May Update to the 2017 City of Cincinnati Council Candidates

This month Charter Party announced it's 5 endorsements for City Council.  Still no official word from the Hamilton County Republican Party.  At this point, they only have three announced candidates that likely will get an endorsement.  It seems like most Republicans think they will have a chance in Hell of winning, so I wonder if the Hamilton County GOP will just not bother.  They are actively working to hurt cities all over the country, so not endorsing candidates wouldn't be a shock.

Next month I will work new groupings of the candidates, based on their chances of getting elected.  Also several of the reported candidates below have nearly nothing to publicize their campaign, so unless they get on the ballot, they may find their own category until they actually get on the ballot, which we won't know until the end of August.


Incumbents:
P.G. Sittenfeld (D endorsed)
David Mann (D,C endorsed)
Chris Seelbach (D endorsed)
Christopher Smitherman (R but pretending to be I)
Wendell Young (D endorsed))
Amy Murray (C endorsed) (R)

Returning Candidates:
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Greg Landsman (D endorsed)
Michelle Dillingham (D endorsed)
Brian Garry (D)
Theo Barnes
Orlando Welborn (D)

New Candidates
Ozie Davis III (D endorsed)
Kelli Prather (D)
Tamaya Dennard (D,C endorsed)
Cristina Burcica (D)
Jeff Pastor (R)
Derek Bauman (C endorsed) (D)
Tonya Dumas (D)
Henry Frondorf (C endorsed) (D)
Manuel Foggie
Leslie Jones (D endorsed)
Beverly Odoms (D)
Dawud Mustafa
Mary Hall
Damon Lynch IV
Edith Thrower
Matt Teaford (I)
Michael Rachford
Tamie Sullivan (R)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.


If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. Also, since I have added a party affiliation, if there are changes, let me know.

April Update to the 2017 City of Cincinnati Council Candidates

This month we didn't have anyone new announce and I've not heard of anyone dropping out, but we did get the Democratic endorsements announced with mostly the expected candidates getting the nod.  Leslie Jones was a surprise, as a first time candidate, but still got the backing of the local party.  The GOP still only has two announced candidates and I've not see a formal endorsement announcement, but have heard support from local party officials.  With the Mayoral Primary coming up next week, more attention will fall on the council race and if there will be any GOP or Charter candidates endorsement announcements.  At this rate, there is not even enough conservative candidates running to block a veto proof majority for the Democratic Party, so will anyone else step up?

Incumbents:
P.G. Sittenfeld (D endorsed)
David Mann (D endorsed)
Chris Seelbach (D endorsed)
Christopher Smitherman (R but pretending to be I)
Wendell Young (D endorsed))
Amy Murray (R)

Returning Candidates:
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Greg Landsman (D endorsed)
Michelle Dillingham (D endorsed)
Brian Garry (D)
Theo Barnes
Orlando Welborn (D)

New Candidates
Ozie Davis III (D endorsed)
Kelli Prather (D)
Tamaya Dennard (D endorsed)
Cristina Burcica (D)
Jeff Pastor (R)
Derek Bauman (D)
Tonya Dumas (D)
Henry Frondorf (D)
Manuel Foggie
Leslie Jones (D endorsed)
Beverly Odoms (D)
Dawud Mustafa
Mary Hall
Damon Lynch IV
Edith Thrower
Matt Teaford (I)
Michael Rachford
Tamie Sullivan (R)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.


If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. Also, since I have added a party affiliation, if there are changes, let me know.

March Update to 2017 City of Cincinnati Council Candidates

For this month's update I have included links to campaign websites.  I have not included Facebook pages, only stand alone websites.  A Facebook page alone is not a sign of a serious candidate.  Taking the time to create a stand alone website is not expensive or overly time consuming and it is critical to creating a fundraising mechanism.  Facebook pages do work well to engage voters and volunteers and donations, but pointing them back to a real website is as sign of professionalism.

