1 hour ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

Let's not slander her like that. 

 

She did it to herself.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/01/06/councilwoman-abstains-from-vote-recognizing-peacef.html

10 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

 

She did it to herself.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/01/06/councilwoman-abstains-from-vote-recognizing-peacef.html

It is a big leap from saying "

 she said the abstention was consistent with her other votes pertaining to state or federal issues.

“They’re beyond our jurisdiction,” she said. “I absolutely condemn the rioting taking place in D.C. It needs to stop. Period." 

 

to drawing the conclusion that she is a QAnon supporting member who believes in the conspiracy theories. What she made was a non-statement. It does not necessarily say anything about her personal beliefs. Yes, we can infer that she is a conservative and that she generally supports Republicans and their causes, but to equate a non-statement to being a QAnon member is not a legitimate conclusion. 

9 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

She did it to herself.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/01/06/councilwoman-abstains-from-vote-recognizing-peacef.html

 

If Charter Committee members stood by their stated mission, they would have all abstained from that vote as well. 

54 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

to drawing the conclusion that she is a QAnon supporting member who believes in the conspiracy theories. What she made was a non-statement. It does not necessarily say anything about her personal beliefs. Yes, we can infer that she is a conservative and that she generally supports Republicans and their causes, but to equate a non-statement to being a QAnon member is not a legitimate conclusion. 

 

Other people have also pointed out that she follows several Q Anon conspiracy theory social media accounts.

 

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...

7 minutes ago, DEPACincy said:

 

Other people have also pointed out that she follows several Q Anon conspiracy theory social media accounts.

 

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...

Unrelated, I was disappointed when she was appointed to council. However,  A lot of people I know were glad that she stepped down as a magistrate to take the council position because they found her frustrating in that role. 

 

 

Edited March 23, 20214 yr by Brutus_buckeye

2 hours ago, DEPACincy said:

 

Other people have also pointed out that she follows several Q Anon conspiracy theory social media accounts.

 

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...

My car radio has a preset for 700wlw. I use it to check in on the crazy from time to time. 

Following a social media account isn't the same as being active or an administrator of such as well. 

56 minutes ago, TheCOV said:

My car radio has a preset for 700wlw. I use it to check in on the crazy from time to time. 

Following a social media account isn't the same as being active or an administrator of such as well. 

 

What about liking and retweeting it? Which she has also done. 

 

Also, it's a little bit different, no? You're talking about a talk radio station with some pretty crazy ideas. But are they peddling conspiracy theories about a global cabal of pedophile cannibals? Would you follow twitter accounts like that just to "check in on the crazy"? I don't think you would. 

Yeah that's too far -- like watching snuff porn. Whereas WLW is more like wet-and-messy fetish.

Interesting... so does anyone know of any restrictions for all this federal money??? Can a portion of this money be used for projects such as the new convention center hotel???

 

 

Mayor, ArtsWave propose massive cash infusion to bring back Blink, restart region’s arts

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/03/24/blink-returning-to-cincinnati.html

6 hours ago, 646empire said:

Interesting... so does anyone know of any restrictions for all this federal money??? Can a portion of this money be used for projects such as the new convention center hotel???

 

 

Mayor, ArtsWave propose massive cash infusion to bring back Blink, restart region’s arts

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/03/24/blink-returning-to-cincinnati.html

“Under the final bill, states and localities would have to use the funds to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and economic downturn through measures such as assisting small businesses, boosting essential worker pay, funding government services affected by a revenue shortfall or making infrastructure investments.” 
 

Got this quote from an online site. Not sure if the hotel falls under infrastructure or not.

Edited March 24, 20214 yr by Ucgrad2015

3 minutes ago, Ucgrad2015 said:

“Under the final bill, states and localities would have to use the funds to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and economic downturn through measures such as assisting small businesses, boosting essential worker pay, funding government services affected by a revenue shortfall or making infrastructure investments.” 
 

