New Local Blogger

Please welcome Chris St. Charles of "War All The Time" to the blogroll. Chris is the new "Official Blog of Queen City Forum Magazine," since Wes Flinn is leaving town soon. I had a good conversation with both of them last night at Muz's in Mt. Lookout. Give him a read.

Taft GOP Scapegoat?

Will the Ohio GOP Mounted Police get their man? Will they find the right scapegoat to blame for all of the scandals, while not tainting any of the other candidates for governor who are part of Taft's administration? Will they through Bob Taft over the side to keep their obviously corrupt grip on power that has hurt this state? They are going to sure as hell try! Taft sure is not helping himself. He is now facing pressure from his hometown GOP newspaper.

Speaking of bad apples in the GOP, when do they dump Sam Malone? How long do you go on endorsing someone who beats his kid with a belt? Court documents look really bad. How do you get marks on a kid like that?

Bronson Wants to Have Winburn's Babies

Well Peter Bronson can provide free campaign advertising like nobody else can at the Enquirer. Could Peter be blushing under his thickly coarse and pale skin? Winburn will fight crime, I guess. How? Holding meetings? Praising police? I never knew the police needed to have their bellies scratched in order to catch criminals. I think one of Bronson propaganda messages is misplaced and can backfire:

He was not part of council during the riots. He was already gone when the Law and Public Safety Committee erupted in screaming chaos. He did not vote for a debilitating Collaborative Agreement that sapped budgets and demoralized the police. He didn't vote to betray council's promise to hire more cops.

Neither was Mark Mallory.

What is funniest is that Winburn really thinks the "recommendations" from his meeting could have stopped the riots. That shows he is either naive, out of touch, or just grasping for campaign propaganda. The riots where not a knee jerk reaction. They built up over time and needed only a spark to ignite. No level of talking was going to prevent the riots.

Killing the east side of OTR and Downtown with a new jail at Broadway Commons is not going to do anything for crime. Why didn't Winburn advocate moving the jail to Sharonville? We already transport prisoners around town all the time. Why not just use the downtown facility for processing and for court proceedings, then use a suburban location for longer term 'housing?' Build a campus with better security on land out in North County area. Hell, we could use eminent domain to build it!

Lemmie To Quit?

Korte is reporting that Valerie Lemmie is to announce her resignation as City Manager. I don't think her reign will be remembered for much good. The article does leave open the possibility that this is all rumor, but it sounds likely.

Ghiz not a Winburn Fan

Leslie Ghiz is not the only Cincinnati Republican who is not a big fan of Charlie Winburn. I think most would find him rather nutty and after he has defended Sam Malone hitting his kid with a belt, there are few who view him as a viable candidate. Could Justin Jeffre finish ahead of him?

Dirty Rove

I don't know whether or not Rove broke the law. Under this President he will never get convicted, unless we have tapes of the conversations. What can not be denied is that Rove is dirty. He played with the identity of the CIA agent. He was out to destroy Wilson. When then caught doing it, he and the White House lied about it. Is this unique to rove and this White House? Not the dirty part. Every WH seeks to smear their enemies. This time they smeared them by attacking a man's wife at the expense of possible security concerns.

Hearing the spin machine on this one will be especially funny. How Rove is being defending makes Clinton's "Meaning of is" defense look good.

Newport IMAX Forever Gone

With the projector gone, what is to become of the Imax theater space at Newport on the Levee?

The article makes the point that is it only good for an IMAX theater. Is that true? Can normal films be shown there? Would it be an interesting place for a bar/club? Would any of the seating be good for concerts or even live theater? I am honestly out in the dark on this one; I have never been to this or any IMAX type theater.

If they can't do anything with it, will they just gut it and start from scratch?

'Naked Man Falls From Hotel Window'

When you first read that headline you wonder where this may have happened. You think of a cheap hotel downtown or something near UC. Well, if thought is was out in Zeus's gift to the world, Mason, then you would be correct. I don't think will ever be going to Mason. It is just not safe. Naked men falling from windows? One might squish you or land on you car and break out your windows. That is just too much of risk to take for a fun day at the water park.

Kasich for Governor?

