The Fourth of July is a big day for Cincinnati Council campaigns and the parades on Saturday were filled with candidates and their supporterss. I saw two parades myself (Northside and Madisonville). I didn't see all of the candidates, but a majority. At this point, the only analysis of the race that can be made is by their foot print on web and each has a website of various types. As time goes on, the key to the race is who has troops on the ground, signs around town, and commercials on the air. If you don't see a candidate's face or name on t-shirts out at events this summer, the first of two reasons is: the candidate is so well known they don't need to do much until October, which is a foolish thing to believe about one's self. The second reason is that the candidate doesn't have much of a campaign, either money or volunteers. On election day the real measure will be who has both reached the most voters and gotten the most of them to come out and actually vote.
It is still early enough for other candidates to get into the race, but at this point here is who I believe is running. If I am missing anyone, please chime in with the name and/or website.
Incumbents
Jeff Berding (D)
Chris Bortz (C)
Laketa Cole (D)
Greg Harris (D)
Leslie Ghiz (R)
Chris Monzel (R)
Roxanne Qualls (C)
Cecil Thomas (D)
Endorsed Challengers
Tony Fisher (D)
Kevin Flynn (C)
Nicholas Hollan (D)
Amy Murray (R)
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Bernadette Watson (D)
Charlie Winburn (R)
Wendell Young (D)
George Zamary (R)
Independent Challengers
Anitra Brockman (I)
Darryl Cordrey (I)
Scott Pavelish (I)
LaMarque Ward (I)
Please note that some of the above may not actually get the valid number of signatures to appear on the ballot, and others might jump into race before the August deadline, meaning this is not a final list by any means.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
Pools ARE a Basic Service
I thought City Council--led by Laketa Cole--was off the mark with its mid-year budget correction. Some ideas (like having police park their cars an hour per shift) don't seem likely to save the city money, and others (like the new environmental bureaucracy, a first-of-its-kind proposal that adds to the city payroll when the city is furloughing its existing staff) simply prioritize the city's agenda incorrectly.
But Cole has taken far too much flak for her recent argument that city pools are a "basic service" of municipal government. Leading the derision is HamCo GOP Chair Alex Triantafilou, who twittered that he was "laughing" at the statement, which Cole made to the Enquirer's editorial board. GOP council members piled on, and Triantafilou has since added a blog post on the topic (featuring a picture of what must be Green Township's public pool).
The truth, however, is that Cole is absolutely correct. Public pools have long been a staple of municipal government services. In Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America (2007), Jeff Wiltse writes that one of the first municipal pools was opened in Philadelphia in the summer of 1884. Municipal pools were a central battleground in the fight for desegregation in the United States during the middle part of the twentieth century.
If someone were to argue that public pools should be provided by the federal government, then that, of course, would be worthy of laughter. That's simply not a federal function. But municipalities provide services--police, fire, trash collection, and parks and pools--that don't come from national or state government. And cities have been providing pools since the nineteenth century. Public pools are not part of the FDR-era expansion of government. They're not even a service added by the City during the 1990's when the economy was strong and tax money was easy to find. Instead, from an historical standpoint, they are a core service of municipal government and woven into the fabric of our communities.
Laketa Cole is trying to protect a municipal service utilized primarily by the working poor and lower-middle class. While some of the more affluent Republicans in town may view that as worthy of laughter, their jocularity is not supported by reality or history. And their chronic disregard for the underserved and underrepresented may help explain why Republicans typically do pretty badly in City-wide elections.
But Cole has taken far too much flak for her recent argument that city pools are a "basic service" of municipal government. Leading the derision is HamCo GOP Chair Alex Triantafilou, who twittered that he was "laughing" at the statement, which Cole made to the Enquirer's editorial board. GOP council members piled on, and Triantafilou has since added a blog post on the topic (featuring a picture of what must be Green Township's public pool).
The truth, however, is that Cole is absolutely correct. Public pools have long been a staple of municipal government services. In Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America (2007), Jeff Wiltse writes that one of the first municipal pools was opened in Philadelphia in the summer of 1884. Municipal pools were a central battleground in the fight for desegregation in the United States during the middle part of the twentieth century.
