Cincinnati GOP Councilman Charlie Winburn's Top Aide Plagiarizes Boss: Seems To Have Stolen Words To Plug His Springfield Twp. Candidacy

Bart Simpson Lives In Springfield, Too.

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- David Miller, a GOP state central committee member, is Councilman Charlie Winburn's chief of staff at Cincinnati City Hall.  And he's also the Hamilton County Republican Party's endorsed candidate for fiscal officer in Springfield Township.  It's possible he might have to add another line to his resume: Plagiarist.

An answer on Miller's League of Women Voters candidate questionnaire form contains nearly identical language to Winburn's answer.  Only Winburn delivered his three days earlier.  The questions were, "What services to you think should be considered basic and essential in the city?" and "What services do you believe should be basic and essential in the township?"   Even though Cincinnati is a major metropolitan city and Springfield Township is a small suburb, Miller appears not to have recognized differences between the two.   On Sept. 23 at 7:46 a.m. he filed this answer:  "Government officials are public servants to the voters and stewards of their public assets.  Springfield Township must properly use public policy in order to manage necessary public services such as roads and sanitation, insure public safety through police and fire, and create an atmosphere where the free market economy can flourish through private industry with a minimum of government regulation."  The link to Miller's answer is here.

As for Winburn, this is what he had to say on Sept. 20 at 4:09 p.m.:  "Government officials are public servants to the voters and stewards of their public assets.  The Cincinnati City Council must properly use public policy in order to manage necessary public services such as roads and sanitation, insure public saafety through police and fire, and create an atmosphere where the free market economy can flourish through private industry."  The link to Winburn's answer is here.  Sharp-eyed readers will notice that Winburn didn't say anything about minimizing government regulation.

Inquiring minds might be wondering if Winburn and his City Hall sidekick David Miller somehow collaborated, and they might also be curious to discover if they hatched their campaign manifestos while at work on government time.  The city solicitor's office might want to did into the e-mails and computer traffic.

Republican Cincinnati Councilman Charlie Winburn: Pocketing $$$ That 'Could Be Illegal'

Refunds From City Council Members



 CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Fifteen months ago, Charlie Winburn was running for a seat on city council and said he had uncovered chicanery at City Hall.   Sitting council members were receiving health care insurance and pension fund contributions that he called "unauthorized benefits received through current budget expenditures."  And their salaries were too high.  Republican candidate Winburn was blowing the whistle on the scam.  He issued an Aug. 25, 2009 press release under this headline:  "Winburn calls upon city council to give up questionable taxpayer funded health and pension benefits."   The move would save $400,000 and end a practice that Winburn said "could be illegal."   



Fast forward to today.  Winburn appears to be taking the benefits of public office that he deemed improper at best, illegal at worst.  Despite the talk, once in office Winburn never seems to have lifted a finger to halt practices he denounced as possibly illegal.  Of course, it could be that his complaints were a scam, an effort to make something out of nothing.  In fact, he now seems to be sharing in the loot -- or what he considered loot when he was on the outside.  And though he has the option of refunding his paycheck to the city, he doesn't seem to have given much back.  Winburn appears to personify an old proverb:  Talk is cheap.      

Winburn could use the city's voluntary refund option to return all, or part, of his $60,650 annual council salary to the city.  Records (up to date through 11/18, see accompanying chart) show he returned $1,400 last January.  The same City Hall finance and accounting records show Democratic Mayor Mark Mallory refunds $165.87 out of each paycheck; Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, another Dem, returns $96.82 biweekly, and Councilman Cecil Thomas, also a Dem, gives back $50 from each paycheck.  Republican Leslie Ghiz refunded $132.80 last January.  Refunds from the three Democrats total $5,941.11 so far this year.  Together, the two Republicans have refunded $1,532.80. 

Both Winburn and Ghiz have complained that council's pay package is too much -- yet they haven't shown much interest in voluntarily rebating sums they consider excess.  Winburn in particular was opposed to the salary, health insurance and pension contributions benefits for council members, whom he described as part-time workers.  He said council members got a full-time salary for a part-time job.  From his press release 15 months ago (when he was running for office):

"Current city policy for part time employees who work less than 30 hours per week does not provide health care benefits.  This decision to cut benefits would put all part time employees, including council members, on the same playing field as it applies to health care benefits.

"Winburn said Councilwoman Ghiz's (she, too. was running for office at the time) proposal to cut council pay is a good start but doesn't go far enough in reforming the total council compensation package for city council members . . ."

