Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Top Local News Stories of 2009

I'm sure people will quibble with my list of the top local news stories of 2009, but that's why we are here. My list gives deference to stories that are more important. I know that's not what the masses want, but since when is this blog about pleasing the masses? Anyway, here's the top ten:
  1. City Budget Battles - The lack of civility on council is a disgrace.
  2. County Budget Battles - The lack of planning from the Stadium Tax architects is causing a critical reduction of services. We actually need a functioning court and corner's office.
  3. City Council Election - Loss of Harris, wins for Winburn and Quinlivan: The Obama voters stayed home and the GOP scared enough Republicans to vote for Winburn.
  4. City Lay offs: Workers did lose jobs, but the FOP doesn't seem to care about that, just their own raises.
  5. Issue 9 goes down in defeat. The citizenry actually listened on this issue and defeated anti-city forces. We must be vigilant and defend progress, the likes of COAST and Smitherman will not end their quest to destroy the city.
  6. CinWeekly dies. Yes, it was "replaced" with Metromix, but there is less content, which goes went along with laying off the entire staff.
  7. Decline of the Enquirer and CityBeat: The economic downturn has hurt print media across the board and these publications took hits this year. We have less news gathering. Fewer reporters are out looking for stories. The existing ones don't have time to work on stories that may not actually pan out. Local News is dying. I don't know how to prevent that.
  8. Bengals and Bearcats are successful: Pride actually does a city well and people are more positive about where they live when their sports teams does well. Yes, that says a lot about our Culture, when sports drive so much of our Psyche, but if the Bengals win the SuperBowl, even Westwood Concern would support the Streetcar.
  9. People are coming downtown: We just had an election last month and it touched on crime, but overall, people think downtown is safe. No one demagogued the CDB. Many still fear OTR irrationally, but that too is changing.
  10. Ups and Downs in the Arts: Many local arts organizations had layoffs over the last year or closed outright (I will miss New Stage), but actions like Mrs. Nippert's gift to the CSO, the Opera, and the Ballet gives hope that once traditional donors get their investments back to a more comfortable level, they will continue giving and maybe give more.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Top Cincinnati Area News Stories of 2009?

So, I'm taking nominations for the top news stories of 2009. This is for the Cincinnati area, so keep your Health Care and Obama stories to yourself for this purpose. I think I'm looking for two types of stories, those that actually mattered and those that got a ton of attention. The latter being included, I'll likely have a sports story. I won't have that many, and no I don't think any high school sport story would ever make it, even if your school won the state championship. I'll have my top picks later this week.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Crappy Budget and Five Are to Blame

Only one of the five who voted for this bad budget deal are to blame. The four: Cole, Qualls, Quinlivan, and Thomas had no choice. Charlie Winburn pulled a Joe Liberman on them and was 'for' furloughs and then flipped in such a manner that The Flying Wallendas would be proud.

The FOP Election was going on yesterday and it appeared to me that Winburn and his staff may have been doing a little acting in the effort to make Kathy Harrell look like she won a victory. How real were those shouts in the hallway that Jane Prendergast reported? Kathy Ended up winning easily, 555-90, but just below half (49.4%) of the rank and file voted for her. What does it say that voter turnout for the FOP election was only 57%? Does the rest of the membership feel like their vote doesn't count? Or that there was no real choice?

The rest of the blame goes to those who put forth no ideas and no plan of their own, namely Berding, Bortz, Ghiz, and Monzel. Leslie Ghiz can call this plan 'garbage, but what did she offer up in its place? Bortz attacked it and I think he is most concerned about raiding the City's Working Capital Reserve Fund for 8.2 Million. He is right to call that irresponsible from a development and infrastructure perspective, but unless you get furloughs or layoff cops and fire fighters, there is no other way, or at least no other way on the table. If the silent four are going to govern, they have to play the game with Winburn too. No, you can't trust Charlie Winburn. He will double deal everyone, unless you pay him off. He agreed to the rules and he got himself a new committee to play with. Yesterday, he got to dance with the FOP and help Harrell raid the city's reserve to keep the seasoned cops sitting on their butts getting pay raises, while still having the younger pups out doing the work. The FOP now owes him, and he will collect.

If you are going to sit on your hands and not put forth ideas, you really have nothing to complain about. Hell, no one of the Gang of Five put any pressure on the unions to provide concessions. The only thing close in the budget is a cut of Overtime, which reportedly will come mostly from the CPD, and none of the silent four voted for that!

We have a crappy budget. We have to live with it, for now. It is time that every member of council starts participating in the process. The first step would be to stand up to the Police Unions. Next, some reform of the police and fire departments might be in order. If you are not willing to do that, then no one is really serious about fiscal responsibility.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Buyer's Remorse for the FOP?

FOP President (at least for now) Kathy Harrell may be a little bit pissed at herself for supporting Charlie Winburn for Council. Charlie appears to be playing word games in his reported support of the latest budget deal. Winburn pledged to not support any budget that included fire or police layoffs. The the current deal on the table doesn't directly call for police or fire layoffs, but instead calls for 10 day furloughs with layoffs coming if unions don't agree, so I guess in the world of a slimy politician, that's keeping your word.

Harrell may not have agreed with Greg Harris, but he was a council member who was honest. There are no exchange policyies in council races. She claimed to have help defeat Harris and win it for Winburn. Well, caveat emptor, Kathy.

Latest Budget Deal on the Ropes?

A new budget deal for the city was announced today, but late word from Jane Prendergast is that this deal may have stalled, with Charlie Winburn, the presumed 5th vote, calling for a recess.

The deal puts the plan for layoffs in the hands of the unions, either furloughs or layoffs. The police and fire departments would need to accept 10 days otherwise 34 from the Fire Department and 47 from the Police Department would be laid off. Additional cuts for AFSCME and CODE would be put to those unions as well.

For the FOP this couldn't come at a worse time, as they are holding union elections today.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Did COAST Help Cause an Increase in Crime?

The point of this article from Enquirer's Jessica Brown is that the lack of jail beds is turning criminals back on the streets.

The article goes on to say there are two causes for the lack of jail beds, the closing of Queensgate Jail in 2008 and the defeat of the Jail Tax plan in 2007.

So, 20,000 arrestees were turned away because we don't have enough jail space. COAST and its other allies were the main campaigners fighting to defeat the Jail Tax effort. They reveled in that defeat.