Incumbents:
P.G. Sittenfeld (D)
David Mann (D)
Chris Seelbach (D)
Christopher Smitherman (R but pretending to be I)
Wendell Young (D)
Amy Murray (R)

Returning Candidates:
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Greg Landsman (D)
Michelle Dillingham (D)
Brian Garry (D)
Theo Barnes
Orlando Welborn (D)

New Candidates
Ozie Davis III (D)
Kelli Prather (D)
Tamaya Dennard (D)
Cristina Burcica (D)
Jeff Pastor (R)
Derek Bauman (D)
Tonya Dumas (D)
Henry Frondorf (D)
Manuel Foggie
Leslie Jones (D)
Beverly Odoms (D)
Dawud Mustafa
Mary Hall
Damon Lynch IV
Edith Thrower
Matt Teaford (I)
Michael Rachford
Tamie Sullivan (R)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.


If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. Also, since I have added a party affiliation, if there are changes, let me know.

Question Chris Smitherman and He Will Play the Race Card

When I read this week's Enquirer Politics Extra column: Smitherman: Using race card on Cranley 'appalling' I smiled.  I found it funny.  No, racism isn't funny.  Chris Smitherman, Cincinnati City Council Member, however was doing something that I found worthy of a grin, he was contradicting himself.

That's not a surprise, I know, but still worth a quick grin.  He's attacking black people for doing what he thinks is playing the "race card" against Smitherman's ally, Mayor John Cranley a Conservative Democrat.  Cranley has his own issues, but on this point, Smitherman is the one walking off the ledge with his gross hypocrisy. Here's the relevant part of the column:

Racism is real," said Smitherman, former head of the local NAACP. "It's not something that anyone should be taking lightly. It's appalling that they would so loosely try to define (Mayor) John Cranley (and Enquirer reporters) as racist. Unacceptable. It diminishes a long history of civil rights work and the fight against institutional racism that continues today."

His contradiction is quite simple: Smitherman has played the race card.  How do I know?  Simple, he used it against me on Twitter for daring to call him out for being a Republican. His implication was that I was questioning him because he is black. So, yes, total bullshit from a bullshiter. Here are some examples from last year:

@cincyblog because I am a free AA man. Do you understand that concept? @DougMoormann @UnityBaptist7 @linleeth @gragstonlaw @1stLadyOfWater

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) September 30, 2016

@cincyblog again this shows your disrespect for African American's and why so many are leaving your candidates. Example Rev Damon Lynch Jr

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) October 3, 2016

@cincyblog are you going to attack all of these AA leaders today for their Independent right to endorse a republican @robportman @Enquirer

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) October 3, 2016

Where did his this come from you might ask? It came directly from my efforts to question Smitherman on his political affiliation. It is my contention and the overwhelming evidence supports it that he is a Republican.  He publicly will not say he is a Republican and his twitter responses above are part of his reaction to my questioning him because of his public endorsement of Republicans.  That however was just the latest.

Smitherman's Republican affiliation has a bizarre origin.  It started publicly with Smitherman, as president of the local chapter of the NAACP, joining forces with local right-wing extremist group COAST and their lawyer and sometimes leader Chris Finney.  Finney has is a long time anti-city activist who also was the author of the anti-LGBTQ article XII amendment that was passed (later repealed) making it legal in Cincinnati to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.  This is odd because Smitherman has generally voted for LGBT rights issues, but none-the-less he joined forces with a known bigot. Smitherman and COAST joined forces to attack the City and efforts to improve the city, specifically Downtown and OTR.

Fast forward to the 2016 primaries. Chris Smitherman had in the past voted in the Democratic primaries for president.  In 2016 he switched parties.  He voted in the Republican primary.  This is publicly available information and is the closest in Ohio to being considered a "registered" Republican. Later on last year he started endorsing candidates for office and the only ones I could find were republicans:

I endorse @JudgePatFischer for OH Supreme Court. For 7 yrs Judge Fischer always made himself avail to Cincy NAACP members. A Good man!

