http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/05/dann_says_hes_staying_put.htmlColumbus -- Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann on Monday defiantly rejected a call by all of the top leaders of his political party, including Gov. Ted Strickland, to quit right now or watch as they to seek to throw him out of office.
The Democrats are miffed at Dann, who on Friday admitted to an extramarital affair with a female staffer and running an office that at the very top sometimes resembled an amateurish dating game rather than a professional law firm.
Even as two top managers were fired and two other employees resigned Friday in the wake of an embarrassing sex scandal, Dann apologized and vowed to stay.
Over the weekend, pressure on Dann intensified. On Sunday, after Strickland failed twice to get Dann to step down, the governor and seven other top Democratic officeholders sent a letter threatening Dann with impeachment if he didn't resign.
On Monday, Dann fired off an e-mail to his staff that summarized what he had told the governor in two phone conversations on Sunday: he's not quitting.
"I told him that he and other officeholders, as well as the members of the legislature, should continue to expect that we will continue to provide high-quality legal services to all of them," Dann said.
The Democrats clearly want him to go.
"We will distance ourselves both figuratively and literally from the attorney general until he makes the decision that is best for people of Ohio, and that is to step down from the office," state Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said Monday.
Democrats will offer a resolution at the state party executive committee meeting Saturday in Columbus seeking to rescind their endorsement of Dann, Redfern said.
Democrats will also seek to bar Dann from official Democratic party functions. "That would mean he would no longer be welcome at those events," Redfern said.
In addition to Strickland and Redfern, who is a state representative, signing the letter were: Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Treasurer Richard Cordray, Ohio Senate Minority Leader Ray Miller and Ohio House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty.
Strickland met with reporters just past noon Monday on the steps of the Statehouse to address the standoff.
"I would hope the attorney general would understand that his effectiveness as attorney general has been so greatly diminished that, in my judgment at least, he cannot appropriately continue to fulfill the duties of that office," Strickland said.
"It is important for Democrats to send a very clear message that we will clean our own house," he said.
The governor said he drew his conclusion over the weekend after reading the findings of an internal investigation of sexual harassment allegations against one of Dann's top managers.
Strickland read the report and transcripts of interviews conducted for the investigation and said he found a number of items troubling and questioned whether Dann had offered consistent information to investigators.
Vanessa Stout, one of two women who accused Dann's friend and manager Anthony Gutierrez of sexual harassment, said Dann knew that she hid the extent of her criminal record on her job application.
Dann, stumbled in interviews when asked whether his former scheduler Jessica Utovich spent the night at his apartment. He first said he didn't know because he was barely at the apartment and in a later interview said, "I have knowledge that she stayed overnight."
The Ohio Republican Party, which on Friday started the chorus for Dann to go, cheered on Monday as it watched Democrats attack one of their own.
"There is now bipartisan agreement that Marc Dann no longer has the respect and credibility to be Ohio's attorney general, and he must resign immediately," said state Republican party deputy chairman Kevin DeWine.
Strickland said he still would like to see an independent investigation of the sexual harassment charges. And Senate President Bill Harris, an Ashland Republican, suggested that the state inspector general do the external review.
Even some on Dann's staff apparently want him out, if nothing more than to help the office start to regain its reputation.
One Democrat said top attorney general staffers on Monday asked Dann to resign. Dann told them he was staying but that he would accept their resignations.
Office spokesman Ted Hart said no one quit on Monday, and he would not confirm whether there was a confrontation between Dann and his senior staff.
"People are certainly more subdued than normal today," Hart said. "People certainly aren't oblivious to what's going on."
Dann, 46, who lives near Youngstown, is a former private practice attorney. He was appointed to the Ohio Senate in 2002, elected in 2004 and was a surprise winner in the 2006 attorney general's race, defeating noted Republican Betty Montgomery.
In fact, Dann said Friday that he was not prepared to take on the massive state agency, with 1,400 employees, including over 400 attorneys. He offered that as an explanation for why he bungled early management decisions, some of which led to the harassment probe.
While Dann stays, Democrats are making plans as if he will go. Strickland would pick his replacement for the interim, and the governor said he already has a short list of candidates, though he would not reveal names.
