Sewer questions bring Cranley temper to light

Jason Williams, [email protected] 8:06 a.m. EDT July 8, 2016

(Photo: The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran)

Politics Extra is a weekly column looking inside local politics

 

Mayor John Cranley had a big opportunity to lead City Hall amid last week's revelation of the first major scandal during his administration.

 

He whiffed.

 

Cranley's testy and controlling behavior during and after the June 29 special meeting of City Council about the sewer district mess made the whole thing messier. That behavior has been the Democrat's biggest shortcoming during his 2½ years in office and has failed to fade away even as Cranley has found success fixing fiscal problems, adding thousands of new jobs and putting more cops and firefighters on the streets.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2016/07/08/sewer-questions-bring-cranley-temper-light/86830598/

 

I just think it is funny how this story attributes things to Cranley's term as Mayor that are questionably linked at best.  Cranley became Mayor in December of 2013? The U.S. economy was in much better shape at that point.  So this "adding jobs", fixing fiscal problems success that he takes credit for seems like it would have happened regardless.  He certainly didn't have anything to do with getting GE to locate on the Banks; if anything, that should be attributed to the Mallory years, when the Banks plan that had been around since the mid-90's started being constructed.

 

Cranley definitely got the pension deal done, and he definitely got a  lot of new money in this budget to lots of neighborhoods. Maybe he and his office have helped improve the way the City administration works, I've heard that tossed around.  But the fiscal health of the City largely depends on the broader economy.  If anything Cranley just lucked out with good timing.

City Council is currently debating a bunch of ordinances from the Cranley administration that would give unionized city employees at 5% raise. It's interesting to watch this debate happen for a few reasons. Firstly, it is the City Manager's job to negotiate with the unions. Apparently it was apparently looking like the City Manager wasn't going to give raises, so the Mayor stepped in and is making it a political issue. Secondly, if council passes these ordinances, it's going to result in a projected $7 million deficit in the 2019 fiscal year. Cranley has taken pride in creating a "structurally balanced" budget (a questionable claim to begin with), but by increasing expenditures, the budget will no longer be structurally balanced.

Firstly, it is the City Manager's job to negotiate with the unions. Apparently it was apparently looking like the City Manager wasn't going to give raises

 

Completely untrue. Two other unions negotiated contracts and received raises. The other units were going to receive raises, just not as high as they wanted, so they cried to "mommy" aka John Cranley, who wants their votes and money in the next mayoral election.

Commentary on Cranley's latest moves:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2016/08/commentary-a-coup-d-etat-from-cranley-on.html

 

It's bizarre to see Smitherman and Winburn teaming up with Cranley to bust the budget for sake of giving more money to unions. 

He's doing the same thing here that he did back in 2003 with the Anthem Demutualization pension fund raid.  He has well-established patterns of behavior that the media is slow to detect. 

Cranley is currently holding a press conference with a bunch of Hamilton County Dems pushing his union raise ordinance. He has taken this fully political and is trying to make the other Dems on council look anti-union for not wanting to pass the ordinance.

^So what's the political pragmatism in alienating your partymates? And when is the press conference when Crancel begs for forgiveness for all his false predictions about the streetcar budget?

Frankly, if the streetcar doubles projected daily ridership at an average of 6,000, that will mean Cranley was 2X wrong on his #1 campaign issue, and that alone should be reason to call for his resignation. 

The one thing I've been looking for is the Enquirer article on the project coming under budget.  It seems every major local news source in Cincinnati has reported on this except the Enquirer, who is usually the first one to report on any taxpayer expense related to the project.  Seems kind of funny.  Also a bit funny that they had stuffed way down the article about advertising sales, not plop it onto the front page like they normally do for any small thing like "Streetcar in Accident" ... hit a car door.

Articles like that don't get people from Mason to write letters that start with "Now!"

Any amateur body language interpreters want to give this photo a shot? From the enquirer and today's press conference.

"Hahahah, you're not really gonna arrest me, are ya?"

The one thing I've been looking for is the Enquirer article on the project coming under budget.  It seems every major local news source in Cincinnati has reported on this except the Enquirer, who is usually the first one to report on any taxpayer expense related to the project.  Seems kind of funny.  Also a bit funny that they had stuffed way down the article about advertising sales, not plop it onto the front page like they normally do for any small thing like "Streetcar in Accident" ... hit a car door.

 

Yeah, instead we get this headline: "Streetcar starts service Aug. 7 — but with no passengers"

Yvette Simpson is officially running for Mayor in 2017. Here is her kickoff video.

Can we start a thread for this Mayoral race?

