Political Intervention is Bad Business and Unethical

As a graduate of the Richard T. Farmer School of business I can tell you that I never learned it was a good business practice for a company, any company, to try to influence its employees' votes in an election. Why? For the same reason it is not a good reason to tell your employees what church they should go to. The head of Cintas, Scott Farmer, sent an email to Cintas employees that made it pretty clear how they should vote. It was the wrong thing to do. It creates a hostile workplace, literally. I would resent my CEO if he told me how to vote. The only thing the head of my company has ever done is to encourage us to vote and pass out League of Women Voters guides, the most non-partisan voter guides around.

A sane business manager worries about about attracting a large numbers of customers. A good business manager does not care how that customer votes, as long as they buy the product.  A good manager also attracts the best talent to work for them to attract those customers.  Voting choices don't determine job abilities.  It is a clear problem when bad managers state directly or imply success for employees depends on voting choices.

I don't know if it is egomania, fear, or ignorance that would cause Scott Farmer to cross this ethical line.  All I know is that he crossed it, and is showing he is not a good business manager.  I hope all of the current Richard T. Farmer school of business students pay attention.  If they like what they see in Farmer's actions, they should get an F in the capstone management course we all took as seniors.

So what do we know: at least a few CEOs feel fear from not having complete control over the government. If any Cintas voters were not put off by this, I hope they at least lose respect for their CEO. He obviously doesn't respect the rights and choices of the employees.

Richard T. Farmer's son, Scott, appears to not have learned enough at Miami. I fear that he learned too much from his father on the subject of politics, so that is clouding his judgement.

More from CityBeat.

Fingerman Running in the Ohio First Against Chabot?

Another candidate 'appears' to have entered the race for Ohio's First Congressional district and it is Mitch Fingerman.

In a district that lacks a real candidate to face the gerrymandered incumbent, it is great to have someone at least making an effort to go through the motions of running a campaign.

Thank you Mitch Fingerman!

He's having an event at Milton's on November 1st, 5:30 to 7:30. Come out and hear The Goodle Boys play and hear about Fingerman's first campaign.

The Cincinnati Herald’s Endorsements Are Out

The weekly newspaper The Cincinnati Herald has issued their endorsements for the 2012 Election. They pick mostly Democrats in the contested races. I'm surprised they picked anyone for the 1st or 2nd congressional districts, since those are effectively unopposed races.

Mandel Alters Abortion Position: He's Lying to Someone

The Enquirer Politics Extra blog is reporting that a statement issued by Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel within the last 24 hours differs with a questionnaire he submitted to the Right to Life Cincinnati anti-abortion group. On the questionnaire he stated he does not believe in any abortion exceptions, at all. In the statement issued in response to questions surrounding the Indiana Republican Senate race, Mandel said he has "always" been clear on abortion: he's against it in all situations, except when the mother's life is "threatened."

So, when was Mandel lying in this case? Was it to the general public or to the RTL of Cincinnati?

Mandel has the reputation of talking out of both sides of his mouth, even more than the average Politician, but documenting it takes the cake.  If the RTL group has any credibility, yeah...a long shot, they would at least demand a clear explanation. Clear being the key word. Mandel needs an explanation that does not just indicate carelessness by a staffer. The buck stops higher than that.

TPM Points to Hamilton County as 'Clearest Swing' in Ohio

A very interesting article from Talking Points Memo that provides in-depth analysis of Ohio's points of focus for the Presidential election.

Hamilton County is labeled the clearest swing county in the state and is given lots of importance. We've been a high target for both campaigns and likely will see both candidates here the final week, assuming Ohio's numbers remain close.

I don't think either candidate can write off Ohio, so I expect to see multiple trips over the next 1.5 weeks. In less than 2 weeks it should be over. If not, then buckle up fit trouble.

Planned Parenthood Benefit Tonight!

Take a break from the Presidential Election and come out for a night of laughs: You Say Election, We Say Vagina*: A Night of Legitimate Comedy (Benefiting Planned Parenthood SW Ohio)

Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Entertain includes:
Dirty Girl Cabaret
Lovely Ladies of Improv
OTRimprov

Show starts at 8PM (7:30 doors open)

Location: Below Zero Lounge
1120 Walnut Street in Over-the-Rhine

Some Summer Square Dancing at the Northside Tavern

Obama Yard Signs Burned in Green Township

The Cincinnati Herald is reporting multiple incidents where Obama yard signs were burned while they sat in the front yards of Obama supporters.

The undertones of racism to these incidents can not be denied. Burning anything in someone's front yard is obviously based on the KKK, assuming otherwise is ignorant.  It is sad that this likely will not get the coverage it should. WCPO has as story as well.

From Cincyshakes: Rome Victorious!

Quimbob's Endorsements

For what it's worth, here are Blogging Isn't Cool's endorsements in the General Election made by Quimbob.

The Nuclear Option Is the Choice Du Jour

I presume this is a game of Chicken, but Hamilton County Commissioners still are acting insane. Weight Loss by starvation is just has harmful as being overweight, if not more harmful. The two Republicans continue to push a radical national Republican effort to use the economic downturn as cover to gut government services wholesale. It is a blind effort that is not about actually determining how government should be run, is just a insane need to reduce government with no forethought. Instead of enacting a fair and open debate on what government should be doing they are play a cruel game that forces department heads to cut off their own limbs to avoid death.

