Marc Dann to "break out the brooms" and clean house!

Posted on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007

Akron Beacon Journal

Thousands of Ohio workers vie to keep jobs under new governor

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Thousands of state workers are waiting to hear if they still have jobs when Gov.-elect Ted Strickland and four other new state officeholders are sworn in next week.

Attorney general-elect Marc Dann, a Democrat taking over from Republican Jim Petro, told employees in early December that they should submit resumes if they intend to keep their jobs.

"This is a complete change of administration," said Dann's spokesman, Leo Jennings III. "Marc has a different philosophy, a different set of principles in office."

Strickland takes office Monday and will be become the state's first Democratic governor since Richard Celeste left office in 1991. Democrats also will take charge of the secretary of state's office and treasurer's office.

Jon Allen, spokesman for the Department of Job and Family Services, is among the 3,400 people who have submitted a resume to Strickland's transition team.

"I'll keep coming until somebody tells me not to," said Allen, who has worked under seven directors during 10 years at the department.

While most state employees are classified and have civil service job protection, the unclassified employees serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority - the governor, the attorney general, secretary of state and others.

Strickland is notifying all unclassified agency employees that if they want to remain, they will need to send resumes to their agency's personnel office.

In a draft of a letter to be sent Friday, Strickland Chief of Staff John Haseley, said all unclassified positions would be reviewed. If an employee fails to submit a resume, the agency will assume the employee is leaving the position. Those staying on will be asked to remain on an acting basis until a final employment decision is made, the letter says.

About 4,700 unclassified employees with salaries totaling $228 million annually are appointed by the governor.
Another 3,000 with a payroll of $177 million are controlled by other statewide officeholders, the judiciary and the legislature.

Strickland already has appointed eight cabinet positions. Only one, Major Gen. Gregory Wayt, Ohio's adjutant general in charge of overseeing the National Guard, is a carry over from the outgoing administration of Republican Gov. Bob Taft.

Other high-ranking state officials are awaiting their fates.

"I knew this day was coming. I took this job 7 1/2 years ago, knowing that there would eventually be an end to it,"
said Scott Zody, a deputy director at the Department of Natural Resources. He also has submitted a resume to Strickland's transition team and hopes to keep his job.

"Can (not knowing) be tough on you emotionally? At times it can be. I've had more melancholy days in the last month than I've had in the last seven years, but you work through it."

Auditor-elect Mary Taylor, the only Republican to win a nonjudicial statewide office, is also expected to announce key appointments when she takes office Monday.