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Ohio News |
Article published Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Taft’s chief of staff to leave at month’s
end
(THE BLADE)
Brian Hicks will resign at
the end of the month to form his own public affairs company.
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By JAMES
DREW
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF
COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft is losing his chief of
staff.
Mr. Taft said yesterday that Brian Hicks will resign
his $118,000-a-year job by the end of the month.
Mr. Hicks,
38, said he will form his own public affairs company.
"Brian
has been an extraordinary chief of staff, astute, loyal, and
exceptionally hard-working," Mr. Taft said in a written
statement.
"Above all, he has assembled and ably led a very
strong team in the governor’s office.’’
The governor is
expected to name a new chief of staff by the end of this week. A
leading candidate is Jon Allison, who is Mr. Taft’s lobbyist with
the legislature and worked for him at the Secretary of State’s
Office.
Mr. Hicks said Mr. Taft has asked him to head the
campaign to convince voters on Nov. 4 to approve Issue 1, which
would allow the state to sell $500 million in bonds and use the
money over 10 years on high-tech projects. Campaign funds would be
used to hire Mr. Hicks’ firm.
Mr. Hicks said he plans to work
on President Bush’s re-election campaign and possibly some state
Supreme Court races next year, do work for the Republican Governors’
Association - with Mr. Taft becoming chairman in November - and also
take on business clients.
"A lot of people would like to have
Brian’s advice; he is a very valuable strategist," said Mark Weaver,
a GOP consultant.
State law prohibits Mr. Hicks from lobbying
the executive and legislative branches or representing anyone before
a public agency for one year on matters he’s been involved with -
and Mr. Hicks said he will take "an extremely expansive view’’ that
he’s been involved in all decisions.
"Because I will be an
ongoing consultant to the Taft campaign committee, I don’t intend to
lobby the administration."
Although Mr. Taft can’t run for
re-election in 2006, the governor intends to raise money for GOP
legislative and Supreme Court races, he said. Mr. Hicks said backers
of Mr. Taft’s "Third Frontier" initiative will have to raise about
$3 million.
Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio
Citizen Action, said Mr. Hicks made the right call to take an
"expansive view" of the revolving-door statute and to not do
lobbying work under the label "consultant."
But Ms. Turcer
questioned whether Mr. Hicks should be in charge of Mr. Taft’s Third
Frontier campaign, given that he’s been involved in details of the
governor’s high-technology policy. "It would serve him well not to
be involved," she said.
Mr. Weaver, the GOP political
consultant, said the Third Frontier work is not a government
project.
"Brian is smart and careful. He will not involve
himself in anything that would even appear to have a conflict of
interest," Mr. Weaver said.
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