More scrutiny for Marc Dann
This is sad everyone trying to figure out how to get this dirty old man out of office.
Ohio AG Dann’s office: Under scrutiny again inside and out
Kim Wendel
Created: 5/13/2008 8:33:27 AM
Updated:5/13/2008 10:00:13 AM
COLUMBUS
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann’s chief aide Thomas Winters will appoint an independent investigator today to probe the AG office’s own internal review of sexual harassment allegations.
The results of that internal probe were released May 2, resulting in the firing of two of Dann’s aides, the resignations of two others and the admission by Dann that he had an extramarital affair with his chief scheduler, Jessica Utovich.
Those revelations also prompted statewide calls by both Democrats and Republicans for Dann to resign, something he has refused to do.
Meanwhile, State Auditor Mary Taylor, a Republican, will expand her usual annual audit of the attorney general’s office to further explore its financial operations, especially expense reports.
The Ohio House and the Ohio Senate will move swiftly in the next two days to give Ohio’s Inspector General Thomas Charles the authority to investigate the AG’s office internal sexual harassment probe and general mismanagement by Dann’s office.
The House will add a provision giving Charles the authority to an existing bill that is expected to pass today, with the Senate expected to approve the bill Wednesday.
Is it the type “T” or “D” personality?
It’s the “type d” personality causing the issue, the type d personality would be the type dumbass indiviudal.
Risky business
Monday, May 12, 2008
By JOE HALLETT and JONATHAN RISKIND
Dann, others seek thrills and power, analysts speculate
Attorney General Marc Dann says he won’t resign and doesn’t deserve to be impeached because the pain he is enduring for a scandal of his own making is punishment enough.
“This has been agonizing — personally, politically, in every way you can personally imagine,” the married father of three said May 2 when he admitted that his affair with an employee may have contributed to a culture of sexual harassment in the attorney general’s office.
History is rife with politicians who would understand what Dann is going through, from former President Clinton, to the late Ohio congressman Wayne Hays, to disgraced former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer.
And always, their constituents are left wondering: Why do politicians risk everything for a fling?
Although there is no evidence that politicians engage in infidelity at a rate higher than the general populace, the risk of getting caught and publicly exposed is far greater in an age when everyone seems to have a cell phone camera and the 24-hour media constantly need to be fed.
And because politicians survive on the voters’ trust, the consequences generally are far more severe for them than for people in other walks of life.
“When you ask the question, ‘Why do they do this?’ it’s more a question of why don’t they stop themselves,” said Jon A. Krosnick, associate director of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences at Stanford University. “I think it has to be a sense of invulnerability.”
Sensational sex scandals involving politicians over the years have prompted experts in psychology and politics to study if there are common traits among those who engage in risky behavior. Turns out, there are.
“Politicians tend to be higher in the need for power or dominance, are more prone to social desirability pressures, for example to present positive images of themselves, and are more self-confident,” said Kathleen McGray, an expert in political psychology at Ohio State University.
“The higher self confidence may account for engaging in stupid behavior when they have so much to lose, because they are confident they will get away with it. Dann still seems confident he will survive all of this.”
Frank Farley, a Temple University professor who has studied risk-taking and politics, coined a much quoted personality trait he said is common for many politicians — “the Type-T personality.” The “T” stands for “thrill value.”
Politicians, Farley said, “want an exciting life. They came into politics because it’s exciting.”
But it also is fraught with uncertainty, especially lack of job security. As a result, Farley said, politicians tend to be risk-takers, with plenty of self-confidence and energy, driven by a need for public approval and affection, often believing “their fate lies in their hands.”
Farley said politicians also are more prone than most people to be exposed to sexual temptation: “They have more opportunities for sexual infidelity than a lot of people. They keep running into people who are supporters who are emotional about them. They travel quite a bit, they’re out on the hustings. So, opportunities can arise.”
Perception versus reality
This is probably one of the better articles I’ve seen, unfortunately when Marc Dann & his friends openly brag about their connections to the mob it only gives the legacy of what’s happened in Youngstown over the many years more legs.
Perception versus reality
Published:Sunday, May 11, 2008
Shaking its bad reputation proves to be challenging for the region.
YOUNGSTOWN — “Crime Town U.S.A.”
That’s what the Saturday Evening Post called the Mahoning Valley in a 1963 cover story. The article said Youngstown “exemplifies the truism that rackets cannot survive without two basic conditions — the sanction of police and politicians and an apathetic public.”
In the article, the Post wrote: “The time now has come for action on the part of the whole citizenry. Until each honest man is aroused, the cesspool will remain. And Youngstown will remain a shame to the nation.”
