COLUMBUS Legislators say goodbye to Latell

The state official says he's unsure on his political future.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- State Rep. Anthony A. Latell Jr. of Girard made a fateful decision in January to run for Congress.
In doing so, he passed on seeking re-election to his House seat to which he was elected in 2000 after eight years in the Ohio Senate.
Latell, 64, lost in a multiple-candidate Democratic primary. But he's never looked back.
"It's not a crime to fail," Latell said in a Tuesday interview, the day House members bid him farewell. "The crime is if you're afraid to try because you might fail. I try to live by that."
Praise
House members from both sides of the aisle sang Latell's praises.
"He's smooth. He's just total class," said state Rep. Mary Rose Oakar, a Cuyahoga County Democrat. "He knows his stuff."
State Rep. John A. Boccieri, a Mahoning County Democrat, said he looked up to Latell as a freshman legislator last year.
"It's really been an honor to serve with you," Boccieri told Latell.
State Rep. Charles Blasdel, an East Liverpool Republican first elected in 2000, said he remembered Latell from when Mahoning Valley legislators would meet to talk about issues.
"You made me feel welcome," Blasdel said to the outgoing legislator. "You did great things for the Mahoning Valley."
Latell said he will miss both of his Democratic and Republican friends who he got to know during his 10 years in the Legislature.
Memories
Latell said he also would remember the constituents and businesses from Trumbull County he was able to help as a lawmaker.
A highlight in the House, Latell said, was singing the Dean Martin standard "That's Amore" on the House floor in June 2001 as the chamber passed a bill creating Dean Martin Day in Martin's hometown of Steubenville. Latell and state Reps. Dan Sferra, D-Warren, and Ken Carano, D-Austintown, led fellow House members in a rendition on the day the House passed the bill.
Latell said he didn't know what his political future held. He said he was going to spend time with his wife, Dorothy, three children and several grandchildren.
"I'm going to let time take its blessing on being out of the elected arena," Latell said.
Latell served as a Democratic state senator from Trumbull County from 1992 to 2000.
He also served as a Trumbull County commissioner from 1980 to 1992.