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Developer paid for officials’ flight to scout arena

Miami Twp. must pay back money for trip with Austin Landing planner.

Developer Randy Gunlock said he estimated that the flight cost $8,000, though the township’s exact expense has not been finalized.

Chris Stewart/Dayton Daily News Staff Photogra Developer Randy Gunlock said he estimated that the flight cost $8,000, though the township’s exact expense has not been finalized.

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By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer 1:51 AM Saturday, February 11, 2012

MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — The developer of the multimillion-dollar Austin Landing project flew two Miami Twp. officials at his expense to Muskegon, Mich., in 2011, to scout out an arena similar to what the developer wants to build in the Dayton area.

The trustees said Thursday they plan to reimburse RG Properties for costs for the trip after a Dayton Daily News investigation informed them the May 10 trip apparently violated the Ohio Ethics Law for public officials.

Trustee Mike Nolan, who rode on the chartered flight with Township Administrator Greg Hanahan, said he will ask the township to pay RG Properties for their travel costs.

Developer Randy Gunlock said he estimated that the flight cost $8,000, though the township’s exact expense has not been finalized. “We’re going to ask Randy Gunlock to send us a bill. We’ll pay the bill,” Nolan said.

Nolan said he and Hanahan flew with Gunlock and two Miami University officials: Rico Blasi, the RedHawks’ hockey coach; and Steve Cady, a former Miami hockey and soccer coach and now a senior associate athletic director and assistant vice president of finance and business services.

Gunlock is a Miami graduate and donor who invited the university officials.

Ohio ethics law prohibits public officials from accepting travel or other things of value from companies or individuals involved in business with the local government, said Paul Nick, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Nick declined to comment on this case, but added that public officials “shouldn’t be accepting material things of value” from anyone doing business with the township.

Officials thought  free flight was OK

Nolan said he and Hanahan decided to ride at RG Properties’ expense, rather than miss the opportunity to join Gunlock and the Miami officials. The invitation came just two hours before take-off.

“With the timing involved, there was no way for Greg Hanahan and me to be present at the meeting without flying on the private jet,” Nolan said in a prepared statement. “With the fact that the jet was going to the meeting regardless of Hanahan and my attendance, RG Properties did not charge for the flight.”

Nolan, a former chief deputy with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, said he asked and was told by Hanahan there was no potential conflict of interest by taking the flight. Hanahan, who is also a German Twp. trustee, has not been available for comment.

The trip came as Gunlock said he was hoping to convince the trustees to form a public-partnership to build an arena on 68 acres owned by the township east of the Austin Boulevard interchange and just north of the Dayton Wright Brothers Airport.

Gunlock questioned whether such trips should violate Ohio law. “If the argument goes you’re not supposed to be doing these types of things, we’ll stop,” he said.

Trustee Deborah Preston said she was unaware of the Muskegon flight. “I’m certain our residents would be upset by a trustee and administrator taking a corporate jet plane ride and then voting to give RG Properties $14.5 million. It doesn’t pass the smell test,” Preston said.

Trustee Charlie Lewis said he supported the Michigan trip in the interest of attracting economic development, but added, “We probably won’t do it anymore if that’s what the statute says.”

On Nov. 8, the trustees voted 2-1 — with Preston opposing — to invest $14.5 million in RG Properties’ second phase to develop east of the interchange. This brings the township’s investment for a park, ice rink, roads and other infrastructure to $23.5 million.

RG Properties has committed to spend $55 million on the project’s second phase, running its total investment to $109 million.

Township officials said they expect to retire their debt through tax incremental financing on the improvements.

Public and private money invested at the new interchange is expected to exceed $200 million.

In 2011, the township paid to fly trustees and administrators to California, Chicago and Las Vegas on business trips, according to public records obtained by the Daily News.

Some of the trips included:

• In February, Preston flew to Palm Springs, Calif., as part of her efforts to recruit Optivus Proton Therapy to build a proton beam radiation treatment center for cancer patients. The center is to be located at the southwest corner of the Interstate 75-Austin Boulevard interchange.

Optivus plans to invest between $100 million to $125 million and would employ 123 clinical workers, according to Optivus CEO Jon Slater. He plans to update township officials on the project before the end of March.

• On May 18, Nolan, Hanahan, Lewis and his wife, Township Fiscal Officer Judy Lewis, flew to Las Vegas to attend a national mall convention.

The township had no record of the May 10 flight to Muskegon.

On that trip, Nolan, Hanahan, Gunlock, Cady and Blasi spent the afternoon with Josh Mervis, owner of local junior and minor league teams in Muskegon, at the L.C. Walker Arena, a city-owned facility home to the minor league and junior hockey teams, according to interviews.

Cady said he went along to “break the ice” for Gunlock and the Miami Twp. officials. He added that Blasi also used the trip to recruit players in Muskegon.

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