Shree Kulkarni, a local developer and major campaign donor to Mayor John Cranley's 2013 election, has been appointed to the Cincinnati Historical Conservation Board.
In 2013 the Kulkarni family and 4 of his companies contributed $8,300 to Cranley's campaign. The individual limit is $1,100 for both the primary and general election periods. This week he was appointed tot he board by the City Manager Harry Black who takes no action without approval of Mayor John Cranley. Buying your way onto a public board appears to be acceptable to the Mayor. How man other suburban based developers have gotten their money's worth?
As the Business Courier's article points out, Kulkarni's appointment is being questioned by the the OTR Foundation. Over-the-Rhinre (OTR,) in case you are new, has the most historic buildings for the board to review and is a nationally recognized district of historical buildings. The OTR Foundation's questions, according to the article, appear to rest on Kulkarni's comments on the recent action of the Conservation Board on the Davis Furniture Building. As a suburban developer, Kulkarni's belief in conservation of history seems to not extend beyond the best interests of the developers who don't seek to preserve the history and architecture.
We need urbanists to make decisions about urban areas. We don't need Cranley's strip mall mindset to have more power in our city's government.