Sunday, May 02, 2010
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Enquirer Endorsements for Hamilton County Commissioner Primaries
Well, while much of the Enquirer's Reporting has begun to reflect the importance and value of the City, their Editorial Board clings to the folly that people outside the City would be better at City-County relations, than current and former City Council members. What that translates to is that the Suburban centric Enquirer Editorial board somehow thinks the rest of the county knows how to run a county better than the biggest player does. The folly in this idea is that the rest of the county has two concepts that are paramount: 1) Everyone for themselves, where each small town takes care of itself, and 2) The City Is the Enemy, where the city is either the cause of the problem or the place to dump their problems.
Endorsing Hubert Brown in the Democratic Primary sounds more like a strategic move to anger Thomas, Tarbell, and the Democratic establishment, rather than a reflection of the best candidate.
Jim Tarbell is the best candidate out of the three. That is clear from any logically perspective and Jim has far more ability to embrace the rest of the County than Brown would for the City, a place I don't know how much he knows about.
Cecil Thomas has just been phoning it in. His lack of commitment to the primary and his penchant for appealing to arch conservatives makes him the worst of the three.
Picking Ghiz over Monzel is no surprise. What is more interesting is the rosy picture they painted of Leslie Ghiz as being "politically savvy" and having "tough solutions." Well, if you think it was politically savvy to do nothing but hide in the shadow of the FOP and offer ZERO solutions to the City's budget problems last year, then I guess someone must be confusing the real dictionary with the fake dictionary. Also, in the campaign, Ghiz has been the one rather quiet, while Monzel has been the political grandstanding champion. What I guess is "savvy" about Ghiz is that she did all of her grandstanding last year, while Monzel's grandstanding looks more forced than hers does, being so close to an election.
Endorsing Hubert Brown in the Democratic Primary sounds more like a strategic move to anger Thomas, Tarbell, and the Democratic establishment, rather than a reflection of the best candidate.
Jim Tarbell is the best candidate out of the three. That is clear from any logically perspective and Jim has far more ability to embrace the rest of the County than Brown would for the City, a place I don't know how much he knows about.
Cecil Thomas has just been phoning it in. His lack of commitment to the primary and his penchant for appealing to arch conservatives makes him the worst of the three.
Picking Ghiz over Monzel is no surprise. What is more interesting is the rosy picture they painted of Leslie Ghiz as being "politically savvy" and having "tough solutions." Well, if you think it was politically savvy to do nothing but hide in the shadow of the FOP and offer ZERO solutions to the City's budget problems last year, then I guess someone must be confusing the real dictionary with the fake dictionary. Also, in the campaign, Ghiz has been the one rather quiet, while Monzel has been the political grandstanding champion. What I guess is "savvy" about Ghiz is that she did all of her grandstanding last year, while Monzel's grandstanding looks more forced than hers does, being so close to an election.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Steve Driehaus Attending Cincinnati Coffee Party Event
The Cincinnati Chapter of the Coffee Party is hosting an event tonight from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Red Polly Space Outfitters, located on 4016 Hamilton Avenue in Northside.
Organizers state that this event is meant to counter the recent vitriol seen at other events and seek to be respectful and to praise Congressman Driehaus for the efforts of Congress in passing Health Care Reform.
Organizers state that this event is meant to counter the recent vitriol seen at other events and seek to be respectful and to praise Congressman Driehaus for the efforts of Congress in passing Health Care Reform.
"This event is about engaging local citizenry in open and respectful dialogue. We want to provide people with the basics on how the bill will impact them, those they care about and the communities in which they live," says Leo Pierson, an organizer and official spokesperson of the Coffee Party.The event is free and open to the public.
Congrats to the Fine Arts Fund For Raising $11 Million!
Cincinnati should be thankful we have organizations like the Fine Arts Fund, but we also should be thank that we as citizens support the efforts of the FAF and open our wallets to help keep the Arts alive in our City. Other places around the country don't fair as well. Their annual campaign ended yesterday by meeting their $11 Million goal, but you could still contribute, they won't turn away your check!