During the election, many (mostly the conservatives) said the crime rates were increasing this year in the city. If that is true, part of it can be laid at the feet of the recession. More people are poor, crime goes up. That's a general fact of life that no one can prevent or deny.

If any increase in crime can be traced to 20,000 people not being on bail before their trial and being free, then COAST should get a big fat share of the blame and be ridiculed for its efforts to defeat the jail tax. The problem with that notion is validating those released from jail are committing more crimes. The article uses as a source Sheriff Simon Leis, who is not shy of point out problems with solutions that would get more funding for his department.

The bias of the Sheriff aside, there is a lesson to learn. The anti-government stances put forth by COAST, like the 2007 anti-jail tax campaign, are examples of how bad ideas that are born out of shortsighted extremism come back to bite everyone in the ass. People are far to ignorant and groups like COAST prey upon that ignorance. Their strategy is to make complicated issues into yes/no questions. That is how charlatans work. They try to convince people the issues are simple, but they know that's a lie, but when your goal is destruction, lying is no vice.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ghiz Blocks the Cincinnati Blog on Twitter

You have been blocked from following this account at the request of the user.

I've never held back my criticism of Council Member Leslie Ghiz, but I've never been offensive. Is that reason enough to block me on Twitter (@Leslie_Ghiz)? I had been a follower of her account for a while and replied to many of her tweets, with fair, but critical questions. I just realized she was tweeting or so I thought. I don't know when she blocked me, but I would guess its been a while, likely before the election. I guess she prefers to isolate herself from critics. Sounds like she's preparing to grow up to be a Republican.

Two questions arise from this: 1)Was I the only one blocked? Did anyone at the Enquirer or any other blog get blocked as well? 2)If she is twittering from a city owned computer does that fall under the public record statues?

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Know Theatre Adds Shows!

The Know Theatre has added two additional performances of Sideways Stories From Wayside School on Sunday December 20th and 27th at 3PM. The family friendly show is fun for all ages (I'd say kids maybe 8 or older will have more fun, but matures younger ones might like it too).

For tickets, go to www.knowtheatre.com. Tickets are only $12 in advance, and get them now, they are really starting to sell out, which is why they added more shows!

If you go on either day, be sure to come early and visit the neighborhood and shop! Check out www.otrgateway.com for all of the shopping, eating, and drinking options.

The Phony Coney's Christmas Wish For COAST

There is only so much coal in the world, but The Phony Coney has a big pile of it ready for the members of COAST at their Christmas party. I'm sure the event will be filled with the anti-City, anti-urban, anti-government negative spirit we come to know and expect from COAST.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Again, Less News is Bad News

The average television news viewer will not notice this type of change at WCPO and WXIX. That has to do with the average television news viewer being as interested in real news as they are interested in which type of Novocaine their dentist uses.

In a perfect world, I would wish this would allow Channel 9 and Channel 19 to devote more time an resources to actual news gathering, but no, it will not. News gathering (aka News Reporting, aka Journalism) is a dying profession. It is nearly dead in television, and is on life support in print.

More and more I am scared of that ability of the public will actually get reasonably unbiased and relevant information will be gone. Trust is the most important skill in journalism, and as talk radio and advocacy media are becoming the only way people hear about things, we as a society lose. I really wish people were not apathetic sheep, running toward the cheap mindless media traps being set all around.

New Commenting System

I'm in the processing of changing commenting systems, so comments may be sporadic. Please bear with me over the next few days. I will be playing with the method of commenting once I am fully up and running, so they functionality may very. Let me know if there are opinions on things that work or don't work and I will take it under advisement.

For those wondering, Haloscan, the system I was using, is ceasing operations and being absorbed by a system called Echo, which I the system I am converting to.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Monzel is Void of Honor

Once upon a time there lived a City Council Member who I in no way agree with politically, but who I respected and felt had a high level of integrity. That Council Member's name was Chris Monzel. At this point, Monzel has transformed himself into a political hack approaching Steve Chabot territory. Monzel lacks honor. I am saying he lacks honor because he's not crazy. He also is not stupid. He lacks honor because he is not being honest. In his press released issued today responding to a call for ideas on what to cut in the budget Monzel continued the campaign dogma.Therefore any budget that I will consider voting for will not, under any circumstances, include the laying off or dismissal of police officers or fire fighters (and related essential personnel) as well as severe cuts to the resources that these fine men & women need on a day to day basis to keep us safe.Monzel needs to stop pandering. The election is over. He is not going to win any more votes. He needs to start actually BEING a Council Member. That involves facing the facts that there is a 51 million dollar project budget shortfall. We can't cut all 51 million from non-public safety departments. We can not and more importantly, we SHOULD NOT! The CPD is bloated. The Enqurier article on CPD overtime is on big area that if address would provide meaningful cuts. But, not in Chris Monzel's eyes. The FOP is his Holy Grail and he will do what ever they want, no matter how low they stoop. No matter how many times they create false panic. No matter how many police slow downs they organize to punish citizens for daring to question their divinity.

I look at the other Four of the Gang of Five and I really hope they do not play Monzel's game. I'm pointing at Ghiz mostly, since she's been the worst, even though Berding has given her a run for the City's most prolific Grandstander. Since they seem to be playing a game of chicken with the Mayor, I expect the fireworks to erupt soon. It makes for good blog fodder, but as is obvious is makes for horrible governance.

Milton's Robber Dead

The man 'allegedly' responsible for robbing Milton's Tavern last summer died after a police chase in Anderson Township.

Yeah, the 'allegedly' is in my opinion not allegedly in the slightest, but the guy never stood trial for the crime, and who knows what his family might do, I don't need the grief. Anyway, he did get punished. Now I hope the staff and patrons of Milton's can have more peace and enjoy the holidays with a beer. If you are good, maybe an elf will make gumbo.

An Amazing Gift for Cincinnati Arts

Louise Nippert has made history with her incredible gift to the CSO, Opera, and Ballet. Classical music is the base of fine arts and this gift will go far to ensure that the CSO can continue as a world class orchestra and in turn provide first class live music to the Opera and Ballet for many years to come. This donation will also help all of the local arts organizations in the city, if by no other way then opening up opportunities for other donors to focus on an expanded list of Arts groups (like local live Theatre!). Mrs. Nippert played the role of Mrs. Claus in a big way yesterday, so turn on WGUC right now and think of the culture this city will be able to continue to remain famous for throughout the world.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Who's Next?

