Exurban Lunacy Alive in West Chester

As the result of the desire to destroy the community, Lakota School District officials were required to put out thier plan to deal with massive budget cuts forced on the school system by a majority of voters. There is no other way to describe the majority of voters in the Laktoa district other than lunatics. They have a wealthy school district with good schools and most voters there want lower quality schools. That defies logic. I also can't understand how they can cut a single teacher without cutting all extracurricular sports programs. They should sell all of land their football stadiums are built on, but no, they'll keep funding football above nearly everything else.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys! What's Chabot Gonna Do?

Congressman Steve Chabot may not want his son coming home for three-day this winter after Brandon Chabot was arrested on Felony charges. The Enquirer is reporting that the 22 year old son of the Republican Member of the U. S. House is charged with breaking into a building in Oxford, Ohio, where he attends college. I am not shocked by this, other than the fact this actually made the news. It is refreshing to hear about this outside of the bubble of Oxford and Butler County. The younger Chabot is just another dumb college kid who made a mistake. If he only had not done this smack dab in the middle of Speaker John Boehner's district.

Another Local Republican Faces Sex/Drug Scandal

The reason for the resignation of former Clermont County Commissioner Archie Wilson, Republicsn, became very clear today. The Enquirer is reporting that He is being charged with solicitation of a prostitute and drug Trafficking in Kentucky.

Brockmeier Gains Jennifer Brunner Endorsement

The Enquirer is reporting that former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has endorsed Luke Brockmeier in the Democratic primary for the Ohio House district 31 race.  Brunner is a statewide political force with a wide following both in Ohio and nationally.  This is a very big pick-up for Brockmeier.  This demonstrates that his message that he's the real Democrat in this Democratic field is reaching the right people.  Brunner is a progressive force and the New 31st is a progressive district.

Brockmeier also is getting attention on DailyKos.

31st Ohio House Democratic Candidates on Newsmakers

Check out all three candidates on yesterday's Newsmakers program on WKRC. Luke Brockmeier stood out with strong direct answers on the issues. Terry Tranter sounded more like a Republican than a Democratic candidate. Denise Dreihaus is doing her best to avoid stating she is an anti-abortion, while still NOT championing a core Issue of the Democratic Party. It was unfortunate that the candidates were on for only half of the program. A full show would have better demonstrated the differences amongst the candidates.

Two, Four, Six, Eight

Cincinnati City Council has enough votes to put an issue on the ballot to change the term of council members from two to four years.  I'm torn on this.  I get the logic of it, but I like the idea of having the ability to vote the bums out when they screw up.

We need a broader set of council structural reforms and this could be part of it.  We need to consider changing the at-large only aspects of council and other elements, not just the length of term. I would prefer if a larger effort were made to discuss all reforms in city government, but this particular change is too good for some on council to pass up.

Where Are the Republican Cheers For This?

Local Townships are having to pay for their own police patrols starting April 1st, instead of Hamilton County paying for it.  This sounds like a conservative Republican's wet dream!  Self-reliance!  I am going to expect COAST or someone akin to propose hiring a private firm to conduct the police patrols of the townships.  Then I would expect either a wall or fences surrounding the townships with razor wire and electrification to be erected.  Maybe some search lights and tall guard towers?

What is the world coming too?  Just last night I was in the exurbs getting gas on the way home from work and while pumping gas, I was approached by a person who happened to be on their way to Cleveland but just realized they lost their wallet at a restaurant a while ago and just happened to make it here to the gas station with their family and their bank account just happened to be closed and their spiel was way too rehearsed, not remotely honest enough to be believed.  I mean this can't happen in the burbs, can it? Scammers? What is needed is RoboCop and we need it now or we are all going to constantly be harassed by con artists.  Someone call Omni Consumer Products!

Not Bad, But It Could Have Been So Much Better

If you grew up in the Suburbs/exburbs of Cincinnati, this is geared towards you. If you didn't grow up in the Suburbs/exurbs, this is could be so much better.

Alternate versions I would like to see are:
Shit People on the Westside would say (which may not be that different)
Shit People in Hyde Parker would say
Shit People in OTR would say
Shit People in Northside would say
Shit a COASTER would say (might be too bigoted for public viewing)

Here is an alternative version that is not work friendly in the least.

Tonight! Musicians for Luke - Margaret Darling, Serenity Fisher

This is a reminder that tonight local musicians Margaret Darling (of the Seedy Seeds) and Serenity Fisher are teaming up to support Luke Brockmeier.  Tuesday January 31st come to Sitwell's Coffee House at 7PM and hear these talented musicians play.  A suggested donation of $5 is mentioned, but not required.

Jason Wells of For Algernon is the special quest appearing with Margaret.

For more information on the event, check out Facebook.

For more information on Luke Brockmeier, check out www.lukeforohio.com.

