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Community Petition Targets Development Deal That Would Profit Western and Southern Financial Group, Who Has a Troubled History with African-Americans

Cincinnati – Service workers and community leaders are calling on City Council and Mayor Mark Mallory to ensure that all Cincinnatians benefit from a proposed $21 million public subsidy to Western and Southern Financial Group for building luxury condos downtown by making funding dependent on the company’s treatment of poor and minority residents.

“Before we give away millions of dollars, we need to ask not just what Cincinnati can do for Western and Southern, but what Western and Southern can do for Cincinnati,” says Gerry Hugley, Vice President of the AMOS project. “Anybody who gets taxpayer money should treat people fairly and support good jobs that will benefit our neighborhoods.”

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Cincinnatians will get a chance to write the first draft of history when they take part in the first local straw poll for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination on Tuesday, May 8th.  The local chapter of the national Drinking Liberally organization is reserving that date at The Comet Bar, 4579 Hamilton Avenue in Northside, for the first-ever event.

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Recent discussion about The Banks Working Group dominated by patriarchal attitudes.

With the recent election of Christopher Smitherman to president of the local NAACP, that organization has been making more appearances in the corporate press—and that’s a good thing.  No matter your perspective on Smitherman’s personality or politics, our area is now being challenged (on a larger scale) to consider African American interests as it pertains to big development projects like The Banks.  Further, the recent appointment of two African Americans to the Banks Working Group is testament to Smitherman’s efficacy as leader of the local NAACP.  But where is the discussion about why no women have been appointed to oversee The Banks?

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Back in February, Hamilton County Commission President Todd Portune, a Democrat, came out against the City’s anti-marijuana ordinance—issuing a public letter asking Cincinnati to rescind the law.  Now, sentiment against City Council’s decision to renew ordinance 910-23 has grown, with Republican Charlie Winburn and Charterite Melanie Bates accusing them of failing to address the issue of crime.

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Melanie Bates has been endorsed by the Charter Party as a candidate for Cincinnati City Council.  At the same time, Bates is a Democratic Party precinct executive, and she recently attended a meeting to vote on the slate of candidates for City Council endorsed by the Democratic Party.  While technically acceptable, some have claimed this has the appearance of a conflict of interest.  If Bates is running as a candidate for the Charter Party, what does it mean that she is influencing the endorsement process for another party?

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What really happened at this week’s meeting which resulted in an endorsement for Jeff Berding with the local Democratic Party?  See for yourself.  Of particular interest is how carefully they counted the vote for endorsing the whole slate, with how they did not exercise such care on the vote for considering each individually.  Further, the vote on individual endorsements was much closer.  Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark!

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Last night, Kevin Osborne posted this fantastic recap of last night’s meeting of Cincinnati Democratic Precinct Executives—and the near ousting of Jeff Berding as a Democrat.  When a motion was introduced to vote individually on each candidate on the Democratic ticket, it failed by a very narrow margin:  64-59.  Considering that Tim Burke allegedly stacked the deck, so to speak, with 30 appointments of new precinct executives—most of whom are Berding supporters—this really puts the narrow victory in a clearer context.  Without last minute finagling by Tim Burke, Berding would have been soundly outed.  He has lost the support of his party’s loyal members.  And now, Osborne reports that several have vowed to start a group called “Democrats Against Berding.” The Cincinnati Beacon would like to welcome formally this new group, and to offer our resources to help spread the word!

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Yesterday, we provided exclusive looks at the mailing Jeff Berding sent Cincinnati Democratic Precinct Executives—hoping to sway their vote at the upcoming meeting to determine who will receive the party’s endorsement.  Today, we bring you Tim Burke’s companion piece to Berding’s propaganda—including a time-switch plot.  Is Burke trying to slide an approval of Berding past dissenters by playing an old switch-a-roo with the clock?

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Five councilmembers – Jeff Berding, Chris Bortz, Laketa Cole, Leslie Ghiz and Chris Monzel – forged an alliance at City Hall during the budget in December.  They call themselves The Fiscal Five.  At The Cincinnati Beacon we call this unholy alliance The Fascist Five. 

