron police.

Has there been any comment from Chief Mylett or anybody else in the city concerning this?

- Yes, a spokesman for the police department says they're aware of the video, they are investigating, they need more information before they can comment.

they're trying to figure out what's going or why the officer would remove this.

Now, city officials did tell "the Beacon Journal" that there is an ordinance that prohibits posters on lamp posts, and utility poles, and things like that, so, that's another element to this story, and, theoretically, again, theoretically, a police officer could say, "Listen, there's an ordinance against this.

We would take down any poster that is placed on a utility pole, or a lamp post, or anything.

It covers a couple of other situations of the city where you cannot put these posters, so, there's an ordinance, actually, that does address this.

- There's an ordinance, but it doesn't say whether you need to take 'em down right away, or it can be three months when you take them down.

Jayland Walker was shot in June.

These posters, I've seen them all over Akron, they've been up for months and months.

I think the question is, "Why now?"

But what's been the reaction from police reform activists about this?

- Well, obviously, they're not happy.

and the sentiment is, "Why do this?"

I think, from their perspective, it seems like unnecessary cruelty, and to your point, what does the ordinance really say, and what is the enforcement angle to this?

What is the procedure supposed to be for posters that are up, and if it was a missing cat or a missing dog poster, would it be taken down?

(upbeat music) - An Ohio House joint resolution that would change the threshold for ballot measures to change the state Constitution is moving forward as lawmakers approach a year end session deadline.

The resolution backed by Secretary of State Frank LaRose would require ballot measures to change the Constitution to pass by a super majority of 60%.

Currently, Ohio requires a simple 50% majority plus one vote.

Andy Chow, initially the measure was aimed at changing the ballot measures put before voters by citizen groups.

We've had some changes in the last 24 hours, haven't we?

- That's right, Andrew, so, the way the state process works is that Ohio voters are able to amend the Constitution in two ways.

One is when a citizen-led petition is circulated around the state, and a ballot issue is put on the ballot by a group of citizens.

That's called direct democracy.

The other way of doing it is that the legislature can pass a resolution in the House and the Senate, and as long as it gets three-fifths of the vote in the House and Senate, lawmakers can put an issue directly on the ballot, so, this resolution that we're talking about got a lot of heat for a lot of reasons, and continues to get a lot of heat, but one of the issues was that the original proposal only affected citizen-led constitutional amendments, so, only those petitions that end up on the ballot to change the Constitution led by citizens would need a 60% majority of the vote in order to amend the Constitution.

That has been changed, so, this resolution now says, if anybody wants to change the Constitution, whether it's through a legislative initiative or a citizen-led initiative, they must receive 60% of the vote in order to be enacted.

- I wanna get an email from Susan in here.

She writes, "State leaders are hypocritical when they want to raise the percentage needed to approve constitutional amendments by their constituents.

They claim it will keep outside interest from changing the Ohio Constitution as they accept campaign funds from outside interests," so, Andy, what's interesting in the pressure that's come to bear on this is, from a broad coalition of groups who've come out against this proposal, and I gather that they're really odd bedfellows who are in on this.

- They are, yeah, there are all sorts of groups, there are faith groups, labor groups, progressive groups, conservative groups that are all coming out against this.

If you look at the way the political structure of the state legislature is made right now, you would think that maybe more liberal or progressive groups are against this, because they want an option to be able to bypass the Republican super majority in the House and Senate in order to put something in the Constitution by asking voters for it, but there are conservative groups out there who are against this as well, believing that it's just bad policy that's the wrong thing to do, and a little bit more forward thinking, conservative groups are saying, "Yeah, sure, Republicans are in the super majority right now, but what if that happens to flip, and conservative voters want to bypass the legislature to put something in the Constitution, this would make it harder for them as well.

Going back to that email that you just mentioned, about the idea of stopping special interest groups, these conservative groups have also raised the point that, if you raise the threshold to 60% for citizen-led initiatives, then that might just give more incentive to special interest groups to spend even more money on the legislative side to spend even more money into the campaigns to try to get to curry favor, and to get policy that they want passed through the legislature.

- If this super majority provision had been in place already, what would it have meant to recently passed constitutional amendments?

- So, really, for a lot of constitutional amendments that have been proposed over the last 22 years, a lot of them can't even get the simple majority vote in order to pass.

We've seen nearly a dozen measures, more than a dozen measures that are like that, but when it comes to the super majority, there have been two issues that have been enacted in the Constitution that have amended the Constitution that did receive a simple majority vote, but not a super majority vote, that is the 2006 issue to raise the minimum wage.

People might know that every year the state adjusts its minimum wage based on inflation.