Sin & Tonic YPCC Choral Concert on Valentine's Day at Below Zero

The Cincinnati Young Professionals' Choral Collective are staging a concert, Sin & Tonic, February 14th as an early start for Valentine's Day at Below Zero. From the Press Release:

Audience members will listen with martinis in hand to quality choral music that explores all aspects of love.  The doors (and the bar) will be open from 6-10pm, and the performance will take place from 6:45 – 7:30pm.  Audience members are invited to start their Valentine’s Day evening with bawdy English madrigals, sassy French chansons, gorgeous vocal jazz arrangements and soaring American spirituals…or to make a whole night of it!
 
Space is limited.  Free reservations (donations accepted) can be made at www.sinandtonic.eventbrite.com

For people with arts minded significant others, this would be a great prelude to your Valentine's day evening.

Glacial Past of Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Enquirer had very interesting article on the pre-historic glacial history of the Cincinnati area. We were just on the edge of where the last ice age affected the North American continent, and the effects can be felt not only in the topography, but in our weather.

I really like the historical articles the Enquirer has been publishing. Cincinnati has such a long past to draw from. I would love to read more about the 19th century.

Musicians for Luke - Margaret Darling, Serenity Fisher and More!

Local musicians Margaret Darling (of the Seedy Seeds) and Serenity Fisher are teaming up to support Luke Brockmeier.  Tuesday January 31st come to Sitwell's Coffee House at 7PM and hear these talented musicians play.  A suggested donation of $5 is mentioned, but not required.

There are rumors of special guests as well.  To find out who, you'll have to come to Sitwell's.

For more information on the event, check out Facebook.

For more information on Luke Brockmeier, check out www.lukeforohio.com.

Bortz Pulls a Romney

Former Cincinnati Council Member Chris Bortz appears to most political observers to be positioning himself for a political run as a Republican.  No, he's not made any type of announcement.  He's done two things.  First he is openly supporting a Republican candidate in the Republican primary for the 2nd Congressional district. That alone indicates he's a Republican, at least on National issues.  He's joined forces with anti-city and anti-gay bigot Chris Finney to support that Republican candidate.  Linking one's name to Finney on any level is deplorable in my view, but politically it shows who you are willing to court to get what you want. In the case of Finney it indicates you are not courting a moderate city voter, you are instead willing to dive into the conservative sewer.

Where we can see the political posturing more up-close is in the other thing he did.   He's taken a blatant political position that is an attempt to align himself with conservative anti-City Republican voters.  He has changed his stance on the Streetcar.  He'll deny he has, I am sure, but no, you don't support something during the bottom of a recession when Federal Dollars were very available, and then oppose it now, claiming we wait and think about it more.  I guess Chris thinks we need more suburbanites to support it before we do it.  I didn't know that we had to be subservient to them.  I guess when you are thinking about running for a political office that would either include suburbanites or need there money to win, then you care what they think about.  Since they don't care about the city, why would those in the city care what they think about us?  It sounds like he's bring drinking a cup of what ever Leslie Ghiz was drinking.

Bortz has flip-flopped.  He's pulled a Mitt Romney.  The Streetcar is now Bortz's RomneyCare. Being for the streetcar was a position that helped him get elected in the city.  Positive ideas that benefit the city tend to get most voters support.  Anti-city or divisive issues don't get you votes.  Negative thinking is more rampant with local Republican voters, so if you are going to get their votes, you have to change your views to fit. Bortz has made a big change and it's not a pretty sight.

I'd like to have his flip-flop graded for political posterity, but it would require diving judges, and none were available.

Is Smitherman Under Investigation?

A complaint has been filed by a Cincinnati resident charging that Cincinnati City Council Member Christopher Smitherman is in violation of Ohio ethics rules.  Smiherman is simultaneously holding the positions of city council member and President of the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP, a 501(c)(4) organization.

There is clearly a conflict of interest.  Smitherman should either resign from council or more likely resign as President of the local NAACP chapter.

I seem to recall Smitherman recently wanted the city to pay for Ethics classes.  Well, Council Member Smitherman appears to not have taken his class yet.  Any person with any sense of ethics would see the conflict of being on council and being President of the local NAACP.  That leas me to believe that Smitherman lacks ethics. The reasonability test has bee exceeded ten-fold, so this compliant has merit.  The city should be investigating Smitherman to make sure he is not in violation of Ohio ethics rules.

TweetUp For Luke Brockmeier Wed 6PM at Baba Budan's

Tomorrow, Wednesday January 18th, Luke Brockmeier, Democratic candidate for the New 31st Ohio House District, is gathering up those in the social media world for a meet and greet to discuss the issues facing the community and Ohio.  The event takes place at Baba Budan's, 239 W. McMillan St., and starts and 6PM and will end around 8PM.  All are welcome.

For more information on the event, check out the Facebook event here:

To learn more about Luke Brockmeier's campaign, go to www.lukeforohio.com.

In Case You Forgot, Phil Burress is Still a Bigot

Bill Sloat at The Daily Bellwether has an important article detailing the latest bigoted action by the hateful Phil Burress, one of the leading anti-gay bigots in the state of Ohio.

