More Banks Protests

First we had Chris Smitherman, now we have the 4th Street Crowd complaining about certain proposals for the Banks project.

MIAMI 14, Ball St. 13

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.


The Enquirer - Close game goes Miami's way

I didn't get to do this must last season, since the team was very bad. This year I have hope, at least after the first win!

Brinkman Defeated in His Anti-Gay Lawsuit

Ohio Representative Tom Brinkman had his case thrown out. Brinkman has sued to end Miami University's domestic partner medical insurance program. Brinkman's efforts were among the more cruel and hate filled efforts to hurt gays and lesbian in Ohio. Here's hoping Brinkman stops his anti-gay crusade. Not likely, I know.

Harris Anti-Poverty Plan

The Enquirer Politics blog has word on Greg Harris's plan to curb poverty in Cincinnati.

Hard Times, Hard Times Come No More

Here we have the downside of getting valid population count, we find out that over a quarter of the City live in poverty. These statistics show the real battle that is being waged in large cities across the country, one of class.

The Effects of Sprawl

It appears the Exurb of West Chester is feeling the pain of sprawl. They need government, but I would bet they'll get such a big fight to become a city and create an income tax that they would just save time by moving out now, before things eventually become so run down. Unplanned growth breeds problems that pied-eyed land developers don't mention when they get the permits to build on the farm land they buy up.

Harris on Police Reform

CityBeat has the story on Greg Harris's call for the reform of the police department. Speculation is that this will somehow hurt Greg. With whom? Do any senior police supervisors actually live in the city? The conservatives on the police force and their boosters who will be pissed about this weren't going to vote for Greg anyway. This opens up Greg to voters who are looking for two things: honest policy on the CPD and for someone willing to break with the conventional moderate Democratic wisdom about how to act with the police, unlike Cecil Thomas.

Porkopolis: Confirm This Rumor

I shall echo Greg Flannery's desire for rumor confirmation. The rumor appears to be that the Enquirer is in negotiations to buy the on-line version of the Post, and will keep it going in some form. The question is: will they keep it going as on ongoing news gathering outlet? If they just buy the website address and link it over to the Enquirer page, no big deal. If they keep an on-line news outlet with real reports writing original articles, then that is really something of note.

New Stage - New Season

New Stage Collective have announced their new season, read the details over at the Conveyor.

Blackwell Retireing from CPS

CPS superintendent Rosa Blackwell is retiring after the current school year. Her tenure has been one filled with budget woes. What type of candidate should the school board be looking for? What do the candidates for school board think?

City Council Candidates

Here's the list (pdf) of the candidates of for Cincinnati City Council that have filed:

Melanie Bates
Jeff Berding
Chris Bortz
Laketa Cole
Minette Cooper
David Crowley
John Cranley
John Eby
Pat Fischer
Andre Harper
Greg Harris
Brian Garry
Leslie Ghiz
Justin Jeffre
Joan Kaup
Sean Robert Lackey
Sam Malone
Chris Monzel
Mitch Painter
Michael Earl Patton
Steve Pavelish
Roxanne Qualls
Cecil Thomas
Charlie Winburn
Wendell Young
George Zamary

So Malone filed as did Jeffre. There are 6 independents. I'll be collecting websites for each candidate as I locate them.

[Via the Enquirer Politics blog]

Smitherman, Not Councilman

NAACP President Chris Smitherman did not file for City Council today:

Chris Smitherman, the head of the Cincinnati NAACP chapter and a former city councilman, did not file to run for city council.

The Enquirer had that as a sidebar to the additional announcement that Jim Tarbell did file his petitions to run for Cincinnati School Board. That had been rumored previously and seems a little bit strange. I guess I dont' see Jim having the drive from schools that he did for the City. I'll be interested in his platform.

Also, in yesterday's Enquirer Politics blog post about who had or was going to file to run for council there was one name they did not mention: Child Beater and Republican endorsed candidate Sam Malone. Did he file his petitions?

Dream a Different Dream

Club Dream is closed. Great news for Main Street. The promoters and club owners did not do a good job of programming and attracted the murders.

What I would like to know most, is there evidence that the murders of the two men outside of the club actually were inside. I would say all evidence points to a clear answer of yes. If the owner doesn't see why he was running a bad club, then he deserves to have it shut down.

The negative on this is for Midpoint. This is slated to be a venue for the late September music festival. As of now it is still listed as a venue. Will it be able to open up under new ownership for the festival?

Local Programming Survey

In case you've missed the obvious, Cincinnati has little local programming on our broadcast outlets. What's left? On local TV and Radio, why specific programs are actually local? If you have a list or a few programs you regularly listen to that are locally based AND the topics are locally based, post your list. Note: Sports shows count, if they cover local teams. Local talk radio counts, if they talk about local issues. I'm interested in putting together a list to see how bad it has gotten. I fear we are facing the same problem in all areas of business, where the nation corporation takes over local markets. Here the problem is that we lose out on our local culture when we have no local programming.