Winburn said any savings should go to prevent the layoffs of fire and police.  Now it looks like it was all talk.  Winburn, who complained last week that the city misspent $5,000 on a streetcar display on Fountain Square, is silent about his own complicity this year in activities he labeled possible misfeasance last year.  After all, it was he who said council's payroll package "could be illegal."  Meanwhile, he hasn't noted that the money refunded by the mayor, Qualls and Thomas exceeds the cost of the streetcar display.  And city officials who handle Cincinnati's payroll and budgeting say they haven't heard very much this year from Winburn about cutting his own salary, or reducing benefits packages.

Chris Bigham, superintendent of accounts and auditing over payroll at City Hall, said Winburn has taken the full amount of every council paycheck since January:  "I have not heard one word from him about refunds or anything like that.  He did make a donation earlier this year."

Budget Director Lea Eriksen said she has no memory of Winburn contacting her about reducing his council salary and benefits.   "No, he's not brought that up to me,'' Eriksen told The Daily Bellwwether.  "I follow Council items closely.  If he would have done anything, I would have seen it."

So what could Winburn voluntarily cut from his own pocket?  Here's the list of things that he wanted slashed:  $65,670 in salary; $9,198 annual pension benefits; $5,000-$8,000 annual health benefits.  He said council's compensation package was "$83,268 approximate total of annual compensation."   And in Winburn's world every penny was "questionable" and "could be illegal" and "misinterpretation of what they are entitled to under the term 'compensation.'"

[UPDATE: 4:55 pm -- Winburn copied The Daily Bellwether on an e-mail he sent out today that explains why he's taking city benefits:  "Regarding your inquiry, I based my original question upon a plain reading of the Cincinnati City Charter. We asked and the city administration answered. They determined that the benefits paid for council members were considered compensation and were not a violation of the Charter. When I joined Cincinnati City Council in December, 2009, I opted out of the City-provided benefits because I was covered under another plan. I was subsequently told by the City that I could not opt out of their plan and was required to be covered. If you can provide any further information to me on whether these benefits are illegal, please let me know so that I can opt out altogether."]

Cincinnati Councilman Chris Bortz Harassed By Mental Midgets: Ethics Panel Should Toss Complaint In Shredder

Lawyer Ties Bortz To Tracks

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Somebody should nickname the ethics complaint filed by lawyer Tim Mara a "streetcar named esquire." Because that's what it really is, a rail job by someone licensed to practice law.  Mara wants the Ohio Ethics Commission to remove a Cincinnati City Council member, a move akin to impeachment.  Chris Bortz's sin -- he has performed his public duties.  And it is all about street cars, and misguided allegations that Chris Bortz somehow is secretly taking a range of actions to build a $128 million streetcar project in Cincinnati.  Somehow the secret moves will enrich his relatives.  Bortz has recused himself from all decisions about the streetcars to avoid even the appearance of a conflict.  He has not facilitated a discussion, nor has he voted to build the system.  There is no evidence, not a scintilla, that he has the power or juice -- or to borrow a Chicago term "clout" -- to sway closed-door decisions about how the streetcar project proceeds.  Mara's attack seems designed only to debase an elected official, a mean-spirited swipe akin to the SLAP suits that corporations are notorious for filing against their critics.  Mara may not be abusing process, but the smell is there.

Members of the Bortz family are real estate developers with interests and holdings throughout SW Ohio.  A handful of the properties are near the proposed streetcar line that would run from downtown, through Over-the-Rhine to near the University of Cincinnati campus.  There are many people who believe the $128 million project -- funded by city bonds and federal transit grants -- will be an economic disaster.  Proponents believe it will stimulate commercial development in a largely depressed area.  Truth is, nobody knows for sure what will happen if the streetcars actually start to run.

And that is why the Ohio Ethics Commission should toss Mara's complaint into the nearest shredder.  If they do not have one, The Daily Bellwether will make a donation.  One wonders what is the motivation behind the complaint.  Anti-Semitism perhaps?  The Bortz's are Jewish.  They have a long record of public service in Cincinnati.  They are model citizens, role model citizens.  Nobody knows if the streetcar project will open up the door to commercial prosperity, or if it will be a catastrophe.  Logic is clear -- Bortz cannot be promoting his private financial interests even if he were taking official actions to back a project that might suck millions out of the city budget.  There is no commercial advantage to running an unused, heavily subsidized streetcar through neighborhoods that won't have cops or firemen or building inspectors to enforce the codes.  Mara seems to be on the side that believes the streetcars are doomed to failure, and he said in his formal ethics complaint (filed Oct. 25):

"I believe Mr. Bortz . . . not only has displayed an utter disregard for Ohio ethics laws . . . but a general disdain for the public he is supposed to serve."