There are a lot of questions about who these people are and what they have ever accomplished.  We wonder how they will continue to campaign together and if they can survive November’s election. 

After reviewing the public record of news reports, we have compiled a trivia test to help better inform the electorate on the facts of The Fascist Five.

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Mark Mallory discusses topics ranging from Nazis to the public libraries

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This morning, Mayor Mark Mallory met with The Cincinnati Beacon to discuss informally a wide ranging set of topics.  I sat down with Mallory at The Coffee Shop on Madison, a new business in O’Bryonville featuring coffee beans that have never made it East of the Rocky Mountains until now.  We talked about a variety of issues, from current events to the behind-the-scenes workings of political life.

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In the following letter to the Mayor, City Council, and the County Commissioners, recently elected president of the Cincinnati NAACP, Christopher Smitherman, issues demands concerning the upcoming Nazi march through Over-The-Rhine.  Smitherman questions why it took so long for anyone to be notified of the Nazi march.  He characterizes the Nazis as a terrorist group, and wonders whether any other supremacist groups have similar applications in the system.

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A guest article by Georgine Getty, from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

Recently, there has been a lot of press about the police picking up teenagers for “acting out” around Government Square. Inevitably, when the police focus on young people, homeless teenagers are negatively affected. 

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One of the benefits of the “enhanced” marijuana law is supposedly the amount of drugs it removes from the street.  The police reported that about $400,000 worth of cocaine and marijuana had been seized due to this law in the past 12 months.  While this sounds like a lot, it is only about 2% of the total amount of drugs seized in 2006.

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Recently, The Enquirer reported about Jim Tarbell being the victim of crime.  As the paper properly noted, Tarbell has been the target of several crimes in the past few years.  Nevertheless, he remains an advocate for downtown and Over-the-Rhine—frequently visible on the street level, more than any other elected member of City Hall.  So, if anyone on Council knows the culture of crime in Over-the-Rhine first hand, it is Jim Tarbell.  Telling, isn’t it, that Tarbell opposes the City’s anti-marijuana ordinance?  His reasons for opposing the measure are even more telling.

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Guest article by Michael Earl Patton.

At the Tuesday Law and Public Safety Committee meeting the police reported on how much crime had been reduced in Cincinnati, credit for which they said belonged to the enhanced penalties of the year-old marijuana ordinance.  Their facts and conclusion were challenged by several speakers, but in the end the committee members (except Tarbell) used this report as a basis for rushing the extension of the ordinance to the meeting of full council.  After the meeting I asked the clerk’s office for a copy of their report and was told it was not available.

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Thanks to Hemprock, we can hear audio files from last year’s meeting where the anti-marijuana law was implemented for one year.  (This week, the law is up for renewal.) Check this link, and scroll down, to hear statements by each member of council.  Of particular interest are the comments made by Leslie Ghiz and Cecil Thomas—both of whom said they would repeal the law if statistics did not substantiate its effectiveness.  It is time to hold them accountable to their word.

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Andre Harper has been endorsed by the Hamilton County Republican Party in 2007 for Cincinnati City Council.  In this interview, we ask him about the recent budget scandal, his position on the prison industrial complex, gay rights, and corporate welfare.  Find out more about Andre Harper by visiting his website: http://www.andreharper.com

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Guest article by Paul Green, Chair, Hamilton County Libertarian Party.

It has been almost a year since Cincinnati City Council passed a law increasing the penalty for possession of marijuana.  Under the old law, possession of up to 100 grams carried a penalty of a $100 fine and no criminal record.  Under the new law, possession of 200 grams or less now carries a penalty of a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail, plus a criminal record that must be reported when applying for a job or student loan.  A second offense results in up to $1,000 fine and up to 180 days in jail.

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Plan Would Slash Critical Crime-Fighting and Other Services, But Not Even Pay To Operate the New Building

[March 19, 2007] Sheriff Simon Leis and County Commissioners David Pepper and Todd Portune today agreed that the best approach to solving the safety crisis in Hamilton County is with a comprehensive safety plan-not another expensive band-aid that does not solve the problem.