A man who does not even live in the City of Cincinnati is threatening to file a lawsuit because the City Council voted in favor of Domestic Partner insurance coverage. This is clear evidence, as if we need any more, that Burress's anti-gay marriage crusade was never about 'protecting' marriage, but it was all about oppressing gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, and transgendered people. The city isn't marrying anyone, they are trying to provide equal benefits to all of its employees. I wish they were allowing gay marriage, but far too many ignorant bigots voted to oppress people when they baned gay marriage in Ohio, making that against the law. Treating gays and lesbians with equal rights is what Burress is fighting against. Equal rights should be for all, not just the Phil Burress clan.

I feel like a broken record on this subject and I feel that most of readers of this blog think Burress is horrible, but he has an audience. I hope everyone who opposes the bigotry of Burress takes every opportunity to speak out against his type of bigotry. The people who could speak most directly to this are those of you who participate in the large number of religious institutions across the region. Many (not all) of those institutions have terrible stances on gay rights. I encourge those of you who face that bigoty to speak out against it and at least question the faux rationalizations used to justify the type of bigotry Burress pushes.

Preaching to the choir only goes so far, sometimes you have to stand up and speak out, even if you risk your reputation. That's how all civil rights issues should be addressed. It is a shame that religion, in the case of gay rights, is far too often the hurddle to make many silently let that bigotry exist in the places based on the philosphies of peace.

New CityBeat Print Edition Hit This Week

CityBeat has revamped it's print copy with this week's edition and editor Danny Cross has a column decscribing the changes and some background on himself as the new editor of the Alt-Weekly.

The changes are three fold. First the paper has a fresh new design that I like a lot. The page headings and titles are much appealing and pleasing to the eye. The second element is the order of sections, which move the music to the back and the arts & culture (art,theatre, film, dining) all together. The third element is the most striking: more relevant content. The inclusion of a focused stand along cover story has returned, which is not just a highlight of one section's story. Also the inclusion of a media and sports column along with more than one news story (in addition to Porkopolis)add more meat to the publication.

I like this week's edition and look forward to more. I hope the structure continues.

More Wussy, in an RV and Acoustic

Brilliant.

Lack of Ethics Starts With Smitherman

Why couldn't COAST pay for an ethics lesson for Chris Smitherman himself? That would do hopefully do the most good, as long as COAST is not conducting the ethics lesson, since they don't have any. This would be a great alternative to Smitherman's motion he submitted to council requiring training sessions for council members and their staff, something the City already does. Smitherman needs a lesson in ethics. Some of things he should learn:

• Don't threaten to have your non-city-employee lawyer sue the city because council didn't vote your way.
• Don't even consider frivolous lawsuits that are more about getting legal work for your anti-city lawyer than a valid legal issue.
• Don't go on the Radio and falsely claim a member city council works for the CIA.
• Don't claim that a reason to vote for a position on the waterworks ballot issue would be to prevent the government from lacing the water of black residents with drugs.
• Don't make up numbers about how much the Streetcar plan will cost.
• Don't lie to the public when you claim Streetcar funds could be used to avoid police or fire layoffs.

Those are just the start of the many thinks Smitherman could learn. They are mostly just common sense, but a bright examples of what not to do. I really hope Smitherman can learn from these examples.

Hat Tip to Quimbob

Differences in District 31 Statehouse Race Clearly Shown on Women's Rights

Bill Sloat of the Daily Bellwether has an interesting article that outlines the Differences among the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for the newly redrawn District 31 Ohio House seat.  Women's rights comes forward as the most striking difference where only one candidate, Luke Brockmeier, is in sync with the district's overwhelming belief in protecting a woman's right to choose. Sloat describes at length the record of Denise Driehaus and exposes her support for a GOP sponsored anti-abortion bill.  Tranter, the third candidate, was endorsed by Ohio Right to Life, something previously held by Denise Driehaus when she ran on the west side of town.  The new 31st District is not a Westside haven for Conservative Dems. The issue of choice matters in progressive neighborhoods. I'm guessing Driehaus and Tranter don't know much about the district or just hope no one notices their anti-women's rights beliefs.

Monzel's Failures Exposed

Quimbob at Blogging Isn't Cool brings up the campaign Mantra of Hamilton County Commissioner Chris Monzel and points out that Monzel failed to balance the county's budget through "efficiencies." Yeah, Monzel actually claimed he could do that.  The Suburban Republican Monzel has not appeared to learn much while in office, other than how to screw over tax-payers.

Tranter Loses Challenge to Driehaus Residency Move

The Hamilton County Board of a elections has rejected the challenge to the residency of Denise Driehaus who moved into the new district 31 district after leaving her old district after the Republican made her old area more difficult for her to win.  Tranter, another candidate was challenging her residentcy via proxy because, as this quote from Tranter in the article from WVXU puts it

"It was perfect for me to run in. She decided to move over into it even though she has no familiarity with the district or it's constituents."

