Its no coincidence that

 

1) Smitherman introduced his strong mayor amendment 2 days ago

 

&

 

2) Harry Black, a man instrumental in helping to change Richmond from a council form of gov to a strong mayor with experience in a strong mayor form of gov in baltimore as well, is cranley's nominee yesterday

 

Smitherman and Cranley are going to make some serious power plays in the near future

So what are we going to do about it, then?  Kneel over and let that happen? 

 

Hopefully we can keep things in check somehow and not let this get out of hand.  There is too much good happening for one person to stop it.

Smitherman was always wanting a way to recall the mayor. Maybe we should support him in this endeavour.

Well, if he hasn't changed his mind...

It's unlikely that City Council would approve Smitherman's plan. Smitherman would have to collect signatures to get it on the ballot.

Relevant given the discussion and that Mayor Kevin Johnson forced out ex-Cincinnati CM John Shirey!

 

Strong Mayor, Weak Mayor, No Mayor—In Terms of Policy, It May Not Matter Much

Efforts to reform municipal governance systems have little impact on actual policies, researchers say.

Sam Sturgis @sampsturgis

Jul 31, 2014

 

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has spent the past several years arguing that the mayor of Sacramento should have more power. Under current law, Sacramento’s City Council gets final say regarding the city budget, with the mayor getting just one vote on the council. And the budgetary process is directed not by the mayor, but by the city manager, a council-appointed official.

 

Should a referendum set to appear on the November ballot—nicknamed the “strong mayor measure”—pass, Mayor Johnson would finally, according to Johnson and his supporters, have the authority to guide the city’s policies in the direction that voters actually want.

 

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2014/07/strong-mayor-weak-mayor-no-mayorin-terms-of-policy-it-may-not-matter-much/375347/

^ Agreed, I don't think city council would vote to take their own power away and give it over to the mayor, even if a majority happen to be politically aligned with him (sometimes).

 

Though if it did end up on a ballot, it would depend on the expected turnout and how it gets marketed.

PG and Smitherman each would because they see themselves as mayor material.  They could make secret promises to at least one other councilman each (you'll be vice mayor, blah blah) and pretty soon you're at a majority.

 

Would the position of "Council President" be decided by council vote? If so I could see a member or two looking at the creation of that position as an opportunity.

The real disaster of the Cranley term is that he's driven off everyone who was attracted to politics during the Mallory years.  This means the only people getting in for the next 7 years are the ones who love scumbags -- which means that they themselves are necessarily scumbags. 

^-Nah, I'd say the opposite, though I do have a distant view, he's mobilized people who are upset with the direction he's moving the city into.

 

I could not imagine him as a strong mayor, Cincinnati is screwed if he pushes that through :(

It's mobilized some of the young Dems politically, like in the party, but I think Jake right about city hall.

PG and Smitherman each would because they see themselves as mayor material.  They could make secret promises to at least one other councilman each (you'll be vice mayor, blah blah) and pretty soon you're at a majority.

 

PG has no interest in Mayor. He is positioning for statewide office. I wish he was interested in mayor, but he's not.

Smitherman was always wanting a way to recall the mayor. Maybe we should support him in this endeavour.

Well, if he hasn't changed his mind...

 

Except smithermans strong mayor amendment now doesn't have a recall provision...

 

When mallory was in office, the mayor had too much power

 

Now that his man cranley is in office, the mayor has too little power. This is all pre planned. Smitherman wants to be mayor and he doesn't care how it happens(under smitherman proposal If the mayor leaves for any reason, he appoints the new mayor)

 

I would expect a bombardment of am radio in favor of the strong mayor system.  They don't need many signatures to get it on the ballot due to the abysmal voting turnout. They are counting on that again. Am appearances will attack council by stating:

1) streetcar

2) mahoganys and other loans

3) parking plan

4) atrium

 

Cranley and smitherman are always up to something. Also I am sure that if a strong mayor gov does succeed, harry black will have a great job in the cranley administration

I have a hard time seeing this pass, because the people who like Cranley would remember how they wouldn't want Mallory with these powers, and vice-versa. BUT...

