Guest blogger David on the Urban Meyer/Zack Smith domestic violence case

For non-Columbus, non-OSU Buckeyes catch up—the well-loved football coach Urban Meyer was suspended for not stepping into the marital mess of one of his coaches, who also happened to be the grandson of Earle Bruce, another football icon in our community. Gene Smith is the athletic director.

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The last thing I’m going to say. . .

1) If you haven't ever dealt with a sexual harassment/abuse case, don't be tempted to repeat the opinions of others who haven't, either. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with several over the years.

2) If you did have to deal with one, did you investigate it yourself? If you did, you're an idiot--that is unless you were trained and designated by the organization you worked for to do so. It is highly unlikely that conducting such investigations falls within the scope of either Urban Meyer or Gene Smith's job duties. They are required to report such incidents and then let the designated investigators handle it (I am assuming, If not, Ohio State is even more mismanaged than I thought).

3) If you are an investigator, were you able to question the victim if he/she wasn't an employee or, in the case of schools, a student of your organization? Unless you are in law enforcement, the answer is probably no. In my situation, having worked in a state agency, I had no authority to question an employee's spouse, significant other, or whatever unless that person also worked for my agency. Now, the Highway Patrol, which was our investigating body, could do so. And I could use whatever information the Patrol obtained.

4) When there is a criminal investigation, many organizations also conduct their own parallel administrative investigations because an organization rule might have been violated. Sometimes you wait for the outcome of the criminal investigation, but you don't have to because the standard is lower. I don't know if Ohio State did that in the Courtney Smith case or not. From what I have read, she did not allow the police to move forward on her complaints. I hope they at least referred her to a local battered women's shelter.

5) As far as Zack Smith's conduct is concerned, there are suggestions that Urban should have known about his visit to a strip club, his sending a lewd photo on his cellphone, etc. It would be interesting to know what kind of procedures the athletic department has in place for reviewing expenditures (it seems to me they should have caught that and dealt with it right away). However, I don't know of any organizations which routinely review what an employee is using his/her cellphone for, even when the organization has issued it.

6) The very fact that most of the witnesses questioned believed that any action taken against Zack Smith was dependent upon the outcome of any criminal charges--and there weren't any criminal charges--tells me that Ohio State hasn't done a very good job of communicating its expectations in such matters. Whoever is responsible for disseminating such policies needs to go back to the drawing board.

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https://www.businessinsider.com/urban-meyer-zach-smith-domestic-violence-allegations-ohio-state-2018-8

https://sports.yahoo.com/timeline-urban-meyer-zach-smith-saga-ohio-state-230126856.html

Since there are media sources and sports figures who hate the Buckeyes almost as much as they hate President Trump, finding credible sources to link to is difficult.  Since Mrs. Smith didn’t bring charges, and it is rumored she often called the police, I’d say Meyer was not responsible to babysit his coach.

Sounds fair to me . . .if

They really need to put out the numbers--what the little guy pays into Social Security, what he gets after 50 years, compared to what the academic and unionized employees get after 30 years.

From an OSU HR memo:

"Last week, Ohio Governor John Kasich presented his proposed biennial budget. In his plan, the Governor is proposing a 2 percent shift between employer and employee pension contributions for all state and local public workers. As proposed, employee contributions would increase by 2 percent, and employer contributions would decrease by 2 percent."

Printed prayers

The older I get, the more I appreciate a well written prayer. Yes, written, as in published. I find prayer books very useful, and enjoy the little short prayers included in the daily meditation booklets I use from Concordia. Usually, they contain passages of scripture or basic theological concepts. Today I came across a published prayer for Christians on strike in the 1957 My Prayer Book by Concordia Publishing House (Lutheran). In quoting I've somewhat modernized the pronouns thee and thou. Somehow, I don't think workers in King James era were going on strike.

"Owing to disagreements between my labor union and my employer, I am now on strike and out of work. I know you love all, and it is your will that I love all men as brothers. Therefore help me, my fellow workers, and my employer to overcome all selfishness and pride and to seek a fair solution of our difficulties. . .