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In a Wednesday item at The Enquirer’s political blog, new County reporter Jessica Brown included this item about an argument that erupted between Todd Portune and Pat DeWine, regarding the controversial jail tax.  DeWine does not want to impose a new tax, and he has supported other ways of funding a new jail.  He suggested using the $30 million from the sale of Drake, but Portune stated that such ideas do not involve enough money.  Before we slide past this particular moment from their exchange, let’s pause on the Drake math for just a moment.  This recent argument has accidentally highlighted how Drake was sold for too little money.  And with a memory jolt from last year’s election, we can remember the issue of the hidden Drake appraisal was a big deal during the campaign.  For how much money was Drake appraised?  Can the Commissioners make that number public?  If it had been sold for its real value, would it have been enough to build a jail?

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See recently rediscovered footage from last year where 3CDC’s Stephen Leeper says he screwed up deals in Pittsburgh!

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Happy Sunshine Week!  Recently, Joe Wessels at The Post filed this report, revealing that 3CDC’s Bill Donabedian wrote a six-page script for a “drama” featuring City officials to commerate a new tradition for turning on the Fountain (The Genius of Water).  So what did the actual proposed script look like?  Well, thanks to Open Records laws, anything sent into City Hall is a public record—and so we have acquired a copy of Donabedian’s creative genius at work.  Download and read for yourself, then tell us what you think!

Read the script here!

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A new web site (which appears to have been purchased yesterday) is still being developed—and it seems to be from a citizen group devoted to Cincinnati.  To see the currently-under-construction draft, visit this link.  The front page currently features Todd Portune prominently—specifically his letter to City Council and his speech regarding the marijuana laws, exclusively brought to you by The Cincinnati Beacon.  The page is from a group named “Citizens for a Safer Cincinnati,” which has been working to repeal the City’s marijuana law.

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Guest article by Christopher Smitherman.

Sexual harassment is wrong.  It took a long time for companies to establish personnel policies against sexual harassment in the workplace.  The outcome of these policies was providing basic protections for women in the work place.  In 2007, all of these protections and consequences for violations are in place, including Cincinnati Police Department (CPD).

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Thanks to a comment left by Tom K., it has been brought to our attention that 3CDC is not in violation of ADA with the handrails on Fountain Square.  It turns out that an exception to the handrail guidelines exists when other means are in place for reaching the level in question—and undeniably there are access ramps to the top of the plaza.  However, our investigation of the steps has shown that—even if there are no handrail violations—there are still very dangerous areas on the steps that pose a threat to public safety.  So it still appears that 3CDC is more concerned with design elements than making sure visitors are safe.

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UPDATE - 3/5/07:  It appears that the handrails are not a violation—Read more.

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) has “renovated” Fountain Square without any apparent concern for handicapped people.  Codes delineated through the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) state expectations for stairways and handrails—and these expectations have been totally ignored by 3CDC.  And, according to information at the United States Access Board website, state and local governments must choose between either UFAS or ADA for their own regulations.

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How many mistakes before we have a problem?

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An engineer’s job, on the one hand, is to understand basic interfacing and usability.  A good parking garage, for example, is one designed to maximize a driver’s ability to find the car easily upon returning to the garage.  This simple premise, however, seems to be totally foreign to the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC)—as can be demonstrated through an analysis of their overlooked details.

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A few weeks ago, Bill Sloat posted an entry at his blog entitled ” .” The piece received little attention, but it included big information.  Turns out that Sam Malone, Charlie Winburn, and Pat Fischer—all candidates for Cincinnati City Council in 2007—were “poll watchers” (partisan voting challengers) during the presidential election in 2004.  In other words, they were the people who got dispatched to areas with Black Democrats, working to block votes.  It appears this was even the subject of a lawsuit between Marian Spencer and Ken Blackwell.

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Yesterday, we published these exclusive photos of leaks in the Fountain Square parking garage, which was opened to the public a few months ago.  Today, we have a statement from Bill Donabedian of 3CDC—who has totally downplayed these leaks, as if they are part of 3CDC’s plan to roll out Fountain Square development in stages.

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