Damon Lynch III's Church to Leave Over-the-Rhine

I find it very surprising that the New Prospect Baptist Church is leaving Over-the-Rhine. I am surprised that Damon Lynch III would do that. From a pure practical perspective, the article lays out a case for the church, which appears to want a more big box church facility. That's not something you would find in OTR. I thought, however, that part of the Church's mission was to reach the trouble youth of the inner-city, which places them right where they need to be. Are they abandoning that mission or are do they see that mission being more of an issue in other neighborhoods in the City? On the other hand are they looking to capitalize on the demand for property in that part of OTR?

I am really not sure what to make of this. What does it say about the neighborhood? We are days away from the 10th anniversary of the killing to Timothy Thomas and the Riots of 2001 and a church that was at the epicenter of those events announces they are leaving the neighborhood. The neighborhood is on the upward rise. I want to live in a diverse neighborhood, and New Prospect leaving makes it less diverse. Or does it? As the article points out, most of the people going to the church don't live in OTR, so does this really affect much at all?

Section 8 Housing in the Burbs? It's Hell Freezing Over Time!

I know there are going to be curse words, shouts, and protests if 'public housing' increases in the suburban areas of Hamilton County, but since this is part of a deal to resolve a discrimination complaint, legal action to block the housing will have a bigger hurdle.

It is only fair that 'public housing' is included in all areas of the county. It should also be inlcuded outside of the county as well, for I would surmise Warren County doesn't have much, if any, Section 8 housing.

Sidenote: I am also very glad the Enquirer does not have comments turned on for that article. The racist and bigoted comments would fill up your screen if they did.

Happy Opening Day: Let's Go Reds!!!

Enjoy the Findlay Market Parade!

My Plan: Expose Meaningless Political Speech

We all hate meaningless poltical speech, but politians continue to use it. Why? Well, the "we" I use means those reading this blog and other political commentary. That "we" doesn't include most people.  The average person in America doesn't bother to pay attention to anything other than American Idol. When they do finally pay attention it is for about 2 minutes and that is only enough time for a candidate to give a few political generalities about their ideas. 99% of the time they are meaningless.

In the City Council Election we are going to see this a lot. Today I offer up the meaningless political speech of the week from Republican candidate Catherine Smith Mills. In a recent blog post on her campaign website she addressed her "Mills Means Jobs Plan." She emphasized it to the point of putting it in bold.

I looked through her website for a white paper. I didn't find one. I looked for some type of listing of what the plan would entail. I didn't find anything. A plan to create jobs is not an easy thing to create, if you are actually going to write up how to create jobs.

Instead I found this on her "issues" page:

Mills Means Jobs: Job Creation, Retention, & Economic Development

I support job creation and retention efforts for businesses, because a city with a strong tax base can support its services. We must stop unnecessary barriers for business creation and growth. The vitality of small businesses in Cincinnati and the cultivation of the entrepreneurial spirit are key components to our City’s future success. I will work to develop new polices[sic], research tax incentives, and create a business friendly atmosphere in which companies of all sizes have an opportunity to succeed.

So her plan is nothing but typical light Republican fare with a little extra pro-business sauce on the side.

That's not a plan, that just word tested meaningless political speech that maybe a few ignorant people will think means something. What she needs to do is tell the truth: She's willing to give away the farm to businesses, and hope they actually hire people here. She's not going to do anything that is unfriendly to them, so I presume that includes NOT making it legally binding that any give-away to business requires the business to maintain a number of jobs here in the City (as opposed to overseas or out of state.)  If Mills would do that, why not put it in print?

What she has put out their so far is meaningless. There is no detail. There is the illusion of detail, but that is worse than no having no political rhetoric at all.

Mills is not and will not be unique in this or any campaign. She's just the first I chose to look over. There will be more.  We can only hope other candidates will try a little harder to provide more details on their websites.

The Mightly Casey Coston At Bat: Home Run

Soapbox columnist Casey Coston's article this week elegantly summarizes the recent attacks being made on Cincinnati. Those attacks are not from a foreign land or even a different state, (Pittsburgh is not a suspect.) These attacks are coming from Exurban Ohio law makers bent on pushing an anti-Cincinnati, anti-urban, and dogmatic conservative agenda on the City of Cincinnati and the entire State of Ohio. We must not let this go unchallenged and must be heard. Kudos to Casey for this brazen commentary.

Señor Roy's Taco Patrol to Close?

This Tweet from @Señor Roy indicates the owners looking to get out of the business by selling the food truck.

@SenorRoys
Señor Roy
Wehave had a fabulous time with everyone, but for personal reasons, we have decided to offer SRTP for sale. Inbox fordetails

There have been rumors going around that they might be going under, but this is the first credible comment I've seen that indicates the establishment may close. I've had good food from the mobile eatery, and will be sorry to see them go.

Recommendations for Democratic Endorsements For Council Floated

A listing of recommendations for the Democratic Council enforcements were made public at a recent fundraising event.  These are not finalized, but would be the preliminary slate, pending official action from the City Dems.  There are:

Incumbents:
Roxanne Qualls
Laure Quinlivan
Cecil Thomas
Wendell Young

Challengers:
Nicolas Hollan
Jason Riveiro
Chris Seelbach
P.G. Sittenfeld
Yvette Simpson

Two key points:

• It is unknown if Qualls and/or Simpson either have or are seeking the double endorsement from the Charter Committee.  If they don't, Charter may only have once candidate running (Kevin Flynn).
• One name you don't see is Bernadette Watson.  She logically would be a good candidate, with her good showing in 2009, but not seeing her name on this list leads me to presume she is not running.

On the Democratic and liberal side, I've not heard of anyone else running for office other than those on this list.  For all of my ranting about the GOP not fielding a full slate, the Dems barely have nine running.  At last count, there are only 15 confirmed candidates with Bortz and Smitherman still unknowns.  17 candidates total would be the lowest number as far back as I found online, 18 being the next lowest twice.

Outside of the possible inclusion of Chris Smitherman, what we are missing are the fringe and crazy candidates.  It is still early, so maybe some unknowns will get into the race this summer.

Buffalo Killers Play MOTR April 1st - No Fooling

The Buffalo Killers Live at MOTR Pub
1345 Main Street
April 1st, 2011 - 10 PM
2 Sets - No Cover


No one is fooling you...well at least not about the Buffalo Killers.


Come see one of Cincinnati best bands drive their Garage Blues groove straight into soul and out through your finger tips.

A Look Inside Saengerhalle - OTR

It Appears Charlie Don't Surf

City Council member Charlie Winburn is NOT looking to Serf come the end of June. Instead he has a different type of Endless Summer planned.

I think he maybe should go for a swim in the Mill Creek, instead.

Enquirer Prints Ignorant Anti-NPR 'Your Voice' Column

Yes, this is another water is wet blog post, but the Cincinnati Enquirer again published a completely ignorant column.  This one is from someone named Pete Frank from Hamilton. Mr. Frank rambled on against PBS and NPR in something resembling a transcript from a talk radio caller.

It is obvious that Pete Frank hasn't actually listened to NPR or watched his local PBS station.  If he had he would know that his 'column' is about as ignorant as you can be when it comes to public media.  I am confused, therefore, why the Enquirer would publish this.

When you get someone using the phrases 'academic progressive elitist,' 'normal Americans,; and'socialist dribble,' mixed with a frothing at the mouth attack on all journalists, then I presume the Enquirer is actually laughing about this column. They find it comical.  It is so ignorant and filled with extremist talking points that it must be farce.  It makes little sense, but the vocabulary and grammar are no worse than mine, so Pete Frank is not unintelligent.  How else can you explain something to be so willfully ignorant and full of baseless and hollow points? I will not even get into him mentioning PBS, but ignoring it the rest of the 'column.'

There is no other logical reason to publish this for the Enquirer than to be playing some type of inside joke. It basically implies liberals are not "normal" at least not in America, so what gives?

While I know the Enquirer's editorial page is Republican, I don't think they are FOX News nutty. They at times can be full of shit as much as FOX News, but that comes with writing for Exurban audiences and the "Fourth Street" crowd. Are the Exurbanites around here as nutty as Pete Frank? Are local Business interests that closed minded?  Are there no more intellectual Republicans willing to actually speak up for fact and not hide behind their fear of public opinion within their voter/audience base? NPR and PBS are preserving American culture, almost without any help from the for-profit media world.

