The Seedy Seeds in the News

A great review for local band The Seedy Seeds. If you've not had the chance to seem them live, do so! They play the CAC during MidPoint.


For more: www.theseedyseeds.com

Berding Dissed?

Rumors are flying around and credible reports are out there all which indicate that the Union endorsement Berding received for Cincinnati City Council has been or will be rescinded, and Laure Quinlivan shall take his place on their slate.

Based on the poll information included in the Osborne article, Berding is low on the list and still needs the support of Democrats. Does this make him vulnerable?

UPDATE: A source has indicated Berding is being unindorsed because he sided with Melanie Bates against the IBEW contract w/ CPS.

Does Jean Schmidt Agree?

In this You-Tube video from the Tea Bagger Rally on Saturday at the VOA, Congresswoman Jean Schmidt from the Ohio 2nd appears to agree with a "Birther" claiming that President Obama was not born in the USA, and not eligible to be President.
It is not 100% conclusive what she is doing, but Think Progress reports this is not the first time she's what I might call placated a "Birther." If she's just telling this crazy person what they want to hear, just to shut them up, I can understand the idea behind that, but it is not a good one. If a person is nuts or so emotionally out of control as to not be able to think clearly, having a congressman validate their delusions just makes their condition worse. If that is what Schmidt is doing, then she should be ashamed. If she actually does agree with the "Birthers," then she is mentally deficient.

The Return of Neon's

Kevin LeMaster has a really good story about efforts to reopen Neon's in the Main Street area. One of the coolest looking bars around, Neon's was a sad place to see close. The concept behind the new place sounds very reasonable. It doesn't look to be a hot club, it seeks to be a neighborhood bar that has a unique take on what a bar is. It seems to be more like a space that sells beer and wine. It will take a while to get the place open again, they are shooting for next Bockfest, so don't rush over to the 12th Street location just yet.

Disparate Treatment?

Two days before the 2004 general election, President George W. Bush came to Cincinnati and held a campaign rally at Great American Ballpark. His address to the crowd was carried live in primetime by all of Cincinnati's local news channels, preempting network programming. The event was nothing short of a free infomercial in the heart of a "battleground" state just before Election Day.

Today, President Barack Obama came to Cincinnati and addressed a crowd at Coney Island. Given that even the mid-term elections are over a year a way, it's hard to describe the speech as a campaign event. Instead, it was a presidential address, delivered on a national holiday in Cincinnati. This time, though, only channel 19 carried the speech live. Other channels decided that Montel outranks the president, and declined to break into their weekday programming.

It's just despicable how "in the bag" for Obama the media is, isn't it?

Lactating Women Need Not Apply

Jill's comment a few posts below reminds me that I'd intended to discuss the Ohio Supreme Court's appalling decision in Allen v. totes/Isotoner. (By the way, if you're not reading Jill's blog, you should be--although she's on hiatus until after Election Day, as she's busy running for Pepper Pike City Council.) In its opinion, of which no member of our highest court was willing to claim authorship, a three-member plurality found that an employer could lawfully fire a lactating mother because she took extra bathroom breaks in order to pump her breasts. Two members of the court went a step further, writing that post-pregnancy lactation isn't really related to pregnancy, and thus not covered under Ohio's Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

The decision is now two weeks old, so I'm not sure my own discussion would advance much debate. So instead, go read Jill's excellent posts (here and here) on the decision. I'll just add this: each time we insist that a judicial candidate prove his or her allegiance to "pro-business" interest groups, we demand opinions like the one our court handed us in toner/Isotoner. This is the quintessential "pro-business" opinion, in that it expands an employer's power to fire an employee at the expense of Ohioans' civil rights. It's a stark reminder that "pro-business" isn't always good for Ohio. (To be clear: I'm not implying that any of our Supreme Court justices are inherently biased or unfair to litigants. But when we're willing to accept only a narrow range of credentials for our successful candidates, we wind up with a narrow range of viewpoints on our courts.)

Union Concession Issue Isn't Straightforward

Things on Plum Street have gotten uglier, and they're not going to get better as the campaign season really heats up. But somehow, Council has to begin to work together once again. In all likelihood, 8 of the 9 current members will be responsible for next year's budget. They need to find a way to have a budget process that isn't as driven by rancor as has been present in Council chambers over the past three months. Part of doing that requires that Council actually discuss, in open session, the issues impacting the City.

There's plenty of blame to heap on both the majority and the minority on Council as to how we've gotten to where we are: a last minute hail mary effort to save jobs for the rest of the year. No matter how we got there, the FOP, AFSCME, and CODE now face a difficult dilemna. Do they give up money (for the FOP, a little more than a day's pay each month for the rest of the year) to save jobs this year, but with no promises for 2010?

The FOP is certainly not the first union being asked to make concessions in this economy. A friend who works in the aviation industry recently reminded me of the deep, deep concessions Comair pilots have made over the last few years in order to preserve jobs. But usually, when a union gives up something it bargained for, it does so with some assurance of medium- or long-term job preservation. Here, the City has made explicit that there are no guarantees for next year. And I wonder: if a school board were threatening to fire ten percent of its teachers if the union didn't agree to a pay cut of roughly 4-5 percent for four months, would we on the left be demonizing the teachers' union for its reluctance to agree to the extent the left is demonizing the FOP? I doubt it.

I had hoped Council would find some cuts to fill the gaps in the 2009 budget, and then go to the unions for concessions--perhaps much more significant than those currently sought--as part of the 2010 budget process, as the unions would then have some assurance of lengthier job security. That didn't happen. So the FOP will have to decide how much value it places on its newest members. No doubt some members would benefit financially from the concessions. I haven't run the numbers, but I suspect that some of the sergeants being displaced to patrol by the layoffs would lose less money by giving up 4.6 days' pay than they would by accepting a lesser-paying position. And hopefully, the FOP, AFSCME, and CODE can set aside the bitter taste the process has left and recognize that Council has, in the end, significantly reduced the concessions originally sought and found money elsewhere for the unions' members' salaries.

As Council approaches the 2010 budget process, its individual members will have to strive to be more understanding and more cooperative. In particular, a couple members of Council can--and must--do better than they have the last few months. Chris Monzel's fear-mongering (and perhaps race-baiting) press release early this week was regrettable; using the injury and death of citizens to advance a political agenda is simply unacceptable. And Greg Harris's role on Council has been surprisingly disappointing. When he was appointed, most young professionals were excited. We saw him as a problem-solver, someone who, having come from outside the political establishment, would be a leader on Council and above politics-as-usual. Right now, sadly, he acting as a recalcitrant hard-liner more devoted to party than principle. That may be a way to raise campaign money, but it's not any way to govern a city.

Once the ballots are counted in November for City Council, let's all promise to do all we can to force the seemingly broken Council to come together to work for the common good.