Mayor Race Shaken Up with Rob Richardson?

The rumors may come to life if the Enquirer's report is true that Rob Richardson Jr., outgoing Chairman of the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees, enters the Mayor's race. He has schedule a press conference race for tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5PM.

The Cincinnati Mayor's election process is an odd construct and was made even more odd for the 2017 election. A non-partisan primary is held from which the top two vote-getters, regardless of political party, face off in the general election in November. In prior years this primary was held in September. It was a special election with exceedingly low voter turnout. The primary is only held if more than two candidates register.

In 2015 Issue 23 passed which amended the city charter to move the primary to May, along with a normal scheduled election, saving the city a bit of money.  This was viewed as a positive for the incumbent by increasing the time between the elections to use the power of office to sway voters with selective attention to certain groups and neighborhoods.

If Richardson gets into the race, we will have a May 2nd primary between John Cranley, current Mayor, Yvette Simpson, current member of City Council, and Richardson.  This would benefit Cranley who has made a more than obvious play to repeat his 2013 winning strategy of pitting the outlying neighborhoods against the urban core neighborhoods.  This can be accomplished with a summer of grandstanding and "vote buying" to hurt anyone running against him.

The positives for this primary is that it will help with turnout, as other issues may be on the ballot. It also blunts the value of being the top vote-getter. A three way race with these candidates is big question mark. Cranley could take 1st place with a sold vote total, but he would likely gain very few of the other two candidates votes in the general, so unless he's over 50% with solid turnout demographics, he will need to start "vote buying" on May 3rd and not stop until election day in November.

If an actual GOP candidate gets into this race, then Cranley has little path to a primary win, unless he can pull out new voters to the primary. He is an easy target if a Conservative Republican ran against him from the right. He's a conservative Dem, but can't go far right and win in the City. This makes any GOP candidate unlikely this year. Their only hope is to build up a Hyde Park moderate Republican with charisma. The charisma from a Hype Park Republican is kinda lacking.

I am holding judgement on Richardson as a political candidate.  He's never run for public office before, but was a leader in the efforts to get the Streetcar going, especially with the ballot issues.  I don't know what kind of candidate he will or can be.

'Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!'

Surprise! It's Election Year Cincinnati! You didn't see that coming did you?  Thought 2016 would be the end of it?  HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!  No, our wonderful City Charter decrees that we have elections this year, so the "fun" will continue.

Just when you thought you had the last Facebook comment war with your fascist uncle, alas the 2017 City of Cincinnati elections are upon us.  Races for all nine seats on City Council and the Mayor's Office are up for grabs.  You can sharpen your barbs and insults that you get to sling at your neighbors as we battle for the control of City Government.  Our own legally sanctioned, hopefully peaceful, non-title of nobility granting game of thrones is underway.

House Cranley has been gathering funds from the Bank of BraavosRepublicans and the GOP votes that come with their backdoor endorsement.  Chris "Cersei Lannister" Smitherman has been plotting vengeance on the City and threatens to burn it all down with Wildfile in the form of his support of Republcans at the State and local levels.

House Simpson stands ready to face off to defend the City of Seven KingdomsHills from the onslaught of the White Walkers fueled by House Cranley. Yvette "Daenerys" Simpson has taken the lead to fight the winter storm now upon us.

It will be epic.  It will be bloody.  Lots of reputations will die and some main characters will dielose elections. I hope there will be credible news reports and opinion pieces that both give facts and the ideas of why one side is better than the other.  This blog will attempt to draw its sword against the onslaught of the Bolton Cavalry and give a portion of that opinion and as many facts as it can compile.  In the age of fake news and emotionally charged social media posts, some level headiness needs to exist.  I wont give an oath to do that, but I promise to try my best.  There's no magic here to make anything easy, so everyone needs to work on making the political process in Cincinnati as fair and honest as possible.

End of the Year

This has not been a great year in politics, overall.  Locally the Democrats actually made some forward strides in Hamilton County, but not much else looked good in Ohio.  2017 is setting up to be a really tough year.  A nasty mayoral race is coming and the knives are already out.  Expect them to just keep slicing.

I may slice a piece off myself here and there.

Council races should be interesting.  There are many new and old names coming back on the Dem side, but the GOP has been very silent.  Other than the expected Smitherman endorsement, I don't hear of any credible candidates they are putting forward.  The Dems stand a fair chance of getting a veto proof majority on council.

With our country about to led by someone who won an incredibly close race by using neo-fascist positions, we are heading into uncharted territory.  We need local officials and candidates to step up and not let the hateful rhetoric from the national GOP filter down. I fear that we may be too late.  With the tone we got from Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou upon his vote in the Electoral College and the insanity from Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones after burning protest letters on his EC vote, I think we are in for the stank of Trumpism to creep into local politics.  We'll know people go off the deep end if illegal immigration becomes an issue in Cincinnati elections. Hold on tight.  It will get bumpy.

Is the Enquirer's Jason Williams Trolling for Clicks?

Why does the Enquirer and particularly reporter Jason Williams continue to report every possible Streetcar accident like its a scandal? The incident they cite ended up not even being an accident.

The amount of time Williams puts into this can logically only be for one reason: get clicks. He knows the hate that exists for the streetcar and Downtown and he's capitalizing on that hate.  He is ginning up any and all incidents, no matter how trivial, so his click rate goes up.

Reporters now have to worry about readership levels, or the number of clicks their stories get online. Streetcar stories are low hanging fruit. There are 100 other more real newsworthy stories to write about in this city, but we get Streetcar accidents. The funniest part is that this was put in the politics section! It's like they are admitting to why they are doing it, but still do it.

This is they type of journalism that is killing discourse and politics. This misinforms the public. This is knowingly misleading the public. If fender benders mattered, there would be a rolling news-wire service dedicated to them, since they happen somewhere practically constantly. We are in another election season and the click rates matter and the political candidates reporters are rooting for are less hidden.

Where are the Election Night Parties?

As if you need any additional reason to drink this election season, there are still the time honored tradition of the Election Night parties.  This year I am sure they will have the high bar tabs in recent memory for all parties.

Here are those known:

Democratic Party: Lachey's in OTR
Republican Party: Horse & Barell in Downtown
Green Party: Boswell's in Northside
Libertarian Party: Firehouse Grill in Blue Ash


If you want something really cool and different and filled with humor and booze, check out the Know Theatre's DEMOCRACY, YEAH! YEAH! starting at 7PM.
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In Person Early Voting Up Over 11% in Hamilton County

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that in person early voting is up 11.11% this year over 2012 through Sunday, with 1 more partial day of early voting to go. This occurred even with the shorted period of early voting this year, thanks to the efforts of the GOP to suppress the vote. It is great that people have taken the time to vote and made it clear that the need for more early voting is there. Waiting in line for nearly three hours to vote is just ludicrous. Ohio and the whole county needs to overhaul our election processes. We need to make voting easier and get turnout as close to 100% as possible.

Enquirer Now Using Outsourced Reporters

In a non-surprising move, the Enquirer is using outsourced (duplicated) news reports from FOX19. Here's the latest example.  The Enquirer lists footer calling FOX19 a "media partner."  To be fair, the Enquirer is listing it as part of the by-line.  This time around that was especially helpful to news junkies like me who were confused to read Jennifer Baker's name as reporter on the Enquirer article, but the FOX19 after it does make it more noticeable.  Jennifer Baker is a former Enquirer reporter who now is a reporter for FOX19.  It was going to be surprising to see her return after another round of layoffs just occurred with Gannett.

Second Aftab Pureval Commerical

Aftab Pureval Commerical in Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Race

For More: www.voteaftab.com

Anti-Clinton Bias From the Enquirer

If you squint you might see something other than Republican Propaganda in this biased article on the Enquirer's website.  When an article has the headline "Local reaction to the FBI's investigation into Clinton's emails," but goes on to list multiple tweets from Trump as examples of those local reactions, you can see the carelessness from a mile away. It is like this reporter is trying out for a job running the website for a conservative talk radio station. Give him the job and get a real journalist instead.

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope you have a safe and mindful holiday. Today is the day we should be thinking about why this country was founded, but also how we can make it better for everyone.

