What is Behind Willie Carden's Withdrawal From City Manager Job?

I am sure I am not the only person to be wondering exactly what caused Cranley's choice, Willie Carden, to withdraw his nomination for City Manager.  I can theorize, however.

It is obvious that Cranley acted too quickly on that position. He should have vetted out Carden and Council before acting.  Another case of bad judgement from John Cranley.  This won't be his last.

Here is my theory on what happened: Based on reports I've read, Carden would have been required to live within the City, something he currently does not do. As usual, Cranley shrugged this off as no big deal and pretended he could wave his magic wand and make the law go away with his council lackeys. Well, at least Mann and Flynn, and maybe more of Cranley's council block, said no to either changing the residency requirement for City Manager or for creating some type of exception rule for Carden.

If true, I would say score one for City Council.  Showing Cranley he is not a strong mayor is something that will likely need repeating over the next four years. Council has the real power in the city, not the Mayor, and I hope Cranley remembers it, but until he gets burned severely enough, he won't learn.

Old Cincinnati Voted Last Month

It is quite clear who voted last month in the City Election based on age:

People Aged 18 to 43 made up 26.48% of the Electorate
People Aged 44 and up made of 74.52% of the Electorate

Compare that to Registered Voters:

People Aged 18 to 43 made up 52.98% of Registered Voters
People Aged 44 and up made of 47.02% of the Registered Voters

Turnout rates grew by decade backwards to the 1930's with around 58% turnout for those born during the depression. People born in the 1950's, the Baby Boomers, made up 25% of the electorate, even though they make up only about 15% of registered voters.

Irony: Far more people who were alive when Cincinnati was still paying off the Subway voted, than those not born after. Their ignorance is largely responsible for allowing Cranley and his Cabal damage our City. I thought wisdom was supposed to come with age?

Cranley Fucks-Over the Urban Core

Few are surprised the Republican backed  Mayor John Cranley led the effort to damage the Urban Core by stopping the Streetcar, but that doesn't lessen the blow to the Urban Core.  It is both sad and disappointing to see the level that Cranley continues to see the Streetcar as a threat to his plan to Suburbanize the City. 

The odds that COAST's plan to pave over all of Downtown/OTR North of 2nd Street and create the world's biggest free parking lot for Bengals games has increased. The only question outstanding would then be how much would free parking reduce the number of battered women after Bengal losses. I don't see that as COAST priority.

COAST Honors Cranley

COAST, the Tea Party anti-City fringe group that endorsed John Cralney for Mayor, has nominated Cranley for a Conservative award.

This speaks for itself to those paying attention, but for those not paying attention or maybe the few left in denial about who supported John Cranley is this mayor race let this show them the base that Cranley had to win the election.

What will be most brazen would be Cranley actually appearing to accept the award. That would be a true insult to the City, the Democratic Party, and common decency. Cranley's not demonstrated an ounce of any of those thus far.

Does Anyone Like Todd Portune, Other Than Cranley?

I really can't stand Todd Portune. It must be his life goal to piss off 99.9% of the population of the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

This is the guy Tim Burke made a deal to keep in office. Yet another reason we need a change in the HCDP.

Cranley's Win Based on Strong Republican Turnout

The turnout battle in the 2013 Cincinnati City Elections was won handily by the Republicans. 69.39% of City Republicans came out to vote as opposed to 52.45% of Dems. A pathic 12.26% of non-affiliated voters bothered to come out on election day. These numbers are based on the Hamilton County Voter listing as of 11-29-2013. Here are the totals:

	Registered Voters	Votes Cast	Turnout
Democratic	59,119	31,007	52.45%
Republican	19,235	13,348	69.39%
Non-Affiliated	124,003	15,208	12.26%
Total	202,357	59,563	29.43%

Party ID listed about is based on the historical primary voting and third parties were combined with Parties that are "closer" to it's leanings.  Third party numbers are not significant.

