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The Cincinnati Beacon
Joan Kaup has better things to do than answer simple questions
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
In the 2005 race for City Council, we were proud to provide some of the most extensive coverage of the campaign season—giving candidates opportunities to expand on their platform points through written interviews. Things have been a lot busier this summer—with the debut of our new print newspaper—but we still want to provide additional details on candidates, especially for some of the newcomers. Unfortunately, we have been delayed, and this is due, in part, to the rude and difficult treatment we have received at the hands of Joan Kaup, a Charterite who would rather play games than answer some straightforward questions about her vision for Cincinnati.
The story starts simply enough: with an email invitation. Usually, when I do email interviews, I send questions and an invitation to respond. I just ask, if the candidate will not respond, they let me know about that (so I’m not wondering when the questions might get returned). Here is the first round of questions I sent to Joan Kaup:
Interview with Joan Kaup, Candidate for Cincinnati City Council, 2007
1. In your platform, you talk about tourism, generating revenue, and privatization. What is your position on 3CDC? How do you address the concerns of some voters about how 3CDC lacks transparency and openness—two key attributes of the Charter platform?
2. You discuss the need for cities to be clean—free of litter, broken windows, debris, etc.—as a strategy for fighting crime. You also have voiced your support for the Vortex Unit, which has a zero-tolerance approach toward fighting crime in some neighborhoods. How would you respond to critics who claim that laws like ordinance 910-23 (the anti-marijuana ordinance) are enforced unequally, amounting to neighborhood, and even ethnic, profiling?
3. Ordinance 910-23 led to the confiscation of 62 guns last year. Less than 2% of those arrested had guns in their possession. The average amount of marijuana confiscated was just 7 grams—the amount carried by a casual smoker. Approximately 500 white people were arrested under the ordinance, and approximately 3,600 black people were arrested. Is ordinance 910-23 working? Do you support keeping it on the books, like Charterite Chris Bortz, or do you oppose it, like Charterite Jim Tarbell?
4. Year after year, a relatively small number of women run for City Council. Women seem to be largely ignored by Cincinnati politics. For example, much was made about how The Banks Working Group originally had no black people, but fewer people complained about how the group lacked women. So here is a two part question: (a) Will you push for more gender diversity, pushing for a woman on the Banks Working Group? (b) What is your perspective on the role of women in Cincinnati’s political structure? Why do so few run?
5. Would you sign a pledge to make public ever meeting you have with a registered lobbyist should you win a seat to City Council? Why or why not?
6. Should “journalists” be prohibited from joining political organizations like The Charter Party? Why or why not?
7. Do you have any final remarks? (Omit if the answer is “No.")
Kaup’s response, initially, seemed polite enough:
[Dean],
Would you like to chat over a cup of coffee? Enzo’s is a welcomed new coffee shop on Race near Central Parkway, next to Media Bridges. How about 8:30 Friday, June 15th?
Joan Kaup
The only problem with an invitation like this is a matter of time. I know people don’t like hearing things like complaints—and I really don’t mean to come across that way—but I have a hard enough time fitting all this media stuff into my life. It is important to me that I still be an active father for my son, and a husband to my wife, as well as fulfilling all other responsibilities—to home, to work, and so forth. And I still like to see my friends every once in a while, too.
So it became clear that I would not be able to meet with Kaup. After a few friendly email exchanges, I sent this:
I’m not sure I’ll be able to get together in the morning anytime soon. So, I was wondering if you planned on answering my interview questions.
Thanks!
[The Dean]
That’s when Kaup decided to become condescending and patronizing:
[Dean],
I’ve had a personal meting and conversation with Howard Wilkinson and Jane Prendergast of the Enquirer and John Fox and Greg Flannery of CityBeat. I gladly offer you the same opportunity, but I will not answering your questions by email.
Enjoy the weekend,
Joan
That message prompted an angry response from me. This time, I copied Justin Jeffre on the situation, so he could stay current on the status of this interview. I admit I was feeling a bit miffed:
Joan,
Howard Wilkinson, Jane Predergast, John Fox, and Greg Flannery are all paid for what they do.
I work on a totally volunteer and uncompensated basis.
Therefore, I do not understand the point of your comparison, and how your meeting with them has anything to do with answering interview questions via email.
Can you at least grant me a reason why you will not respond to the questions?
Thanks!
[Dean]
At this point, Justin intervened, and said he would gladly meet with Kaup at the location of her choice for an on-camera interview where he would be sure to ask all the questions from my original email. Kaup responded:
Very good. Thanks for the extra effort.
Justin, is it convenient to meet at Enzo’s one day this week? They have a nice light space.
How about 1:00 p.m. Monday
Justin agreed to the Monday time slot, and made arrangements to interview her. There was only one problem. One o’clock rolled around, and no Joan Kaup. 1:30. Still no Joan Kaup. 1:45. Still no Joan Kaup. We gave up.
During this time, I was not sitting at home religiously checking my email. That evening, after hearing from Justin that Kaup was a no-show, I got an email from Kaup. She was trying to cancel the event, but she had sent the cancellation to the wrong email:
The following recipient(s) could not be reached:
on 7/9/2007 11:20 AM
There was a SMTP communication problem with the recipient’s email server. Please contact your system administrator.
If you know how to spell “Justin Jeffre” the proper way, you will see that the email address was not spelled correctly. I double checked how I had his address listed on The Beacon’s contact button, and there were no errors.
As you can see, by this point in time we have done a lot of work to accommodate Joan Kaup. She was the one who cancelled a meeting with us, and did not successfully tell us. Apparently, she didn’t even call Enzo’s to try to get a message so we wouldn’t have been waiting around for 45 minutes.
Surely, I thought, Kaup would just answer the questions via email. This past weekend, I sent her the following:
Ms. Kaup,
I emailed you interview questions some time ago. You did not want to answer them via email, preferring, instead, to meet in person. When my schedule did not allow for that, you told me that people from The Enquirer and CityBeat found time to meet with you.
So I contacted Justin Jeffre.
As you know, you did not make the appointment you set with him, though we were prepared to interview you that day. I know you tried to email him that morning, but you spelled his name incorrectly.
I think we have showed a good effort to meet your terms.
Would you please email your answers to simplify this process?
I need to know your intent by Monday evening.
Additionally, we now would like to add the following questions:
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8. If you had been on the current council, would you have sided with Charterite Chris Bortz and the “Fiscal Five,” or Charterite Jim Tarbell and the minority faction? Please explain your answer.
9. How available should politicians be to constituents with questions? Please explain.
10. Which way would you vote on the jail issue?
11. Are you registered as a Republican, Democrat or independent? What major party do your views most align with?
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Thanks!
[The Dean]
She did not respond.
At the end of the day, I really don’t understand why Joan Kaup just cannot answer some straightforward questions about her platform. Don’t voters have a right to interact with those who wish to represent them? Is there anything outrageous in what I have asked? Haven’t we shown a good faith effort to meet her on her terms? Why, then, can she not just meet us on our own, and write an email?
I am still hopeful that Kaup will submit some answers to us. Let’s see what happens by the end of the week.
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