GOP Senate President Harris to Strickland: "Fire three @ ODJFS" or we may never trust your Administration again...

And so it begins... (HT: Dispatch's Daily Briefing Blog)

Senate President Bill M. Harris is calling on Gov. Ted Strickland to immediately fire two top administrators at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, in the wake of an investigation that found the agency made improper background checks on “Joe the Plumber.”

Helen Jones-Kelley, agency director, and Doug Thompson, deputy director of child support have abused their positions, Harris, R-Ashland, told Strickland in a letter sent Thursday.

“They abused positions of authority to access confidential databases for what, based on the evidence released today, had no legitimate state government purpose, was not in response to media requests and appears to be based on political motivations,” Harris wrote.

Harris reminded Strickland that he wrote a letter on Oct. 28 to express concern that Jones-Kelly asserted that it was agency policy to look into the backgrounds of people thrust into the public spotlight. Harris said he got a letter from Jones-Kelly the next day, assuring him that the practice has “long” been employed by the department.

“The inspector general found the searches conducted on Joseph Wurzelbacher were improper, and it is now very clear that I was misled,” Harris wrote.

“Governor, we have often talked about the challenges we face and of the need to find common ground…This cooperation is not possible if legislators cannot trust the information we are given from any individual that serves in your administration.”

Harris said he hoped Strickland would take steps to “restore Ohioans’ trust in their government” with new agency leadership and cooperation on a bill that will try to prevent future improper database searches.

Whatever substantive value Director Jones-Kelley brought to the position from her experience, it's all overshadowed now by the portrayal of her in the I.G.'s report.  She's because a political voodoo doll for the Republicans to do something they've been unable to do for two years... penetrate Strickland's political hide with their political attacks.

It's going to get worse before it gets better.  The next step is for Speaker Husted or Kevin DeWine to join in the outrage brigade (never mind that they both opposed impeachment of Governor Taft for criminal misconduct in office related to Coingate.)

Then the Franklin County Prosecutor, who was referred the matter by the I.G.'s office will either bemoan the inability to charge Jones-Kelley with a felony or refer the matter to the City Prosecutor's office for possible prosecution of something like Interferring with Civil Rights, a first degree misdemeanor (I'm not entirely sure this statute applies, but I'm trying to anticipate some creative prosecutorial thinking here.)  He'll testify to the lame-duck General Assembly about making a new crime out of this to keep it in the news.

Maybe the Governor will change his mind.  Maybe Director Jones-Kelley will resign in the interim.  I dunno, but does anyone doubt that this is what we can expect to see in the foreseeable future?