Strickland should hold on to workers' compensation chief

In talking about filling cabinet and other top executive positions in state government, Gov.-elect Ted Strickland, a Democrat, says that Republicans will be given due consideration because he wants the best qualified to serve Ohio.
Well, Strickland doesn't have to look further than the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation to find someone who not only is imminently qualified, but who has ties to the current Republican administration.
Bill Mabe, 59, a former high-ranking executive with Nationwide Insurance, was appointed by Gov. Bob Taft a year ago to straighten out the scandal-ridden BWC. Any objective evaluation of his record as administrator/CEO of one of the largest providers of workers' compensation insurance in the country will show that he has performed exceptionally well.
Such a record justifies his reappointment by Strickland. The administrator/CEO serves at the pleasure of the governor. But if the governor-elect expects to be lobbied by Mabe, he's in for a pleasant surprise.
Members of The Vindicator's editorial board certainly were this week when the workers' comp chief stopped by to talk about what he has accomplished during his brief tenure and what he hopes for the bureau in 2007.
Surprising answer
Asked several times whether he wanted to continue in the position and whether he would stay if the new governor asked him to, Mabe surprised us with this answer:
"It depends on the vision they have, what they want to do, where they want to go. If there's not a shared vision, I'm not doing anybody a favor by hanging around."
Before making that statement, he had this to say about Strickland and his advisers:
"It would be fun to sit down and have a conversation, to see what their perspective is ... what they want to accomplish."
Here's an individual earning 165,000 a year, with a record of accomplishments that certainly reflects well on Gov. Taft, and rather than seeking the editorial board's support for reappointment, he talks about the fun he would have conversing with Strickland about his vision for the BWC and his perspective of the agency.
A story on the business page of Thursday's Vindicator details the changes that have been made at the BWC in the past year and how successful Mabe has been in meeting the goals he established when he was appointed by Taft.
Because his predecessor, Jim Conrad, was forced to resign in May 2005 as a result of Coingate -- 50 million of BWC money was funneled to Republican Party insider Tom Noe for investment in rare coins and other collectibles, with 13 million missing or unaccounted for -- Mabe made it clear when he took the job that there would be transparency in just about every aspect of the BWC's operation. He reformed the investment procedures to slam the door on the kind of inside-baseball activity that brought about Coingate.
The fact that Mabe did not come to The Vindicator to make a pitch for his reappointment has led us to conclude that he is the type of individual who needs to serve the people of Ohio. We would urge Gov.-elect Strickland to invite Mabe in for a conversation.