Wrong, Mr. Mara.  You contend Bortz is supposed to adopt a policy of complete aloofness.  I say there is no sense of menace, no demonstrated self-dealing that rubs uncomfortably against the public interest.  His family does not have a commercial monopoly over the streetcars, nor does it have a commerical monopoly over real estate along the proposed streetcar route.  And there is absolutely no evidence that the streetcars will become a well-worn path of travel leading to the Bortz family holdings.  Mara's complaint is largely based on a pretension.  For Bortz to knowingly profit from his City Council office, he would have to know the future -- that the streetcar line would make nearly all garrets on the route rented, every chair in every restaurant packed, every garden party tour booked, every property coveted by hungry investors.

Ethics laws in Ohio were designed to eliminate conflicts of interest.  A city councilman, for example, should not vote to purchase goods or services from a company he owns, or has a stake in.  But they were never intended to stop elected officials from promoting the public good in a broader manner.  For example, a council member would be allowed to vote for schools even if he were a teacher, or if his family had someone on the school system payroll.  He could not vote to buy a school from himself or his family -- a bright line conflict.  That is not the case with Cincinnati's street cars.  There is only a chance that streetcars will benefit the city.  If they succeed, there is a chance that some of that benefit could spill over to the Bortz family interests.  But chance is not a guaranteed pay off.

Let's take another angle.  What if there were a fire station at stake?  Would Bortz be wrong to vote to add fire protection in a neighborhood where his family has real estate?  And what if there were a medical disaster -- an outbreak of cholera near the Bortz family holdings?  Would Bortz violate the ethics laws to vote to send medical aid into disease-stricken neighborhoods where the family's commercial interests were located?  Of course not.  With fire halls and inoculations, the public good would outweigh any private interest.

Proof Today That Cincinnati Is Not Silicon Valley: Don't Those Kindles Bite?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A city councilman has confused Amazon.com's popular Kindle e-book readers with a breed of dogs. "It could be a German shepherd for all I know," said Republican Charlie Winburn, who was quoted in this morning's Cincinnati Enquirer. Some city officials wanted Cincinnati to distribute government documents to council members via Kindle to cut down on the costs of paper and copying records. Winburn was not among them.

Growing 'Grocery Gap' In Cincinnati: Food Stores Abandoning Low-Income Neighborhoods

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The IGA that used to be in walking distance of my home is now a beauty shop and daycare center. There are no grocery stores that can be reached without a short drive by car. City officials are now concerned about a lack of places to shop for fresh food in Cincinnati -- especially in inner city neighborhoods -- and are considering creating a Food Access Task Force. They say there is a grocery gap, a "disparity that exists between lower income communities and higher income communities regarding access to quality and healthy food supplies." That's an irony in a nation and state that is blessed with some of the world's most productive farmland, and in a city that is the corporate headquarters of one of the world's largest grocery store chains, Kroger Co.

Democratic City Council members Laketa Cole and David Crowley, the city's vice-mayor, said that full service grocers are closing. An Aldi in the Avondale neighborhood announced last fall it was shutting down, and a Walnut Hills Kroger store informed City Hall it may leave due to lease problems. The council members said fewer places to shop means something must be done to "broaden the access to quality and affordable food sources." Nationally, there is plenty of information about the grocery gap in cities across the nation. The Cincinnati City Council document can be accessed online via city's hall's e-gov page by looking for document number 200800315. Crowley and Cole said the Cincinnati task force should focus on developing new grocery stores, improving existing small stores and starting and sustaining farmers' markets.

The University of California Davis has studied the grocery gap and cited data showing suburbs have up to three times as many supermarkets as low-income neighborhoods. But there are reasons, including crime:

"The supermarket industry cites higher security costs, greater employee turnover and a bigger 'shrink factor' (theft) in high poverty neighborhoods . . . loss and retrieval of shopping carts -- often used as wheels by people without cars -- can cost a small grocer chain $300,000 a year. For shoppers, the grocery gap means traveling to another part of town to find a supermarket, or buying groceries at a small convenience store that may offer a poorer selection at a higher price. For residents without cars, the situation is especially tough."

Cincinnati's Bedbug Outbreak: New Map Shows City's Itchy Neighborhoods

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A few clicks here will take you to a Cincinnati Health Department report about the city's plague of bedbugs. The document includes a map showing neighborhoods where infestations have been reported over the past 13 months.

The map is at the end of five pages of material filed today at City Hall. You can access it by first clicking "get documents" on the city's e-gov link, then "communication " when those words appear in the windows. The map is compiled from a database of calls to the Health Department, and it shows the pests are everywhere, sparing neither high-income nor low-income parts of town. Yes, even upscale Hyde Park and Mt. Lookout have bedbugs these days.

