December 23, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Tanzania: Politics: State Government: Cleveland Plain Dealer: Taft considers past year a success; acknowledges disappointment, too
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December 23, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Tanzania: Politics: State Government: Cleveland Plain Dealer: Taft considers past year a success; acknowledges disappointment, too
Taft considers past year a success; acknowledges disappointment, too
"The test for me was really, can I continue to make a difference for the people of the state as governor," said Taft, who admits his political tribulations wore deepest on his family. "And I believed I could." Ohio Governor Robert Taft served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania in the 1960's.
Taft considers past year a success; acknowledges disappointment, too
Taft considers past year a success; acknowledges disappointment, too
Friday, December 23, 2005
Reginald Fields
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus
-- Despite the shame of becoming Ohio's only sitting governor to be convicted of a crime, in one respect, this year was Bob Taft's best as the state's top politico.
"I think it was my most productive year from a policy standpoint," said Taft, 63, who has been governor since 1999.
But lost in the success of winning a new sweeping tax reform package and an improving job market was Taft's conviction on four misdemeanor ethics charges and his dreadfully low approval ratings.
"It was kind of a contrast between the challenges that I have faced, some of which of course were self-inflicted," Taft said in an interview Thursday with The Plain Dealer. "Obviously, I was very disappointed in myself with regards to the financial disclosure issues."
Calls for his resignation -- even from influential members of his own Republican Party -- didn't seem like piling on. Not when Time magazine declared Taft among the country's three worst governors.
And not when the key figure in the infamous Bureau of Workers' Compensation investment scandal, Tom Noe, turned out to be a well-acquainted former associate and golf partner of the governor.
That relationship indirectly led to Taft's criminal charges.
He handled his personal issues essentially with blinders and ear plugs, choosing to dive into work.
Still, Taft said he never gave serious thought to quitting, though he did anguish over how to move forward.
"The test for me was really, can I continue to make a difference for the people of the state as governor," said Taft, who admits his political tribulations wore deepest on his family. "And I believed I could."
Taft chalks up a retooled tax code, expanding grade school education options, his European trade mission promoting Ohio, the passage of a high-tech bond issue and this month's Great Lakes water agreement as some of this year's highlights.
He's now working on the last state-of-the-state address he will deliver as governor.
It will focus on strengthening the link between high school to college and touting new legislation to support Ohio's troubled automotive industry.
Taft also said he will lobby for other legislation, including a predatory-lending bill and press for adoption reform. He also plans to travel a great deal to promote Ohio's new business-friendly tax code in hopes of bringing more jobs to Ohio.
Taft -- whose campaign in 1998 got a major boost when outgoing governor George Voinovich endorsed him -- says he won't endorse any of the three major GOP candidates now vying for his job.
While Taft plans to stay busy in his final year of office, he has begun to think about what he will do once he is no longer governor. He hopes to become a college professor or continue working with nonprofit K-12 education reform groups, like Achieve -- a national organization that he co-chairs.
Taft said he is unsure how he will be remembered once he leaves office. But he hopes to win back some of the integrity that his politically famous surname has brought him and his political actions this year cost him.
"I'm accountable for what I've done," he said, "and what I've not done."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
rfields@plaind.com, 1-800-228-8272
When this story was posted in January 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Tanzania; Politics; State Government
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