BY SANDY THEIS
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS - It was not the buildings he built, the laws he changed or the elections he won that Stanley Aronoff talked of Wednesday when he said goodbye to the legislature he served in for 36 years.
Instead, he talked of the great mentors he had, friendships that crossed partisan lines and how he watched Ohio's urban centers grow in stature and influence, eventually taking the reins of legislative power from a group of rural legislators once known as the ''cornstalk brigade.''
Mr. Aronoff, 64, is poised to relinquish his power to Senate President-elect Richard Finan, R-Evendale.
And the Senate officially said goodbye Wednesday to Mr. Aronoff and four others who are leaving when the 121st Ohio General Assembly completes its business this week.
''The day I've dreaded,'' a somber Mr. Aronoff said, as he stood before his colleagues.
Mr. Aronoff announced last year that he would retire, even though term limits permit him to serve one more four-year term.
''This day, I know there are a few more ceremonial dinners, but on Jan. 1, it will be a completely different life,'' he told reporters afterward. ''They say give yourself enough time to prepare. At least I did that.''
His early announcement gave his colleague time to prepare as well.
Mr. Finan ushered Mr. Aronoff off the president's rostrum, forcing him to sit in a rocking chair with a plaid blanket draped over his legs.
Longtime administrative assistant Sue Moore authored and read a poem that poked fun at Mr. Aronoff's assorted hair styles, past floor speeches and political campaigns.
Then a series of senators rose to praise him as a fair-minded leader who played the cards he was dealt.
Sen. Doug White, R-Manchester, who described himself as ''the son of a horse trader,'' said his father often talked of the importance of crafting deals where everybody wins.
''He said, 'Son, if you're makin' a deal and you're plum skinning a man, you're making a bad deal.'''
Mr. Aronoff, he said, always knew how to make good deals.
Earlier in the day, members of the Ohio House honored Mr. Aronoff with a resolution and standing ovation.
House Minority Leader Patrick Sweeney, D-Cleveland, had special praise for Mr. Aronoff's support for the arts, noting that Mr. Aronoff convinced reluctant lawmakers to create the Ohio Arts Council.
Mr. Aronoff showcased his deal-making abilities when he told of the secret to the bill's passage: A $25,000 appropriation and the promise to fund a bust of then-Gov. James A. Rhodes.
''And it passed,'' he said.
Mr. Aronoff's legislative career began in 1960 when he was elected to the House. In November 1966, he won election to the Senate, becoming its president in 1989.
He rose to power as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and solidified his power through prolific fund-raising that helped the GOP boost its numbers.
Although his 8th Senate district is limited to Hamilton County's western half, his power extended across the state.
He leaves with 21 of the Senate's 33 seats in Republican hands and an $82 million arts center in Cincinnati that bears his name.
He also leaves with unfinished business.
Back in 1960, he said, the cornstalk brigade fought over many of the same issues that confound today's lawmakers: annexation, school funding, welfare reform.
Other than returning to his law firm, Mr. Aronoff said he isn't quite sure what he'll do next.
''After you've been here 36 years, you don't have a grand plan.'' Sen. Bruce Johnson, R-Columbus, said the retirement of Mr. Aronoff and the four others is a great loss.
He called Mr. Aronoff ''the mastor mentor and master strategist'' and referred to Sen. Robert Boggs, D-Rock Creek, as the Senate's ''moral leader.''
Mr. Boggs retired after 24 years in the Senate. He will become an Ashtabula County commissioner.
Mr. Boggs once served as the Senate Minority Leader, a post that sometimes placed him and Mr. Aronoff at odds.
But on his final day, Mr. Boggs - whose own party sometimes criticized him for being too cozy with the Republicans - apologized if he were too combative.
''The Republicans and the Democrats and the Perot voters are not the problem,'' he said. ''The real problem in this country is injustice and racism and poverty...''
In addition to five senators who will leave next month, two more will leave in February when they are sworn in as judges.
They are the first major wave of retirements or relocations brought about by voters' 1992 approval of term limits.
While some members complained that term limits are robbing Ohio of some of its most seasoned veterans, Mr. Aronoff urged those who remain to make the most of their limited time.
''I don't know what term limits will do, but I know they're here,'' he said. ''You should make the best of it.''
Published Nov. 14, 1996
