Tax lien was a mistake, Sen. Dann says

Dann was appointed to a legislative ethics committee.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Marc Dann said Thursday that the Ohio Department of Taxation placed a $561 lien against him earlier this year in alleged income tax withholding irregularities for his law firm in 2002.
But Dann, of Liberty, D-42nd, who's announced he's seeking the Democratic nomination for Ohio attorney general next year, said the lien was a mistake.
"It was incorrect," said Dann, who said the lien was in the process of being released.
Dann made the disclosure in anticipation of future media reports. A public records request had been made by a Cleveland-area newspaper related to the collection of state debt owed by Dann or his spouse.
The state placed a lien against Dann on Nov. 22 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court accusing him of failing to pay employee withholding tax in 2002 for his law firm, Marc Dann & amp; Associates.
But Dann said he made three payments in 2002 and the last payment in 2003.
"They were a month late," Dann said.
Dann released a letter from his accountant to a state tax department employee documenting that the issue had been resolved and asking the state for an abatement of any penalties.
Dann, who's been one of the loudest critics of investment losses at the state Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the state's insurance fund for injured workers, said he'll continue to run for attorney general.
"I am staying in the race because I have the experience and the integrity needed to clean up the mess the corrupt Republicans have made of our state," Dann said.
GOP response
In a prepared statement, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said he had been unaware of Dann's tax delinquency. But Bennett said Dann's disclosure "is only the latest evidence that he is unworthy to serve as the state's top law enforcement officer."
"Sen. Dann has spent much of the past year setting himself up as the paragon of public ethics, but his own record is now exposing him as a hypocrite," Bennett's statement said.
"He owes each of his constituents an apology for failing to live up to the high standard he so piously sets for everyone else," Bennett's statement said.
Bennett said in the statement he expects Dann to use personal funds to send an apology to his constituents.
One other Democrat -- Subodh Chandra -- has announced he's running for a four-year term as attorney general next year. Chandra is a former Cleveland law director.
State Sen. Timothy J. Grendell of Chesterland has announced he's seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general.
Attorney General Jim Petro has announced he's seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination next year.
The primary election is in May and the general election is in November.
In other news involving Dann, he was appointed to a seat on the 12-member Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. The committee's goal is to monitor compliance with the state's ethic laws within the legislative branch, and the panel is responsible for administering the state's lobbying laws.