Yes, Tranter has a political point to make. Driehaus is not from this district. She's lived on the Westside her entire life and fits in with the Westside Conservatives, not this progressive district. That is a reason not to vote for her. It is not grounds for a  legal case. The challenges Tranter made via his neighbor were frivolous and a waste of tax payer's money.

The even bigger waste was in the challenge to the ballot signatures for Driehaus and candidate Luke Brockmeier. 50 signatures is the low requirement and both candidates had more than enough valid signatures.  There was no evidence of any problem and other than getting some media attention, served no purpose.  Tranter is making a huge mistake. He should not focus on being bitter that he has to face off against two other candidates. He should face the fact that along with Denise Driehaus, he's not living in a conservative Democratic district. He's living in a really progressive House district. He might want to ponder how to climb that Mt. Everest before playing political games.

Anti-Tax Extremists Take Tax Payer's Money

COAST lawyer Chris Finney has successfully shaken-down the City of Cincinnati on an invented scheme that gave his law firm $10,000 of tax payer's money.  Yes, let's get this straight.  A self-professed anti-tax group sued the city on a non-issue worth a few dollars and managed to get paid $10,000 to do it by the City.

Yes, to repeat, again: an anti-tax group staged a frivolous lawsuit over a few dollars and then collected 10,000 dollars worth of tax payer money.  The anti-tax group who claims to want to reduce spending, maneuvered the City into paying it's lawyers $10,000 of money they don't want the City to Spend.  The anti-tax group forced the City to waste tax payer's money.

Is it just me or is the level of insanity and hypocrisy emanating from the area around Chris Finney's fat head causing earthquakes in Youngstown?

COAST has one goal: Destroy the city.  They are not yet forming an army or planting bombs, but their goal is clearly the destruction of the city.  If they think that what they do is anything else, then they are even more delusional than they appear.

Some Old Wussy In the New Year

Is COAST Bleeding Quadrophenic?

CityBeat's Kevin Osborne has an interesting blog post detailing the many varied stances of COAST since they got beat in the November election. I agree with Kevin's general assertion. It sounds like either a single member of COAST has a hardcore split personality disorder, or there is conflict in the ranks.

A silver star goes to anyone who got the reference in the title.

Residency of Denise Driehaus Challenged in Ohio 31 House Race

Denis Driehaus, a Westside Democrat, is having her residency challenged by a friend of another candidate (Terry Tranter) in the 31st house race.  The issue at hand is the question of Driehaus living in the 31st district 12 months prior to the 2012 election.  Driehaus has been a house representative on the Westside of Cincinnati and after her district was totally wiped out she has apparently moved to the new 31st district, which runs from Central to the Eastside of the Cincinnati.

Tranter's friend also questioned both Driehaus's and candidate Luke Brockmeier's signatures, claiming "irregularities" on them.  The article reports that the BOE of elections found that both candidates had enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Depending on the views of the board, a hearing could be held next week.  That would seem to be a really big waste of time.

IRhine's: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas All-Star Cincy Edition

COAST Members Looking to Waste More City Money to Benefit Finney

"Attorney" Chris Finney, along with token "residents" of the City of Cincinnati Mark Miller and Tom Brinkman, want to waste more of the Taxpayer's money by subsidizing the "career" of Finney.  They've sent a letter to the City Solicitor as the first step in what likely will be a frivolous lawsuit that has no basis in law. Finney stands to benefit from this if the lawsuit goes on and he can collect legal fees in a settlement or, if he gets an insane judge, an actual positive ruling.

This action is the exectution of the threat issued by Council Member Chris Smitherman and nothing more than is a total waste of time.  It is based on a single word "all" and as I previously blogged, the "all" clause "arguement put forth in the finney letter was fully satisfied when Council's legislative power was exercised with the passing of the rules of council.  All Legisilative powers included giving others in the government the power to carryout the charter.  Let me quote my own blog post linked above:

Section 5a of Article II of the City Charter states "The Council shall organize itself and conduct its business as it deems appropriate...." That's what they did with a 5-3 vote (one member was absent.)

Section 2 of Article III of the City Charter state "The Mayor shall preside over all meetings of the council, but shall not have a vote on the council."

I am far from a legal scholar, but any educated person who understands the core basis of Representative Democracy and Divided Government understands that Finney has no case. They can dislike the rules of Council and they can voice their dislike, but unless they get a majority of votes, they have to learn to deal with losing.

Side Note: Originally Smitherman stated he was going to be the having Finney send the letter if Council didn't cave to his threats.  Why is this letter written with Miller and Brinkman as the complainants and not Smitherman?  Where's Chris Smitherman's name on the letter?  He is obviously, based on his original grandstanding incident, in cahoots with this cabal, but why the lack of his name?  Is there a misrepresentation here?  Is there a conflict? Is there any possible dereliction of duty as a Member of City Council? Should this be investigated by the authorites?

Jeff Cramerding Running For Treasurer

CitBeat has a good summary on Long time behind the scenes campaign guru Jeff Cramerding's effort to put his own name on the ballot for Hamilton County Treasurer.

OccupytheLeftists Why Don't Ya?