If someone were to argue that public pools should be provided by the federal government, then that, of course, would be worthy of laughter. That's simply not a federal function. But municipalities provide services--police, fire, trash collection, and parks and pools--that don't come from national or state government. And cities have been providing pools since the nineteenth century. Public pools are not part of the FDR-era expansion of government. They're not even a service added by the City during the 1990's when the economy was strong and tax money was easy to find. Instead, from an historical standpoint, they are a core service of municipal government and woven into the fabric of our communities.
Laketa Cole is trying to protect a municipal service utilized primarily by the working poor and lower-middle class. While some of the more affluent Republicans in town may view that as worthy of laughter, their jocularity is not supported by reality or history. And their chronic disregard for the underserved and underrepresented may help explain why Republicans typically do pretty badly in City-wide elections.
The Day Cincinnati News Coverage Died?
How will the Cincinnati Enquirer survive as a news outlet after laying off an additional 100 people?
It is possible this could be a huge restructuring effort, where base functions of the company are centralized. That would involve the business side (advertising, accounting, systems) and not reporters, but I would be surprised it would not affect the content side as well.
If the content side (reporters, editors, layout, web tech) is greatly affected, this would mean a thin news outlet becoming affectively nothing. There would be no one left to gather any news, let alone maintain the limited news gathering level they have presently. Add this to the cuts at CityBeat, the lack of news coverage on TV, and radio being limited, and we are left with little else. It is dangerous when the public have no base level of journalism they can count on. Cincinnati has been losing and may totally lose that base in a couple of weeks.
On a human level, this is a huge deal and my best wishes go out to everyone at the Enquirer. I've gone through this recently myself, so I know the feeling. Keep your heads up and roll with the punches.
It is possible this could be a huge restructuring effort, where base functions of the company are centralized. That would involve the business side (advertising, accounting, systems) and not reporters, but I would be surprised it would not affect the content side as well.
If the content side (reporters, editors, layout, web tech) is greatly affected, this would mean a thin news outlet becoming affectively nothing. There would be no one left to gather any news, let alone maintain the limited news gathering level they have presently. Add this to the cuts at CityBeat, the lack of news coverage on TV, and radio being limited, and we are left with little else. It is dangerous when the public have no base level of journalism they can count on. Cincinnati has been losing and may totally lose that base in a couple of weeks.
On a human level, this is a huge deal and my best wishes go out to everyone at the Enquirer. I've gone through this recently myself, so I know the feeling. Keep your heads up and roll with the punches.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Racist Scum Still Are Out There
I would like to know if these scumbags are from say the East End or Linwood area or are they the usual crowd of asswipes from out towards Amelia? I am not going to find out because the couple of idiots leaving these fliers around are too chicken to make themselves known.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
New Website: The Cincinnati Man
If you are a man or want to know what these men are writing about, then The Cincinnati Man may be a website worth checking out. It comes from a group of mostly Northern Kentuckians, so we are very glad they think in the broader "Cincinnati" area vision. It also gives a counter weight to the mostly female bloggers around town, who lend the most cultural critique of the City and its happenings.
Ignorance of Smitherman and Real Agenda of COAST
It's being said by Republicans, Democrats, Charterites, and every other logical thinking person, but Don Mooney Jr. lays out the reasons why the anti-rail ballot issue is shortsighted and something that will hurt the city now and later.
This once again exposes the ignorance of Chris Smitherman for not understanding what COAST is trying to do, stop any and all rail project. COAST pretends to only be about destroying government, but it is just a bunch of conservatives with an extremist and outdated political agenda.
This once again exposes the ignorance of Chris Smitherman for not understanding what COAST is trying to do, stop any and all rail project. COAST pretends to only be about destroying government, but it is just a bunch of conservatives with an extremist and outdated political agenda.
CAC Cancels Fall Show
Yeah, um...could there be a slight problem with the leadership at the Contemporary Arts Center? When I say leadership, I'm talking the top of the ticket, accent and all.
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