If the media reports are correct, Brian Kelly will tell his soon-to-be-former players tonight that he is leaving for South Bend. At least we'll get a million dollars of Notre Dame's money (at least, I assume his contract with that school will force it to pay his buyout from his UC contract).

Thanks to Brian Kelly for three great years. As someone who went to Nippert to watch games during the early part of this decade, it was terrific to see the excitement (and success) he brought to the program. I've previously written that coaches should not be permitted to leave before their season is done. But until the NCAA creates some more rational rules, the system is what it is. I don't blame Notre Dame, Brian Kelly, or UC for Kelly's early departure.

Now, UC has a decision to make: will it continue to grow UC's football program, or will it view the team's recent success as a byproduct of Brian Kelly that is unreproducable by another coach and therefore back off? I hope it chooses the former path. UC made a mistake by permitting the basketball program to be too strongly identified with a single head coach. It should continue with its plans to provide Division I-quality practice facilities and expand Nippert.

Who should UC look to hire as its next head coach? There's a lot of talent (not the least of which is Zach Callaros) ready to play next year. After 12 wins and 2 consecutive BCS appearances, UC will have more options than it did after Mark Dantonio left. A short list of candidates (in no particular order):

  • Kerry Coombs, UC (a terrible choice, but this is who UC chooses if it decides it's not interested in continuing to grow the program)
  • Jeff Quinn, UC
  • Turner Gill, Buffalo (if Kansas doesn't sign him first)
  • Skip Holtz, ECU
  • Butch Jones, Central Michigan University (two CMU coaches in a row?)

Any other names we should discuss?

Wussy Packs Them In, From Canada

If you've been living under a rock, then you may not know that Wussy is one of the best bands in Cincinnati. They have attracted a nationally following amongst indie music experts which has attracted Stuart Laidlaw from the Toronto Star to fly to Ohio to see wussy. He loves Wussy, and one might say put the fanatic in fan. He likely was a little giddy when he got to met the band after a recent Show at the Northside Tavern, but we can forgive that. It is great attention for a band that continues to grow and continues to be a standard barer for the Cincinnati Music Scene. Help out the band and give a gift of Wussy this holiday season.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Attention I71 Drivers!

This is a public service announcement to all I71 drivers. If you were white-knuckle driving your way home tonight, then be open to some advice. If there ever is a weather forecast that includes a chance for snow, any chance of snow...fluries...a light dusting...or even just few flakes, then stay home. If you can not handle driving in the rain, then you should never drive in the snow, ever. Also, you must vote for all forms of public transit if you ever plan on going anywhere: trains, buses, or pack mule.

This ends this friendly public service announcement.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Yes, It Snowed This Morning

In case anyone missed it, there was a slight snow fall this morning.

I hope you have plenty of canned food to survive the day.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Jean-Ro v. Wade

Sorry. I just couldn't resist getting to use the title.

As first reported by Polly Campbell, Jean Robert de Cavel has filed suit against his former business partner, Martin Wade. (The defendants are actually several limited liability corporations, each of which operated a separate de Cavel/Wade restaurant.)

De Cavel is represented by Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease. I believe that Wade is represented by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister. The case, filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas court, has been transferred to the recently-created commercial docket.

Jean-Robert seeks an injunction prohibiting Wade from taking any action (including public statements) seeking to use a non-compete agreement to keep Jean-Robert from opening his new restaurant. It appears from the filings that Jean-Robert agrees that there was a non-compete agreement, but that it has expired. According to his attorneys, the non-compete was in force while Jean-Robert was providing services as a manager to Wade's restaurant group and for one year following the termination of those services. They claim that Wade restructured the group in September 2008 and removed de Cavel as a manager at that time. Wade, of course, has publicly claimed that the non-compete is in force for one year after de Cavel leaves the partnership, which he hasn't done yet.

The language from the non-compete agreement quoted in de Cavel's brief seems to support the chef's legal interpretation. It's not entirely clear the facts are with him though; at least as I read the court documents, there may be an argument that he remained the manager of Pigall's until it closed at the end of February 2008. His attorneys must be planning to argue that "services as a manager" refers to managing the entire group, not just one restaurant in the group. I don't know whether that argument is sustainable. I also don't know whether, apart from the non-compete, de Cavel would have a fiduciary obligation not to compete with an entity in which he is a partner. (For the sake of my own culinary delight, though, I hope that de Cavel's attorneys have the upper hand in both arguments.)

A couple of interesting tidbits from the motion for injunctive relief:

  • Jean-Robert says that Wade only began rattling the non-compete sabre when Jean-Robert refused to transfer his 20% interest in the restaurants (and--perhaps most importantly--a liquor license) to the Relish Group.
  • In his letter to de Cavel informing him of the then-impending closure of Pigall's, Wade claims to have lost money every year Pigall's was open. Wade wrote, "Fine dining as you know and love, no longer is a profitable business."
  • Jean-Robert testifies (via affidavit) that the reason he delayed the opening of his new restaurant at Seventh and Vine is the uncertainty created by Wade's litigation threats. This seems to contradict what Jean-Robert reportedly told Polly Campbell about the delayed opening.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Council Committees Revamped

The Mayor wasted no time changing Council's power structure by renaming and eliminating committees. The line up is as follows:

Committee: Chair
Budget & Finance: Cole
Public Safety: Thomas
Job Creation: Winburn
Strategic Growth: Bortz
Livable Communities: Qualls
Quality of Life: Quinlivan
Government Operations: Berding
Rules Committee: Qualls

Monzel and Ghiz were shut out. Ghiz reportedly wasn't pleased. I find that shocking, oh so shocking. Having Cole at Budget & Finance really sucks for everyone.

More from WVXU

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

New Role for Vice-Mayor?

Since Cincinnati's move to an executive mayor, the role of vice-mayor has been largely symbolic. When Jim Tarbell was vice-mayor, I seem to recall Mayor Mallory describing him as a cheerleader for the city. David Crowley, while certainly active on Council, seemed to continue the Tarbell tradition of vice-mayor as cheerleader-in-chief.

The appointment of Roxanne Qualls, I suspect, signals a shift in what is expected of the vice-mayor. I can't imagine Qualls signing up for a gig that is merely ceremonial. Instead, it's likely that she has an agreement with Mallory similar to the one Biden had with Obama: that she'll be "in the room" when important decisions are made.

I don't have anything to substantiate my speculation beyond Qualls's history of strong leadership in the city and her penchant for the nuts and bolts of urban policy and planning. If I'm right, though, I think her appointment will be good for both the mayor and the City: her experience and strong voice will be extraordinarily useful to the administration during the difficult months ahead.

