Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann -- his dirty linens and those of his closest associates on display for all the world to see -- says he will not walk away from the job he won 18 months ago.
Nothing I've done is an impeachable offense, he says. Whatever happened is between me and the voters of Ohio -- and they can have their say if I run for re-election. I've learned from my mistakes. I really wasn't ready for the job when I was elected, but I'm a better attorney general now than I was 16 months ago.
Dann presumably believes all that. He also believes that the many fine attorneys and law-enforcement professionals who work for his office are unaffected by the scandal that erupted literally under the roof of the Columbus townhouse he once shared with a pair of senior aides. Those aides, Leo Jennings and Anthony Gutierrez, were fired Friday. Dann's chief of staff, Edgar Simpson, resigned, as did Jessica Utovich, the scheduler with whom Dann presumably had the extramarital affair that he acknowledged on Friday.
Here's the problem, one that Dann's words and manner during a long meeting with this editorial board suggest he is unwilling -- or unable -- to see:
He's dead wrong
By his own actions and by those of the people he trusted the most, Dann has turned the attorney general's office into a laughingstock.
He has embarrassed the good people who work there.
He has embarrassed the governor whose coattails he rode into office, and their party.
He has embarrassed his wife and children, who did nothing to deserve this.
He has embarrassed the people who voted for him and those who depend on him.
Through his dysfunction, he has given aid and comfort to those who would prey upon those Ohioans and their communities who need the state to stand up for them -- and who had some reason to believe that under his stewardship, the attorney general's office was doing just that.
In short, Marc Dann has disgraced himself far more than he seems to realize. He has fallen so far, so fast, that it's impossible to see how he can recover, personally, politically or professionally.
That's why he needs to go.
Dann may be right that, based on what's known right now, there are no grounds to impeach him. Nor is there any way for a "very disappointed" Ted Strickland to force him from office.
The decision on Dann's fate is in his own hands -- at least until he must face the voters in 2010.
Clearly, he wants to stay and fight. His whole self-image depends on it. He has brought in Jim Friedman, the respected Cleveland attorney who was Gov. John Gilligan's chief of staff, to point out management problems and lead, as Dann put it, "a second transition."
But as he contemplates his next move, Dann needs to consider an old-fashioned concept not mentioned much in politics today:
Honor.
The honor of the attorney general's office and that of its 1,400 employees has been compromised by a handful of people who accompanied Dann to Columbus and composed his inner circle. He claims to have been unaware of what Gutierrez and Jennings were up to, even when they shared an apartment. He seems unable to fathom the message he sent to his agency by carrying on a not-terribly-secret affair with a young staffer. He seems to think that good intentions can offset a long string of serious errors and misjudgments.
No one in public life is perfect. But all must be accountable. And realistic.
Every fiber of Marc Dann's being tells him to stay and fight.
He thinks he can make everything right again. He's wrong about that, too.
WARREN — The editorial board of the
Tribune Chronicle announced Friday that it will call for Marc Dann’s resignation
in an editorial to appear on its Web site today and in its Saturday print
edition.
In October of 2006, the Tribune placed its support behind Marc Dann over Betty
Montgomery in the race for Attorney General of Ohio. The newspaper’s editorial
board said it believed that Dann’s tenacity made him the better candidate.
However, in light of announcements made during two press conferences today and
the events that have transpired over the past month, the Tribune announced that
it now apologizes for that endorsement.
Dann admitted an affair with a fellow employee. He
publicly apologized to his wife and children.
Earlier today, Anthony Gutierrez was fired for violating the office’s sexual
harassment policy, and Communications Chief Leo Jennings was fired for trying to
get an office employee to lie under oath. Policy director Edgar Simpson was
forced to resign because Simpson did not report inappropriate behavior in the
office.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
When Marc Dann likened himself to Eliot Spitzer, this is not what he had in mind.
But the Ohio attorney general's story should have the same outcome: a premature departure from office.
Mr. Dann has become a laughingstock. He deserves to be. This time, the image is the reality. He has made his own reputation.
Ohio cannot be represented in legal disputes outside the state — or inside — by a laughingstock or representatives of one.
Mr. Dann's 15 months in office have resulted in a long list of indefensible, unprofessional incidents. The last straw is not a straw, but a great big bundle of hay:
He has been discredited by an investigation done by his own office, an investigation Mr. Dann had no choice but to order.