It is like Monzel and Hartmann live in a 1861 post Bull-Run hospital and they are a Copperhead Doctor bent on trimming Lincoln's soldiers down to push their cause.

What is so disgraceful is that no one on the Commission will step up with a plan. They won't do the their job and come up with a detailed budget that will balance. They are playing chicken with various department heads they want cuts from and don't care what the loss of services will be. All the while they seek to appease Property owners by refusing the end the tax rollback to fund the Bengals Stadium shortfall. Votes from the more wealth matter more than the helping the entire County.

Gutless.

Hartmann and Monzel remind me of a Cold War U. S. General who thought we could win a full scale nuclear war. I guess they never saw The Day After.

Hartmann already is planning to place the blame for this on the City, so I think he thinks his bomb shelter will save him if everything around him implodes.

County Looking to Screw the Poor and Renters, No Matter What

The Enquirer is reporting that Hamilton County Commissioners will be given three options by county Administrators to cover the 20 Million dollar budget deficit.

The article tries to point out the differences between the choices, but it fails to put forth the main common action: the poor and people who rent will be screwed no matter which plan is picked. The plans are being cooked to make them semi-palatable to Republicans who are Hell bent on shifting the burden of the Bengals Stadium to the poor people of Hamilton County.

The first option is the nuclear option, where nearly every service is cut, so everyone is screwed, well, everyone who can't afford to pay for their own healthcare, police protection, or have enough money to buy justice and don't have to rely on the courts to enforce the law.

The second two options are just shell games to see who will cut the most from what. What both of the plans do is increase the sales tax rate and offset it with cuts to property taxes. So if you own property, you don't get as much of a tax increase as people who do not own property, maybe even none. This is how the poor and renters get screwed.

Sure, Republicans will say Renters will get the same benefit because landlords will pass on tax savings to their renters.  BWWAHAHAHAH!  That's the biggest laugh in the world, or my attempt to make it appear in this blog post.  No, landlords will pocket the tax savings and increase rents the same way the would have without the increase.  Therefore Renters are screwed even if they are part of the middle class.

So, the County is again looking to screw the poor and people who rent.  Where would you find a majority of those types?  If you said the City of Cincinnati, you would be right.  Bottom line then, the three plans seek to place more burden on City Residents and less burden (or a least no additional burden) on non-city Residents  as long as they own property.  I'm gonna guess that Monzel doesn't plan on getting any votes from the poor or renters who don't live in the city, so he can just pretend they don't exist or he hopes they move.  Either way, they become poorer to help subsidize the Cincinnati Bengals and Mike Brown.

Welcome to the neo-feudalist movement.

COAST Loses, Again

In a fight to make false statements in a political campaign COAST lost its legal defensive action. COAST was trying to get the Ohio Election Commission to be blocked from enforcing Ohio law. COAST lost. So, yes, the anti-government COAST tried to get help from the Federal Government because they didn't like the State Government's laws. It is funny how COAST, and other conservatives, like State Governments having powers to, force religion on others, but chaffe when the Federal Government prevents them from doing so. This is irony at any angle.

Is the Enquirer Delaying Print Stories From the Web, Again?

Since I ponied up and paid for an online subscription to the Enquirer, I thought I would read their front page headline on the print edition to see how they spun the news from last night.

What I saw to the left of the front page headline was another, smaller, front page story with the headline of "NAACP election will be battle." I read the article and thought, hmm, that would be a good story to link to on Cincinnati Blog.

That's basically how news blogging goes. You read other articles and link to them, adding your own take on the subject, often reacting to article itself.

So, I start to look for the article on the Enquirer website. There's not a Local News section.  That kinda sucks.  So I check around all the sections, including the Latest Headlines section, and  I can't find it. I do several searches for the article using the Enquirer's web search function. I can't find it. I go to Google and search on an exact sentence from the article including someone's name. I STILL can't find it. Maybe it was just a hiccup with their new paywall system, I don't know, but I like to find things I know are supposed to exist when I search for them.

So I gave up looking and had a different blog post than I was planning on writing.

Has the Enquirer gone back to a "print only exclusive" model?  Has it had that for a while and as a web only reader I am just now seeing the delay?  That's possible.  I kind of would have thought that such a delay would GO AWAY with the advent of an online subscription model, but maybe not.

It is still early in the morning and the article may pop up before I publish this post, but I was annoyed, therefore I am writing about it.  That's another way blogging happens, you get pissed off about something, so you blog about it.  Kinda simple, but it works for me.

Is Cranley Running For Mayor?

CityBeat has done some good cyber shoe leather reporting and dug evidence that John Cranley is preparing to run for Mayor of Cincinnati.

Some of the few Cranley supports out there read this blog, so I ask them: is it true?

Should I sharpen my knives in preparation for a Conservative anti-urban candidate running in the race for Cincinnati Mayor?

Is the Republican Coroner Candidate Willing to Play Politics with Death Investigations?

