BY SANDY THEIS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLUMBUS - Gov.-elect Bob Taft is taking steps to make sure that his lieutenant governor, Maureen O'Connor, doesn't have to take a cut in pay or responsibility.
At Mr. Taft's urging, a House committee last week amended a bill that would allow him to appoint her director of the Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Services. The measure also would give Ms. O'Connor the option of accepting the director's salary, not the salary of lieutenant governor, which is much lower.
The full House is expected to vote on the bill next week.
Ms. O'Connor said the proposed change doesn't necessarily signal that she's headed for Criminal Justice Services. The non-Cabinet-level agency administers federal grants and helps set criminal justice policy.
"It's an indication we're keeping our options open," she said.
She still has an interest in serving in the Cabinet and is particularly interested in the Department of Public Safety and Department of Youth Services, she said.
Under current law, lieutenant governors can serve in the Cabinet and can receive a Cabinet-director's salary, which tends to hover between $90,000 and $99,000 annually.
The salary for next year's lieutenant governor is $62,500, while the salary for the head of Criminal Justice Services tops out at about $87,000, according to state records.
In her current job as Summit County prosecutor, Ms. O'Connor, a single mother of two teen-age boys, makes $93,024.
"Obviously, my background and experience are in criminal justice, but I don't necessarily want to limit myself to criminal justice issues only," she said. "That's an area that I will be active in, but really, no final decisions have been made."
The job of lieutenant governor traditionally has been a stepping stone to higher office.
Gov. and U.S. Sen.-elect George Voinovich served as Jim Rhodes' lieutenant governor. So did former Gov. Richard F. Celeste.
And Mr. Voinovich's first lieutenant governor, Mike DeWine of Cedarville, is now in the U.S. Senate.
"The job of lieutenant governor is very similar to the job of vice president in the sense that the vice president and lieutenant governor's influence and authority are entirely dependent on the president and governor," explained Mr. DeWine. "It's a job that does not have a great deal of definition."
The lieutenant governor - sometime derided as the "light governor" - has but one real duty: presiding over the State and Local Government Commission, a panel that acts as a liaison between the state and local elected officials. Other than that, the second-in-command takes over if the governor dies, resigns or is removed from office.
Before agreeing to be Mr. Voinovich's running mate, Mr. DeWine demanded and received a high-profile role in the administration.
"I was leaving Congress and I was concerned," Mr. DeWine said. "I wanted to have substantive work to do."
Once elected, Mr. Voinovich agreed to place seven agencies under Mr. DeWine, a former county prosecutor. The agencies, known as the criminal justice cluster, included the adult and juvenile prison departments, Department of Public Safety, Office of Criminal Justice Services, Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services, the adjutant general's office and Ohio's Washington, D.C., office.
"The governor gave me the flexibility to initiate policy in this area," Mr. DeWine explained. "I kept busy, and I think we made some substantive changes."
He helped persuade the state to expand drug treatment in Ohio's prisons, championed changes in treatment for juveniles and initiated a procedure for the Ohio Adult Parole Authority to follow in cases where a someone committed another serious crime after being paroled. The job also helped groom him for higher office, he said.
"The fact that I had been on the statewide ballot in '90 and '92, before I was elected to the Senate in '94, candidly played a bigger role than the policies we championed," he said.
Still, the job increased his visibility beyond the Dayton-area congressional district, he said, and it exposed him to issues and people he had not encountered.
Mr. DeWine's successor, Lt. Gov. Nancy Hollister, has taken a lower-profile role than Mr. DeWine. The former Marietta mayor has focused her efforts on the State and Local Government Commission and areas of interest to Appalachia.
On Nov. 3, she lost a bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Lucasville.
