Cecil Thomas Thumbs His Nose at Democrats

There are many basic rules you need to follow when running in a contested Democratic primary. One of those rules is don't make appearances at extreme right-wing groups' candidate forums.

Why is this bad? Well, lets start with the obvious: look at the groups sponsoring this event!

Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati, COAST, the Cincinnati Tea Party, Family First, Citizens for Community Values Action, Warren County Right to Life, Ohio Liberty Council and Americans for Prosperity.

These aren't even remotely moderate groups, this is the FAR RIGHT-WING of Cincinnati and the Country's politics. The only groups to the right are going to be the Militias and the white supremacist groups (yes often one in the same).

99% of the people who attended the COAST Candidates Form were not Democrats. Therefore they will not be voting in the Democratic Primary in May. In November these same people are not going to vote for a Democratic candidate, at all. It is just a waste of resources and time to attend this event. Instead, go after your base! Is Thomas presuming he will get the black vote? That may be a reasonable presumption, but will he get the turnout from the black community he will need? Why not spend some time, maybe a Wednesday evening, working on getting voter turnout in traditionally black neighborhoods.

Instead Thomas is courting the Conservative vote. He's quoted as making a bad joke about him being Christian will be enough for the attendees to vote for him. I don't suppose a Democrat might not like seeing him making jokes at an event that includes speakers attacking Rep. Steve Driehaus, at the same time he's getting threats.  It is insulting.  It shows his lack of dedication to the primary.  It is a clear sign that he does not understand the basics of running a political campaign.  Thomas thinks he's running for City Council, but needs to find out that his not going to get the Westside Conservative votes in the Democratic Primary.

Google Fiber Cincinnati

Email, Tweet, Facebook, yell, scream, call your Mom and tell her and everyone else that Cincinnati needs to be the Test Site for Google's high speed Internet Project.

Tea Party Distances Itself From Driehaus Protest

Since we're quick to criticize the Tea Party, I thought we also need to point out when they do the right thing. The Cincinnati Tea Party today issued a statement in opposition to the protest planned at Steve Driehaus's home. A Tea Party spokesman asks its members not to even go past the protest out of curiosity. (Hat tip: Politics Extra Blog.)

I think we'll see the Tea Party act more and more responsibly as its members move from the role of protester to that of politician. Several Cincinnati Tea Party members are on the ballot to join the HamCo GOP Central Committee, and Mike Wilson is seeking the GOP nomination for the Ohio House seat currently occupied by Connie Pillich.

While there are few issues about which I agree with the Tea Party, I respect that they've brought people into the political process who have not previously been there. (Didn't many of us praise Barack Obama for the same thing two years ago?) As the movement matures, it'll be interesting to see it progress from a loose coalition of people raising their voices during town hall meetings to an organized group accomplishing political objectives. Condemning a Sunday protest outside a legislator's personal residence is a step in the right direction.

Jim Schifrin Is Still An Ass

If you read Jim Schifrin's Wistleblower newsletter then you were already aware that he is an ass. I say that without trepidation, seriously, the guy is an old fart who insults people every day and writes offensive stuff that is meant for 80 year old men at 150-year-old run down barbershops. He of course goes above an beyond his usual horrible actions with the publication of the home address of Rep. Steve Driehaus.

Schifrin's newsletter (does the guy not know what a blog is?) is the epitome of the junior high mindset that seems to be pervasive with a large portion of conservative men. If they knew who Bevis and Butthead were, they might get the simple fact that what they think is funny now stopped being funny when you reach age 17. It would behoove them to grow up.

Back the Food Truck Up.... (Bumped and Updated)

Over at Wine Me, Dine Me, Julie posts a press release issued by the operators of the food trucks that have recently sprouted up in Cincinnati. Apparently, the trucker-chefs are concerned that City Council is going to act to regulate the trucks. In their defense, Tom Acito, who owns Cafe de Wheels, says, "Our goal of being a mobile restaurant isn’t to steal business from local restaurants in the Over-the-Rhine and downtown areas. Rather, we hope to situate ourselves in areas where we will not directly compete with independent restaurant owners."

As far as I can tell, the trucker-chefs' concerns are fueled by John Curp's comment to Polly Campbell that "it's safe to say that the city is looking into the issue to see if there's need for additional regulations."

