(Columbus) - Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine issued the following statement today regarding Gov. Ted Strickland's inappropriate response to State Rep. Seth Morgan's request for public records:
"Gov. Strickland owes Rep. Morgan an apology. Calling an elected state representative immature for doing his job is not only disrespectful but it's also beneath the dignity of the governor's office. This administration vowed to operate under the highest levels of transparency, but that promise apparently holds as much credibility as the governor's budget numbers. The last time a Democrat threw this much of a fit over a public records request, we ended up with a new attorney general."
# # #
For the Record
______________________
Strickland said he would embrace transparency as governor:
"As governor, my intent will be to embrace and encourage transparency, and I cannot imagine at this point myself ever seeing a circumstance where I would choose to use executive privilege as it was claimed by Gov. Taft," Strickland said. (The Columbus Dispatch, 11/15/06)
State Rep. Seth Morgan was forced to file a lawsuit when the governor failed to provide detailed evidence to back up his "evidence-based" school funding plan:
"The administration set the bar very high in his State of the State address that this plan was based on evidence," [Morgan] said. "I expected to spend a lot of hours reviewing evidence or research." Instead, Morgan said, he sent public-records requests to the governor's office twice in March asking for documents, communication and reports related to the crafting of the plan. His requests, he said, have been ignored. (The Columbus Dispatch, 4/7/09)
Strickland lashed out at State Rep. Seth Morgan for demanding more information before voting on the plan:
"I think he is acting, quite frankly, in an immature, politically motivated-manner - and that's unfortunate," the Democratic governor told reporters at a Columbus area event. "I will try to be adult in this debate and carry out my responsibilities in an appropriate manner as I do the best I can to serve the people of our state." (Dayton Daily News, 4/8/09)
Strickland has been criticized for failing to provide details:
Surely the governor's office knew that promoting reforms based on best practices elsewhere would lead to requests for detailed information about those practices. And surely the governor's office knew that no one would be content with its response to Morgan's original request - that there was only one copy of the documents, and they were at a state employee's home. It is a shame that the governor and a legislator are on a path to a showdown in court, but we can't see that the legislator is to blame. (Editorial, Canton Repository, 4/7/09)
# # #
Delicious
Digg
Technorati
