Census Numbers Conflict With Voter Registration

Bill Sloat at the Daily Bellwether is reporting on a key problem with the 2010 Census numbers.  Sloat reports the Adult vs Child population breakdown from the 2010 Census.  The total City of Cincinnati Population listed is 296,943 of which 231,237 are adult, aged 18 or older.  That leaves 65,706 children.

Now, let's compare this to the last few years totals of registered voters:

Year	Registered Voters	%
2010	209,259	90.50%
2009	225,680	97.60%
2008	229,413	99.21%
2007	212,303	91.81%
2005	212,202	91.77%
2004	215,454	93.17%

The % above is based on registered voters divided by the 2010 adult population of 231,237.

So, a few months before the Census time frame (April 1, 2010) we had approximately 98% voter registration. I had no idea we did that well. Similarly, seven months later we had 91% voter registration, a large drop, but it continued the normal drop from a presidential election, yet still very high.

What gives? We obviously don't have that high of a registration rate. We obvioulsy don't have that much voter registration error or fraud, no matter how many Republicans want claim such. We know both points are true because the article points out that similar rates can be seen county wide.  We also know this to be valid if we look at some other municipalities within the County.  As an example take Cheviot, not known as a liberal bastion, which has a 2010 population according to the census of 8,375 with 6,547 adults aged 18 years or more.  The voting registration for Cheviot in November for 2010 was 5,293 or 81%.

So, I'm sure that Republicans are thinking, hmmm, that is 10% lower than Cincinnati, must be something fishy going there.  Well, before you worry about Cincinnati, you might want to take a look at Indian Hill.  The Village of Indian Hill (actually a city) has a 2010 population of 5,785 with adults over age 18 totaling 4,221.  In the November election Indian Hill had a voter registration of 4,797.  If you know your math, and I know you do, that would equal a registration rate of 114%.  Sure, 500 kids could have turned 18 after April 1st, 2010, but before election day and they all could have registered to vote.  I doubt that.

No, I'm not claiming voter fraud is occurring en masse in Indian Hill, nor am I saying our Board of Election is careless. Instead I suggest the census numbers are wrong. There is little doubt that the entire county was undercounted.

Enquirer Covers Small Protest in Mason, But What About Thousands Downtown?

Yes, it is a good thing that the Enquirer covered a protest in Mason, even though it attracts a slue of idiotic comments. The protest had a few dozen people, so was it worth it in the big picture?

I ask if it was worth it because yesterday afternoon there were reportedly 3 to 4 thousand people on Fountain Square, protesting the Governor's plan to gut the State Budget in his plan to destroy many public services. I can't find a word about it online in the Enquirer. I understand this took place during part of the first play-in game for the NCAA basketball tournament, but I figured it would at least get mentioned in the politics blog.

700WLW has a Story on it. WVXU also has a story. Local Radio represents!

Local TV was pretty weak, but had some presence. WCPO had a story. FOX19 had a story, but claimed "hundreds", which by all other report was just incorrect. I found nothing on WLWT and nothing on WKRC.

We have local news events happening and we don't have local news reporters covering them. Our local media is failing, again.

So Radio ruled, local TV was weak, and the Enquirer cared more about a couple dozen people in Mason than thousands in Downtown Cincinnati.

The local media have starved themselves down to so few reporters they can't do the job. I am holding back from saying that the Enquirer purposely ignored this rally for political reasons, but just couldn't one editor have asked a reporter who maybe doesn't normally cover local politics to walk, just WALK, over to the rally a few blocks away and file a story? No one has to expense anything, but maybe one less sports story or human interest fluff piece gets printed. I know, a big sacrifice, but someone must bare it.

There wasn't even an AP story on this, but that I think falls to the Enquirer's failure.

P.S. If someone actually finds a story in the Enquirer on this, then someone over there needs to improve the search function or at least get it indexed in Google.

Interesting Question: 'Why are symphony concerts selling out?'

The Enquirer's classical music reporter, Janelle Gelfand, asks a very good question: Why are symphony concerts selling out? I really enjoy the symphony, but haven't had time to go yet this season, but a ton of people are going, with ticket sales up 16% over last years so far. Keep it up! And while you are thinking about art, check out Artswave and donate! I did!

Figure Out How to Close the 8 Billion Dollar Budget Gap by Using This Gadget

Cleveland.com has published a cool tool with a long list of ways to fill the eight billion dollar budget gap. You can cut spending and raise revenues in many creative and fair ways and some very draconian ways.  It isn't that difficult to figure out how to do it.  I'd like to see a similar  gadget used for Cincinnati's budget gap at the end of this year.

Western & Southern Adding 100 Jobs Downtown

WLWT is reporting even more good news for Downtown with word that Western & Southern is adding up to 100 more jobs over the next few months to its Downtown Headquarters. The article reports that the jobs will mostly be in the Insurance and Information Services areas.

City Reaches Deal to Add 55 Jobs Downtown

The Enquirer is reporting that the City has a deal to keep First Financial Downtown for 12 years and add 55 more jobs by 2014. According to the article, First Financial Plans to invest 4 million dollars in its Downtown facilities.

We needed some positive news for the City, so this helps a little.

Who Is Running For Cincinnati City Council? An Update:

With the Republican slate set, the time to choose is here for candidates to make up their minds on running for Cincinnati City Council.  For new candidates, the time honestly came and went.  For prior candidates the time is now. Here's the latest on who is or believed to be running for Cincinnati City Council in 2011:

Incumbents:
Leslie Ghiz
Amy Murray
Roxanne Qualls
Laure Quinlivan
Cecil Thomas
Charlie Winburn
Wendell Young

Previous Candidates:
Nicholas Hollan
Kevin Flynn

New Candidates:
Wayne Lippert Jr.
Jason Riveiro
Chris Seelback
P.G. Sittenfeld
Catherine Smith Mills
Yvette Simpson

Unknown Status:
Chris Bortz
Christopher Smitherman
Bernadette Watson

Is there anyone missing?