I'm not certain that Acito is really serious about not competing with local restaurants. Cafe de Wheels' typical lunchtime spot is on Walnut just off of Court Street. Assuming the truck stays there, it will definitely compete with Avril-Bleh's sidewalk grill, which is set to re-open April 5.

But more importantly, the trucks' primary competitors are not restaurants. After all, if you own a restaurant and find yourself at a competitive disadvantage to a guy who cooks his food in a UPS truck, it may be time to find a new profession. Instead, the trucks are really competing with sidewalk vendors.

The vendors are, of course, regulated by the city. And the trucker-chefs don't want to be. My question: is that fair? Sidewalk vendors run a pretty low-margin business. They are licensed by the City, and their location is subject to City approval. (In fact, the City has recently adopted a lottery through which street vendors' locations will be determined. This was first mentioned last year in a Jane Prendergast blog post. The HamCo Common Pleas Court recently issued a temporary restraining order delaying implementation of the new system. If I can find the complaint, I'll write a post on this issue.)

I know that the food trucks are the current darlings of the "cool kids" in the blogosphere. I like them (the trucks), too. (You haven't really lived until you've had Cafe de Wheels' grilled cheese and pulled pork sandwich.) But I wonder: why is it fair that the food trucks operate outside the rules that everyone else has to play by? Will a licensing fee and some rules about their location really put them out of business? Or would those things just put them on a level playing field with their competitors?

Finally, can anyone speak with certainty as to what Council committee would tackle this issue? I assume it's the Livable Communities Committee, chaired by Roxanne Qualls, but I'm not sure under the 2010 committee structure.

UPDATE (3/25/2010): Polly Campbell has this blog post on the topic, in which she quotes Tom Acito as saying that he and fellow trucker-chefs aren't presently petitioning the city. I'm not sure why he sent Julie a press release heralding the formation of his not-yet-formed group, then.

CPS and Minority Contractors: Is This Really Such A Mystery?

The Enquirer now reports that Cincinnati Public Schools has "reached out" to minority contractors in an effort to increase minority involvement in CPS's ongoing construction projects. The Enquirer describes the new plan as "experimental." My question: this isn't really as difficult as CPS is making it out to be, is it?

CPS has insisted (sincerely, I believe) that it is committed to minority involvement in its construction contracts. It seems befuddled as to how to get there. But there exists, within Cincinnati, a working model as to how to use race-neutral means to achieve significant minority participation in construction: the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Some time ago, the inestimable Dan Hurley did an excellent segment on Newsmakers on how the Freedom Center was able to achieve contracting out 40% of the work to minority-owned firms. I'll not recount the process here in great detail, but perhaps CPS Board members should follow the link and watch the video.

It should be noted that involving minority-owned firms doesn't necessarily ensure the employment of minority workers. That's a whole other blog post, I think. But I can't figure out why CPS is having such a hard time doing something that was accomplished just a few years ago in Cincinnati.

Finally, this is probably the right time to note my disagreement with Griff's post on Christopher Smitherman's arrest last week. Mr. Smitherman and Rev. Foster were acting in the best tradition of the civil rights movement: engaging in civil disobedience to bring attention to an important social problem. They demonstrated peaceably and offered no resistance to the police when arrested. And prior to their protest, they had exhausted other means to bring about change, having petitioned CPS several times to redress their concerns. Their actions are akin to the Flannery Five's sit-in in Steve Chabot's office to protest the Iraq war back in 2006. You may disagree with their viewpoint, but their actions are consistent with a rich tradition of American activism.

WOXY.com Halting Broadcasts

WOXY.com announced via its website that effective today, March 23rd, it is shutting down broadcasting due to a lack of funds. I hope they can continue operating, but this type of step indicates thier financial backers are unable to carry on support of the station. They may need another white knight. Good luck to the whole WOXY staff. I hope they are back on the air soon.

UPDATE: CityBeat's Mike Breen has a blog post including reference to a Facebook post from a long time WOXY staff member. The future does not look promising.

UPDATE #2: WOXY staffer Joe Long shared his thoughts on WOXY going silent via his music blog: www.eachnotesecure.com.

UPDATE #3: Jason at the Cincinnati Man has more, including a response from WOXY owner Future Sounds.