Election Recap

After a Late Night, here are important results of last night's Election:

Issue #1 Cruised to victory 68% to 32%

Jim Tarbell won the Democratic Nom in the end by a comfortable level: 46%-40%-14% (Tarbell-Thomas-Brown).

Chris Monzel rallied his newly adopted suburbanite neighbors to handily defeat Leslie Ghiz (56.5%-45.5%).

The biggest news and I would call it the surprise of the night: Surya Yalamanchili won the Democratic nomination in the 2nd Congressional District over David Krikorian (40%-38%-21%).

I hope all of the candidates and campaign teams can take a short breather, but then the winners can get back to work.

The race for Hamilton County Commissioner is going to be a good one, but the choice is going to be clear: Vote Tarbell.

Tarbell Wins!!!

With 94% of the votes in, Cincinnati Blog is declaring Jim Tarbell the winner!

Election Night Blogging

UPDATE #2: We are on pins and needles but the news is good:
Tarbell 10,520
Thomas 10,240
Brown 3,036

UPDATE #1: Absentee Report for the Dems:
Tarbell: 4,352
Thomas: 4,215
Brown: 1,057

So, I'm about to head down to Arnold's for the Jim Tarbell event and will be setting up shop for the evening. I plan on sitting, eating, drinking, listening, and do some limited blogging from my iPhone. If you want the official results, check out the Hamilton County BOE for the canvass report. If I hear things I can report, I will try to update this post.

Krikorian Has a Future With Amway

No matter what happens today in his primary race for the 2nd Congressional District's Democratic Primary David Krikorian has proven himself worthy of job with Amway by adopting Amway's alleged corporate philosophy.

If you want to know more about what I'm talking about, try Snopes.

When I get to reference Amway (now called Alticor) and I get to link to Snopes.com, you can pretty much consider yourself to be tainted. Krikorian may win today's primary, but his chances of ever winning any public office are slim.

Polls Are Open! Get Out and Vote!

The polls in Ohio are open until 7:30. If you don't know where to vote, then click here to find out if you live in Hamilton County. A few points to know.

• If you voted last year in November and have not moved, you are still registered to vote. 
• If you have never voted in a primary for a particular party, you can ask for a particular party's ballot, which will allow you to vote for the primary races of that party. 
• You can still vote for just the Issues, but getting an issues only ballot.

Bring ID to vote. Here is what is acceptable:

1. Current and valid Ohio driver’s license; or
2. Current and valid photo identification card issued by the State of Ohio or the United States government; or
3. A military identification (“military ID”); or
4. An original or copy of a current utility bill; or
5. An original or copy of a current bank statement; or
6. An original or copy of a current paycheck; or
7. An original or copy of a current government check; or
8. An original or copy of a current other government document.

For more overall questions, check out the Secretary of State's website FAQ.

Primary Predictions?

Who is going to win in the Primaries tomorrow?

For the Democrats:
I would guess Fisher will win for Senate.
I believe Tarbell will win for County Commission.

For the GOP:
I am going to say Monzel will squeak it out over Ghiz, but I think it will be a close race.

Did Thomas Infer Kroger's Actions Were Racist?

The Enquirer's Jane Prendergast has a blog post today updating last week's Council Committee meeting where representatives from the Kroger Company answered questions about their
closing of the Roselawn Kroger.  Here is the quote she includes from Cecil Thomas that prompted the Jeff Berding's comment claiming Thomas was inferring Kroger's actions were racist:

Thomas said, “Maybe I’ll be a little more specific…There is a perception that you’re moving out of the black neighborhoods, the predominantly African-American communities in the inner city. That’s a perception that’s out…that is a reality, I should say, that’s there.”

I would say Thomas's comments were over the top and designed to be confrontational, but don't amount to what Berding is charging.

One Other Thing To Watch Tomorrow

I suspect this blog's readers will be following a couple of races particularly closely: the HamCo Commission races and the Dem primaries for governor and OH-02. But the "under-card" is particularly rife with drama this year, and warrants some attention.

