Phil Heimlich Registers As City Hall Lobbyist: Dead GOP Political Career Puts Heimlich To Work For Concrete Company

Heimlich's Lobbyist Registration

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Almost four years after he was voted out of office as a Hamilton County Commissioner, Phil Heimlich is back, or sort of back.  The one-time star of conservative GOP politics in SW Ohio has signed on as a City Hall legislative agent -- lobbyist -- for Hilltop Companies, which runs a ready mixed concrete business in Cincinnati.  Heimlich used to be a city council member.   Hilltop says it is the only ready mixed supplier with a plant in the downtown market.  The company's website is available here. The new gig for Heimlich -- the son of Dr. Henry Heimlich -- marks another leg on the long downward trajectory of his political career. In 2006, Heimlich was riding high and was the running mate of former Ohio Atty. Gen. Jim Petro, who wanted to move into the governor's mansion. Their campaign flopped.  Heimlich quit the ticket and sought reelection as commissioner. He was whipped by Democrat David Pepper. Two years ago, Heimlich tried to run for Congress in OH-02 against Jean Schmidt. He quit that race, too.

Now he's the lobbyist for a company that says this about concrete: "Hilltop management realizes the importance of aggregates in our daily lives. Mining of sand and gravel in our modern world is only a transitional use of the land, one which provides vital resources for community needs. This land, however, will achieve future use through reclamation and the results of this process will greatly benefit future generations. By unifying mining with community interest and implementing land use planning, Hilltop will continue to work in partnership with the communities in which it is located to address their long term needs."

Heimlich has dabbled as a radio talk show host, and runs a website called Hard Truths, which is Christian oriented. He talks about his life's journey being paved with "distinguished public and community service." Now it is being paved with concrete. Here's an excerpt from Heimlich's Hard Truths:

"As host of Hard Truths with Phil Heimlich, Phil “seeks the difficult answers where they can best be found: through the pages of history; through our own common sense; and most importantly, in the Word of God.  Phil’s journey to hosting Hard Truths has been long, paved with distinguished public and community service. It is his unique experiences and commitment to faith which drives Phil to continue his service.

"A graduate of Stanford University with Distinction in 1975, Phil went on to earn his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1979. While serving as Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor in Cincinnati, Phil specialized in felony criminal prosecution, including murder, rape, robbery, assault and white-collar offenses."

Former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken: Registers As City Hall Lobbyist

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Democratic mayor left office in 2005. He's been a politician, a lawyer, the TV anchorman on Channel 5 who replaced Jerry Springer, and now a lobbyist. There's a quip going around -- often attributed to Luken -- that if he ever sold used cars he'd have worked in all of the bottom five. Luken filed his registration forms in the council clerk's office. He's representing Humana Inc., the health benefits firm based in Louisville, and KeyCorp, the big regional bank from Cleveland.

Last year, he became a Statehouse lobbyist whose portfolio in Columbus includes Case Western Reserve University, the Distilled Spirits Council, AT&T and the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers. In Cincinnati, Humana is the biggie. The company has thousands of employees and a huge slice of the health insurance benefits business in the Cincinnati area, including government-sponsored plans. Luken had two stints as mayor. They were interrupted by a term representing Ohio's 1st Congressional District, a House seat he gave up to become a local news TV anchor. He is in the record books for serving as mayor longer than any person in Cincinnati's history.