I'm being serious here. I know there are many leftists out there who see conspiracy from the Enquirer and local Republicans and want to lump them in with the growing insane Tea Party wing of the GOP, but historically that is not the type views they have held. I am sure the editorial staff of the Enquier listen to the NPR as much as I do. Hell, I would bet former Enquirer columnists Peter Bronson listens as well. Most of the Editorial Board would surely find fault with NPR as anyone can with any organization. Would any editor at the Enquirer be able to willingly pander to the Pete Franks of the world and be able to look upon themselves as Journalists when they wake the next day and look in the mirror?  I hope they aren't doing that, and I hope this column was published as more of a joke than anything else.  Something tells me that it wasn't.

Creation Muesum Founder Banned from Home Schooling Convention For 'Ungodly' Comments

The delusional mistaken founder of the Creation Muesum, Ken Ham, had been banned from a homeschool convention to take place in Cincinnati next week.

He was banned for making "ungodly and mean-spirited" comments about another speaker at the convention who believes the biblical story of the fall of Adam and Even can be viewed as an allegory. The speaker Ham spoke against is Peter Enns of the Biologos Foundation. Here's the description of the group from its website:

The BioLogos Foundation is a group of Christians, many of whom are professional scientists, biblical scholars, philosophers, theologians, pastors, and educators, who are concerned about the long history of disharmony between the findings of science and large sectors of the Christian faith

Ham is clearly an extremist, but it takes a special kind of extremist to attack people who are trying to promote harmony between groups who share sometimes conflicting views. That kind of extremism has lead to violence in the past. This convention was wise to ban Ken Ham.

Council Member Amy Murray Discovers Fire, Again.

I don't know what book of clichés Council Member Amy Murray dug this media stunt from, but man it is old. Having the story on WVXU is foolish for two reasons. First it is foolish the local NPR affiliate WVXU fell for this stunt. There are surely better news stories in Cincinnati. The second is that the average listener/reader of WVXU is going to trend more educated, and more likely to see this as a hollow stunt. The NPR audience would also be more concerned about how much more her plan would cost. She's a Republican and won't raise taxes, so how many jobs will she cut to make this happen? PayGo, Amy, Paygo. If she gets this story on local TV news, then Suburbanites will eat this up. Too bad they can't vote for her.

Kasich Cuts Cincinnati Funding, But Increases Exurban Columbus Funding

In case you wanted to believe the lie that Kasich was going to cut the streetcar because we can't afford it, then read the Cincinnati Business Courier article reporting Jon Kasich's TRAC representatives seek to increase the Transportation budget for his home town. From the article:

"Among the projects added is a $5 million improvement to an I-71 interchange in Delaware County and $2.7 million for an “east-west connector” in Pickaway County. Both projects are in the former Ohio Congressional district of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has been an outspoken opponent of Cincinnati's streetcar project."

Kasich's exurban home gets additional fund he can't justify, but Cincinnati does planning, does the research to prove the value of the Street, secures the federal funding, and we get screwed. How can people honestly buy this is not just political payback?

In case you wondered, Cincinnati area projects got 82% of the TRAC cuts, but I couldn't find an increase in funding in any urban area.

By the way, I'd like to hear local Republican officials defend Kasich on this. I could use a good laugh.

Finally, if the Enquirer's Barry Hortsman knew what journalism entails, he might have included the facts from the Business Courier Story. Instead, he got quotes from Winburn and Finney, the Gary Busey and Mel Gibson of Cincinnati Intellectual discourse. Hortsman is not showing signs of being a marginally passable reporter, but showing signs of practicing what ever FOX News does.

More from UrbanCincy.

Lippert Named to Replace Berding on Council and Begins With a Partisan Message

Wayne Lippert Jr. has been named to replace Jeff Berding on Cincinnati City Council. He's wasted no time in putting a partisan foot forward by toting the anti-streetcar (and anti-downtown) message of the Republican Party.  Pretending to be open minded about the Streetcar, but then saying the only way possible to financing the project is "inappropriate" confirms either he is against the project or he doesn't know the details. If there are other ways to finance public transportation (like roads or a streetcar) than through Federal and State grants along with city bonds, then I'll be looking for his financing plan. If he's not looking for another plan, especially now when part of the funding is in peril, then he is just AGAINST the project and is trying to fool the small number of Republican Urbanists into thinking he will act to help develop the urban core.

I hope Wayne is able to avoid caving into "special interests," as the article indicates, but talking about police and fire layoffs as only a last resort to fixing our budget issues is really hollow rhetoric and just spin.  Unless you are going to put police and fire layoffs on the table with equal footing to all other areas in the city budget, then you are caving into the dogma of the police and fire unions, and those are both special interests.  If Lippert falls in line with the rest of the Republicans on council and pushes to outsource as many city jobs to lower paying private vendors, then his hypocrisy will become clear.  The interests of business owners (as big of a special interest as you can get) who don't live or work here shouldn't be more important than the citizens of Cincinnati.

Also, I really question the logic of anyone who thinks the government should be run like a business.  If you know how businesses are run, you know why this is a horrible idea.  It is a common mistake, but makes for a great sound-bite for many suckers out there.

At this point Lippert is sounding like another Leslie Ghiz, he's just not pretending to be more moderate at the beginning and is starting off as a partisan Republican, getting it out of the way.  That's very disappointing.  I don't like partisan politics invading city politics.  I'm willing to listen to others who hold different political views than I do, and find common ground.  When you come out swinging with partisan talking points, then you are going to be viewed a partisan and against finding the Cincinnati community.  At this point the only people Wayne Lippert seems to reaching out to are suburban anti-city Republicans and the largly non-city resident police and fire unions. I dont' know who he plans on getting votes from, but he's not getting mine.

If Republicans Want to Help Voters, Then Include Auto Registratrion

Two local Republicans are pushing a bill to reduce the number of voters, yet claim this will prevent voter fraud. Alex Triantafilou, chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party and chair of the Hamilton County Board of Elections thinks by making it more difficult to vote, it protects the right to vote. His logic escapes me and anyone else looking to increase voter turnout.

If Republicans want to make assure their identity, but also are for more people voting, then there two things they can do:

1. Investigate the 14% voter fraud in Indian Hill (I am half kidding on this.)
2. If they require a state ID to vote, make it law that anyone with a valid State ID is then automatically registered to vote and you stay registered to vote as long as your ID is valid. Why would they be against this, unless they really don't want more people to vote?

I'm not expecting either because the point of requiring photo ID is to reduce poorer, inner city, and minority voters. In other words, Democratic voters. Denying that is like denying water is wet or that Germans love David Hasselhoff.

For Kasich It's Not About the Streetcar, It's All About His Political Agenda

If anyone tells you that the reason Governor Kasich is pulling funding for Cincinnati Streetcar is anything other than Politics, then they are a fucking liar. You can tell them I am calling them a liar and you can put these simple political reasons back in their face:

Kasich is pulling funding because:

• He's looking to screw those that don't vote for him and the City of Cincinnati really didn't vote for him with only 28.77% supporting him, so Kasich plays hardball with State funds for revenge.
• He's looking to do what his fellow Republicans want and Most (not all) of Cincinnati area Republican leaders are against the Streetcar as they are against nearly anything good for Cincinnati. If you don't think Kasich heard anti-Streetcar views from Hartman, Monzel, Ghiz, Winburn, Deters, Brinkman, Finney, Chabot, Triantafilou & Boehner, then you should get your head out of your ass.
• He's anti-Urban, plain and simple, something that is a growing theme for Republicans. It fits the divide of much of the political sphere. The Exurbs and Rural areas are where Republican voters lives so they are going to get more money from Republicans.
• He's anti-Rail. He's against anything that does not make it easier for Republican voters drive their cars.  He's also is looking to promote the automotive industry and asphalt/concrete/road construction industries.  It is like he's living in 1955 and can't get his head out of his ass.

What is more insulting is how Kasich did this.  He didn't do what normal respectable Governors do when breaking bad news, namely call the Mayor and issue a press release.  Instead Kasich makes flippant and arrogant comments to the media right here in Cincinnati.  He comes into our town and insults us.  Kasich shows he is a jerk.  I'm not name calling, I'm being nice.  The term "jerk" is not the first one to come to mind, but I'm trying to be a little more classy.  I'm not above being crass (as I'm first to admit), but as I make this point, I'll try and be far more classy that he was.