Trump Twitter Account Author Lying about West Chester Rally

The person running the Trump Twitter account is lying, and the Kaiser is still dead:

The rally in Cincinnati is ON. Media put out false reports that it was cancelled! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain #Trump2016

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2016

The facts: For unconfirmed reasons, the Trump Campaign on Friday evening announced to the media that the rally they were to hold Sunday at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Downtown Cincinnati was cancelled. This happened just before the event in Chicago with the protesters was cancelled. On Saturday morning the Trump campaign announced they were holding an event on Sunday in West Chester, Ohio, an exurb of Cincinnati. The media did nothing but report the event. The event in Cincinnati was cancelled, one is West Chester was added. The Report from the Enquirer.

The real story here is that Trump went from an urban core setting for a rally, like the one in Chicago last night, to one of the most Republican friendly areas of the state. Fear of the 'leftist' protesters must be that great for him to up and move his rally to John Boehner's back yard. Butler County Sheriff and anti-Mexican racist Richard Jones is reportedly set to speak at the Trump event. So Eric Deters and Dick Jones are backing Trump. Who could have possibly guessed that would happen.

Here's how you get tickets to the rally in West Chester.  If you go, please be peaceful.

Trump's Fascist Follower Matthew Heimbach Not Registered to Vote in HC

The racist thug who 'allegedly' attached a protester at a Trump Rally in Louisville this week is not not listed on the voter registration list for Hamilton County. That means he does not live in Cincinnati or has not bothered to register to vote in Hamilton County. According to a Facebook search he also goes by"Matthew-John Heimbach," but there is no name close to any combination listed on the registration list. This thug, who at best could be described as an asshat, deserves to be prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. I shall not lose a wink of sleep over any heavy fines or civil lawsuits he or Donald Trump face. This type of person does not respect the rule of law and therefore has no place in our society.

No On Issue 22 Got More Votes than Cranley For Mayor

The Mayor John Cranley scheme to create a political slush fund went down in defeat last night. To add an additional insult to the Mayor, more people voted against the Mayor's pet issue (34,246), than voted for the Mayor two years ago, (33,428). The voter turnout was higher this year as well. The vote totals for the 2013 race are official, but the No on 22 votes is unofficial and based on not having any provisional votes included, therefore that number should only go up.

Cranley will need to work on getting his GOP vote back for 2017, since he lost that this round.  I think this should remove the last sliver of faux doubt from the Cranley backers claiming he didn't win in 2013 on backs of the GOP voters.

Other than John Cranley, the other big local loser was the Hamilton County Board of Elections. They did not have their act together and that forced a local judge to order the polls stay open an additional 90 minutes.  New technology is never something to not promote to the public.  I had no idea the process changed, and I do honestly pay pretty close attention to such things.  The Local media didn't seem to have that story either.  Our voting process needs a big change.  It won't get that until the state stops being controlled by Republicans bent on voter suppression.

Cranley Gets the Enquirer to Edit Article

Not a big surprise, but Mayor John Cranley was able to get the Enquirer to pull and edit a story that he initially refused to provide a comment. The article makes this admission subtlety:

Cranley, who initially declined comment but reversed course after an unedited version of this story was inadvertenly (sic) posted Sunday to Cincinnati.com, said he had nothing to do with Harris’ exit or the board appointments.

The article was originally published on Saturday and was back up yesterday after his and the City Manager Black's comments and B.S. denials. It was also conveniently  after the Mayor's awkward State of City infomercial (Cranleymerical?). We don't know how the Mayor's office was able to convince Editors at the Enquirer to make this change, but it happened in a very public and embarrassing way.

Cranley is clearly LYING when he told the Enquirer he had "nothing to do with Harris’ exit or the board appointments." We know this because of who was picked for the board. To say that those were the best choices to serve on a the Historic Conservation Board is something that would ONLY be stated by the Mayor or a member of his staff. You don't get that many Cranley donors together in one place via natural selection. Due to his legal training, Cranley likely has no email trail to Black telling him what to do, but how often do the men hold meetings or phone calls? If they do it often, which I am sure they do, why else would they be doing that if it was not a means for Cranley to tell Black what he wants done on every significant issue put before Black.  We have Mayor who is knowingly overstepping his limited power as Mayor and a City Manager who is so fearful of losing his job that he does what ever the Mayor says, even though he's not his boss.  We have dysfunctional leadership at City Hall and a fractured City Council that can't get six members to consistently stand against the Mayor's over-reaching. Mann and Flynn need to step up and stop walking the fence.

Cranley is a politician and knows how to tell a lie that won't get him into legal trouble. The more Cranley acts as Mayor the more lies we get and the worse our city becomes.

FOP Payoffs? More OT and Electronic Paperwork?

City Manager Black's has put out a loose outline of how he would spend the budget surplus. Surprisingly it has 500K for more police OT and 2 Million so cops can sit in their cruisers and do paperwork on their computers.

His plan has nothing that address's the Mayor's plan to get 10,000 kids out of poverty. So, that effort is off to the expected lack of a start.

Yvette Simpson Column Cleary Demonstrates Cranley's Hollow Plan

Cincinnati Council member Yevette Simpson demonstrated she understands the issues facing the city and shows up Mayor Cranley for his failure to effectively communicate what needs to happen and what is happening in this city. We have a Mayor who lacks credibility, but more importantly lacks any real vision to achieve a goal. He called for bringing 10,000 children in Cincinnati out of poverty in Five years, but his only action to move that forward is to create a meaningless commission to deal with it. Yes, a commission. We all know what that means in political speak: do nothing. To be fair the commission does have a purpose: to make those on it look like they are doing something WITHOUT having to actually do anything to help get children out of poverty.

Let's do some math. So 5 years is 260 weeks. That means Cranley needs to average getting 38.41 kids out of poverty in Cincinnati per week to meet his self imposed goal. While that is a noble idea, it is not something he has shown he has any intention of making happen, let alone proposing any policies that could make it happen. If he has those policies in mind, he might have at least shared some that could actually work and get support from City council. It's not like he can do this all by his lonesome, unless he's planning on using his Issue 22 slush fund to actually funnel money to something other than the parks.  It's not like Issue 22 cold stop that from happening.

To help keep him focused on his goal. I suggest we keep a weekly count. The local media should set up a day, say next Monday, one week after Cranley's speech, and ask him or his staff how many kids his policies have gotten out of poverty. Anything below 38 means he's behind on his goal.

I think we all know this is Bullshit from Cranley and we know this because of the lack of plans to use the Budget surplus (created by the vibrant city we are thanks to efforts of the Eight years prior to Cranley getting into office) to meet the goals. Where is the plan to put that surplus into job programs or other assistance for poor families? Assuming that is really Cranley's goal. In order to get a kid out of poverty, you actually have to get the parents out of poverty too. So I guess that raises the number of 10,000 a bit. So let's say it doubles it (accounting for multi-kid and single parents), so that means 20,000 people need to be out of poverty for Cranley to make his goal. So instead of 38.41 per week, we're now up to 76.92. 77 people per week need to be out of poverty to make the Five year goal. This can be done, but it takes someone with the actual will to make it happen, not just pretending to make it happen.

I wonder how many journalists are willing to question the Mayor on this an actually HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE. It won't take much money, it will just take someone sending an email and then publishing the response to the email on a mainstream media outlet. Here's an example email:

Dear Mr. Mayor,


As per you goal to get 10,000 kids out of poverty in five years, which really means getting 20,000 people out of poverty, you would need to average about 77 per week. Please provide me the number of people who got out of poverty over the last seven days and document how your policies achieved that act.


Sincerely,


Cincinnati Reporter

Now I am sure that crack staff at the Mayor's office will have those numbers at their finger tips and this plucky reporter will be able to get the facts reported before the end of the day on Monday. Then that same reporter could repeat this act every day for the next 259 weeks or until the running total exceeds 20,000!


Yes, I jest. Yes, I know the media won't do this. They won't do it because the Mayor's office won't have an answer. The question is how often will the media remind the public what the Mayor pledged to do? Will the Enquirer hold Cranley's feet tot he fire? It is the perfect type of conflict. It is an objective (mostly) race for them to cover. As long as they make Cranley prove his numbers, they can watch the number grow and have a horse race (of sorts) to cover.

That assumes the Enquirer actually covers the coming Mayor's race. They have gotten a bye this year, when we should have a council election, except for the foolish four year term fiasco. Since they have off time, they should start the Cranley poverty Tote-Board. Maybe get the Mayor to put it on Fountain Square. We can all watch the number grow over the next couple years like an extended-acid-induced Labor Day Telethon. Or maybe not.