The point I get from Republican coroner candidate Pete Kambelos' response to a Cincinnati Herald Candidate questionnaire, as reported by the Enquirer, is that if elected, he's going to determine the results of death investigations, like the taser case mentioned, that will appease a group of people he wants to vote for him. I guess finding the truth of the situation isn't as important as finding the "truth" people want to hear.

After determining that a person has a terminal disease and will die, does Dr. Kambelos tell them it directly, or does he spin the truth?

I really didn't expect to find any political issues to actually write about in the coroner's race, but this one is pretty big.

Does Josh Mandel Have a Personal Space Problem?

Ohio Treasurer and Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel has much to explain for an alleged incident caught on tape where he grabbed/pushed a campaign "tracker's" camera in an elevator. A tracker is a person hired by political groups to follow around a candidate with a video camera looking for embarrassing moments. It is a common practice and normally looks for something the candidate says, not something he might do.

Talking Points Memo has the full report and points out the biggest fact causing Mandel problems: he lied about what happened and the incident occurred in front of a Columbus Reporter. Oh yeah, and it's on video tape. The latter isn't as incriminating as it could be, since you don't see Mandel put his hands on the tracker or the camera, but you do hear what is going and and hear a witness confirm what just happened.

The Columbus Dispatch has a report outlining Mandel contradiction and what should just be called lies.

The Enquirer Does Not Get the Point of Urbanism

If you were to presume that the majority of the Editorial page board live in the suburbs based on this editorial, then I think you would be right. I can't prove it, you know, except if I wanted to look up the individual members on the voter registration rolls, which I will skip tonight. Instead, I feel that I must point out something simple, yet,  that at least the writer of the editorial misses about why people are moving to Downtown Cincinnati.  As a person who lives in the near Downtown area (OTR), I can attest to this personally.

I plan on living here as long as I live in the metro area.

I don't plan on moving into a house with a picket fence.

The suburbanite fantasy is not for me.  Please don't force it upon me or anyone else, which is what the Enquirer appears to be doing, from the editorial:

Most Cincinnati residents live in neighborhoods like these. And we want young adults who live Downtown, attracted by redevelopment, to someday live in those neighborhoods. Neighborhoods need city investment and attention.

No, Mr/Mrs Editorial board members, I don't hope people who move Downtown "come to their senses" and move to a white picket fence neighborhood. I want people who are looking for a City to FIND and LIVE in a CITY.

We choose to live in city, not a 2.2 kid and backyard dream. If people want to move to city neighborhoods, THAT IS AWESOME! I really hope they do. They are far better than exurban wastelands and are closer to the action, the urban core. If you want to live in a city neighborhood, that is a very honorable goal.  That person is not the target for Downtown living.

If people feel more comfortable in Hyde Park, I am SOOOOOO COOOOOL with that. I want people to move there. I want Westwood and Avondale and Bond Hill and Mt. Washington and Madisonville to have tons of people living in them.  None of those neighborhoods have ever been or will ever be economic or cultural centers and they are not meant to be.

Here is what the Enquirer and much of the Conservative Republicans don't get. Urbanism is about creating a core that helps EVERYONE. We build the urban core up and then all the neighborhoods gain. Not everyone wants to live the hardcore city life like Tim Mara apparently doesn't get. That is OK, but we must recognize the urban core as the economic and cultural center of the Metro area and keeping that urban core healthy it helps foster the innovative, creative, and energetic people living in that core to induce the growth all around the Cincinnati Metro area.

We love the nightlife, we got to boggie on the disco 'round, oh yeah.

Yes, this is a hard pill for the "if you build a stripmall, they will come" crowd, but that is the past.  Our future is in our cities.  This is a throwback to the past, but the post War years have killed our culture and society long enough.  If we don't embrace urbanism, then American culture, the good parts of it at least, will decay.

As a side note, the part that I don't get and never will understand is how anyone living way out in the exurbs or traditional inner-suburbs can think that without a vibrant and focused urban core the metro area can grow.  It just will not happen.  I really hope someone at the Enquirer will wake up and see the future and stop fearing it.  Exurbanite Republicans will always fear change, but just because that is your core audience, you can't hide the truth from them forever.

Finally: so if you think the Enquirer isn't biased against the Streetcar and the City core, then I guess you have been living in a cave in Indian Hill for the last 5 years.

Where Will You Get Your Cincinnati News?

With the the Cincinnati Enquirer going to a Paywall format tonight, where will you get your Cincinnati News? Will you subscribe? Will other local outlets expand coverage? There are no other mainstream outlets that have any stories that are as in depth as a daily newspaper goes. Will the TV stations improve their online articles to compete?

I fear few will notice.

The problem is that the public, overall, is filled with ignorant sloths, who care more about sports or Dancing with the Stars, than what happens in their community. They wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference if you moved them from West Chester to Dublin, OH, while they slept.

Manufactured News Is Not Real News: MidPoint Falsely Smeared

When a complaint by one person is just not good enough for a news story, don't manufacture a story that is void of a point or many relevant facts.