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) October 30, 2016

I endorse Dewine for Ohio Supreme Court. I am an elected independent in Cincinnati and served w Dewine on City Council. @patdewine @700wlw pic.twitter.com/B0BslpvMRt

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) October 11, 2016

OH is one of the most important States in the election. Early voting starts soon. I endorse @robportman @senrobportman in 2016 sen race.

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) September 30, 2016

Additionally, Smitherman endorsed also-ran Republican Hamilton County commission candidate Andrew Pappas over long time fairly moderate Democrat Todd Portune. You noticed that there were not any Democrats above.  He didn't voice support for single Democrat running for County wide office, at least not publicly that I could find.

To top it off, Smitherman tweeted several things that show his allegiances. On election day last November where did he go? Surprisingly he went to Republican strong-hold Sayler Park:

At Sayler Park at polls w Karen Gillen w heavy turn out. Get out and Vote. Nothing should stop you. @700wlw @55KRC pic.twitter.com/pJxHereHvJ

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) November 8, 2016

Sayler Park was one of the very few parts of Cincinnati to vote in favor of Donald Trump for President. He didn't tweet from any other neighborhoods on election day, so if he went to any, they didn't make the cut for publicity.

I also want to point out his affinity for Dusty Rhodes.

Very good to see my friend @AuditorRhodes at Greater Cincinnati Firefighter Memorial. @gragstonlaw @cincyblog pic.twitter.com/y9RuP0AZsm

— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) October 13, 2016

I point this out because I have questioned Dusty's political affiliation more than I have questioned Smitherman's. This is important because Smitherman's basis for his response to my questions on his political affiliation is based on his fabricated belief that it was because of his race. That's the race card I was talking about before. It is the game he is playing to mislead the public.

His re-election strategy relies on votes from black voters in Cincinnati. Being a Republican is not a positive to a large portion of voters in Cincinnati, particularly black voters. He also needs to get the support of Republican voters as well, if he has a chance to get back on council. He only got on council by around 2,500 votes and has not made any new friends that he already didn't have. Thus knowing his party affiliation and allegiances is a valid consideration for a voter. 

Another consideration is honesty.  He's not being honest when he pretends to be independent. Independents don't pick one party to the exclusion of the other(s.)  Smitherman's desire to mislead people shows that his real motivation is for himself. He wants to run for County Commissioner and the only way he can is by being a Republican. He's put himself in such a corner that he will never be able to win. The only type of coalition that would be similar to conservative blacks and far right-wing COAST Republicans would be Trump supporters and that is not a winning team in Hamilton County. He appears willing to create illogical alliances, but even he stayed away from directly endorsing Trump.

As long as Smitherman continues lying about not being a Republican, I will continue to call him out on his dishonesty and hiding his true motivations and allegiances.  He can try to fool people, but that doesn't mean the people will be fooled.

Smitherman Campaign Publishes a Confidential Document Including Bank Account Number

The campaign for Cincinnati Council Member Chris Smitherman (R) published a document online that was marked confidential from a State of Ohio commission.  The document includes the image of a hand written private organization's check with the routing number and checking account number fully visible.  The marking of confidentiality was clearly visible on the bottom as excerpted below:

It is the intention of Cincinnati Blog to never violate any laws, therefore I am not publishing the full document since it is marked confidential and does include the bank account of a private organization. It is the opinion of this blog and I hope all other people that it is wrong to publish any bank account numbers as it increases the possibility of bank or check fraud.

February Update to the 2017 City of Cincinnati Council Candidates

This month's list has several new names on it as reports of those actually getting petitions to run was on Twitter as the deadline for the Mayor's race passed.  Candidates still have until August to gather signatures for council so this list will surely change.  I have started to add political affiliations next to the names.  This is a subjective exercise as many of these candidates are unknown. I will attempt to assign these based on public information.  In some cases I am passing judgement if that candidate is not being honest about their affiliations.