I would prefer hearing more from Yvette Simpson. She is showing that she has the skills, temperament, and honesty to lead this City. I hope she considers challenging Cranley. We need 20,000 fewer people in poverty, but it will take more people like her in office, the Mayor's office, to make that possible.

Luken and Cranley Appear to Be Chicken

Charlie Luken has bowed out of the debate on October 12th on Issue 22, an amendment to the City Charter giving the Mayor a huge slush fund to help buy votes from a few key neighborhood leaders in hopes of getting elected in 2017. Luken, political mentor and co-destroyer of city finances with John Cranley, was replacing Cranley who refused to debate unless his diva-style debate riders were met. I guess his need for only blue M&Ms and Miller Lite in only cans can be a tough request to fulfill.

Enquirer Demonstrates Bias or Laziness?

In their article this week, discussing who may run for the GOP nomination to fill Boehner's seat, the Enquirer made the choice to outright declare the GOP to be the winners of the special election not even scheduled yet.

It is true that Boehner's district is heavily Republican. It would have been fair opinion journalism to focus on the GOP and state that Dems are unlikely to win. This article is trying to be a straight news story, but failed.  It just skiped over the Democratic party. It was as if they didn't bother to call anyone and picked the least flattering email reference they could find, 'surely' by chance.

It's not like a different Ohio newspaper hundreds of miles away didn't get a hold of Cincinnatian David Pepper, the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. I wonder if anyone from the Enquirer even tried to call him or the other possible local Dem candidates.

Instead we get a poll that states "Who Will Replace John Boehner?" and below it we read the long list of Republicans. I guess the Enquirer will decide all elections this way? They won't bother to list anyone who they judge has no chance to win, unless they are a Republican, because they need to save time for articles about the sister of soon-to-be former Speaker of the House.

So, biased or just laziness.  I am thinking both.

Welcome to Midpoint 2015! #mpmf

Starting off with some Jr Jr

It's Oktoberfest Zinzinnati Week!

Truth About the Mayor of Cincinnati

WCPO's Kevin Necessary has a cartoon that sums up a big problem with the Mayor of Cincinnati.

Please note that is no the only problem with the Mayor, just one of many.

Did City Manager Black Just Cost the City a Ton of Money?

Chris Wetterich of the Cincinnati Business Courier has an in-depth article that brings up the Cincinnati City Charter and the section of it that deals with how the City Manager is required to provide the Chief written charges and the right to have a hearing on them prior to being fired. Statements reported, and not yet denied by the City Manager or Mayor, indicate that Chief was just fired and not given a written copy of the chargers and not given the chance to have a hearing prior to being fired.

So a key element to a wrongful termination lawsuit has evidence. When you have a prescribed rule on how to fire someone and you don't follow it, you have a problem.  This is the type of problem that an employment lawyer would cringe upon hearing. When that rule is a city law, well you have mountain of a problem to overcome.

This situation could not have been more poorly handled.  It was an administrative failure.  It was a political failure.  It was a moral failure.  Cranley and Black should be ashamed.

It would be interesting to see how many similar types of documents provided in this case by the City Manager could be produced upon request on any of the prior two police chiefs.  I believe there would be no doubt that Streicher or Craig would have some number of similar complaints.  I doubt those records would be found if requested, however, or someone might create a special power to keep them private.  Some special rule that an elected office might claim doesn't exist, but won't stop invoking.

Marian Spencer Opposes Park Levy

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that political leader Marian Spencer has removed her support for the Charter Amendment for a Parks levy that is being pushed by Mayor John Cranley.

This presents another good reason this effort should be thoroughly reviewed and not supported without careful consideration of the pitfalls and hidden agendas within this scheme.

Major Donor to Cranley Campaign Gets Appointment to Historic Board

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.

Smitherman's Hand Picked Cabal is Sued by National NAACP

The Courthouse News Service is reporting a group calling it self the "Cincinnati Branch" of the NAACP as an "fraud" and unsanctioned group. In Federal court they are seeking an Injunction to shut down the group and $300K in damages.

This group was previously run by Cincinnati City Council member Chris Smiterman who resigned to run for public office. His allies took over the group and refused to allow for an orderly election and allegedly have continued to try and run the organization as if the national organization did not hault the election and freeze out everyone from controlling the local chapter.

A Note for the local media, don't attribute any press released from anyone sued by the NAACP as speaking for the local branch of the NAACP until a new election of leadership is held.

Sittenfeld Running for Senate

As much rumored in the last few weeks, Cincinnati City Council Member PG Sittenfeld has announced he is running for U.S. Senate. He'll face a primary challenge next year, but as he's the only known declared candidate, who he'll face is unknown.

This is on the surface a long shot, but Sittenfeld does look before he leaps. All Democrats running against Rob Portman will need the voter turnout to be bolstered by the Presidential race that year in order to win. Sittenfeld has to worry about the primary before that and he could face the challenge of former Governor Ted Strickland, who would be a good candidate against Portman and be the front runner in a primary race.

More from WVXU.

PG Sittenfeld Is Getting Some National Attention

It is a long held axiom that any attetention is good attention, but for PG Sittenfeld when that attention is positive attention, it it triples the value. The National Journal has given him some of that good attention.

Give a cigar to his PR team.

The next few months wil be where the most the political action will happen when we see who runs for Senate against Portman and who does not. PG wants to run, that much is obvious, but is it wise for home to run now? That is the action that is turning in his head. I don't envy having to make that political judgement, but I'd like to be a fly on the wall when he discusses it with his advisors. 

Strategic planning is the holy grail of political analysis.

Cranely Using Smoke and Mirrors on Pension Deal to Hide City's Sacrifice

From a financial perspective, there are actual steps in the City's pension deal that on the surface appear to help reduce the funding problem, but that is only half of the story.

Yes, getting the retirees to suspend COLAs for three years and then reducing the COLA formula will mean lower benefits paid and help solvency.

Yes, the city paying more into the fund certainly will help solvency.

The details Cranley is hiding deal with where the city will get the additional money to increase funding for the pension trust. Here are the problems:

1. What is the long term impact of moving $200 Million from the retiree health care trust?  Is this the fund Cranley and Luken already screwed up?  Previously this year the Plan was only going to be $100 million, so how did it double in size and still have Council backing?
2. Where does the $38 Million a year for seven years come from?  Saying the City will "borrow against future revenue" is no different from saying "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."  Revenue from what?  The pension fund?  Income Taxes? A bake sale?  Cranley's hiding the details. He does not want us to know what he's doing.
3. Where does the additional 2.25% of the annual operating budget come from? How much is this actually?  Is this based on the $358 Million in expenses or just of salaries? What is Cranley going to do, increase revenue or cut something?  Which ever he is planning, he's not giving the details and is once again hiding something.

What Cranley is doing is typical Cranley.  He's making something sound comprehensive, but he leaves out nearly all of the substance. Either Cranley has no clue where the money will come from or he is hiding it because it will be politically unpopular.  The answer is mostly likely the latter and as is the Cranley way, he's hiding the details in hopes that people will accept half of the truth and forget the rest later.

This is the type of Mayor we have, one who hides the real sacrifices the city has to make to allow him self the ability to take a faux victory lap.  This plan may actually be workable, but the Citizen of Cincinnati deserve to know the real impact this will have on the City Budget and the services the City provides. Hiding details is dishonest.  This is insulting to people of Cincinnati. This is, however, how Mayor John Cranley operates.  We must demand the truth from the Mayor.  We won't get it, but everyone in the City must call out the Mayor's half truths and lies every chance we get.

Zombie News Gone National

Gotta love how the suburbs can look like idiots on a scale to get some national attention.



At least the local media was there first. Can't beat the visuals, so TV wasn't going to miss out on this.

Enquirer Channelling the New York Post

When ever you start out a headline with the phrase "uh-oh" like the Enquirer did with the article Uh-oh, streetcar savings account running out, then you start sounding like a tabloid. Picture the New York Post.

Cincinnati does not need bad attempts at comedy in the headline of a serious news article.

The only reason for this was to YET AGAIN garner the eyeballs from anti-streetcar readers (that means most of the GOP),  and drive up website traffic. The bias comes through once more n the Enquirer. It's what we expect from the hollow news outlet.

