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Published:Sunday, May 11, 2008
Audio clip From 570 AM WKBN: Bentley Lenhoff with Mangino
Salt and pepper will enhance the flavor of crow being served today in the Marc Dann/Bentley Lenhoff households.
A pinch of Gutierrez (keyword: pinch), a dash of Jennings (yes, he is quite dashing) and a cup of Simpson (his did runneth over) are the main ingredients.
(No, this isn’t about rubbing salt in the wounds.)
The crow is accompanied by a dry red whine — matching the color of Bentley’s face as he strains to spin the scandal.
Attorney General Dann, his wife, Alyssa Lenhoff, and his father-in-law are being served crow by this writer in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal in the AG’s office that has resulted in two firings and two resignations of individuals close to the man at the top.
Anthony Gutierrez of Liberty Township, a neighbor and a friend of the Dann/Lenhoff family, was fired from the $80,000-plus position of director of General Services.
Gutierrez has been accused by two women who worked for him of sexual harassment. An internal investigation of the complaints filed by Cindy Stankowski and Vanessa Stout concluded that the attorney general’s buddy crossed the line in his relationships with the two women.
Hail, Leo!
Jennings, hailed by the Dann/Lenhoff combo as the most talented, intelligent, brilliant political tactician since Ghengis Khan (O.K., maybe not him), was fired as communications director because the internal investigation found that he had sought to influence the testimony of a lawyer in the office with whom he had worked.
Edgar Simpson, a journalist by profession, resigned as chief of administration policy after it was revealed that he failed to take the appropriate action when he first learned of Gutierrez’s hijinks.
Finally, Jessica Utovich resigned as the office’s travel coordinator when it became clear that her affair with Dann was about to be made public. The affair lasted several months when Utovich was serving as Dann’s scheduler.
Pass the crow, please.
In January 2007, Bentley Lenhoff, well known community theater director, responded to a column by this writer questioning Dann’s hiring of Jennings and warning about other “locals” he had taken to Columbus.
“Your Sunday column is off-base,” Lenhoff wrote. “You took a superficial look at the hires that Marc has made. You used those superficial observations to craft a weak and unfair argument about how Marc has strayed from his pledge to be open and accountable.”
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Here’s what he said (does anyone doubt that Bentley was echoing the sentiments of his daughter and son-in-law?) about Jennings:
“He lacks polish. But he’s not a spinner. Just the opposite. He’s brazen. But he’s dedicated. He is principled. And, sure he is flawed. But find a person of capability and passion and intelligence who isn’t. His accomplishments are many and I am wondering if you are even aware of them. I can fill you in if you’d like.”
And of Simpson, he had this to say:
“To assume that Simpson’s value is to insulate Marc from public scrutiny is simply a bad call that you might not have made had you taken the time to talk to Ed, to talk to Marc or even to someone who worked with Ed.”
Second chance
Lenhoff didn’t comment about Gutierrez in the January 2007 e-mail, but in recent telephone conversations, in which he whined about reporters being preoccupied with the salacious details of the Boys Gone Wild series, he talked about friendship and loyalty. As for Gutierrez’s past — unpaid federal and state taxes, business failures — Lenhoff insisted that his son-in-law believed in giving individuals a second chance.
Fast-foward to last week, when Bentley Lenhoff called WKBN radio talk show hosts Robert Mangino and Ron Verb in defense of Dann and to crow that his “friends are doing him in. ... Leo is one of those friends he shouldn’t have brought” to Columbus.
Oh really?
Caw! Caw! Caw!
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Where was I? Alyssa gets the blame for Ed who was totally in over his head to fill the role of chief of staff. Ed had no clue about the Statehouse, the players, how to protect Marc's interests. Perhaps Ed should have filled Leo's position and Leo should have been assigned to the campaign where he could have protected Marc's political interests. Leo was in the best position to protect Marc from this craziness, even if necessary from himself. He failed to do this and from the size of things, that was worse than his social issues. For this and for Leo's confrontational style, with the media and law enforcement ("we can do anything we want"), Leo must accept a broad share of the blame. Great guy or not, Alli's appointment was an insult to the law enforcement community who's support the AG needs to succeed. However, and take this to the bank, there was no reason to hire Tony the Gute. That guy was a time bomb, consumed with throwing his weight around. Read Ed's transcript and see how scared he is of Tony Gute. Just what the heck was Marc thinking......and don't give me that stuff about saving money for the state (what did it cost to sound proof that office??) When Marc accused Taft: "He is either lying or incompetent" he had no idea that accusation would later attach to him. It is a damn shame, that is for sure.
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