Two top employees have had to be fired and a third has had to resign. Their leaving stems from allegations of sexual harassment and involve events at a condo that Dann shared with the two who've been fired. In short, one of his own guys was using a pad the three shared — and the power Mr. Dann gave him — to his sexual advantage.
As if that were not tawdry enough, the attorney general has had to admit to an extramarital affair with a close employee. At one stage, they were planning to go to a conference together in Turkey, before a staff person killed that idea.
Even before now, the two fired employees have caused all manner of embarrassments. One — whose domain included the office cars — kept getting in trouble as a driver.
As for other embarrassments: Mr. Dann has had to fire his "top cop," who was still working for the Youngstown Police Department while working for the AG. The AG also had to fire his driver, who turned out to have served time for manslaughter.
Mr. Dann found himself on YouTube shouting an expletive across a street at a reporter. He also used a state plane for a political trip and a state SUV to go to campaign events.
There was more.
As to policy issues, he seemed bent on making a headline a day for a while. He nurtured a populist — Spitzer-like — image. But sometimes he went decidedly astray. He found a role for his office in a dubious battle against charter schools, a role theretofore unseen by others.
Now, in discussing his problems (outside the realm of policy), he says, "I was not as well prepared for this office as I should have been."
Duh.
His hiring decisions — right at the heart of the responsibility of any elected official — were ludicrous, sloppy, indefensible.
In arguing against resignation, Mr. Dann points first to the fact that he was elected. That's an important point, to be sure. In truth, if he were appointed, he'd be long gone.
Respect for elections — for the voters as the heart of the democratic process — requires tolerance of a lot. But even for elected officials, there comes a time.
When, for example, a crusading, moralistic governor — one who is proud of having gone after prostitution rings as attorney general — is found to be regularly frequenting high-price prostitutes, that's enough. After all, Eliot Spitzer was done for as governor, one way or another.
Similarly, Marc Dann is done for.
The name Bill Clinton arises. There were differences, of course. One is that Mr. Dann isn't a twice-elected president of the United States, just a novice in state office.
For old-timers, though, Friday morning — as the headlines were appearing fast and furiously on the Internet — brought back memories of another president: Richard Nixon:
Report Slams Top Dann Aides. Two Dann Aides Fired. Dann Aide Resigns. AG Admits Affair with Employee. Governor Asked about Resignation.
This wasn't the presidency, of course, and there was no constitutional crisis, but there were Watergate days like that, suggesting problems way beyond a mistake or two.
This time there's just a guy who demonstrated his lack of fitness for his job over and over.
Steubenville - Ohio Attorney General aide Anthony Gutierrez
violated the office’s sexual harassment policy. Attorney General Marc Dann fired
him.
Ohio Attorney General Communications Chief Leo Jennings tried to get an office
employee to lie under oath. Dann fired him.
Ohio Attorney General policy chief Edgar Simpson failed to report inappropriate
behavior in the office. Dann forced him to resign.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann had a romantic extra-marital relationship with
an office employee. Dann forced himself to make a public apology.
The attorney general said Gutierrez, Jennings and Simpson deserve to be
unemployed today. The attorney general said he takes full responsibility for
their actions. But Dann said he will keep his job.
The hypocrisy and double standards that have plagued this once respectable state
office will continue until Dann himself resigns. He should have done that
Friday. He did not. We urge him to resign today.
Dann said his public apology to his wife and children is punishment enough. Dann
said he does not deserve to step down because his consensual romantic
relationship with an employee did not violate the office’s sexual harassment
policy. Dann said he suffered enough because he agonized for weeks, unable to
come forward publicly because his comments could jeopardize an investigation.
The attorney general announced Friday he will end the inappropriate culture that
ran rampant through the office. Two years ago, when running for attorney
general, Dann vowed to end what he called a culture of corruption in
Republican-controlled state government. The Democrat said he now looks forward
to a ‘‘second transition’’ that will clean up the office.
The only second transition should be from Dann to somebody else. Dann invited
into his apartment for drinks the woman who claimed Gutierrez sexually harassed
her. Dann said he was not prepared to be Ohio’s attorney general and not ready
to handle an office so big when he took over a little more than a year ago. This
office, second in significance only to the governor’s, is riddled with casual
behavior, drinking and vulgarities, according to a state investigation. The Ohio
State Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate reports that Gutierrez drove a
state vehicle while drunk and more than once crashed a state vehicle after
drinking.
It is unfathomable to think that Dann deserves to be Ohio’s attorney general.
Dann, who often bragged about the similarities between himself and former New
York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, should add one more similarity.
He should resign in disgrace.