The Democrat who seeks to unseat Ohio Governor John Kasich next year says the state's privatized job-creation office needs stronger ethics and transparency rules to protect against conflicts of interest and corruption.
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald laid out a series of proposed policy changes for JobsOhio on Monday that he pledges to pursue if elected. They include restoring public records and lobbying laws from which JobsOhio was exempted, requiring more thorough, frequent disclosure of its job-creation activities, and returning the state auditor's ability to review JobsOhio's private books. FitzGerald stopped short of saying he would dismantle the nonprofit if elected in order to return to a state-run development department. His calls follow legal and conflict-of-interest questions facing JobsOhio.