 

1) I also once thought Qualls was a shoo-in (I have a bad track record), and

2) Cincinnatians love to change their structure of government every few years.

I have a hard time seeing this pass, because the people who like Cranley would remember how they wouldn't want Mallory with these powers, and vice-versa. BUT...

 

1) I also once thought Qualls was a shoo-in (I have a bad track record), and

2) Cincinnatians love to change their structure of government every few years.

 

The same people who voted cranley in last election will go for this because they support cranley. Republicans, conservative dems like luken and Rhodes, and tea partiers.  Am radio hosts will promote it non stop.

 

These people will come out to vote. The question is, will the people who Sat out last election will.

A lot of people were willing to stand in frigid weather during the holiday season to collect signatures on the streetcar petitions last December.  If Smitherman and Cranley try to impose a "strong mayor" form of government, I wouldn't be surprised if a similar mobilization occurs.  I'd expect an uproar from opponents of the idea, which could be a larger group than that of streetcar supporters.  I may be wrong but I'd think voters want to maintain the checks and balances in city government that our current system allow, not have less. 

 

I suspect more Cincinnati voters are on to Cranley than they were last year.  Then, some [low-info] people probably didn't vote because both candidates were [ostensibly] Democrats.  And Laure Quinlivan's defeat was a surprise, so an anti-streetcar council majority wasn't anticipated.  I think times have changed since the last election.

Everyone's seeing the exact reason why the charter reforms were made back in the mid-1920s.  Sure there are cases of multi-generational political machines presiding over cities that have thrived (Chicago, Boston), but those cities are also the scenes of massive, long-running corruption.  The real problem is that city council or other elected office does not serve as a stepping board for the mayor's seat in those cities.  Traditionally our mayors have come from the bottom up, whereas someone like Rahm Emanuel was essentially "appointed" from the top down.  That's not Democracy. 

 

Cincinnati's charter form of government has given people who weren't born into the political system a way in and their constituencies a modicum of real power.  Recent progressive examples include Yvette Simpson, Chris Seelbach, and Laure Quinlivan, and Roxanne is of course the greatest example.  Others like Winburn, Smitherman, and Thomas are also from modest origins.  People like David Pepper and Sittenfeld and Cranley, each from insanely privileged backrounds, are relatively rare.  We have seen some people abuse our system (Ken Blackwell being perhaps the most flagrant example -- a backstabber so vile that he actually had a hit taken out on him during a council meeting) but our system also *limits* the potential of these invidious characters. 

 

Right now our system is limiting the power of insane people like Cranley and Smitherman.  Revert to a traditional strong mayor system and suddenly everyone with a soul is shut out of the process. 

Cranley is going after Yvette Simpson pretty good now.  Said her barricades initiative was a failure & also accused her of insulting cincinnati when criticizing his choice for City Manager.

 

'She's attacking cincinnati by saying we have to emulate phoenix, Portland...Most offensively, she attacked baltimore'

 

http://www.700wlw.com/media/podcast-bill-cunningham-bill_cunningham/cranley-uc-terrorism-80114-25106681/

 

Cranley is already campaigning for the 2017 race.

 

He also said he has always supported an executive mayor form of gov

Yeah I heard that segment. 

 

I live right by the barricades.  There is no question that they were effective in scattering the prostitution activity. 

'She's attacking cincinnati by saying we have to emulate phoenix, Portland...Most offensively, she attacked baltimore'

 

Can we get a photoshop of Cranley wearing a Ravens jersey with that quote at the bottom?

Open John Cranley's mouth, insert John Cranley's foot

 

 

Chief: Barricades to cut down on prostitution had 'positive impact'

Vice: Prostitution didn't move to other neighborhoods

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/news/chief-barricades-to-cut-down-on-prostitution-worked/27296530#ixzz39R4Nt6kf

I posted this in the crime section but what the heck

Simpson's take

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/08/04/simpson-barricades-provided-peace-mind/13570969/

According to Chris Seelbach on Twitter, citizens will only have one opportunity to have input on Cranley's City Manager choice. It'll be tomorrow in the Rules Committee at 10 a.m.