Here are the problems with the article from the Enquirer:

1. The issue is not about Midpoint: I'm not sure who is out to rain on the Midpoint Music Festival, but someone obviously doesn't like it being in Washington Park.  I'd guess the pro-bum crowd (aka 'homeless activists') are helping paint something that benefits OTR and CityBeat in as negative light as possible.  I doubt that former CityBeat News Editor, Greg Flannery,  would be pleased to see CityBeat's new owner benefiting from an event centered on Washington Park.
2. One man's complaint against the Park gets an article? What makes Tim Mara's complaint more news worthy than the complaints of others on a laundry list of issues: police conduct, Indian Hill Voter Registration, choice prosecutions by the County Prosecutor, etc?
3. The article alters Tim Mara's complaint: In the minutes of the Cincinnati Bar Association Local Government Committee meeting in early September, Mara is on record raising a complaint about the musical events that take place on Fridays in Washington Park.  He made the complaint there, because the guest speaker was from the Cincinnati Park Board.  The article claims Thursdays and Fridays.  The Jazz night on Thursdays was held in the bandstand, and didn't have the capacity to have the crowds and it ended at 9PM.  The Friday Flow events were at the main stage and all of the reports I heard indicated it drew a larger crowd, which was scheduled to end at 10PM.  The sound at the Bandstand has never been loud enough in my experience to be a problem from the area Mara lives on Pleasant.  Friday nights is the problem he sees, were the music is run through a bigger system and closer to his home. The issue is, and I hate to say it, who is primary audience for Friday Flow?  Also, why didn't Mara bring up the urination at the Bar Committee meeting?  He wrote the minutes referenced above, so he certainly would have noted it if he did.
4. Where are the details on the complaints filed? What specific events, nights, and number of incidents were cited by Tim Mara that warrented this big of a deal?
5. What about white guys pissing all over Downtown after Bengals' games?  If you haven't seen drunk white suburban/exurban men urinating in the alleyways and around buildings Downtown (especially South of 4th Street), then you've not been there on Sunday evenings in the Fall.  Why did the article not address this?  It wouldn't have anything to do with the pro-white guys suburban bias of the Enquirer, would it? At the same time as the article can ignore white guys pissing and ignore that the issue for Mara is that allegedly some black people pissing near his home, the article can allude that young mostly liberal Democratic music fans could piss all over Mara's front step.  Again, young people are bad, middle age white guys are ignored when they do wrong.
6. Why is Josh Spring Quoted for this Article? Why is the reporter so lazy to have not gotten a quote from someone with the Midpoint Festival or maybe a member of the OTR community council?  Hell, why not ask some who went to one big events this year at the park (OTR concert, CSO, or Shakespeare in the Park) how long the lines for the bathrooms were.  Instead the Enquirer quotes someone (Spring) who wants the Park, 3CDC, the OTR Businesses, and the City itself to fail.  That's either bias or sensationalism.  It could be both, but I don't see them as sophisticated as that.

For the record, there were not long lines for the bathrooms at Washington Park during the festival.  All of the shows ended by about 10.  They were loud, I can't deny that, but so were the bands playing at 12th and Vine.  Mara needs to understand that he lives in a city, not a suburb.  If he has the misguided belief that he can turn the city into a suburb, then he may want to join hands with John Cranley and start a really big pouty party, because it isn't going to happen.

Friday Night Video Fights: Greenhornes vs. Bad Veins

This:

Or This:

Scary Things Come Close to Happening, Even in Cincinnati

Law enforcement did their jobs, but how easily could this good police work turned into epic tragedy?

I'm also surprised this story is not getting more play, nationally. I would surmise the man's intent at running the security checkpoint was not clear, so the media isn't make this out to be a bigger deal than it was. I have to wonder why the ATF is involved and why a federal complaint was sealed on this case. Maybe that is normal procedure, and getting it unsealed is also routine, but it all leads to more questions that a professional journalist should be investigating.

UPDATE: The AP story on HuffPost has far more details than the Enquirer story. Yeah to Erlanger police for catching this guy!

Sittenfeld Lives Up to the Typical Politician He Is

I hope no one was surprised by council member P.G. Sittenfeld's anti-streetcar stance in today's vote. His prior statements on the subject were nothing but Bullshit. If anyone was confused about it previously, they should have a clear picture of his stance now.

Sittenfeld wants to be a politician and is siding with the Republicans because he thinks he will need to get  Republican votes when he runs for higher office.  I hope he learns that if you want to be a good leader, you have to stand for something, not try and tell everyone what they want to hear.

Friday Night Video Fights: Bad Veins vs. Walk the Moon

Mainline this?

Or this:

The BBC Visits Cincinnati

The BBC's World Update came to Cincinnati today to do a story on Ohio and surrounding states as they relate to the Presidential Race. They did the show from the WVXU studio and guests included WVXU political reporter Howard Wilkinson.

Intense Bengals Security at Paul Brown Stadium

Something you don't see in the picture with the barricade is the bomb sniffing dog screening all vehicles parking inside the stadium.

Each person entering also appears to be subject to 'wanding.' So I guess you should feel safe from some type of threat?

Milford's Longstone Street Festival

Some Shiny and the Spoon!

Friday Night Video Fights: Seedy Seeds vs. Lions Rampant

Stand up for:

Or:

Charter School Problems

Ethics questions plague VLT Academy. I am glad the state is doing some auditing of these schools, but why isn't anyone questioning how the Daughter of the school's Superintendent earns $85,000 in the School years, on top of the questionable $17,000 contract for the Summer. When I state 'anyone' I mean public officials.

