West End NIMBY

Where should the poor go?  When I say the poor, I don't mean the lower class or the working class.  I mean the homeless and those is dire need.  This is a big issue and one facing the new council and new Mayor.  It is not working in OTR.  This project does not seem to want to replace the Drop-in Center or other type services.  If those services stay where they are, then OTR deveolpement will stall.  Do we move them?  If yes, why, if no why not?    

Cameras in Federal Courts

For once I agree with Rep. Steve Chabot on cameras in Federal court rooms. I don't want free range on TV getting to broadcast court room's live, but video taping, done discretely, will not interfere with justice and will improve trust and understand of the Courts.

The political motivation of this is unclear to me. Since this is just not a big issue to anyone, I don't know why Chabot is bringing it up. I assume it might be a way to "expose" judges that Chabot and the right-wing do not like, but there is no know indicator of that type of motivation.

Targeting the Banks

Why do all of these big ideas for the Banks seem like they will fail?  I don’t want failure, I just want the Banks to have a comprehendible theme.  Is it going to be a new neighborhood with unique living spaces and businesses?  Is it going to be a tourist area?  Is it going to be an entertainment district?  I think the answer I would be given would in so many words say it is going to be everything to everyone. That will fail.  The Banks must pick a niche and build around it.  It can’t pick a developer and let him sell out the slots to the highest bidders.  That only works if the demand is there.  The demand to live, work, play on the river is not at a high.  Targeting a workable concept is the only way to make this work.  I doubt we’ll get that.

Will the Right Wing Denouce This?

Will people on the right-wing who profess to be Christian come out and denounce the insane rantings of Pat Robertson?  I know the guy says things that are insane all the time, but this one is rather specific about voters and Intelligent Design, views that otherwise normal and sane conservatives champion.

First, I thought ID was not supposed to be religious and not be akin to creationism.  Well, I know that ID is the way to get creationism in the backdoor, but supporters of ID try and say it is not religious, which it appears diverges from Robertson's views.  ID is religious.  ID is a philosophical argument for the existence of “god,” namely the Teleological Argument, modified slightly for PR effect.

Second, Do people really think that if a national figure says that because of the way you vote you are going feel the wrath of "God," that it is just no big deal?  Where is the outrage from the right wing?  Where also are moderate Republicans?  I know they don't like Robertson any more than I do, but why are they not pushing this nut down?

I put this to Peter Bronson.  I know, I know, some people hate it when I blog about Bronson.  Here though I honestly feel he should write a column about this incident.  In principle Bronson should be applauding the voters of this town in Pennsylvania for doing what Bronson would not want anyone but the voters to do.  This area of PA is a GOP stronghold, so it is not like liberal forces did this alone. Where is the outrage when citizens live up to the democratic values of the country, but then are attacked when Bronson's religious kin Pat Robertson invokes his religion as the basis for the voters being wrong and worthy of the danger of dieing their actions are to have caused.  If you can’t keep your nuts on a short leash, then you are going to be painted by their words.  Bronson, Bush, and Robertson will be linked under the ID banner as long as the two former allow the latter to go unchallenged.

Another Reason

Here is another reason, or yet another reason, to find Bush to be a horrible president. What does he do on Veteran's Day? He plays politics with the War in Iraq. He is in denial or is still lying about it, but that is another topic, worthy of a completely different rant.

When you say "Democrat" in the context he did, in the setting he did, you must see him for the craptapular President he has always been. Use of the military for political purposes is supposed to be something the GOP finds horrible, but it is something they do every chance they get. I would like to know in advance why he will be defended for this though, on this blog and likely by the right wing in general for exploiting the U.S. war effort in hopes of cleaning up his dirty image.

Cincinnati Advance Radio: Next show 1 p.m. Friday Nov. 11 live on the Internet

Join Joe Wessels for a live web streamed show. This week Joe has

Xavier University political science professor Gene Beaupre. Dr. Beaupre will talk about Cincinnati’s historic election of a new mayor and four new faces to City Council...

PLUS…

Cleveland-based author Jill Miller Zimon talks about “Stories of
Strength,” a book inspired to support Hurricane Katrina relief.

Listen in on the web at 1PM today at http://waifstream.com/ or check him out on a podcast via iTunes, podcastalley.com or podcast.net.

Council Race Analysis

Howard Wilkinson reports on why the council has four new members. He focuses on why Thomas won (conservatives via POWR PAC), and why Malone and Smitherman lost (Eastside said no). What was missing is why Damon Lynch lost. I would say he lost because he took for granted his base was big enough for him to win and would come out and vote for him. He did little to change his image, other than appearing at council forums everywhere. If you have an image as someone who led a boycott to hurt the city, you can't change that image unless you come out and say you were wrong, or at least put it past you. He didn't do that on a wide scale, if at all. He may have given private assurances to the party to gain endorsement, but that does not get you votes.

Mallory's Replacement???

He has not yet taken office, but the race for Mark Mallory's Senate seat is already in full jockeying mode. If any of the names getting mentioned, outside of Reece, then the dominos will begin falling for their State House seats. Who will fill those?