Got this quote from an online site. Not sure if the hotel falls under infrastructure or Hotz 

Thank you, so I’m assuming it (the hotel) wouldn’t be eligible. But a streetcar extension under a new mayor or new buses and such should. New Western Hills Viaduct could be fully paid for now? 290 million is ALOT of cash. I wonder if cranley is gonna try to spend a ton of it before he leaves. I’m sure they will also use some of it for the street redo in front of FCC Stadium. 

16 minutes ago, 646empire said:

Thank you, so I’m assuming it (the hotel) wouldn’t be eligible. But a streetcar extension under a new mayor or new buses and such should. New Western Hills Viaduct could be fully paid for now? 290 million is ALOT of cash. I wonder if cranley is gonna try to spend a ton of it before he leaves. I’m sure they will also use some of it for the street redo in front of FCC Stadium. 

There is that new Ohio law that will make it easier to finance large projects like the Sherwin Williams HQ in Cleveland and maybe the Convention Center hotel. This should help move things along. 

2 hours ago, 646empire said:

Thank you, so I’m assuming it (the hotel) wouldn’t be eligible. But a streetcar extension under a new mayor or new buses and such should. New Western Hills Viaduct could be fully paid for now? 290 million is ALOT of cash. I wonder if cranley is gonna try to spend a ton of it before he leaves. I’m sure they will also use some of it for the street redo in front of FCC Stadium. 

 

Considering the large backlog of infrastructure maintenance, no $290 million is not a lot of cash. The street rehab budget has an annual funding gap of ~$20 million. Parks and Rec both have a large backlog of facility renovations as well.

 

That said, the City Manager's memo is out and it does not include the hotel, the WHV replacement, or anything for the street car. You can dig through it here.

1 hour ago, Dev said:

Considering the large backlog of infrastructure maintenance, no $290 million is not a lot of cash.

My point is Cincinnati didn’t experience 290 million dollars in backlogged maintenance and or budget losses due to COVID. As a matter of fact it’s been reported budget losses from cities across the country are coming out much lower than expected even here in NYC,  Which was a core reason republicans argued this much money wasnt needed at all. Getting a lump sum of 290 million from the feds IS a lot and a big deal, Greater Cincy in total will receive upwards of 900 Million dollars.

Here’s a list they published stating where all the money will go. No hotel money but I do like funds for central parkway.  

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/03/24/city-plans-for-stimulus-funds.html

 

15 hours ago, 646empire said:

My point is Cincinnati didn’t experience 290 million dollars in backlogged maintenance and or budget losses due to COVID. As a matter of fact it’s been reported budget losses from cities across the country are coming out much lower than expected even here in NYC,  Which was a core reason republicans argued this much money wasnt needed at all. Getting a lump sum of 290 million from the feds IS a lot and a big deal, Greater Cincy in total will receive upwards of 900 Million dollars.

 

Cincinnati's budget deficit was originally $25.6 million (down to $18.7 million according to the article), so the $290 million they received is well over 10X the amount of money they actually needed to cover the hardships being faced by COVID.  The FY 2022 and 2023 deficits have nothing to do with COVID. The city seems to be spending the bulk of the money on pre-COVID deferred maintenance and feel-good social services.

1 hour ago, Ram23 said:

 

Cincinnati's budget deficit was originally $25.6 million (down to $18.7 million according to the article), so the $290 million they received is well over 10X the amount of money they actually needed to cover the hardships being faced by COVID.  The FY 2022 and 2023 deficits have nothing to do with COVID. The city seems to be spending the bulk of the money on pre-COVID deferred maintenance and feel-good social services.

Spot on. It’s definitely a windfall.

Political dispute between Charter, Democratic committees blows up with candidate’s rebuke

 

A growing clash between the Charter Committee and the Cincinnati Democratic Committee boiled over Wednesday when Victoria Parks, a former Hamilton County commissioner and high-profile candidate for City Council, announced she is turning down Charter’s endorsement.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/04/07/political-dispute-between-charter-democratic-commi.html

 

The Hamilton County/Cincinnati Democratic Party can't get out of their own way. They are hopeless. I thought maybe it would get better when they got rid of Tim Burke, but it doesn't seem like it'll get any better.