Vice Mayor Crowley

Mayor Mallory has accounced Councilman David Crowley will become Vice-Mayor as Jim Tarbell leaves office. The press announcement:

Cincinnati – At 1pm today, Mayor Mark Mallory announced that he will appoint Council Member David Crowley as Cincinnati's next Vice Mayor. In Crowley, Mayor Mallory chose a principled leader who shared his vision for Cincinnati and would be a strong advocate to carry out that agenda on City Council. Crowley, who has served on Council for almost six years, will replace Jim Tarbell whose resignation is effective September 3rd.

“David is the perfect choice for Cincinnati,” Mayor Mallory said. “He is a man of principal who is unafraid to stand up for what he believes. Crowley will be a strong partner in advancing my vision for Cincinnati.”

Crowley is running for re-election for his fourth and final term and is eager to begin working in his new role. "I have big shoes to fill, Jim Tarbell has done a fantastic job as a Council Member and as Vice Mayor. I am however, truly excited about the opportunity to continue to serve our great city in this expanded capacity,” said Crowley.

“I want to thank Mayor Mallory for his confidence in me and this opportunity to further serve the citizens of Cincinnati. I intend to work closely with him—as a team—on an agenda that continues the resurgence we are seeing in Cincinnati. I have a lot of experience with this town, I know the great potential we have because I’ve seen it first hand,” he added.

Crowley looks forward to continuing the close working relationship he has had with Mayor Mallory over the last two years. Highlights include working together on a budget that preserved funding for swimming pools, health centers, human services programming, and the Human Relations Commission. Additionally they combined to create the Office of Environmental Quality, which recently hired a new director and began work on strategies to reduce the City’s energy usage.

Council member Crowley intends to be a Vice Mayor who projects the positive. He acknowledges there are problems but will recognize the efforts of the many good people throughout the City who volunteer their time and work on a daily basis to make Cincinnati better. “I want to let them know that their efforts are appreciated. It is not always those who get the attention who are making a difference—I want to work closely with those who are making a contribution and making a difference.” He said.

Mayor Mallory and soon to be Vice Mayor Crowley will focus on issues that strengthen and grow Cincinnati, including improving public safety, investing in our neighborhoods, expanding economic opportunities for all, and ensuring a healthier environment.

I'm not clear if Crowley will retain the title after the November election.

Cincy Brew Ha-Ha: August 24 & 25

Yet Even More Bar News

In what will shock virtually no one, alchemize/decibel lounge is closing its doors. Hipsters are a mighty fickle bunch.

In Other Drinking News

Crowley's celebrates 70 years of drinking. This has been my favorite bar in Mt. Adams since I first starting going up the hill in the mid 1990s. I look forward to 70 more years of drinking and singing along with with Frank songs on the Jukebox.

Fifth & Vine Has Its Own Brew

Check out the Conveyor for my take on the new beer from Christian Moerlein.

Polling Council Races

Polling for Cincinnati City Council is often like reading tea leaves. This week's CityBeat digs into one such poll which shows a weak spot for at least a couple of incumbents.

I think this poll is going to lull some candidates into a false sense of security. Cole and Winburn top that list. They both appear to be trying to appeal to both the Black community and the Westside. You can win if you get votes from both camps, but those camps make for conflicting positions on issues.

I wonder who paid for this poll. The article indicates it was paid for by certain candidates. That would logically indicate that the results would be skewed to prior election results and demographics as well as to the voter base of the candidates paying for it. Since Ghiz appears to have confirmed her campaign was one of those paying for it, I would surmise this is a GOP poll. This is why I think Winburn did so well.

The article points out that this poll was conducted prior to the Qualls appointment, so the details of the poll are moot, but the trend of vulnerable incumbents is still likely valid.

As of now I only see two locks and one near lock on council seats: Cranley and Qualls are locks, with Crowley nearly a lock. The other six seats are not locked in the least. There are many candidates who could slide into one of those six spots. It is possible that Cole and Winburn fall short. They more than likely will win, but they will both need to campaign for it, not just go through the motions. Winburn will have the money to, will Cole?

Ghiz, Monzel, Berding, Bortz and Thomas all could easily lose. I would say at least two of the three will. Who else gets on council? Here is where the candidates who run the most vocal and solid campaigns get the edge. Harris, Bates, and Kaup have the potential. Smitherman likely will fade from his attention in this poll. Cooper could ride her name into office if the turnout goes her way. It will be a big fight and I see it getting nasty.

If there are campaign staffers out there reading this, please make sure you provide sources when you "lead" dirt on your opponents. What ever blog or journalist you give them will most likely not post anything about it without some support for its validity.