Incumbents:
P.G. Sittenfeld (D)
David Mann (D)
Chris Seelbach (D)
Christopher Smitherman (R but pretending to be I)
Wendell Young (D)
Amy Murray (R)

Returning Candidates:
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Greg Landsman (D)
Michelle Dillingham (D)
Brian Garry (D)
Theo Barnes

New Candidates
Ozie Davis III (D)
Kelli Prather (D)
Tamaya Dennard (D)
Cristina Burcica
Jeff Pastor (R)
Derek Bauman(D)
Tonya Dumas (D)
Henry Frondorf (D)
Manuel Foggie
Leslie Jones
Beverly Odoms (D)
Orlando Welborn
Dawud Mustafa
Mary Hall
Damon Lynch IV
Edith Thrower
Matt Teaford (I)
Michael Rachford
Tamie Sullivan (R)
Cedrick Denson


Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.


If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. Also, since I have added a party affiliation, if there are changes, let me know.

Next month I'll try and start including websites.  It appears some candidates may be limiting themselves to Facebook and Twitter.  Without your own website getting campaign contributions online is more challenging and no matter how much some of the new candidates may thing they can win without any money, they will learn hard way that you need money to do things like mailers and handouts and bumper stickers and lawn signs etc. Please invest in a website and a fundraising application.  Even with specialized application, a candidate needs a personalized website that they can control and use a entrance to any other service they might use to run their campaign.

Updated List of Current Cincinnati Council Candidates

Here is an updated list of candidates. The GOP still only has two officially named candidates, 1 reported candidate and Smitherman, so they are far from even pretending to get a majority on council.  If everyone on this list runs for office, that will make 25. That is not a record.  It would be a record low for Republicans.


Incumbents:
P.G. Sittenfeld
David Mann
Chris Seelbach
Christopher Smitherman
Wendell Young
Amy Murray

Returning Candidates:
Laure Quinlivan
Greg Landsman
Michelle Dillingham
Brian Garry
Theo Barnes

New Candidates
Ozie Davis III
Kelli Prather
Tamaya Dennard
Tamie Sullivan
Cristina Burcica
Jeff Pastor
Derek Bauman
Cedrick Denson
Tonya Dumas
Henry Frondorf
Manual Foggie
Leslie Jones
Beverly Odoms
Orlando Welborn

If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list.

A Reminder How John Cranley Worked Against His Fellow Democrats

Lest we Forget: In 2013 Democrat John Cranley after winning the Mayor's office was granted the authority to pick the chair persons of City Council committees. In that same election the Democratic Party endorsed candidates won five of nine seats. Living up to his reputation, Cranley made the choice to punish his fellow Democrats by appointing Republicans and non-Democrats to more Council Committee chairs, including the most important Finance and Public Safety Chairs:

• Budget and Finance Chair: Charlie Winburn (R) 
• Economic Growth & Infrastructure Chair: Christopher Smitherman (R)
• Education & Entrepreneurship Chair: P.G. Sittenfeld (D)
• Human Services, Youth & Arts Chair: Yvette Simpson (D)
• Law & Public Safety Chair: Christopher Smitherman (R)
• Major Transportation & Regional Cooperation Chair: Amy Murray (R)
• Neighborhoods Chair: David Mann (D)
• Rules & Audit Chair: Kevin Flynn (C)

So spiteful is Cranley that he excluded two Democrats from any committee chair positions at all, and gave a Republican, Christ Smitherman, two committee chairs.  Why did he punish them, one asks, well most of the Democrats on Council openly supported Cranley's opponent for Mayor.  It wasn't a surprise that he would snub them, but then it makes Tim Burke's comments praising Cranley for support Democratic candidates all the more bullshit.  Cranley only supports Democrats that either support him or don't oppose him. The rest of his term has been filled with opposing the five Democrats on  a large number of issues and turning those battles into public fights that he especially make petty and vicious.  Those issues he's broken with the Party have not shockingly been ones he found allies in Republicans on council and in the community.