We as a community should be doing more, however. Public funding must be restored as soon as budgets allow. Something to keep in mind when you vote next week and in the Fall: Voting for Republicans in most cases will do noting for the arts. In some cases, like Chris Monzel, voting for the GOP will help end the arts. We still need to push the Democrats to commit to publicly fund the arts. If you were able to get down to the FAF celebration last night and you didn't seem Jim Tarbell, then you must not have been looking. Jim is running for Hamilton County Commissioner and Jim understands the importance of the arts.
We as a community should be doing more, however. Public funding must be restored as soon as budgets allow. Something to keep in mind when you vote next week and in the Fall: Voting for Republicans in most cases will do noting for the arts. In some cases, like Chris Monzel, voting for the GOP will help end the arts. We still need to push the Democrats to commit to publicly fund the arts. If you were able to get down to the FAF celebration last night and you didn't seem Jim Tarbell, then you must not have been looking. Jim is running for Hamilton County Commissioner and Jim understands the importance of the arts.
MidPoint 2010 Details Revealed
The Midpoint Music Festival is again teaming up with Fountain Square's PNC Music series and has programed a set of national acts as headliners for the summer music series every Friday night. Acts confirmed so far are:
For everything Midpoint, you need to memorize the link: www.mpmf.com.
June 4th: Camera Obscura (Glasgow, Scotland)Local acts will join these groups and will be announced next month. Note to local bands: You want to perform on the Square this year, go here and apply. This event has been the center of the Summer Cincinnati Music Scene for the last two years and will continue to be the place to be every Friday night. For updated schedules for every night of music on Fountain Square, be sure to check out: www.myountainsquare.com/musicseries.
June 11th: Neon Indian (Austin, TX)
June 18th: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Muscle Shoals, AL)
June 25th: Smoking Popes (Chicago, IL)
July 9th: Why? (Cincinnati, OH)
August 6th: Dawes (North Hills, CA)
For everything Midpoint, you need to memorize the link: www.mpmf.com.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A 2009 Self Assessment From Plum Street Studios
Earlier this month E. Gooding from the Plum Street Studio Blog scored his performance in predicting the 2009 City Election.
The result: he gives himself an A+. Any independent graders care to take a crack at that assessment?
The result: he gives himself an A+. Any independent graders care to take a crack at that assessment?
In Tough Times, Monzel is a Dangerous Choice
With the exception of the April 1st post, I've not blogged on the primary races for HamCo Commissioner. That's because the Democratic race is pretty boring (with a fairly obvious outcome). And since I generally consider myself a Democrat (though I've been re-thinking this over the past twelve or so months), I haven't felt the need to wade into the Republican contest.
But HamCo faces tough challenges in the coming years. And last night, it became clear to me that a Chris Monzel victory in November would be disastrous for our region. Let's talk about why.
Last night, the Republican Leadership Council and GOParty! (a Republican YP group) sponsored a debate between Monzel and Leslie Ghiz, hosted at Mainstay and moderated by Newsmakers' Dan Hurley. (Hurley will also host the candidates on his show this Sunday morning.) Monzel's lack of knowledge and dearth of viable solutions to HamCo's problems was stunning, particularly this close to the primary election. (And while I haven't seen the Enquirer report it, the event sponsors announced that Ghiz won the straw poll conducted at the conclusion of the debate.)
The contrast between Ghiz and Monzel was clear. Ghiz offered nuanced answers, the kind that you'd expect from someone who has thought about how to address development, budget, and public safety issues. Monzel, on the other hand, offered nothing but bits of his stump speech. His campaign strategy seemed clear: do nothing but throw out "red meat" to the base, and hope that the voters don't catch on.
There were several instances when it was apparent that Monzel just doesn't have a good grasp on the issues facing Hamilton County. Both candidates were asked about the need for increased jail space. Monzel's solution? Stop housing federal prisoners awaiting trial in federal court. That's an answer that's right out of a "conservative" politician's playbook: a local politician running for office just insists that things would be better without the federal government. But anyone with even the smallest amount of knowledge of the Hamilton County Justice Center and local law enforcement knows the following:
On the other side of last night's stage, Ghiz offered a clear alternative. She acknowledged--several times--that our most serious challenges don't have "easy answers." She understands the need for everyone in county government to work together for the good of our community. And she realizes that not everything is black-and-white. Her discussion of the streetcar was a good example. She refused simply to ridicule the notion of a streetcar. She said--as she has in the past--that while the streetcar may be a good idea, it's not a good idea now, analogizing to a homeowner who needs to renovate the kitchen, but needs to put it off because of the tough economy. (That's a position the streetcar crowd will disagree with. Fine. But it's a reasonable position that shows thought and maturity on a tough subject.) There's one thing you can always be sure of with Ghiz: when she speaks, you're hearing what she really believes, not what her party wants her to say or what she thinks will help her with a particular contested enclave of voters.
