Sunday's News-Herald featured an editorial scolding the poor performance of Jim Petro:
Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's political aspirations to be governor are sinking with his slow response to problems at the state Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Twin scandals at the [Bureau of Workers Compensation] deserved his undivided attention long before Ohioans knew who Tom Noe was.
Additionally, recent letters from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission state the SEC told Petro in March 2004 about "possible abuse in discretion" by the bureau for paying commissions to three brokers since at least 2002. This was more than one year before the BWC investments scandal was known.
Noe, of Maumee, is the Republican fund-raiser who was given $50 million from the bureau to invest in rare coins. The fund lost $13 million and Petro's office is leading the investigation of Noe. Compounding this financial crisis, it was learned just weeks later that MDL Capital Management of Pittsburgh lost $215 million on high-risk investments.
Petro's duties compel him to serve as our watchdog over legal matters involving state government. If there's even a hint that something is wrong, it's time to get answers.The SEC information should have initiated a deeper probe to learn how big the fire was where this smoke billowed.
The concern about Petro's response isn't that he didn't do this job. The problem is he didn't display the required level of vigilance when he had an opportunity to peel the lid off this scandal. [...]
Jim Petro has forgotten what his job is: He's the people's lawyer first," said state Sen. Marc Dann, D-Liberty Township.