As the Enquirer reported a few weeks ago, during the primary, voters will choose the membership of both parties' central committees, on both the county and state level. The Tea Party* has fielded candidates of its own, mainly for the GOP committees.

The Cincinnati Tea Party seems to be figuring out that the GOP isn't as welcoming to Tea Partiers as the GOP's public pronouncement would lead one to believe. Kevin DeWine and Alex Triantafilou both publicly say that they're happy to see the Tea Party involved in Republican politics. But behind the scenes, both are trying to limit the influence the Tea Party will have on the GOP. The linked post details those efforts on the state level. But those efforts are occurring on the county level, too.

Take a look at tomorrow's ballot (scroll down to page 27). There are a lot of Republicans running for county central committee spots for the first time. Some are Tea Partiers. But a lot more of them are "establishment" Republicans. Many are employed in public service with elected Republicans as their supervisors.

There's clearly an internal struggle going on within the GOP. While they don't want the Tea Party running its own candidates (the best thing that could happen for the Democratic Party, on either a state, local, or national level, would be Tea Party candidates; think Ross Perot), but GOP leaders clearly fear that if the Tea Party has too much of a voice in the GOP's governing committees, current leaders (e.g., party chairs) could lose their positions to newcomers elected by the Tea Party. The establishment GOP/Tea Party rift even became publicly evident at the Mainstay debate the other night, with some harsh words by Chris Monzel for a prominent Democrat and a Tea Partier in the same sentence--though Monzel didn't point out the party affiliation of either person he mentioned. (Apparently, now that Monzel has received the Ohio Tea Party PAC's endorsement, he feels he no longer has any reason to be nice to Tea Party's members.)

The election of the county Democratic central committee is not without drama, either. As we've previously noted (via Howard Wilkinson), Darren Tolliver is challenging Tim Burke for the local party chairmanship. Tolliver is presently the treasurer of the HCDP and was a board member of CincyPAC. The central committee, elected tomorrow, will vote on the chairmanship in the next several weeks. I have no idea whether Tolliver will have the votes, but a wrestling match for the party's gavel hasn't happened around here in quite some time.

So while there are interesting races near the top of the ticket, don't forget to watch the "smaller" races, too. As Tip O'Neill famously quipped, "All politics is local," after all.

*Griff: Come on, man, time to start calling it the Tea Party and its members the Tea Partiers. (Yes, "teabaggers" was a term that its original members used first, without realizing the word's other meaning. But everyone knows the euphemism now.) Even if we disagree with them, they deserve at least to be called by the name they choose. A while back, I called out Alex Triantafilou for using "Democrat" rather than "Democratic" as an adjective. I'm more than a bit hypocritical if I don't call out Griff, too.

More Clear Evidence the Cadillac Ranch Sucks

Liz of the getinmybelly blog has provided a overwelhming documentation that the Cadillac Ranch is an absolutely horrid establishment.

I most readers know the treatment "the ranch" gave to MidPoint Artists last year, but Liz has shown how poorly they treat paying customers.

Questions About Ethics

I find the character assignation of Chris Bortz to be very unfair, but I'm going to sidestep the details of the infamous letter and instead make a few points that are not going to be asked by the the less than honest anti-streetcar foes pushing this issue, nor will it be asked by the Enquirer.

1. Since Chris Bortz owns part of Jeff Ruby's located at 7th and Walnut, if a vote were to come up in Council to fund the re-pavement of 7th Street between Central and Broadway, then should he recuse himself from that vote?
2. Why are Tom Luken, Chris Smitherman, and bandwagoner Justin Jeffre not complaining about the votes Chris Bortz made to fund 3CDC's effort to redevelop downtown, including rehabbing the Metropole, which will clearly benefit the near by Jeff Ruby Steadhouse?
3. Have any of the votes for the funding of the streetcar ever specifically defined in the ordinances the actual route of the Streetcar? I mean literally the route where Luken et al claim it will go near properties owned or operated by Towne Properties?
4. If Chris Monzel where to be elected to County Commission(heaven forbid), would he be required to recuse himself when approving anything that improves or maintains any road around GE?

