AG Marc Dann is Continuing the Corrupt Legacy of Jim Petro & Pay-to-Play
From the AP:
AG poised to renew controversial contract
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
AP Statehouse CorrespondentCOLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann is poised to renew a state legal contract that he used to pillory predecessor Jim Petro for engaging in pay-to-play politics.
Roetzel & Andress, a politically generous Akron law firm, will receive $1 million in state legal work representing the University of Akron if the state Controlling Board approves the agreement Monday.
Petro first turned the lucrative job over to Roetzel in March 2006, after taking the work away from five other firms he said were tied to the “political money machine” in Summit County. Two Akron lawyers claimed at the time that their firms lost the work because they didn’t support Petro’s 2002 campaign for attorney general, a charge Petro denied.
Dann joined fellow Democrats in blasting Petro for the move, suggesting he gave Roetzel the work because its lawyers had donated generously to his campaign and hosted fundraisers for him.
The firm, likewise, has donated to Dann. State records show he received $3,450 from Roetzel lawyers in 2006, including a pair of donations from Roetzel partner Wayne Jones that appear to exceed the $1,000 limit the Dann’s office imposes on outside legal firms.