A lot happened to the Valley in the 45 years that followed the article. But the area has failed to shed its reputation for political corruption, even though only a handful of public officials and employees have been convicted of crimes in the past five years.
A number of those who live in the Valley seem to accept political corruption as a given.
“The attitudes of the past help breed” corruption, said Tony Paglia, the Regional Chamber’s vice president of governmental affairs since 2007, who previously spent 30 years as an editor and reporter with The Vindicator. “… People are more cynical here than the typical person.”
The area’s steel mills, which drove the local economy, closed in the late 1970s leading to thousands losing their jobs and an increase in crime, particularly in Youngstown.
It took a major investigation, primarily done by federal law enforcement officials, in the mid-1990s to finally dismantle what was left of the mob in Youngstown.
The investigation, which ended in 2002, also led to the conviction of about 40 or so elected officials, attorneys, members of law enforcement and those in organized crime.
Among the big fish were:
UFormer Mahoning County Sheriff Phil Chance, convicted in 1999 for racketeering crimes including accepting mob bribes.
UFormer county Prosecutor James A. Philomena, convicted in 1999 of being part of a racketeering enterprise and accepting bribes while in office.
UFormer U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., found guilty in 2002 of bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.
UFormer Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Patrick Kerrigan who pleaded guilty in 1998 to charges of taking bribes and kickbacks.
During the federal investigation, state Rep. Ronald Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, said his colleagues in the Legislature would “take their shots in a joking manner” at the Valley.
“It was a joke to them but not to us,” he said.
A lot of that kidding has returned in recent weeks, Gerberry said, thanks to the scandal at the office of Attorney General Marc Dann, a Democrat from Liberty Township.
Top Democrats in the state are calling for Dann to resign or face impeachment. Dann said he won’t resign and has done nothing to merit impeachment. Dann hasn’t been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
An internal office investigation into sexual harassment complaints filed by two women against their boss, Anthony Gutierrez of Liberty, director of general services and a close personal friend of Dann, criticized the attorney general’s office for failing to properly oversee management employees, cronyism and a litany of judgment errors.
“There are people from here who think we’re the only ones where this happens,” Gerberry said. “But it happens all over the country. Not many communities went through what we did, but we have [the Dann scandal] and people are saying we’re corrupt again.”
The Valley’s history of corruption and mob influence is one the area can’t shake, said Stephen Brooks, the associate director of the University of Akron’s Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.
“The image stays much longer than the reality,” he said. “…When things like this happen the events become much bigger news in Youngstown because that’s what people expect from Youngstown. It perpetuates that perception.”
Because residents of the Valley have done little themselves to stop political corruption, it is easy for it to re-emerge, Brooks said.
“If you’ve gotten worn down by this, it leads to apathy,” he said.
Paul Sracic, chairman of Youngstown State University’s political science department who’s lived in the Valley since 1992, said there are those in the area with a defeatist attitude that prevent the area from shedding its reputation. That also discourages some good people from running for public office.
Will Dann and Gutierrez will be delivery drivers for Papa John’s in Youngstown?
I found this to be fair different from some of Mike Harden’s columns.
Mike Harden commentary: Goings-on perplexing folks in Methane
And what is it with this Marc Dann thing? Maybe, instead of swearing in politicians, we could better use that time to neuter them instead. I can guarantee you that any time politicians get into a game of musical beds, the last song they play is always So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You.
I don’t know how things are going to shake out for Dann’s buddy Anthony Gutierrez, but isn’t that a wonderful photo of him that we all keep seeing? I mean, how can you look at that face and not want him to be the godfather of your child?
I’m predicting that, in about a month, both Dann and Gutierrez will be delivery drivers for Papa John’s in Youngstown.
What baffles me is that after all that Dann admitted, he is still holding on for dear life. Meanwhile, you’ve got some poor fool down in southeastern Ohio who almost pulled nine months in prison for sharing a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie with an inmate.
I have a couple of thoughts about this. If Ohio prisons have vending machines that sell Little Debbies, the state’s problem with prison overcrowding isn’t because there are more prisoners. It is because the prisoners already behind bars are eating Little Debbies. That’s all Ohio needs — a corrections system full of supersize ax murderers.
One more thing: Did the culprit actually give another inmate part of his Oatmeal Creme Pie, or did the convict merely want the logo picture of Little Debbie to tape to his cell wall?
I’ll tell you, Mikey, it’s a crazy world out there, and Columbus isn’t helping things much.
My love to all,
Aunt Gracie
Please sign our petition
It’s time to send the message to the Ohio Statehouse that nothing more than Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann resigning will be acceptable and that his failure to do so in a timely fashion will result in an impeachment trial.
-
Links
-
Categories
-
Archives
-
Meta
Poll
Loading ...