John is not a good mayor is his first and most important consideration he makes before any choice is how will it effect him and his future.

Who are the Cincinnati Council Candidates for 2017?

I have combed the local news outlets, social media posts, and general web searches and here is a list of candidates. Now, to be clear, this includes those publicly declared, reportedly declared, and rumored to be running. This list could shrink, but it mostly likely will grow. There are only Three Republicans (not counting self-denying Republican Chris Smitherman) on this list, so I expect them to field a measly five candidates. Charter Committee might have a one or more uni-endorsed candidates as well.


Incumbents:
P.G. Sittenfeld
David Mann
Chris Seelbach
Christopher Smitherman
Wendell Young
Amy Murray

Returning Candidates:
Laure Quinlivan
Greg Landsman
Michelle Dillingham
Brian Garry

New Candidates
Ozie Davis
Kelli Prather
Tamaya Dennard
Tamie Sullivan
Cristina Burcica
Jeff Pastor
Derek Bauman
Cedrick Denson

If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list.

WCPO Confirms the GOP Likes Cranley and Don't Care About Winning the City

WCPO reports on the GOP's pleasure with John Cranley as Mayor. The telling parts are:

“As far as Cincinnati goes, for a conservative like me, he is about as good as we’re going to get,” former Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann, a Republican, said of Cranley.

And this:

After tough election losses in November, Triantafilou said he would spend much of 2017 prepping candidates for future countywide office runs.

Add this to the big money Cranley has received from GOP donors and it is more than clear that he is the GOP backed candidate. They won't directly endorse him because he can't accept that, but it is clear that Cranley needs the GOP vote to win. Excluding the denials from Cranley's campaign staff and supporters out there, everyone who can casually review voting results knows that in 2013 Cranley ONLY won because he got the overwhelming support of all types of Republicans in the city: Far Right-Wing COASTers, main stream Republicans like Hartmann, moderates, and the Winburn/Smitherman backers.

Cranley needs their money almost as much as he needs their vote. He will being doing a ton of Arafat-type of communications. When talking to Democratic audiences, he'll invoke his support of Hillary, but behind closed doors at his Westside and Hyde Park fundraisers he'll tout his support of the Police Union, Fire Fighters, and city neighborhoods with suburban type homes.

For as much as the GOP likes Cranley, John far more cares about them. He needs them. He even needs those who can't vote in the City but can give him money or the clout he desires.  Political Parties are far less important in City elections, but they do make for a clearer understanding of what one believes.  With Cranley the only thing you know he believes is that the support of the suburbanite Republicans is more important than developing the Urban core. Having a partisan primary would solve some of that, since Cranley would lose that race badly, but with the lack of Republicans actually caring about the city, Cranley could run in a GOP primary and repeat his 2013 coalition with the same type of turnout.

The only way to defeat Cranley is to have a ground game that gets out the vote. If only 29.52% turns out in November, Cranley will win.  If 40% turns out, I think Cranley loses big.  Getting closer to 40% than 30% is the answer and there is no party structure helping make this happen.  Non-partisan elections help and hurt and right now it is hurting.

Richardson's Entrance Given Solid Footing

If you read the Enquirer's article about Rob Richardson's announcement on the Mayor's race you get a very solid image of the man and his general positions. You also get a clever listing out of the attendees. In an election like this, who is supporting you is important in getting out the vote in varied demographics. This paragraph was blunt:

Also in attendance: several top UC leaders, former local television anchor Clyde Gray; the Rev. Damon Lynch Jr.; City Council candidate Tamaya Dennard; local radio host and attorney Janaya Trotter Bratton; and board of elections administrator Joe Mallory. Noticeably not in attendance: Most elected officials. Only Republican City Councilman Charlie Winburn was spotted in the crowd.

