Strickland stands by appointment, will wait for Barbash to resolve issue

By MARK NIQUETTE

COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland said yesterday that he probably would have appointed Mark Barbash interim director of the state development department even if he had known that Barbash owes nearly $160,000 in federal and state taxes.

But Strickland, who said he wasn’t told about Barbash’s tax problems until last week, said Barbash needs to settle his tax issues before returning to his state job as chief economic-development officer as planned.

“It will depend upon whether or not these matters are appropriately resolved,” Strickland said when asked about Barbash’s status yesterday.

Barbash stepped down as interim director Friday after public disclosure that the IRS and Ohio Department of Taxation have filed liens against him totaling $146,314 and $12,462, respectively. A foreclosure action against his Bexley home also has been filed.

Barbash, 60, a former Columbus development director and a native of Cortland, said last week that he is taking a month of accrued paid leave “to straighten out some personal financial matters.”

In an interview Monday, Barbash said he has two disputes with the IRS: one involving the amount of taxes owed on a family inheritance, and a second from a dispute over his filing status on his 2003 return. The Ohio tax lien is related to the disagreement about the 2003 return, he said.

Barbash disclosed the inheritance dispute on a questionnaire he completed in February 2007 before being hired by the development department, and he said he told Strickland Chief of Staff John Haseley about the other IRS matter before being named interim director to replace Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher in February.

“Just because someone has an issue with the IRS does not necessarily mean that they are in the wrong,” the governor said.

Still, Strickland tempered last week’s announcement that Barbash would resume his $128,356-a-year role as chief economic-development officer, the agency’s highest-paying job.

Strickland also said he has no timetable for picking a permanent director after naming Lisa Patt-McDaniel, 44, who is earning $88,379 a year, to replace Barbash as interim director.

Fisher, who had been both lieutenant governor and development director since the Strickland administration took office in 2007, stepped down as director in February to avoid any potential conflict after he announced his bid for the U.S. Senate seat that George V. Voinovich is leaving at the end of his term.

mniquette@dispatch.com