That turnout becomes clearer by comparing his election in 2013, to the Joe Deters vs. Janaya Trotter race in 2012.  Within the City, Trotter trounced Deters 65% to 34%, but of the 52 precincts Deters won in the city, Cranley won 51 of them.  In the one precinct he didn't win, Cranley only lost by 14 votes.

Cranley's win rested on being the "wink candidate" for the GOP, where they gave him as much private support possible, but not much public support to allow Cranley to placate enough of Dems and non-affiliated voters to win.  With enough anger pent up on the Parking Plan, Cranley got his Conservative voting groups to all vote for him and lucked out with more Dems staying home on election day.

It is clear that Cranley should never forget, or delude himself otherwise, that he won with GOP support.  Without it, he would have lost.

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.

Why Tim Burke Must Go

When asked by the Enquirer about Cranley's snubbing of two Democratic members of council Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke had the following to say:

'“I’m sorry that that happened, and beyond that I’m not going to say any more,” said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.'

Once again Cranley is damaging the Democratic Party and Tim Burke sits by and lets him do it. Burke needs to be removed as Chairman of the HCDP. The 2013 Republican victory is the latest blunder that has happened under Burke's rein. That win came about in part from the following occurrences:

1. Burke allowing Cranley to run as the de facto GOP candidate with no penalty.
2. Since Cranley was running as the GOP candidate, Burke failing to push for a Qualls endorsement.
3. Burke allowing the Dems to endorse 10 for council.
4. Burke failing to get turnout remotely close to 2011.

The man is running the local party like it is 1988 and Hamilton County has not turned Blue. If the local Dems would start building up candidates insteading of relying on legacies, the party might grow to the dominate force its numbers suggest it should be in the City and the County.

Cranley Shows Republican Stripes in Committee Chair Appointments

I would love to hear how alleged Democrat John Cranley and his supporters are spinning Cranley's major insult to local Democrats with only four of nine committee chairs going to Dems and a total shut out of the most important Finance and Public Safety chairs. Those two chairs went to a Republican and a Tea Party crazy person. Yes, Charlie Winburn will run the Finance Committee and a guy who accused another former Council Member of being  CIA plant will oversee the Public Safety Committee.

No, we are not living in a Bizzaro world, but it really feels like it.

I hope Tim Burke took note, but I don't suppose he cares much. Instead, I really hope Democratic party activists take notice. Cranley is out to screw over the Dems and candidates they might seek to run for other offices.

His petty attack earlier this week on PG Sittenfeld played right into the long term hands of the GOP. It was as if he was paying back obligations to the GOP. It was just like that, as a matter of fact, so I wonder what he got from them.... If you have to wonder about that, you haven't been paying attention.

WVXU Changes: Cincinnati Edition Moves to 1PM; Here & Now 2-4

'The Story', the current 1 PM show on WVXU is ceasing production, so WVXU has announced that 'Cincinnati Edition' will move to 1 PM and the program 'Here & Now' will be added at 2 to 4 PM starting December 2. The Takeaway appears to be off the line up. During Thanksgiving week, multiple specials will air from 1 to 4, with 'Science Friday' airing as usual on Black Friday.

Blogging Isn't Cool Sums Up 'The Cincinnati Streetcar Controversy'

Quimbob over at Blogging Isn't Cool pretty much sums up the core of the streetcar 'controversy' with this quote:

"Killing the streetcar isn't about economics or the future of the city - it's about local power and ego."

Is Cranley's ego worth 80 Million Dollars?

Repulbican Efforts to Suppress the Vote Continue

Not sure who Greg Hartmann (R) thinks he is fooling but his idea to move the Hamilton County Board of Elections from Downtown to Mt. Airy is little more than an attempt to suppress the vote of non-Republicans by making it more difficult to vote. Bus routes to the West Side are not plentiful.

Additionally, by putting part of County Government in a remote part of the County it makes it far more difficult for people to have access. Government should be located where travel is most convenient for everyone, not just a few. Downtown is that place.

Where will they hold training for poll workers? How do they expect poll workers get to Mt. Airy if they live in Avondale?

Plus, if the BOE is keeping a location downtown, why have a second location? If they need more space, find something else in Downtown. There are plenty of options.