I never would expect Tom Luken to ask these questions, he's not concerned with truth. Cherry picking issues is his method of choice. I would however like a longer form story from the Enquirer covering what the ethics laws actually say and what each elected official should do to comply with them.

I Thought Chris Bortz Was Smarter Than This.....

You all know about the kerfuffle surrounding Councilmember Chris Bortz's decision to ignore advice from the Ohio Ethics Commission to abstain from votes regarding the streetcar. I have no opinion regarding whether a conflict of interest actually exists. From what I've read, there are cogent arguments on both sides.

(Interestingly, the same streetcar opponents who claim that the streetcar will not spur economic development or prosperity claim that Bortz operates under a conflict because the streetcar will spur economic development and prosperity. But that's probably another post.)

But I do have a strong opinion that Chris Bortz is in need of an IQ- or drug-test. How could he be so short-sighted, particularly regarding an issue that he believes is so vital to the city? Two questions are raised:

1. Why ask for an OEC opinion if you're going to ignore it if you don't get the answer you want?
2. Once you've got the opinion, why continue to participate, particularly since your vote hasn't been needed for passage? Even without Bortz, the streetcar has five votes (Qualls, Quinlivan, Cole, Thomas, and Berding).

Bortz has permitted--begged for, even--a controversy to be manufactured. Of course someone was going to file an ethics complaint. Of course certain people would use this to detract from a debate on the merits of the streetcar.

Chris Bortz has displayed an appalling lack of judgment in this matter, and everyone should be disappointed in him. Streetcar advocates should be angry with him for hurting their cause, regardless of the existence of an actual conflict. And streetcar opponents are upset that he ignored the opinion of the OEC after asking for it. He needs to start doing better by the citizens he represents.

Don't 3C and the Streetcar Need to Work Together?

It's no secret that I am no more than lukewarm about the prospect of a streetcar in Cincinnati. (Though it may seem odd to some of you, some info about Kenosha's experience is perhaps bringing back to supporting the streetcar.) And I actually don't like the proposed "3C" train. (I'm not sure who decides to take a three-hour train ride to Columbus from Cincinnati when your car gets you there in half that time. I'd consider the six-hour trip to Cleveland, depending on the reason for my trip.) If federal money becomes available for the streetcar, though, it appears both will be foisted on us. My question: shouldn't they connect?

City Council recently agreed to recommend that a site on Laidlaw in Bond Hill be the Cincinnati terminal of the 3C line, at least until Union Terminal becomes a viable option--and that could be two decades away. So what happens when a passenger arrives at the Bond Hill station? Remember, that's north of the Norwood Lateral. How do you get to downtown? Or Clifton? Or anywhere else?

Given that the federal government has agreed to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to passenger rail in Ohio, wouldn't it be a good idea for the city to make a streetcar pitch that is connected to that investment? Terminating the train in Bond Hill creates a real danger of a "train to nowhere." So why not pitch the government on not only funding the streetcar, but funding an expanded version of it now, reaching all the way into Bond Hill to connect the new train line with both downtown and Uptown?

Below is my proposed streetcar route. Note that I have the streetcar jog west to Spring Grove. That's because if it went straight up Vine Street, it would pass through St. Bernard, and I have no idea whether St. Bernard would support the extension of the streetcar through its boundaries.

Well?


View Donald's Streetcar proposal in a larger map

Tarbell Gets It: Arts Means Jobs

Enquirer Endorsements for Hamilton County Commissioner Primaries

Well, while much of the Enquirer's Reporting has begun to reflect the importance and value of the City, their Editorial Board clings to the folly that people outside the City would be better at City-County relations, than current and former City Council members. What that translates to is that the Suburban centric Enquirer Editorial board somehow thinks the rest of the county knows how to run a county better than the biggest player does. The folly in this idea is that the rest of the county has two concepts that are paramount: 1) Everyone for themselves, where each small town takes care of itself, and 2) The City Is the Enemy, where the city is either the cause of the problem or the place to dump their problems.

Endorsing Hubert Brown in the Democratic Primary sounds more like a strategic move to anger Thomas, Tarbell, and the Democratic establishment, rather than a reflection of the best candidate.