Here's your to-do list, Harry Black

 

Welcome to Cincinnati, Harry Black.

 

If you’re confirmed as the next city manager, we’d like to propose a to-do list for you:

 

• Rebalance the share of the budget earmarked for public safety. While safety remains a local government’s top priority, two-thirds of Cincinnati’s operating budget now goes to police and fire, even though they include only one-third of its employees. Much of this has to do with generous contract benefits for public safety employees. Negotiating more equitable contracts will help correct this growing imbalance in the budget.

 

• Get the Cincinnati streetcar to Uptown neighborhoods. The original plan envisioned linking Uptown, Over-the-Rhine and Downtown, and that should remain a goal for the system. The new Interstate 71 interchange at Martin Luther King will help drive investment and jobs to Uptown, which is already the region’s second-largest jobs center after Downtown. Connecting them via the streetcar will help attract jobs and residents and improve connectivity throughout the basin...

 

There's more in the link. I figure we should keep all discussion of Harry Black in the John Cranley topic. Does anyone think he should have his own topic? I think the conversations would overlap too much. And I don't believe we had a topic for the former manager, Milton Dohoney, Jr.

With the impending nomination of harry black, there will essentially be two John cranleys now in cincinnati

 

From his answers today, it's clear he is following orders

Not really a surprise, but Harry Black will carry out john cranley's agenda

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2014/08/no-mystery-here-expect-new-city-manager-to-take.html

God these people do not understand cities in the 21st century at all. Providing a pleasant place for hard working families to live is something the suburbs beat the cities at 50 years ago. You will never, ever grow a city in 2014 by making sure the trash gets picked up every week for 50 cents less than the year before while you ignore the things that Millennials want in a city.

Maybe Cranley was right to be afraid of Burnet Woods. Somebody found a shallow grave there.

You can see the picture here

http://imgur.com/2x08XqZ

What ever happened to Kevin Osborne being the spokesperson for Cranley? I haven't seen his name anywhere.

What ever happened to Kevin Osborne being the spokesperson for Cranley? I haven't seen his name anywhere.

What do you mean? He's been everywhere with kincaid.

He never tweets anymore, and I never hear his name when someone is contacting Cranley. No one ever quotes him. It seems to always be Kincaid (who is not cut out to be a spokesperson).

He never tweets anymore, and I never hear his name when someone is contacting Cranley. No one ever quotes him. It seems to always be Kincaid (who is not cut out to be a spokesperson).

Maybe Osborne is in the ^^^ shallow grave.

I get the impression that Osborne is doing more behind the scenes. He's probably writing press releases that come out of Cranley's office.

I get the impression that Osborne is doing more behind the scenes. He's probably writing press releases that come out of Cranley's office.

 

Well the thing is that Cranley sort of trapped himself because if he fires Osborne he could turn around and start writing tons of anti-Cranley stuff for whatever publication.  Meanwhile Osborne trapped himself -- what a meaningless existence for $75,000. 

Looks like the changes to the zoning code to conform with Plan Cincinnati are on the Crancel chopping block.

 

From a WVXU interview:

 

"I'm not sure it's worth pursuing in light of the kind of negative reaction we're getting everywhere we go with it," Cranley said.  "I'm not proposing this and I'm not sure candidly that the zoning code needs a lot of fixing."

 

That was in response to the Mt. Adams council opposing the allowance of taller buildings, which of course the Planning Department said would not be included in the second draft of the zoning code after hearing the residents' complaints.

^ So that one issue in Mt. Adams is what Cranley is calling a "negative reaction we're getting everywhere"?

 

I find it weird he is so against this, since so many diverse neighborhoods are embracing it. I believe Westwood, College Hill, Walnut Hills, Madisonville, and others have signed on to the Form-Based Code. Where is the popular opposition coming from? Why is Cranley trying to manufacture it?

^If I had to guess it would be because the process was started with Roxanne and Mark Mallory and therefore it must be bad. Seriously.

