Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio Senate Right to Reject Collins-Taylor

The editors at the Akron Beacon Journal write:

On Wednesday, Ted Strickland stressed that he had no second thoughts about Cathy Collins-Taylor pushing ahead with her nomination to serve as the director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. ''It was important for Cathy to be able to stand there and speak the truth in the presence of her accusers,'' the governor argued. Collins-Taylor made her case a week ago to a legislative committee. Strickland offered his assessment in the wake of the full Senate voting against her confirmation. The 18-15 majority made the right call.

... As it is, the confirmation process followed a withering evaluation by the state inspector general of her handling as director an aborted sting operation.

The sting targeted prisoners in a work program at the governor's mansion. Authorities learned about plans to use the residence as a way station for conveying contraband into prison. The inspector general concluded that Collins-Taylor lied about her role in halting the sting. Read the e-mail traffic, plus her interview with the inspector general, and, at the least, she appeared evasive about her role. The inspector general's conclusion rings true: Collins-Taylor and others aimed to protect the governor from embarrassment, the work program veering off-track.

Yet the most disturbing finding of the inspector general wasn't the question of truth-telling. Rather, it involved the posture of Collins-Taylor toward the inspector general, treating the process as adversarial, neglecting the responsibility to cooperate fully, both sides with an obligation to meet first the public interest. In that way, Collins-Taylor damaged her credibility to the point that the governor and the department are well served by her departure.

Her cause suffered further with the revelation that the chief legal counsel at Public Safety (demoted this week) talked about a scheme to set up the inspector general. Was he serious? Put the episode in context: Collins-Taylor and allies have proclaimed loudly that the inspector general conducted a flawed investigation, twisting and ignoring evidence, allowing a personal agenda to overwhelm his public duty.

Let's be clear about what Collins-Taylor and the governor requested: Thomas Charles has been the inspector general since 1998. He provides an independent assessment, and he has performed well. Now the targets of his investigation want Ohioans to believe that they stand in a better position to provide a credible report. Why have an inspector general at all?

... The Strickland team fumbled opportunities to limit the political damage. ...

(Source: Editorial, Akron Beacon Journal, 5/27/10)