Public schools get raked over the coals by Republicans, but I don't hear Charlie Winburn, Steve Chabot, or Brad Wenstrup asking for more audits of this Charter school.

Friday Night Video Fights: Buffalo Killers vs. Buffalo Killers

Do Ye say:

Or?

Friday Night Video Fights: Seedy Seeds vs. Seedy Seeds

So....This?

Or This?

MetroMix Print Edition to End with September 19th Issue

Just in time for launch of the Enquirer's NYT style Paywall for it's online content, the FREE weekly entertainment newspaper MetroMix is ending its print edition with the September 19th issue. It will instead be online and incorporated in a new redesigned website. Here is how the Enquirer article describes it:

We’re currently hard at work relaunching Cincinnati.com’s Entertainment channel – consider this the Extreme Makeover: Entertainment Edition. We’re going to combine all of our entertainment coverage into one easy-to-navigate web site.

I'm not sure how this will impact Cincinnati's entertainment industry, but I do know that it lessons the impact of having a cover story. The one thing a digital edition or website has difficulty doing is creating the impact on the reader, or casual passer by, that a cover story provides. This effect is similar to a front page headline on a daily newspaper, but for weekly or monthly publications, the cover takes on a different focus.

MetroMix provides a boost to certain events by running a cover story on it. I don't see the impact with anything that could be created online or in an email. The medium doesn't have the same type of interaction with readers. This is a loss. I don't know if will or can be replaced.

More Enquirer-Horstman Anti-Streetcar Bias

Another week and another biased anti-streetcar headline from the Enquirer. Here is the latest article: City threatens Duke over streetcar costs.

No where in the article does it say the City threatened Duke Energy. It states the City is “investigating potential legal remedy.” It also says that the City's inability to reach an agreement "threatens to pose significant cost risk" to the project.

It does not say the City is Threatening Duke Energy. The word threat is a bias created by someone at the Enquirer. I'd like to know who wrote it. Headline writing is much talked about and usually creates a frenzied finger pointing effort. Reporters point to Editors. Editors are mum or point to someone else. In this changed internet age, I have to ask, does a reporter submit a story without a title/headline? On most blogging software you have to have a title to the story when you post it, even in draft form. Is that what the Enquirer does? Does the reporter include a headline along with the story when submitted and it then is modified by a copy-editor, content-editor, or layout designer?

Did the word "Threatens" start with Horstman or was it added after? No one will likely ever take blame (or would it be credit?) for the misuse of the word. We just have live with the bias, but we can and must call them out when they fail to present the truth to their readers.

Republican Efforts to Suppress Democratic Voters Continue

I am glad that the Enquirer is covering the voter rights issue and that they exposed the insanity that is "True the Vote" group who held a summit that ending up being a conservative rally, including a Judicial Watch announcement of a legal effort to suppress Ohio voters.

Yes, Non-Ohio base groups are seeking to purge Ohio voter rolls based on the goal of suppressing Democratic voters. Any other claim is just lie (or at best a red herring).

The only thing I wish the Enquirer would do is just report the blatant efforts by Republicans to keep Democratic voters from voting. If nothing else they should be asking the questions and reporting the answers, demonstrating where their comments are lies or distortions. The article above hints at it, but the evidence is clear and it is not just extremists like Judicial Watch, it starts with the Republican Hamilton Country BOE members. They should be asked why they refused to keep keep the BOE open for longer periods of early voting? Why would they oppose that? The political parties, both of major parties, could pay the limited cost to keep the doors open a few more hours into the evening and weekends to help those with jobs that either make it difficult to vote or just won't let them. The latter is a blatant violation of the law.

As long as voter suppression efforts are allow to continue, our Democracy continues to crumble, a brick falling for every voter who is hindered from voting.

Fire in Covington

Not sure what is burning, but it appears to NOT be a small fire. The smell of smoke and burnt material is strong at Smale Park, but the fire appears to be at least a mile away.

Friday Night Video Fights: Wussy vs. Wussy

So Which is better? This:

OR This:

Cincinnati's Master Plan is Again About Being a City

CityBeat is reporting that the City has released it's final draft (how is a draft final?) of it's Master Plan. The key sentence from the CityBeat article that summarizes the main goal of the plan:

"The primary goal behind the plan is to transition the city away from a model that emphasizes suburban living back to a more urban model."

We as a city have come so far from ridding government with the 1950's mentality of development. We don't have the likes of Chris Monzel and John Cranley on council. The county is self destructing thanks to Monzel, but we can all be vigilant and keep Cranley from trying to drag Cincinnati back into the stone age with suburban style development ideas. We don't need any more strip malls. We don't need any more cul-du-sacs. We don't need streets that dont' allow safe walking and bike riding.

We are a city and we starting to act like it again. Don't let the Monzels or Canleys pull us off our path.

Is Winburn Lying Now or Back in 2010 (or Both)?