The African-American Community is a very diverse group. Three groups are forming around the three candidates. How and if those groups can influence the voters is yet to be seen, but it is clear that all three candidates find it important to reach or at least affect black voters. It is so important that on social media of that article Jim Clingman (a Smitherman and therefore Cranley supporter) sought to defame Richardson for allegations of actions of his father, who happens to have the same name (adding a Sr.).  A slimy action, but Smitherman and his friends aren't known for their honesty.

This is going to be a nasty campaign and race is going to be part of it. I wish it wasn't, but it will be in more ways than just which candidates get which portion of the black vote. We are about to have two black candidates face of against a white candidate who already has had major support from the GOP. That GOP is now hot off an election in which their national candidate and party used racism and hate as a tool to win over some voters. Their hate-lust is up. I don't see what can stop at least some individuals from exercising that hate somewhere on the campaign trail. A rough ride is ahead.

'Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!'

Surprise! It's Election Year Cincinnati! You didn't see that coming did you?  Thought 2016 would be the end of it?  HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!  No, our wonderful City Charter decrees that we have elections this year, so the "fun" will continue.

Just when you thought you had the last Facebook comment war with your fascist uncle, alas the 2017 City of Cincinnati elections are upon us.  Races for all nine seats on City Council and the Mayor's Office are up for grabs.  You can sharpen your barbs and insults that you get to sling at your neighbors as we battle for the control of City Government.  Our own legally sanctioned, hopefully peaceful, non-title of nobility granting game of thrones is underway.

House Cranley has been gathering funds from the Bank of BraavosRepublicans and the GOP votes that come with their backdoor endorsement.  Chris "Cersei Lannister" Smitherman has been plotting vengeance on the City and threatens to burn it all down with Wildfile in the form of his support of Republcans at the State and local levels.

House Simpson stands ready to face off to defend the City of Seven KingdomsHills from the onslaught of the White Walkers fueled by House Cranley. Yvette "Daenerys" Simpson has taken the lead to fight the winter storm now upon us.

It will be epic.  It will be bloody.  Lots of reputations will die and some main characters will dielose elections. I hope there will be credible news reports and opinion pieces that both give facts and the ideas of why one side is better than the other.  This blog will attempt to draw its sword against the onslaught of the Bolton Cavalry and give a portion of that opinion and as many facts as it can compile.  In the age of fake news and emotionally charged social media posts, some level headiness needs to exist.  I wont give an oath to do that, but I promise to try my best.  There's no magic here to make anything easy, so everyone needs to work on making the political process in Cincinnati as fair and honest as possible.

End of the Year

This has not been a great year in politics, overall.  Locally the Democrats actually made some forward strides in Hamilton County, but not much else looked good in Ohio.  2017 is setting up to be a really tough year.  A nasty mayoral race is coming and the knives are already out.  Expect them to just keep slicing.

I may slice a piece off myself here and there.

Council races should be interesting.  There are many new and old names coming back on the Dem side, but the GOP has been very silent.  Other than the expected Smitherman endorsement, I don't hear of any credible candidates they are putting forward.  The Dems stand a fair chance of getting a veto proof majority on council.

With our country about to led by someone who won an incredibly close race by using neo-fascist positions, we are heading into uncharted territory.  We need local officials and candidates to step up and not let the hateful rhetoric from the national GOP filter down. I fear that we may be too late.  With the tone we got from Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou upon his vote in the Electoral College and the insanity from Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones after burning protest letters on his EC vote, I think we are in for the stank of Trumpism to creep into local politics.  We'll know people go off the deep end if illegal immigration becomes an issue in Cincinnati elections. Hold on tight.  It will get bumpy.

Smitherman's Hand Picked Cabal is Sued by National NAACP

The Courthouse News Service is reporting a group calling it self the "Cincinnati Branch" of the NAACP as an "fraud" and unsanctioned group. In Federal court they are seeking an Injunction to shut down the group and $300K in damages.