Cincinnati GOP Councilman Chris Monzel: Wants Evolution Challenged In Public Schools

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Maybe speakers from the Creation Museum just across the Ohio River in Kentucky might be asked to hold forth in Cincinnati Public School biology classes. They could explain how the world is just 5,000 years old, dinosaurs were hanging around with people in the Garden of Eden, and that the Bible's Book of Genesis literally explains how humanity got its start. That might be exactly what Republican Councilman Chris Monzel --who is seeking election tomorrow -- hopes to accomplish. Who knows? Monzel says he supports requiring Ohio's classroom teachers to "present the evidence" that contradicts Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Monzel, 39, is trying to hold onto a seat that the GOP appointed him to after he was voted out of office in 2005. He is an engineer and holds a masters degree in public policy from Harvard University. He was the valedictorian at parochial Moeller High School in 1986. He is a very intelligent fellow. He did not elaborate on the questionnaire exactly what it is that teachers should offer as contradicting Charles Darwin. Perhaps intelligent design, perhaps scientific creationism, perhaps Genesis or something from Greek mythology. Perhaps a script from Star Trek.

He was asked about "Alternatives to Evolution," and the question reads:

"When lessons on the origins of life are taught in Ohio public schools, do you support or oppose requiring teachers to present the evidences (sic) both supportive and contradictory to the theory of evolution?" Monzel is in the supports box.

Darwin's theory is generally accepted, and contends that organisms and species continuously make genetic adaptions to the environment. They do this by selection, either through hybridization, inbreeding and mutation (short version).

Cincinnati Councilwoman Explains Her Fight: 'She Called Me A Whore'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic Cincinnati Councilwoman Laketa Cole is making headlines over fisticuffs with her squeeze's ex-sweetie, and explains that she didn't like being labeled a strumpet.

"She called me a whore, so I called her one back. That's when she ran up on me and started attacking me. My shirt was all torn up; she grabbed my hair and pulled it. I had a mark on my face."

Joe Wessels has it down nearly round by round in today's Cincinnati Post. Inquiring minds are wondering: Can you deliver a left hook to the face of somebody who calls you a hooker? Cole is running for reelection.

Big Surprise In Cincinnati Enquirer's Council Picks: No Nod For Ex-Dem Mayor Qualls

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The newspaper's city council endorsements are out online today, and it is supporting five Democrats, three Republicans and one third-party Charterite. The newspaper said it is not backing former Democratic Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who was appointed to a council seat last month and is running under the Charter label. Qualls is one of the most popular politicians in Cincinnati and is seen as a lock. Her sin in the eyes of the Enquirer's editorial board: She has dared to openly question plans for The Banks. The project is a nearly $1 billion office, shopping and residential development on the Ohio River downtown, and it is being subsidized with city, state and federal funds.

But the Enquirer sniped that Quall's is opposing The Banks plan out of a "bruised ego." That remark is simply an inaccurate -- and mean-spirited -- reflection of her concerns. Qualls has questions rooted in economic, environmental and financial areas.

Qualls was mayor when the project on 18 acres between the football and baseball stadiums was conceived in the mid-1990s. It was supposed to be mixed use, with residential and shopping and dining etc., along with offices to enliven a fading downtown. Now the new plans are heavier on offices and Qualls is wondering if it will cannibalize the existing business district. The difficult real estate market, coupled with the Midwest's lousy economic climate, has made it tough to lease space in the central city where some 2.2 million square feet of office space already sits vacant. Qualls says that the tax-supported public subsidies that go into The Banks will harm investors who put money into downtown and must charge market rates that don't reflect government aid. Qualls isn't on the same page as the Enquirer's favorites, so she was snubbed:

"Smart, capable and experienced, former mayor Qualls knows policy inside-out as she demonstrated political savvy during her years on council. Just appointed to take Tarbell's place (Jim Tarbell, who resigned), she's running on a platform of helping to increase the city's tax base and grow its middle class. But in rejoining council after years away, she may be in a bit of a time warp. We find her recent efforts to undermine The Banks project particularly distressing. Her chief objections seem to be that the plan under consideration now differs from one she helped develop a decade ago. This is the city's most important development project. Opposing it on the the basis of a bruised ego is not acceptable."

Note: Image from adblogarabia.com

Cincinnati Dem Insiders: See 5 Council Incumbents Safe On Election Day

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The City Council has nine seats -- and at this moment --Democratic Party insiders believe that a majority will be filled after the Nov. 6 election by people who are already there. Three are Democrats, and two are members of the independent Charter Party. The other expected winner is a Republican who once was a Democrat and now is out of public office. There are 25 candidates seeking the 9 seats and they run in a field race citywide. The top 9 vote getters are elected.