Enquirer Appears to Have No Editors Now

I don't know how a news story like this: Suspect in custody in stabbing near casino would be allowed to be published if the Enquirer still had any editors. Review the first sentence of this very short article:

A suspect is in custody after a man was fatally stabbed just a few feet from the entrance to the Horseshoe Casino on Monday night, police said.

Now read the fourth sentence:

He was stabbed in a wooded area on Gilbert Avenue beneath the Interstate 471 overpass about 10:30 p.m., Neville said.

In the third sentence Nevill was identified as Cincinnati Police Capt. Michael Neville. So where does a "few feet from the entrance to the Horseshoe Casino" come from when the man was stabbed in a wooded area on Gilbert Ave? Does this reporter think the entrance to the Horeshoe is in a wooded area under I-471? Does the reporter live in Cincinnati?

This is just horrid reporting. At best the "entrance" being referenced was the Gilbert Ave PARKING LOT entrance to the casino and that is still ACROSS THE STREET from any "wooded" area under I-471. Depending on the location of wooded area in question, saying this was near the Casino may not be 'wrong.'  It would likely be near many places, including the BOE and P&G headquarters. Seriously, the picture with the article includes a shot of P&G in it.

I realize this was written over-night, so it has fewer filters to be passed through, but this can't continue. We can not have stories that are either being reported by ignorant journalists who can't understand when the police are using hyperbole or reporters looking to increase clicks by putting false details into stories to scare the public and create more web traffic.

UPDATE: Compare the WCPO Story.

Is the County's Deal For Mt. Airy Hospital Dead?

The Enquirer is reporting that county has stated it will likely cost 100 million dollars to convert the former Mercy Heath Hospital complex in Mt. Airy to a facility that could handle the coroner, crime lab and Board of Elections.

They don't have that kind of money and the Republican majority won't raise taxes for the critical needs of a new coroner's facility.

They've increased the Sheriff's budget this year.

The Republicans should be looking for a cheaper way to update the Coroner's facility and it possible the crime lab, but give up on moving anything else out of downtown and keep the BOE where it is.

It appears Monzel and Hartmann are not doing anything to update Hamilton County's critical needs. Punting responsibility is horrid governance.

Minor Reporting Error or Sign of Lack of Experience at the Enquirer?

It may just a be a simple mistake, but the following Enquirer article Car strikes building, semi stuck under bridge has a huge error in it.  It reports that a building in the 1200 Block of Vine Street was hit by a car and had to be propped up to keep it from collapsing.

Well I can report that after I walked the entire 1200 Block of Vine Street  at about 5:15 PM there is no evidence of a building that had been struck, let alone one on the verge of collapsing.

The reporter obviously doesn't know the OTR neighborhood because if she did, she'd know that the 1200 block is the heart of the Gateway Quarter and if any building about to collapse here would include a business and/or people's residences, thus a much bigger story.  Also, if they had ever been to that block they would know that at that time of day, everyday, cars line the street, so the crash would have more than likely hit a car, not a building.

Hopefully the article will be updated soon to reflect the correct block.

I really hope this was a simple careless error and not the sign of what we will be getting more of with the new changes to the Enquirer: fewer editors and less experienced reporters. Also an environment where staff will NOT be rewarded for knowing about the places and people they write about, but instead will be judged based on the number of hits their articles get.

Is the Elder Old Guard Pushing Back Against Losing Control of the CPD?

Since Mayor John Cranley suffers from having to payback the GOP for its support, it makes sense that the Republican's newly new regained front, the FOP, would expect that he would throw logic to the wind and allow rumors to undermine the Police Chief. The old guard police officer core that stems from a big Westside/Elder connection could be itching to gain back the power of the Chief's office since it lost Streicher back in 2011.

For those of you who are newer to Cincinnati or have forgotten about the 2001 riots, please remember that the horrible police/black-community relations that existed at that point was in part due to the inability of the mostly white Westside/Elder connected leadership of the police to effectively interact with the black community of Cincinnati.

We don't need Cranley to allow that old crowd to regain the leadership of the police force.  We survived the riot once, WITH NO HELP FROM CRANLEY, we don't need him making police-community relations worse.

Dear Enquirer: You Ain't Gawker

I guess it's a slow news day over at the Enquirer, it's not like there is a ton of election data to analyze or anything, so instead we a get a GIF. That's not news, but I'm sure Buzzfeed would approve.

Details Finally Published on the Cincinnati Charter Reform in Issue 11

I am not sure how this issue could be considered fair and legal if the full text is not included on the ballot, but you can finally see the details of what is being amended or repealed from the Cincinnati City Charter Here. This wasn't posted anywhere I could locate until October 24, 2014, about 10 days before the election. Most of the changes do appear to be non-impactful, but this doesn't bode well for the organization that has been formed to make additional proposals for changes to the charter. The details need to be on the ballot and ready for the public and media to read in full well in advance of the election.

If this information was provided to the local media well before, then for shame on them for not publishing it in full and linking to it extensively.

Vote Yes on Issue 8!

Cincinnati has a history that is rich and deep.  We have a culture that is vibrant and valuable.  We must take the steps to preserve that past so the future will remember and learn.  We therefore must support Issue 8 and save Union Terminal for any further decay and assure it will be here for generations to come to learn and experience Cincinnati's History and Culture.

This isn't a political issue, this is a Cincinnati issue.  No matter your political leanings, this deserves your support.

Go to www.myunionterminal.com for more.

Cranley Proved Wrong Again?

Quimbob shares the report of a survey of Cincinnati Residents stating that an overwhelming number are OK with the Trash Collection established under the Mallory Administration.

Another Campaign claim proved wrong again? I'd say I'd lean yes to that question.

Interesting What If's For City Council If Repbulican Winburn Pulls Upset

Republican Charlie Winburn has gotten his party to pour a ton of money into  his campaign to win a Democratic seat for the Ohio Senate against former Cincinnati Council member Cecil Thomas.  If Winburn wins, his currently held City Council seat is up in the air.

WVXU's Howard Wilkinson has a story detailing the possible scenarios if Thomas, the Democratic candidate, does not win the heavily Democratic leaning senate district.

Thomas is running a lack luster campaign backed by horrid Ohio and Hamilton County Democratic Party leadership.  This year the Democrats in Ohio don't seem to be able to do anything as an organization.  Most of the state wide party candidates are behind in the polls and it is widely held that voter turn out will be historically low in November.  Low turnout dooms down ticket candidates, which is why playing the what if games for what should be a solid Democratic seat are happening. Republican Charlie Winburn, especially with all of the crazy in him, shouldn't stand a chance. Time for the Dems to clean their leadership house and start new.

What the Hell is This Thing?

This thing is parked near the corner of 5th and Walnut kiddie-corner from the Federal Courts building. It is labeled as being part of a State of Ohio department   I've never heard of before.

The CCTV cameras on top make it out to be an observation/surveillance unit. What are they observing? Fountain Square? Government Square?

Get to the Know Theatre this Monday for Serials!

This summer the Know Theatre is embarking on a new exciting series called Serials!  It brings 5 playwrights together to bring 5 different serial plays that run 15 minutes each every two weeks starting this Monday June 23rd and ending September 8th.

Serials Features:

1. Mars Vs. The Atom by Trey Tatum
2. Flesh Descending by Chris Wesselman
3. The Funeral by Jon Kovach
4. Fetus and The God by Ben Dudley
5. The Listener by Michael Hall

Tickets are on sale here. While you are at it, why not just become a member of the Know?

WKRC Has Dipped Themselves Into a Pile Skanky Goo

I guess ratings are down for WKRC since they aired this hot skanky mess of a story. Which was a follow-up to this other biased hunk of anti-downtown propaganda brought to you by exurbanite developers, who think like the Mayor.

Someone needs to tell Brad Underwood that Downtown and OTR are different places. Therefore, if you are going to do a story about attacks in the Central Business District (Downtown) go there, don't go to OTR for comment.

Cincinnati New Media Sorta Faux Punked?

So remember seeing the local news clips with a guy interrupting the live report in "Cincinnati" being lude, well it was a hoax and continues to be one. Pretty good details, however.

What Actions During the Campaign Got Osborne Hired by Cranley?