If you are going to be a Leftist political movement, then just be a leftist political movement!  OccupyCincy shouldn't be picking the most leftist idea and pushing it as if they represent a belief shared by "99%" of the country.  I'm over it.  I had sympathy for the concept, but now it's just a front, and I'm not just talking the People's Front of Judea, I am downright talking the Judean People's Front.

And in other news, the Parks Board members are idiots.

Streetcar to Run to the Banks

The Federal Government has come through again and has awarded another grant to fund the Streetcar to allow it to reach the Banks project, near Great American Ball Park.  The $10.9 Million grant was announced yesterday with a visit from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to City Hall.

This really solidifies the Streetcar.  Not having the funding for the Banks was a setback that was going to require help and the Federal Government has come through for the people of Cincinnati and the entire region.

This grant also adds a little more salt to wounds of Streetcar foes who suffered big at the ballot box last month. I am not going to shed a tear if Tom Luken and COAST feel the sting a bit more.

We should see ground breaking by 1st quarter 2012 and the streetcars running in 2013.  The phase 2 portion, the connector to the Uptown area, still needs funding, so more work is still ahead and this should be from the State of Ohio.  We need to get the anti-Urban Republicans to start governing for everyone in the State, not just the Suburbanites.  That starts with voting and it starts with holding the Democratic Party's feet to the fire, something they need a the moment.

What is the Future of Metromix?

Last week Gannett, parent company of the Enquirer, announced that it was closing seven Metromix outlets.  The Cincinnati edition of Metromix was not included, but how much longer will the publication last or in what form could it continue?

The MinnPost is reporting that the Twin Cities Metromix will be replaced by an "Express Metromix" which the article states would be an aggregation website for Entertainment.  I would prefer they shutter the website instead of being an aggregator.  We don't need any more aggregators.

Do we see the future of all of Metromix in these stories?  Will Metromix Cincinnati follow the Minneapolis model?

I hope not, but if you make me bet, I would give it until the end of summer 2012.

Is print advertising that unprofitable?  I still read the advertisements.  I do that mostly because in entertainment publications that is often how I can find out what events are going on, since original content in these print publications have become nearly non-existent.

I'm still waiting on the Enquirer iPad app, which reports indicate will require a subscription to read it.  I don't know how this will affect the regular online edition or iPhone app, but free online news in Cincinnati is endangered.  If the paper takes the profits from the iPad subscriptions and invests in more LOCAL reporters covering LOCAL stories, then I will pay for an online edition of the Enquirer.  I just don't see Gannett making any investment in anything that actually provides original local news content, just eyeballs to crap.

Light Up OTR On Friday At Neon's

Join the neighborhood in celebrating the holidays!

Here's the who-what... on the event:

WHO: Ionic Collective and Peanut Butter Jelly Co. (PB&J) 

WHAT: The 2nd annual Light Up Over-the-Rhine (Light Up OTR) will take place this Friday in Over-The Rhine. Community leaders, residents, young professionals and artists will join together this holiday season to set up over 1000 luminaries framing an 8-block radius from Central Parkway to Liberty Avenue.  The warm glow will symbolize safety, unity, and the coming of the holiday season. A 25-foot tree will be mounted as a permanent holiday fixture at The Famous Neon’s Unplugged. Light Up OTR will benefit the Freestore Foodbank with a $1 entrance fee, or a non-perishable canned good, required for entry.

WHERE: The Famous Neons Unplugged, located at 208 E. 12th Street in Over-The-Rhine, and the outlying Over-The-Rhine area.

WHEN:  Friday December 16, 2011

•  • 7:00 p.m. Volunteers can gather together to assemble luminaries at The Famous Neon’s Unplugged.
•  • 8:00 p.m. Teams will be coordinated to disperse the luminaries throughout the neighborhood.
•  • 10:00 p.m. All volunteers and guests will gather back at The Famous Neon’s Unplugged to gather for the second annual lighting of the OTR Christmas tree.

City Budget Process To Be Sane This Year

One of the best results of the Cincinnati City Council election this year was the increase of a civil and sane budget process.  Gone are the pissing matches and games of Chicken.  Gone are the right-wing demands that require the suspension of the rules of Math.

Sure, we gained a level of insanity in the form of the election of Chris Smitherman, but other than being a pest, he has no power.

The only problem with this situation is that the comfort provided by the Convergys settlement is a one time event.  This time next year we will face a budget shortfall again, unless the economy does far better than expected.

With this fact in place the majority members of council can not wait.  They must begin the process to examine the 2013 budget as soon as the 2012 is passed.  The issue of property taxes must be resolved far earlier then the mid year deadline looming next year.  The public needs the whole year to digest the possible cuts that we could face.  New ideas can be vetted and discussed.  Hell, there will even be time for Winburn and Smitherman to come up with a plan on their own.  I'm going to presume that they will be able to use math more correctly than the Republicans of the past, but we'll see.

This is the first test of the new council.  How well they do making the budget process open and civil will help us determine the future of this council.  We'll have an idea if the seven can work together or if petty squabbles will arise and consume the process.