Now for the 6 names, alphabetical and not by order of expected finish:

Council member Chris Bortz, Charterite.
Council member Laketa Cole, D
Council member John Cranley, D
Council member David Crowley, D
Council member Roxanne Qualls, Charterite
Charlie Winburn, R (a former council member)

These others are described as very much in the hunt for three openings:

Council member Jeff Berding, D
Minette Cooper, D (a former council member)
Pat Fischer, R
Council member Leslie Ghiz, R
Council member Chris Monzel, R
Council member Cecil Thomas, D

These candidates are described as still having a shot, or as one Dem insider handicapped their chances, "I'd say they're on the low bubble."

Melanie Bates, C (a Cincinnati school board member and former Hamilton County Democratic Party executive director looking to change jobs)
Brian Garry, D
Sam Malone, R (a former council member)
Mitch Painter, I
Wendell Young, D

The Daily Bellwether got the list after lunches and discussions with several of Hamilton County's top Democrats. A couple of senior Republicans were asked for opinions, and they agreed their list looks the same. If there is a surprise in this, it is Pat Fischer, a former Cincinnati Bar Association president and downtown lawyer who is well-financed. Fischer lives in Pleasant Ridge, a Democratic neighborhood where he served as community council president. Several of the Democrats said they knew him, liked him and planned to vote for him.

Fischer also got a boost from a half-page write up in the monthly newsletter for his Catholic parish, the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord. There he was described as a GOPer who "bridge the gap between political parties" and work with the Democrats at City Hall. That is the kind of micro-level news that is priceless and only helped to build positive word of mouth for Fischer, a 49-year-old Harvard grad who got his law degree at the same school. He told the church bulletin: "I respect people that I disagree with."

Nobody would bet that Fischer is elected to council. At most, they said he has had a good couple of weeks and built momentum to become a contender.

Cincinnati City Council Candidate Charlie Winburn: In 2005 No Need For Jail Tax Hike

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Too bad for Republican Charlie Winburn that things hang around the Internet forever. In 2005 -- when he was running for mayor of Cincinnati -- Winburn offered a Violent Crime Prevention Strategy that called for hiring 200 new cops and building a brand new jail. At the same time, Winburn was calling for tax cuts.

Now it is 2007. Winburn has the Hamilton County Republican Party's endorsement. And his own Republican Party is backing a 15-year sales tax increase that would be used to build a new $198 million, 1800-bed jail. It would open in a Cincinnati neighborhood called Camp Washington if voters approve. The county's Democratic Party is backing the plan too. It will be on the Nov. 6 ballot. There is opposition from the NAACP and an assortment of groups including COAST, a conservative anti-tax organization founded by State Rep. Tom Brinkman, who once helped run Winburn's city council campaigns.

Winburn in 2005 filled out a Smartvoter.org questionnaire about his top three priorities if he were elected mayor of Cincinnati. This is what he told the League of Women Voters:

"1) I will fight for safer neighborhoods by implementing my comprehensive Violent Crime Reduction Strategy. Under the plan, 200 additional police officers will be hired in four years and a new jail will be constructed to prevent the early release of violence criminals.

"2) I will work to reduce taxes and create a fairer system that would reward loyal Cincinnati residents with lower property taxes rates."

"3) As Mayor, I will implement the Fast Track Development Model that will make it easier for builders and contractors to build in Cincinnati. Developers have found the City of Cincinnati's process of development a bureaucratic nightmare that is cumbersome at best. As Mayor, I will develop a process that is efficient, effective and user friendly for all residential and commercial developers."

It is parts 1 and 2 that have attracted attention from political insiders, who see Winburn's statements at the time as bordering on being ridiculously out of touch with financial reality. They point to the current campaign for a new jail tax as suggesting he is a hype-meister with little grasp of the actual ability of local government entities to generate revenue for big ticket construction projects finance at the local level. Political officials in both parties agree there is no way today to "reduce taxes" and build a new jail, plus pay for the staff to run it and other programs that go along with operating a correctional facility. And political officials in both parties say there was no way to do it in 2005, when Winburn promised he could while running for mayor.

Charlie Winburn has a new crime reduction plan that he says he'll push to implement if he's elected to City Council. If you read it, you'll see one of his proposals is to erect a tent to hold prisoners. He also wants a new jail, but says the Hamilton County Commissioners should handle the financial arrangements. And what is their plan? Raise the sales tax to generate $736 million over the next 15 years.

