First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerTo the judges:It is a shocking and emblematic photograph that could be of New York City’s Boss Tweed, 140 years later: Jimmy Dimora, the most powerful man in Cuyahoga County politics, led away in manacles to FBI headquarters, to federal court and into infamy.No news story in years has gripped Northeast Ohio like the Cuyahoga County corruption scandal that began in 2008. Dimora and County Auditor Frank Russo were at the center of the investigation that alleged they were living high off a political machine that was fed by bribes and favors. Those revelations prompted calls for change, calls that had been heard before but had never been answered with action. But this time, the voters had had enough. With Plain Dealer editorial support behind them, county voters selected a new type of government – a new county executive and an 11-member county council – to replace the old county commission system driven by political patronage.The Plain Dealer photography staff tirelessly chronicled the ongoing corruption investigation, the voters' decision to push for a new form of government and the historic election of new county leadership. We proudly nominate their work in documenting this important story for the James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award.FBI agents load boxes of evidence taken from offices in the Cuyahoga County Administration Building on July 28, 2008. The raids at the building and several other locations in the county kicked off a two-year federal corruption investigation.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Scott Shaw / The Plain DealerFederal agents prepare to search truck containers on July 28, 2008, at DAS Construction Co. in Garfield Heights. The company is being targeted in a public corruption probe with businesses and Cuyahoga County officials, including Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Auditor Frank Russo. Agents hauled away dozens of boxes from the offices, homes and businesses.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerFederal agents swarmed over the homes and offices of Cuyahoga County politicians, and the media soon followed. Here a throng of reporters and cameramen waited outside County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora's house in Independence. Dimora did not address the media that day but declared his innocence in subsequent news conferences.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Thomas Ondrey / The Plain DealerCuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora charged at a news conference that politics were at the root of the federal corruption probe.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerCuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo leaves a Board of Revision meeting. Russo later resigned and was charged with 21 counts of bribery and corruption.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerRusso's influence and connections are evident in a collage of photos in one of the auditor's offices.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - CHUCK CROW / The Plain DealerSamir Mohammad, chief deputy in the Cuyahoga County auditor's office, reads the indictment against his boss. Samir will head the department in the wake of Frank Russo's resignation. Russo was charged with 21 crimes stemming from a federal investigation into public corruption.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - CHUCK CROW / The Plain DealerWes Liptack, a sign painter for Cuyahoga County, removes Frank Russo's name from the sign in the third-floor lobby of the auditor's office.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerCuyahoga county commissioner Jimmy Dimora is led out of his Independence home in handcuffs by FBI agents on Sept. 15, 2010. Dimora was indicted on 26 counts involving corruption and other crimes. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Gus Chan / The Plain DealerFormer Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo arrives at federal court on Sept. 16 with his attorney, Roger Synenberg. He pleaded guilty to 21 charges.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerWith fellow commissioner Jimmy Dimora absent, Cuyahoga County Commissioners Tim Hagan, left, and Peter Lawson Jones answer questions from the media a day after Dimora was arrested and charged with 26 counts of public corruption.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - JOSHUA GUNTER Joshua Gunter / The Plain DealerEd FitzGerald, the Democratic nominee for Cuyahoga County executive, speaks during a rally Sept. 8 on the steps of Cleveland City Hall. Spurred by the county corruption scandal, voters approved the new system of county government that Fitzgerald hopes to lead.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - JOHN KUNTZ John Kuntz / The Plain DealerEd FitzGerald embraces his daughter, Bridget, on Nov. 2 after winning election as Cuyahoga County's first executive, presiding with a new 11-member County Council.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Gus Chan Gus Chan / The Plain DealerCuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, a central figure in a massive public corruption investigation, avoids the spotlight by leaving before the close of his final board meeting. In January, an elected executive and an 11-member council are to assume control of the county, ending more than 200 years of rule by commissioners. Dimora is expected to go on trial in the summer of 2011.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Gus Chan Gus Chan / The Plain DealerClerk of the Board Jeanne Schmotzer hangs her head as commissioner Peter Lawson Jones gives an interview after the final meeting of the Cuyahoga County Commissioners on Dec. 2, 2010.
First Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerCuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald speaks about an ethics policy for his new government during a news conference inside the new council meeting room at the Cuyahoga County Administration Building on Jan. 3, the first day of the revamped charter government. The white spots on the floor are where the tables and chairs used to be for the county commissioners and have been pulled out to renovate the room for the new county council.