It would appear that Cincinnati City Council Member Charlie Winburn likes to lie. Yes, that comes as news to no one who has been following Cincinnati Politics any time over the last ten years, but this time it is a whopper. Winburn lied to someone about running for mayor. The only question is did he lie to the Business Courier this year or did he lie to the Cincinnati Enquirer back in 2010? Yes, it is fully possible he lied to both, but either way, he is being deceitful. He has broken a commandment. He is also toying with the idea that he could win. He obviously is delusional. I don't know if he thinks that Republicans will give him a ton of money and then convince all of the Republicans to ignore race, since they clearly did that in 2010. He also must assume that more blacks will vote on nothing but race and ignore the fact that he's a Republican.

I made it clear that I would not let him forget this when he said it. I am glad Quimbob has similar questions for Winburn. I hope everyone asks Winburn via email or social media when he was lying, now or then?

Outraged Conservatives, Come to Findlay Market to Support Your Comrade!

I really hope all of the conservatives who are voicing outrage over a Findlay Market shop owner's hyperbolic anger about having her store included in a commercial for President Obama's, all come down to the Market! Please be sure to park in the many Findlay Market parking lots, they are priced ver reasonably. Be sure to pick up some produce, meats, coffee, sweets, and much more from the many fine vendors!Yes, conservatives, this shop is located in OTR and you will have walk at least a block near poor poeple, so be warned! I expect to see a line like Chick-Fil-A.In all seriousness, why did the owner of Krause's have to be such a jerk about the Commercial? She should know better than to let her store manager sign documents. Instead of going to the press about this, she could have just let it go quietly. Instead, she allowed this to build up the ignorance on the Enquirer's website. Way to annoy your neighbors!

When did they become the Cincinnati Inquirer?

I understand that the Cincinnati Enquirer is changing to a tabloid size print edition, but when are they changing their name to the Cincinnati Inquirer? They might as well do that if they are going to print crap like this story about Council member Chris Seelbach.

This story has no point. It is reporting gossip from the comments from the online news article and then tries to link that to facts to point to no conclusion, but to embarrass someone who was just the victim of a crime. Seelbach was disorientated and had a broken foot and 'people' are 'upset' he mentioned he was a member of council a few times to the 911 operator. Gee, maybe the man who attacked him was doing so because he was a member of council, the first openly gay council member. Did that fact run across the reporter's mind? Instead they sought to trace

To top it off, they got a quote from Mark Miller. Seriously, the lone guy who allegedly lives in Hyde Park from COAST is a relevant source for this story? How? Please, someone tell me what caused the reporter to reach into a big pile of irrelevant sources and pulled out Mark Miller's name. If the Enquirer wants to play the tawdrily game it is playing, I hope they asked Miller where he was Monday Night. Instead they gave a political foe of Seelbach the chance to gloat and make fun of him for being the victim of a crime. That sounds like the COAST I know, too bad the Report is either ignorant of COAST or shares the desire to allow COAST's gossip to make it to print. His point wasn't even valid, he was comparing this to Laketa Cole incident where she was with a person being ticketed. Seelbach was clearly the victim of a crime, he did nothing wrong. Miller is trying to damage him and the Enqurier, and the reporters, let him take a shot. There didn't appear to be an editor around to stop this either.

Also, why did they story include a sentence that mentioned where Miller lived? They quoted another people, but didn't state where they lived. What was the relevance? Is it actually true that he lives in Hyde Park?

Finally, they Enquirer again created another false equivalency. The only way to find any sense in this story is to view it as reporting an online flame war. The Enquirer got juicey quotes from both political sides and falsely feels they reported a fair and balanced story. The problem is that this isn't a political story. This is a crime story. Why not write about the crime? Write about what the police know or don't know. We don't need to have stories about Facebook comments. We really could use some news stories that would require the reporters to leave the newsroom.

Enquirer In the Bag for Chick-Fil-A (and Conservative Readers)

Yes, you know who butters the Enquirer's bread, that would be the shrinking readership who are a majority conservative. The over-coverage of yesterday's Chick-Fil-A still avoid the fact that the LOCAL Chick-Fil-A Restaurants in West Chester and Deerfield Township sponsered a CCV event. Yes, CCV is the anti-gay rights group that fought for Article XII and against its repleal as well as lead the charge in the anti-gay rights anti-gay marriage ban that passed in Ohio. How does this not make the story?

Why doesn't the Enquirer report this?  Why are they making this boycott about free speech?  That's not what this is about, this is about the corporate actions of a company, not just the private views of the owners.  That contradicts the rants of conservatives, who want this to be about liberals being  "anti-Christian."

Enquirer Blog Falls into False Equivalency Trap

I know journalists often look at the political world and try to find two equally opposing viewpoints to compare and then pretend to be objective. That type of action is a false equivalency, see a description of what that is here. The problem is that most of the time, the viewpoints are not equal, they are not the same.

Take yesterday's Enquirer political blog story: Mixing food with politics: What do you think?. The blog post, wrapped around an online poll, tries to marry two topics together: 1) those boycotting Chick-Fil-A for providing financial support to anti-gay groups and 2) The mythical hoards of people who might no longer want to go the Montgomery Inn because the owners took a public political opinion in the Presidential race. The two don't equate. For many reasons:

1. One is real, the other is speculation.
2. One is a national effort and one is a mythical-hypothetical local situation.
3. One is about bigotry and the other is about political opinion.