Cincinnati Council Candidate Charlie Winburn: Wants Those Missouri Voters

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Republican Charlie Winburn's campaign workers have leafletted a big commuter student parking lot at Xavier University, but they didn't check to see if all the cars had Ohio license tags. Which means that Winburn's campaign literature was wasted on out of state residents. Much of it wound up as litter or in trash cans.

Winburn is a former council member seeking a return to office this November. He served on the Ohio Civil Rights Commission under Gov. Bob Taft, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor. He held political appointments under former Democratic Gov. Dick Celeste, but switched parties after the Republicans took control of state government in 1990.

Darren LaCour, opinion and editorial editor for the student-run Xavier Newswire, found a circular tucked under his car's his windshield wiper blade, and he was none too happy to be solicited in that particular fashion. He also says his car has Missouri license plates -- a tip off he's ineligible to vote in Cincinnati. He says the Winburn camp lacked common sense.

"While Winburn might have 'leadership that gets things done for the people of Cincinnati,' he also leaves nice white messes on your car. I am prone to irrational anger over petty things, this was certainly one of them. But while it was bad enough this flyer has left a blemish on my vehicle's pristine, not washed-in-two or three months appearance, I was also irked because the people distributing these flyers did not use common sense.

'My car proudly displays Missouri license plates. And guess what? Missouri is a state, and that state in not Ohio! I live in Missouri and my car says so. Thus, the likelihood of me being registered to vote in an Ohio election, much less a Cincinnati local election, is laughable."

Cincinnati Council Race: Karl Rove's Allies Want City Hall Posts

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- As the 2004 presidential election came to a close, Republicans launched an effort designed to suppress the black vote in Ohio. It was meant to protect President Bush at the polls. Black voters were overwhelmingly Democratic, and Karl Rove's crew feared a huge turnout could wreck all their plans to keep Bush in office. So the Republicans dreamed up a scheme that was targeted at precincts with heavy populations of black voters in Ohio. Three people running for Cincinnati City Council this year under the GOP banner played significant roles in that voter suppression effort -- Charlie Winburn, Sam Malone and Pat Fischer.

All three names appear in this federal court filing as litigants in support of the Rovian strategy to interfere with Ohio's black voters at the polls.

The Daily Bellwether wrote about the voter suppression effort that targeted black precincts last February when Winburn, Malone and Fischer received GOP endorsements for City Council. Now it is time to revisit the issue with the council campaign in full swing. The three should have to explain: Why did they actively support the Karl Rove strategy of challenging black people who wanted to vote? Why did they jump into bed with a voter-suppression effort that was described as a revival of Jim Crow, an open revival of southern-like discrimination at polling places.

Did they fear and lack trust in black voters? Their role in the 2004 voter-suppression movement should be a major issue in Cincinnati. How did they wind up in Rove's pocket, and why would they go there?

Cincinnati's Ex-Mayor Roxanne Qualls: Council Candidate Delivers A Boffo Speech

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls is a Democrat running as a third party candidate for City Council, and she appears to have little patience for those who want to debate whether global climate change is occurring.

"It's a little bit like two people standing in a burning building and discussing who started the fire and not getting out of the burning building. We've got to get out of the burning building."

Qualls delivered the line in a speech earlier this month. She focused on urban development and warming. She clearly explained how the issues are linked and critical to Ohio's future. You can listen to her presentation by clicking the link to the Covington Rotary Club. Her description about the impact of climate change and how it can be managed come slightly past the halfway mark in the download. Qualls believes the key is by creating a "green infrastructure" -- one example, streets that don't absorb heat from the sun's rays.

Qualls ran for Congress in Oh-01 in the late 1990s and lost to GOP. Rep. Steve Chabot. Although she is seeking a City Council seat this fall as a member of the Charter Committee -- an independent group that is not affiliated with Republicans or Democrats -- she is a Democrat. Proof arrived in the mail this week. Qualls was listed among a group raising funds for Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Nadine Allen -- a Democrat seeking reelection to the bench. Democratic Mayor Mark Mallory's father, William, is on the list, too.

Cincy Enquirer Blasted For Poor Coverage Of Black Event: NAACP's Smitherman Demands Action

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Christopher Smitherman, a Green Party Cincinnati Council candidate and the local NAACP branch president, has accused the city's morning metro daily of "institutional racism at its core." He says the civil rights organization is prepared for some kind of showdown with the newspaper, a unit of the Gannett Co. Inc., publishing chain.

Smitherman expressed amazement that the Cincinnati Enquirer did not adequately cover, in his view, the Black Family Reunion. The annual summertime event on the banks of the Ohio River drew some 100,000 people downtown. Smitherman said if someone had been shot or harmed there would have been blazing coverage across news pages. But the mostly peaceful event got short shrift despite its importance to African Americans.