I am keeping my optimism going.  I've not had much of an optimistic attitude about council in recent years.  This year my optimism has returned and I hope it stays around for a while.

CityBeat Reorganizes Staff and Layoff 'Several'

The tough econmic climate has reached down to Cincinnati's Media landscape again and this time hit altweekly CityBeat.  In a blog post yesterday, publisher Dan Bockrath announced a new leadership team for the newspaper and stated that they have "eliminated or restructured several staff positions." No details on the exact staff members or positions affected were listed in the article.  This is sad news. I very much love CityBeat. I've regularly criticize articles and columns in the newspaper, and always tried to be fair.  I hope to continue to read the paper every Wednesday, filled with local news, arts, and culture articles.

I wish the best for new leadership of the newspaper. I hope they can provide new momentum to a much needed institution for the Cincinnati Community. I also hope all of the individuals who were affected in the layoffs are able to move on to new jobs as quickly.

ATT Claims Expanded Coverage in Downtown, Mason, & CVG

ATT has issued a press release claiming to have upgraded the cellular coverage in Downtown, Mason, and near the Airport in Northern Kentucky.  Does anyone agree?  I've not noticed this, but the next time I am at a large event in Downtown Cincinnati area, I will compare and contrast.

Smitherman's First Act of Grandstanding

It didn't take long, not even a week, and already Chris Smitherman has committed his first offense of Grandstanding in his term as a Cincinnati City Council member.

Smitherman is all in a tizzy because a majority of Council has approved a council rule removing a 90 day requirement for putting ordinances on the Council calendar.  Smitherman is upset because a majority of the council voted.  This would be a majority of the elected representatives of the people of Cincinnati.  They voted to establish their own rules, as provided by the City Charter which operates legally under State law.  Smitherman is "threatening" to sue.

According to the article, I think I can take the quote off the word threatening because it states that unless council votes his way, he will sue.  That sounds like a form of extortion, but in political activities you can get away with more than the average person.

I do question Smitherman, as a member of Council, taking legal action with any indication or standing as a member of the City Government without use of the City's legal representative.  If he, as he threatens, gets his right wing zealot attorney, and anti-gay bigot, Chris Finney to sue the city, I'd like to know what standing Smitherman is planning on using.  Also, who would pay Finney's fees?  If any legal fees ever go to any non-city lawyer suing on behalf of  Smitherman on a city issue, the fees should come from Smitherman's budget.

Section 5a of Article II of the City Charter states "The Council shall organize itself and conduct its business as it deems appropriate...."  That's what they did with a 5-3 vote (one member was absent.)

Section 2 of Article III of the City Charter state "The Mayor shall preside over all meetings of the council, but shall not have a vote on the council."

What is he going to sue over? The City Charter was followed. This is Democracy in action.

Smitherman better get used to not getting his way on council unless he can get 5 or for veto-overrides, 6 votes on an issue.  He can't act like a child and threaten to sue over everything, especially when he has no grounds for a law-suit.  He can complain about the rule, but using threats to change the minds of his fellow members of council isn't going to win many (no one) over.

Greg Harris Seeking County Commission Spot

WVXU is reporting that former Democratic City Council member, Greg Harriss, is running for Hamilton County Commissioner against Republican Greg Hartmann.

Democratic Commissioner Todd Portune is running for re-election as well, but there is no word on any Republican opponent, who must file by 4PM today.

Another Take On the SGH Situation

I am going to start calling the Southgate House Closing as more of a Southgate House Situation. Yes, that makes it sound remotely like I'm referencing a reality TV show.  While the drama surrounding the family business dealings involved might bring that to mind, that's not my intention. This guest column on Each Note Secure from Margaret Darling of the Seedy Seeds makes it clear to me that there are two separate issues at stake here: 1)What will the New location of the Southgate House be like (and where will it be) and then 2)What will be come of the Southgate Building?  So SGH closing isn't the only issue, there is a much more complex concern. a "situation," if you will.

Number two becomes the more cloudy concern.  The operators of the SGH are planning on opening a new place.  We'll just have to wait and see where that is and how well the new location will work.  The Southgate Building is something different and the resulting owners don't appear to have the plan in place with what to do with the building.  That is bigger concern to me.  I don't fear that the new location for the SGH will be like.  I fear that the new owners will not use the building wisely.  It would be a great place for a music venue, but the building needs to be used wisely.  It is important to Newport and needs to continue to enrich the culture, no matter what it becomes.  We have a situation and the City of Newport needs to keep that situation from ruining a vital piece of the community.

Luke Brockmeier Campaign Kickoff Speech

Luke Brockmeier is running in the Democratic primary for the 31st District in the Ohio House. Above is his speech from his campaign kickoff event. For more information on his candidacy check out www.lukeforohio.com.

