Ex-senator apologizes for behavior
Former state Sen. Cliff Hite apologized Wednesday for his conduct toward a state employee, saying, “she deserves more respect than that and so does my wife.”
Hite, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, abruptly resigned from his northwest Ohio seat on Monday night. Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, said he “strongly suggested” to Hite that he step down soon after hearing about the allegations of sexual harassment for the first time last Wednesday.
“I’m not proud of recent inappropriate conversations that I had with a state employee who did not work for me but worked in a nearby state office,” Hite, R- Findlay, said in a statement released on Twitter.
He said he asked her for hugs and talked with her “in a way that was not appropriate for a married man, father and grandfather like myself. Beyond those hugs, there was no inappropriate physical contact.”
Hite said he recognizes the behavior was inappropriate. “I apologize completely. This is no one’s fault but my own. I’m proud of my long career as a teacher, coach and legislator, but I’m not proud how I acted with this person.”
Obhof said he met with Hite last week within a few hours of hearing about the allegations. He declined to say how he was informed of the complaint or where it came from, except to say the woman was not a Senate employee.
“We dealt with it in a very efficient manner, very quickly,” Obhof said. “I think he did the right thing by accepting responsibility by apologizing for his actions. He recognizes that some of the behavior was not appropriate.”
Obhof suggested there is still a process ongoing regarding the complaint, but he declined to elaborate. The young woman who filed it reportedly worked with Hite in a Statehouse-related capacity.
“The message should be pretty clear that any inappropriate activity in the Senate isn’t tolerated,” Obhof said, adding that he is planning to start doing sexual- harassment training for members at the start- of- the- session caucus retreat every two years. “In the short term, we plan to have something like that for members and staff of both parties in the near future.”
Obhof said he hopes to have a replacement for Hite ready to be seated within a month.
Hite said his resignation also relates to the fact that he has been in and out of the hospital the last year with a serious illness, saying he doesn’t have the strength to make the travel back and forth to Columbus.
“The combination of my mistake in judgment and my failing health led me to decide to step down, so someone else can represent the good people of my district,” he wrote.
Sexual harassment has hit the spotlight recently as more women have been publicly speaking out against it, particularly in the wake of high-profile allegations, including women accusing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of harassment and sexual assault. It has spawned a trending #MeToo movement on social media, where women share their own experiences with abuse.
Hite’s wife, Diane, also issued a statement that said she forgives him and they are in counseling.
“We don’t have a perfect marriage and, like so many couples, we’ve had some hard times in our relationship,” Diane Hite said.
Hite served three terms in the Ohio House before he was appointed to the Senate in 2011. The former teacher and high school football coach had recently been working on legislation to ease wind farm setback regulations.