That's why we continue to see the state's minimum wage go up every year, because of that 2006 initiative, and then, the 2009 initiative, the constitutional amendment to allow for casino gambling.

This is the issue.

The casino's issue has been the main jumping off point for conservatives in the legislature who have been fighting for this 60% majority issue.

They say that the casino constitutional amendment is a good example of special interest groups coming to Ohio, spending millions of dollars in a campaign to be able to "buy" their way into the state Constitution.

- Let's talk timing now.

Pull out the crystal ball.

A number of liberal issues are likely to be on the ballots in 2023 and '24, but also Frank LaRose, Secretary of State, may be angling to get into the Senate race to unseat Sherrod Brown.

What do you make of that?

- Well, one of my favorite sayings during lame duck is that there's a lot of moving parts going on right now, and one of the things that you just mentioned is that Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, coming off a big re-election win to continue his term in the Secretary of State's office.

There has been a lot of discussion about what his political future is, and he does seem to be a pretty attractive candidate for the Republicans to run in that U.S. Senate race, so, this is an issue that that puts him front and center on something that he has believed for a while now that he can now use as a jumping off point to fight for, and then, yes, there is the political issue as well, where the state of Ohio is looking at a couple of different issues coming down the pipeline.

One, being the issue of putting some type of protection for abortion rights on the ballot like we've seen in several other other states ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

This is one of those big arguments from the groups who are fighting against the constitutional change, is that, yes, this would make it harder for groups to be able to come in and try to protect things like reproductive rights.

Also, something coming down is this possible proposal to legalize recreational marijuana that was expected to be on the ballot.

That might change as well, if lawmakers pass the 60% majority issue.

(upbeat music) - The city of Cleveland selected the site for its new police headquarters.

The city says it will renovate the historic Artcraft Building.

The project is expected to be completed by 2025, and house all of the Cleveland Division of Police.

The building is located on Superior Avenue in the former Garment District.

Glenn, is the site a surprise given that the Jackson administration actually held a groundbreaking late last year on a new jail...

I was gonna say new jail, a new police headquarters?

- Too many new buildings going up, too many new things that we have to do here in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

Andrew, in a word, no, this is an imperfect comparison, but, like, when a new general manager, we know this in Cleveland too, when a new general manager comes in for your football team, he clears out all the guys he didn't want, and brings in all the new guys he does want, and I think there's a similarity here, just because a previous administration held a groundbreaking, doesn't mean that this administration is beholden to that at all.

- [Andrew] Even if there's a shovel in the ground.

- Even if there's a shovel in the ground, even if it's a shovel-ready project.

Remember that phrase?

(laughing) But, anyway, moving on.

Yeah, so, I wasn't particularly surprised, especially, when they said, "Well, we're gonna re-open these requests for proposals, because we're not so sure we want this Opportunity Corridor site, it's a little further east in the city of Cleveland.

This is a little closer to downtown."

The city says that this will give them the opportunity to open about two years earlier than they had planned for the Opportunity Corridor site, and they also say it will save an estimated $40 million, because the Opportunity Corridor site would've been an all-in site, whereas, this will be a single location.

Obviously, there needs to be some renovation, and things like that, but this will be a single site, and they say it'll come in earlier and under budget.

Those are other phrases we like to hear in the news business.

- So, it makes you wonder, though, if this is going to be done sooner, and if it's gonna cost potentially $40 million less, why wasn't this in the cards earlier, maybe in the last administration?

- Well, that's a good question.

- [Andrew] I'll put it out there as a rhetorical one.

- I think a lot of reporters and myself have spent a lot of time trying to get inside the heads of the politicians, and the Jackson administration, in particular, the last 12 years, and the Opportunity Corridor site, I think it's still an important area of development for the city, regardless of who the mayor is, so, I don't know if the idea was to try to give that area a boost, and it is accessible to a lot of different areas in that particular spot of the Opportunity Corridor, close to major highways, things of that nature, but the BIB administration has decided that this will be quicker, and cheaper, and it will allow for a single location, and according to a press release, it's a 250,000 square feet, single location for all of these headquarters functions.

They're gonna free up the Payne Avenue site, which is the public safety center, and also, freeing up the Opportunity Corridor for what they hope are higher revenue generating sites.

- Yes, there's more lingo from the press and news, but, basically, they're saying they think they can get the money out of it that they've already put in design and prep for that site on Opportunity Corridor.

As for the Artcraft building, what do we know about this space?

I've only been in northeast Ohio for eight years, so, I've heard it referred to as a historic building, the historic art craft building, but what's the history of the building?

- Well, as I said it, it's gonna need a lot of TLC, if you will.

The city says gut rehab, renovation, new building systems, a roof parking garage, and a more efficient floor plan, and all these things, so, it was just a spot where artists were kind of hanging out, and doing their thing.