If you are not convinced yet of Republicans out to ruin cities, then read Urbancincy's article documenting the efforts for the Republicans on the Ohio Senate Sub Committee on Transportation to directly defund the Cincinnati Streetcar.  Not just any streetcar or rail system, but Cincinnati's alone.  Guess who sits on the committee: Senator Gary Cates (R) of West Chester.  So, did he propose this effort to hurt Cincinnati? Who's ideas was it and where did it originate? To bad there is not more than one professional reporter in Columbus to ask these questions.  It would be even better if that newspaper would actually print anything about it.

CityKin points out evidence of Mr. AssfaultAsphalt's problem and what I would call corruption.  He makes a bad Sheriff to Kasich's Prince John, but the if the parallel fits, wear it.

Reminder: Cincinnati Imports Event Tonight - Monday March 21st at MOTR

Everyone is welcome to the Cincinnati Imports next event: happy hour at MOTR on 3/21, Here's the detail from the website:

"Join Cincinnati Imports on Monday, March 21 from 6-9 p.m. for a Happy Hour at MOTR Pub at 1345 Main Street. MOTR Pub is a newish bar and restaurant specializing in local music--they also have great beer and food.

All are welcome! Cincinnati Imports Happy Hours are low-key, and it's a fantastic way to meet new people.

MOTR is extending their awesome happy hour prices to 9 p.m., and they have great food, as well (with vegetarian options). Monday night has a $3 martini special, while Happy hour prices include:
$2.5 on select Draft
$3.25 Wells
$4 Wine"

Cincy Playhouse Announces 2011-2012 Season

Rick Pender at CityBeat has the full rundown of next year's season at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, which is the 20th and final season for Producing Artistic Director Ed Stern, who is retiring.

Someone at the Enquirer is Pushing an Anti-Downtown Bias, Again

I think someone at the Enquirer needs to buy a map. This article, which is titled: Ham. Co. taxpayers subsidizing downtown parking, talks about how County Commissioners are considering selling parking garages, which are located Downtown. The article also talks about how those Downtown lots are cheaper than many other lots and some of those lots are required to be provided as part of the Stadium leases.

Monzel is quoted as saying they are "subsidizing" these spaces. Something he would say because he wants the cost of everything to go up. Monzel likely loves the headline, but based on quotes I read in the article I don't read him painting this as subsidy of Downtown. Still don't need a map, yet, just maybe they don't need to spin the story so much.  But, hold on a second...

What the writing of the headline (again which read "Ham. Co. taxpayers subsidizing downtown parking") forgets is that DOWNTOWN IS LOCATED IN HAMILTON COUNTY. Downtown is NOT some foreign country. Downtown is NOT in Kentucky. Downtown is WHERE THE HAMILTON COUNTY COMMISSION MEETS. Do the Commission members park in lots that the County owns when they are doing County Business?  I am betting they do.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn they get free parking in county lots.

The headline, whether intentional or not, states that Hamilton County Tax payers are subsidizing Downtown.  The grammar which the editor likely would point to may not have been intended, but I doubt that.  There was no need to state in the headline where the parking lots were located.  The context of the article did that quite clearly.  All you would have to do is drop the word "downtown" and it wouldn't have been a problem. (At least not the headline.)  There is an anti-City and specifically anti-Downtown elements in parts of the County and the headline makes a tax payer in Anderson Township or Montgomery (or even Westwood) more likely draw an unrelated conclusion that would build the anti-Downtown attitude.  Too many non-city and non-urban (in the case of the some parts of Westwood) still will bad mouth Downtown, but we don't need the local media giving them false impressions feeding their hate.

I have repeatedly written about the need for headline writers to be VERY CAREFUL when they are writing.  People far too often only read the headlines and don't pay attention to the grammar subtleties.  Furthermore those who read the article are greatly influenced by the headline.  People might think Monzel bad mouthed Downtown if they read that headline.  I didn't read that in the body of the article, but you could have that impression.  I don't doubt Monzel has a disdain for Downtown, which his votes in the past have shown, but we don't need bias in our headlines.  Save that for the Editorial page.

Also, shouldn't the lead of the article been about parking rates at some county owned lots are going up?  That was buried.  That's odd.

Census Numbers Conflict With Voter Registration

Bill Sloat at the Daily Bellwether is reporting on a key problem with the 2010 Census numbers.  Sloat reports the Adult vs Child population breakdown from the 2010 Census.  The total City of Cincinnati Population listed is 296,943 of which 231,237 are adult, aged 18 or older.  That leaves 65,706 children.

Now, let's compare this to the last few years totals of registered voters:

Year	Registered Voters	%
2010	209,259	90.50%
2009	225,680	97.60%
2008	229,413	99.21%
2007	212,303	91.81%
2005	212,202	91.77%
2004	215,454	93.17%

The % above is based on registered voters divided by the 2010 adult population of 231,237.

So, a few months before the Census time frame (April 1, 2010) we had approximately 98% voter registration. I had no idea we did that well. Similarly, seven months later we had 91% voter registration, a large drop, but it continued the normal drop from a presidential election, yet still very high.

What gives? We obviously don't have that high of a registration rate. We obvioulsy don't have that much voter registration error or fraud, no matter how many Republicans want claim such. We know both points are true because the article points out that similar rates can be seen county wide.  We also know this to be valid if we look at some other municipalities within the County.  As an example take Cheviot, not known as a liberal bastion, which has a 2010 population according to the census of 8,375 with 6,547 adults aged 18 years or more.  The voting registration for Cheviot in November for 2010 was 5,293 or 81%.

So, I'm sure that Republicans are thinking, hmmm, that is 10% lower than Cincinnati, must be something fishy going there.  Well, before you worry about Cincinnati, you might want to take a look at Indian Hill.  The Village of Indian Hill (actually a city) has a 2010 population of 5,785 with adults over age 18 totaling 4,221.  In the November election Indian Hill had a voter registration of 4,797.  If you know your math, and I know you do, that would equal a registration rate of 114%.  Sure, 500 kids could have turned 18 after April 1st, 2010, but before election day and they all could have registered to vote.  I doubt that.

No, I'm not claiming voter fraud is occurring en masse in Indian Hill, nor am I saying our Board of Election is careless. Instead I suggest the census numbers are wrong. There is little doubt that the entire county was undercounted.

Enquirer Covers Small Protest in Mason, But What About Thousands Downtown?

Yes, it is a good thing that the Enquirer covered a protest in Mason, even though it attracts a slue of idiotic comments. The protest had a few dozen people, so was it worth it in the big picture?

I ask if it was worth it because yesterday afternoon there were reportedly 3 to 4 thousand people on Fountain Square, protesting the Governor's plan to gut the State Budget in his plan to destroy many public services. I can't find a word about it online in the Enquirer. I understand this took place during part of the first play-in game for the NCAA basketball tournament, but I figured it would at least get mentioned in the politics blog.

700WLW has a Story on it. WVXU also has a story. Local Radio represents!

Local TV was pretty weak, but had some presence. WCPO had a story. FOX19 had a story, but claimed "hundreds", which by all other report was just incorrect. I found nothing on WLWT and nothing on WKRC.

We have local news events happening and we don't have local news reporters covering them. Our local media is failing, again.

So Radio ruled, local TV was weak, and the Enquirer cared more about a couple dozen people in Mason than thousands in Downtown Cincinnati.

The local media have starved themselves down to so few reporters they can't do the job. I am holding back from saying that the Enquirer purposely ignored this rally for political reasons, but just couldn't one editor have asked a reporter who maybe doesn't normally cover local politics to walk, just WALK, over to the rally a few blocks away and file a story? No one has to expense anything, but maybe one less sports story or human interest fluff piece gets printed. I know, a big sacrifice, but someone must bare it.

There wasn't even an AP story on this, but that I think falls to the Enquirer's failure.

P.S. If someone actually finds a story in the Enquirer on this, then someone over there needs to improve the search function or at least get it indexed in Google.

Interesting Question: 'Why are symphony concerts selling out?'

The Enquirer's classical music reporter, Janelle Gelfand, asks a very good question: Why are symphony concerts selling out? I really enjoy the symphony, but haven't had time to go yet this season, but a ton of people are going, with ticket sales up 16% over last years so far. Keep it up! And while you are thinking about art, check out Artswave and donate! I did!

Figure Out How to Close the 8 Billion Dollar Budget Gap by Using This Gadget

Cleveland.com has published a cool tool with a long list of ways to fill the eight billion dollar budget gap. You can cut spending and raise revenues in many creative and fair ways and some very draconian ways.  It isn't that difficult to figure out how to do it.  I'd like to see a similar  gadget used for Cincinnati's budget gap at the end of this year.