Bauman is out of the race

 

Twitter is the great downfall for so many. I don't think I've wrote too many cringe worthy things over my time on social media but I've also made it a habit to pretty much delete anything that's not related to my photography or work from Facebook when it pops up under the memories feature (it's a good reminder to review past posts).

Link to some of the tweets - per the Enquirer hard copy prints of the Tweets were mailed to local Democratic party leaders:

 

https://imgur.com/a/hj2vkvZ

 

You can see that some of the words were bold, so whoever dug this up just searched Bauman's tweets for certain key words that are likely tied to something that can get someone cancelled. "Black," "chick," "women," etc. Simple, but effective strategy. I wouldn't be surprised if another Dem running for council was the one who dug these up.

 

I think if you're going to try and become a public figure, you should delete and/or lock down whatever personal social media accounts you have and set up a public facing one, only.

 

I imagine Bauman dropping out is a gut punch to many on this board considering how much he talked about vision zero, urbanism and transit. 

 

That being said, can't really defend those tweets. 

Do not tweet.

Looks like Dereks posts were potentially a product of the attitudes and cockiness that's often associated with some police officers.

Councilman proposes increase in Cincinnati earnings tax

 

Cincinnati’s earnings tax would rise from 1.8% to 1.9% under a charter amendment being proposed by Councilman Chris Seelbach, the revenue of which would be devoted to affordable housing for low-income people living inside the city.

 

Seelbach made his announcement at the end of Monday’s budget committee meeting, saying the proposal is aimed at addressing the shortage of affordable housing within the city and would raise $17 million in the first year it was in effect.

 

The tax increase would be for nine years, with it being renewable after that.

 

The funds would be divided:

 

...below and more!

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/06/21/councilman-proposes-increase-in-cincinnati-earning.html

 

12 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Councilman proposes increase in Cincinnati earnings tax

 

 

That was quick. The new 1.8% rate has been in effect for less than a year and council is already trying to inch it back up.

 

I had a feeling that with SORTA funding shifted to the county via sales tax, the city would try to come after that 0.3% to pad their own books - I just thought they'd wait a bit longer than 9 months to start.

1 minute ago, Ram23 said:

 

That was quick. The new 1.8% rate has been in effect for less than a year and council is already trying to inch it back up.

 

I had a feeling that with SORTA funding shifted to the county via sales tax, the city would try to come after that 0.3% to pad their own books - I just thought they'd wait a bit longer than 9 months to start.

He gets nervous when he knows there is more room to tax people for pet projects. The tax rollback was burning a hole in his pocket. 

 

Thankfully, we only have 4 more months of this clown until he is termed out. 

On its surface, I would support this effort. I'd like to see some more details, but it seems promising.

Glad to see Seelbach proposing a real solution to put a dent in the affordable housing problem. The problem with Issue 3 was that it mandated spending on affordable housing but did not propose any funding mechanism. It seemed to be pushed by a lot of far left people with little experience with actual politics and government. Seelbach is simply proposing that we put the question to voters in a way that makes far more sense — are you willing to raise your income tax (which is currently the lowest of any major Ohio city) by 0.1% and use those proceeds to fund affordable housing?

On 6/22/2021 at 12:48 PM, taestell said:

Glad to see Seelbach proposing a real solution to put a dent in the affordable housing problem. The problem with Issue 3 was that it mandated spending on affordable housing but did not propose any funding mechanism. It seemed to be pushed by a lot of far left people with little experience with actual politics and government. Seelbach is simply proposing that we put the question to voters in a way that makes far more sense — are you willing to raise your income tax (which is currently the lowest of any major Ohio city) by 0.1% and use those proceeds to fund affordable housing?

