>Laure's flakiness was real, in that she hated campaigning.

 

I'm telling you right now, as someone who has known her personally since her TV days, that she is definitely and positively not a flake in real life and that was her attempt to appear inoffensive.  She benefited from name recognition and so she never had to campaign as hard as the others.  She was the *only* local politician since the financial crisis with the guts to suggest downsizing the police department.  In fact she was back on Cunningham's show early this week, even after having been knocked off, still calling for the police department budget to be hacked.  She's much more of a financial conservative than ANY of the so-called conservatives who now hold office, certainly including Cranley.

 

Qulinlivan, like Qualls, was a good person for at-large council elections but would not win in head-to-head county commissioner or congressional races.

 

 

>She wasn't bad at it, but she hated doing it.  That's the main reason she wanted the four year terms.  And that's the problem with the liberal politicians in this town.  They really seem to think that going out there and talking to folks is beneath them.  Whereas the conservative ones (generally) think the people are beneath them but they like playing games so they are better at getting into that mindset.

 

Look, campaigning truly SUCKS.  As someone just mentioned, you're having the same conversations over and over again with people who literally cannot understand how processes actually work.  They can't remember facts, dates, and have no concept of which governmental body does what.  They can be easily convinced that the city runs the county jail or that the city built the stadiums or that the city does dog licensing. 

 

The people who are effective politicians are those who love to campaign.  By all accounts John Cranley *loves* to campaign, and that's part of the reason why the Democrat party has been behind him for so long.  So what I'm saying is that Cranley loves to go around to community events, hear semi-educated people get emotional over something trivial (only one trash can!), then he identifies a boogeyman and frames that framing so as to cast himself as a voice of reason, as the one with common sense.

 

I've worked on both local and national political campaigns, so I'm familiar with how they can suck, and I'm familiar with the experience of voter interaction.  Heck, even if you haven't worked on campaigns one can have a pretty good understanding of how interacting with the average voter can be a frustrating ordeal.  I was in a bar prior to the election with a couple of friends and one asked how I was voting.  I said I was voting for Qualls because basically the streetcar was my only issue.  Immediately some dude at the bar started complaining about the streetcar project because some bus he was waiting for on Ridge Road didn't show up when he was expecting it and he had to walk several miles.  Of course, the response to that statement is that the isolated experience of an individual isn't the correct basis for policy, but even if you're not running for office, it's pretty obvious that someone telling you a story that is important to them isn't likely to be persuaded with a response like, "Uh, dude, your bus not showing up on time today doesn't have anything to do with anything."

 

As for "having the guts to cut the police department" that's a matter of opinion.  I never understood why the pro-streetcar people let the issue be characterized as a choice between streetcars and cops, particularly when it started to become an issue in 2009.  The fact is, the crime in OTR, and the type of crime in OTR, was bad when the streetcar was getting under way.  Also, there was a huge depression, a bunch of people were out of work, and you even the folks who saw the department as bloated could slowly accomplish their goals through retirement and attrition.  (I'm specifically referring to the situation in 2009, with the first charter amendment which started the process of turning the streetcar into a partisan issue.)  It never made any sense to me.

 

I liked Laure BECAUSE she proposed things like making sure we spend money on public art, and because she was unabashedly pro-streetcar.  But even you've said it, "The people who are effective politicians are those who love to campaign".  And that's been the liberal/progressive problem in this town- the people with the superior policy ideas seem to act as if campaigning is beneath them.  Qualls sure did.  So, to take your own prescription, if you want to be an effective politician, you have to force yourself to love campaigning.  Whining about it and proposing stupid things like four year terms has led us into this situation where we're stuck with a backward council for four freaking years.

>And that's been the liberal/progressive problem in this town- the people with the superior policy ideas seem to act as if campaigning is beneath them.

 

They think a campaign is writing letters to the editor, knocking on some doors, raising money for ads, and sending out a bunch of peppy Facebook posts and tweets.  No, if you're going to put 1,000 hours into a campaign, put in another 500 the year before to MAKE SURE YOU WIN.  Politics is about WINNING. 

 

>Qualls sure did.  So, to take your own prescription, if you want to be an effective politician, you have to force yourself to love campaigning.

 

A big problem is that a lot of would-be politicians don't quite understand the media, and if you don't understand it I don't think you can ever be taught it.  They don't know how to build a relationship with these people and how to orchestrate active visuals for the cameras.  In Cincinnati you NEED to have a commanding presence on talk radio.  Roxanne Qualls supposedly stormed out of Bill Cunningham's studio back in the 90s and hasn't been back.  If you want to win in this town, you need Cunningham and the rest of the 700 guys and you need Lincoln Ware. 