This group was previously run by Cincinnati City Council member Chris Smiterman who resigned to run for public office. His allies took over the group and refused to allow for an orderly election and allegedly have continued to try and run the organization as if the national organization did not hault the election and freeze out everyone from controlling the local chapter.

A Note for the local media, don't attribute any press released from anyone sued by the NAACP as speaking for the local branch of the NAACP until a new election of leadership is held.

Evidence of the Delusional Disdain Or Just Rank Hypocrisy?

Cincinnati Business Courier reporter Chris Wetterich wrote an eye opening article that outlines the hypocrisy of the likes of Chris Smitherman, John Cranley, Charlie Winburn, Amy Murray, and most of those against the Streetcar.  The MLK interchange (highway project) bond issue got none of challenges put upon the Streetcar.  The MLK interchange operating and maintenance costs won't pay for themself.  It's economic impact study was written by the same group that wrote the impact study for the Streetcar.  Yet, none of the Streetcar Critics questioned anything about adding more roads.

It is like the Cranley Conservative Cabal is delusional.  What else could explain their flip flop on what they demand on transportation projects.  It wouldn't be because this MLK interchange is something that suburbanites are demanding?  The GOP is all about the suburbs and more importantly about the homogeneous mindsets prevalent in a large portion of voters who live in the suburbs. (Like Driving and Free Parking)  I guess getting the short term traffic flow of I-71 Southbound cleared up is an unquestioned truth that must occur no matter the cost to the rest of the City.  I mean, how many cops could Cranley hire with the 20 million dollars of capital costs?  I am sure Cranley is working on the numbers, it's not like he's won't lie again about how capital budget funds can be used for operating expenses, again.

Cranley is Delusional on Political Situation

John Cranley appears to think there are only a handful of neighborhoods that count in Cincinnati. WCPO reported the following:

"Streetcar supporters have criticized Cranley for saying Cincinnati is more politically united than ever before.

But the mayor defended his comments. “Look at Bond Hill, look at Mount Washington, look at Price Hill, Mount Lookout, Hyde Park,” Cranley said. “In all the council races I was in, those neighborhoods didn’t agree on who should be mayor. This year, all of those neighborhoods were united together – not only in electing me but in electing a majority of council."

So, four solid Republican neighborhoods and Smitherman/Winburn's core neighborhood constitute Cranley's world of what matters to him, at least politically. Every place else doesn't rate in his mind and are all that matters to his sense of 'unity.'

Cranley needs to know that in Ward Seven, which includes Bond Hill, Flynn and Murry finished 17th and 18th place respectively and Malone and White finished in the top nine.  How is that unified with the rest Republican strongholds he cherished?

Cranley's dug himself a big hole and I fear he will think he's dug himself out, but really will be in a Smithermanesque alternate universe, one where truth isn't important. We don't live in Bizarro Cincinnati, we live in the real Cincinnati. Cranley needs to find the reality based Cincinnati or he will find the job of being Mayor even more difficult than it already is.

Smitherman Misleads Public About Conflict of Interest on Streetcar

Chris Smitherman has an ethics issue and is not being honest about it. The Cincinnati Business Courier has reported that Smitherman's brother owns a company that has a contract to build part of the Streetcar project. Smitherman is claiming, without proof, that he's only known about this for a week and that his brother no longer has a contract.  That connection is an ethics issue that Ohio Ethics Commission should investigate.

Smitherman provided no proof the contract has been nullified or rescinded. That's part one of the deception.

Part two is that Smitherman was not being truthful when he stated he knew nothing of his brother's contract prior to a week ago. Well, that is not true, and this 2009 NAACP press release provides evidence that he did know his brother was working on the Streetcar project.