 

Why should Cincinnati layer on another level of funding for this? If we want $17 million more for affordable housing, why not lobby Congress to increase HUD funding? That makes more sense to me than raising our taxes to put a small drop in a large bucket. And it's not like this is a concern specific to Cincinnati - we are still among the nation's cheapest places to live.

 

This also feels a little bit like the stadium tax to me - convince the public to vote for a sales tax hike in exchange for a cut elsewhere, only to almost immediately move to eat away at the cut. I smelled this coming a mile away.

You know that Seelbach's proposal, after being approved by Council, is going to go before the voters, right? If the public wants a 0.1% tax increase to go towards affordable housing projects, it will pass. If they don't, it won't. Seelbach is simply proposing an actual funding mechanism as opposed to this spring's Issue 3 which didn't.

^ Yes, thankfully the state of Ohio limits the municipal income tax rate to 1% without a vote. What I take issue with is the arrogance and impudence of proposing such a tax hike to the people of Cincinnati so soon after they had already spoken.  I'm also insulted that the turd being put on a plate in front of us is presumed to be palatable because it's not as big as the turd we just overwhelmingly turned down.

The only thing that the voters of Cincinnati have "spoken" about is that they wanted to eliminate the 0.3% transit earnings tax if a new countywide transit sales tax were to pass — which it did.

 

Interesting that the people opposed to this new tax have to resort to calling it a "turd" and the Council member proposing it a "clown".

21 minutes ago, taestell said:

 

Interesting that the people opposed to this new tax have to resort to calling it a "turd" and the Council member proposing it a "clown".

He is a clown and a turd and much worse because he is just a horrible human being, not because he proposed this tax. 

 

While I certainly do not disagree with much of your point, I will say that given there was a promise to repeal .3% of the earnings tax for the transportation levy, it is a a bit early to talk about adding new taxes back. However, I do not disagree wiht your point about introducing it to the voters. 

Each major political party has announced their slate for the 2021 City Council Elections. Bold names are incumbents. * Candidates are cross-endorsed by two parties. + Candidates sought Democratic endorsement, and staged an attempt to replace a member of the Democratic ticket at the official vote.

 

Democratic Party Ticket

Jeffrey Cramerding

Reginald Harris

Mark Jeffreys

Scotty Johnson

Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney

Greg Landsman

Phillip O’Neal

Meeka Owens

Victoria Parks

 

Republican Party Ticket

Steve Goodin*

Liz Keating*

Betsy Sundermann

Linda Matthews

 

Charter Committee Ticket

Steve Goodin*

Liz Keating*

Kevin Flynn

Jackie Frondorf

Bill Frost

Galen G. Gordon

Cam Hardy

Jim Tarbell

John J. Williams

 

Unendorsed Liberal/Progressive Candidates

Michelle Dillingham+

Brian Garry+
Jaime Castle

Evan Holt

Stacey Smith

 

Interestingly, the Republican Party only endorsed 4 candidates, which is not enough to have a controlling interest on City Council. They may find some friends on the Charter Committee if they are elected, but most of the candidates on the Charter Committee are not strongly associated with the Republican Party, so it may be an interesting term if a couple of the Charter nominees who aren't cross-endorsed win in November.

 

I would guess Greg Landsman, Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, Steve Goodin, and Liz Keating are going to be elected. That leaves 5 seats that I think are going to be very competitive.

 

The two independent candidates who sought the D endorsement may prove to be a thorn in the party's side, and allow one or both of the Republican nominees to sneak in. I could also see folks like Kevin Flynn, Jim Tarbell, and Cam Hardy taking some of the Democrats' 9 votes. I think overall, the Democrats have a pretty weak slate of candidates that is split by the Charter/independents, and this was the chance for the Republicans to strike and potentially take a controlling interest on council if they had 5 candidates to run. Notably the Democratic Party did not allow anyone seeking the Charter endorsement to be cross-endorsed. This may be an issue as well. We'll see in November, but I think this is going to be a fascinating race.

