14 minutes ago, SleepyLeroy said:

Sitting in his hillside crib, watching the dominoes fall, waiting for his moment.

 

 

 

He still had his campaign bus sitting in his yard as of 5~ years ago, the last time I was over there.  

 

 

30 minutes ago, 646empire said:

I was just thinking that!!! She could win in a landslide in my opinion. Would Democrats get to pick her replacement on the county commission?

I think she would at least get to pick it until a runoff vote in 2022 to fill the rest of the term. Otherwise the fill in could fill the remaining term, not sure on that one. 

 

County Commission has more power, but mayor is much more high profile. It would be an interesting trade off.

Why are we talking about Alicia Reece? She just won her race for County Commission. 

As a side note, I think there is a good chance we get a Democratic Socialist member of City Council in 2021. These corruption charges are an opening for candidates who have a message of "I'm going to represent the people, not the developers and corporations." The question is, will it be someone with political or community organizing skills who can actually negotiate with their fellow council members and make changes, or some punk kid who is going to get ignored and outvoted on everything.

So in 2022 City council will likely be:

 

Mayor: ????

Councilmember 1 - Sunderman (no particular order)

Council 2 - Landsman

council 3 - ??

Council 4 - ??

Council 5 - ??

Council 6 - ??

Council 7 ??

Council 8 ??

Council 9??

 

there are going to be a lot of new names on council next year. Smitherman, Seelbach, Young, are all term limited. Pastor, Dennard are gone. Mann running for mayor. 

 

I would assume one of the seats going to Liz Keating or Seth Maney maybe. 

It could open the door for some crazies like Dillingham to get on council. 

6 of the 9 members elected in 2017 were term limited, so it was going to be an open field regardless.

2 minutes ago, ryanlammi said:

Yeah if she didn't just win the County Commission seat, and had already announced a run for mayor, or potentially had signaled interest in city council, I would 100% understand throwing her name out there as a potential frontrunner. 

 

The names I see as new candidates:

 

• Christopher Smitherman jumping back in
• Greg Landsman (maybe)
• Charlie Winburn (because of course he will)

I don't know who else would jump in to challenge David Mann. You could look at past candidates like Yvette Simpson, Roxanne Qualls, or even Jim Tarbell. But I don't think any of them are interested.

 

I would love to see Rob Richardson try again. He has the potential to come out with a message that really resonates with people given our current political climate. But I'm not sure if he's interested.

 

I'm not sure if Yvette would want to come back to local politics, but she could frame it as "coming back to clean up my hometown" and possibly get some traction. She would probably get support from national organizations now that she has a national profile.

 

I don't think Roxanne or Jim Tarbell would be interested, they both seem to be enjoying their lives post-politics.

 

I predict the Hamilton County GOP will talk Smitherman into running now. He can easily go back on his previous statement and say, "my city needs me, so I've decided to run."

 

Here's a list of potential candidates from cincyblog.com . Notable changes are: Jeff Pastor has been arrested, and Kelli Prather has apparently signaled a run for Mayor, not City Council. Also, the party affiliations are not endorsements, just who they align with and would likely seek an endorsement from.

 

 

 

Yeah, it seems like Winkler is going to use this as an opportunity to build the Republican bench. That's not OK. And PG should just step down so his Democratic colleagues can fill his seat with another Democrat.

Since I'm moving back to Cincinnati this spring, I'll be able to vote for council. Which candidates support rail transit? I know Baumann does but any others?

It's too early to really go into the details here on who is and is not a good candidate. I don't think we know half of the people running for council. I surely don't have a good list of candidates with so many new faces.

Hamilton County commissioner enters city council race

 

Hamilton County Commissioner Victoria Parks is aiming to take on City Hall.

 

On Wednesday, Parks announced her intention to run for Cincinnati City Council in 2021.

 

“I am running because it is time to bring an organizer, a soldier and a disciplinarian to City Council who has real government experience," Parks said in a statement. "We have seen too much fighting between the city and the county and, with my experience, I believe we can come to solutions that benefit all of the neighborhoods in Cincinnati."

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/12/09/parks-to-run-for-city-council.html

 

^Am I correct in remembering that she was hand picked by Portune to replace himself while the HamCo Dems did not want her to be his permanent replacement?

 

Previously, the Neighborhoods Committee did not have any Democrats on it, while the EIG had only Democrats on it.

On 12/7/2020 at 12:10 PM, ryanlammi said:

We'll see what he ends up doing, but if he picks a Republican instead of a Democrat or Independent, that will not be ok. Flynn would have been an ok choice, but I think with his announcement that he is running for council, I do think it's inappropriate to replace Sittenfeld with someone who is seeking a full term.

