It seems obvious, but people generally use less of something if they have to pay for it.  Most people would assume that the more they use, the more they pay.  The more you drive, the more gasoline you have to buy, and the more you pay for that gasoline.  The more you run your air conditioner, the more you pay in electricity.  No one would ever imagine a system where one paid for running the air conditioner 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no matter if it were turned on or off.  Yet something similar happens to many customers when they pay their water bills.

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Posted by Michael Earl Patton
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Photo courtesy of here.

This weekend, The Cincinnati Beacon’s Print Edition of the NAACP Voter Education Guide will hit newsstands.  (And yes, we will post an updated list of locations.) I encourage everyone to get a hard-copy of the guide to get a nice profile of several candidates based on the NAACP questionnaire.  We decided to compliment this with a web version that compares candidates by question.  So for today, we begin with the following inquiry and all responses gathered:

Do you believe that the city should tax stock-options of companies for the purpose of generating revenue for the City? Please explain.

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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Cincinnati Six Years After the Killing and the Riots

Guest article by Dan LaBotz

Why six years after police killed an unarmed black man and the city was rocked by riots, has everything in Cincinnati come down to the building of a jail? How did the liberals’ darling Todd Portune end up joining hands with conservative moral crusader Sheriff Simon Leis? Why has the Democratic Party placed all of its chips on 800 more jail beds in a city and a county with a declining population? Why have not only Democrats and Republicans, but also the corporations and the labor unions joined together to build a jail that is opposed by the NAACP and most black Cincinnatians? How did what began as a search for racial reconciliation lead to a jail that is to many here the emblem, that is, both the symbol and the reality of racial discrimination?

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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This is just a short mind-experiment.  Imagine that Chris Finney were a judge.  Further, imagine that he heard the case today against Si Leis, and found him guilty.  Would people think such a finding untoward?  Would they complain about Finney’s ties to the anti-jail coalition?  I’ll be interested to see if the Democrats call foul since Judge Nadel, an admitted friend to Si Leis, found in his favor today—or, if they will use this as an opportunity to act like their side is even more righteous.  Or, maybe the Democrats won’t say anything—just more of their silent endorsement of Si Leis.

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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What has The Cincinnati Beacon been up to for the past few days?  And where is the new version of The Print Edition?  Turns out The Beacon has paired with the NAACP in putting together a voter education guide.  What’s that mean?  The NAACP sent out questions, forwarded us all the answers, and we put everyone’s questionnaires into the October Print Edition to provide a service to the residents of Cincinnati by presenting a great guide for choosing the proper candidate.  We will start distributing the guide this coming weekend!

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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Stewart masterfully interviewed a remarkable man. Morales (an Aymara Indian) is the first indigenous President of Bolivia since the Spanish Conquests 470 years ago.  Before his election he told the media; “I am a coca grower. I cultivate coca leaf, which is a natural product. I do not refine [it into] cocaine, and neither cocaine nor drugs have ever been part of the Andean culture.”

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Posted by Justin Jeffre
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Long-time readers of The Cincinnati Beacon will know that I have been concerned for some time that there may a U.S. or Israeli strike against Iran. There are three items which I want to mention that strike me as curious, maybe even worrisome.  None or even all of them together necessarily mean an attack is imminent, but they are noteworthy.

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Posted by Michael Earl Patton
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Speaking at the press conference will be Christopher Smitherman of the NAACP; Suhith Wickrema of No Jail Tax PAC; Dan La Botz of Cincinnati Progressive Action; Justin Jeffre, Green Party Candidate for Council; Michael Patton, Libertarian Party Candidate for Council; Andre Harper, Republican Candidate for City Council; County Commissioner Pat De Wine and Representative Tom Brinkman of the Ohio House.

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Photo courtesy of here.

The Cincinnati Beacon has obtained a copy of reports describing environmental concerns at the Kahn’s site.  Although they answer some questions, they do not answer others and raise new ones.  First, the site is contaminated and will need to be cleaned up before a new jail is built.  Second, only limited testing for contamination was done so the extent and magnitude could only be estimated, although it is probably not severe.  Third, given the fact that the site will have to be cleaned up, when will that work start and how will it be funded?  We will try to get the answers to this and other questions.

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Posted by Michael Earl Patton
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Guest article by Thomas A. Dutton.

One “fact” reigns supreme in the minds of most Cincinnatians—"crime."

We shouldn’t be surprised by this.  After 50 years of mostly white suburbanization, a deindustrialized economy that has produced “jobless ghettos” and underemployment, and a rollback on most governmental initiatives associated with the New Deal and Great Society Programs in favor of an unfettered market, all of which have created large pools of expendable people in the nation’s core, is it any wonder that crime would grip the haves’ imagination?

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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Recently, Todd Portune has suggested that those opposed to the jail tax have deliberately misrepresented facts.  What about this video?

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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Whenever we offer criticisms about 3CDC’s corporate revision of our City’s central space, status-quo defenders are quick to assert that the new (and still unfinished) Fountain Square is a great success due to the people who attend the programs offered.  But the old Square never had this kind of programming, so for all we know the old Square could have been this successful with some programming, too.  The issue is not about the popularity of programming, but a look at the corporate backstory that no one wants to talk about.  And another chapter in this corporate backstory came this week as 5/3 bank branded the Square with their new logo.