Monzel isn't ready to be part of a governing majority. He's best suited to be a back-bencher, part of a small minority. That way he's free to offer terrible ideas, like his proposed tax on people who use sidewalk trashcans. Ghiz is ready to lead Hamilton County with passion and wisdom, both of which were evident last night.
Disclosure: I've known Leslie Ghiz for several years, and consider her a friend. My friendship alone, however, would not be sufficient to endorse her in the primary race.
But HamCo faces tough challenges in the coming years. And last night, it became clear to me that a Chris Monzel victory in November would be disastrous for our region. Let's talk about why.
Last night, the Republican Leadership Council and GOParty! (a Republican YP group) sponsored a debate between Monzel and Leslie Ghiz, hosted at Mainstay and moderated by Newsmakers' Dan Hurley. (Hurley will also host the candidates on his show this Sunday morning.) Monzel's lack of knowledge and dearth of viable solutions to HamCo's problems was stunning, particularly this close to the primary election. (And while I haven't seen the Enquirer report it, the event sponsors announced that Ghiz won the straw poll conducted at the conclusion of the debate.)
The contrast between Ghiz and Monzel was clear. Ghiz offered nuanced answers, the kind that you'd expect from someone who has thought about how to address development, budget, and public safety issues. Monzel, on the other hand, offered nothing but bits of his stump speech. His campaign strategy seemed clear: do nothing but throw out "red meat" to the base, and hope that the voters don't catch on.
There were several instances when it was apparent that Monzel just doesn't have a good grasp on the issues facing Hamilton County. Both candidates were asked about the need for increased jail space. Monzel's solution? Stop housing federal prisoners awaiting trial in federal court. That's an answer that's right out of a "conservative" politician's playbook: a local politician running for office just insists that things would be better without the federal government. But anyone with even the smallest amount of knowledge of the Hamilton County Justice Center and local law enforcement knows the following:
- At any given time, there are only about a dozen inmates in federal custody at the HCJC. That's hardly the cause of jail overcrowding.
- The inmates in federal custody are actually revenue generators for the county, as the US Marshall Service pays a per bed/per day rate to house inmates at the HCJC.
- Over the last several years, local law enforcement has decided that one of the more effective ways of curbing drug and gun trafficking is to work with federal authorities and seek federal indictments, as federal law carries stiffer mandatory minimum sentences. For that to happen, those inmates have to be somewhere while they wait for their federal trials. Does Monzel want to get rid of ReNU and other joint task forces?
On the other side of last night's stage, Ghiz offered a clear alternative. She acknowledged--several times--that our most serious challenges don't have "easy answers." She understands the need for everyone in county government to work together for the good of our community. And she realizes that not everything is black-and-white. Her discussion of the streetcar was a good example. She refused simply to ridicule the notion of a streetcar. She said--as she has in the past--that while the streetcar may be a good idea, it's not a good idea now, analogizing to a homeowner who needs to renovate the kitchen, but needs to put it off because of the tough economy. (That's a position the streetcar crowd will disagree with. Fine. But it's a reasonable position that shows thought and maturity on a tough subject.) There's one thing you can always be sure of with Ghiz: when she speaks, you're hearing what she really believes, not what her party wants her to say or what she thinks will help her with a particular contested enclave of voters.
Monzel isn't ready to be part of a governing majority. He's best suited to be a back-bencher, part of a small minority. That way he's free to offer terrible ideas, like his proposed tax on people who use sidewalk trashcans. Ghiz is ready to lead Hamilton County with passion and wisdom, both of which were evident last night.
Disclosure: I've known Leslie Ghiz for several years, and consider her a friend. My friendship alone, however, would not be sufficient to endorse her in the primary race.
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