If you want the number one news article Kevin Osborne wrote during the campaign that would have clinched any alleged quid-pro-quo it would be this false story that was disproved rather easily by Osborne's old new outlet, CityBeat.

The second action Osborne gave Cranley was this follow-up story where he continued the Cranley attack on Qualls, disguised as allowing Qualls to respond. It is hardly balanced when a reporter expands on the attack in a story billed as a response to said attack.

The inaction Osborne provided his prospective employer during the campaign was keeping silent on why Cranley resigned from council.  I missed any reporting from Osborne on why Cranley waited nearly six months after he got the Ohio Ethics commission letter, telling him he had a conflict of interest, before he resigned from City Council.  One might figure Osborne, who was working for CityBeat at the time, would have reported on that and investigated it.  I guess he was too busy investigating how he would spin the 'exclusives' the Cranley Campaign was feeding him.

This hiring is beyond laughable, it is just pathetic.  Local media are reporting on it, but are not allowing their reporters to hit, at least not yet.  Any journalist who considers this ethical may need to revisit a few journalism basics.  Since there is evidence of Osborne throwing away any journalistic ethics he may have had out the window, no honorable journalist can hide behind any type of "blue line" code of protection for other journalists.  They also can not play the fear game, that Osborne can deny access.  Any threat Osborne, Kincaid, or even Cranley make to journalists is hollow.  More importantly, if they try to act on it, I think there are plenty of the nine members of Council that could easily nullify any attempt at Cranley retribution on a journalist.

What needs to happen most immediately is for the investigation into who leaked the Duke Memo to Kevin Osborne be restarted.  Osborne's connection to the Cranley Administration is more than clearly there. If WCPO knows the source of the moemo, they now have the ethical obligation to report it, if it came from anyone who would have had connection or influence over hiring Osborne for his new political job.

If anyone believes there is not smoke to the allegations of a quid-pro-quo to the Osborne hiring, they need to know something about the Cranley cabal, things like this don't happen in a vacuum.

OTR Is Still Operating

There may be freezing rain and an impending 'White Death' on the way, but OTR carries on. Here's the draft list for the Eagle today.

Cranley Makes Unsupported Claims About Police Response

In Sunday's article from the Enquirer "Is it time to change shift schedules for our cops?" the paper includes Cranley's unsupported claim about police response to 911 Calls:

“Code zeros” – the police code for instances when someone calls 911 for help but no officer is available to respond – are on the rise, Cranley has said

To the Paper's credit, they prove Cranley had no support for his claim:

The city, in fact, doesn’t track code zeros, said Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, so there’s no proof they’re happening more often.

The paper then falls into the Cranley bullshit by stating there is anecdotal evidence, but no empirical evidence. We don't even get any actual anecdotes, just third-party hearsay.

Why isn't the Enquirer calling out the Mayor for making unsubstantiated claims as the basis for increasing the city budget? Instead of treating what ever comes out of his mouth as truth, why not be as analytical as the rest of the article attempts to do with the issue of police schedules? Why not question Cranley about the schedules? Why not ask him how the decision by the previous police chief affected police response? Most importantly, ask Cranley how the hell he knows what he says is true before it is repeated in the paper, even if given evidence he doesn't have actual support for what he says. Using his false claim as the lead for one's article does two things: it gives credibility to Cranley when he deserves none an it makes the Enquirer yet again look like a shill for Cranley.  I mean, look at the lead listed on this page view of the Enquirer website, it is like you are giving Cranley a pass:

Cranley's false claim is put out there as 'fact' and the portion of the article that refutes him is buried.  So I guess being a shill for Cranley is part of the job description for Enquirer.  Well, at least WCPO isn't alone in that.

Enquirer Creates Click-Bait Blog Post a-la Buzzfeed

I don't think this will surprise anyone but the 24 people who commented on the blog post, but the Enquirer's blogpost over the weekend with the title Is Greater Cincinnati really miserable? is click-bait bullshit. The title implies the survey in question ranked cites (or maybe metro areas). In reality it "rated" States.

One can question the lousy article's methods and we should. The article, by Time but based on a Wall Street review of a Gallop Study (convoluted mess!) lists Ohio 5th and all of the stats it lists as examples don't rank in the top 5 worst. So, subjectivity or other randomness in the study of a study isn't valued, let alone trying to compares states on such a general basis.

The Enquirer's ICYMI blog then plays the role of Buzzfeed troll, looking to get hits (more page views) and it worked. Journalistic ethics be damned, however! Trying to push the city pride buttons by fraudulently including Cincinnati as the basis for a study is worthy of scorn and mocking. Getting readers falsely ginned up about something that does not reflect how the headline sold it is shameful and cruel.  If those responsible think they have any journalistic ethics, then they are greatly mistaken.

Meet the New Parking Plan, Worse Than the Old Parking Plan

As if you could possibly expect anything different from John Cranley, we get his plan or plan with options to "fix" the parking problem. It is a plan that looks and sounds like the plan the previous administration put forth last year, but it doesn't do as much and costs the city more. What he puts forth a plan that does the following:

1. Increase Debt by issuing bonds
2. Raise parking prices everyone but Downtown and OTR (how's that knife in the back feel Mr. Witte?)
3. Adds upgraded meters that WILL NOT interact online, meaning no payment via cell phone.
4. Adds more city employees to enforce parking without detail on how he will fund their full expense.

What did John Cranley Not Do:

1. Explain how issuing bonds creates annual revenue.  Is this a fancy way of saying they will just issue new bonds each year? Or is this an investment gimmick where he gets a big 'loan', invests it and calls the earnings on that investment revenue, while not talking about paying back the principle.
2. Who will pay back the bonds?  This seems like a rather big point.  Trying to pay for upgrades to garages and meters, adding new staff to bring in new revenue, raising parking rates that Cranley and his supports said would hurt the business community, thus lowering tax revenue, how does he plan on paying for this?  Is is going to just buy some Twitter Stock and pray it doubles in value every year until he leaves office?

Once again Cranley is, shall we be blunt, full of shit. He puts forth a worse version of the plan set forth previously one that does far less and costs the City far more, and he thinks he's doing something better?  A large portion of the Media lets him off the hook and more importantly we get SILENCE from those who fought the parking plan, the conservatives.  That prior plan basically privatized parking in the city, and conservatives were against it.  This new plan would increase the size of government and we haven't heard a peep.  Council member Murray, have you lost the will to speak out on parking?  Have you abandoned Hyde Park Square business owners?

Also, more importantly, is Cranley going to offer this plan up to a vote to the citizens? He was so eager for that before, will he do it now? I don't see that as part of his plan, and instead he wants to ram it through council. Hope the people on Council don't chicken out and rubber stamp this turkey.  I'm look at you Mr. Mann, don't be a chicken or a turkey, push back on Cranley.

Why Were Snow Routes Not Fully Plowed Five Days Later?

Late on Tuesday night February 4th the Cincinnati City Manager issued a requirement that all cars parked on Snow Routes in Cincinnati had to be moved.

City Manager is issuing a snow parking restriction. No parking along designated SNOW PARKING EMERGENCY routes. CPD will not tow before 6AM
— Public Services (@CinPubServices) February 5, 2014

Based on the time of the Tweet above, the announcement was before 11 PM on the 4th. Just before 7 AM on the 5th, after the 6 AM period listed above, I saw the Cincinnati Police Department towing at least three cars in the 1200 block of Vine Street. That part of Vine is part of the City's publicly listed Snow Emergency Routes. It's also posted along the street:

It was unsettling to me that the City of Cincinnati felt that reasonable notice was considered to be a late night announcement followed by an early morning deadline.  Where was early focus to tow cars put? Over-the-Rhine, of course.  We are known for our vehicular travel.  We are better known for the number of people who park on the street over night.  I'd hate to think we were targeted, but I wish there was a easy way to determine how many cars were towed from which areas's on Wednesday morning.   That would be an interesting statistic.  The motivations for towing in OTR early are mixed, but none seem to be worth wile.  The cars must go, of course, because it is important to have the full street cleared.

Or is it important?

On Wednesday afternoon the City lifted the Snow Emergency, making parking on snow routes legal again. On Wednesday evening, as I was walking home from dinner a local OTR establishment, I noticed that street parking was in heavy use.  Vine street was semi-passable, for experienced drivers.  Calling it plowed was an overstatement, as the road was packed down with a mix of ice and snow and the parking lanes were a mess.  So that evening I had to help push someone out of one of the snow filled parking spots.