Number three above is key.  The boycott of Chick-Fil-A, which I participate in, is about the financial support Chick-Fil-A gives to groups like the CCV, the Cincinnati area's own anti-gay bigoted hate group.  This is being treated as a political issue by many conservatives, not a moral issue, and that is the clear false equivalency being allowed to fester by the media.

If a national fast food chain were to sponsor a golf tournament for a white supremacist group, would anyone try to compare a boycott of that fast food chain to what the Montgomery is doing?  No, the media would instead help expose the fast food chain's actions.

Gay rights are civil rights and the CINCINNATI media needs to understand that issue better and more importantly get on the moral side of it.  If too many of your readers are anti-gay bigots, tough shit, be journalists, don't be accomplices in the oppression of gays and lesbians.

We have bigotry in this community happening out in the open and our media far too often lets is slide unnoticed, or in the case of the Enquirer, lets it slide all the time.

The other bad part of the article was that it was talking about an event supposed to take place yesterday where the Republican Governor of Oklahoma was coming to appear with one of the Owners of the Montgomery Inn at their Boathouse location on the river.  This event was a Mitt Romney "We Did Build This” campaign event pushing a lie about the President that falsely claims the President said that small business owners don't build their businesses alone, the government helps. That's not what the president said, but it is the story line that should have been asked of the Governor and the owners of the Montgomery Inn. They should have been asked: Who owns the building where the Boathouse Location resides? The answer is the City of Cincinnati, or as the website says "Cincinnati City Of." I don't think that question was asked, nor asked how much help the people of the City were back in the late 1980's to the suburban based company.  I am just wondering how much hypocrisy you get with a full slab of ribs?

So the Enquirer missed the real story and tried to create one that just wasn't true. Bad day for Journalism.

Why the One-sided Interview?

So the Enquirer's Mark Curnutte had an article called Social worker: Poor pushed from OTR with a subtitle of "5 QUESTIONS: Alice Skirtz". It includes a short introduction to Alice Skirtz and a book she's written. Then it has a really short Q/A, literally five questions, that has no depth what-so-ever on the subject she's writing about. She makes outlandish and unsupported claims in the answers she gives and no follow-up questions are published seeking evidence on what she claims to be true.

What gives?

Is this throwing a bone to a particular political activist group? Is this article a reward for something else? It is not customary to let anyone equate the actions of redeveloping a decaying neighborhood with genocide, calling it "econocide," without calling It insults those who are making the city a better place, and it sullies the memories of those who actually have died in acts of genocide.

This Five Questions concept could be one that I've not seen before, but really is off mark for a story a subject like this. When there is controversy on the validity of what an author writes, then five questions just does not do justice to the reader. We need far more or just skip the author and/or the subject. If you can do something right, please don't do half of it.

Great Idea For Outdoor Events

I am not sure if this was planned far in advance, but a great idea used during the World Choir Games was to use large fans at Fountain Square and other outdoor events.

These fans were stationed strategically around Fountain Square and cooled off choir members and city residents at Second Sunday on Main. When it is 95 or even 100 degrees, the mix of mist and wind brought comfort that not only felt good, it helped keep some people from heat stroke.

That is the real brand name, believe it or not. I don't know if these were rented or purchased, but I hope every summertime event in Cincinnati takes note and considers these in similar situations. Cooling stations are common at events, like Riverbend, but they have to be far away from the show, so as to not interfere with the music. At an event like the Square, music quality is not a big factor when the ticket price is free.  I hope to see these fans again.

Greg Landsman Running for Cincinnati City Council

The 2013 City Campaign is off and the first new candidate is Greg Landsman. Landsman is well known inside the Democratic party having worked for Ted Strickland, Nancy Pelosi, and David Pepper. In a year when there is one certain open seat (Thomas) and likely two if Qualls runs for Mayor, there is room for another Democrat and one that comes across more in the Moderate camp, based on the limited information on his website. When you make the following comment in your platform, you are not going for the Urbanest vote:

A renewed commitment to neighborhood growth. We can begin to focus more on our neighborhoods without undermining the progress we've made downtown, but it will take a smarter and more intentional approach.

That sounds like an appeal to the voters who elected P.G. and John Cranley in previous elections. It sets him apart from most of the other Dems and tactically is a logical position to find a way to win in a complicated city political demographic landscape.

Square v. Park, Terms Matter

Terminoligy is important to all societies. To the urban Cincinnti community we need to get a couple of things straight. When we say "The Square," we mean Foutain Square. When we say Park, here's the rub: we have a ton of parks. When I say Park, I am going to mean Washington Park. I don't mean to detract from Smale Park at the Banks, but in reference, I will refer to it as the Banks or the New Riverfront Park. That differs from Sawyer Point, or Yeatman's Cove. Washington Park I believe will be the premier event park in the city, so let's just cut to the chase and refer to it as "The Park."

I say this because people need to stop calling Washington Park "Washington Square" or worse yet "Wahington Square Park" when they remember the difference mid-conversation. We need to remember, words matter. I don't want my friends waiting for me at the foot of the Fountian when OTR Jake Speed are paying tonight.

Kathy Y. Wilson, Island of Trite

Year 2000 called and they want their argument back. I'll guess I should have just wait for the Black United Front's 12 year late press release before I wrote my blog post, but instead I going to look at the present and at reality.


