The office’s first assistant attorney general is temporarily in charge.

By Marc Kovac

The office’s first assistant attorney general is temporarily in charge.

COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland said he would immediately begin considering potential candidates to replace Attorney General Marc Dann.

Speaking to a packed Cabinet Room full of reporters and camera crews, the governor said “maturity” was a top quality he would seek in compiling his short list.

“Maturity, experience, management ability — those certainly are criteria that I think are essential, especially now,” Strickland said. “We need someone who can provide confidence to the many, many employees of the attorney general’s office, someone who is recognized as a person of great integrity.”

Strickland answered reporters questions Wednesday during a Statehouse press conference after Dann’s resignation. The attorney general spoke for about three minutes to start the session, then left the room without answering questions.

The governor called Dann’s resignation the “honorable thing” and the “right thing” to do.

“This decision will allow the important work of the attorney general’s office to continue without the distraction caused by recent events,” Strickland said. “Today is a sad day, in many ways. I think it is appropriate for us all to acknowledge the personal pain and anguish that these events have caused the attorney general, his family members, his staff and others.”

The governor noted the attorney general’s accomplishments — environmental and consumer protections, foreclosure prevention and health care accessibility.

He also sent a strong message concerning state employees who feel they are being harassed on the job: “For any state employee who has suffered a hostile work environment or been subjected to sexual harassment, I would say to them that I, as governor, will not tolerate it if it comes to my knowledge and I have any ability to have control or authority over it.”

Strickland said the inspector general’s investigation of the office, launched Wednesday after he signed legislation late Tuesday giving Tom Charles that authority, would continue.

About a dozen members of the inspector general’s office were in Dann’s office earlier in the day interviewing employees, reviewing files and carting off computers and equipment.

The governor also shed some light on Dann’s attempts Tuesday to stop lawmakers from naming the inspector general to investigate his office.

Strickland said Dann spoke to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, and that Fisher then approached both House Speaker Jon Husted and Senate President Bill Harris with the proposal.

Fisher told the Republican legislative leaders “that he was simply conveying a message from the attorney general and that he, nor I, nor our administration was supportive of it.”

An ultimate replacement for Dann will be decided by voters in November. For the interim, the governor, citing state law, said Tom Winters, first assistant attorney general, will assume leadership over the office “until such time that I would make either an interim appointment or an appointment of someone who would stand for election in November. I have not yet considered what course of action that I will take in that regard or what individuals will be considered for that position.”

In a statement, Winters said, “...I am confident in the knowledge that you — the more than 1,400 dedicated public servants of this office — will continue to do your jobs in the office of the attorney general. ... I know in my heart that your dedication will continue as I assume my new assignment.”

The governor also offered no time line for appointing someone to replace Winters, adding he had not started a short list of possible candidates.

The governor said Dann was offered no employment or other deals to entice his resignation.

Strickland said Dann was concerned about how the situation had affected his family.

“Marc told me that he was going back to Youngstown to be with his family,” he said. “I’m not sure what he may plan to do in the future, but I think in the short term he wants to be with his family, and I can understand that.”

He added, “I wish Marc and I wish his family well, especially his really wonderful children... I know this is a really difficult time for them as well as a difficult time for Marc, and I feel bad for them.”

Dann returned to his Liberty home around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday. He eluded reporters and photographers awaiting his arrival. A short time later, his wife, Alyssa Lenhoff Dann, a former newspaper reporter, brought out a hand-written note that read: “Dear Reporters, I feel very inhospitable by not asking you to come in and get out of the rain. But this a night we really need as a family.

“Marc is home, and I am sure that at some point he may be inclined to talk with you. But not tonight, and I’m truly sorry that we can’t be more cooperative. Please know that we understand that you are only doing your jobs. Thank you for respecting our privacy tonight.”

mkovac@dixcom.com