Marking the 30th Anniversary of the Coliseum Tragedy

This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of The Who's concert at Riverfront Coliseum (now U.S. Bank Arena), where 11 people died in a stampede into the venue.

The Enquirer has a terrific article by Lauren Bishop on the tragedy and its aftermath. Lauren does a great job of blending a history of the incident with individual narratives from people who were there.

I've known that something happened at a Who concert back in the '70's (I think I first heard of it when Cincinnati re-legalized festival seating five years ago), but didn't really know what happened or why. This article is a good read for anyone who is either a non-native or too young to remember 1979.

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Brian Kelly Watch

Oklahoma's Bob Stoops says he has no interest in a Notre Dame job.

TCU's Gary Patterson just finished a contract renegotiation, which mean's he is staying put.

Brian Kelly? He simply won't address the rumors until after the Pitt game on Saturday. Not exactly the unequivocal statement of commitment UC fans would like to hear right about now.

Dear Notre Dame: Haven't you learned anything? You need a defense-oriented coach. Coach Kelly is great, but defense doesn't seem to be his strong suit. Leave him alone.

Dear UC Alumni Association: Shouldn't someone rent a plane to buzz the campus towing a sign saying, "Let's Keep Kelly" or some similarly catchy phrase?

Dear NCAA: Isn't it time you adopted an anti-tampering policy similar to the NFL's? What kind of joke do you turn into if one of your major bowl games (in particular, the Sugar Bowl) involves a team led by an interim head coach? Better yet, what if UC beats the Panthers (thereby vaulting TCU in the BCS standings), Texas loses to Nebraska (moving UC to #2 after Alabama loses in the SEC championship), and Notre Dame hires Coach Kelly before the bowl games? Do you want the national championship played by a team that just lost the coach who took it through an undefeated season? Just make teams wait until after a coach's job is done to hire a coach away. It works in the pros; it can work at the college level, too.

Qualls is the New Vice Mayor

There was little choice for Mayor Mark but to name Roxanne Qualls as Vice Mayor. The big questions still out there, who will fill the rest of the committee chairs? Here is a list of the committees and the prior chairs:

Committee: Chair
Arts, Culture, Tourism and Marketing & Technology: Monzel
Economic Development: Bortz
Finance: Cole
Health, Environment and Education: Crowley
Law & Public Safety: Thomas
Rules and Government Operations: Berding
Transportation and Infrastructure: Qualls
Vibrant Neighborhood, Recreation, & Public Services: Qualls

Obvioulsy Crowley's chair at HEE is open, but will there be other changes? I think everyone except Laketa Cole would like to see someone other than Cole chair the Finance Committee. With her placing 9th in the race, she may have to settle for something else. I would like to also see Monzel removed from Arts & Culture. I don't see Chris liking much of anything on that committee, so his judgment is not going to help push arts, culture, tourism, or marketing. His only interest seems to be technology, which doesn't really fit with that committee anyway.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Black Friday Question

How much Black Friday shopping is about Christmas-present-giving-these days?

One of the best deals at Sears, for instance, was a deal on a washer and dryer. Are there really that many clueless men who honestly believe they can give their wives a washer and dryer for Christmas and still hope to have sex in the coming year? I tend to think a lot of the TV purchases are for personal use rather than gifts.

How about y'all? If you went discount-hunting Friday, was it for Christmas presents, or was it to pick up an appliance you needed at a good price?

How About Those Bearcats?

In an effort to appease those who think we need more sports posts, I thought I'd mention the excellent play of the Bearcats recently. But I'm talking here about the team coached by Mick Cronin.

For those who missed it, last week the 'Cats went to Hawaii (I know, being a student athlete is such a tough gig!) for the annual Maui Invitational. There, they beat Vanderbilt and Maryland, both of which were ranked as among the top 25 teams. That got them to the tournament final, where they lost in overtime to Gonzaga (thanks largely due to some bad late-game officiating). What was perhaps most surprising was the Bearcats' tenacious defense through the tournament. (Even in defeat, they allowed only 19 first-half points for Gonzaga.)

Yes, the real test doesn't start for a few weeks, first at the Crosstown Shootout against Xavier December 13, and then through the Big East schedule beginning with a December 30 homegame against UConn. But the season has started much better than anyone in the media expected it would.

Let's Go 'Cats!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

"Progress" v. The Metropole Tenants Association (Part II)

Note: this is a continuation of the post immediately below.

2. Does 3CDC have too much power in downtown and Over-the-Rhine? Truthfully, I have no idea. Certainly, we should talk about 3CDC and what it does. (And I don't think 3CDC would shy away from that discussion.) I definitely don't want to engage in some conspiracy-laden rant, accusing 3CDC of being some local version of the Trilateral Commission. But we should discuss, from time-to-time, what 3CDC does and whether it's good for a private organization to play the role in development decisions occupied by 3CDC.

At the outset, let me say this: 3CDC has, for the most part, done a terrific job in downtown and OTR. Anyone who doesn't believe that didn't drive up Vine Street five years ago and then again today. Anyone who doubts that 3CDC has made a lot of good decisions hasn't been on Fountain Square in the last three days--or, frankly, in the past three years.

Having said that, though, 3CDC has become something of the de facto planning commission for downtown. Maybe that's alright, because they have done a pretty good job thus far. But we should make sure the delegation of downtown planning to 3CDC is a conscious decision, and not one driven solely by momentum.

Last week, City Council debated the Queensgate Terminal project. Part of what was discussed was that the project would put Cincinnati Bulk Terminal out of business. Jeff Berding suggested that it's not City Council's job to favor one business over another, thereby creating "winners and losers". Maybe it's not. But it's something Council does more often than one would think. The remodeling of the Metropole is to be supported with $2.5 million from the City. An agreement to allocate that money will be a decision by the City that 3CDC's proposed business plan is better than the one currently in place. Notably, it will force the relocation of Roma's and the Subway Lounge. There's no guarantee that either of those will be successful in a new spot. So sometimes, the City does, indeed, choose winners and losers. 21c and its restaurant (which is Italian, by the way) win, and Roma's loses.

City Council routinely rubber stamps 3CDC proposals. My question: should it? Maybe it should. But let's make sure we talk about it every few years.

3. Why is this Legal Aid's problem? Finally, I have to wonder why the Metropole Tenants Association is represented by the Legal Aid Society. Is this really part of its core mission and services?

