Dems: Turner's wife was right to quit marketing effort

Congressman's wife's company withdraws from $1.5 million regional marketing campaign.

21 Feb 2008 // Local Democrats said Lori Turner did the right thing by withdrawing her marketing firm from a regional branding campaign on Tuesday, Feb. 19, but added that she never should have been involved in the first place.

"It's not how you handle something when you get caught," said Jane Mitakides, one of three Democrats who are seeking the right to challenge Turner's husband, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, in the November election. "It's about not engaging in questionable conduct in the first place."

Lori Turner pulled her firm, the Turner Effect, out of the $1.5 million "Get Midwest" branding campaign because of the uproar caused by Dayton Daily News articles which quoted congressional watchdogs as saying her $300,000-plus, no-bid contract with the Dayton Development Coalition gave the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"The distraction caused by this contentious situation is impeding the success of an important program to bring jobs to our region," Turner wrote. "Therefore, I am withdrawing my firm from the project."

The public-private coalition sets priorities for community projects and lobbies area congressmen, including Turner, R-Centerville, for federal funding for those projects. The $1.5 million for the brand campaign comes primarily from state funds and a matching grant from a foundation controlled by Clayton Mathile, one of the leading contributors to Mike Turner's political campaigns. Most coalition trustees are Turner contributors.

"They (the Turner Effect) are getting out of it for interesting reasons, which is the publicity," said Montgomery County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Owens. "They should have looked at how it would look to this community before they took the contract."

David Esrati, another Democratic candidate for Turner's congressional seat, said he still questions the propriety of Lori Turner's work for the federal government and for political action committees. "She's a congressman's wife. She shouldn't be doing work for the federal government," he said.

Turner's resignation also "doesn't change the fact that Get Midwest/Be Midwest stinks" as a slogan, Esrati said.

Coalition President J.P. Nauseef did not return a phone call Tuesday. He has said coalition trustees discussed the appearance of conflict, but gave the job to the Turner Effect anyway.

"They knew there would be political blowback," Mitakides said. "I think what they misunderstood was the amount of the blowback."