Western & Southern Adding 100 Jobs Downtown

WLWT is reporting even more good news for Downtown with word that Western & Southern is adding up to 100 more jobs over the next few months to its Downtown Headquarters. The article reports that the jobs will mostly be in the Insurance and Information Services areas.

City Reaches Deal to Add 55 Jobs Downtown

The Enquirer is reporting that the City has a deal to keep First Financial Downtown for 12 years and add 55 more jobs by 2014. According to the article, First Financial Plans to invest 4 million dollars in its Downtown facilities.

We needed some positive news for the City, so this helps a little.

Who Is Running For Cincinnati City Council? An Update:

With the Republican slate set, the time to choose is here for candidates to make up their minds on running for Cincinnati City Council.  For new candidates, the time honestly came and went.  For prior candidates the time is now. Here's the latest on who is or believed to be running for Cincinnati City Council in 2011:

Incumbents:
Leslie Ghiz
Amy Murray
Roxanne Qualls
Laure Quinlivan
Cecil Thomas
Charlie Winburn
Wendell Young

Previous Candidates:
Nicholas Hollan
Kevin Flynn

New Candidates:
Wayne Lippert Jr.
Jason Riveiro
Chris Seelback
P.G. Sittenfeld
Catherine Smith Mills
Yvette Simpson

Unknown Status:
Chris Bortz
Christopher Smitherman
Bernadette Watson

Is there anyone missing?

Dear Jeff Berding: Hurry Up and Resign Already

City Council Member Jeff Berding announced back on January 27th that he would be resigning in a matter of weeks. Well, it is going on six weeks later, and he's not gone yet. It's time for him to hurry up and resign. No one likes long goodbyes.

WCPO's Coverage of the 10th Anniversary of the Riots Begins

WCPO will have 30 days of coverage leading up to April 7th anniversary of Timothy Thomas' death, starting Today, March 7th.

Has Wendell Young Killed the CPD-Sheriff Merger Until After the Election?

If you take the mayor's threat serious to veto any effort to outsource to or merge the police department with the Hamilton County Sheriff's office, then you need a veto proof majority to pass any such ordinance. With Wendell Young basically coming out against a merger, does that kill any plan until a new council is sworn in on December 1st? I am going to say, yes, that kills the idea for now.

The study should still be done, however. We need to talk about this plan, if nothing else, especially if this becomes an issue in the campaign. With all of the Republican union bashing it will be fun to see the hypocrisy from the likes of Republicans Ghiz and Winburn. Both have been pretty much silent on SB 5, the State Bill that will strip away collective bargaining rights for public sector unions, included in FOP, making a police/sheriff merger less of a need. You don't need to bust a union that already been crushed by the Governor.

'Full' Slate of GOP Council Endorsements Are Out

CityBeat's Kevin Osborne has the full list of Republican endorsements for Cincinnati City Council. There are Five:

Incumbents:
Leslie Ghiz
Amy Murrary
Charlie Winburn

New Comers:
Wayne Lippert
Catherine Smith Mills

Yes, a short list yet again. I am glad to see some new people in the mix, but what holds the Republicans back from even fielding enough candidates to over-ride a Mayoral veto?

Wayne Lippert Receives Republican Endorsement

Based on a Facebook status post to his page, Wayne Lippert, candidate for Cincinnati City Council, got the Hamilton County Republican Party endorsement last night. I've not see a press release on this yet, nor have I heard who else got the endorsement. It will be interesting to see if the GOP puts up enough candidates to fill a super-majority of seats on council or not. In the past, they haven't had the candidates to do so.

Indiana Republican SOS Indicted On Voter Fraud Charges

It would appear that our neighbors to the West have a really big problem with the man in charge of elections. Talking Points Memo is reporting that Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was indicted on voter fraud charges. Yes, you read that correctly, the man in charge of elections for the State of Indinana, who was just elected last November, has been indicted for Voter Fraud.  I don't know if Irony can't be exemplified better, at least not in politics.

2011 Bockfest Kicks off on March 4th!!

Bockfest starts tomorrow night! Get all of the information at www.bockfest.com.

What you need to do during Bockfest:

1. Go to the Bockfest Parade on Friday night.  It starts at 5:30 PM at Arnold's and goes up Main Street and left on Liberty.  This is a can't miss event with lots of goat leggings sightings
2. the Beer Blessing: Once the parade reaches Bockfest Hall, their will be a blessing by a real live priest, usually with holy water, something different for us non-Catholics.  Don't worry, this isn't for the religious only, just don't tell anyone you are not a Christian, they might make your chug a beer.
3. Visit Bockfest Hall: I'd go Friday and/or Saturday night when things are rowdiest.  Jake Speed plays on Friday night and the Sausage Queen finals are Saturday with the Kentucky Struts playing after.
4. Eat lots of food: Bock beer is stronger than most beer, so drinking 3 large beers is not like drink 3 large Bud Lights.  This stuff will take its toll.  That is why you need lots of food to keep you closer to being sober, than not.  If you smell food, I'd go find the line and buy something!
5. Check out some interesting places like the Know Theatre for special Bockfest events.
6. Check out some of the unique events and tours (if you can get tour tickets), check out www.bockfest.com for more.  

MPMF: Midpoint Website Redo and Showcase Submissions Open

Check out their new website at MPMF.com. Bands, you better act now and submit your media packet to Sonic Bids, so you can find out if you have what it takes for MidPoint. Go to the website for all of the details. You have until May 16th, but why avoid the rush?

Cincinnati Bengals Burned By Cincinnati Commandos' Ad

A Republican is Lying About Union Protestors

Yes, this is a 'water is wet' type of story, but the Enquirer is reporting it, so it must be pretty egregious. Lie about the purpose of Senate Bill Five, you don't get noticed. Lie about taking a crap, you get noticed.

How Will the Cincinnati Media Tackle the 10th Anniversary of the Riots?

We are less than two months away from the 10 year anniversary of the Riots that followed the police shooting of Timothy Thomas. It is the time for the local media to be planning how they are going to commemorate that event, if at all. I think I found one such plan from WCPO with this Twitter account: @TEN_YEARS_LATER. A quick search on WCPO's website turns up this test post, which indicates that a least a story is in the works, if not more.

I'm not looking forward to looking back on the Riots. Other than living in Cincinnati at the time and from my ninth story office watching a couple dozen kids cause some minor vandlism Downtown, I didn't experience them. I followed the news coverage of the riots like a hawk, and it was terrible. It showed a lack of understanding and of experience in coverage of the rioters point of view. No journalist had any remembered ability to get inside the story as it was happening over multiple days.  Instead the press was driven off by small incidents of rock or bottle throwing or were held back by the police from entering  most of Over-the-Rhine, which was the center of most of the violence.

There were several good pieces that ran well after the riots, but the importance of the early and first draft of history type reporting is critical. In the case of April 2001, our local media failed to know what was going on. They couldn't or wouldn't get into the scene and cover it. They stood by the sidelines and bought the hype and what little they could get from police scanners or the handful of contacts on scene as the only story. That was not good journalism.  With the vast reduction of news gathering resources of today's media, I don't believe they could do any better now.  Citizen journalists can't make-up the difference and provide objective reporting that is comprehensive, serving every part of the public.

The City and it's citizens overall ability to deal with those types of situations, like both the shooting and the riots after, can better be handled with a local media that can engage all segments of the population. 10 years ago, one segment was vastly undeserved.  I don't think it has measurably improved.

Make Cincinnati Weird is Still Really Weird and We Like It

A new team has relaunched the local blog Make Cincinnati Weird. They've put out a new mission statement which reads:

This Blog was created by Gerard Sychay. Recently, a group of Cincinnati weirdos have joined forces to carry on the mission Gerard began. The goal is to document the quirky, offbeat, and… well… weird goodness of Cincinnati. The single guiding principle, is that diversity breeds strength.

Jake Gerth, Kevin Feldman, Rebecca Nebert, Latria Roberts, Josh Laichas, Chris Grunden, Kara Driscoll, and Hannah Gerth have joined forces to embrace Cincinnati’s weirdness and support the road less traveled. Welcome to our journey…

As the most normal person in the entire world, I can't relate to this website in any way, but I applaud their effort to shed some light on Cincinnati and show a side of it that I will never know.

(Yes, I am joking...it really is just a bunch of weirdos)

Looks Like a Northside Bar Needs to Close

When someone is murdered at your bar, it moves to the top of the list to be closed. It is time to close Club 360.