If Yvette can capture the progressive vote and a big chunk of the black vote, it's her election to lose.  Cranley has been pretty good about throwing bones to different neighborhoods, so I'd assume he has a pretty large coalition of support as well, but Yvette can basically use the Mallory election strategy, I'd think.  I suppose the only difference there would be the absence of the "Mallory Machine", which I honestly think is a bit overblown, seeing how ineffective it proved to be for Qualls.

Cincinnati: 2017 Mayoral Election

 

Any discussion concerning the mayoral election should go to the above thread.

 

Any discussion of the actual Cranley administration (not related to his reelection) should stay here.

The obsession among top colleges with extra-curriculars has created a strange ritual in America. In the summer preceding application, students devise heart-warming experiences that will demonstrate how they embody the ideals of empathy, leadership or resilience: they volunteer at soup kitchens for homeless people, they start a sports league for disadvantaged youths, or – if their families are wealthy – they fly off to Haiti, Guatemala or Ghana to build houses for the poor.

 

The above passage is taken from this article about the children of wealthy Chinese applying to U.S. colleges:

https://www.1843magazine.com/features/the-long-march-from-china-to-the-ivies

 

 

Hmm...sounds a lot like Cranley's endless obsession with trotting out his high school mission work in the Dominican Republic.  His parents paid for him to fly down to the island and kick a soccer ball around with some poor kids.  The little turd envisioned what his resume could look like around age 14 and made sure it all fell neatly into place. 

 

Analysis of Cranley budget indicates that some union workers will get lower raises than they might have otherwise:

 

http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/many-cincinnati-city-pay-raises-are-higher-than-youve-heard

The I-Team is reporting that Cranley has ties to the fake urine business.  You can't make this stuff up.  No link yet. 

^I don't know what that is, and I don't want to know!

The I-Team is reporting that Cranley has ties to the fake urine business.  You can't make this stuff up.  No link yet.

 

Betting it is these guys.  https://urineluck.com/ There cant be more than one around here. https://urineluck.com/ We used to work on display projects with them on a variety of design matters as they likened themselves to be a thinktank, invention incubator of sorts. Ended when they got raided by the FBI in 2008 or 09. Dont know why.

 

The company owner contributed $500 to Cranley's campaign in 2013:

 

http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/i-team-man-behind-synthetic-urine-marketed-for-passing-drug-tests-gave-to-john-cranleys-campaign

 

 

I hope an entire I-Team article isnt based around just that.

I hope an entire I-Team article isnt based around just that.

 

Well, Cranley did handsomely reward people who gave incredibly small donations. 

 

Recent letter to the editor about Mayor Cranley:

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/letters/2016/08/25/mayor-lacks-understanding-leadership-values/89377558/

WCPO's photo from Cranley's State of the City speech last night:

 

There is apparently an ordinance being considered to give the City Manager a raise. Now I don't normally care too much about this stuff -- I think the City Manager should get paid well -- but this seems like the 3rd or 4th time that he's been given a raise. Every year we go through a fake crisis about how there isn't any money and we need to cut, cut, cut anything that isn't police and fire, so why exactly does the City Manager deserve yet another raise?

Perhaps we'll see calls for Cranley's resignation over his latest scandal.  Said the Sentinals supported his decision to fire chief Blackwell in an email to Rahm in Chicago.  Sentinals said they didn't. 

^ He's already papered over it by saying that it was some leaders with the Sentinals, not the organization.

It will still be good fodder come election time for Simpson

Ouch:

https://www.scribd.com/document/335157720/Sentinels-letter#from_embed

 

 

^ He's already papered over it by saying that it was some leaders with the Sentinals, not the organization.

 

The Enquirer is soft balling this, like it's a young child's mischief.  They and talk radio would have gone all DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY if this had been Mallory's doing. 

Link to the lawsuit Blackwell filed against Cranley, Black, and the City.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/731r8qmrebur289/AAAmOAXU64S_z86MOyZufR7ka?dl=0&preview=Blackwell+v+City+complaint.pdf

Four councilmen call for an investigation into the firing of Blackwell:

http://wvxu.org/post/council-members-want-blackwell-firing-investigated-mayor-calls-move-political#stream/0

 

What's interesting is that the four were Young, Simpson, Seelbach, and Winburn.  There have been rumors that Winburn might run for Mayor.  A Mayor Winburn isn't an improvement over a Mayor Cranley. 

Cranley claims that he though the settlement was public and The Enquirer covers for him:

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/31/cranley-had-responsibility-level-public-settlement/95999684/?fb_action_ids=10212232076862793&fb_action_types=og.comments

John Cranley basically just accused the Business Courier of being fake news:

 

Cranley rejected the notion that the city is facing financial problems, citing record-high overall revenues and a projected deficit of only $7.1 million for fiscal year 2018. He said this story is an attempt to help his political opponents. The raises were presented to Standard & Poors and Moody’s and the credit-rating agencies still upgraded the city’s credit in October, he added

 

“You’ve been wrong for four years about my ability to balance the budget,” Cranley said. “The budget is fine. It is nothing compared to the $30 million deficit I was facing when I was elected.”