Will former Congressman John Kasich run for governor? An interesting quote from the Dispatch's story:

A source close to Kasich said the former Westerville congressman told him that if he were elected governor, "Heads would spin and cronyism would be ended. It would be a total do-over, and you can bet that Democrats would be involved in the government and in the solutions."

The same source in the article lists the chances that Kasich runs only at 25 to 30 percent. That couldn't be more of an in your face trial balloon if you just came out and said you will testing the waters by leaking something to the media.

Affirmative Action

This issue is difficult. Should we spend nearly a million dollars more to provide 35% minority/small business a break or go with the lowest bidder? What works better, giving a non-minority owned company a more expensive contract that provides 35% to be a combination of 35% of minority/small businesses, or to save money that could be spent on other programs in the city?

What are the implications of the court ruling from Nelson, declaring parts of the city ordinance unconstitutional?

People Don't Like Taft

You may say that is rather obvious, but only 17% approve of Gov. Bob Taft. That is not a typo, it says 17% on SurveyUSA's site. I don't think I have ever heard of a sitting politician, who was elected twice with fair ease, have that low of an approval rating. I feel sorry for the guy. It is not like he misled the public and sent us into war or something.

Thanks to HMS for the tip.

Rome's Burning

And Nero Peter's Fiddling. All Bronson can do is point at crime in OTR and say what a shame. He is perpetuating the myths and making more fools thinks that the city is like a war zone. It's not. No matter how many shootings go on, if you go downtown you will be safe. Fear is a weapon, defend against it by facing it.

Winburn: a Religious Bigot

If Charlie Winburn can't stand by his religious bigotry, exhibited in is 1989 quote, then what kind of bigot is he? He didn't retract what he wrote, he instead played victim. A pretend victim without anyone actually attacking him for holding religious beliefs, instead they are attacking him for believing only people from his religious sect should be in political office. I thought Charlie was straight shooter? If he believes that, say it, if it doesn't believe that, come out and say that. Spinning is what those trying camouflage something do, not someone being straight forward.

Reece's Aide Speaks

Well, he says he didn't shoot himself and didn't get shot on purpose for the campaign. What we still don't know why he did not come out and help police more, something which this article does not really touch on. That was the big issue Bronson's article brought up. I guess he though it was just a stray bullet and that he couldn't help. He could have tried, and Reece should have had the whole story before talking to Bronson. It makes it look ignorant and more concerned about media relations then helping her staffer do the right thing.

More Hackett v. Schmidt

Today we get more personal comparisons and we don't get much on where they stand on the issues. Is this Wilkinson's idea or his editor's? Where do they stand on the issues?

Guns, ok, that's an issue. A bad one to choose since both are gun right supporters. Hackett, the ranking gun user in the race, can't get the nod from the NRA, but Schmidt the 'pro-life' candidate gets credit for voting for NRA's bills, which allow people to carry around life taking machines.

Finally, how does this make you the overall women's winner?

Over the past month, Schmidt ran in three "Cinergy Challenge" races - the Run for the Poor 5K, the Jim Sauls Winning Track 5K and the Beat the Heat 5K, finishing fourth, second and fifth respectively.

Her performance was good enough for her to be named the overall women's winner in the Cinergy Challenge.

fourth, second and fifth gets you first? I assume she was the top woman in each race? I have never heard of any of these races either, but we'll that part pass.

Portune For Ohio AG or Senator?

Will Todd Portune be running for Ohio Attorney General or even more importantly for U. S. Senator? The state party reportedly has discussed running for both offices with him.

All three Hamilton County Commissioners are itching to move up. DeWine's hopes were dashed, and his only other outlet might be running for mayor in 4 years.

Can Portune win either? No one thought he could become a HC Commissioner in this Republican County. He could win either one, with the right support and right funding. He is one hell of a politician.

Council Money Reports Are Out

The money makes it for some campaigns and the big money story has to be Nick Spencer. When Nick gets more contributions than Jim Tarbell, Damon Lynch, Eve Bolton, and John Eby, than he is much better positioned to have a shot for office. This showing and his mention in the Korte article should get him a little boost in the money race.