I am reminded of a story I head once about Kabaka Oba, the late black-supremacist, who was protesting the performance of a play at the Know Theatre called Corpus Christi. He struck up a conversation with someone supporting the Theatre and they asked him if he had seen or read the play. He said no. They then asked Oba how could he honestly complain about the play if he had never seen or read the play. Kabaka Oba paused for a moment of thought, and said something like "you're right, I'm going to have to think about that." He then left and wasn't seen protesting the play again.

I guess the comments on the column are just rewards for this blatantly phoned in attempt to generate controversy. I understand that being a lesbian black woman would make me feel like I don't fit in anywhere in the far to often bigoted/racist world, but I wouldn't allow that to lead me to repetitive contrarianism.

I guess someone else at CityBeat doesn't just want a pony, she wants a blue pony and will stomp her feat until she gets it.

Enquirer To Erect Paywall For Its Online Content in October

The Enquirer will create a paywall for it's online content starting in October. Earlier this year news broke that by the end of year this would happen. This new timeframe was shared in a speech given by the Enquirer Editor Carolyn Washburn which oddly enough was given an full fledged news article. Here's the main point provided from the story:

The Enquirer beginning in October is also changing its business model to to charge for subscriptions to access both online and print content. The cost of the new subscriptions has yet to be determined, Washburn said. It will be metered, allowing for some free access online.

There wasn't a ton of flack from the earlier announcement of the paywall. I expect the first time someone reaches their allotment maximum and are sent to a subscription page, we'll hear a screaming whine like Porkopolis has ever heard.

Bunbury Music Festival Starts Today!

I have my three-day pass for the 1st Annual Bunbury Music Festival and I am trying to pick my schedule from the vast line-up. Yes, I am going to see the headliners and, yes, on Sunday I will be at the GBV show, even if I have to sit through a monsoon. After that, I am going to be exploring. I'd love some advise, so chime in on the bands to see.

Mason Home Owners to Avoid Income Tax Increase?

If you read the Enquirer's Mason Buzz Blog, you would learn about a ballot issue that if passed in November would implement a 0.12 % increase to the Mason income tax, taking it to 1.12%. Here's the rub. The blog post indicates that this increase would apply to only "nonresidents." If you read the proposed ballot language, then you would read something very different:

Section  10.05  FUNDING OF SAFETY, FIRE AND EMS SERVICES Mason shall raise funds to pay for safety, fire and EMS services through two revenue sources.  First, a continuing real estate tax levy not to exceed 5.0 mills may be imposed on Mason real estate commencing in tax year 2013 for collection beginning in 2014.  This levy shall continue until changed by the electors of Mason through an amendment to this charter provision.  Second, a not to exceed .0015 tax on income shall be collected by Mason in the same manner as the income tax set forth in section 10.04 of the Charter, with the exception that those who own and live in homes in Mason, and who therefore pay the real estate tax set forth above, shall be exempted from the not to exceed .0015 income tax along with their dependents.   

This income tax shall be imposed starting on January 1, 2013 and shall be at a rate of .0012 during calendar year 2013, and cannot be changed except by legislative action receiving an affirmative vote of at least five council members, and can only take effect on January 1 of the calendar year following legislative action, provided that such legislative action takes place at least six months prior to the effective date and shall not exceed 0015.

I read the above language and I can see a clear intent to not have this tax increase affect home owners who live in their Mason home. The key section is "with the exception that those who own and live in homes in Mason, and who therefore pay the real estate tax set forth above." Furthermore the most telling phrase is "own and live," with the conjunction indicating both are required. It does not say "and/or." It does not say "residents". Renters would be subject to the tax increase in my amateur option, while home owners would not. I don't know if this ballot language must be vetted by anyone else, but I think the blog post was wrong or at least the language is not what the reporter was told it meant.

This is a common Republican and Libertarian theme: give more rights and benefits to property owners. Hamilton County did something vaguely similar by increasing the sale tax to fund the two stadiums while lowering the property tax, a boondoggle in favor of property owners, one we are feeling the pain of presently. The difference is that Hamilton County didn't limit the tax increase to only non-property owners.

This is a nightmare for Mason. It is a clear redistribution of wealth, in favor of of the rich. In case you wondered, homes in Mason are, on average, out of the reach of lower and a majority of middle class people.

According to the article, many are opposed to it because it would affect those working, but not living in Mason.  They don't seem to notice it would affect those renting an apartment in Mason and taxing them more no matter where they worked.

The big thing missing in this ballot language, likely on purpose, is how to enforce the tax rate variance. Private payroll systems will have a difficult time defining "property ownership" so they would either charge the 1.12% on everyone with a Mason address or 1% on everyone, leaving them to deal with the difference on their own.  I supposed those who know their tax rate could request the correct percentage, but then it all comes back to more work for those filing and processing tax returns.

This is just bad policy.  Mason needs to raise taxes, obviously, but they should do so fairly to all, not to the benefit of home owners.  I would bet the massively Republican city will vote this (and any) tax increase down, even though a majority of voters would not be affected.  Mason City Council members are so incredibly gutless to not do this via an ordinance.  Seeking political cover over a major issue is not uncommon in government, it is just unseemly.