 

 

>mmediately some dude at the bar started complaining about the streetcar project because some bus he was waiting for on Ridge Road didn't show up when he was expecting it and he had to walk several miles. 

 

No, you never actually try to explain technical stuff to these guys.  Just make them like you personally and then they'll agree with your opinions.  What I do with these guys is move the conversation immediately to improved ADA features.  Suddenly make them the bad guy if they want to marginalize handicapped people. 

 

>mmediately some dude at the bar started complaining about the streetcar project because some bus he was waiting for on Ridge Road didn't show up when he was expecting it and he had to walk several miles. 

 

No, you never actually try to explain technical stuff to these guys.  Just make them like you personally and then they'll agree with your opinions.  What I do with these guys is move the conversation immediately to improved ADA features.  Suddenly make them the bad guy if they want to marginalize handicapped people. 

 

Actually, the guy way out at the far end of a loop was probably making a good case or shorter loops.

But he'd never understand it...

Quinlivan has right to ask for recount

 

Essentially, since she lost to Amy Murray by less than 0.5% of the vote (actual number of difference 859 votes) she has the right to ask for a recount. Unlikely to change results of the election, but it is possible.

Tim Burke has advised her that a recount would be a waste of taxpayer money and has such an extremely low probability of changing the result

 

I say go for it, even if just to spite Burke. Tim Burke is spineless and greatly contributed to the mess that we are in now.

Laure Quinlivan is calling off her automatic recount. The difference was likely too great to overcome. Prevents BoE workers from working overtime costing taxpayers $60k.

^One of the articles stated that a recount would have to wait until after 12/01.  Would that prevent the 9th council member from being able to vote on streetcar cancellation?  If so, it might be worth $60k to save $100M+...

^One of the articles stated that a recount would have to wait until after 12/01.  Would that prevent the 9th council member from being able to vote on streetcar cancellation?  If so, it might be worth $60k to save $100M+...

 

That would be interesting

^One of the articles stated that a recount would have to wait until after 12/01.  Would that prevent the 9th council member from being able to vote on streetcar cancellation?  If so, it might be worth $60k to save $100M+...

 

I doubt that would be the case. Plus the differential between 9th, 8th, and 7th is so small that it seems unfair to take away the vote of only the 9th place vote-getter.

^I'm just assuming that whoever is 9th would get bumped, but a recount may imply that everyone's numbers would be reviewed, so I suppose it's possible that number 9 would stay and the current number 8 would go.  Interesting.

LOL

Cranley appoints Republicans to committee chairs & snubs Democrats.

I hope Tim Burke is happy...

Glad I'm not a Democrat

or Republican

or Libertarian

DINO

DINO

DINO

 

The worst part is that a lot of Democrats who voted him in have never even heard of the concept of DINOs.

LOL

Cranley appoints Republicans to committee chairs & snubs Democrats.

I hope Tim Burke is happy...

Glad I'm not a Democrat

or Republican

or Libertarian

 

Or John Cranley.

John Cranley announced new council committees Friday and his choices to lead them. The committees and selections are:

 

• Budget and Finance: Republican Charlie Winburn

• Economic Growth and Infrastructure: Independent Christopher Smitherman

• Streetcar: Democrat David Mann

• Law and Public Safety: Smitherman

• Neighborhoods: Mann

• Education and Entrepreneurship: Democrat P.G. Sittenfeld

• Human Services, Youth and Arts: Democrat Yvette Simpson

• Major Transportation and Regional Cooperation: Republican Amy Murray

• Rules and Audit: Charterite Kevin Flynn

 

Incumbent Democrats Chris Seelbach and Wendell Young received no committee chairmanships. Tim Burke: “I’m sorry that that happened, and beyond that I’m not going to say any more”

What a sad little man.

Yeah, Tim Burke had better be freaking sorry. What a piece of work. Whatcha gonna do about it now, Tim? 

Today Smitherman claimed that there is a "power line suspended in oil" that prevents the streetcar from being extended up the Vine St. hill.

Today Smitherman claimed that there is a "power line suspended in oil" that prevents the streetcar from being extended up the Vine St. hill.

 

What does that even mean?

