Last week, it was reported by Andrew Tobias and Henry Gomez of NEOMG that Cuyahoga County employees were punished for driving without a license under the Ed Fitzgerald administration.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – As Cuyahoga County executive, Ed FitzGerald has disciplined employees for not holding a valid driver’s license – something the former FBI agent and Democratic candidate for governor himself lacked for years.
In 2013 his administration punished at least eight employees, with penalties ranging from a written reprimand to a five-day suspension without pay, according to documents the Northeast Ohio Media Group obtained through a public-records request.
Also reported was that the administration ordered several employees to pay back expenses they were reimbursed while driving without a license.
Was Ed Fitzgerald ever suspended without pay for driving without a license? Did he receive a reprimand? Was he ordered to pay back mileage reimbursements that he received while driving without a license?
The answer to all of these questions is no.
Now that the media has uncovered that other employees were forced to pay back the county, Fitzgerald says he will pay back the $30 that he received.
This speaks volumes about his honesty. While he demanded that other employees pay back the county, he went for years without doing the same, even though he broke the same rules.
Is there a single person in Ohio that thinks Ed would have paid back the county if this hadn’t been reported by the media? I think not.
For all of Fitzgerald’s talk about working for the common man, his actions show his real character. He holds himself above the law and above the rules. He punished people for committing the same violations that he did.
He’s clearly not fit to assume the role of Ohio’s chief executive.
