Ohio attorney general throws Simpson to the wolves

It appears one of former Joplin Globe Editor Edgar Simpson's chief shortcomings is an ability to wisely choose his friends. It did not take long for his most recent employer, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, to throw Simpson, his chief of staff, to the wolves.

To see just how low this guy can go, check out the transcript of today's news conference:

This is the text of the statement delivered at a news conference today by the attorney general:

Serious allegations have been made about the conduct of people in my office. Today’s report shows that these allegations are substantiated.

For the reasons detailed in this report, I am accepting the decisions of First Assistant Attorney General Tom Winters to discharge Anthony Gutierrez and Leo Jennings III and accepting Ed Simpson’s decision to step down as Chief of Policy and Administration.

I hired them with great hopes.

I believed they brought strengths and good qualities to the job. Unfortunately, they let me down.

I take full responsibility.

As disappointed as I am with the conduct of others, I am even more disappointed in myself.

I did not create an atmosphere in my public and personal life that is consistent with the important mission of the Office of the Attorney General and more worthy of the great work that we have been accomplishing for the people of the State of Ohio.

I am heartbroken by my failure to recognize the problems being created and by my failure to stop them.

I should have been much more aggressive to make sure that those who violated my trust were disciplined immediately.

I should have put in place a management structure that would have addressed these types of problems long before they ever became front page news stories or more importantly, personal tragedies.

I have not conducted myself in a way that is consistent with my values as a husband, a father, and my responsibilities as the Attorney General of Ohio. At a difficult time in my marriage, I got involved in a romantic relationship with a member of my staff. That conduct was intrinsically wrong.

My conduct has caused my family and my employees immense hurt and embarrassment.

To Alyssa and my children, to the employees of the office of the Attorney General, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for my human failings.

My errors in judgment have allowed the creation of a sideshow that has played out in the news. This sideshow has distracted attention from the good work being done by the Attorney General’s office.

* taking on the biggest insurance companies for fixing prices on business insurance.
* putting the full force of Ohio’s law enforcement and consumer protection machinery against those who defrauded Ohioans out of their houses.
* and extracting millions from pharmaceutical companies who have ripped off the state and individual Ohioans.
* and every single day, even now, professionally representing state government.

Here’s what I must do now.

I must do everything I possibly can to repair the negative reflection that has been cast upon the great lawyers, administrative staff and law enforcers hired in the past 16 months and who were here when I took office.

I will work tirelessly to re-earn the public’s trust.

To continue these good works for the people of Ohio—and to regain their trust—I will make the following changes:

First, I have asked Jim Friedman, former Chief of Staff to Governor John Gilligan, to head up a small working group that will identify changes in management structure and personnel. I envision this as a second transition.

I am honored and grateful that he will bring the wisdom and insight needed to create an administrative backbone worthy of the great legal work that is being done in our office.

In addition to the personnel changes already announced, I am accepting the specific recommendations included in the Espy report and First Assistant Tom Winters’ statement. To ensure faith in the results of this investigation, we will continue to strictly follow our office’s sexual harassment policy.

In addition, should neither the complainants nor those against whom disciplinary action has been taken request an outside review of this investigation, I will ask for one myself. The outside reviewer will be a person whose credentials are beyond question. As I have recused myself from this investigation, the selection of that individual will be made by Mr. Winters.

And, we will cooperate fully with the ongoing, independent investigation being conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

We will reorganize our structure and hiring policies and procedures to recruit the best people for the job. New policies will be developed and implemented in the coming months and weeks to address fraternization among employees, appropriate use of email, and respectful communication between employees, particularly between supervisors and subordinates.

The State Department of Administrative Services will conduct an audit of the General Services Division. This review will cover all of our policy and procedures.

BCI Superintendent Robert Fiatal will review our policy and practice regarding the issuance of undercover plates. No such plates will be issued to state vehicles unless there is a specific and identifiable governmental purpose.

As John Wayne once said, “Life is getting up one more time than you’ve been knocked down.”

Today, I’m getting up and dusting myself off by accepting responsibility, apologizing, and making necessary changes. And I’m doing this because nothing, least of all my shortcomings, should stand in the way of the important work we are doing.

Marc Dann, this prince of a man, according to published reports, looked the other way while one of his assistants was drunk driving in government vehicles, rented an apartment with two of his assistants, then invited young female assistants there for drinks on a regular basis, and to top it all off, admitted later today to an affair with an unnamed staff member (though her name has been all over the news).

And Ed Simpson disappointed him?