Election Night Observations

Overall I really enjoyed being down at the Board of Elections last night. It was my first time hanging out there. I usually skip that part and go hang out with folks afterwards. I recommend everyone doing it at least once. Honestly, it just felt good. The people there were exited and then some where very blue. The bottom line though everyone cared about their community.

It really took a long time for the ballots to start to come in. I figured it would have not taken so long. We did not have 100% until nearly 11PM.

The first etiquette error of the new council goes to Leslie Ghiz. Her emotions were touching, and she was really positive, but she was dressed more for going out for coffee or to a movie than for a candidate on election night. I was in jeans myself, but I am just a bleeping blogger. I really wonder if she thought she wasn't going to win, and just wanted to relax. It was obvious to me she was going to win, and the early absentee returns had her very high and that made her a lock. I am sure she will be all business today and going forward. She worked very hard and deserved to win.

On the other side I was nervous Malone was going to win. I am very glad he lost, but it was far too close. Malone back on council have been very bad. Why he came so close will trouble me. I will be paying very close attention to ward and precinct breakdowns, once I can get a look at them.

All council losers should remind themselves, life is not really that bad. At least you don’t have a pending criminal trial to look forward too.

BOE Photos

Local journalist Joe Wessels has a great collection of photos from the Board of Elections last night. Joe also has some thoughts on election night on his blog.

Joe was also responsible for introducing me to Peter Bronson. If the world had ended, it would have been Joe's fault.

World Did Not End

Last night while I watched the election returns come in, life as we know it nearly came to an end. Matter and anti-matter met and existence itself was in the balance. {Cue dramatic music}

I met Peter Bronson.

Yes, you read that correctly. I, "City Beat's anti-Bronson blogger of the year," met Peter Bronson. There were no explosions, no fire, no brimstone. We shook hands and chatted a little. The subject matter was very simple and banal. We each tried to make a joke, and for the most part failed. I was concentrating too much on not letting either of us cause the end of world. We succeeded!

The man is very pleasant in person. I still oppose his views on nearly all issues, and will keep up my retorts to his GOP Talking Points.

A New City Council

Things happened close to what was thought. The surprises included Smitherman's loss, and Monzel's strong win. Thomas was the stealth candidate who pulled it out. The scary point tonight was that Sam Malone only lost by 1,285 votes. That frankly shows that either people are ignorant on the man's pending criminal charges, or the right winger's didn't care and voted the way their Cincy RTF voting list said they should. Here are the results:


No. Choices Votes
1. John Cranley - 34899
2. Jim Tarbell - 31809
3. Leslie Ghiz - 29251
4. David C. Crowley - 29222
5. Laketa Cole - 29151
6. Jeff Berding - 27832
7. Chris Monzel - 27464
8. Chris Bortz - 26865
9. Cecil Thomas - 26507
10. Sam Malone - 25222
11. Christopher Smitherman - 24028
12. Damon Lynch III - 21918
13. Wendell Young - 21070
14. Eve Bolton - 19324
15. John Eby - 16074
16. Samantha Herd - 13937
17. Nick Spencer - 9274
18. Paul Mcghee - 5271
19. Gerry Kraus - 4628
20. William S. Mathews II - 3832
21. Robert J. Wilking - 3689
22. Ishaq Nadir - 3087
23. Eric Wilson - 2982
24. Michael Earl Patton - 2708
25. Curtis Wells - 2392
26. Robert Wilson - 2259
27. Ronnie Stallworth - 2175
28. Bill Barron - 1785
29. Bennie Green - 1741
30. Victor Phillips - 1638
31. Antonio Hodge - 1218

Mayor Elect Mallory!

Wow, just freaking wow! Mark Mallory won in the last seconds of this race. It was looking bad until Bond Hill came in, finally. That put Mallory over the top to stay. I am personally pleased with the win for Mallory. I think this is a great day for the city.

I congratulate David Pepper on a great race. I don't know what is next for him, but I will put out an idea: run against Jean Schmidt for congress in the 2nd district.

Honk, Baby, Honk

Honk for Crowley was the word of the early afternoon in Mt. Lookout. There were three adults and two little kids holding signs and working the drivers for David Crowley. Yesterday morning, there were Ghiz folks out along Beechmont Ave.

Do these last minute pushes work? There is still a large portion of people out there who don't know when to go vote. Hell, one of the guys holding up a huge Crowley sign had a second smaller sign that just said "Today" in red on it. Are people that stupid, even in affluent Mt. Lookout? Yes, yes they are.

MIAMI Hockey Number 10

Love and honor to Miami,
Our college old and grand,
Proudly we shall ever hail thee,
Over all the land.

Alma mater now we praise thee,
Sing joyfully this lay,
Love and honor to Miami,
Forever and a day.

Miami hockey team ranked No. 10. (This was in the the Enquirer! Wow!)

Butler Co. GOP Thugs

I don't know how I possibly missed that 3 GOP Officials have been accused of starting bar fight. Quentin NicholsCentral Committee Chair, Tim Dearwester centeral committe member, and Sean Maloney executive committe member are the alleged bar room brawlers.