"I believe this is intentional and the result is the continuation of institutional racism at is core. If the Enquirer does not change they will force the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP to take measures to curb their behavior."

Does that last sentence imply a subscription boycott, or some kind of targeting of advertisers?

Smitherman's statement is just the latest signal that the newspaper is foundering under its top brass, who are increasingly viewed as out of touch, out of tune and have nearly exhausted the town's patience. The complete text of Smitherman's letter originally appeared in the Cincinnati Beacon, which is a small online and print news operation that is also among the daily's biggest critics.

[UPDATE -- There was coverage of the event, as this article from the past weekend shows. The complaint seems to be over whether the newspaper devoted enough attention and space to the Black Family Reunion.]

[Note to readers: The previous post was supposed to follow this one. The Bellwether will inactive for the rest of the day.]

Cincy GOP Councilwoman: Caught With Her Shirt On And Ethics Off

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- People have their Irish up at Cincinnati Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz over her vote to close down a popular East Side watering hole where she recently spent a day campaigning and raising funds for the American Cancer Society.

The Republican -- a lawyer who is seeking reelection this fall -- has been accused of wearing a "Vote Ghiz" shirt on the premises she now finds offensive to the Hyde Park neighborhood. The bar is R.P. McMurphy's and faces the loss of its liquor license.

Humorists have e-mailed The Daily Bellwether saying Ghiz shouldn't have worn a shirt at all -- then there really would be reason to vote to close the bar.

Ghiz has campaigned on a theme of "trust and accountability" but Jennifer McGuire found her woefully lacking in those qualities in a letter to the editor published in today's Cincinnati Enquirer, a letter that captured the views of many who see the councilwoman as something of a hypocrite.

"Less that a month ago, R.P's held a benefit for the American Cancer Society and raised $15,000 for the cause. And Ghiz spent the whole day there in her 'Vote Ghiz' t-shirt campaigning to the patrons of the very bar she is now voting to shut down. I supported Ghiz when she ran for council the first time. Her hypocrisy has cost her that support."

The full-text of the letter is HERE. There are nine Cincinnati City Council seats with only two held by Republicans. Ghiz has been active in portraying herself as someone who wants to make government accountable and the municipal environs as crime free as possible. She says,

"Trust and accountability are very important qualities to me . . . I have worked very hard to put Cincinnati first. And we have had some great successes. Things don't always move as quickly as I would like, but if you keep fighting the good fight, the City wins in the end. I have focused my efforts on the safety of our citizens and fiscal responsibility, and will continue to do so."

Her campaign website has a lot more information, including biographical data about the Capital University law school grad. Ghiz is going to catch serious flak over her soiree at the Irish pub.

How Pure Are Ohio's Greens? Next Door In Pa. It's Been The Green-O-P

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Cincinnati NAACP president Chris Smitherman has stirred up a firestorm with his plans to run for a City Council seat on the Green Party ticket. All of the debate has focused on whether or not he has a conflict with the NAACP, which tends to discourage local chapter leaders from running for elective offices.

But there has not been much aired about efforts in Pennsylvania to use the Green Party as a front. There have been hijack attempts by Republicans, a tactic designed to siphon progressive votes away from Democrats. Some Greens clearly are concerned that anybody who shows up is welcome. And they are not exactly enthused about poseurs financing and entering their party. Last year, there was an uproar when a when the Green Party's U.S. Senate candidate in the contest involving Rick Santorum's reelection bid wound up being funded by Santorum's backers. Nearly all the money for Green Party nominee Carl Romanelli came from GOP sources -- almost turning it into the Green-Old-Party.

This month, another GOP official in Pennsylvania briefly declared himself a Green. Again, it looked like a strategic move rather than a true political conversion.

Some Greens have argued that their party is the victim of both the major parties. However, they also contend the party has opened itself to abuse by outside political operatives and people who just show up and declare themselves true-blue Greens.

"Part of the reason for its bad decision is that the GP or PA is part of the GPUS. GPUS models itself on the corporate parties by refusing to have a defined membership. Since it does not base itself on a dues paid membership, GPUS must look to other sources . . .

"Not all Green Party activists accept the corporate structure of GPUS and the GP of PA. The original Green Party, the GPUSA, is based on a dues-paying membership. It is this defined membership, not anyone who shows up, who makes policy, including what money to accept and from where. GPUSA has never knowingly accepted money."

Cincy Dems To Blast Green Party: Gets Blame For W's Election

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Green Party has recruited Cincinnati NAACP president Chris Smitherman as a City Council candidate, and some Democrats already see it as a partnership that is going nowhere. They say the Greens --- who ran Ralph Nader for president in 2000 -- helped put President Bush and Dick Cheney in office by siphoning votes away from Al Gore in Florida.