For the next several days I watched people either needing help to break free of the parking space snow trap, or having to rock their cars back-n-forth to break free of the icy snow's grip.

Flash forward to midday Sunday.  After nearly 5 days, the parking lanes were still not plowed:

So, people had their cars towed, had to pay to get the car sprung from lock up and likely got a ticket in the process.  All of that for no reason?  It would appear that someone needs to rethink the strategy on snow routes.  Today, driving down Central Parkway, things are clear, mostly right up tot he curb.  Central Parkway isn't a snow route and the days after the big snow, I saw cars parked on the street trapped behind a wall of snow.  Those cars are long since free.

Poor planning is where I would point most of the blame, but poor execution can't be overlooked either.  It seems to me that if you are going to tow cars someplace, you might want to fully clear those streets.  Otherwise, why bother?

The people plowing the streets are working hard, but they don't have the resources needed.  The need for those resources isn't constant, so management of the process is very difficult.  That management needs to be reviewed on both the large scale and on the ground.

How Will Cranley Pay for the 5 Million Dollars a Year?

The Enquirer buries the lead in their 'exclusive' press release from the Mayor's Office that calls for adding more cops to the tune of 5 Million dollars per year, including benefits. The one million dollars is additional up front money, but the long term cost is huge and the Mayor should not be trying to mislead the public with false numbers.

The first and last question that needs to be ask of Cranley by the rest of the media who are not in the bag for the Mayor (Enquirer), should be asking is HOW WILL CRANLEY PAY FOR THIS?

A simple question that will neither have an detailed nor sound answer. By sound, I mean one that that add up, not one based on Cranley math.

The other questions that could asked: Why can't the same programs be achieved with restructuring of the existing force? How many long term police officers are going to retire and put us back at the same level?  How much input did the FOP have on this?  Will the city seek changes to the FOP's contract to help assure that any police officer hired who fails at their job can be fired?

Is Republican Charlie Winburn Fishing in the 9th District Senate Race?

So, on Saturday I got an automated telephone poll from a 614 (Columbus) number asking for opinions on everyone reportedly running or thinking about running for the 9th Ohio Senate district, and Republican Charlie Winburn. All of the other people on the list are Democrats. This is a solid Democratic district.

The poll was quit lengthy and ended with questions that matched all of the candidates against Republican Charlie Winburn.  It was monotonous hearing Republican Charlie Winburn's name over and over again.  As if I didn't know who Republican Charlie Winburn is.

Here's the wrinkle.  Every time they stated Republican Charlie Winburn's name when matching up the candidate pairs, the poll called him "Independent Charlie Winburn."  Yeah, that was the point.  The poll was trying to create misinformation about Republican Charlie Winburn.

Call it a combination of testing the water for how he fairs on name recognition in the 9th and an effort to plant a seed in the public about Republican Charlie Winburn not being much of a republican. The poll is meant as test to see if he has any traction to run in that race and tests how he might try and spin it.  It won't fly.  Republican Charlie Winburn will not be able to run away from his Conservative view points.  Is is a Republican and people in the 9th district will not forget it.

Who funded this?  Was is Winburn himself or the Republicans?  The message sounds more like Republican Charlie Winburn, not the party.  If it was the party, then wow, someone had Machiavelli on their corn flakes the morning they came up with this idea.

Blogging Isn't Cool: Hamilton County GOP Power Grabs

Quimbob sums up the Hamilton County Republican last minute effort to move the Board of Elections out of Downtown with this quote:

"The HamCo GOP is so hellbent on rigging elections & attaining power, they will sabotage public safety without a second thought."

If the GOP cared about providing the best services over-all, they would not be rushing to move the BOE in an attempt to reduce the number of early votes from Democrats. Instead they would look at all County Departments and find the right fit for the Mt. Airy location.

Reducing the number of voters is not good public policy, but that will be the result if the BOE moves to the location Republicans want.

This effort is transparently a long term effort to both reduce the importance of Downtown and the Democratic vote. Is it worth $29 per early vote to keep the BOE right where it is?  Hell, yes.

Portune is Living in a Vacuum

Hamilton County Comissioner Todd Portune announced he is running for Ohio Governor on Monday. The local Democrat will face off in a primary against Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, who already has received the endorsement of the Ohio Democratic Party.



Yes, with the State party and the vast majority of county party organizations backing Fitzgerald, Portune then decided to jump into the race.



One word comes to mind: WHY?

I have no logical reason why Portune would get into the race for Governor. I don't see how this helps him, or the party, or anyone other than the Republicans. I presume he thinks he can win. I presume he lives in a vacuum. I know he's going to lose the primary.

Cranley is Sucking in the Seventies

Quimbob over at Blogging Isn't Cool is pondering if Mayor John Cranley is stuck living in the 1970's based on what he chose to offer up in return to a bet from the San Diego Mayor on the Bengals-Chargers playoff game this Sunday.

Cranley rolled out the old Gold Star/Montgomery Inn Ribs/Graeter's rubicon.

Quimbob wonders why Cranley didn't match the San Diego Craft beer offer with Cincinnati Craft beers in return. After all, this bet was reported to have been made at his own personal expense, so why not offer up something with a little more oomph and more of a developing industry in the area? An industry that could use some more attention outside of Cincinnati that only a Mayor could give at very little expense.

There is nothing wrong promoting Gold Star/Montgomery Inn Ribs/Graeter's, they are solid business here in Cincinnati, but they represent the past. The past is all Cranley seems to know, and it's a selective knowledge at best.

The Brew Professor Ranks the Top 10 Cincinnati Beers in 2013

The number of Cincinnati Breweries is growing and we keep drinking there beer, so someone had better rank the best for 2013. Well The Brew Prof has taken care of that for us. Note the number of breweries include in the list. They are seriously good and there are a TON of them. Yes, tons of breweries right here in the Cincinnati area.  Makes me think of this old Cincinnati toast I read about in the book Images of America: Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine.

“Here’s to Cincinnati, the Queen of the West,
A dirty old city, but nobly blest.
For it’s here that fine arts with the frivolous twine,
A veritable Deutschland just Over the Rhine…
The kindliest greetings from all, whom we meet,
A good draught of beer every ten or twelve feet.”

WIRED: A Triumph for Transit in Cincinnati

Wired.com had an article Friday discussing Cincinnati's Streetcar project and the triumph in keeping the project going.

We Have a Streetcar! (Cue the White Smoke...)

What was a long three weeks of December came to a joyous apogee, compared to how the month started out.  The Cincinnati Streetcar project got the necessary votes to resume construction and all signs point to it being a done deal.

Much thanks need to be given to all of those who got this done:

1. The six on council who voted to resume constructions, with special thanks to council members Seelbach, Simpson, Sittenfeld, and Young.

2. The organizers of Believe in Cincinnati and Cincinnatians for Progress who kept the hopes alive and gave us a plan to make a difference for Cincinnati.

3. All of the volunteers who worked hours to gain signatures for the Charter Amendment, keeping the pressure on council going right up to the vote.

4. Everyone who signed the petition for the Streetcar Charter Amendment.  We showed the powers-that-be that thousands of activists were behind this effort and I truly believe that support was a large reason why we got the two extra votes needed on council.

5. Eric Avner of the Haile Foundation was the knight in shinning armor for the Streetcar. Along with the members of the business community he organized, they got the agreement done and won the day.

If I missed anyone, please let me know!

Walking through OTR last night I don't know if I felt the joy all around me or if it was just in me. I'm going to believe that it was in everyone.  Hope was all we had for a couple of weeks.  When that hope becomes reality, it really feels good. We still have a long way to go here in Cincinnati, but yesterday was a great step forward. We came close to taking a step back, but the voices of the people were heard and We Have a Streetcar!

Cranley Wants Cincinnati of the Past (1974)

The Cincinnati Business Courier had a stinging opinion piece online yesterday that exposes the core problem with John Cranley and his approach to the City. Here's the key section:

"His vision of what Cincinnati should be most closely resembles what Cincinnati was."

