Former Auditor Larry Kaczala reportedly died from suicide attempt…
Earlier today it was reported that an unnamed person jumped from the fifth floor of the parking garage at the Toledo Hospital and died from the fall. Around 1:30 p.m. people started to contact me, the rumor at the time was that it was Larry Kaczala who was the person who had died. Confirmation came in while I was away from home and other media sources have already reported that Toledo Police have stated that it was Larry Kaczala who died at 11:35 a.m. this morning. The exact details of the death are still under investigation, speculation is of course taking place but…it’s too early to speculate at this point as to if it was a suicide as reported, what may have been the motivation.
Links to media coverage:
WTOL has the story from the Blade apparently even in death donations made to Kaczala’s campaign before the whole Noe Coingate story was felt to be relevant to include.
More than one source today shared Kaczala’s feeling of bitterness towards the daily paper over how he felt he was treated.
Yeah, I too thought that the Blade’s Coingate reference was tacky and uncalled for in light of the tragedy (quoted here in case the Blade decides to edit out its stupidity):
Mr. Kaczala had unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) in 2004, a campaign that many felt cost him the auditor’s race two years later because it allowed Ms. Lopez to raise the fact that convicted GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe and his wife, Bernadette, gave Mr. Kaczala $6,000 for his campaign to unseat Ms. Kaptur.
June 8th, 2010 at 5:28 pmRIP. Larry was a staunch supporter of an inclusive GOP and equal rights for all.
June 8th, 2010 at 5:36 pmThis is sad. My prayers go to his family and friends.
And, yes, The Blade’s reference to old campaign news is irrelevant, disrespectful and a transparent attempt at grasping for straws. If they can’t just report the incident, or say something unbiased, then they shouldn’t say anything.
June 8th, 2010 at 5:40 pmHow low, self-serving and totally inappropriate for the Blade to bring up the campaign contribution from 2004. SIX STINKING YEARS AGO. If that’s all they have to say about Mr. Kaczala, they shouldn’t say anything at all.
June 8th, 2010 at 6:27 pmI’m with Tom. I would call myself a “mild” critic of the Blade, but this one is incredible. One shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s still sick.
From the personal accounts I’ve read so far on other blogs and on facebook, it’s a real shame he had to leave this world, especially in this manner. Thoughts and prayers with his family, and hoping they don’t read the Blade.
I would love to know if Dave Murray read his own paper’s reporting on the issue.
From Murray’s twitter:
“Former Lucas Co. Auditor Larry Kaczala dies after jumping from Toledo Hospital parking garage. So sad. Was a great guy. http://bit.ly/cpKxrx”
He was a great guy, but this sick Noe reference still belongs?
June 8th, 2010 at 6:47 pmI don’t understand the Noe relevance but apparently they believe it’s news. Considering the donations were in 2002 and 2004 and Kaczala was not involved with either the state or the federal investigation, the reality was all the Noe donations from then were was campaign fodder. Which is not really something that I think is relevant in the larger scope of the life of Larry Kaczala.
June 8th, 2010 at 6:52 pmWOW! Talk about trampling on a man’s grave, the man is barely been dead 6 hours. Already the Blade with lack of respect for the dead inappropriately brings up the prospects he possibly committed suicide because his political career was wrecked by Marcy Kaptur and Thomas Noe, what shallow short-sided logic. Practically, nothing was mentioned about his career or legacy; will be interesting to see what’s printed tomorrow.
June 8th, 2010 at 6:53 pmI agree the reference doesn’t belong in the article, but I think it was more about the Noes than it was about Mr. Kaczala. The Blade just can’t pass on another opportunity to rub their noses in it.
June 8th, 2010 at 11:48 pmI did not know Larry Kaczala well, but he always seemed to be someone who tried to serve the public honorably. He was certainly NOT an ideologue. Larry was one of many who made a liar out of those who say that all politicians are rotten and self-centered. As a lifelong Democrat, I never heard even his opponents say nasty things about Larry.
The Blade reference to “Coingate” is typical of their editorial leadership. I agree with those here who believe that the reference is aimed more at the Noes than at Kaczala. However, how sad it is that The Blade chose to tarnish the image of this man in his tragic death, rather than to emphasize the excellent public service he rendered this community!
And The Blade has the unmitigated gall to editorialize quite often about how unfortunate it is that we can’t get more good people to run for public office in the Toledo area. I wonder why??
June 9th, 2010 at 5:06 amI found the Blade’s report to be quite sensitive to Kaczala. There was hardly a word to be said against him. I brought from the report the unfairness of his association with “Coingate”. But the same words can mean different things to different people. I must learn to read between the lines.
June 9th, 2010 at 9:15 amLarry Kaczala was a true gentleman and a rare politician who gave his word and stood by it. Does anyone really care what staff members of a dying newspaper have to say? Our thoughts and prayers ought to be with Larry’s family and friends and not with a form of media in the midst of its own death spiral.