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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See Roxanne Qualls give a simple and quick answer to a question about the City’s anti-marijuana ordinance!

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Posted by Justin Jeffre
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*Todd Portune did not use the word “liar.” He said that certain members of the opposition have “purposefully misrepresented the facts.” But that long phrase did not fit in the headline, so we condensed.  We offer this note as clarification, and explanation.

Posted by Justin Jeffre
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Guest article by Mike Shryock, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor

With 38 years experience working professionally with the mentally ill, the addicted and the criminal justice system, I am very troubled by the notion of building a larger jail. It is well known that our current jail is filled mostly with poor people with nonviolent misdemeanor charges directly related to their medical conditions which we as a society have failed to address in the community.

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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September 28, 2007

Jonathan E. Coughlan
Disciplinary Counsel
250 Civic Center Drive
Suite 325
Columbus, Ohio 43215-7411

Dear Jonathan E. Coughlan:

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Full size available here.

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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A few days ago, we received a letter from Assistant County Administrator Jeff Aluotto, where he claimed an earlier article by Michael Earl Patton was in error concerning whether the County performed due diligence by conducting an Environmental Site Assessment prior to accepting the old Kahn’s site for the proposed new jail.  A closer look, however, at Aluotto’s letter reveals several discrepancies—and Aluotto himself has been unresponsive thus far to follow up questions. 

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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Guest article by Aidan Delgado

Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it.

-Albert Einstein

On the morning of September 11th 2001, I enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. As I signed my contract, everyone was suddenly distracted by something on the television. The disaster unfolded. Yet I, as a naïve eighteen year old, felt myself filling with moral certainty and righteousness: The homeland is under attack. This is the reason we have a military. I never considered that what happened that day, the feelings it unleashed in the American people, would lead us far so astray. I could not have conceived that three years after that day, I would be standing inside Abu Ghraib prison looking at photographs of prisoners that my colleagues, other US soldiers, had just shot and desecrated.

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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On the front page of The Enquirer’s web page this morning is a blurb about a new beta program through Cincinnati.com called ”CinciNavigator." It is described as a “mapping feature that lets you track data from your neighborhood: Home prices, business openings, dog licenses and more.” I was surprised, therefore, to see CinciNavigator highlighting neighborhood crime when I followed the link to see what it was about!

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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Guest article by Georgine Getty.

On September 14, 2007, Cincinnati lost a great friend to the homeless community. Julie Martin, Case Management Coordinator at the YWCA Battered Women Shelter was tragically killed in a car accident outside of Indianapolis. She was only 37 years old.

Those of us lucky enough to know Julie knew that she was a fierce advocate for the families that she served and was intolerant of any system that attempted to revictimize them. Julie was the kind of case manager who wouldn’t take no for an answer if it came to one of her clients. 

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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One cannot link to stories at the news aggregator CincyNation, since usually that site just collects stories from other places.  But occasionally, it offers short blurbs of news and commentary that are original—and today there are two such items about the sheer whiteness of CinWeekly.

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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A group of Hamilton County residents have sent letters to Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner asking them “to determine if Sheriff Simon Leis of Hamilton County has engaged in illegal activity.” Dann is the state’s top law enforcement official and Jennifer Brunner is the state’s top election official.

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Posted by Media Release
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Expansion of Mental Health Court A Key Step Forward

As part of an ongoing effort to reform the County’s criminal justice system, the recently formed Hamilton County Criminal Justice Commission (HCCJC) approved two important measures today aimed at addressing different areas within the overall system. 

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Recently, Michael Earl Patton wrote this item about the site for the new jail, and the danger involved in accepting land without an environmental site assessment.  Today, The Beacon received the following letter, which purports that such an assumption is incorrect.

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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On June 30, 2006, we featured the following video with Christopher Smitherman, warning about an upcoming disaster concerning the retirement system.  His projected dates may have been off, but given the recent developments regarding the retirement system, it seems time to revisit his warnings!  (Smitherman was even interviewed for this article in the New York Times by Mary Williams Walsh.) We must face the potential problems with the system if we are going to support the retirees in any real way.

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Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
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Council Chambers haven’t been as packed as they were today since the slashing of the health and human services budget.  I was there to protest the proposed cuts and so were hundreds of retirees, but before I got the chance to speak, Leslie Ghiz put forth a motion to save our current retirees benefits.

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Posted by Justin Jeffre
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from Media Matters for America

When it comes to nationally syndicated columnists, Ohio’s daily newspapers are dominated by conservatives, leaving progressive voices behind.

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Posted by Media Release
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Justin Jeffre’s city council campaign has quietly earned a diverse and noteworthy collection of endorsements.

Bill Joiner, a Democratic activist who has been a vocal opponent of Jeff Berding, has endorsed Jeffre. “I have been a loyal Democrat for many years because I believe in traditional Democratic values,” explained Joiner. “I recognize that not every Democrat lives up to those values, and there are others who are not Democrats but who, despite their party labels, embrace those Democratic values. I believe Justin Jeffre is one of those persons, and I am happy to endorse his candidacy for City Council.”

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Cincinnati area religious and civic leaders speak about their support of human service funding in the City budget.

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Posted by Justin Jeffre
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