Leadership isn't deciding if everyone should have cake or ice-cream for dessert, it's making the right decision when the decision is tough, and especially when it needs to be made quickly. John Kasich failed that test.
When the scandal surrounding Stan Heffner, who the Inspector general accused of theft in office, pay to play and perjury, broke, the Governor failed to act.
Heffner had been under fire by some critics to resign, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich wasn't one of them. A spokesman for Gov. Kasich said Heffner should not lose his job. "He is doing a very good job as superintendent, but using official resources the way he did and demonstrating that kind of bad judgment is unacceptable," Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said in an email to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Certainly some action is warranted, but right now it's the governor's own opinion that dismissal seems too far."
The pressure from every other quarter however mounted, culminating in Stan Heffner resigning, Saturday 4th, August. Here's the Governor's response to this news
Kasich referred to the resignation as a "retirement" in a statement on Saturday, and called the decision "the right one." He said Heffner's "mistakes in judgment were unfortunate, but I respect him for always putting Ohio's students above everything else, including his own interests."
The Governor in just a matter of days, switches his position. On the 2nd August, removing Stan Heffner was "too far", just 2 days later it was "the right one".
Failures of leadership don't get easier to see than this.