Some of Legal Aid's attorneys are my friends. The people who work there are dedicated, hard-working public servants, many of whom chose to work for Legal Aid even though they carry six figures of educational debt and could parlay their degrees into much more lucrative private practices. They are intelligent and capable, and they will no doubt represent the tenants zealously and professionally.

But is this type of class-action really the type of activity that Legal Aid should be spending time on? There are certain clients and cases that would go unserved if not for Legal Aid. Most poor people in the midst of divorce, foreclosure, social security applications, education law needs, and individual landlord-tenant disputes would not find representation in the private bar. As clients, they cannot pay a lawyer's hourly fee, and their cases are typically too small to justify a contingent fee arrangement.

With unemployment reaching double digits, the need for Legal Aid's individual services is larger now than ever. And that makes me wonder how Legal Aid is able to find the time to devote to a class action case. (Perhaps its plan is to merely see the case through its administrative phases, and to assist the tenants in finding private counsel should litigation be required.) The Metropole action, should one be filed, is large enough that there are members of the private bar who would take it on. Should it be left to the private bar, then?

I don't ask either of the questions raised in the post to demonize either 3CDC or Legal Aid. Both are organizations that (though very different) are extremely competent in their respective fields. Each is enormously important in the future of our city. But like any organization, it's fair to talk about their role from time to time. (Commenters, please take your meds before ranting here about either of these groups!)

"Progress" v. The Metropole Tenants Association (Part I)

I've been wanting to write about the coming conversion of the Metropole (located on Walnut between Sixth and Seventh) to a luxury hotel for some time. (Background: Enquirer; Streetvibes.) I've been reluctant to, for fear of what will appear in the comments. I don't want to feed the trolls who regularly comment in order to insult poor people. I also suspect, though, that the overwhelming part of our readership is fairly unsympathetic to the Metropole's tenants. Many of our readers consider themselves "urban pioneers" (a term I find patently offensive) who are somewhat sympathetic to the poor--so long as they don't have to live, eat, work, play, or pray alongside the poor. I'm a little afraid of what you'll have to say, too.

For me, this episode in the development of downtown Cincinnati raises three issues: the merits of the dispute between the tenants of the Metropole and the new owner of the building; the role and power of 3CDC in downtown development; and the role of Legal Aid in the provision of services to the indigent. I'll tackle each in turn over two posts.

1. Who's right: the tenants, or the landlord? Like most things, this isn't as black-and-white as those on either side of the dispute would have you believe. If the complaint to HUD is accurately described by the Enquirer (in other words, if the complaint really alleges that 3CDC is discriminating against the tenants because most are elderly or African-American), my guess is that it lacks much merit. I don't think 3CDC cares much about the age or race of the tenants it is displacing. Instead, 3CDC has a vision for downtown and this project is part of that vision, regardless of the tenants who are tossed out on the street. Remember, 3CDC's plans also call for the "relocation" of two commercial tenants, neither of whom--so far as I know--are owned by people who are minorities, elderly, or indigent.

But the tenants need to be treated with respect. To the extent that isn't happening, 3CDC should be ashamed. Federal law requires that a process be followed before federally-subsidized tenants can be displaced. The tenants' fear and anxiety is certainly understandable. I'm not indigent, and if my landlord announced that my building were closing in the next twelve months, I'd be apprehensive, too (I hate moving!), and I have the resources to find my own place. 3CDC claims that it will make sure it follows the law and that it will find appropriate new residences for the Metropole's tenants. I hope it keeps its word.

Ultimately, the question comes down to this: once a landlord accepts federal housing money, does that act as some sort of covenant that runs forever against the building, regardless of ownership? Certainly, that cannot be the case. Property owners must be free, assuming they follow the law, to opt out of Section 8. Take care of the tenants, but don't demonize the building's ownership for deciding to go in a new direction.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Dear Gang of Five: It's Your Turn

Mayor Mallory didn't waste any time after Milton Dohoney issued his budget by passing the plan right to City Council, which will change on December 1st. So the message I took from this is: Gang of Five, it's your turn to govern, not grandstand. I'll be very interested in hearing the rhetoric from the likes of Ghiz and Berding and as of Dec 1st, Charlie Winburn.

I'm surprised I've not heard anything from Berding. Just a month ago he was claiming people would flee Cincinnati if police were laid off. What will his plan be now? Dohoney's plan cuts really deep everywhere and raises fees, but still must cut the public safety departments. Will he now try to govern, or will he and the Gang of Five change winds and not pander to the FOP and the Westside voters and finally face the music by cutting the CPD and CFD ranks without the rhetoric of fear filling talk radio and Twitter?

Monday, November 23, 2009

Playing Chicken, Part II

Well, it is no longer election season. Now we shall see who really will be honest and who will continue to grandstand on the City's Budget. The City Manager has announced his plan and it includes cutting 315 jobs, including 110 from the police department, and 47 from the fire department. So two departments (police and fire) making up 2/3rds of the budget will get only about 50% of the job cuts. I guess some might call that prioritizing public safety. I am sure the FOP's sock puppets will call it something akin to a nuclear bomb going off in the heart of the Westwood.

I really hope that City Council does not play games. I've not seen what's come out on Twitter today and I don't know what's be said on talk radio yet, but I honestly wish it will adult speak, not gamesmanship or juvenile rants about who won't shut up.

Most Dangerous Cities 2009: Where's Cincinnati?

So, the same flawed group is out with another Most Dangerous list, this time for Cities, but Cincinnati didn't make the list. I for some reason didn't read this in any of the local media. Cleveland made the list, but not Cincinnati. St. Louis is #2, but no mention of it.

I hope the local media learned that this website uses bad stats, but it would be good journalism to do another story about how Cincinnati is not on the list, but it incorrectly got on a worst "neighborhood" list by some bizarre misuse of data. I know not to expect the media to do follow-ups, but I hope they will and calling them out may guilt an editor/producer into assigning a reporter, thus letting them do their jobs. Instead I expect to ready more fluff, but its the holidays, so no one wants actual news to happen. The goes double for local TV news, who are the worst!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Cincinnati Unchained November 21st

This Saturday join your fellow Cincinnatians and support local independent businesses in the annual Cincinnati Unchained. From the press release for this year's event:
On November 21, locally-owned businesses across Greater Cincinnati will urge area residents to support the city’s vibrant independent businesses by shopping locally-only. As part of Cincinnati Unchained, a shop-local event throughout Greater Cincinnati, participating businesses are asking residents to take one day to shop, dine out, and do other business only with locally-owned independent business.
A place to start would be the Gateway Quarter in OTR. Cool shops in the best neighborhood in the city.