The Enquirer has more.

At this point there is no report that any charges have been filed. That is disgusting. They were there, that much is true, and it appears that local police are not going to do a damn thing. I hope the county prosecutor, who like got elected with the help of all three, will not put this under the radar, and will at least fine these thugs and get them to pay damages.

What is so sad, is that the jerks don't seem a bit sorry:

Nichols, 43, denied that the altercation happened the way William described to police. But he wouldn't discuss the details.

"It's politics. Some folks out there seem to twist the story on you," Nichols said. "It is a regrettable incident and at the time, I was genuinely concerned for my own safety as well as my companions' safety."

The trio doesn't plan to return to Putter's anytime soon. From now on, they'll take turns watching sports and tipping back a few beers at each other's homes, Nichols said.

It's about politics? WTF? Was the bar owner a Democrat and these morons defaced a political sign he hung in his business’s men’s room? These guys are not kids. They should know better. If this is the type of thug being included into GOP, how long before it rubs off down in Hamilton County? I hope the Hamilton County GOP refuses to allow these three fools to attend any GOP events they sponsor, and boycott any they attend, including if Bush or Cheney come downtown. If you can't keep people who allegedly punch people out of your party organization, then I don't know how you can’t be labeled a thug party.

If a LOCAL Democrat has done this, tell me the credible support you have or gain, then I shall publish it. I don’t want to hear any chicken shit defenders of these stooges. This kind of thug behavior is what was done in the 19th century, not today. I fear that this is where we are headed. I hope the Dems in Butler County learn to physically defend themselves if they ever get confronted by these jerks, they could be attacked.

Story via Josh Nelson

Report From the Front Lines

I hit my polling station just past 10 this morning and was out of there about 7 minutes later. There was no line at all. I just had to make sure I only voted for nine council candidates. Honestly, if you are not paying attention and rush it, you can vary easily get confused, especially since there was no order to the candidates in the "butterfly" style ballot.

The odd person left off my 9 person list was Laketa Cole. Eve Bolton got my vote instead. Cole will get on anyway, while Bolton is at best a sleeper candidate. Otherwise I stuck with my other picks.

I of course went for Mallory, Yes on 1 through 5, Yes on 8, No on 9.

The rest, well, lets just say I voted for the rest of the offices and leave it at that. We give so little attention to the School Board and Judgeships, why should I start on this late date, when I myself am ignorant on the detailed differences in those races.

The 1-K station was well staffed, had no lines, and had I think it had at least 5 booths.

One thing I hate about the location of the polling station is that they hold an "Election Day Dinner" almost every year. If you come to vote in the evening, parking is not easy. I think they reserve a few spots for voters near the front, but not that many.

I am off work today, which allows me to vote during the day, a much easier thing to do.

I hope two things happen, first that at least Issue 2 passes, opening up mail voting, and two, I want a National Voting Day. I want most businesses to close down, at least like they do on July 4th. Service industry folks will still work, which sucks for them, but with the mail voting made easy, they can vote early and make great tips when everyone goes out to eat and make great commission when everyone goes shopping after they vote.

If we want something interesting, why not make public schools into large voting centers, and then have special civics days where kids go vote with their parents, and then are given the opportunity (or even required) to take part in civic activities (debates, discussions, open houses, etc.)

I did see a police car drive through the parking lot as I came out of the polling station. The location is at a church, so I don't know if he was there to just make sure the three campaign workers were behind the lines, or if they come by regularly because there is a daycare center in the same location. Cop cars at polling stations are not good things. If this was at a church like say in OTR, then we might make the national news. In Mt. WASPington, we get me commenting on it, and that is all.

I hope everyone had an easy time at the polls, but chime in with any first hand or credible reports of rule breakers.

I’ll start: Paul McGee’s campaign was breaking the rules in Mt. Washington. They attached signs around the sides of the green garbage cans along Beechmont Ave right in Mt. Washington “Square.” That is against the rules, I am pretty sure, but the symbolism is fitting: “throw away your vote on McGee” is what comes to mind, but I am sure a real PR wiz could come up with something better.

In Case You Were Wondering

This is what racism is in its plain and simplest ugly form. It is right here in the tri-state area and along with the disgusting fliers being left around Price Hill, we must make this type of hate something everyone is stamping out.

Mayoral Predictions

So, Who is going to be our next mayor? Where there any local media polls done? I can't find any.

I believe this race is too close to call. Conventional wisdom gives Pepper the edge with the money and the 'bigger' endorsements, but who really wants to trust CW?

I have no prediction, other than it will be within 3% points. What say you?

Council Predictions

Who is going to win? This I don't know, but I will now give the levels of who is a lock down to a possible shot at winning. My analysis is based only on my perceptions and observations. There are no public polls out there that I have read on the council race, so objective data is not on my mind as I do this:

Locks:
Cole, Cranley, Tarbell

Almost Locks:
Crowley, Smitherman, Berding, Bortz

Very Likey:
Ghiz

One of these should get a spot:
Lynch, Monzel, Young, Thomas

Outside Shot:
Spencer, Herd, Eby, Bolton, and yes Malone