Two of the most prominent members of Cincinnati's plaintiffs' bar, Randy Freking (of Freking and Betz) and Stan Chesley (of Waite, Schneider, Bayless and Chesley) have teamed up to take on the ultimate Goliath: Duke Energy. They've filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Ohio energy consumers, alleging that Duke has been offering rebates of recently-approved rate hikes to large consumers (so that those consumers wouldn't oppose those hikes, which are subject to approval by the Public Utilities Commission), and that those rebates have, of course, been subsidized by every other energy consumer (in other words, you and me).
It appears that that the allegations are to be supported by John Deeds. Deeds claims he was fired last year when he raised questions about Duke's payouts to corporate customers; he has filed a whistleblower action which is still pending (he's represented by Freking in that case).
From the complaint, it appears that there are at least eight attorneys who will represent that plaintiff class (assuming U.S. District Judge Weber certifies a class).
But if you're going to take on an energy company, I suppose you have to hope you've got an Erin Brokovich somewhere on your support staff. (Not really--I hated that movie!)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Freedom Center "Controversy"
Over at the Enquirer's Politics Extra Blog, Jessica Brown has a more balanced version of the story surrounding the Freedom Center's offer to sell part of its land to Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati than what we've been hearing from the media the last few days.
For those of you who haven't been paying attention: the Freedom Center is built on land given to it by the city and the county. Included in the gift is a 1.7 acre parcel of land between the Center and the Ohio River that the Center had intended to develop as a park. But the Freedom Center has never had enough money to do so so the land, like the rest of the area next to the riverfront, has sat fallow for several years. Now, the Banks Working Group wants the land to use as part of the Banks. The Freedom Center offered to sell the land back to the city and the county for $1 million, with each sovereign to apparently foot half the bill.
Based on the histrionics coming from the county commission, I'd assumed that the offer had come out of the blue. But that's not so, based on Brown's report:
For those of you who haven't been paying attention: the Freedom Center is built on land given to it by the city and the county. Included in the gift is a 1.7 acre parcel of land between the Center and the Ohio River that the Center had intended to develop as a park. But the Freedom Center has never had enough money to do so so the land, like the rest of the area next to the riverfront, has sat fallow for several years. Now, the Banks Working Group wants the land to use as part of the Banks. The Freedom Center offered to sell the land back to the city and the county for $1 million, with each sovereign to apparently foot half the bill.
Based on the histrionics coming from the county commission, I'd assumed that the offer had come out of the blue. But that's not so, based on Brown's report:
The Freedom Center says it had been negotiating the $1 million price tag with the Banks Working Group since last summer. It had two assessments done that
actually placed the land at a much higher value. It says the negotiations were
in good faith and everyone seemed to think the request was reasonable.The
Working Group includes representatives from both the city and the county, so
none of the elected officials should have been surprised at the request, which
was reduced to writing Dec. 31, said Freedom Center's Paul Bernish.City council
wasn't surprised. Some council members even said they thought the Center would
ask for more. But somehow commissioners were caught off guard.
Of course, this whole episode is a PR nightmare for the Freedom Center (that seems to be Bronson's main point today). But I'm not sure that the Freedom Center's board has had much of a choice but to act the way it has. After all, the board has a fiduciary obligation to protect the assets of the Freedom Center, a non-profit organization. One of those assets is a highly marketable, very expensive piece of real estate. Giving it away would be financially irresponsible. If the Freedom Center weren't an entity, and were instead just some guy named Bob, and the county wasn't--well, the county, but instead just some guy named Fred, then you'd expect that Bob, upon realizing he couldn't use the land Fred had given him, would give it back to Fred if Fred had found a good use for it. But we're not talking about Bob and Fred; we're talking about local government and a non-profit organization. It's not as easy as our commissioners have made it out to be in their efforts to placate COAST. There may ultimately be a better way to resolve this than to simply take a pile of money from the city and the county, but everyone needs to take a deep breath and calm down.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Caton To Be Promoted To Sergeant
The Enquirer reports that Cincinnati Police Officer Patrick Caton and two others are to be promoted to the rank of sergeant tomorrow. Caton was one of two officers (the other was Blaine Jorg) involved in the in-custody death of Roger Owensby, Jr.
