Valley party leaders urge attorney general to stand firm; legislators want Marc Dann to resign now

By David Skolnick

YOUNGSTOWN — Though numerous Democrats, including the governor, are calling for Attorney General Marc Dann’s resignation, the heads of the Mahoning and Trumbull counties’ Democratic parties still support him.

High-level state Democrats didn’t waste too much time asking Dann, a fellow Democrat, to resign.

The call came Sunday, two days after Dann’s office released a report critical of the agency. Gov. Ted Strickland talked to Dann on Sunday and addressed reporters Monday.

“I would hope the attorney general would understand that his effectiveness as an attorney general has been so greatly diminished that, in my judgment at least, he cannot appropriately continue to fulfill the duties of that office. I would hope that he would recognize that and choose to resign,” Strickland said.

“It’s been very quick,” Mahoning Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Antonini said about the public outcry for Dann to resign. “He’s done some great things for the state and the party.”

Sexual harassment charges against Anthony Gutierrez, who served as Dann’s general services director, by two female subordinates prompted the investigation.

The report criticized Dann’s office for failing to properly oversee management employees, cronyism and a litany of judgment errors by the attorney general and senior staffers.

Dann, who is married, also admitted an affair with Jessica Utovich, his former scheduler, who resigned Thursday, a day before the report’s release.

Also, the investigation led to the firing of Gutierrez and communications director Leo Jennings III, both longtime friends and former roommates of Dann, and the resignation of Edgar Simpson, his chief of policy and administration.

Strickland did what he felt was best for the state and the Democratic Party, Antonini said, and she respects that.

But she won’t call for Dann’s resignation, saying that’s a decision the attorney general has to make with his family.

Dann is “on his own, and he has no one to protect him,” Antonini said. “With your own party telling you to resign, it’s going to be hard for him to do the job.”

Strickland said Dann refused to quit Sunday saying, “There is nothing I have done to make me resign.”

Democratic officials say they will seek to impeach Dann — as soon as today — if he doesn’t resign. State Republican leaders agree impeachment is in order if Dann doesn’t quit.

“I think that there is a great chance that we can continue to do great work for the people of the state of Ohio,” Dann wrote Monday in an e-mail to his employees. “I know that this is difficult, and I am truly sorry to have put all of you in this position.”

Christ Michelakis, Trumbull Democratic chairman, also said he wouldn’t call for Dann’s resignation. Dann lives in Liberty, a township in Trumbull County.

“He’s a local guy, and I don’t want to do that,” Michelakis said.

When asked if that was his entire reason for not calling for Dann’s resignation, Michelakis said, “Yes.”

The chairman also said even though Dann has lost the support of his state party’s leadership, “he’s going to get through this. It’s going to be difficult, but it’s possible.”

But members of the state Legislature from the Mahoning Valley say Dann must go.

“I am outraged that the attorney general of the state of Ohio has neglected the duty and honor of public service,” said state Sen. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-33rd, who is running for 16th Congressional District seat. “The cronyism and lack of attentiveness to protocol and detail in Attorney General Dann’s hiring practices has led us to this tragic moment in Ohio’s history.”

The Ohio House Democratic Caucus had an emergency telephone meeting Monday afternoon to discuss Dann and the plan to file a resolution as early as today to start the impeachment proceedings.

“We hope he will willingly resign,” said state Rep. Sandra Stabile Harwood of Niles, D-65th, and Dann’s representative in the Ohio House. “How can he be effective in this situation? It’s going to be extremely difficult for him to be attorney general.”

State Rep. Ronald Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, said he’s “very disappointed” in Dann’s actions and “in the best interest of the state, he should resign.”

State Sen. Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, who succeeded Dann in the Senate when he was elected attorney general in 2006, said she’s not surprised Dann is fighting the resignation calls. But he should quit for the sake of the Democratic Party and his family, Cafaro said.

State Democratic leaders had no choice but ask Dann to resign, Cafaro added.

Most major newspapers called for Dann’s resignation. The Vindicator asked that Dann be given a second chance.

Between continued media scrutiny of the attorney general’s office and a public call from his party’s leaders to resign or be impeached makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Dann to do his job effectively, Cafaro said.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, said Dann has little choice but to step down because of his lack of support among elected officials and the public. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said.

If Dann ever wants any sort of future in politics, he needs to resign rather than go through a process that could lead to his impeachment, said Paul Sracic, chairman of Youngstown State University’s political science department.

“Politically, this doesn’t make much sense,” Sracic said of Dann’s refusal to resign.

The Ohio Democratic Party removed all mention of Dann on its Web site, except for the letter sent Sunday from leaders asking Dann to resign. Also, the Ohio Democratic Party’s Executive Committee will meet Saturday to strip Dann of the party’s endorsement, said Chris Redfern, the state party chairman. The move doesn’t mean Dann is no longer a Democrat, but Redfern called it a symbolic gesture that Dann no longer has support from the party to remain attorney general.

skolnick@vindy.com