Unexpected news from Rick Pender, Jason Bruffy, Artistic Director of the Know Theatre is leaving for Utah and a job with the Salt Lake Acting Company in September. I was a bit surprised by this news, but it sounds like a great opportunity for him. I hope to see him back in town on occasion, maybe bringing a show to Fringe?
According to Rick the Know is throwing a Farewell happy hour on September 3rd at 7PM.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
CincyPAC Final Endorsements
The membership of CincyPAC have voted and the final slate of endorsed candidates are:
Mayor:
Mark Mallory
City Council:
Amy Murray
Chris Bortz
George Zamary
Greg Harris
Jeff Berding
Laure Quinlivan
Leslie Ghiz
Roxanne Qualls
Tony Fischer
So in the council race there are 3 Republicans, 2 Charterites, 4 Democrats.
5 incumbents and 4 challengers.
4 Women and 5 Men.
I have many thoughts on this slate, but I am heading down to the CincyPAC event today so I hope to learn more about the voting process and why people picked these candidates. I have a full report forthcoming.
Mayor:
Mark Mallory
City Council:
Amy Murray
Chris Bortz
George Zamary
Greg Harris
Jeff Berding
Laure Quinlivan
Leslie Ghiz
Roxanne Qualls
Tony Fischer
So in the council race there are 3 Republicans, 2 Charterites, 4 Democrats.
5 incumbents and 4 challengers.
4 Women and 5 Men.
I have many thoughts on this slate, but I am heading down to the CincyPAC event today so I hope to learn more about the voting process and why people picked these candidates. I have a full report forthcoming.
Pro-Lawyer Charter Amendment
When councilmembers are grandstanding for the purpose of gaining attention, they often come with a shortsighted idea that they don't vet its effect in the long run. Leslie Ghiz is trying to get Cincinnati city council to approve a motion to put a charter amendment on the ballot in November that would reduce Cincinnati Council members salaries more than 50%.
So Ghiz is trying to scrimp and save a few more jobs, instead of pressuring the FOP for real concessions that will save all of the 138 jobs, OK, fine. She lacks the courage to stand up to the FOP. Fine, I get that, this is something Republicans generally do in this town (or rather don't do.)
Did she stop and think about who will be able run for council to do this so called "part-time" job in the future? Lawyers like her. That's about it. Who else but a person who does not need to work will be able to find a full time job that would allow them time to take off every Wednesday afternoon, not to mention time off for committee meetings or to do anything else? Well, lawyers like her can, and the wealthy can. So under Ghiz's plan we would all but insure that anyone going forward who is going to run for council will not be an average middle class person, because no one without wealth can sacrifice their livelihood to live on 27,000 a year, along with the headache and expense that comes with being a member of council. This means we would have a council who represent the upper-class or at best the upper-middle-class, looking to make it really big. I think it is in everyone's interest that we don't take steps toward making city council into a House of Lords.
I think instead of this type of shortsighted grandstanding, Leslie Ghiz should just give half of her own salary back to the city and then see can feel good about herself, use it as a campaign issue, but not limit the ability of the average citizen from being a council member and earning a fair salary to do a difficult and often thankless job.
So Ghiz is trying to scrimp and save a few more jobs, instead of pressuring the FOP for real concessions that will save all of the 138 jobs, OK, fine. She lacks the courage to stand up to the FOP. Fine, I get that, this is something Republicans generally do in this town (or rather don't do.)
Did she stop and think about who will be able run for council to do this so called "part-time" job in the future? Lawyers like her. That's about it. Who else but a person who does not need to work will be able to find a full time job that would allow them time to take off every Wednesday afternoon, not to mention time off for committee meetings or to do anything else? Well, lawyers like her can, and the wealthy can. So under Ghiz's plan we would all but insure that anyone going forward who is going to run for council will not be an average middle class person, because no one without wealth can sacrifice their livelihood to live on 27,000 a year, along with the headache and expense that comes with being a member of council. This means we would have a council who represent the upper-class or at best the upper-middle-class, looking to make it really big. I think it is in everyone's interest that we don't take steps toward making city council into a House of Lords.
I think instead of this type of shortsighted grandstanding, Leslie Ghiz should just give half of her own salary back to the city and then see can feel good about herself, use it as a campaign issue, but not limit the ability of the average citizen from being a council member and earning a fair salary to do a difficult and often thankless job.