 

An anecdote from the most recent Westwood Coalition meeting regarding their future form based code and design of "Westwood Square": the ostensible opponents of FBC and the changes necessary for westwood square asked a "developer friend" of theirs to come discuss the potential changes from his point of view. To the surprise of all, and especially the folks who asked him to come speak, he opened with "You are so lucky to be making these changes using form based code." The opponents were wide-eyed and unhappy to hear him say this of course, while the other 85% of the community interested in seeing these changes were positively ecstatic.

 

The naysayers will always be proven wrong. Cranley continues to be on the wrong side of every issue.

I'm still waiting for Cranley to introduce anything that isn't the dismantling of a plan from the previous administration.  We're nearly a year into his term, and I can't name a single idea or change that he has championed.

^Two interstate interchanges

He hired a ton of cops, adding significantly to the long-term pension burden.

Ha!  Points taken.

He hired a ton of cops, adding significantly to the long-term pension burden.

 

Cranley loves treating problems, not curing them. Like a crooked doctor.

.

 

 

 

 

Save the Date!

Beyond Civility Side-by-Side

Congressman Steve Chabot ®

Mayor John Cranley (D)

November 11th, 2014

Reception: 5:30-6:30

Program: 6:30-8:00

Information regarding reservations, location, etc will be released at a later date.

http://beyondcivility.org/

 

Cranley's continuing to lead by undoing previous work:

 

http://www.wlwt.com/news/mayor-wants-to-end-cincinnatis-onetrash-cart-rule/28120750

 

I only need to put my trash out every two weeks, on the recycling schedule.  Mostly 'cause I'm lazy but also because we don't fill the 65-gallon trash can since we recycle so much - exactly how the plan was designed.  Granted, we're a small family, but the idea was always to encourage recycling by giving unlimited large green bins and smaller trash bins.

 

Definitely smacks of another play to the suburbs.  It's big houses with lots of kids that throw out more than 95 gallons of trash every week.

Cranley's continuing to lead by undoing previous work spending cuts, without identifying any new sources of revenue.

 

Tiresome.

Cranley's continuing to lead by undoing previous work:

 

http://www.wlwt.com/news/mayor-wants-to-end-cincinnatis-onetrash-cart-rule/28120750

 

I only need to put my trash out every two weeks, on the recycling schedule.  Mostly 'cause I'm lazy but also because we don't fill the 65-gallon trash can since we recycle so much - exactly how the plan was designed.  Granted, we're a small family, but the idea was always to encourage recycling by giving unlimited large green bins and smaller trash bins.

 

Definitely smacks of another play to the suburbs.  It's big houses with lots of kids that throw out more than 95 gallons of trash every week.

 

Ha, we have four units sharing 300 gallons and we can't fill it up. That's six people, two of which own a food truck!

Yeah total nonsense from Cranley.  People should be shamed for throwing out that much stuff.  What the hell are they doing?  I live by myself and generate about two bags of garbage per month, most of it junk mail. 

Main ideas in the mayor's State of the City address:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/09/18/cranley-how-about-a-beer-garden-in-mount-airy.html?ana=twt&page=2

 

A few thoughts:

 

-The city manager just affirmed a few days ago that the city wouldn't be bankrolling restaurants anymore.  But the mayor's now proposing one for Westwood Town Center.

 

-Is the city not only staying in the restaurant business, but also getting into the bar business in the form of a beer garden in Mt. Airy Forest?  Will the intoxicated be able to find their way out of the woods?

 

-A grocery store and accompanying strip shopping center opened on Reading Rd. at Forest Ave. in the heart of Avondale in the 1980s.  It failed miserably and quickly became an eyesore.  Of course, times can change.  Will it work now?

 

-Is the mayor's Wasson Way bike trail support earnest, or a means of forever preventing light rail along the line?

 

 

 

 

Is Mayor Cranley a visionary?  In some ways, maybe.  In a lot of ways, not really.  He said he would focus on the neighborhoods but what has he done really since he got into office.  Proposing a beer garden in a park?  Yeah that is neat and should happen, but I don't think it is all that impressive. 

 

Mayor Cranley can continue to do the basic services like he proposed.  Let the visionaries provide the visions and don't let him get his hands on it too much!