Jaime Castle is also running as an unendorsed Democrat. I was surprised she didn't get the endorsement.

11 minutes ago, DEPACincy said:

Jaime Castle is also running as an unendorsed Democrat. I was surprised she didn't get the endorsement.

Edited to add. I know there are a lot of unendorsed left-leaning candidates, and I tried to only list the ones who were actively campaigning, even if I don't think most of them have a shot at winning without the endorsement. I think the only one listed who has a chance of winning is Dillingham, but I still think that's a real stretch. But you never know.

16 minutes ago, ryanlammi said:

Edited to add. I know there are a lot of unendorsed left-leaning candidates, and I tried to only list the ones who were actively campaigning, even if I don't think most of them have a shot at winning without the endorsement. I think the only one listed who has a chance of winning is Dillingham, but I still think that's a real stretch. But you never know.

 

Jaime might have some name recognition from her Congressional run. I just hope Evan Holt doesn't win. He thinks he's the next AOC but his twitter presence is awful. Constantly picking fights and spreading false information. Then when he gets called out he just doubles and triples down. More like Trump than AOC in that respect.

We are already at 28 ballot approved candidates, the second most in 20 years. The average is 23, with a standard deviation of 4.

 

Edited July 21, 20213 yr by Dev

I don't see an independent winning a race anytime soon. I don't really understand why people run as independents outside of very specific cases. Christopher Smitherman and Jeff Berding are the only successful candidates as an independent since the 1991 election, and they had very large name recognition, and were previously an endorsed Charter and Democratic candidate when they won for the first time respectively.

 

Below is a list of the 9th place finisher, and the best independent candidate in that election (excluding Smitherman). It just doesn't make sense to run if you don't receive one of the 3 major endorsements in my opinion.

 

2017

Jeff Pastor received 21,996 votes. The best independent (Laure Quinlivan) received 16,758, and she is a former news reporter and former endorsed democrat on council. After that was Brian Garry with 9,152 votes as an endorsed Green candidate, and Kelli Prather with 7,175 as an independent.

 

2013

Amy Murray received 21,979 votes. The best independent (Mike Moroski) received 8,688 votes.

 

2011

Chris Seelbach received 24,494 votes. The best independent (Mike Allen) received 17,167 votes. After that was Pat McCollum with 6,497 votes as an independent.

 

2009

Laure Quinlivan received 28,775 votes. The best independent (Anitra Brockman) received 8,071 votes as an endorsed Green Party candidate. LaMarque Ward received 7,806 votes as a true independent. Jeff Berding also won as an independent in 2009 after being on council in 2007 as an endorsed Democrat.

 

2007

Chris Monzel received 23,336 votes. The best independent (Justin Jeffre) received 7,371 votes as an endorsed Green Party candidate. Mitch Painter also received 5,140 as an independent candidate.

 

2005

Cecil Thomas received 27,091 votes. The best independent (Paul Mcghee) received 5,407 votes.

 

So Laure Quinlivan, a formerly endorsed Democrat on council, and Mike Allen, a former county prosecutor, are the only two candidates outside of Smitherman (a formerly endorsed Charter/Green councilmember) and Jeff Berding (a formerly endorsed Democrat incumbent) to even break 10,000 votes. You basically need 22,000 votes minimum to win. You're wasting your time if you don't have huge name recognition as an independent.

Cincinnati charter amendment would take away a major mayoral power

 

A new amendment to Cincinnati’s charter, introduced by a Democrat and Republican, would eliminate the power of the mayor to hold ordinances indefinitely, the so-called pocket veto.

 

The power to hold a proposed ordinance until the end of a City Council’s term when it dies without a vote — long argued about at City Hall, including whether it actually exists — makes Cincinnati’s mayor one of the most powerful in the nation, some have said.

 

Under the city’s charter, the mayor must refer ordinances to City Council for action but it prescribes no timetable for doing so, essentially allowing the mayor to single handedly block any ordinances he or she does not want passed with no recourse. Critics have said it gives the mayor too much power to thwart majority rule.