Friday, August 21, 2009
19 Council Candidates Turn in Signatures
The maximum number of candidates for city council in 2009 will be 19 and the list is:
Jeff Berding (D)
Chris Bortz (C)
Anitra Brockman (I)
Laketa Cole (D)
Tony Fischer (D)
Kevin Flynn (C)
Leslie Ghiz (R)
Greg Harris (D)
Nicholas Hollan (D)
Chris Monzel (R)
Amy Murray (R)
Roxanne Qualls (C)
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Cecil Thomas (D)
LaMarque Ward (I)
Bernadette Watson (D)
Charlie Winburn (R)
Wendell Young (D)
George Zamary (R)
The short field is leading some to speculate that there could be some upsets. It is clear there will be one new spot on council, with the term limited Crowly out at the end of this term, but at this point, the question will turn back to GOTV. If Obama voters, who are registered still, get back out and vote again, things could greatly change. One could argue that if the Teabaggers GOTV things could change, but that assumes there are a bunch of Teabaggers living in the City. Well, I think the fact is clear that Teabaggers are not a big group and more importantly they don't live in the city. So, what does that mean? Is this going to be a repeat election of 2007, with all 8 incumbents winning? At this point that is the logical way to think, but this year I don't have a good sense yet of the mood of populace. I think energy will be a factor and the campaign with the most energy will be in the mix.
Jeff Berding (D)
Chris Bortz (C)
Anitra Brockman (I)
Laketa Cole (D)
Tony Fischer (D)
Kevin Flynn (C)
Leslie Ghiz (R)
Greg Harris (D)
Nicholas Hollan (D)
Chris Monzel (R)
Amy Murray (R)
Roxanne Qualls (C)
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Cecil Thomas (D)
LaMarque Ward (I)
Bernadette Watson (D)
Charlie Winburn (R)
Wendell Young (D)
George Zamary (R)
The short field is leading some to speculate that there could be some upsets. It is clear there will be one new spot on council, with the term limited Crowly out at the end of this term, but at this point, the question will turn back to GOTV. If Obama voters, who are registered still, get back out and vote again, things could greatly change. One could argue that if the Teabaggers GOTV things could change, but that assumes there are a bunch of Teabaggers living in the City. Well, I think the fact is clear that Teabaggers are not a big group and more importantly they don't live in the city. So, what does that mean? Is this going to be a repeat election of 2007, with all 8 incumbents winning? At this point that is the logical way to think, but this year I don't have a good sense yet of the mood of populace. I think energy will be a factor and the campaign with the most energy will be in the mix.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Deception (Exempli Gratia, COAST, Finney)
It is funny when Chris Finney gets hoisted by his own petard. Finney is pissed because he claims the City is trying to make the ballot language a bit more clear, preventing him from deceiving the voters. That is right, Finney is pissed because the forces of good are acting to thwart his efforts at deception. According to Finney's court filing, the city is considering removing the "(e.g., a trolley or streetcar)" part of the ballot language because it clearly is misleading. The ballot initiative will affect all "passenger rail transportation" and Finney (and COAST/NAACP) are knowingly trying to mislead the public into thinking this is just about the Streetcar. The "e.g." which is the abbrevation of the Latin phrase "exempli gratia" means "for example." Well, I just want to make it known that deceiving the voters is wrong, for example, how Chris Finney, COAST, and the Local NAACP are trying to deceive the public into thinking that their ballot issue is not anti-passenger rail, but is instead only about the Streetcar. Let's hope the forces of good will thrwart evil this time again.
Oh, and Finney will be costing the City and County more needless money if he fights this in court. Better ask him how many jobs will be saved if he accepts the clarity over his attempted deception. Oh, right, he wants smaller(None) government, so any government job loss is a positive to someone like Finney.
Oh, and Finney will be costing the City and County more needless money if he fights this in court. Better ask him how many jobs will be saved if he accepts the clarity over his attempted deception. Oh, right, he wants smaller(None) government, so any government job loss is a positive to someone like Finney.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Happy Birthday Donald!
Give a cheer out to the Cincinnati Blog's Donald today. I am one less year older, for a while.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Eww!!!!
I'm not sure what else to say about the temporary closure of the Corryville Kroger to permit the Pied Piper to wander the aisles for a while.
But if I still lived in Clifton, I'm pretty sure I'd give up shopping there in favor of the Ludlow Avenue IGA. And if I really needed a Kroger fix, I'd probably head to the Kenard Avenue store (UC students: just head north on Clifton and keep going).
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