Good Advice from Don Mooney: Get Over It, Then Get Ready

UrbanCincy had a very good guest editorial yesterday Get Over It, Then Get Ready from Don Mooney. This is good advice not just on the Streetcar issue, but more importantly on the anti-city movement that has plagued Cincinnati since the onslaught of the last major urban flight in the 1960-1970's.

Will Someone Get Cranley and Kincaid a Copy of the City Charter?

When I read this blog post it gave me a really distinct impression: either Cranley is more ignorant than I think he is, or he's hired a staffer who is far more ignorant than he should be at this point. This gem is the example:

Jay Kincaid, Cranley’s campaign chief who’s moving to City Hall with him, said Monday they’d have to look into whether they technically needed a vote or if Cranley could just halt the work himself.

In case Kincaid hasn't already, I suggest he read Section III of the City Charter.  The Mayor doesn't have the authority to overturn an enacted ordinance.

In other words, he really doesn't have a much power as people think he does.

The Power is vested in the City Council and to a lesser degree the City Manager.  The Mayor can't really do a whole hell of a lot without Council.  His power is more in blocking Council actions via the veto or controlling what they can vote on.

Kincaid might brush up on his reading pretty quickly.

More Enquirer Anti-Streetcar Bias

I think the latest example of biased journalism from the Cincinnati Enquirer stems less about the paper's negative reporting on the Streetcar project overall and more about the Enquirer's bias toward its readers who it believes are mostly conservative and anti-streetcar.

Yep, that's a case of giving readers the news they want to hear, not giving them the news that is.

When journalism becomes no different than product development, then it should be treated as no different than selling an SUV or soap.

Great Play, Petunia and Chicken, at the Know Sunday and Monday

"Petunia and Chicken" trailer from Animal Engine on Vimeo.

Republicans Won the Election With Their Boy Cranley

The Republicans in the form of their various factions (COAST, Tea Party, Smithermanites) truly had a huge victory Tuesday night mostly thanks to John Cranley, their candidate for Mayor.  Here's how Cranley won.

1. Cranley got a shit ton of GOP Money.  Once the final filings for this race are filed, we'll get exact numbers, but one estimate put around 80% of his funding being from GOP or conservative sources.
2. The anti-Downtown campaign got the GOP voters out in full force.
3. Cranley got the vast majority of the GOP Vote.
4. Cranley successfully split the Democratic Party, to the cheers of the GOP.
5. Most importantly, the Democratic vote stayed home.  That I blame on the Democratic Party and Tim Burke.  It was like he wanted Cranley to win...

So all in all, Cranley selling his soul to the Republican successfully got him to be the next Mayor.  Now, how will he govern?  I will predict he will accomplish nothing, because he has plans to do nothing.  He will talk a big talk about the Pension Plan, but he can't do anything but kick the can down the road, something he did before to the city budget, which is one the of the big reason we have and underfunded pension plan in the first place.

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.

Did a Tea Party/Cranley Supporter Impersonate a Qualls Campaign Staffer?

I have received a very credible report that a Tea Partier/Republican/Cranley supporter in a Mercedes Benz attempted to get a campaign volunteer at least at one precinct to destroy campaign literature that supported Qualls.  The witness stated that this white male driving the Benz was wearing what appeared to be a doctored sticker or badge reading Roaxnne Qualls.  The witness stated it appeared doctored because it did not have the known campaign logos and graphics, just the name in what appeared to be a home made tag.  The impersonator attempted to give a  "goodie bag" to the worker in a brown paper bag.  This fact is curious because the Qualls campaign was not reportedly using brown paper bags to provide refreshments to volunteers at the polls.

Another report indicated that Tea Party volunteers, at least at one location, did get a "goodie bag" in brown paper bags.

Hopefully, no one gave over or destroyed any campaign literature.  This type of thing is not new to politics, but it is sad when ever it happens.

If you saw a man similar to the one mentioned and can provide any additional information, please email me at cincyblog@aol.com.  I'll keep your name out of it.