Surprise!!! Lawyer Who Pushed 'Major Expansion' Of Colerain Township Garbage Dump Wants To Put Law Partner Pat Fischer In Judgeship

Landill Expansion Among Career Highlights

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Cincinnati Enquirer ran lawyer Joseph Trauth's letter-to-the-editor today without mentioning that the judicial candidate he backs is his partner at Keating Muething & Klekamp, a downtown Cincinnati law firm.  It's a significant omission.  Trauth has a reputation as a hired gun for major corporations.  Trauth favors his partner, Pat Fischer, over Democratic Judge William L. Mallory in the race for a seat on Ohio's 1st District Court of Appeals.  Cincinnati Magazine in October 2008 reported that, "Trauth specializes in land use battles, generally squaring off against citizens and local governments."  Here are a couple of Trauth's legal accomplishments as taken from the official bio posted on the law firm's website:

"Obtained regulatory approval for the Star 64 1,000 foot TV/radio tower in the City of Cincinnati at the top of Winton Road near North Bend Road."

"Handled cases for Rumpke Landfill, Inc. involving the rezoning for a major expansion of the Colerain Township, Hamilton County, Ohio Rumpke landfill, expanding their landfill area by 65 acres and creating a planned light industrial district of 73 acres."

The Enquirer has been criticized before for wearing blinders about Trauth. NewsAche, a defunct blog that was authored by an Enquirer insider had this to say in Feb. 2008:

"Read Cliff Radel's near-blow job today about Joe Trauth, a lawyer who specializes in representing big corporations in real estate and zoning fights. He's represented home builders, shopping center developers, Wal-Mart and Rumpke. Radel did manage to quote one attorney who's faced Trauth in some of these cases, but this story is a largely uncritical, unskeptical look at a corporate hired gun. No attempt is made to look at the outcomes of the cases Trauth has won. Have they been good for the community? Trauth is never asked if he feels like a corporate bully, overwhelming lesser-funded groups of homeowners who oppose many of these projects. That would be disrespectful. Radel didn't say what Trauth's hourly rate is, or how Trauth has spent the money he's made representing big companies. (Radel does write that Trauth represents small clients, but names only one and doesn't talk to any. I'll guess that Trauth has many more large clients than small ones.)


"Radel is capable of this kind of reporting, but was he given the time and the direction to pursue something other than what was published? Doubtful. The Enquirer doesn't have the resources or the will to hold someone like Trauth accountable, because that type of journalism takes time and costs money, and Radel probably has other work that needs to be done. Overall, I'm not sure why this story was assigned, why it was published, or why it was on the front page. But this is the kind of uncritical journalism produced by stingy, dying newspapers."

Judge Bill Mallory is my friend and I know first hand that he is fair, hardworking and has a first-rate legal mind. His docket was always up-to-date, cases did not lag and justice did not drag. He is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police. Mallory has served as a judge in Hamilton County since the mid 1990s.  He is the first African American ever to serve on the Court of Appeals in Hamilton County.  Here's what I had to say back in January: "When I retired from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, he invited me to be his law clerk (a job with the archaic title 'constable') for a time while he served on the Common Pleas bench. He thought it would be enlightening for a journalist to see how things worked from the inside. He was right. But I also got to see him at work -- how he was consistently conscientious and conscious of his responsibility to society, all levels or society. He knew the world wasn't perfect. But he was adamant in his pursuit of justice."

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 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?