Records: Gov. Kasich resubmitted paperwork

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Gov. John Kasich withdrew paperwork nominating an EPA director from out of state and resubmitted it after the man registered as an Ohio voter, according to state records obtained by The Associated Press.

The move last week involving Ohio Environmental Protection Agency appointee Scott J. Nally came three days after Kasich reassigned another out-of-state Cabinet director amid questions that his residency made the appointment illegal.

On March 18, then- Development Director Mark Kvamme, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who still lives in California, was renamed Kasich’s job-creation director, a non-Cabinet position. Kvamme was working at the state Development Department for the salary of $1, and his stint always was intended to be short-term, with him performing a fix-it job at the state’s leading economic agency.

Nally’s situation is different, since he moved to Ohio to take the EPA job and intended to keep it for longer. He previously served as an assistant commissioner with Indiana’s environmental management department.

Kasich first submitted Nally’s appointment paperwork Feb. 15. In a March 21 letter to Senate Clerk Vincent Keeran, the Republican governor asked for that paperwork to be withdrawn and replaced with new documentation. Records show Nally registered to vote in Franklin County on Feb. 17.

Legislative legal experts advised Senate Democrats in a Feb. 16 memo that governors’ Cabinet appointees need to be Ohio residents and voters. Cabinet appointments are confirmed by the Senate.