Editorial Note: I am a supporter of Luke Brockmeier.  I am biased towards his candidacy and will not hide that in the least. As a political blogger, I am not going to censor myself, but will endeavor to be honest in what I write. This is an opinion blog, however, and it is the opinion of this blogger that if you live in the new Ohio 31st House District, you should vote for Luke Brockmeier in the Democratic primary in March and then when he wins, vote for him in November of 2012 in the general election.  If you don't live in the 31st, then you can still help a progressive candidate bring change to Columbus by contributing to his campaign: HERE.

Cincinnati and Findlay Market Featured on NPR Morning Edition Story

NPR had an interesting story this morning on it's Morning Edition programming that included interviews here in Cincinnati on opinions on Congress.  It took place at Findlay Market and included quotes from Dan Korman, owner of Park+Vine located in Over-the-Rhine.

Anti-3CDC Bias is Abundant This Holiday Season

So, a report comes out naming a census track in Over-the-Rhine as the most income mixed census track in the nation based on 2005 to 2009 data and then all the biased media fingers point to 3CDC.  It doesn't surprise me that attacks will be made on 3CDC for its redevelopment efforts, but this attack is totally unfair.

Track 17, the area cited, is located in the Northeast part of OTR.  What the article doesn't mention is that 3CDC's efforts are not in that area. If they had looked in track 9 or 10, then they would have found areas like the Gateway Quarter, Main Street, Washington Park. The variances in income cited in Census Track 17 are almost totally caused by the nice homes up on Mulberry Street at the top edge of the district.  Pair this with the sparsely populated area below it and presto...the numbers fall into place giving the disparity.  When you cut neighborhoods apart, then you can find lots of things.  Hell, if 1 person making $100,000 moved to Queensgate, I think with the low population in that area, they would take over Track 17's title.

The other big bias in the article was drawing in the Metropole issue, which is not located in OTR and is a vastly different situation.  The Metropole on the surface fits the conclusion the writer had formed, so adding it in was like icing on the cake.  If you are going to draw in unrelated incidents, there is a nice empty field sitting in Norwood near Smith and Edwards that could serve someone's political agenda.

A significant part of the article attempted to look at OTR overall and provided a reasonable view on 3CDC's efforts, but this has nothing to do with cherry picking statistical and using that as the basis of the article.  That makes a biased and just false claim that 3CDC caused the disparity.  In fact with the time frame involved, 3CDC had not completed that many new locations and had at best purchased the empty, unused buildings that become the condo/apartments now flourishing.  If you want to write an article criticizing redevelopment of OTR, then start typing, but keep the misleading statistics out of it.

I do credit one thing in the article without hesitation: the photo.  The photo looks to me to be of Track 17, at least in part. In contrast, if you look at CityBeat's article on this story, then you should notice that the picture listed is not in Track 17 at all. It's of Gateway Quarter and it's inclusion with either a careless mistake or purposeful deception.  I'll let you decide on that.

Southgate House Closing

According to it's Facebook page, the Southgate House will be closing it's doors after this New Year's Eve show. This esteemed music venue has been serving the great Cincinnati music scene for decades and has been the sight of scores of epic concerts.  News that it is closing a big blow to the Cincinnati music scene.  The post indicates that the owners may move the business.  There is no announced reason for the move and no word on what necessitates the closure or what will happen with the historic landmark.

Joe at EachNoteSecure.com has more on the closing, which had been rumored recently.

UPDATE: Lauren Bishop of the Enquirer has more.

Biased Gannett Bleeds On Enqurier

If you've read this story about Rob Portman's participation in the 'Super-Committee' you would think the only person of interest on the committee was Rob Portman.  You'd also assume that what ever Portman was doing, he was doing it without any hint of politics or partisanship.

The bias of the article was astonishing to me.  I'll use the cliche 'putting lipstick on a big' because that's basically what it did.  You can still smell the stink that was the 'Super-Committee,' but you can also smell the gallons of perfume trying to hide the Republican responsibility for the failure of the committee. I understand that Portman is local, but it is biased to make him the focus of the coverage when he was at best a single member of a team that failed. We got no insight about the Democratic members of the committee. We got a cloudy puff piece on a Republican that didn't hide the failure, but went out of it's way to make Portman look like he's not to blame.  It's homerism of a different political/partisan bent.

The most annoying example of bias in the article came in how the reporter alternately labeled the American Enterprise Institute vs the Brookings Institution when describing a person quoted for the article.  The AEI was referenced without any qualifying partisan adjectives:

"Portman is the key to me," Norman Ornstein, a longtime congressional expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told the Fiscal Times in August, after the 55-year-old Portman was tapped to be one of the six GOP lawmakers on the bipartisan panel. "Rob is smart, decent, not a crazy. He is the kind of person you'd want on this panel."

On the other hand the Brookings Instituion was labeled as 'left-leaning:'

Thomas Mann, a congressional expert at the Brookings Institution, a left-leaning think tank, similarly said the "supercommittee was doomed to failure" because Republicans took such a hard line opposing any significant tax increases. "The minor concessions were not serious," Mann said, referring to a GOP proposal that offered some revenue increases. "As a consequence, I don't think there were any pivotal players."