Too Much Fluff, Not Enough Gruff

Is is just me or does it seem that most of the news stories you see on local TV news about our members of Congress are Fluff pieces?

Yes, I know, Local TV news viewers don't care about politics, at all. I also know this is rather obvious, but am pointing it out again, just so everyone doesn't forget.  Courting ignorance is no way to run a news operation, but local TV News has a big ass box of chocolates and is camped out on ignorance's doorstep.  They've been camped out there for years and show no sign of looking for a better litter box to sniff.

Jake Speed and Bock Beer, What Else Do You Want at Bockfest, a Goat?

Bockfest 2011

The People Behind the Know Theatre Share Why they Do It

The Know Theatre is one of my favorite organizations in Cincinnati and that has to do mostly with the great people that work there. The newly hired Managing Director, Haley Elkins, wrote a blog post about why she works in the non-profit arts world and got her coworkers to chime in as to why they work incredibly long hours for relatively modest pay.

As fan of Know's work, I am very happy they are doing it and it makes me proud they do it right here in Cincinnati.

If you want to show your love for this organization, you can do so in person on Tuesday March 8th at their Mardi Gras fundraiser.  Starting at 5:30 PM you can join in a Fat Tuesday celebration. Enjoy music provided by Cincinnati's only Cajun New Orleans Gypsy Band, Lagniappe. A $10 suggested donation at the door includes light fare provided by Washington Platform and beads. Know cash bar will be open and serving New Orleans' style hurricanes.  Just come out to the Know Theatre at 1120 Jackson Street and learn more about great Theatre in Cincinnati.

Three Possible Berding Replacements?

CityBeat's Kevin Osborne reports on interviews for Jeff Berding's replacement when he finally resigns from City Council. These interviews were reported to have taken place for the Cincinnati Business Committee with Berding and Chris Bortz. The three candidates interviewed were:

Brad Wenstrup
Kevin Flynn
Crystal Faulkner

All three are Republicans, with Flynn locally endorsed by the Charter Party.

Yes, you read the first name correctly, Brad Wenstrup. Wenstrup is the former mayoral candidates who thinks Iraq is safer than OTR.  If Berding picks him and Bortz accepts it and actually appoints Wenstrup, I don't think either would win another election in the City, let alone find allies anywhere outside the suburban Republican Party.

I don't know of Faulkner at all, but as a radio host on WNKU, I hope she's not an anti-Public Broadcasting Republican, yet she probably voted for some or held fund raisers for them.

Fynn is the only viable candidate of the three, so I am guessing this was just going through the motions for the big money donor base. Give them a more conservative anti-city Republican, like Wenstrup, and an insiderish newcomer like Faulkner for comparison, and that makes the pro-city Republican/Charterite Flynn look good.

The question now: When is Jeff Berding actually going to resign?

Ignorance Is Bliss in Parts of Northern Kenturcky

I really don't get how people can be ignorant enough to not see the health problems caused by second hand smoke, but there are enough of them to push the Campbell County Fiscal Court to extinguish a law to ban smoking in bars and restaurants.

All people have to do is to point to Ohio. We passed a smoking ban statewide, and naysayers then pointed to Kentucky as a grave warning of bad times ahead. They said that bars in Cincinnati would crumble without smoking and with Kentucky just over the river with a smoker's paradise we would never recover. Well, how many bars have opened in the Downtown Cincinnati area since the ban, let alone around the city? If you are not going to say a ton, then you just haven't been in Cincinnati in years.

Kentucky needs to pass a statewide ban and get over smoking. It is not a bottomless pit of profit as some think. It is a quick high, then you crash and need another. Don't get sucked into the bad habit of overplaying the importance of militant smokers. The militancy dies out after a couple of days.

Cincinnatians for Progress Streetcar and City Defense Fundraiser Tomorrow!

All of Cincinnati needs you to GET ON BOARD with Cincinnatians for Progress' FUNDRAISER for their Campaign in the fight against another far-reaching anti-passenger rail amendment and in support of Good Governance and Progress in Cincinnati.

Join Mayor Mark Mallory and CFP
Wednesday, February 16th 2011
5:30 - 8:00 pm
Historic Grammer's
1440 Walnut Street, Over the Rhine
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

$25 or $50 Suggested Donation at the door
Cannot attend? Please donate online by clicking here

To stay current on the effort to protect our government and allow it to develop the Streetcar, check out Cincinnatians for Progress on Facebook or Twitter.

The Anti-Streetcar Bias of the Enquirer: A Smoking Gun Example

Everyone says this all the time: The Enquirer is biased towards Republicans and the Suburbs, and has a strong anti-city contempt. I tend to think the first two are very true, but the third less so, except with certain segments of the daily newspaper's staff. The main bias of all for profit media is in favor of controversy/sex/crime (anything that attracts eyeballs like a car wreck,) but that has become mostly a given in our popularity driven society. Being against the Streetcar has been an editorial stance of the Enquirer for a couple of years, so the Enquirer's bias in its coverage of that issue has long been a question.

If you buy all of that or not, you can't deny this week's clear smoking gun bias in the form of a Barry Hortsman article entitled Poll: residents oppose both streetcar and ballot. Please note that headline. It is where the core of the bias lies.

In case you missed the news last week, a poll was sent to the Enquirer from Chris Finney, Mr. Anti-Cincinnati and fearless leader of the anti-Cincinnati group, COAST. That poll was conducted by Republican Paul M. Fallon. I say he's a Republican because it was something brought up by Twitter posts and CityBeat's reporting, but not something you read in Hortsman's article.

Where the bias lies is in the headline. This poll was conducted County wide. Yes, county wide. The term used by the Eqnuirer in the headline is "residents." I didn't know the Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati were synonymous How can they not be lying? Well, that is where the bias happens. Hortsman focuses in on the number of City Residents included in a poll, a number which is a subset of the poll, something we might call an internal. How do you trust a poll that is created on a county wide basis, then adjusted for a city only topic and consider that to be good polling? Well, you do it when it provides you with an answer you want, which is why Chris Finney pitched the news story and the Enquirer took it. There is more, howerever.

The story linked above was posted at 8:52 PM on February 10th, 2011. The first story about the poll was actually first written for the Enquirer's politics blog with a headline that read "A new streetcar survey," which was published at 10:17 AM on February 10th, 2011. That blog post was updated once at 12:15 PM with more information clarifying some of the reports from Fallon's survey.

So, the initial gut of Carl Weiser (the author of the blog post) wasn't to spin the story, it was to be honest. Carl knows where he got the press release from, Chris Finney, and in the blog post rightfully reports that Finney is an "anti-streetcar activist. I'm also betting that Weiser knows of Paul Fallon as a Republican pollster, which I'm also surmising tempered the headline of the blog post. I think Carl Weiser is a good journalist and I think his coverage, for a Republican newspaper, is fair, within reason at least. That's why I think that headline on the blog post appears the way it did. Something didn't smell right about the poll, and Carl knew it.

Eight hours later we get a snow job. I don't know who gets the blame more, Barry Hortsman himself or his editors, but we get a biased and knowingly misleading headline and article. Eight hours later is plenty of time for Barry to do a Google search on Fallon and read this profile (read the right sidebar) to learn he was director of public opinion research for the Ohio Republican Party. It also doesn't take five minutes for a green reporter to know that you are going to get a Republican conclusion from a Republican pollster. Hortsman knows that the Hamilton County Republican Party is against the Streetcar. So, putting two and two together shouldn't have been too much to do in eight hours. So, does that leave laziness as the cause instead of bias? I'm not going to say lazy, although in a time crunched reporter's life, that often is a big problem. Instead, I lay this at the feat of Hortsman's bias and/or the bias of his editors. I don't know if Carl Weiser is his editor, but I'm going to guess no, based on the variation in how this poll was presented over an eight hour period.

Headlines, in case you forget, are very important in the news media. A large portion of readers only read a scant few articles, but read all of the headlines. They draw conclusions based on those headlines. In this case a false conclusion would be reached by anyone reading the Hortsman article's headline. Further false conclusions would be drawn from the article it self, lacking any context as to the source of the poll and back ground of the pollster. Not determining why this poll was conducted was the most damning element not to include. Are we supposed to honestly believe the pollster wanted to throw this in for the hell of it? He took the time to write up a press release because it seemed like a good thing to do? Yes, and I have deal on the Suspension Bridge that you just can't pass up.