 

Liz Keating (R) has been appointed to Sittenfeld's seat.

5 minutes ago, taestell said:

 

Liz Keating (R) has been appointed to Sittenfeld's seat.

This is interesting... so if at anytime either of the suspended council members resign or is found guilty these Republican appointees can be removed??

 

“Per Ohio statute, the Hamilton County Probate Court appoints a Cincinnati City Council member's replacement in the case of a suspension. If Sittenfeld is found guilty of the charges or resigns in the meantime, a Democrat on Council would select his replacement rather than Winkler, a Republican.” - WCPO 9 News

25 minutes ago, taestell said:

 

Liz Keating (R) has been appointed to Sittenfeld's seat.

 

This is comical.  Replacing one blue blood with another.  

 

 

 

Currently all 3 Republicans on City Council are appointed. This appointment changes the composition of the council from 6-1-2 to 5-1-3 (lol) which also means that Democrats lose their supermajority and will be unable to overrule any Cranley vetos.

On 12/14/2020 at 8:55 AM, Dev said:

 

 

It's a good launch video.

Nothing says "we are cleaning up political corruption" like appointing a person whose last name is Keating... I know this is his grand-daughter, and from my experience she seems like a good person, but was the Keating five that long ago that they don't realize the bad optics here?

Edited December 18, 20204 yr by ucgrady

Oh good, Keating and Cranston, err Cranley

A few months ago I thought it'd be possible, if not likely, for the next council to have zero Republicans. But now there will be at least a couple people with name recognition come November. Keating has a good chance of keeping a seat, all she has to do is say the right things a few times and not take bribes. Plus, if PG continues to fight the charges with such vigor it could impact others downballot in his party if they don't distance themselves.

I think there is still enough Repulbicans to have 1-2 on council at any given time given how the ballots are set up.

 

Keating likely becomes the new Murray but Sunderman may struggle a bit more to hold her seat and who knows what becomes of Pastor's seat. I predict it goes to a Dem or Independent like Flynn. 

1 hour ago, ucgrady said:

Nothing says "we are cleaning up political corruption" like appointing a person whose last name is Keating... I know this is his grand-daughter, and from my experience she seems like a good person, but was the Keating five that long ago that they don't realize the bad optics here?

In all fairness, the Keating family has been pretty upstanding citizens in the Cincinnati area for a long time. Even when Charlie was around Cincinnati politics, he was a pretty good steward of the public (back in the 70s). He did not get corrupt until he was out in AZ running his S&L's

Does she currently have any connections with KMK Law? She doesn't list it on her campaign site so I assume she hasn't worked there but it feels like we're hearing about that law firm being connected to City Hall a little too much.

I just looked up how Seattle's council is organized.  They have 7 wards and 2 at-large seats.  The 7 wards serve 2019-2023 and the 2 at-large seats serve 2017-2021. 

 

In Seattle we see the critical weakness of the ward system flipped on its head.  Historically, the flaw of a ward captain was that they were of modest origins and often affiliated with organized crime.  Since the Great Migration, we have seen many black ministers and church ladies win ward seats in the northern cities.  But in Seattle, where all wards are insanely wealthy, and where no ward is anywhere close to 50/50 black, they got a council full of Limousine Leftists.  Seattle has not had a black councilman or woman for 10 years. 

 

The strength of Cincinnati's entirely at-large system is that a candidate must be vetted by traditional donors and citywide organizations if they want to guarantee a seat rather than slipping in on a prayer by 200 votes on election night.   Typically, 5-6 candidates are a lock because they've been vetted by the establishment.  Meanwhile, in a ward race with 5+ candidates, the sensible vote is diluted between several sensible candidates, leaving the door wide open for the one eccentric to win the thing. 

38 minutes ago, jmecklenborg said:

Seattle has not had a black councilman or woman for 10 years.

 

Well, as of the last census, Seattle was 69.5% white, 13.8% Asian, 8% Black or African American, 9% Hispanic or Latino. While the city currently has no Black council members, it does have 4 members that identify as Latina or Mexican-American, and 1 Indian-American.

32 minutes ago, taestell said:

and 1 Indian-American.

 

Who, incidentally, is the object of a recall effort that will be decided by the Washington Supreme Court on January 7.  

 

 

10 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

 

Who, incidentally, is the object of a recall effort that will be decided by the Washington Supreme Court on January 7.  