The Cincinnati NAACP has been briefed that Jostin Concrete has joined the Mayor's streetcar team. The owner of Jostin Concrete is the brother of Cincinnati NAACP President, Christopher Smitherman. Citizens will have the opportunity to witness the integrity and commitment of President Smitherman, the Cincinnati NAACP leadership and membership. Jostin Concrete may have a great opportunity, however, building a "choo-choo" train is the wrong public policy direction for the masses of Cincinnatians. Smitherman says, "I deeply respect the independence of my brother's company. I am confident that the issue will be rejected in November."

So, this is the new chairman of the Law and Public Safety Committee lying to citizens of Cincinnati? If he is making false statements about this, how can anyone trust anything he is saying? He should not vote on the Streetcar until he obtains a favorable opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission and Smitherman must provide proof of all of his claims.

We don't need liars on City Council.

Advice for P.G. Sittenfeld from a Cincinnati Democrat

Here is a guest post with some advice for Council Member P.G. Sittenfeld from a Cincinnati Democrat:

Please PG don’t hurt em 

PG Sittenfeld will likely be the swing vote in the next council; he will also have his eyes on an office that requires Republican votes. 

For the sake of the Democrats who sent him to council, he should resist the urge to form a governing coalition with the Republicans. That would mean he had been playing Democrats for the suckers we so frequently are.

The new council breakdown is:

• 4 GOP (Winburn, Murray, Flynn, Smitherman) whose platform was basically the same

• a mayor who ran on a platform identical to the GOP candidates

• 3 allied Dems (Young, Seelbach, Simpson)

• 1 new Dem who ran against the 3 allies

• 1 incumbent Dem who has voted against the 3 allies

The natural governing coalition, then, is 4 GOP + Mann or 4 GOP + PG. (Let’s note that, in an electorate that went 77% for Obama, this is a totally unacceptable outcome which basically means the Democratic Party failed.) 

Also noteworthy is that PG is the strongest Democratic candidate for either Chabot’s seat or county commission.

It would be really great for PG’s career if he provided the decisive vote on killing the streetcar, raising the city’s retirement age, killing the city Planning Department, and cutting the city’s earning tax.

I’m asking him nicely to not do those things.

Instead, he can form a Democratic governing coalition (which is the whole point of political parties) with our Democratic mayor and do things that are broadly supported by most Democrats.

If this doesn't happen--if Cranley and PG side with the GOP caucus as Cranley has indicated he will do on the four items above--then PG will be part of a Republican governing coalition for the first time in decades.

Cranley's Bad Judgement Showcased Thanks to Smitherman

I posted on this earlier, but I've got additional photographic evidence of John Cranley posting on his Facebook page a link to the Chris Smitherman rambling attack against Democratic candidates for City Council. This was taken down by Cranley, but it was up there long enough for ten Cranley supporters to like it. Likely either they were all Republicans/Tea Partiers or just didn't listen to it.

A Public Demonstration that Smitherman is Crazy

Yes, most people know that Chris Smitherman has a screw loose. If you don't know, then have a look at this over 13 minute long rambling video that Smitherman made himself. He has no support to back up any of the wild and outlandish claims he makes, but damn it sure makes a good (yet boring) Crazy Guy video.

Smitherman is a big supporter of John Cranley and it has been reported that Cranley has stated that Smitherman would be a "big part" of the Cranley administration if he won the Mayor's race.

Oh, by the way, Smitherman is a sitting member of council and is running again. He makes these types of videos often. Who supports him? What type of person believes the crap he is saying? Ignorance is not much of an excuse, but I guess that's the type of voter Smitherman preys upon.

Side note: John Cranley had a link to this video on his Facebook page today. It is no longer there. I guess Cranley's knee-jerk judgement is to believe and trust what Smitherman says on the surface, but when people pointed out the lies Smitherman was saying about Democrats running for Council, someone in the Cranley camp took it down. More bad Cranley Judgement, just like John Elkington.

UPDATE: Evidence of Cranley posting this video to social media is here from Greg Harris.