They think they can pin some responsibility for the Bush years, a presidency that is held in low esteem, on the Greens. It could be a tactic that has some impact. The Bush-Cheney legacy is beginning to look toxic, particularly in urban areas, and the Dems can blame the Greens for the misery caused by an abuse of executive privilege.

UPDATE: This just arrived from a Dem source who notes it is the kind of evidence available to make the case Nader and the Green Party cost Gore the White House.

Local Green Party spokesman Josh Krekeler was indirectly quoted in today's Cincinnati Enquirer saying that Smitherman is the party's most viable local candidate ever. Smitherman served a two-year City Council term, but was defeated for reelection in November 2005. He was a member of the Charter Party then. The Charter Party is a Cincinnati-based political organization that has been active in city politics since the 1920s. It is not aligned with Republicans or Democrats, and declares itself to be an independent group.

The 2000 presidential election still rankles. Gore won the popular vote, but a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling, with a conservative bloc of justices backing Bush, settled a dispute over Florida's electoral votes and handed the Republican the presidency. The conventional wisdom about Florida holds that Nader
's Green Party candidacy took votes from Gore, thus giving America Bush, the Iraq War, and a host of other policies that have harmed the middle and lower classes.

While the conventional wisdom is open to debate, there is no question the Greens and Nader remain close to this day. He's scheduled to address a Green Party conclave in Pennsylvania later this month, and will talk about ballot access -- the difficult legal barriers candidates outside the two main political parties have to surmount to secure spots on the ballot.

The national Green Party's political reform agenda speaks about the the "power of civic action" as an antidote to corporate control over the nation's law-making and regulatory agencies. The agenda is worth reading. Interestingly, the Greens want to abolish the Electoral College, and favor direct election of the president. That means they want to scrap the system that put Bush in power.

GOP Endorsements: 'Poll Watchers' In Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- In the waning days of the 2004 presidential race, Ohio Republicans moved to place about 3,600 poll watchers in largely Democratic and African American precincts. Now, three people who supported the poll watchers and intervened in a court fight so they could remain on duty have received the Republican Party's endorsement to run for office in Cincinnati.

The use of poll watchers, or partisan "challengers," was a controversial tactic in the 2004 contest. The GOP recruits -- many of them lawyers -- were intended to monitor the eligibility of voters on Election Day. They were to selectively challenge people in the targeted areas, mostly urban neighborhoods containing most of the state's black population. It was a maneuver to ensure Ohio remained a Red State in President Bush's column. But opponents saw it as gussied up racial profiling. Even former Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell -- an elected official many Democrats berated for his handling of elections -- publicly recoiled from his party's plan to put challengers in the polls. Blackwell would not defend it.

The Republican plan triggered an uproar, and a federal voting rights lawsuit by Marian Spencer, a former NAACP leader and Cincinnati City Council member who said the poll watchers revived the Jim Crow era of southern segregation. Spencer's lawsuit contended the poll watchers were being assigned to suppress the black vote.

On the other side were Sam Malone, Charles Winburn and Pat Fischer, now the president of the Cincinnati Bar Association. Lawyer Fischer represented Malone and Winburn, who obtained an emergency stay of an injunction that prohibited the use of poll watchers. Last week, the Hamilton County GOP endorsed Fischer, Malone and Winburn as candidates for Cincinnati City Council. Some might ask: Is that an open slap at the city's black community?
Try to stop them from voting, then ask for their votes?

A court filing from the poll watchers lawsuit is HERE , and it specifies the roles that Malone, Winburn and Fischer played in the case. Fischer's law firm has a short synopsis of its activities in support of poll watchers
HERE. A canny Democratic candidate or activist might even capture the page from the law firm's portal -- it points out that they got permission to keep the poll watchers on duty "just before the polls were scheduled to open."

A dissent written by Circuit Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. summarizes the 2004 litigation and the stakes of the dispute. He called it a "matter of historic proportions" and saw a threat of voter intimidation:

"In this appeal, partisan challengers for the first time since the civil rights era seek to target precincts that have a majority African-American population, and without any legal standards or restrictions, challenge the voter qualifications of people as they stand waiting to exercise their fundamental right to vote."

Cole's dissent is HERE. The betting here is that the GOP's candidates will be attacked for their past efforts in such a volatile area. Blackwell's replacement, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, is a Democrat who might lead the charge. She has promised to open up the electoral process, playing off suspicions it was rigged. Inquiring minds want to know: Did the GOP just make her case in Cincinnati?