I sent a request to Barry Hortsman for comment and answers to a list of questions relating to this story early Friday morning. I copied all of the editors I believed would have been responsible for his work. As of the publishing of this post, I received no response, except that one of the editors was out of the office.

I don't expect the Enquirer to be perfect. I do expect them to try and be fair and not do something so obviously biased. Instead, Hortsman should never have written the story. Weiser's blog post was enough. Instead the article likely reached the print edition and mislead a much wider audience.

At this point everything Hortsman writes has to be second guessed. I wouldn't trust him getting a 'dog bites man' story right, let alone the streetcar. The new editor of paper, Carolyn Washburn, should take the time to think about reassigning who ever is responsible for this biased article. If the blame lies at hers or her boss's feet, then I'll be making a habit of this type of blog post.

Additional info from WLWT, which has the press release generated from Fallon Research.

Perceived Gay Couple Denied Admission to Creation 'Museum'

Read up on the two men denied entrance to the Creation 'Museum' for a Date Night event because security guards believed they were Gay. This is an event that they had spent $71 each for tickets and didn't get a refund.

The Creation 'Museum' is the same organization that is seeking state tax-breaks for building a Biblical theme park. I am thinking there is clear problem with discrimination and as you might guess, non-Christians (Gay-Christians I would surmise as well) are not welcome to visit this establishment.  The Commonwealth of Kentucky should not be in the business of helping religious and Gay bigotry prosper.

Don't tell the Kentucky Enquirer this happened, they might have to improve their embarrassing coverage of the farce that is the Creation 'Museum.'

Enquirer New Website Design Is Launched

You can check out the new design of the Cincinnati Enquirer's website by going to many different websites:
www.cincinnati.com specifically, but when you do, the term "Enquirer" will be something you don't see much. It is there, but is on the same footing at the Community Press. The old site www.enquirer.com still works, but goes to a less graphic sub category of "News".  This isn't a new development, as the old site did something similar, but the main page of "News" on the previous design had more of a front page of the Enquirer feel.  The only front page I see is Cincinnati.com itself (or Nky.com for a Kentucky focus).  It is moving a little slow, at least I feel it is, and some of the links don't seem to respond, but they'll work that out.

For help on using the new website, Cincinnati.com has provided a FAQ.

Another Cop the FOP Likely Won't Let Be Fired

The Cincinnati Police Department knows how to pick them, with this police officer Jeffrey Brunswick (Age 54) accused of punching another cop repeatedly in a bar. The Equirer reports this key piece of information:

Brunswick was fired in 1990 after he was accused by his supervisors of operating a vehicle in a reckless manner and then lying about it.

That's right, 20 years ago this cop was fired, but he took it to court and "won" his job back. Seems like he should be fired again, but the FOP will be there to protect his "right" to assault other police officers.  If I hit a co-worker, I would be fired as would nearly everyone else.  I am sure there are circumstances to consider, but there are few that could even be considered as even a partial excuse.  Being drunk at 2 in the morning isn't one of them.

Yes, you also read correctly that this guy is 54 years old and should clearly know better.

New Over-the-Rhine Blog

The prolific OTR Twitterer, @OTRcincy, has taken another step in the promotion of Cincinnati's amazing neighborhood Over-the-Rhine by starting a new blog, aptly titled Over-the-Rhine Blog.

For a Live Taste of the Enquirer's New Web Design Look to Louisville Paper

As I reported yesterday the Enquirer's Cincinnati.com website is set for resign. If you want to get a feel for how it is going to look, I suggest checking out the Enquirer's sister newspaper The Courier-Journal in Louisville for an example of the new design and organizational structure.

FOP Contract: The Song Remains The Same

The City Manager and FOP leadership have reached a deal to extend the current contract through the end of 2012, including a pay freeze.  The City Council and the FOP rank and file must approve the extension.

I guess this is the easiest solution. The FOP gets to keep its rules that make it nearly impossible to fire bad cops, and other structural benefits. The City gets the pay freeze, which will take some future pressure off the budget, and marginally reduce the future need for police layoffs or other consessions.

This in no way solves the budget problem that will loom for the City at the end of this year for 2012, but it makes it a little better.

CPD Reminds Me Of Egyptian Politics

We appear to have chaos in city government all over the impending retirement of Police Chief Tom Streicher, who leaves his position in a month. The city has been conducting a national search for going on for a new chief, but it has been suspended, because City Council is considering a police merger with or partial outsourcing to the Hamilton County Sheriff's department.

So now we have various factions fighting over what happens. The FOP is fighting back against the impending change and fear the Hamilton County Sheriff, who for the lack of a better analogy fits the "Muslim Brotherhood" roll, but his operations are cheaper and more flexible to manage.

Thankfully we don't have any actual violence in the streets, but we lack much protest either way.

We need a City police department. The Cincinnati Police Department should remain a viable organization. Giving up on it means the City's safety will be at the whims of a different elected official with too many constituents who don't care much for the crime in Cincinnati, as long as it stays in the City. We have a horrible contract with the FOP, however and that is costing us far more than it should. Sounds like we have a great city council campaign issue to discuss, but one that will be twisted into a litmus test by the usual players.

A Redesign For Cincinnati.com Is Coming Soon to a Browser Near You

The Enquirer issued an announcement that the  Cincinnati.com and the Enquirer websites will be resigned. A sample image shows a very different look, with some structural changes.  No word yet on when the redesign will be launched.

Ninja Squirrels Invade the Know Theatre

Get to the Know Theatre for Aliens With Extraordinary Skills now through February 26th.

P.G. Sittenfeld Leads Council Race In Fundraising

I'm stunned by the fund raising skills of Council Candidate P.G. Sittenfeld who has already raised over $100,000 as of December 31st of last year. He has over nine more months to go and has more money than most candidates will raise for the whole cycle.

Money can't buy a win in November, but it can take a well run campaign with no name recognition into a winning campaign with a large TV-Radio Ad campaign. I don't know if Sittenfeld is vying for any political party endorsements, but the ability to raise money is one of the factors that will give credibility to a campaign within political circles. Sittenfield's problem now, is that he will be expected to keep raising money at a high rate. Having money tends to bring more contributors, but you have to be able make a sell that he can win.

The details on how important his money will be comes with the list of his contributors. If this is mostly family, then it will be difficult for him to keep the fundraising up at this level. If he has branched out to a wider circle of friends or colleagues, he'll be better positioned.

Chris Seelback and Jason Riveiro did well, for this point in the race, and have a better chance to show improvement, if they can connect with more support and turn that into contributions.

Arrest Made In Tucker's Shooting

The Enquirer is reporting that one of the alleged shooters in an incident at Tucker's Restaurant was arrested. That is great news for the OTR community. There is no reason the other suspect can't be caught as well.

The Entire County Should Unify In Telling Mike Brown to Shove It.

There are few things that Hamilton County voters can agree on, uniformly, but I am hoping we can all unite in telling Mike Brown "No new scoreboard for you!" Yes, the County must help maintain Paul Brown Stadium, but only what needs to be replaced. The scoreboard works just fine.  If Mike Brown wants luxury, he can pay for it himself. If he doesn't like that deal, then he can pack his bags and move the team.

I am serious. If any Tea Party person is serious about what they say, they should be the FIRST group to support the County playing hard and fast with Mike Brown. We don't need professional football. We do need public services. Brown has become a parasite.  He must pay his own way, and he has the ability to do so and still make himself plenty of money.

A unified front is the only way the public can succeed.  We need every County official on the same page.  We don't need Joe Deters out there shooting his mouth off about contracts, in hopes of currying favor with Brown.  One voice must speak and tell Mike Brown what he is going to get.  That voice must not waver, must not cave into the fear of losing the team.  Instead, that voice should publicly announce what it will pay for and then pay nothing more and "if Brown doesn't like the deal, he can move the team."

A way many people can show their personal displeasure is for current season ticket holders to give them up and buy Reds season tickets instead.  Show Mike Brown how sports teams can work well with the County and get support from the public.  Let us use the power of the purse to force Brown to either comply or just move.  I think local bars would do better sales with 65,000 more fans going to their neighborhood bar on Sundays to watch better football on TV, anyway.

Stop buying Bengals jerseys and hats and anything that will make Brown any profit.  Show him that the Customer is what matters.  Tell him to shove it.  If he wants your business, he can beg.

Enquirer Gushes Over Berding

I didn't know it was possible for newspaper editorial page to have a crush on an elected official, but I think the Enquirer would have his baby after reading this gushing selective editorial rendition of the soon to be former council member.