Jim Tarbell is the best candidate out of the three. That is clear from any logically perspective and Jim has far more ability to embrace the rest of the County than Brown would for the City, a place I don't know how much he knows about.

Cecil Thomas has just been phoning it in. His lack of commitment to the primary and his penchant for appealing to arch conservatives makes him the worst of the three.

Picking Ghiz over Monzel is no surprise. What is more interesting is the rosy picture they painted of Leslie Ghiz as being "politically savvy" and having "tough solutions." Well, if you think it was politically savvy to do nothing but hide in the shadow of the FOP and offer ZERO solutions to the City's budget problems last year, then I guess someone must be confusing the real dictionary with the fake dictionary. Also, in the campaign, Ghiz has been the one rather quiet, while Monzel has been the political grandstanding champion. What I guess is "savvy" about Ghiz is that she did all of her grandstanding last year, while Monzel's grandstanding looks more forced than hers does, being so close to an election.

Steve Driehaus Attending Cincinnati Coffee Party Event

The Cincinnati Chapter of the Coffee Party is hosting an event tonight from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Red Polly Space Outfitters, located on 4016 Hamilton Avenue in Northside.

Organizers state that this event is meant to counter the recent vitriol seen at other events and seek to be respectful and to praise Congressman Driehaus for the efforts of Congress in passing Health Care Reform.

"This event is about engaging local citizenry in open and respectful dialogue. We want to provide people with the basics on how the bill will impact them, those they care about and the communities in which they live," says Leo Pierson, an organizer and official spokesperson of the Coffee Party.

The event is free and open to the public.

Congrats to the Fine Arts Fund For Raising $11 Million!

Cincinnati should be thankful we have organizations like the Fine Arts Fund, but we also should be thank that we as citizens support the efforts of the FAF and open our wallets to help keep the Arts alive in our City. Other places around the country don't fair as well. Their annual campaign ended yesterday by meeting their $11 Million goal, but you could still contribute, they won't turn away your check!

We as a community should be doing more, however. Public funding must be restored as soon as budgets allow. Something to keep in mind when you vote next week and in the Fall: Voting for Republicans in most cases will do noting for the arts. In some cases, like Chris Monzel, voting for the GOP will help end the arts. We still need to push the Democrats to commit to publicly fund the arts. If you were able to get down to the FAF celebration last night and you didn't seem Jim Tarbell, then you must not have been looking. Jim is running for Hamilton County Commissioner and Jim understands the importance of the arts.

MidPoint 2010 Details Revealed

The Midpoint Music Festival is again teaming up with Fountain Square's PNC Music series and has programed a set of national acts as headliners for the summer music series every Friday night. Acts confirmed so far are:

June 4th: Camera Obscura (Glasgow, Scotland)
June 11th: Neon Indian (Austin, TX)
June 18th: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Muscle Shoals, AL)
June 25th: Smoking Popes (Chicago, IL)
July 9th: Why? (Cincinnati, OH)
August 6th: Dawes (North Hills, CA)

Local acts will join these groups and will be announced next month.  Note to local bands: You want to perform on the Square this year, go here and apply. This event has been the center of the Summer Cincinnati Music Scene for the last two years and will continue to be the place to be every Friday night.  For updated schedules for every night of music on Fountain Square, be sure to check out: www.myountainsquare.com/musicseries.

For everything Midpoint, you need to memorize the link: www.mpmf.com.

A 2009 Self Assessment From Plum Street Studios

Earlier this month E. Gooding from the Plum Street Studio Blog scored his performance in predicting the 2009 City Election.

The result: he gives himself an A+. Any independent graders care to take a crack at that assessment?

In Tough Times, Monzel is a Dangerous Choice

With the exception of the April 1st post, I've not blogged on the primary races for HamCo Commissioner. That's because the Democratic race is pretty boring (with a fairly obvious outcome). And since I generally consider myself a Democrat (though I've been re-thinking this over the past twelve or so months), I haven't felt the need to wade into the Republican contest.

But HamCo faces tough challenges in the coming years. And last night, it became clear to me that a Chris Monzel victory in November would be disastrous for our region. Let's talk about why.

