Maturity from the Democrat Party?
Strickland to seek ‘maturity’ in replacement for Dann
Published:Thursday, May 15, 2008
By Marc Kovac
The office’s first assistant attorney general is temporarily in charge.
COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland said he would immediately begin considering potential candidates to replace Attorney General Marc Dann.
Speaking to a packed Cabinet room full of reporters and camera crews, the governor said “maturity” was a top quality he would seek in compiling his short list.
“Maturity, experience, management ability — those certainly are criteria that I think are essential, especially now,” Strickland said. “We need someone who can provide confidence to the many, many employees of the attorney general’s office, someone who is recognized as a person of great integrity.”
Strickland answered reporters’ questions Wednesday during a Statehouse press conference after Dann’s resignation. The attorney general spoke for about three minutes to start the session, then left the room without answering questions.
The governor called Dann’s resignation the “honorable thing” and the “right thing” to do.
“This decision will allow the important work of the attorney general’s office to continue without the distraction caused by recent events,” Strickland said. “Today is a sad day, in many ways. I think it is appropriate for us all to acknowledge the personal pain and anguish that these events have caused the attorney general, his family members, his staff and others.”
The governor noted the attorney general’s accomplishments — environmental and consumer protections, foreclosure prevention and health care accessibility.
He also sent a strong message concerning state employees who feel they are being harassed on the job: “For any state employee who has suffered a hostile work environment or been subjected to sexual harassment, I would say to them that I, as governor, will not tolerate it if it comes to my knowledge and I have any ability to have control or authority over it.”
Strickland said the inspector general’s investigation of the office, launched Wednesday after he signed legislation late Tuesday giving Tom Charles that authority, would continue.
About a dozen members of the inspector general’s office were in Dann’s office earlier in the day interviewing employees, reviewing files and carting off computers and equipment.
The governor also shed some light on Dann’s attempts Tuesday to stop lawmakers from naming the inspector general to investigate his office.
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