O’Neill pays off tax liens, says he's ready for vetting
2018 ELECTIONS
Gubernatorial candidate William M. O'Neill is ready to debate in asking the Ohio Democratic Party to vet him after paying $4,361 in past-due state income taxes.
The party requires candidates to undergo a check of their backgrounds before they can participate in party-hosted gubernatorial debates, another of which is expected next month.
Citing concerns over his announced candidacy while sitting as a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Democratic Party had declined to vet O'Neill until he had obtained an advisory opinion from court disciplinary officials on the propriety of his plans.
O'Neill is resigning Friday to pursue the Democratic nomination for governor in a five-way race in the May 7 primary.
Despite a Tuesday morning tweet by O'Neill, an Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman said Chairman David Pepper had not heard from O'Neill about his vetting request.
The justice said he wants the party to now vet him so he can join the debates. "They are of great value ... I might dominate the issues. I have dominated the news media in the last six weeks because I am talking about the issues and no one else is," O'Neill said.
O'Neill's platform is led by legalization and taxation of recreational marijuana and using the revenue to reopen shuttered state mental hospitals to treat opioid addicts.
The Dispatch previously reported that O'Neill faced liens from the Ohio Department of Taxation for income taxes owed for 2015 and 2016. O'Neill said the state did not withhold enough taxes from his paychecks.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court records show that O'Neill paid the taxes and interest owed on Dec. 4.
The Dispatch reported in 2014 that O’Neill had faced 16 state and federal tax liens totaling more than $60,000 since 1992. Three years ago, he still was making payments toward a $16,088 state tax lien filed in 2009. Records show that O’Neill has paid off that judgment.
The Dispatch also reported three years ago that O’Neill failed to list three default judgments against him in civil lawsuits on his financialdisclosure statements. O’Neill then amended his disclosure paperwork. Judges are not required to list tax liens on those documents.
Facing criticism over running for partisan office and an Republican-led effort in the Ohio Senate to remove him from the bench, O'Neill has refused to resign from the court, saying he is not officially a candidate until he files paperwork ahead of the Feb. 7 filing deadline. He previously submitted his resignation from his $164,000-a-year position to Gov. John Kasich, which takes effect Friday.
Also running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination are former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, former state Rep. Connie Pillich and state Sen. Joe Schiavoni.