Cleveland-Area Companies Sign Anti-Corruption Pledge

A few years ago, Chris Ronayne didn’t even think of doing business with Cuyahoga County. The government in the most populous part of Ohio, which includes Cleveland, was embroiled in a scandal over payoffs to corrupt politicians. “Our credibility as a community was tarnished,” says Ronayne, president of University Circle, a nonprofit developer in Cleveland and a former city planner. “We had to change our image.” To do that, hundreds of business leaders have adopted a novel approach: They’ve signed a public pledge vowing not to be corrupt and to expose those who are.

The county started cleaning up in 2008, when dozens of federal agents raided homes and offices of public officials and business owners. Sixty-two people were charged with corruption and 47 were sent to prison or are awaiting sentencing. The biggest targets of the probe were Jimmy Dimora, a Cuyahoga County commissioner and Democratic Party chief, and longtime county auditor Frank Russo. Dimora was sentenced to 28 years in July 2012 after he was convicted of awarding contracts in exchange for more than $166,000 in cash, home improvements, gambling trips, and services from prostitutes. Russo pleaded guilty in 2010 to 21 counts, including taking more than $1 million in bribes to steer no-bid real estate appraisal contracts. He entered prison in November 2012 and could serve 22 years. (Through prison spokesmen, both Dimora and Russo declined requests to be interviewed.)