My Medical Mart story, on the radio

Here is my story about the Medical Mart, which I talked about on WCPN's Reporters' Roundtable this morning. And here is the audio archive of the show.

I got to talk about most of the main points in my story, but not all. (We talked about the Mart being a promising but risky concept, because medical manufacturers are noncommittal about it so far. I didn't get into how the risk is mitigated by the fact that Cleveland will also get back into the competition for conventions of all kinds.)

The most fun was talking with Mark Puente of the Plain Dealer (who I profiled in the June issue because of his exposés of former sheriff Gerald McFaul). Dan Moulthrop and I asked him about his story on Earle Turner, the city clerk of courts, apparently not showing up to work much.

Some odd details that didn't make the story, but came out on the air: Turner was wearing a blanket during one interview with Puente. Another day, Turner sat in his car for 45 minutes, trying to avoid getting his picture taken. Eventually he gave up and the newspaper photographer got his shot. It's not that bad a photo!

me on WCPN

I'll be on the Reporters' Roundtable on WCPN, 90.3 FM, tomorrow morning from 9:06 to 10 a.m.

Mark Puente from the Plain Dealer will also be a panelist. I'm looking forward to asking him about his exposé of Cleveland clerk of courts Earle Turner. Bill Cohen of the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse News Bureau will be on with us.

We're also going to talk about my Medical Mart story, the reform effort's proposed county charter, and the end of Cleveland's residency requirement. Lots of news this week!

Earle Turner latest target of PD exposé

Has the Plain Dealer run out of county officials to expose as patronage kings? Maybe -- because now they're investigating a city official: Earle Turner, the Cleveland municipal court clerk.

Both stories are by Mark Puente, the reporter whose exposés of former sheriff Gerald McFaul I wrote about in this month's Cleveland Magazine.

I'll let Puente's latest work speak for itself:
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Turner averaged about seven hours in the office per week last year, according to parking records at the Justice Center.
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Turner has hired 127 clerks since taking office in 1996, but none of them have taken a civil service test. ... Turner said state law allows him to use the "chief deputy" title on all hires. The label is not used to skirt civil service laws, he said. But he later added that if his employees took entrance tests, the city's civil service commission would oversee it and determine how many workers the office needs.

"I would lose my power," Turner said. "I wouldn't have no authority."