Last night, the Republican Leadership Council and GOParty! (a Republican YP group) sponsored a debate between Monzel and Leslie Ghiz, hosted at Mainstay and moderated by Newsmakers' Dan Hurley. (Hurley will also host the candidates on his show this Sunday morning.) Monzel's lack of knowledge and dearth of viable solutions to HamCo's problems was stunning, particularly this close to the primary election. (And while I haven't seen the Enquirer report it, the event sponsors announced that Ghiz won the straw poll conducted at the conclusion of the debate.)

The contrast between Ghiz and Monzel was clear. Ghiz offered nuanced answers, the kind that you'd expect from someone who has thought about how to address development, budget, and public safety issues. Monzel, on the other hand, offered nothing but bits of his stump speech. His campaign strategy seemed clear: do nothing but throw out "red meat" to the base, and hope that the voters don't catch on.

There were several instances when it was apparent that Monzel just doesn't have a good grasp on the issues facing Hamilton County. Both candidates were asked about the need for increased jail space. Monzel's solution? Stop housing federal prisoners awaiting trial in federal court. That's an answer that's right out of a "conservative" politician's playbook: a local politician running for office just insists that things would be better without the federal government. But anyone with even the smallest amount of knowledge of the Hamilton County Justice Center and local law enforcement knows the following:

• At any given time, there are only about a dozen inmates in federal custody at the HCJC. That's hardly the cause of jail overcrowding.
• The inmates in federal custody are actually revenue generators for the county, as the US Marshall Service pays a per bed/per day rate to house inmates at the HCJC.
• Over the last several years, local law enforcement has decided that one of the more effective ways of curbing drug and gun trafficking is to work with federal authorities and seek federal indictments, as federal law carries stiffer mandatory minimum sentences. For that to happen, those inmates have to be somewhere while they wait for their federal trials. Does Monzel want to get rid of ReNU and other joint task forces?

I could go on and on, talking about issue after issue about which Monzel just hasn't given much thought. What's truly disappointing is the utter disrespect with which Monzel treated Republican voters last night. Clearly, Monzel thinks that his constituents and fellow party members are mindless sheep just waiting to hear the right applause line. (I know that some of the more left-leaning readers of this blog will also hold that opinion of the GOP, but it's just not true.) Monzel doesn't trust the electorate. He doesn't trust its ability to understand that complicated issues don't have ten-word answers. He doesn't trust that his fellow citizens are smart enough to want to eat their veggies along with their "red meat."

On the other side of last night's stage, Ghiz offered a clear alternative. She acknowledged--several times--that our most serious challenges don't have "easy answers." She understands the need for everyone in county government to work together for the good of our community. And she realizes that not everything is black-and-white. Her discussion of the streetcar was a good example. She refused simply to ridicule the notion of a streetcar. She said--as she has in the past--that while the streetcar may be a good idea, it's not a good idea now, analogizing to a homeowner who needs to renovate the kitchen, but needs to put it off because of the tough economy. (That's a position the streetcar crowd will disagree with. Fine. But it's a reasonable position that shows thought and maturity on a tough subject.) There's one thing you can always be sure of with Ghiz: when she speaks, you're hearing what she really believes, not what her party wants her to say or what she thinks will help her with a particular contested enclave of voters.

Monzel isn't ready to be part of a governing majority. He's best suited to be a back-bencher, part of a small minority. That way he's free to offer terrible ideas, like his proposed tax on people who use sidewalk trashcans. Ghiz is ready to lead Hamilton County with passion and wisdom, both of which were evident last night.

Disclosure: I've known Leslie Ghiz for several years, and consider her a friend. My friendship alone, however, would not be sufficient to endorse her in the primary race.

ForkHeartKnife Opening Soon on Main St.

In May look for forkheartknife to start their catering services adding flavor to the Over-the-Rhine and Downtown business and arts scene. Additionally they are planning to serve varied and flexible meals at their OTR space.

The new business is taking over the North Main Street location (1437 Main Street) used by the former incarnation of Take the Cake.

Keep eyes on their blog at: forkheartknife.wordpress.com for more.