Following Owensby's death, Officer Caton was arrested, criminally charged, and fired from the force. He was acquitted of assault, and an arbitrator subsequently found (in a decision upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court) that dismissal was too harsh, and reduced the penalty to a five-day suspension.
Caton received $200,000 in back pay from the City. The family of Roger Owensby received $6.5 million from the City in settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit.
As the Enquirer notes, sergeants are named based on the placement on a "promotion-eligible" list, which is created solely as a function of an officer's score on a written test (as mandated by the collective bargaining agreement that governs his employment), not any exercise of discretion on the part of CPD supervisors. Here is what appears to be the current promotion-eligible list. As long as a list is "active"--which this one is until July 2008--each time a sergeant position becomes vacant, the highest non-promoted candidate gets the job. For instance, see this press release from October announcing the promotion of the 17th, 19th, and 20th candidates on the list.
This will almost certainly bring up bad memories and angry feelings for some in Cincinnati.
Following Owensby's death, Officer Caton was arrested, criminally charged, and fired from the force. He was acquitted of assault, and an arbitrator subsequently found (in a decision upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court) that dismissal was too harsh, and reduced the penalty to a five-day suspension.
Caton received $200,000 in back pay from the City. The family of Roger Owensby received $6.5 million from the City in settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit.
As the Enquirer notes, sergeants are named based on the placement on a "promotion-eligible" list, which is created solely as a function of an officer's score on a written test (as mandated by the collective bargaining agreement that governs his employment), not any exercise of discretion on the part of CPD supervisors. Here is what appears to be the current promotion-eligible list. As long as a list is "active"--which this one is until July 2008--each time a sergeant position becomes vacant, the highest non-promoted candidate gets the job. For instance, see this press release from October announcing the promotion of the 17th, 19th, and 20th candidates on the list.
This will almost certainly bring up bad memories and angry feelings for some in Cincinnati.
Life Imitating Art
Slate's comparison between Hillary Clinton and Tracy Flick is quite funny, regardless of your politics.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
BlackFinn Cincy
Via comments: here's the website Welcome to BlackFinn Cincy! which lists a headline "Grand Opening coming Soon" and it has the address of 19 East 7th Street.
It looks like the new owners are going to keep it pretty much like it is. This means other than changing some signage, the place shouldn't need many other physical changes.
It looks like the new owners are going to keep it pretty much like it is. This means other than changing some signage, the place shouldn't need many other physical changes.
McFadden's Closed, New Owners to Reopen
Popular night-spot McFadden's has closed down and according to the Cincinnati Business Courier, new owners are planning on opening under a new name.
It would appear the Courier may have scooped both the Enquirer and WCPO by finding out about the new owners.
I walked by myself yesterday and it doesn't look like it is shut down for good, it just looked like it wasn't going to open up on Monday. I don't know the last day it was open. It looked odd and caught my eye as I walked by because it had one of the large windows boarded up, like it had been broken.
The bar has been open for about 3 years or so, so this is about the time for reinvention. This is a very slow month for the bar business.
It would appear the Courier may have scooped both the Enquirer and WCPO by finding out about the new owners.
I walked by myself yesterday and it doesn't look like it is shut down for good, it just looked like it wasn't going to open up on Monday. I don't know the last day it was open. It looked odd and caught my eye as I walked by because it had one of the large windows boarded up, like it had been broken.
The bar has been open for about 3 years or so, so this is about the time for reinvention. This is a very slow month for the bar business.
Monday, January 14, 2008
La la, la la la la
The Smurfs turn 50 this year.
It appears that there's a Smurfs movie in production.
For anyone feeling nostalgic, here's a link to the theme song.
BTW: If you're thirty to forty years old and can hear Schubert's Unfinished Symphony without thinking of Gargamel, then you're a more cultured person than I'll ever be.
It appears that there's a Smurfs movie in production.
For anyone feeling nostalgic, here's a link to the theme song.
BTW: If you're thirty to forty years old and can hear Schubert's Unfinished Symphony without thinking of Gargamel, then you're a more cultured person than I'll ever be.
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