Gannett and the Enquirer know the AEI is a Conservative think-tank. It may be representing the more libertarian wing of the Republican Party, but it clearly is at a minimum a 'right-leaning' think tank.  Bias runs deep and when you don't treat groups the same, you sink farther down into the muck with FOX News.

What Did You Buy Today?

Now, be honest, tell everyone what you purchased today on the holiest of shopping days.

I bought lunch for a couple of friends and that was it. It was at an independent restaurant, to boot.

It was a good day!

Turkey, Turkey!!!

Eat, drink, nap, repeat!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

Luke Brockmeier Ohio 31st Campaign Kickoff Event Tonight!

Newly declared Democratic candidate for the Ohio 31st House District, Luke Brockmeier, is holding his kickoff event tonight (Thursday November 17th) at the Greenwich in Walnut Hills.  Join Luke and his supporters at 6PM to celebrate the beginning of his campaign and learn more where he stands on the issues.

Here is more from the event's press release:

Luke Brockmeier, a Madisonville resident and grassroots organizer, is entering the Democratic primary for the 31st district of the Ohio House of Representatives.The campaign kickoff event will be at The Greenwich (2442 Gilbert Avenue) in Walnut Hills on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 6:00pm.


Brockmeier is a first-time candidate who has political experience with Citizens to Restore Fairness, America Votes Ohio, and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, where he is employed as the Public Affairs Coordinator. He is a graduate of Princeton High School and Miami University, and has also worked extensively with local arts organizations as a stage manager and technician.

For more information check out www.LukeforOhio.com.

Also check out Luke on Twitter @LukeforOhio and Facebook.

Where Would Charlie Go?

The buzz yesterday that surrounded Council Member Charlie Winburn's comments to the Enquirer about a conversation he had with local Republican Party officials Monday Morning was quite the thing.  The gist of the post is that Winburn may be considering, or wants people to think he is considering, leaving the Republican Party.

The problem is, where is he going to go?  I don't think he's going to be welcome back in with the Democrats. The local Green Party is willing to ignore its philosophy, so maybe he could get an endorsement. Could he join the SHERO-HERO party with Sandra Queen Noble?

In my opinion this is all a stunt.  Charlie wants attention and respect from the GOP, because he is the only Republican on Council.  He also maybe trying to gain more power.  I think he's going to be told to go take a hike.  The GOP cares little about the city, and at this point, they appear to be poised to write it off. Unless they make big gains in 2012 in Hamilton County. I wouldn't be surprised to see only a couple of Republicans running in 2013.  I don't see them having 5 candidates again for a couple of terms.

On the other hand, Charlie may be asking about the Mayor's race.  He could be asking if he could get the backing from the GOP if he were to run.  This would be a mistake for Charlie.  Firstly he would get crushed by Roxanne Qualls.  Secondly, he already said publicly that he wasn't going to run against Qualls, and in fact he would support her.  This is what he said back in 2010:

Winburn: I don't want to be mayor, I'm supporting Qualls. "I already told her that."

Lying to your opponent wouldn't be a good thing to defend during your campaign.

Bad Cop Quits CPD

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that a Cincinnati Police Officer has resigned as part of the deal made because he allegedly accessed police records on behalf of a relative of his, who is a suspected drug dealer. It appears as if this cop is getting of pretty easy for what he allegedly did.

I am wondering, what else has this cop done on behalf of his suspected drug dealing relative?

How Did Chris Smitherman Get Elected?

I am extremely disappointed that Chris Smitherman was elected to City Council, but I am not concerned with him actually having any significant influence on the direction of the city.  I lack that concern because of the seven Democrats now on council along with the Mayor in solid control of the government.  All we citizens are going to have to do is put up with his antics.  I'm wondering what he will do for his first performance.  I'm hoping for a little David Mamet.

Anyway...How did Chris get back on Council?  I think the answer is quite simple, but there are two parts.

1) His name recognition as a former Councilman and as local NAACP Chairman got him votes on a low/moderate level across the city.  He never placed below 18th in any ward, and only was that low on the East Side.
2) The main reason was the turnout of African American voters.  Specifically in Ward 7 (Bond Hill/Roselawn) where Smitherman was 1st, with over 3,700 votes.  Ward 7's turnout was 42.43% up 6.33% from 2009.

His COAST endorsement I am going to say was meaningless. If he gained any votes from it, then he likely lost just as many, if not more.  The higher turnout was the main factor.  He still barely got on, placing a very weak 8th, so when the Mayoral election rolls around, he may face trouble with more conservatives voting if there is actually a contended race.

I honestly hope Smitherman behaves. If that sounds likes I am considering him childlike, well, I do.  His track record is not good on this front and I fear he will take grandstanding or school yard threats to new heights, since that is all he will be able to do.  He won't actually introduce meaningful legislation, because he can't get it passed without cooperation from others. Since his not known for playing well with others some level of circus is ahead for Cincinnati City Council.  I hope it is only a one ring circus and not three.