6th Circuit Court of Appeals Rules to Count Votes

The legal struggle over the Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge election took another turn yesterday with a unanimous ruling from a three member panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, based here in Cincinnati. The ruling orders County officials to count all ballots cast at the wrong table, but at the right location. This ruling is good news for Democrat Tracie Hunter, who was trailing in the race by 23 votes. The Board of Elections will face pressure to appeal the issue to the Supreme Court, but someone needs to get with the program and do what is right, count the votes that were cast in good faith, but with faulty advice. The Republican members of the Hamilton county Board of Elections need to take direction from Judge Dlott, and get these votes counted. It's time to finish the election.

Jeff Berding to Resign From Cincinnati City Council

In a surprise move, Jeff Berding, independent Cincinnati City Council Member, will resign his seat within the "next few weeks" according to an Enquirer article. Council Member Chris Bortz is slated to choose Berding's replacement, who would serve out the rest of the current term.  The Enquirer reports that Bortz, a Charterite, will not consult the Charter Committee on the council appointment.

 

The other news in the article is that Bortz himself has not committed to running again for council this year, just that he will not resign.  This would be his last election before the term limit would set in.  His a relatively new father, who may be, like Berding, wanting to focus part of his life elsewhere.

 

This appointment will make it three unelected members on City Council, and unless Jim Tarbell is the pick to replace Berding, there will be three very shakey seats up for relection, if not more.  This opens up the race for Council this year quite a bit.  Bortz likley will pick someone more centrist, along the lines of Berding.  If Bortz does not run again, that would really be the sign for a shake-up of the power structure come November.

 

Does Chabot Have Any Friends in Congress?

The Enquirer's political blog reported on the SOTU last night and gave a summary of what the Ohio delegation was doing during and after the speech. All of the Ohio Senators and Representatives sat together, regardless of party, except for three, all from Southwest Ohio. John Boehner of course had to sit in the Speaker's chair behind the president, so that is understood. Jean Schmidt was getting handshakes and autographs by sitting along the center aisle, something self serving, but not partisan or anti-social. Chabot stood in the aisle along on the right side of the chamber. The article indicates that when he got there all the seats were taken, so no one in the Ohio delegation saved him a seat. Man, that must suck. I would have thought he would still have some friends in the delegation to meet up with, but he doesn't seem to like any Democrats, personally, so I guess he couldn't find anyone to partner up with. I am seeing a friendless man, a congressman who lacks the personal relationships to get things done for the Ohio 1st district. Chabot will continue his historical practice of doing nothing to help his district prosper, but instead do what his party wants, which will help him get re-elected. What a waste. That's what an ignorant and apathetic electorate gets you.

Norwood Republican Candidates Announced

Citizens For a Better Norwood, a pro Norwood PAC, list Norwood's Republican candidates for City offices for the 2011 elections. They report that as soon as the Democratic endorsements are announced, they will be published.

I don't know anything about Norwood politics or even it's form of government, but I can glean from this listing that they have a combination of at-large and district representation. It is more interesting that they have other city wide offices other than Mayor. Those talking about changing Cincinnati City government structure should look how there's works. Norwood is not known as having a history of good government, so I hope those looks at Norwood are skeptical. Why Norwood still exists is another mystery. They should have been annexed by the City long ago.

When, Where, and How Did Monzel and Hartmann Discuss Dismissal?

So, let me get this straight. Republicans Greg Hartmann and Chris Monzel held a vote without notice to fire Hamilton County Administrator Patrick Thompson.

Did they use smoke signals to plan this out? Did they send carrier pigeon messages back and forth scheming such a plot?

I'd like to know what kind of meetings they had on this topic. When did they have them? Where did they have them? Did they give fellow commissioner Todd Portune ample or at least any notice they were planning on meeting to discuss staffing choices? It is my understanding that staffing decisions can avoid sunshine laws by holding such discussions in executive session. The question is, can you have an executive session without informing all of the members of the commission about such a meeting?

Few will question the Republicans, they get to do what they want and ignore the laws they don't like.

CityBeat's Kevin Osborne has more, especially the categorical comment from Monzel that Brad Beckett will NOT get Thompson's job. The county is safer and less scum like without even the potential of someone like Beckett having such a job hanging over our heads. I really hope Kevin got that quote on tape. I don't trust Monzel to do the right thing, especially in light of the secret planning and/or meeting with Hartmann. Expect more shady dealing from the Terrible Two on Commission.

The West End Church of Rock and Roll

The West End has long been a neighborhood slow with development, but a new revitalization of a church is underway. A team of three has plans to turn the former First German Reformed Church, built in 1850, into a combination of live music venue, art gallery, music school, and possibly a restaurant. One of the three is a member of the well known local band Foxy Shazam, and look to capitalize on their experience nationally in the music business to make this new venue a destination for bands. That would put it on par locally with the Southgate House, Northside Tavern, MOTR, and the Mad Hatter as the main local music venues, where each have nearly daily shows. The other direction this new venue could take would be to model after the Madison Theater, 20th Century, or Bogarts. Each of those venues hold a few events a week, at most. They are a long way off from opening the venture, but their passion I believe bodes well for the renovation to be completed.

Mayor Reacts To Weekend Murders

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory issued the following statement in reaction to the two seperate murders that occurred Saturday night:

“Two young men losing their lives to gun violence in one night is absurd,” Mayor Mark Mallory said. “Uriah Ware was hit by a stray bullet at a birthday party. Parents should not have to worry about their child’s safety at a birthday party. James Christopher was shot on the street in West Price Hill. My heart is with the family and friends of Uriah Ware and James Christopher. We need peace in this community. This senseless violence must end.”

I appreciate the Mayor making a statement and he is right in what he is saying, but how can anyone stop the violence? How do ignorant people shoot guns off at birthday parties? How do we as a society try and rid this type of ignorance? I don't know that we can. As long as we persist in allowing having a gun to be viewed as a sign of power, we will have this type of violence.

Washington Park Renovation Progress

CIMG0076, originally uploaded by washingtonparkotr.

3CDC is providing a weekly update, including photos, on the progress of the renovation of Washington Park. The photos show quite a bit of progress on the underground parking lot. Almost all of the park is closed off to the public, as most section are now under construction. Check out all of the photos here.

Chris Smitherman's Ego Swollen Like Large Zit

I don't know how Chris Smitherman could make more of a pathetically non-committal attention ploy, than he did when making public his plans to maybe run for council this year and/or definitely maybe running for Mayor in 2013.

If Smitherman was really concerned with the welfare of the city, then he would have the courage and commitment to actually announce his candidacy. Instead we get a hint of the circus he'll likley put forth if he actually spends the time and formally gets in the race for city council or maybe the mayorship or maybe both (or not).

We don't need a circus. We don't need an ego maniac looking to push their personal agenda ahead of the city, taking up the media's attention this election cycle. We need serious people with serious resolve. Chris Smitherman should do us all a favor and stay out of the government. We don't need his antics.

If there's a doctor in the house, I would hope they could lance Smitherman's ego, and let the swelling quell.

Search For Cincinnati Police Chief Has Begun

The Cincinnati City Manager, Milton Dohoney, has begun the search for a new police chief. There are many requirements listed in the article from the job posting, but there are a few other key requirements I would like to add:

• Don't currently or have ever worked for the Cincinnati Police Department, or for that matter any police force in the metro area.  We need some new blood with an outside perspective.
• Be open minded. Be willing to protect the citizens from bad police officers or poor actions.
• Don't be a big bigot.
• Don't be a white guy. (Yep, I went there.  We need a woman or a minority to help break the culture clash we have where much of the police force clashes with much of the public.)

None of these requirements are likely legal, so it is a good thing I am not the person doing the hiring. We need change in the long term mindset of our police department and that begins with the police chief. We need someone from outside the department at a minimum. If we hire from within, we will be doomed to more of the same.

Disappointing News About John Kasich You Likely Won't See in the Enquirer

Cleveland's Newspapers were sources for this Washington Monthly blog post, but not the Enquirer. Is the lack of diversity in the Ohio Governor's administration not a news issue in Cincinnati? I'll ask that again the next time I see NAACP local president Chris Smitherman quoted in the paper denouncing a Democratic majority run government entity for something it did or did not do.

Former Vice-Mayor David Crowley Loses His Fight With Cancer

Former Vice-Mayor and progressive champion David Crowley passed away earlier today after a long struggle with cancer. He was 73. He was a well liked councilman and Vice-Mayor. He served the public throughout his life and shall be remembered for his efforts to make Cincinnati and Ohio a better place.