June 9th, 2010 at 12:37 pmI thought the version I read in this morning’s paper addressed coingate and Kaczala’s non-involvement quite well. The reality is this man was a successful politician and a hard campaigner. After coingate he never won another election. Three campaigns, three defeats, very hard for anyone to deal with. In the public mind being a Senior Republican official in the Noe era was worse than being a member of the Nixon Whitehouse. It is important to point out that Kaczala was not involved in the Noe scandals. This was truly a tragedy and a waste of a talented life. Very sad,
June 9th, 2010 at 12:41 pmToday’s expanded version did at least point out that Kaczala was not charged with any wrongdoing. I don’t think everyone would agree that being associated with Noe is the same level as the Nixon days. If that were true than Democrats would be treated the same since both parties have had people who once were considered party stalwarts that became persona non grata…
Most of those I’ve spoken with from both parties feel that the Noe saga has been over-used.
June 9th, 2010 at 12:48 pmMy thoughts and prayers go out to the Kaczala family.
June 9th, 2010 at 1:04 pmToday’s expanded verison highlighted the good Kaczala has done.
The Auditor’s ARIES software is one of the best of its kind.
Having done property searches in about half of Ohio’s 88 counties in the past 10 years, I am thankful to live in Lucas County with it’s software.
I hope he will be remembered by the good he did for this community, and be revered like McNamara, Skow, and Skeldon, and not whatever personal turmoil brought about his demise.
June 9th, 2010 at 1:48 pmI thought it was sad that the original Blade story gave the impression that this man was guilty of wrong doing in the Noe case. But I’ve come to expect this from the Blade. Even in the death they will not stop their relentless pursuit.
June 9th, 2010 at 2:48 pmI ran into Larry over the Holidays and we discussed at length his life since he lost the Auditor’s race. He told me that John Block single-handedly destroyed his life by the malicious misrepresentations of his association with Noe and other issues that were meant to discredit and destroy his reputation. He said he managed to pick up some consulting gigs with other county auditor’s offices but that he had been struggling for sometime. How many lives have been destroyed by the sickness that prevails with this local paper and it’s personal destruction? When will this end? Someone has now lost his life from the destructive practices of one man. And seeing Jon Stainbrook’s hypocritical quote about Larry was repulsive. After all, Stainbrook assisted in Block’s demonic process to discredit Larry. And Dave Murray’s tweet? Another cohort who assisted in the destruction of Larry’s reputation. Sickening. May he rest in peace now.
June 9th, 2010 at 3:00 pmI have now read the expanded Blade report. It leaves a very different impression upon the reader, than the impression with which I was left after reading the original short version. It is a MUCH fairer representation of the laudable career of this honorable man.
I may be misremembering, but it seems that Larry was urged to run against Marcy by local Republican leaders. He certainly had the best credentials for Congress of anyone who has ever run against Marcy.
The entire situation surrounding his demise is much to be regretted. I want to express my personal condolences to all of his family and friends.
June 9th, 2010 at 3:48 pmdid not know him at all – but i use the auditors office and website quite regularly. aries was (and is) innovative and does more for streamlining and providing public access than any other county i have come across. the staff while he was in charge was very competent and went out of their way to be helpful. i was always curious how the news outlets on the strict basis of effectively proving public services did not endorse him… but of course the problem is the editor.
June 9th, 2010 at 5:09 pmI wrote Jack Lessenberry, the Blade’s ombudsman, yesterday with my complaint about the story on its website.
June 9th, 2010 at 5:42 pmmeant “providing” rather than “proving” and “publisher” rather than “editor”. i need an editor myself.
June 10th, 2010 at 8:00 amPrayers to his family and friends.
June 10th, 2010 at 6:30 pmI’ve recently had a monumental loss in my life and it made sense. An older man who died from natural causes.
This overwhelms my ability to understand what this man’s family and loved ones are suffering.
My prayers go out to them. My heart goes out to them.
June 11th, 2010 at 12:06 amGlad to see that now belatedly people are praising Kaczala [realizing that his friends, and fans of the AREIS system always did]. Because I have heard claims that Lopez used coingate against Kaczala at some point in that election, I have been doing a lot of research.
The papers that I found that basically trashed Kaczala in one way or another were The City Paper and LaPrensa.
Doubt that the majority of Lucas County citizens even realized how much this guy was being trashed. The election he lost to Lopez was when Ohioans were looking to change from Repubs to Dems. It’s hard not to take things personally, and it’s disastrous to lose your livelihood. There is considerable political vitriol in this county at all times. But I was shocked by the cut-throat articles I saw today for the first time. And none of them were by the Blade.
June 11th, 2010 at 11:56 amThen I found this:
http://glasscityjungle.com/wordpress/?p=279
June 11th, 2010 at 4:20 pmGlad the Kaczala family could finally pay their respects to their loved one privately – without allowing the Blade an opportunity to stick its jaded pen into their sides once again.
July 8th, 2010 at 11:45 am