Franklin County (Ohio) Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said that his office “is reviewing the purchase contract of Nationwide Arena and will push for necessary changes to ensure the taxpayer-owned facility is operated in public view,” according to Lucas Sullivan of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. O’Brien said that he would “review whether the group could avoid the state’s open-meeting and open-records laws” and if it can, he would “seek to amend the contracts for the arena to require that the arena’s operator follow those laws.” Any amendments to the contract “would have to be approved by county commissioners, the Columbus City Council and the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/22). Sullivan yesterday reported control of publicly-owned Nationwide Arena “has been transferred to a private, nonprofit board, a transition that could shield its operation from taxpayers and restrict access to public records.” The management group “consists of a four-member board that includes” Blue Jackets President Mike Priest, Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority Exec Dir Bill Jennison and a rep from both Nationwide Insurance and Ohio State Univ. Jennison said that the group "will operate in private … to allocate an estimated" $250M in casino-tax revenue that the city and county "dedicated to the arena’s purchase and up-keep through 2039” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/21).