Protect the property of strikers and employers during the conferences between them. Give our employer a sympathetic understanding of the problems and needs of his workers. Likewise give me and the other workers a proper insight into the problems and resources of our employer, that we may not ask more than is reasonable. Prevent bitterness and strife, and where ungodly strife is present, grant your healing and peace. Guide the negotiations toward an early agreement whereby both employer and worker may profit. May fairness and justice prevail for all concerned. . .

Give your blessing to honest labor everywhere that the needs of mankind may be supplied and that your kingdom may flourish; through Jesus Christ. Amen."

In 1957 there were no unions representing government employees--it was practically unthinkable. Wisconsin, the "progressive" state, was the first to allow state employees to bargain with their employers. In 1957, both public and private workers knew the basics of negotiating and that if you negotiate with yourself, you, not your neighbor [employer], always are the winner because of self-interest. It's like going into a ballgame where the final score is already determined. Home team wins every time. Public sector unions are negotiating with "self," i.e., the workers' union representatives are negotiating with the workers' elected representatives, and often with their own political party representatives [Democrats]. Therefore, this 1957 prayer sounds archaic--from a long distant past--and it is.

There is no "justice to prevail" at the state houses of Ohio or Wisconsin or New Jersey where one group of workers doesn't pay for their benefits at the expense of another group of workers who pay the salaries of the other group. A public sector worker employed for 35 years will pull out thousands of dollars more a year in her retirement check than a private sector worker who worked 50 years to receive Social Security. The school teacher who retires at 55 may get $80,000 a year (or more), and the real estate broker or small businessman who can't retire until 66 will get $28,400. And the businessman has contributed more! Both have elected representatives, but one has double the representation.

The public employee retirement plans theft

Lately Glenn Beck has been focusing heavily on the economic problems of the various states. We hear a lot about California; not so much about Illinois. Last night he hit Illinois hard. The state has "borrowed" (stolen) money from all its public retirement funds to support and pay for other programs. I think he showed five. That's illegal to do if you're in business. But has it helped Illinois' budget? Apparently not. How many people do you know who got out of debt by drawing cash from their credit card? I know Pinecrest in Mt. Morris is in trouble because the state can't make its Medicaid payments. Here's the letter I got from the University of Illinois:

"Due to an excessive delay in the payment of our appropriation by the State of Illinois and uncertainty over what lies ahead, your university is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges. In the coming weeks and months, we will be taking a critical look at all aspects of our campus operations, re-examining everything from our administration to small academic units assembled years ago to meet specific needs. An extensive review process will underwrite each decision we make, and every decision will be strategic - designed to transform your university to meet the challenges of the future.

We know that you will have great interest in our work and the resulting decisions, and we invite you to stay connected to the process. Indeed, as we explore the options available to ensure our continued excellence, you may well hear that we are reviewing your college or program. We have created a Web site called Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois as a resource for everyone in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign community. By visiting the site, at http://oc.illinois.edu/budget, you can stay informed of the latest information and activities, and we invite you to offer your ideas through the site's virtual suggestion box.

A final note: we hope also you will urge the Governor and members of the Illinois General Assembly to reach an early solution to the fiscal crisis that now holds Illinois in its grip. As we move forward we pledge to you that all of our decisions on the financial challenges facing this campus and the University of Illinois overall will be guided by our land-grant mission of excellence in teaching, research and public engagement."

Unfortunately, what can the General Assembly do now but raise taxes during a time of high unemployment? A time when instead of focusing on jobs, our federal government just tried to grab more of the economy by taking over health care.

Several times, Beck said, "These people should be in jail," referring to the Illinois legislators who did this. Wonder if he meant Obama who was part of the Illinois General Assembly when some of the theft went on (although he probably wasn't there for the votes)? Beck also noted how many states and municipalities are in trouble because of unfunded federal mandates--and there will be more from EPA. No blame for the present administration for that--these go way back. But there are more to come as the EPA just by-passes Congress.

This study features Colorado and Kansas public employee retirement plans, so it's not just Illinois and California.