Today Smitherman claimed that there is a "power line suspended in oil" that prevents the streetcar from being extended up the Vine St. hill.

something 101 I'm sure

There are oil filled cables used for high voltage electrical lines. As far as I know they're not really suspended in oil, but they are filled with it, and pressurized. When the cable heats up and expands the oil will seep into any openings and maintain insulation. When the cable cools the oil gets out of the way.

 

I'm not knowledgeable enough on the subject to say why it would stop a streetcar more than planning and paying to work around it or move it.

There are oil filled cables used for high voltage electrical lines. As far as I know they're not really suspended in oil, but they are filled with it, and pressurized. When the cable heats up and expands the oil will seep into any openings and maintain insulation. When the cable cools the oil gets out of the way.

 

I'm not knowledgeable enough on the subject to say why it would stop a streetcar more than planning and paying to work around it or move it.

 

I'm sure that if Duke Energy's predecessors had the technology to put the cable there in the first place... Duke Energy has the technology to install a new one and remove the old one.

I am just glad the majority of council voted to continue the streetcar. At least this indicates we have several people on council with some brains and an appreciation of what the citizens desire.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2013/12/30/smitherman-calls-uc-trustee-a-communist/

Mayor Cranky, take note

Now that's how you do it. 

Except you record in landscape, not portrait.

^  Please show some respect, all...  Is this man or is not this man Cincinnati's next mayor?  (Tell me I'm wrong!)  :roll:

not if he keeps shooting his videos sideways....

Yep.  Never OK to shoot video in portrait. 

Mayor Cranky, take note

 

cheesy

The Windbag, who was adamantly opposed to leasing parking assets is hawking SELLING the railroad and, as typical for Hamilton County Republicans, he only wants a fraction of what it's worth.

Will CO    disavow the boy on this one?

He doesn't appear to have any support on council or in the mayor's office.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/comments/article/20140109/NEWS01/301090134/Selling-railroad-system-could-boost-pension-fund-worth-

What's the point of denying Flynn & Smitherman are Democrats?

They're both registered Democrats & get Democrat ballots in primaries.

Not getting endorsed in local elections doesn't mean poop.

Well it does, but, still....

What's the point of denying Flynn & Smitherman are Democrats?

They're both registered Democrats & get Democrat ballots in primaries.

Not getting endorsed in local elections doesn't mean poop.

Well it does, but, still....

 

Smitherman might be registered as a democrat, but he switched from being a Democrat to independent a long time ago.

good lord, the council meetings are like bad late night infomercials with this new council. The Smitty & the Windbag show is insane.

Seelbach wins vegan chili cookoff

His secret? sugar

 

Big Barb’s Bourbon Chili “AWARD-WINNING” Vegan Chili Recipe

 

1) Add two large cans of tomato sauce into a large pot.

 

2) Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.

 

3) Add 3 tablespoons of Colonel De’s “Baby Colonel Style” chili seasoning (found at Findlay Market).

 

4) Add 2 cans of black beans (rinsed), 2 cans of chili beans, 1 can of garbanzo beans (rinsed), 1 can of corn.

 

5) Add a couple of dashes of your favorite hot sauce (I use skyline).

 

5) Add 3/4 cup of bourbon (I use Woodford Reserve).

 

6) Add 3/4 cup of Maple Syrup.

 

7) Bring pot to a medium heat.

 

8) While pot is heating up, dice these vegetables:

 

A) Half a stalk of celery.

B) Large yellow onion.

C) Green pepper.

D) Red Pepper.

E) Jalapeño pepper (remove most of jalapeño seeds unless you want chili super hot!)

 

9) Saute the diced vegetables over medium to high heat in olive oil.

 

10) Once vegetables are sautéed, add to chili mix.

 

11) Let chili cook over on low to medium-low heat for several hours.  You can also do this in a crockpot.

 

12) Serve chili.  Top with pieces of avocado or your favorite guacamole recipe.

 

 

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2014/01/27/seelbachs-vegan-chili-wins-parkvine-cook-off/

Smitherman on Cranley's parking plan

 

Not getting an upfront payment is good because the city isn't taking revenue that won't be earned until tomorrow and spending it today, said Councilman Christopher Smitherman.

"The highlight of the deal is there's no upfront money," Smitherman said. "We are creating an annuity stream."

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/02/12/new-parking-deal-all-of-the-pain.html?page=all

 

 

Yeah, annuities are for unsophisticated investors.  Like all the little old ladies Smitherman suckered while working at Lincoln Financial. 

They do have a place but it is only for very specific situations.