This was a spot for them, and it's funny, Kabir Bhatia had a story that talked about...

He talked to an artist who works out of there, and he says, "Well, we're kind of used to this.

We're always on the move, and we'll just have to move a little further east," but while it's bittersweet, I think, for them, it's not necessarily a surprise that they're gonna continue to be pushed out a little bit.

He says they're used to it.

(upbeat music) - A bill that would've restricted gender affirming care for transgender children will not be taken up during the lame duck session of the Ohio legislature.

The bill sponsor, State Representative Gary Click, a Republican from Sandusky County, says he's decided to hold off on the bill for now.

Andy Chow, Representative Click, it is clear that this bill will be back in the next session, that he's not tabling it permanently.

What's going on here?

- Yeah, so, this is one of those situations where the legislature is trying to fit so many bills through one door that some of them just can't fit through by the end of the year when these legislators and the leaders try to identify what will happen, what will not happen, what might distract from one thing to another, and it seems like this gender affirming ban would be one of those things, so, it received a lot of oppositional testimony the other week.

There were a lot of concerns over it.

I believe there's also concerns about the bill within the Republican caucus itself.

It seems like they're gonna just table it for now, and then wait until next year.

The other thing about this bill is that it just went through a pretty big amendment, not a huge amendment, not anything to make opponents want to like the bill anymore, but it did add a provision that would allow gender affirming care for minors if they received two years of mental health treatment, and I believe that was added to bring more Republican legislators on board.

I think, given the time constraints, there's not enough time for those Republican leaders to really consider those changes with everything else going on.

- What's the reaction been from LGBTQ support groups?

- Yeah, they're not really breathing a sigh of relief here.

They know what's to come with the new legislature.

The super majority that the Republican legislature has right now is going to continue into the new session.

LGBTQ groups who have been fighting against this issue for months now believe that it's just gonna start up all over again, so, they're getting prepared for it.

Another big thing revolving around all this is that the LGBTQ community, and other advocates have said that a big issue here is the possibility of misinformation, and so, they've been trying to inform legislators, inform the communities of what this really means, what they're really talking about when it comes to gender affirming care for minors, and so, that mission will continue for them as well.

- Pushing this measure to the next session, that will mean an even bigger majority for the Republicans in both chambers also means a new and more conservative House speaker, Derek Merrin.

Do you think this was a factor at all?

- I don't know if it was a factor, but when you look at what bills do and do not move before lame duck, sometimes you have to consider which legislators are about to leave, because of term limits, and sometimes when you're looking at some of the more conservative bills that are on hold before the lame duck session ends, sometimes if you have some more conservative legislators who have been maybe the vocal leaders of those bills, if they're about to leave, the legislative leaders will try to push that through, but, because you still have Gary Click coming back next year, who's the sponsor of this bill, because you have somebody like Derek Merrin who's going to take over as House speaker.

I believe that the more conservative side of the caucus feels pretty confident that this is the kind of bill that they can still continue to move forward next year.

(upbeat music) - Akron City Council voted this week to demolish the remains of the Rubber Bowl.

The stadium has been a fixture in Akron for nearly a century, and hosted, in its heyday, a number of sporting events and concerts.

Glenn, theoretically, that land will be available for re-development, but that's a ways off.

Do we know how long?

- Well, the good news is that a lot of the asbestos is out of that site, and the Heisman Lodge site, so they say all they have to do is raise it and wait for the re-development, and things like that.

It's still gonna be a ways off.

It is sad in a way.

It's time has come clearly to-- - Do you have concerts that you don't remember being at?

- No, I don't.

(laughing) But I do remember parking for the Firestone when the PGA Tour, not the senior PGA Tour that it is now, but the PGA Tour used to be at Firestone.

I remember parking near the Rubber Bowl, I believe, for that, and taking the shuttle over.

I do not have memories of the concerts there, but I can tell you it said we used to have the Rubber Bowl and the Glass Bowl, of course, here in Ohio, I think, two really cool names, the Glass Bowl being in Toledo, but a 35,000 seat stadium.

It's been in disrepair and rubble, and we've got that brand new InfoCision Stadium, so, time for the Rubber Bowl to go.

Do you have any memories there, Andrew?

- It's before my time, so-- - Before your time.

- Before my time in northeast Ohio.

- [Glenn] Before your time in northeast Ohio.

- I'm sure if I had been there, there would've been concerts that I would've been at, that I would not remember today.

(laughing) (upbeat music) Monday on "the Sound of Ideas," we'll talk to some of the local delegates who just returned from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt, known as COP27.

I'm Andrew Meyer, thanks for watching.

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