La Prensa Staff

In a race swiftly turning contentious, last week Lucas County Recorder Anita López, running for County Auditor, assailed her opponent, Republican incumbent Larry Kaczala, on his record of having been the recipient of campaign donations from convicted coin dealer Tom Noe.

Noe was sentenced in U.S. District Court last week to a term of 27 months incarceration and a fine of $136,200 for violations of federal campaign laws.

“I once again call on Larry Kaczala to give the over $10,000 back immediately to eliminate both the perception and potential reality on influence,” López said at a press conference last Thursday during which she handed out details of the funds the Kaczala campaign has received. “[Taxpayers] deserve to know that [Kaczala] conducts business in a manner free from the influence of criminal bribery that has been seen throughout Ohio.”

Within hours, Kaczala had called his own press conference ostensibly to remind homeowners to review their assessment values and to urge those whose property had experienced flood damage to claim reductions in their assessed values.

“Reappraisals have always been a problem but we encourage human input,” said Kaczala as he reminded homeowners, and voters, that “values cannot be wrong because values haven’t been set yet.”

After iterating his call for homeowner input and recalling his conversations with the Ohio Tax Commissioner during which he reportedly urged that office to consider both the impact of flooding on property values and the fact that property values in Ohio are dipping in general, Kaczala then addressed the issues raised by his opponent earlier in the day.

“It’s sad that she is so naïve,” he said of López. “I have never received anything from Tom Noe, only from Bernadette Noe.”

Kaczala noted that he had received contributions from Bernadette Noe for previous races and that those accounts were now closed. He compared his situation to that of the former Senator John Glenn who ran up debts during his unsuccessful campaign for president that could not be repaid from the senator’s own personal fortune.

In addition, Kaczala struck out on López for having received contributions from her own party’s tainted individuals.

“I understand that my opponent said I’m tainted by the Tom Noe investigation,” said Kaczala. “She’s bordering on slander and should be careful. If I’m tainted by Tom Noe, then she’s tainted by Ray Kest, Sandy Isenberg and the roof incident, and Bob McCloskey.”

Kaczala further stated that López was receiving aid from U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur in violation of federal law which prohibits federal candidates from raising money on behalf of local candidates.

Kaczala also denied that the contributions his campaigns had received from Bernadette Noe, who served as chairman of the Republican Party during Kaczala’s previous two races – for re-election in 2002 and for U.S. Congress in 2004 – were anywhere near $10,000. He estimated the amount to be in the vicinity of $4,000.

A review of the statement of contributions for Kaczala’s campaign for re-election in 2002 showed that he reported contributions in the amount of $1,000 from Tom Noe on 8/28/01, $250 from Tom Noe on 12/20/01, $1,500 from Tom Noe on 03/01/02 and $750 from Tom Noe on 08/12/02 and other services – catering – from Tom Noe in the amount of $653.42.

In 2004, Kaczala reported that he received a total of six donations in the amount of $1,000 from both Tom and Bernadette Noe. The reported checks from Tom Noe were dated 9/25/03, 9/25/03 and 6/22/04. Bernadette Noe’s contributions were dated, 9/25/03, 9/25/03 and 6/30/04. The total amount reported by the Kaczala campaigns of 2002 and 2004 was $10,153.42 from Tom and Bernadette Noe.

As for López’s contributions, she acknowledged receiving a total of $250 from McCloskey and Isenberg in the past and promised to return the funds. She denied, however, that her contributors were in “the same category with Tom Noe.”