 

Removing the pocket veto was a part of a series of reforms proposed by a committee in 2015 but was not sent to voters at Mayor John Cranley’s behest after it failed to get supermajority support on council. The Charter Committee has made elimination of the pocket veto a part of its platform this year.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/08/02/pocket-veto-amendment.html

 

Proposed increase to Cincinnati’s earnings tax fails to make ballot

 

Cincinnati City Council declined to put a charter amendment on the November ballot that would have allowed voters to increase the city’s earnings tax from 1.8% to 1.9% in order to fund affordable housing initiatives inside the city.

 

Council voted 2-7 on Wednesday to put the amendment on the ballot, with council members David Mann, Wendell Young and Greg Landsman, all Democrats, joining Republicans Steve Goodin, Liz Keating and Betsy Sundermann and independent Christopher Smitherman in voting to keep it off the ballot.

 

That was four fewer votes than Councilman Chris Seelbach needed.

 

The nine-year tax increase, which was estimated to have raised $17 million in your first year, would have been aimed at producing new rental housing and preserving existing housing that is affordable to people with household incomes below 60% of the median income. The increase also would have funded home ownership and repair efforts and preventing homelessness. City Council would appropriate the money with input from an advisory board.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/08/05/earnings-tax-doesnt-make-ballot.html

 

Jim Tarbell is now running, because of course he is.

1 minute ago, taestell said:

Jim Tarbell is now running, because of course he is.

 

I remember talking to him back in the winter time and he was thinking about running then.  Guess he made his mind up. 

18 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Proposed increase to Cincinnati’s earnings tax fails to make ballot

 

Cincinnati City Council declined to put a charter amendment on the November ballot that would have allowed voters to increase the city’s earnings tax from 1.8% to 1.9% in order to fund affordable housing initiatives inside the city.

 

Council voted 2-7 on Wednesday to put the amendment on the ballot, with council members David Mann, Wendell Young and Greg Landsman, all Democrats, joining Republicans Steve Goodin, Liz Keating and Betsy Sundermann and independent Christopher Smitherman in voting to keep it off the ballot.

 

That was four fewer votes than Councilman Chris Seelbach needed.

 

The nine-year tax increase, which was estimated to have raised $17 million in your first year, would have been aimed at producing new rental housing and preserving existing housing that is affordable to people with household incomes below 60% of the median income. The increase also would have funded home ownership and repair efforts and preventing homelessness. City Council would appropriate the money with input from an advisory board.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/08/05/earnings-tax-doesnt-make-ballot.html

 

Seelbach is starting the realize the dynamics have changed on council. 2 of his allies are now gone and many of the others do not really care about a lame duck councilman

^What's the difference between an "earnings tax" and an "income tax"? or are they the same thing and that just what Cincinnati calls it?

Earnings taxes are collected by employers whereas income taxes can come from other sources.

Another former Cincinnati council member circulating petitions to make a comeback

 

Hamilton County Treasurer Charlie Winburn is circulating petitions to run for Cincinnati City Council, but he told the Business Courier in an interview he is not sure whether he will actually run.

 

Winburn, a Republican who has served seven terms on council previously, said the region’s business community has asked him to run, but he has other opportunities he is looking at as well, which he declined to name.

 

“I told the business community about a month ago that I have dispatched a team to collect signatures for council,” Winburn said. “They have been really active in trying to get me to run for council.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/08/16/winburn-city-council-petitions.html

 

Former Cincinnati councilman takes a pass on 2021 race

 

Charlie Winburn, the former Cincinnati councilman who was considering a comeback bid in November, will instead take a seat on the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, he told the Business Courier on Monday.

 

Winburn, who is completing the term of former Hamilton County Treasurer Robert Goering, said Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to appoint him to a seat on the commission. Winburn said he had sent out 200 fundraising letters over the weekend.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/08/30/former-cincinnati-councilman-takes-a-pass-on-2021.html