Canley is trying to emulate the Lukens (Charlie and Tom) in both the style he interacts with others, on all levels, and in what he sees as priorities for the City. It is like he is living in 1974 (the year he was born) and wants to attract the first Walmart to town and is hoping to build more roads to make it easier for suburbanites outside the city to get where they want to go and he's not seen the damage that type of development plan did to the City. I will state that again, DID to the City. That's not something to come, that is the past that happened because of people like Tom Luken, who John is emulating. Focusing on the suburban lifestyle (Strip Malls, Cul-de-Sacs, and cars) is the core of the past that killed Cities in post-WWII America and reached it's zenith in the 70's.  This isn't a new idea for Cranley.  He didn't just pick this up to get elected.  He's been that way, and that is leaving his allies to be mostly Republicans, as they are the only ones still pushing the Suburbanist agenda forward.

It is such a shame that so much of the Progressive Vote (the Future!) stayed home on election day and left 'Past Cincinnati' to sweep in and give Cranley the chance to be another Luken and drive the City back 40 years.

When I think of Cranley I think of a "real square cat, he looks a-1974."  Other than the Big Red Machine, he's reaching into a time when things here were not good. The City Government was squarely against the Urban Core.  If John really wants to emulate the past, I suggest he not pick the 1970's subia and instead look to the example of something else.

Dear Todd Portune: Burke Can't Fix a Primary Win For You

It would appear Hamilton County Commissioner and rouge Democrat Todd Portune is reportedly considering a run for Ohio Governor. Someone better explain to him that Ed Fitzgerald isn't going to drop out of the primary race just because Tim Burke asks him to make a deal.

I would have no problem with Todd running, as long as he resigns from Commission and Cranley takes his place at the County. That would be a win for the City. Cranley is about like Portune, so it would just be a better City without Cranley and the Commission would stay the same. Then Portune would lose in the primary and leave politics.

Cranley: 'Mommy, I Wanted a BLUE Pony!'

Last week Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley demanded a pony from Streetcar supporters.  While a childish act, it wasn't the most childish Cranley could have been.  After much hard work, by many people, Cranley was presented with a pony, it's name was SORTA. Then Cranley's childishness reached an all time high when he stamped his feet yesterday at a press conference and declared he wanted a BLUE pony.  Acting like an ungrateful, selfish, and duplicitous child when he gets exactly what he asks for is not the type of leadership the city wants or needs.

The 5-year-old antics just don't cut it in a mayor.  Even Charlie Luken must admit that Cranley needs a time out for the disingenuous offer.

Evidence of the Delusional Disdain Or Just Rank Hypocrisy?

Cincinnati Business Courier reporter Chris Wetterich wrote an eye opening article that outlines the hypocrisy of the likes of Chris Smitherman, John Cranley, Charlie Winburn, Amy Murray, and most of those against the Streetcar.  The MLK interchange (highway project) bond issue got none of challenges put upon the Streetcar.  The MLK interchange operating and maintenance costs won't pay for themself.  It's economic impact study was written by the same group that wrote the impact study for the Streetcar.  Yet, none of the Streetcar Critics questioned anything about adding more roads.

It is like the Cranley Conservative Cabal is delusional.  What else could explain their flip flop on what they demand on transportation projects.  It wouldn't be because this MLK interchange is something that suburbanites are demanding?  The GOP is all about the suburbs and more importantly about the homogeneous mindsets prevalent in a large portion of voters who live in the suburbs. (Like Driving and Free Parking)  I guess getting the short term traffic flow of I-71 Southbound cleared up is an unquestioned truth that must occur no matter the cost to the rest of the City.  I mean, how many cops could Cranley hire with the 20 million dollars of capital costs?  I am sure Cranley is working on the numbers, it's not like he's won't lie again about how capital budget funds can be used for operating expenses, again.

Quimbob: Is John Cranley Even Lying to Himself ?

Quimbob at Blogging Isn't Cool asked the question: Is John Cranley Even Lying to Himself? I think it is clear he is lying to someone.

The question I have is: What is he NOT lying about?

Does Cranley know who leaked the Duke lawsuit memo? Can he honestly answer that question? Or is better to ask Will he? What makes all of this relevant is that he has partially answered that question by publicly denying it was someone on his staff, but no one asked him that.

Speaking of Old Cincinnati: Peter Bronson is Writing Again

I'm not a regular reader of Cincy Magazine, but they appear to have brought in Peter Bronson, former columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer, to write a hatchet job feature on new Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell.  In this article you get basically everything one expects from Peter Bronson, defend the police when they are Republican and/or Elder graduates, but attack them when they are Democrats.

When Bronson wrote for the Enquirer he was a shill for the Cincinnati police union and except when the FOP turned against John Kasich's union busting efforts, Bronson is back carrying their water.  I'd like to know how many of Bronson's sources are or have connections to the local candidates for CPD chief that didn't get the job.  I'm betting all of them.

What is Behind Willie Carden's Withdrawal From City Manager Job?

I am sure I am not the only person to be wondering exactly what caused Cranley's choice, Willie Carden, to withdraw his nomination for City Manager.  I can theorize, however.

It is obvious that Cranley acted too quickly on that position. He should have vetted out Carden and Council before acting.  Another case of bad judgement from John Cranley.  This won't be his last.

Here is my theory on what happened: Based on reports I've read, Carden would have been required to live within the City, something he currently does not do. As usual, Cranley shrugged this off as no big deal and pretended he could wave his magic wand and make the law go away with his council lackeys. Well, at least Mann and Flynn, and maybe more of Cranley's council block, said no to either changing the residency requirement for City Manager or for creating some type of exception rule for Carden.

If true, I would say score one for City Council.  Showing Cranley he is not a strong mayor is something that will likely need repeating over the next four years. Council has the real power in the city, not the Mayor, and I hope Cranley remembers it, but until he gets burned severely enough, he won't learn.

Old Cincinnati Voted Last Month

It is quite clear who voted last month in the City Election based on age:

People Aged 18 to 43 made up 26.48% of the Electorate
People Aged 44 and up made of 74.52% of the Electorate

Compare that to Registered Voters:

People Aged 18 to 43 made up 52.98% of Registered Voters
People Aged 44 and up made of 47.02% of the Registered Voters

Turnout rates grew by decade backwards to the 1930's with around 58% turnout for those born during the depression. People born in the 1950's, the Baby Boomers, made up 25% of the electorate, even though they make up only about 15% of registered voters.

Irony: Far more people who were alive when Cincinnati was still paying off the Subway voted, than those not born after. Their ignorance is largely responsible for allowing Cranley and his Cabal damage our City. I thought wisdom was supposed to come with age?

Cranley Fucks-Over the Urban Core

Few are surprised the Republican backed  Mayor John Cranley led the effort to damage the Urban Core by stopping the Streetcar, but that doesn't lessen the blow to the Urban Core.  It is both sad and disappointing to see the level that Cranley continues to see the Streetcar as a threat to his plan to Suburbanize the City. 

The odds that COAST's plan to pave over all of Downtown/OTR North of 2nd Street and create the world's biggest free parking lot for Bengals games has increased. The only question outstanding would then be how much would free parking reduce the number of battered women after Bengal losses. I don't see that as COAST priority.

COAST Honors Cranley

COAST, the Tea Party anti-City fringe group that endorsed John Cralney for Mayor, has nominated Cranley for a Conservative award.

This speaks for itself to those paying attention, but for those not paying attention or maybe the few left in denial about who supported John Cranley is this mayor race let this show them the base that Cranley had to win the election.

What will be most brazen would be Cranley actually appearing to accept the award. That would be a true insult to the City, the Democratic Party, and common decency. Cranley's not demonstrated an ounce of any of those thus far.

Does Anyone Like Todd Portune, Other Than Cranley?

I really can't stand Todd Portune. It must be his life goal to piss off 99.9% of the population of the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

This is the guy Tim Burke made a deal to keep in office. Yet another reason we need a change in the HCDP.

Cranley's Win Based on Strong Republican Turnout

The turnout battle in the 2013 Cincinnati City Elections was won handily by the Republicans. 69.39% of City Republicans came out to vote as opposed to 52.45% of Dems. A pathic 12.26% of non-affiliated voters bothered to come out on election day. These numbers are based on the Hamilton County Voter listing as of 11-29-2013. Here are the totals:

	Registered Voters	Votes Cast	Turnout
Democratic	59,119	31,007	52.45%
Republican	19,235	13,348	69.39%
Non-Affiliated	124,003	15,208	12.26%
Total	202,357	59,563	29.43%

Party ID listed about is based on the historical primary voting and third parties were combined with Parties that are "closer" to it's leanings.  Third party numbers are not significant.

