Marc Dann campaigned against public corruption, pay-to-play and incompetence in state government. But his first 100 days in office have established a troubling pattern of upholding the status quo he once condemned. Here's a look at Marc Dann's record so far:
10. Dann missed an important court deadline on his first day in office and then blamed the failure on a junior member of his staff.
Columbus Dispatch: A missed deadline may have cost the state of Ohio an opportunity to participate in a legal case deemed "extremely important" to whether Medicaid recipients may choose their own service providers. ..."We didn't get there in time," Thomas R. Winters, the first assistant attorney general, said today. "There was a snafu. When it got printed out, it was screwed up. A young lawyer got down there (to the Supreme Court) late, and it was not accepted." [Nash, James. "Attorney general's Day 1 included missed deadline." The Columbus Dispatch, 1/18/07]
9. Dann violated a state law by using his official office for campaign activities.
Columbus Dispatch: Aides to Dann raised eyebrows by using official state e-mail addresses to invite staffers in the attorney general's office to an Ohio Democratic Party-sponsored event celebrating the victories of Dann and two other newly elected Democrats. [Nash, James. "Attorney general's Day 1 included missed deadline." The Columbus Dispatch, 1/18/07]
Plain Dealer: Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, who nearly beat voters to death last fall with his pledge to keep politics out of the AG's office, might have to remind his staff of his crusade. Marquez Brown, Dann's regional public affairs coordinator in Cleveland, this week used the office to drum up Democrats interested in walking with Dann in the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday. ... Ohio law generally frowns upon using taxpayer time and resources for political work. [Naymik, Mark. "AG employee plays politics." Openers: The Plain Dealer Politics Blog, 3/15/07]
8. Dann hired as his chief of staff an inexperienced, "longtime friend" whose former coworkers took bets on how quickly he would be indicted.
Dayton Daily News: Edgar Simpson, Dann's new chief of staff, announced his move from journalism to politics in a farewell column as editor of The Joplin Globe in Missouri. "Going to the dark side is not an easy thing. I found it only mildly amusing when some newsroom wag immediately started a pool on when I would be indicted," Simpson wrote. ["Attorney General's office off to a bad start." Dayton Daily News. 1/15/07]
7. Dann was widely criticized for announcing litigation against paint manufacturers for a product they discontinued more than three decades ago.
Findlay Courier Editorial: "The reality, though, is that if such lawsuits succeed they will enrich a few, do little or nothing to help the people who suffer because of exposure to lead, and further harm Ohio's shaky business climate. The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform called Dann's lawsuit "over-reaching" and said that while lead paint remediation was important, "to target paint manufacturers with this kind of junk lawsuit puts at jeopardy the good-paying jobs of Ohioans who currently work in the industry, and will almost certainly cause the companies to look elsewhere to grow." ["Nuisance?" Findlay Courier, 4/7/07]
Akron Beacon Journal Editorial: "Whatever the strategic merits of his legal action, Marc Dann looks more like the agent of attorneys and city leaders eyeballing big money than an elected official hewing to what is fair and right, let alone in the broader interest of the state. ["Splash of taint." Akron Beacon Journal, 4/8/07]
6. Dann lobbied fellow Democrats to give his former Senate seat to the daughter of a major campaign contributor.
Youngstown Vindicator: Attorney General-elect Marc Dann, who voiced his opposition to "pay-to-play" politics during his successful campaign, didn't use the "pay-to-play" philosophy in endorsing a candidate seeking to replace him in the state Senate, his spokesman said. Dann, of Liberty, D-32nd, is supporting Capri Cafaro as his replacement in the state Senate for the final two years of his unexpired term. Cafaro's family gave him $30,500 for the attorney general's race as of Oct. 18, and an additional $26,000 for his state Senate races. Of the $56,500, $10,000 came from Cafaro's father, J.J. [Skolnick, David. "Dann's spokesman says pay-to-play isn't a factor." Youngstown Vindicator, 11/15/06]
5. Dann hired Tom Noe's personal lobbyist as First Assistant Attorney General, the highest position in the office, and paid him the highest salary in state history.
Columbus Dispatch: As a lobbyist, [Thomas R.] Winters once represented coin dealer Thomas W. Noe, who has since been convicted of embezzling from the state's Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Dann was a dogged critic of Noe and his relationship with the bureau. ["Next attorney general picks ex-lobbyist to be his No. 2." The Columbus Dispatch, 11/22/06]
4. Dann announced that he would adopt unprecedented "gender identity" employment protections in his office that would seem to allow a male attorney to show up for court dressed as a woman.
Dayton Daily News: Cross dressers, transsexuals, gays, lesbians and bisexuals may be protected from job discrimination in the attorney general and secretary of state's offices under soon-to-be expanded employment policies. [Bischoff, Laura A. "Gender identity policies changing." Dayton Daily News, 1/23/07]
3. Dann took campaign contributions from gambling vendors attempting to buy his influence.
Columbus Dispatch: Makers of video consoles that resemble slot machines butted heads with former Attorney General Jim Petro over their right to operate in Ohio, but they appear to be cozying up to his successor, Marc Dann. A committee formed to raise money to cover the costs of Dann's transition and inaugural events received the maximum $5,000 contribution from each of two prominent manufacturers of the video devices, as well as from a lawyer who is fighting to keep them in business. ... State Sen. J. Kirk Schuring, R-Canton, said he is working with Dann on legislation that would bring the machines under the attorney general's regulation. [Nash, James. "Promoters of Tic Tac game gave generously to Dann." The Columbus Dispatch, 4/6/07]
Youngstown Vindicator: "So, what should the attorney general do? Return the contributions to the manufacturers of the machines and the lawyer who's fighting to make them legal in Ohio. Dann would be issuing such a demand if a Republican were attorney general." [de Souza, Bertram. "Dann faces key test as attorney general." Youngstown Vindicator, 4/15/07]
2. Despite campaigning against "pay-to-play" in state government, Dann used tax dollars to buy a fully-loaded SUV from a car dealer who contributed to Dann's campaign.
Columbus Dispatch: While former Attorney General Jim Petro commuted to work in a 2003 Mercury Sable worth about $8,700, Dann will be squired around in a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban that's nearly twice as heavy and more than five times as valuable. Dann's office bought the SUV - complete with leather seats, a six-CD changer and dual-zone automatic climate control - for $40,373.98 from a Warren dealership whose owner donated to Dann's campaign. [Nash, James. "Ohio attorney general will ride high in his SUV." The Columbus Dispatch, 2/8/07]
1. Less than 100 days on the job, Dann had to fire his new head of law enforcement amid accusations of corruption and "other issues of trust and lack of leadership."
The Plain Dealer: The top cop in the Ohio attorney general's office was fired Friday after it was discovered he was still collecting a paycheck from the city of Youngstown months after starting work for the state. ...And there could be more. The dismissal letter also tells Alli "there have been other issues of trust and lack of leadership ability which have led us to this decision." [Fields, Reginald. "Dann's top cop fired for breach of trust." The Plain Dealer, 4/21/07]
Mansfield News Journal: While we agree with Dann's quick actions in dismissing Alli, the decision to hire him into such a key position certainly raises some eyebrows about a leader who spent much of his campaign railing on the mistakes and unethical actions of Republican leaders. ["Ohio's top lawyer finds it easier to criticize others." Editorial, The Mansfield News Journal, 4/22/07]