Chris Smitherman is proposing that cincinnati changes its charter to allow a 'strong mayor'.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20140226/NEWS010801/302260148

 

I don't like this idea one bit with Cranley in charge

I think the broader point here is we should not be worried about Cranley, but about many more Cranleys, or someone worse than Cranley. Or many more Mallorys or someone better than Mallory. Point is we don't know, and given that info, what kind of system do we want?

 

Clearly Smitherman has amnesia, given his soapbox re: Mallory exercising too much power.

 

It would be funny if this were on the ballot at the same time as a Cranley recall and they both won.

I doubt any rule changes would apply to the sitting mayor.

Smitty shouldn't write legislation, tho

This "strong mayor" proposal is ridiculous.  I'm sorry but if you can't convince 5 of 9 people to sign off on your policies, then you're a crappy politician and don't deserve to have your policies enacted.

 

I also think it's ridiculous that you've got these guys who have been in opposition the whole time to Mallory-Qualls, saying that they can do a better job, and then, when they get in the majority, their third proposal (after failing to kill the Streetcar and reducing the parking deal to a silly expense) is to change the way the system works.  If they really thought they could do better this whole time, they wouldn't need to change the system.

 

Finally, that Cranley quote, "I've always thought an executive mayor is better for checks and balances" is a perfect example of how much bullshit this guy spews.  Checks and balances refer to checks and balances between different branches of government.  Is he talking about the executive's ability to check the legislature (council)?  He already appoints the committee heads, so he's already got alot of sway over policy.  Now he want's to be able to hire and fire the administrative department heads as well?  Also, where is the judicial check in this system that he's talking about?

 

Finally, I'd love to know when these guys think that the City's government worked well.  In the 90's, when the top vote-getter became the mayor?  In the 80's, when the mayor was just a member of Council?  In the 50's when we had weighted voting in council races?  Because everyone likes to say the system is broken, everyone likes to say things were so much better in the past, but nobody seems to connect those two.  We haven't had a strong mayor since before the 1920's.  So unless these guys think that the 20th century was a lost century for Cincinnati, they are just blowing smoke.

Personally, and I haven't lived in Cincinnati very long, coming close to my one year anniversary, but I liked Mallory's "logic".  The Mayor should be the champion of the city, the biggest cheerleader, market the heck out of it, but also push big ideas to grow population, get conventions, etc.

 

I think that the Mayor as basically the manager, etc. is just a waste of time.  The mayor shouldn't have the power to fire and hire administration heads, etc.  The City Manager should do that.  The Mayor is already strong enough in the system as is.  And why would they claim that Mallory was too powerful, but now they want Cranley to have that power?

 

It seems counter intuitive and ultimately is not a healthy way to run a city/business/anything, when you have changing policy every 4 years.  Or let's say Executive Mayor Cranley, he gets voted out for some reasons, then another Mayor comes in, flips things around, gets voted out, new Mayor in, changes it up, etc.

 

Continuity is key.

 

I was reading on twitter one day that council took 2 hours of time talking about fixing potholes.  OK, how frivolous is that?  I know it is important to have the potholes fixed, but go to the city manager, tell him to come to them with the best plan to fix the potholes, we will sign off and that is it.

 

The council needs to focus on policy's, big projects and attracting new business and talent, not on fixing potholes.  That is what the manager is there for, IMO.

Someone beat me to it, but jackass used to whine about Mallory having too much power with a "pocket veto".  He always seems to try to stack the deck in his favor but is playing a game of catch-up.  If this passes it would be comical if a mayor he hates get voted in - there would be some poetic justice in watching him react if he happens to be around.

Winburn's plan to balance the budget:

 

Eliminate the Office of Environmental Quality

 

Eliminate planning director position and central office

 

7-10 percent across the board* cuts (except the police and fire budgets, of course)

 

Across the board* hiring freezes (except police and fire, of course)

 

And some less exciting things.

Winburn's plan to balance the budget:

 

Eliminate the Office of Environmental Quality

 

Eliminate planning director position and central office

 

7-10 percent across the board* cuts (except the police and fire budgets, of course)

 

Across the board* hiring freezes (except police and fire, of course)

 

And some less exciting things.

 

The elimination of the director position in the Planning Dept. is a backdoor way to merge the department with another one, most likely Trade & Dev.

 

It's 2002 all over again...

 

Oh and Winburn proposed exploring selling the city's railroad operation and spinning off the Water District (which was blocked by a COAST charter amendment in 2009. So if it were to happen it would have to go to a vote.)

If all the Windbag's ideas go down in flames, he can still campaign saying he at least tried.