Priorities

I actually agree with Leslie Ghiz on John Cranley's effort to bail out the Parkland Theater with $50,000 of the city's money. I like the idea of local movie theaters providing a nice entertainment value, but what makes this more of a priority than reopening the Emory Theater? Granted, $50,000 isn't even close to enough money to get the Emery going again, but it has far more historical value than the Parkland Theater. When we are talking about for profit entities getting city funds, how should the city pick and choose which project gets the money, especially over non-profits? How many city residents are likely to take advantage on an improved Parkland Theater? Would it be more than the number for a project like the Emery Theater, or any other project that someone may be thinking about? Should the economic impact of the project outweigh other factors? How do we set priorities?

Baker Working For Berding

For political insiders it's good to see Shawn Baker working at city hall. Now we can hope Shawn can help pull Berding away from the dark side (Fiscal Five), and back in line with the City Dems.

A Mole Hill

Can someone explain to me how red-light cameras warrent 8,000 signatures and countless hours and money to try and prevent? It is getting very unseemly for Chris Smitherman and Chris Finney hanging out together like Batman and Robin. I didn't think it is possible for two extremists to become worse by teaming up in the most unholiest of alliances.

Honestly, I get why Finney is against the red-light cameras. His anti-government stance is clear. Smitherman is acting more loony on this one than usual. What makes this an issue for the NAACP? The anti-jail-tax effort had a small sense of relevance to the NAACP, but red-light cameras is about as relevant as parking enforcement. Is Chris up for a boycott of driving? The environmental movement might support things there.

Benazir Bhutto killed in attack

"Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said."

And Pervez Musharraf is our closest ally in the region . . . . . . .

This is a scary world!

Harris Running for County Commission

CityBeat's Kevin Osborne is reporting that Greg Harris is running for County Commissioner against Pat DeWine.

UPDATE: I guess this means that John Cranley is not running?

2007 Election Follow-Up

In case you missed it, GetCincy has a nice breakdown of the council race by ward. Knowing how each ward voted helps drive future campaign strategies. Cincinnati this year was far less varied as I would have thought, but you can still see the voting trends at work.

County Commission Race About To Start

At the Enquirer's Politics blog, Jessica Brown lists those who have picked up petitions for the two Hamilton County Commission seats up for grabs in 2008. Todd Portune and Pat DeWine have, of course, picked up petitions in efforts to retain their own seats. For the Republicans, Jim Weidman, Charles Winburn, and Ed Rothenberg picked up petitions; attorney Tim Deardorff picked them up for someone else (no word on who). Vlasta Molak picked up petitions as well; I don't know her party affiliation, though.

On Sunday, activist and blogger Nate Livingston announced that he's considering throwing his hat in the ring, but hasn't decided whether to do so as a Republican or an independent.

Picking up petitions is just a necessary first step to running. Completed petitions to be included on the March 4 primary ballot aren't due until January 4.