Mandel Blew Off Every Single Board Of Deposit Meeting During First Year In Office
Following Months Of Embarrassing Headlines, Mandel Shamed Into Attending Last Two Meetings
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Last week, our absentee Treasurer Josh Mandel showed exactly what happens when you don’t show up for work when he couldn’t correctly name the size of the pension funds his office oversees, missing the mark by a mind-blowing $65 billion. With a full week to study basic math, will Mandel get it right at today’s Board of Deposit meeting?
WATCH: Josh Mandel Clueless As To Size Of Pension Funds He Oversees, Wrong By $65 BILLION.
During the rare press conference last week, a reporter asked Josh where he stood on pension reform bills that passed the state Senate last week. Avoiding the question, Mandel said, “I will be watching it very closely, obviously, as the custodian of the $100 billion assets under management of the pension funds.”
An impressive pivot. Except that the pension funds measure $165 billion, a correction the reporter quickly made. Channeling a deer in headlights, Mandel nodded and smiled sheepishly, then glanced nervously right into the camera before shrinking from the podium.
Given his refusal to attend the billion-dollar investment meetings during his first year in office and the fact that he was shamed into attending the last two meetings after being caught raising cash in The Bahamas and hiring political cronies and friends, Mandel’s lack of basic knowledge about the duties of his office comes as no surprise.
“After blowing off more than a year of billion-dollar investment meetings he is supposed to chair, it’s clear that Josh Mandel is so completely clueless about what’s happening at the Treasurer’s office that he doesn’t even know the size of the pension funds his office oversees,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Andrew Zucker. “Between his shady campaign cash, lack of basic knowledge about how Ohio tax dollars are invested and the fact that he was shamed into attending his only two Board of Deposit meetings after neglecting them for his first full year in office, Josh Mandel continues to prove he’s just another politician Ohioans can’t trust.”
WHO: Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel (shamefully)
WHAT: State Board of Deposit Meeting & Basics-Of-Treasurer’s-Office 101
WHEN: TODAY, Friday, May 25, 2012 at 10:45 a.m.
WHERE: 30 East Broad Street
9th Floor, Conference Room B
Columbus, Ohio 43215
BACKGROUND
Josh Mandel Did Not Attend The First 14 Meetings Of The State Board Of Deposit After He Became Treasurer. [State Board of Deposit official minutes, 2/23/12; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 1/26/12; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 12/22/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 11/29/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes,10/27/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 9/29/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 8/25/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 7/28/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 6/23/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 5/26/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 4/27/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 3/24/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 2/24/11; State Board of Deposit official minutes, 1/27/11]
Akron Beacon Journal: Mandel Has “Ducked All But One” Board of Deposit Meeting “Which He Is Supposed To Chair.” In April 2012 in theAkron Beacon Journal, Steve Hoffman, an Akron Beacon Journal editorial writer, opined “There, Mandel has ducked all but one meeting of the Board of Deposit, which he is supposed the chair, and hired political cronies (after a campaign that blasted his Democratic opponent, Kevin Boyce, for doing the same thing).” [Akron Beacon Journal, Steve Hoffman, 4/18/12]
Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial: Mandel Needs To Remember That Good Government At The State Treasury “Means Minding The Store.” In a March 2012 editorial, the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote State Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Greater Cleveland Republican, recently took time out from his U.S. Senate race to attend to an official duty: chairing the State Board of Deposit, evidently for the first time in his 14 months as treasurer.” The Plain Dealer went on to note “Mandel, who is running as if there’s no tomorrow against Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, needs to consider the maxim that good government is the best politics. And at the state treasury, good government means minding the store.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 3/26/12]
Mandel “Began Traveling Widely To Raise Money” Just Months After Being Sworn In As Treasurer. In March 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported “Months after taking his seat as Ohio’s treasurer in January 2011, he began traveling widely to raise money — $5.8 million so far, records show — for his Senate campaign.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 3/13/12]
Mandel Scheduled A Fundraiser In D.C. For Two Hours Before A State Board Of Deposit Meeting In Columbus. In January 2012, Politico reported that they had “obtained an invitation for a D.C. fundraiser on behalf of Mandel set for Thursday morning – just two hours before the next scheduled board of deposit meeting in Columbus.” [Politico.com, 01/25/12]
Headline: Josh Mandel, Ohio Treasurer And Senate Candidate, Skipped Board Meetings For No Known Reason. [Huffington Post, 02/24/12]
- Mandel’s Schedule Barely Acknowledged Board of Deposit Responsibilities. In February 2012, The Huffington Post reported “Josh Mandel, the Republican Ohio treasurer looking to move up to the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, appears to have skipped meetings of the state Board of Deposit for mysterious reasons.” Huffington Post continued, “According to the records, Mandel had nothing on his schedule on five different occasions when the board met. On two other occasions, Mandel blocked out time for the meeting, but a Democratic source said that the board’s minutes show Mandel did not attend. On four other days, Mandel’s schedule says he met with staffers at the time of the board meeting, but the staffers actually were at the meetings, not with Mandel, according to the minutes. One time Mandel did a radio interview instead of attending the board meeting, and last month he went to a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., instead of presiding over the meeting. This past Thursday, he did not attend for unknown reasons, but traveled to another part of the state later in the day to meet with business leaders, according to the Columbus Dispatch.” [Huffington Post, 02/24/12]
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Paid for by the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, Chairman