OH- Dann holds on

5-13-2008 Ohio:

After a day of trying to negotiate his resignation, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann said he not quitting today.

"At this point, that's not what I'm going to do," Dann told a Plain Dealer reporter.

He declined to elaborate.

Sources said Dann, a Democrat, had been contemplating an announcement today in an attempt to head off action by House Republicans that would have initiated an investigation of his office by the Ohio Inspector General.

Dann has faced intense pressure from fellow Democrats and Republican critics who said he was not fit to continue as the state's top lawyer.

Lieutenant Gov. Lee Fisher met with Dann today at Dann's request, said Keith Dailey, a spokesman for Gov. Ted Strickland.

Dailey said Fisher urged Dann to resign. Dailey would not comment further on the discussion between the two office holders.

House Democrats this morning filed articles of impeachment against Dann, accusing him of misconduct and malfeasance in office.

Ohio Democratic and Republican leaders had called for Dann to resign in the wake of a sexual harassment investigation in his office that concluded earlier this month with two top managers being fired and two other employees resigning. Dann, 46, also admitted to an extramarital affair with a staff member, and admitted that he wasn't prepared for the job of attorney general when he took office in 2007.

Strickland and other top Democrats had threatened to have Dann impeached immediately if he didn't step down. Dann has stood his ground, refusing to resign and maintaining he had done nothing to warrant impeachment.

But House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Joyce Beatty of Columbus, said they had found nine acts of misconduct by Dann that collectively are worthy of impeachment. They based their filings on sworn testimony taken for the recently concluded internal investigation.

"We have identified a pattern of misconduct that we believe rises to the level of impeachable offenses," said three Democratic House officials Beatty appointed to study whether Dann could be impeached.

The nine articles of impeachment included accusations that Dann obstructed the internal investigation, gave misleading statements, committed acts of gross neglect of duty and committed acts of gross immorality.

Other articles accused Dann of: neglecting to perform the official duties of his office, failing to exercise care in administering the office, failing to ensure safe use and security of state property, failure to investigate improper use of state property, and for not knowing state property was being misused for personal business.

The accusations all hinged on the fallout from claims by two 26-year-old women against their boss, Anthony Gutierrez, who was director of general services and Dann's close friend. The women, Vanessa Stout and Cindy Stankoski, accused Gutierrez of pressuring them repeatedly for sex.

Gutierrez, 50, was fired after the internal report, released May 2, concluded he harassed employees, threatened subordinates and used state property for his personal business, among other claims.

Gutierrez and Dann lived together, along with Dann's former Communications Director Leo Jennings III, in a Columbus apartment when they were away from their Youngstown-area homes.

Jennings, 53, was also fired on May 2 after the investigation concluded he tried to persuade another worker to lie to investigators.

Gutierrez has also been accused of wrecking two state vehicles, one while allegedly drunk, and using state computers to run his private construction company, all allegations that the State Highway Patrol is investigating.

Democrats have said Dann knew or should have known that Gutierrez and others were making a mockery of the office and done something about it.

But while Gutierrez, Jennings, former Chief of Staff Edgar Simpson and former scheduler Jessica Utovich, the 28-year-old woman Dann was linked to, all lost their jobs in the wake of the investigation, Dann had vowed to stay on. He admitted to running his office poorly but said things had been improving under his leadership. Dann also had said admitting his affair to his wife, Alyssa Lenhoff, was punishment enough for him.

Dann, a former state senator, was elected in 2006 in a near-sweep of statewide offices by Democrats. A vocal critic of the state investment scandal that tarnished Republican Gov. Bob Taft's administration, Dann had vowed to "end corruption and bring accountability and openness to the office." ..more.. by Mark Naymik, Reginald Fields and Aaron Marshall