May 02, 2008 08:46 pm
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From staff, AP reports
news@joplinglobe.com
Ed Simpson, former editor of The Joplin Globe, has left his job as chief of staff for the Ohio attorney general.
Simpson, in a telephone interview Friday from Columbus, said he submitted his resignation on Thursday. He said he had handed his resignation to his boss, Marc Dann, some three weeks ago, when details of sexual-harassment allegations against assistant attorney general Anthony Gutierrez came to light.
Dann, he said, would not accept his resignation then.
“I wish Marc Dann well,” Simpson said. “I am sure that he will get through this and continue to do good work for the state of Ohio.”
The Associated Press is reporting that Simpson and two other aides, including Gutierrez, were forced out of their jobs Friday because of the scandal.
Gutierrez was accused by two women he supervised of making unwanted advances. An investigation released Friday reveals he violated harassment policy. Another aide, communications chief Leo Jennings, who is accused of trying to get a witness to lie under oath, also was fired.
A spokesman for the Ohio attorney general’s office said the report recommended that Simpson be “disciplined” for not promptly investigating claims of sexual harassment against Gutierrez.
“Ed was criticized for his errors of omission,” said Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for Dann’s office. “Not for anything he did do, but rather what he did not do.”
Simpson, editor of the Globe for nine years, joined Dann’s administration as chief of staff in 2007.
“I had great hopes of doing great things,” he said. “And, I still believe that we did a lot of good work. It is regretful that it turned out this way.”
The former newsman said he thought that overall, the press in Ohio had done a good job covering the scandal.
“More than ever, I am in awe of the power of the press,” he said.
Dann also announced Friday that he had an affair with a former staffer, but said in a press conference he does not plan to step down.
Dann had lived with Gutierrez and Jennings at an apartment during much of his first year in office, and some of the alleged harassment by one of the aides allegedly took place there.
Dann is the third high-ranking official around the country to be marred by sexual scandal in recent months. Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned abruptly in March after revelations that he had been a customer of a high-end call girl service. And Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice for accusations that he tried to hide a long-term romantic relationship with his former chief of staff.
In discussing his decision a year ago to leave the top news position at the Globe to go into state government, Simpson said he took a risk and knew that at the time.
“The way I look at it, life’s an adventure,” he said, “and by gosh, this has been quite an adventure.”
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