That turnout becomes clearer by comparing his election in 2013, to the Joe Deters vs. Janaya Trotter race in 2012.  Within the City, Trotter trounced Deters 65% to 34%, but of the 52 precincts Deters won in the city, Cranley won 51 of them.  In the one precinct he didn't win, Cranley only lost by 14 votes.

Cranley's win rested on being the "wink candidate" for the GOP, where they gave him as much private support possible, but not much public support to allow Cranley to placate enough of Dems and non-affiliated voters to win.  With enough anger pent up on the Parking Plan, Cranley got his Conservative voting groups to all vote for him and lucked out with more Dems staying home on election day.

It is clear that Cranley should never forget, or delude himself otherwise, that he won with GOP support.  Without it, he would have lost.

Cranley is Delusional on Political Situation

John Cranley appears to think there are only a handful of neighborhoods that count in Cincinnati. WCPO reported the following:

"Streetcar supporters have criticized Cranley for saying Cincinnati is more politically united than ever before.

But the mayor defended his comments. “Look at Bond Hill, look at Mount Washington, look at Price Hill, Mount Lookout, Hyde Park,” Cranley said. “In all the council races I was in, those neighborhoods didn’t agree on who should be mayor. This year, all of those neighborhoods were united together – not only in electing me but in electing a majority of council."

So, four solid Republican neighborhoods and Smitherman/Winburn's core neighborhood constitute Cranley's world of what matters to him, at least politically. Every place else doesn't rate in his mind and are all that matters to his sense of 'unity.'

Cranley needs to know that in Ward Seven, which includes Bond Hill, Flynn and Murry finished 17th and 18th place respectively and Malone and White finished in the top nine.  How is that unified with the rest Republican strongholds he cherished?

Cranley's dug himself a big hole and I fear he will think he's dug himself out, but really will be in a Smithermanesque alternate universe, one where truth isn't important. We don't live in Bizarro Cincinnati, we live in the real Cincinnati. Cranley needs to find the reality based Cincinnati or he will find the job of being Mayor even more difficult than it already is.

Smitherman Misleads Public About Conflict of Interest on Streetcar

Chris Smitherman has an ethics issue and is not being honest about it. The Cincinnati Business Courier has reported that Smitherman's brother owns a company that has a contract to build part of the Streetcar project. Smitherman is claiming, without proof, that he's only known about this for a week and that his brother no longer has a contract.  That connection is an ethics issue that Ohio Ethics Commission should investigate.

Smitherman provided no proof the contract has been nullified or rescinded. That's part one of the deception.

Part two is that Smitherman was not being truthful when he stated he knew nothing of his brother's contract prior to a week ago. Well, that is not true, and this 2009 NAACP press release provides evidence that he did know his brother was working on the Streetcar project.

The Cincinnati NAACP has been briefed that Jostin Concrete has joined the Mayor's streetcar team. The owner of Jostin Concrete is the brother of Cincinnati NAACP President, Christopher Smitherman. Citizens will have the opportunity to witness the integrity and commitment of President Smitherman, the Cincinnati NAACP leadership and membership. Jostin Concrete may have a great opportunity, however, building a "choo-choo" train is the wrong public policy direction for the masses of Cincinnatians. Smitherman says, "I deeply respect the independence of my brother's company. I am confident that the issue will be rejected in November."

So, this is the new chairman of the Law and Public Safety Committee lying to citizens of Cincinnati? If he is making false statements about this, how can anyone trust anything he is saying? He should not vote on the Streetcar until he obtains a favorable opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission and Smitherman must provide proof of all of his claims.

We don't need liars on City Council.

Why Tim Burke Must Go

When asked by the Enquirer about Cranley's snubbing of two Democratic members of council Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke had the following to say:

'“I’m sorry that that happened, and beyond that I’m not going to say any more,” said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.'

Once again Cranley is damaging the Democratic Party and Tim Burke sits by and lets him do it. Burke needs to be removed as Chairman of the HCDP. The 2013 Republican victory is the latest blunder that has happened under Burke's rein. That win came about in part from the following occurrences:

1. Burke allowing Cranley to run as the de facto GOP candidate with no penalty.
2. Since Cranley was running as the GOP candidate, Burke failing to push for a Qualls endorsement.
3. Burke allowing the Dems to endorse 10 for council.
4. Burke failing to get turnout remotely close to 2011.

The man is running the local party like it is 1988 and Hamilton County has not turned Blue. If the local Dems would start building up candidates insteading of relying on legacies, the party might grow to the dominate force its numbers suggest it should be in the City and the County.

Cranley Shows Republican Stripes in Committee Chair Appointments

I would love to hear how alleged Democrat John Cranley and his supporters are spinning Cranley's major insult to local Democrats with only four of nine committee chairs going to Dems and a total shut out of the most important Finance and Public Safety chairs. Those two chairs went to a Republican and a Tea Party crazy person. Yes, Charlie Winburn will run the Finance Committee and a guy who accused another former Council Member of being  CIA plant will oversee the Public Safety Committee.

No, we are not living in a Bizzaro world, but it really feels like it.

I hope Tim Burke took note, but I don't suppose he cares much. Instead, I really hope Democratic party activists take notice. Cranley is out to screw over the Dems and candidates they might seek to run for other offices.

His petty attack earlier this week on PG Sittenfeld played right into the long term hands of the GOP. It was as if he was paying back obligations to the GOP. It was just like that, as a matter of fact, so I wonder what he got from them.... If you have to wonder about that, you haven't been paying attention.

WVXU Changes: Cincinnati Edition Moves to 1PM; Here & Now 2-4

'The Story', the current 1 PM show on WVXU is ceasing production, so WVXU has announced that 'Cincinnati Edition' will move to 1 PM and the program 'Here & Now' will be added at 2 to 4 PM starting December 2. The Takeaway appears to be off the line up. During Thanksgiving week, multiple specials will air from 1 to 4, with 'Science Friday' airing as usual on Black Friday.

Blogging Isn't Cool Sums Up 'The Cincinnati Streetcar Controversy'

Quimbob over at Blogging Isn't Cool pretty much sums up the core of the streetcar 'controversy' with this quote:

"Killing the streetcar isn't about economics or the future of the city - it's about local power and ego."

Is Cranley's ego worth 80 Million Dollars?

Repulbican Efforts to Suppress the Vote Continue

Not sure who Greg Hartmann (R) thinks he is fooling but his idea to move the Hamilton County Board of Elections from Downtown to Mt. Airy is little more than an attempt to suppress the vote of non-Republicans by making it more difficult to vote. Bus routes to the West Side are not plentiful.

Additionally, by putting part of County Government in a remote part of the County it makes it far more difficult for people to have access. Government should be located where travel is most convenient for everyone, not just a few. Downtown is that place.

Where will they hold training for poll workers? How do they expect poll workers get to Mt. Airy if they live in Avondale?

Plus, if the BOE is keeping a location downtown, why have a second location? If they need more space, find something else in Downtown. There are plenty of options.

Good Advice from Don Mooney: Get Over It, Then Get Ready

UrbanCincy had a very good guest editorial yesterday Get Over It, Then Get Ready from Don Mooney. This is good advice not just on the Streetcar issue, but more importantly on the anti-city movement that has plagued Cincinnati since the onslaught of the last major urban flight in the 1960-1970's.

Will Someone Get Cranley and Kincaid a Copy of the City Charter?

When I read this blog post it gave me a really distinct impression: either Cranley is more ignorant than I think he is, or he's hired a staffer who is far more ignorant than he should be at this point. This gem is the example:

Jay Kincaid, Cranley’s campaign chief who’s moving to City Hall with him, said Monday they’d have to look into whether they technically needed a vote or if Cranley could just halt the work himself.

In case Kincaid hasn't already, I suggest he read Section III of the City Charter.  The Mayor doesn't have the authority to overturn an enacted ordinance.

In other words, he really doesn't have a much power as people think he does.

The Power is vested in the City Council and to a lesser degree the City Manager.  The Mayor can't really do a whole hell of a lot without Council.  His power is more in blocking Council actions via the veto or controlling what they can vote on.

Kincaid might brush up on his reading pretty quickly.