Yes, It Snowed This Morning

In case anyone missed it, there was a slight snow fall this morning.

I hope you have plenty of canned food to survive the day.

Jean-Ro v. Wade

Sorry. I just couldn't resist getting to use the title.

As first reported by Polly Campbell, Jean Robert de Cavel has filed suit against his former business partner, Martin Wade. (The defendants are actually several limited liability corporations, each of which operated a separate de Cavel/Wade restaurant.)

De Cavel is represented by Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease. I believe that Wade is represented by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister. The case, filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas court, has been transferred to the recently-created commercial docket.

Jean-Robert seeks an injunction prohibiting Wade from taking any action (including public statements) seeking to use a non-compete agreement to keep Jean-Robert from opening his new restaurant. It appears from the filings that Jean-Robert agrees that there was a non-compete agreement, but that it has expired. According to his attorneys, the non-compete was in force while Jean-Robert was providing services as a manager to Wade's restaurant group and for one year following the termination of those services. They claim that Wade restructured the group in September 2008 and removed de Cavel as a manager at that time. Wade, of course, has publicly claimed that the non-compete is in force for one year after de Cavel leaves the partnership, which he hasn't done yet.

The language from the non-compete agreement quoted in de Cavel's brief seems to support the chef's legal interpretation. It's not entirely clear the facts are with him though; at least as I read the court documents, there may be an argument that he remained the manager of Pigall's until it closed at the end of February 2008. His attorneys must be planning to argue that "services as a manager" refers to managing the entire group, not just one restaurant in the group. I don't know whether that argument is sustainable. I also don't know whether, apart from the non-compete, de Cavel would have a fiduciary obligation not to compete with an entity in which he is a partner. (For the sake of my own culinary delight, though, I hope that de Cavel's attorneys have the upper hand in both arguments.)

A couple of interesting tidbits from the motion for injunctive relief:

• Jean-Robert says that Wade only began rattling the non-compete sabre when Jean-Robert refused to transfer his 20% interest in the restaurants (and--perhaps most importantly--a liquor license) to the Relish Group.
• In his letter to de Cavel informing him of the then-impending closure of Pigall's, Wade claims to have lost money every year Pigall's was open. Wade wrote, "Fine dining as you know and love, no longer is a profitable business."
• Jean-Robert testifies (via affidavit) that the reason he delayed the opening of his new restaurant at Seventh and Vine is the uncertainty created by Wade's litigation threats. This seems to contradict what Jean-Robert reportedly told Polly Campbell about the delayed opening.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Council Committees Revamped

The Mayor wasted no time changing Council's power structure by renaming and eliminating committees. The line up is as follows:

Committee: Chair
Budget & Finance: Cole
Public Safety: Thomas
Job Creation: Winburn
Strategic Growth: Bortz
Livable Communities: Qualls
Quality of Life: Quinlivan
Government Operations: Berding
Rules Committee: Qualls

Monzel and Ghiz were shut out. Ghiz reportedly wasn't pleased. I find that shocking, oh so shocking. Having Cole at Budget & Finance really sucks for everyone.

More from WVXU

New Role for Vice-Mayor?

Since Cincinnati's move to an executive mayor, the role of vice-mayor has been largely symbolic. When Jim Tarbell was vice-mayor, I seem to recall Mayor Mallory describing him as a cheerleader for the city. David Crowley, while certainly active on Council, seemed to continue the Tarbell tradition of vice-mayor as cheerleader-in-chief.

The appointment of Roxanne Qualls, I suspect, signals a shift in what is expected of the vice-mayor. I can't imagine Qualls signing up for a gig that is merely ceremonial. Instead, it's likely that she has an agreement with Mallory similar to the one Biden had with Obama: that she'll be "in the room" when important decisions are made.

I don't have anything to substantiate my speculation beyond Qualls's history of strong leadership in the city and her penchant for the nuts and bolts of urban policy and planning. If I'm right, though, I think her appointment will be good for both the mayor and the City: her experience and strong voice will be extraordinarily useful to the administration during the difficult months ahead.

Marking the 30th Anniversary of the Coliseum Tragedy

This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of The Who's concert at Riverfront Coliseum (now U.S. Bank Arena), where 11 people died in a stampede into the venue.

The Enquirer has a terrific article by Lauren Bishop on the tragedy and its aftermath. Lauren does a great job of blending a history of the incident with individual narratives from people who were there.

I've known that something happened at a Who concert back in the '70's (I think I first heard of it when Cincinnati re-legalized festival seating five years ago), but didn't really know what happened or why. This article is a good read for anyone who is either a non-native or too young to remember 1979.

Brian Kelly Watch

Oklahoma's Bob Stoops says he has no interest in a Notre Dame job.

TCU's Gary Patterson just finished a contract renegotiation, which mean's he is staying put.

Brian Kelly? He simply won't address the rumors until after the Pitt game on Saturday. Not exactly the unequivocal statement of commitment UC fans would like to hear right about now.

Dear Notre Dame: Haven't you learned anything? You need a defense-oriented coach. Coach Kelly is great, but defense doesn't seem to be his strong suit. Leave him alone.

Dear UC Alumni Association: Shouldn't someone rent a plane to buzz the campus towing a sign saying, "Let's Keep Kelly" or some similarly catchy phrase?

Dear NCAA: Isn't it time you adopted an anti-tampering policy similar to the NFL's? What kind of joke do you turn into if one of your major bowl games (in particular, the Sugar Bowl) involves a team led by an interim head coach? Better yet, what if UC beats the Panthers (thereby vaulting TCU in the BCS standings), Texas loses to Nebraska (moving UC to #2 after Alabama loses in the SEC championship), and Notre Dame hires Coach Kelly before the bowl games? Do you want the national championship played by a team that just lost the coach who took it through an undefeated season? Just make teams wait until after a coach's job is done to hire a coach away. It works in the pros; it can work at the college level, too.

Qualls is the New Vice Mayor

There was little choice for Mayor Mark but to name Roxanne Qualls as Vice Mayor. The big questions still out there, who will fill the rest of the committee chairs? Here is a list of the committees and the prior chairs:

Committee: Chair
Arts, Culture, Tourism and Marketing & Technology: Monzel
Economic Development: Bortz
Finance: Cole
Health, Environment and Education: Crowley
Law & Public Safety: Thomas
Rules and Government Operations: Berding
Transportation and Infrastructure: Qualls
Vibrant Neighborhood, Recreation, & Public Services: Qualls

Obvioulsy Crowley's chair at HEE is open, but will there be other changes? I think everyone except Laketa Cole would like to see someone other than Cole chair the Finance Committee. With her placing 9th in the race, she may have to settle for something else. I would like to also see Monzel removed from Arts & Culture. I don't see Chris liking much of anything on that committee, so his judgment is not going to help push arts, culture, tourism, or marketing. His only interest seems to be technology, which doesn't really fit with that committee anyway.