Mayor Mallory issued the following statement on Mr. Crowley's passing:

"The City has lost a gentle giant with the passing of former Vice Mayor David Crowley. I am saddened by this loss. He served our community with a grace and compassion that shall be greatly missed. His advice helped me be a better Mayor and his friendship helped me be a better man. My heart goes out to his wife Sherri, his children, and family. I will truly miss him."

More from the Enquirer here.

Mayor Mark Mallory To Be on TV; Ghiz is Pissed

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory reportedly will be featured in the reality TV show 'Undercover Boss', where he goes to work along side city workers, but does so in disguise. The rumor mill indicates that his disguise includes dreadlocks.

This is great. We need all the positive promotion of the City we can get. Hopefully we'll see city workers doing a good job, not asleep on the job. Getting good attention for the city is the job of the Mayor. If he can get a spot on a nation TV show, all the better.

In what sounds like a plot line from an episode of the television show Parks & Recreation, council member Leslie Ghiz is the party pooper. Here's some of what WVXU reported:

"I shouldn't say shocked, because nothing he does shocks me," Ghiz said. "The bottom line is he's nobodies boss, that's the funny part about all this. The only people who answer to him directly are the people who work in his office."

Ghiz says she is working on a motion with at least one other Council Member to find out if any city money was involved and how much employee time was devoted to the project.

She may also ask the show's producers in her words, "to cease and desist" from airing the mayor's episode.

I'm at a loss on why Ghiz is not talking about another TV show airing where Four Cincinnati Police officers are on the job during the filming. Were police department funds used to film that television program? If that question is not included in the motion to investigate the Mayor mentioned in the article, then there would be few in Cincinnati that had earned the title of hypocrite better than Leslie Ghiz and the other mystery council member(s). If you don't want to investigate a pro-police show, but do want to investigate a show showing non-FOP worker, then I think a clear bias and contradiction can be exhibited.

I'd also like to know the legal basis Ghiz would use when she is asking anyone outside her limited purview as a council member to do anything. She's only the boss of her small staff, after all.  I'm no lawyer, but I would say other than asking as private citizen, Ghiz has no authority to send a 'cease and desist' letter on behalf of the City of Cincinnati.  If I was a producer of the show, I'd laugh if I got such a letter from her or any other council member.

I'll speculate on the "real" reason Leslie Ghiz is pissed about the 'Undercover Boss' episode featuring the Mayor. I would guess jealously. Could it be that someone still hasn't gotten over the rejection from the reality TV show 'Bridezillas'? You can't already be married and appear on that show. I thought that was obvious...

Soapbox Has a Job Openings Page

Something I missed but wanted to share was a Jobs listing page on local media outlet Soapbox. The weekly online magazine recently updated its website and added this feature. If you are looking for work, check it out and take advantage of this additional resource.

Husted's First Act of Partisanship as Secretary of State

In lightning speed Republican Secretary of State John Husted overturned his predecessor's ruling without much time to review the issues. It is sad to see that he is more concerned about getting a Republican in office than seeing the votes of people counted. It has been a sad history for Republican officials who tend to care more about the candidate's situation, than the voter's rights, unless they are Republican voters or Democratic candidates.

This action puts the Hamilton County Board of Election in a bind and does nothing to solve the situation.  It shows inexperience and partisanship played a bigger role in Husted's act than the desire to find a resolution that complies with both justice for the voters and with the order of a Federal Judge.  We can expect Four years of Republican favor in our election.  Too many blows to fair elections will crumble our Democracy.

The Building Cincinnati Blog is Back!

Great news for Cincinnati's blogging community comes with Building Cincinnati resuming publication today. Congratulations to Kevin!

Why is Deputy John Haynes Still Working for the Sheriff's Department?

The Cincinnati Enquirer laid out the background on a lawsuit against the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department and Four Deputies. One of them is John Haynes. His problems while a Deputy reportedly include more than one excessive use of force charges as well as a DUI. Why is he still employed with the Sheriff's Department?

Before anyone in the City thinks about getting involved with the Sheriff's Department, how certain are they that this type of protection of bad apples is not the norm? Is it worse than the CPD? Can we afford to take a step back on police communities relations in order to save money?

A Problem With Mommy Bloggers

When you are holding your "conference" at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, then your social and cultural value measures up to a flock of SUVs chasing the ultimate Applebee's.

The West Chester Kroger Was Robbed at Gun Point, But Shhhh!

I'm not sure how much panic ran through the streets when the West Chester Kroger on Tylersville Road was robbed at gun point earlier this week. The Enquirer sure isn't helping fuel the panic. The Enquirer didn't allow comments to it's very, very short story on this incident. So we instead got next to nothing, a footnote.

The Website Westchesterbuzz.com (owned by the Enquirer) had a story about it. That link, however, comes up with a not found error, but it is still on Google's cache and can be read here. The blog postreferences  a Pulse-Journal story I couldn't find there, but instead found on the Hamilton-Journal site, which lists more details and this gem of a fact:

Tombragel (Police Officer) said the suspect took off on foot following the incident, but it remains unknown if there was a getaway vehicle. This is the first time in Tombragel’s 14-year career that the West Chester Kroger has been robbed.

So, in other words this would be NEWS WORTHY, something out of the ordinary. Something people living in that community should know and read about.

If an inner-city or even an older inner-suburb Kroger was robbed, wouldn't the Enquirer have a banner headline with a long story outlining the crime problem in that city or community? At least they would have more than a tiny bare boned story.  Does anyone at the Enquirer follow crime news in West Chester or do they only report in detail the good or sentimental news from West Chester?

I guess a story about a Kroger being robbed in West Chester the same day hometown boy John Boehner took office as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, wouldn't look good. A Kroger getting robbed for the first time in at least 14 years in the exurban Congressional District of the Speaker of the House on the same day he took office, isn't something worth at least a full story in the same newspaper providing live Twitter updates of the Speaker's swearing in ceremony.

The Eqnuirer certainly appears to be spinning crime news to make exurbanites feel safer.  That's quality Journalism, for ya.

UPDATE: As a commenter pointed out, the story appeared to have been posted on the WestChesterBuzz.com.  The only story that came up on Google is the "old" one I posted originally.

A Bit More Negative Snark Metromixed In?

The Enquirer's Metromix articles generally are not reviews, as I (or any Food or Entertainment Critic) would define them, but this story about the new trendy club Lunar by Rich Shivener has more snark than we usually get. I like the snark. I like progress Downtown, but let's get serious, I really don't like that kind of club. (Not that there's anything "wrong" with it.)

Molly Wellmann To Open Bar on Main Street in OTR

Kate the Great has the big news concerning local mixologist phenom Molly Wellmann's new bar on Main Street set to open in early summer. Wellmann plans to open up Japps at 1134 Main Street along with part of the ownership team of Neons.

Over-the-Rhine Pretzel Fest January 21st

The Over-the-Rhine Pretzel Fest, a benefit for the 2011 Bockfest, rises up on Friday January 21st, 2011 from 5 to 10 PM at Venue 222 (222 E 14th St). A $35 ticket price will get you exclusive tastings of a variety of freshly baked pretzels from local restaurants and bakeries. Add in a brat and a couple of drinks and the evening is full for this year's first benefit for annual Bock Beef Festival.

Special events include the Arnold’s Bathtub Raffle and the Ultimate Bockfest Weekend Raffle. Entertainment will be provided by the Cincinnati Dancing Pigs, a groups of musicians no strangers to beer. Get out and support a rowdy event , Bockfest, which takes place this year from March 4th through the 6th.

The Young Urban Four

Soapbox included a section this week in its article listing the Ten Things To Watch in 2011 on four young candidates for Cincinnati City Council: Jason Riveiro, Chris Seelbach, PG Sittenfeld, and Yvette Simpson.

All four have a connection to the Downtown/OTR area. I've been listening to those who want to through out everyone on council, impractical and improbable as is may sound. I wouldn't mind seeing all Four of these candidates on council. That isn't a political reality, unless all manage some campaign miracles, but it is a good sign to see people stepping up and joining the process. Conventional Wisdom states none of these Four will be in the top Nine in November's election, but all, if they run a solid campaign and place well, move closer to a 2013 win if they keep their organizations together.

I give out this advice every council election to new candidates, which doesn't mean it is impossible to win your first time running (See Chris Bortz), but it takes lots of money and lots of political dichotomies to win. Neither is easy to gain or manage. I hope all Four stick it out.