You can help you neighbors by shopping at businesses that truly add to the community and local economy.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime . . . . . A Report From The Breadline

Raise your hand if you think the United States has the best health care access and coverage in the world and if you think the United States is the richest and bestest country in the world . . . . Let's hear it for American exceptionalism . . . . .


But, lest we get all wobbly about the fact that 14.6% of our country does not have adequate food or feel too sorry for these hungry children, Robert Rector, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, comforts us by stating, “Very few of these people are hungry. When they lose jobs, they constrain the kind of food they buy. That is regrettable, but it’s a far cry from a hunger crisis.”

Now, doesn't that make you feel better, these people are not hungry, they have just stopped buying steak, caviar, and foie gras, and are eating ramen noodles instead. I mean, after all, what five year old doesn't love a steady diet of ramen noodles.

'Every Breath You Take, Every Move you Make'

Bring on "Big Brother!" Public Safety will improve with the installation of video cameras at various points around town. Starting in Downtown and Uptown, street corners will have 24 hour surveillance and will be able to better catch criminals and watch for medical emergencies.

OTR is being considered for this, and I personally say yes please!

I am trusting the police on this issue. I understand that every time I walk to Fountain Square, I will be captured in the surveillance. This invades my privacy on one level. It is legal. The police could just have multiple officers stationed at the same locations and watch me just as much. They would be witnesses to know that I walked by just as much as video tape would be. Stationing multiple police officers as each corner is obviously way too expensive, so not a practical option.

One point that is not mentioned in the article and is the key question against this idea is how long is the video tape stored? 24 hours of tape is a lot and takes up a ton of space, whether digital or not. How long will it be stored? How long will police have to trace your movements? There has to be some time restraint, unless they have as much server space as Google, so that time frame will be something that should be made public.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Jim Knippenberg - Requiescat in Pace

What a sad thing to learn of Jim's death last evening. He was truly a legend in Cincinnati, the kind of person who knew everyone and, truthfully, knew a lot of gossip about everyone. Jim was a kind and generous man who loved life and lived it about as fully as one can. He will be missed.

Somewhere Jim is gathered at the bar with all his friends who went before, hoisting one and laughing that gregarious laugh. Some evening soon, all of those of us left here on this mortal coil should lift a glass to Jim and his life and memory. And in doing so, remember that "Life is rather like a tin of sardines - we're all of us looking for the key." Traveling mercies Jim.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Good News For CNN

National Cable News became a joke yeas ago and Lou Dobbs made CNN far worse than it needed to be with his insanity. His anti-immigrant jingoism, his embrace of birthers, and his out right anti-Obama stances were what you expect from outright biased news outlets like FOX. Lou Dobbs is now leaving CNN which does nothing but increase the credibility of the TV network. I think the cheers from Atlanta could be heard across the country when this was announced.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Serious Run or a Stunt?

28 year old Surya Yalamanchili is running of the Ohio 2nd Congressional District. By itself, that action is neither serious nor a Stunt, but when you add the fact the Yalamanchili was a contestant on "The Apprentice" television show, then I just don't see how this would be anything other than a stunt to provide him with attention to use for personal gain. Yalamanchili is a former marketer for Linkedln, so media stunts are not out of the possible sphere of his area of experience, so I am very doubtful of the seriousness of his campaign. If you want to run for political office, you need to do more than just issue a press release and have a website. You need an organization with people to help you and they must believe in you. The election is less than a year away, so he better start working on the basics if he doesn't want to be just an also-ran.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Remove Cole From Finance Chair

If there is one thing Mayor Mallory can do to improve City Council quickly, then it is removing Laketa Cole from the Finance Committee Chair. Her inability to work with, well, anyone, makes it an obvious need. She was the only person voting for her motion on the Property Tax rate in the committee session yesterday. So, now things are up in the air and someone with actual credibility wouldn't have let it get to this point.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Qualls Nixes Vice Mayor Slot

In this in-depth piece by Howard Wilkinson Roxanne Qualls stated she does not want the Vice Mayor's appointment. Here's the meat of what her future may hold:
Does she parlay her strong support among Cincinnati voters into a position of greater influence on the new City Council, such as an appointment to a major committee or as vice mayor?

Nobody knows; and Qualls isn't saying much.

No, she told The Enquirer on Friday, she isn't interested in being Mallory's vice mayor. Yes, she said, she might be interested in running for mayor in 2013, but "it's too early to talk about that." Yes, she said, she would consider a run for county commissioner, but is "leaning against it."

She clearly has City Wide support. That support will be something to think about in the future. A post as Finance Chair maybe something worth considering, especially if she can have more influence in getting some on the right to vote with her.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Oscar at 40: Does He Need a New Home?

The New York Times reports that Sesame Street has reached its 40th anniversary. The article points out that the show's sets have changed and now look "gentrified."

As a kid, my two favorite characters were (of course) Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch. PBS has already updated Cookie Monster for the new millenium, rounding out his diet with fruits and veggies and moderating his cookie consumption. (I don't know when the last time he was televised singing my favorite song, "C is for Cookie.")





But the article had me thinking: how many of today's kids come into contact with a trash can like that which serves as Oscar's home? Is it time for Oscar to trade in his metal can for a plastic "Herby"?

Downtown Restaurant Happenings (Mayberry's, Roma Trattoria, and Busken's)

None of these items seemed substantial enough for a full post, but each is interesting enough to be included in a round-up.

Mayberry's: Earlier this week, Mayberry's opened on Vine Street between Ninth and Court, in the space formerly occupied by Tom's Pot Pies. It's run by the same folks who own the Whole Food Market at Findlay Market. I stopped in for lunch on Tuesday and had (to go) a chicken Caesar salad and macaroni and cheese, both of which were quite good. A friend had the tuna melt and the tater tot casserole. He indicated the tuna melt was very good, but the tater tot casserole might just be an excuse to carbo-load (not that I ever need such an excuse). I'll note that I could smell the pot roast when I was there; it smelled great, but I was in the mood for something lighter. I'll definitely be back, as it's directly on my courthouse-to-office route.