 

He really can't take criticism. At. All. If anyone criticizes him, he claims they're lying and that they're in the bag for his opponents.

Having a deficit of $7.1M does not equal a balanced budget.

 

WHomever wins the election this Fall, they need to fire Art Dahlburg. That guy is a clown who never does anything positive, gets the cities he has worked in sued from his actions. He needs to go.

Ohio Democratic Party just voted to re-endorse all of the Dem incumbents, including Cranley. Did not even give Simpson or Richardson a chance to fight for the Dem nomination. ODP Chair David Pepper said, "If we start to say [to incumbents], 'Sorry, it's open season,' it makes it difficult to build up the party." But if the ODP keeps endorsing non-progressive Dems, they're going to lose the younger demographics--either to another party, or to another state where progressive things are happening.

^Too bad they couldn't be bothered to endorse Qualls last time. What a joke.

Ohio Democratic Party just voted to re-endorse all of the Dem incumbents, including Cranley. Did not even give Simpson or Richardson a chance to fight for the Dem nomination. ODP Chair David Pepper said, "If we start to say [to incumbents], 'Sorry, it's open season,' it makes it difficult to build up the party." But if the ODP keeps endorsing non-progressive Dems, they're going to lose the younger demographics--either to another party, or to another state where progressive things are happening.

 

That's because the Ohio dems is run by Pepper, would you have expected anything else?  They need to get that guy out of there if they want to be a successful party going forward (get Cincinnati establishment Dem stink out of the state level).

^Too bad they couldn't be bothered to endorse Qualls last time. What a joke.

 

Qualls and Mallory were buddies, and Mallory defeated Pepper in the 2005 mayor's race.  Pepper will never endorse any of Mallory's people, which includes Simpson. 

Cranley is already starting his propaganda machine I see:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/12/new-poll-in-cincinnati-mayoral-race-shows-cranley.html?ana=fbk

"Simpson criticized Cranley for another part of the poll that said it will cost $150 million to take the streetcar from its current end point near Findlay Market to Uptown. The city has no current cost estimate for a streetcar expansion and has refused to study it."

 

Cranley is pulling numbers out of his @$$ regarding streetcar extensions.

This guy is trying to put all stop to the streetcar. He is trying to take advantage of Trump saying he will take federal funding from the city if they are sanctuary cities. He simply do not care about what other funds the city gets from the feds. It is just stupid to even take a chance.

Per WVXU's Jay Hanselman on Twitter:

 

Cincy manager projects budget shortfall for next fiscal year will be $25.1 million.

 

The revised income tax forecast for the next fiscal year has been reduced by $14.7 million.

 

Non-public safety depts. being asked to identify a 10% budget reduction plan and public safety depts. are being asked to cut 3%.

 

 

So the mayor forced through big raises for all city employees this year (an election year) and now we're facing a $25 million budget shortfall. And every department will get cut except for police and fire. The percentage of our total city budget going towards police and fire continues to grow.

I just drove down MLK today and finally -- after at least a 2 year delay -- saw a surveying crew down by the Forum Apartments.  So looks like we had to put up with 2-3 years of blight so that MLK can be under construction during an election year. 

How did these "outtakes" appear on youtube?  Oh yeah, so that we'd see just how supposedly human and normal Cranley is:

 

 

I just drove down MLK today and finally -- after at least a 2 year delay -- saw a surveying crew down by the Forum Apartments.  So looks like we had to put up with 2-3 years of blight so that MLK can be under construction during an election year.

 

I think you're seeing a nefarious plan when actually it's just that these projects take a long time, especially since this project has involved coordination with ODOT for the Hopple exchange reconfiguration. That lower stretch of MLK has been continuously under construction for a long time with lane restrictions for most of 2016. I think the shuttered apartment buildings on the north side were demolished in late 2015, then they've been doing landscaping and building reinforcing walls, and on the south side they've moved utilities. It all takes a long time, which is frustrating. But I don't think it has anything to do with the mayoral election.

According to an article I wrote in 2011, it had just been fully funded and the buildings were supposed to be down by 2013.  They were all still standing and mostly occupied when Cranley took office, probably because the I-75 work itself was delayed by budget issues.  But the buildings stood vacant for most of 2014-2015 and weren't demolished until late 2015 or early 2016. 

 

An entire 4-year UC class will know nothing but empty buildings and bare ground.