If was funny reading how the rich fundamentalists are out giving money to Sam Malone:

Much of the increase can be attributed to the power of incumbency. But his campaign finance report shows that his conservative Republican base has not abandoned him over allegations that he whipped his 14-year-old son with a belt. Malone called the incident an act of "parental intervention."

In fact, all but $5,550 of Malone's contributions came after his May 14 arrest. Reds owner Carl Lindner and his family gave $5,000, with JTM Food Group President Anthony A. Maas and other JTM employees kicking in another $5,000.

"I think when you look at all the crime on the street and all the young men wearing their clothes down to their knees, people see a father who is trying to rear his child and be responsible," said GOP mayoral candidate Charlie Winburn, who contributed $1,000 to the Malone campaign. "I think all the media he's gotten has been good. It's helped his name recognition."

Nice to see that 11 people make up almost half of his contributions and likely all but one of those 11 will actually be able to vote for him. It would interesting if those contributions came before or after the report about the 2002 beating allegation made against Malone by his son.

Nick's blog has the full listing of contributions:

Jeff Berding $150,740.00
John Cranley $135,297.00
Chris Monzel $94,234.00
David Crowley $92,419.00
Chris Bortz $83,050.00
Leslie Ghiz $75,663.00
Chris Smitherman $33,363.00
Sam Malone $23,805.00
Laketa Cole $21,155.56
Nick Spencer $15,414.00
Damon Lynch $9,914.00
Samantha Herd $8,420.00
Jim Tarbell $7,750.00
John Eby $7,375.00
Paul McGhee $5,500.00
Eve Bolton $4,145.00
Robert Wilking $4,000.00
Gerry Kraus $1,300.00
Wendell Young $1,548.20
Andrew Warner $1,005.35
Robert Wilson $955.00
Curtis Wells $763.34
Bill Barron $258.51
Cecil Thomas $250.00

Who is looking better than expected along with Nick Spencer? I would give that to Chris Monzel, but in his case he will need every penny he can to get back on council. Cecil Thomas looks like he is not doing much to get elected. Smitherman's numbers are also not what they appear. I wonder how much of the 33K is from himself. Of the top nine listed Malone, Monzel, and Bortz are those who need more than money to get on council. At this point I see 14 possible contenders, the top 13 listed and Eve Bolton. The money race is off and it will matter. It will not get people out to vote, that takes handshakes and a well crafted message.

UPDATE: More from the Post.

More Maisonette Relocation Problems?

I don't know what a "buffer" entails at the proposed new location for the restaurant, or what makes a buffer to big, but some think it could kill the project.

Reece's Aide Not Aiding Police

Peter Bronson has a good column (hell is not freezing over, yet) on Brandon Elliott, Reece's community outreach representative, who was caught in the crossfire of a recent shooting incident. He is not stepping up to help police catch the shooter.

The staffer, Brandon Elliott, is not talking, and all questions have been referred to Reece, said her spokeswoman at City Hall.

Elliott is also refusing to cooperate with the investigation, Reece acknowledged. "I hear he is willing to cooperate if they catch somebody, but my understanding is it's his personal choice."

She said Elliott is afraid to cooperate for now because someone might retaliate against him or his mother. She said he would not talk to the media because he was at home on pain medication for the shooting injury.

If a politician can't get a member of her staff to take action against a crime committed against them, how as mayor will she be able to get the public to take action and work with police to catch the criminals plaguing neighborhoods? Reece and her aide have let down the city. I hope Mr. Elliott has changed his view on working with police after this column has made Reece looking totally ineffectual as a leader.

Private Jets vs. Paddlefest Champ?

Who would you rather have as your Representative to Congress: Someone who flies on a corporate jet to Washington DC during the campaign to shoot a commercial or someone who wins a race at Paddlefest, a race that runs on the Ohio right along the congressional district?

Sure, this will not sway many, who like me vote based on issue stances and ideologies, but the campaigning approach and style should be considered. Paul Hackett is campaigning for votes here in the District, while Jean Schmidt is off in DC looking for money and pretending to be a Congresswoman. She should earn the seat, not be awarded it because of political party.