Roma Trattoria: The big fight regarding the remodeling of the Metropole and its conversion to a luxury hotel will center on the relocation of its more than 200 residential tenants. But the sale of the Metropole will also force the relocation of two commercial tenants, Roma Trattoria and the Subway Lounge. I've never been to the Subway Lounge. Roma Trattoria is a great restaurant that will no doubt be hurt by taking away its Aronoff-friendly location. There are a couple spaces nearby that might be suitable: the space formerly occupied by Arloi Dee (on Seventh) and the space formerly occupied by the Maisonette come to mind.

Busken's: Finally, the Busken Bakery at Ninth and Plum (across the street from City Hall) will be moving in early December. It will take over a space on Seventh between Walnut and Main that was formerly occupied by Mythos (and, for those whose memories go back that far, occupied by Sushi Ray's before that). That seems like a sensible move to me, as the Ninth and Plum location always seemed to be a bit outside of the hustle and bustle of downtown (and thus lacking in foot traffic). No word yet on where the mayor and council members will get their doughnuts after the move, though.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Who Will Be the Next Vice Mayor?

With David Crowley term limited, the position of Vice Mayor will become vacant. The mostly cermonial position is not filled with much power, but it carries some influence. The Mayor gets to pick the person he wants, but it is often used as a way to reward or instill loyalty to a member of senior member of Council. Greg Harris may have been the logical choice for the Mayor, but now I don't know who he picks. Cole and Thomas are in his party with seniority, but wouldn't it be smarter for the Mayor to bring a foe into the Mallory camp by picking Chris Bortz? Bortz does not have the rumored eye on the Mayor's office that Qualls is alleged to have.

There are not other choices that gain the Mayor much. If there are better options, chime in.

Someone Tell Ghiz There's a Veto

I just heard Leslie Ghiz speaking on WVXU (mp3) about getting five City council members to reverse anything thing the lame duck council does, specifically on Property Taxes. Is she forgetting about something called the Veto? Here's the relevant part of the City Charter:
Section 6. Every ordinance shall be fully and distinctly read on three different days unless three-fourths of the members elected to the council dispense with the rule. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title, and no ordinance shall be revived or amended unless the new ordinance contains the entire ordinance revived, or the section or sections amended, and the section or sections so amended shall be repealed. Council may adopt codification ordinances, codifying, revising and re-arranging the ordinances of the city or any portion thereof.

Any legislation passed by the council, whether in the form of an ordinance or resolution, shall be dated when passed. If the mayor approves the legislation, the mayor shall sign and date the legislation and it shall be effective according to its terms when signed by the mayor.

If the mayor does not approve the legislation, the mayor may veto the legislation and return it to the council within four days after passage with a notation of the veto on the legislation. The vetoed legislation shall be placed on the agenda of the council at its next regularly scheduled meeting. Legislation vetoed by the mayor and returned to the council may not be amended.

Upon motion passed by five members of the council, the council may reconsider the vetoed legislation. If six members of the council vote affirmatively to override the veto and enact the legislation, it becomes law notwithstanding the mayoral veto. It shall be effective according to its terms upon the affirmative vote and, if otherwise subject to referendum, the time for referendum on the legislation shall begin to run again from that date. Unless the council overrides the veto of the mayor at or before the second regularly scheduled meeting of the council following passage of the legislation, the legislation shall not take effect. Legislation enacted by the council over the veto of the mayor shall not be vetoed a second time. An ordinance placing on the ballot a charter amendment initiated by petition shall not be subject to a mayoral veto.

If the mayor neither approves nor vetoes the legislation, the legislation shall be effective according to its terms the fifth day following its passage. The effective date shall be noted on the original copy of the legislation by the clerk of council.
Every ordinance shall be published once within 15 days after its passage in a newspaper of general circulation in the city of Cincinnati, or a newspaper regularly published under the authority of the council. In the publication of every ordinance or resolution relating to improvements or to assessments upon private property for such improvements, the advertisement shall contain simply a statement of the title, number and date of the ordinance and resolution, a concise description of the private property affected, a summary of the nature of the improvements, the rate of any assessment levied or to be levied, and a reference to a copy of the said ordinance or resolution, which shall be on file in the office of the clerk of council. In the publication of all other ordinances or resolutions the advertisement shall contain a statement of the title, number and date of the ordinance or resolution, a brief statement of the nature of the ordinance or resolution, and a reference to a copy the ordinance or resolution, which shall be on file in the office of the clerk of council.

(Amended by Ord. No. 77-1999, eff. Dec. 1, 2001; election of May 4, 1999)
So, based on reading the above, the Mayor can veto Council ordinances and resolutions passed by council, and it requires 6 council members to override the veto. Now, other than measures to add Charter Amendments to the Ballot, there are no exceptions to the Mayor's veto power listed in this section I found.

If there is another section exempting the power of the Mayor on the veto, I invite anyone to post the link to it. I couldn't find it. I only found two sections mentioning the veto in a search of the entire Municipal code, including the Charter. The other simply was in Article III restating the Mayor has the power of the veto as defined in Article II, which is the section referenced above.

So, if the Mayor doesn't like what Leslie Ghiz and company wants, he can veto it. Why he's not used the veto yet, I don't know. If he doesn't use it now and going forward, then I'd like to know why. Leslie needs to work on getting 6 members of council to do something the Mayor does not like, not just five. Five is not the Magic Number when you don't like the Mayor.

Why do people keep underestimating the tenacity of the Mayor?

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

The Truth Sometimes Does Win

Like the Mayor, I was a little bit worried about Issue 9 going into last night. Once the absentee votes came in, however, I was convinced that the night would end well for those of us opposing Issue 9.

The campaign by the those in favor of Issue 9 was filled with a combination of out right lies and scores of misleading comments from both Chris Smitherman and COAST. Top that disreputable combination off with a very confused Tom Luken and you get a campaign that got far too much unquestioning attention from the media regarding its clearly visible goal to damage the city. With great effort from the No on 9 team, that gaggle of strange bedfellows failed. Truth and common sense won out.

The defeat of this measure does do two things to make transportation improvements closer to happening. For the Streetcar it takes away a big hurdle to funding the project. Efforts can now confidently be taken to secure the Federal and State funding require to move forward on the Streetcar. We don't need to vote on it again. We just elected a Mayor and 6 council members who support the Streetcar plan. That is how representative democracy works.

We'll still get the crack-pots around to unfold their latest tin-foil hat reasons why more jobs, increased public transit, and the economic development of the urban core is a bad thing, but that argument is easy to refute. Until then, I really hope the handful of anti-city zealots at COAST will learn something from their big defeat.

