State Officials under the microscope?
The governor’s ability to initiate investigations should include the courts. There are enough issues within the Franklin County Domestic Courts that warrants a very detailed investigation which should start with the Honorable Rev. Jim Mason. This would give families within Franklin County a fighting chance.
The existing procedures that were used for Marc Dann needs to stay in place and the legislature needs to be left to do their job.
All state officials may face scrutiny
Inspector general could get more power
Less than a week after lawmakers unleashed Ohio’s political watchdog on former Attorney General Marc Dann, some lawmakers are ready to give the investigator permanent authority to probe other statewide officeholders as well.
The idea, sources said, would remove the restrictions on the Ohio inspector general’s office that keep it from investigating independent officeholders: the attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor and treasurer.
Last Tuesday, the General Assembly gave Inspector General Thomas P. Charles one-time authority to launch a probe of Dann’s office, including but not limited to charges that a manager had sexually harassed subordinates.
Dann had strenuously objected to the investigation, saying his office already had completed a thorough internal review that led to two employees being fired, two more quitting and two others being disciplined.
Charles’ probe — heralded Wednesday morning by investigators lugging computer equipment and other materials from Dann’s office — was credited with ratcheting up pressure on Dann to resign. The Democrat did so later that day.
Yesterday, Charles said giving his office the power to investigate other officials could help cut down on wasteful spending and misconduct. Still, he said, he’d need to expand his staff of 19 to do so.
“There’s a lot of discussions that would need to take place,” Charles said. “Staffing, obviously, would be one item.”
Critics of expanding the inspector general’s authority point out that he reports to the governor, so the governor could order an investigation to find dirt on political rivals.
Currently, the inspector general only has the power to investigate agencies under the governor’s control — including state universities, bureaucracies and state commissions, but not courts, the House and Senate or independently elected officials.
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