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Friday, April 04, 2008

Hamilton County's GOP Chief Goes On The Attack: Slams Democrat Todd Portune

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- GOP Chair Alex Triantafilou is defending a Republican judge who authorized a $1 million bond for a $27 theft offense, and says Democratic County Commissioner Todd Portune ought to keep his mouth shut. Portune suggested that bail bonds set by Cincinnati judges -- including the Dems on the bench -- should be monitored for abuses. Triantafilou says it is none of Portune's business. He's accused Portune, a lawyer by trade, of trying to make "pure political gain" from the incident. Imagine that. He also took a swipe at MSNBC's Keith Olbermann -- low viewership ratings or something.

The GOP chair contends the seven-figure bond was meant to keep a potentially suicidal suspect in jail. In other words, Triantafilou's spin is that it was all about well-intentioned judicial activism and a mission of mercy. Nothing mean spirited to it. Deputies and jail personnel could monitor the man, whose $1 million bond would keep him locked up and safe. Triantafilou, for some reason, doesn't mention that a healthcare or mental health facility might be a more appropriate setting than a jail. Reasonable people could probably debate the point: Are jails proper places for folks whose sensibilities are not seeming to function properly, who may be suffering a bout of illness?

The $1 million bond made news last month. Triantafilou, a former Hamilton County Common Pleas judge who quit to take over as party chair, accused Democrat Portune of mishandling campaigns seeking tax increases for a new jail in Cincinnati. He doesn't mention that his own GOP supported the tax increases and endorsed the jail expansion efforts:

"The Commissioners should focus on their own responsibilities, Twice in his tenure, Commissioner Portune has failed to convince the taxpayers to support a much needed new jails because his proposals have been bloated with large government programs that had little to do with more jail space. For pure political gain, Commissioner Portune reacted to the ridiculous reporting of guys like Keith Olberman (sic) to get his name in the paper."

Two points to take issue with: It is Olbermann with a double n. And the jail tax "bloated with large government programs" was backed by Triantafilou's own party, something that is made clear here. Portune and the Dems are not likely to lay down and take the attack.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for spreading propaganda for the Republicans. Many people would not be interested in what Triantafilou has to say. Since you have made a link from this blog, many more will read his anti-Portune political opinion. Why don't you just come out of the Republican closet?

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  2. The GOP chairman, the guy with the unpronounceable name, is goofy. Bernat could have set a $500 bond and kept the guy locked up. Suicide prevention on a $1 million bond? Commissioner Portune is justified and the RePug is the worst person in the world.

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  3. Portune didn't cause the jail tax to fail. It lost because the voters didn't want higher taxes. They may want a bigger jail. We don't know because there have never been a vote. The Republican Party that Triantafilou leads supported the tax increase. Now he says Portune "has failed to convince the taxpayers to support a much needed new jail because his proposals have been bloated . ." Triantafilou didn't speak out against any bloat when the issue was on the ballot. Why now?

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  4. The county runs a court clinic for people who have mental health problems in the criminal justice system. Bernat ordered a high bond but not a mental health evaluation. The judge is the one who needs his head examined. Portune's diagnosis is the correct one.

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  5. Anon 7:21pm.

    Wow. Where to start?

    1) Just because the party supported the tax while Alex was not chair doesn't mean he necessarily did. A lot of Republicans were upset with Vincent because of that.

    2) As a judge, it would have been improper (though not illegal) for Alex to speak up about political issues like the jail tax.

    3) Political cowardice, Mallory is thy name. What was his stance on the jail tax? Exactly.

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  6. You idiot! A judge may openly speak about the betterment of the legal system; including a jail tax. Furthermore, there is no pending jail tax for Mallory to take a stance. If you follow the news closely, you would know that Leis inflated the jail numbers to bully the taxpayers into building a new jail. Now that we are not using the Butler County jail, why isn't our jail overcrowded?

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  7. .


    More elephant dung propaganda from the wRong wingnut whacko misleader XXX judge Tryintofoolyou:

    "County, just-us center, incarceration is definitely the answer to all social ills including mental illness" - xxx judge Tryintofoolyou !

    PATHETIC 'family values' !

    HAD ENOUGH, VOTE DEMOCRAT 2008 !

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