The second thing to help transportation is to remove any hindrance to the high speed rail efforts to connect Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. This Federal plan was destined to pass Cincinnati by, but again the Truth won out.

Council Election: What the Hell Happened?

Well, the council on the surface has appeared to have flipped to a majority Conservative 5. I think we need a new name, the rebirth of the Fiscal Five maybe? I don't know what we are going to call them, but what ever it is, with Charlie Winburn making up the fifth member, I pity the other four ever getting a trustworthy answer out of the nutty soon-to-be council member.

The bad news from the council race was the loss of Greg Harris. It is really a terrible thing to lose Greg. He was a level headed council member who consistently worked to find good solutions and to date has issued the only viable 2010 budget plan that I hope people look at even after Greg leaves office. I hope to see Greg stay around politics in Cincinnati, we need more people like him running for office.

The question from Greg's loss is: what happened? Well, I've done some Ward totals comparison analysis between 2007 and 2009 and I see two trends.

1) The more conservative wards came out in big strength yesterday, especially on the East side with Mt. Washington, Mt. Lookout, and Hyde Park (Wards 1,4,5) with a 6.08%, 4.40%, & 3.85% increase in voter turnout. Key West side wards generally increased between 2 and 3% over 2007 as well, adding to the strength of the former minority 4.

2) African-American Wards generally only moderately increased, or in the case of Avondale (Ward 13), West End/OTR (Ward 17), and the West End (Ward 18) all decreased from 2007, with Ward 18 dropping a whopping -1.21%.

With the increase of conservative voters, liberals like Greg were left off more ballots and with the loss of the African-American voter turnout, Greg was put behind the 8-Ball. Cole's drop also supports this idea, as she was ninth after the final, yet unofficial numbers were reported last night.

In the coming weeks I likely look over the numbers more and compare trends with the Mayor's race and Issue 9.

Election Post-Mortem

The final election results are in. Once again, Roxanne Qualls was the top vote-getter. Greg Harris has been ousted from Council, and Charlie Winburn and Laurie Quinlivan will join the fray. What does all this mean?

First, the political breakdown is as follows: Council now has three Democrats plus a Charterite/Democrat; one independent (Berding); three Republicans; and a Charterite who leans Republican.

Next, the big question is on the 2010 budget. Part of that will depend on what happens with property tax. Crowley and Harris, as lame ducks, could be in favor of ending the property tax "rollback," which would constitute a significant tax increase. If that's so, a tax increase would pass if just three members of the newly constituted Council were in agreement. (The property tax millage must be finalized next week, before the new Council takes office.)

But if the property tax isn't raised, the budget will need to be reduced by around 50 million dollars. I thought Greg Harris had offered a plan that made sense: go to the unions (including the FOP) for concessions in 2010, with reimbursement made in 2011 and 2012. The problem, of course, is that 5 members have apparently made promises that there would be no police or fire layoffs. If they're unwilling to change their positions, then concessions are out of the question. (If I were a union member, and I knew that my employer would not, under any circumstance, reduce the size of its workforce, I'd vote against concessions). That may mean huge cuts in services: parks and recreation; health clinics; reduced trash collection.

I suspect Mayor Mallory learned a lesson as an incumbent executive. He knew he had won the race and, he acknowledges, he didn't campaign very hard. But this race wasn't about him. It was about the Council he'd be working with. Mayor Mallory is an extremely likeable guy who campaigns well. He needed to be on the trail more to support the Dems for Council. This was the first time Mallory was in this position, so the error is certainly understandable. The mayor will come to regret that his coattails weren't a little bit longer this year. But his personality and affability may make him uniquely able to bridge the divisions amongst the current Council to build a majority that can govern sensibly and effectively.

Jeff Berding may be the key to a governing majority. If he wishes to mend fences with the Democratic party, he may join forces with Qualls, Quinlivan, Thomas, and Cole. But he's been treated badly enough that it's unlikely he'll be looking to make peace. Instead, the Council Dems will have to find a way to offer him an olive branch if they wish to garner his vote on important issues.

Council committee chairs are appointed by the mayor, so expect little changes there. That means Cole probably retains the gavel in Finance. But membership (and vice-chairs) are elected by Council, so there should be some shake-ups in the composition of the committees.

Finally, there's one thing I don't understand, perhaps because I've only lived in Cincinnati since 2000: why does Roxanne Qualls do so well in these field races? Don't get me wrong. Qualls is smart as hell, and I enjoy hearing her pontificate on public policy; she resembles liberals who are about 30-40 years older than she is. (Qualls often reminds me of Daniel Patrick Moynihan.) But Qualls isn't terribly charismatic, at least not in the traditional politician sense of the word. And "smart" doesn't always get you very far with the electorate; we live in a county that twice sent George W. Bush to the White House. It's got to be more than mere name recognition. What's the answer? Why does Qualls do so well with so many demographic and geographic groups across the city?

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Council Race

Alright, yet another post.

98.50% of City precincts have reported. I'm not sure the last 1.5 percent will change the running order much. If not, the order of finish is:

Qualls
Thomas
Bortz
Berding
Ghiz
Monzel
Cole
Winburn
Quinlivan.

Greg Harris is in 10th place, a full .7% behind Quinlivan.

This Council is going to present a much greater challenge for Mayor Mallory with respect to building a governing coalition. I'm not sure that I see either Winburn or Quinlivan being consistent party-line voters.

Mayor's Race: Mallory Wins

Ok. One more post. If you didn't see it on WCPO: Brad Wenstrup has conceded the race to Mayor Mallory. We should thank Wenstrup for being willing to serve his community, even if he was ultimately rebuffed by the voters.

And congratulations to Mayor Mark Mallory. I voted for him last time, and did so again this time. His first job will be to rebuild a fractured Council. But his talents may be uniquely suited to doing just that. Time will tell.

This Doesn't Mean "Yes" On Streetcars

Issue 9 is clearly going to fail. But I'd better not hear streetcar supporters tell me this means Cincinnatians favor streetcars.

You told us that Issue 9 was about more than streetcars. It was about all passenger rail. And even more broadly, it was about our form of government. We're supposed to, you told us, trust our elected officials to make these decisions.

I remain relatively ambivalent about the streetcar. I thought Issue 9 represented bad government and voted against it accordingly. But don't tell me my vote translates to approval of a streetcar.

No on Nine Winning Big!

The votes are almost all in, and I think Issue Nine will fail! A last
minute prediction.