 

 

It is just hard to believe that she really represents the true interests of her ward. It seems as if she is propped up by a ton of outside money that comes in to her ward to give her an outsized influence. 

On 12/30/2020 at 10:16 AM, Brutus_buckeye said:

It is just hard to believe that she really represents the true interests of her ward. It seems as if she is propped up by a ton of outside money that comes in to her ward to give her an outsized influence. 

 

I agree but my argument is that the ward setup is hardly that panacea that people want to believe it is in a city like Cincinnati where it takes a herculean effort for an unknown with no money to win a seat on council on their first try.  Jeff Pastor had no money but he had a sugar daddy who literally gave him checks to give to pastors.  Yes, Pastor paid off black pastors with some white guy's money.  It was totally crazy. 

 

It's amazing to me how dirty the politics are at the local level, pretty much everywhere. The political realm seems to attract the absolute worst sort of people. 

On 12/29/2020 at 10:08 PM, jmecklenborg said:

Meanwhile, in a ward race with 5+ candidates, the sensible vote is diluted between several sensible candidates, leaving the door wide open for the one eccentric to win the thing. 

This is only true with plurality voting. Switching to a cardinal (approval, score, STAR) or ordinal system (IRC, STV, RCV) would prevent vote splitting and make it easier to elect a consensus candidate.

I don't know why there is constantly a desire to mess with our form of government. I personally think that staggered 4 year teams (with council still at-large) would have been the best situation (mayor + 4 council members elected in year x, 5 council members elected in year x+2). We passed a Charter amendment to change the terms to 4 years but never got around to passing the staggering bit. Then we passed another amendment to go back to 2 year teams. Then we had another proposal to switch to a mix of at-large and district representation, which didn't go anywhere. In terms of Charter reforms that Cincinnati needs to make, the makeup of City Council doesn't even come close to the top IMO.

Columbus switches to wards in 2023. I'm not looking forward to it. The only way I can see it helping is maybe it will cut down on the severe apathy toward Columbus city politics.

1 hour ago, taestell said:

In terms of Charter reforms that Cincinnati needs to make, the makeup of City Council doesn't even come close to the top IMO.

This is mostly true because muni turnout rates are pitiful in this country. Reformers promise their fixes will change that but it will ultimately take election reform by the State for that trend to reverse.

1 hour ago, taestell said:

We passed a Charter amendment to change the terms to 4 years but never got around to passing the staggering bit. Then we passed another amendment to go back to 2 year teams. Then we had another proposal to switch to a mix of at-large and district representation, which didn't go anywhere. In terms of Charter reforms that Cincinnati needs to make, the makeup of City Council doesn't even come close to the top IMO.

 

Seattle staggers with the 7 ward seats serving 4-year terms and the 2 at-large seats serving 4-year terms on the opposite cycle.  This is lopsided but I agree still better than Cincinnati's 4-year extravaganza which includes the mayor and all 9 council seats.  

 

  

 

 

 

26 minutes ago, taestell said:

 

Is that made up? The "RealJoeMurica" account doesn't exist:

 

https://twitter.com/RealJoeMurica

It's real. The "RealJoeMurica" account has been either suspended or deleted since the screenshot was taken.

4 minutes ago, taestell said:

It's real. The "RealJoeMurica" account has been either suspended or deleted since the screenshot was taken.

 

I don't think it's real. If it's real, it's very, very old and unrelated to recent events.

sounds like more suppression of Eagle Flag users!

8 minutes ago, Ram23 said:

I don't think it's real. If it's real, it's very, very old and unrelated to recent events.

 

Feel free to take up your concern with Katie:

 

 

9 minutes ago, taestell said:

 

Feel free to take up your concern with Katie:

 

 

 

I reverse image searched the screenshot and it led me to that Tweet. It's the only example on the internet. A search of the Tweet text turned up an archived post from October, but I don't see Betsy's name in the "likes." Given the age of the original Tweet, the "10h" in the screenshot is either faked or incredibly misleading. I'd go so far as to call it "fake news."

 

I see no evidence the like is legit, but even if it is - it's from October so liking it then is completely different than liking it now. It's like if you thought Tamaya Dennard was a good councilwoman at this point last year, versus thinking she's a good councilwoman now. One of those is excusable, at a minimum.

 

 

^ Yes, a journalist who worked for many years at the notoriously liberal Cincinnati Enquirer took time to fake that screenshot in order to embarrass a Republican on Cincinnati City Council. It's the only logical explanation.

10 minutes ago, taestell said:

^ Yes, a journalist who worked for many years at the notoriously liberal Cincinnati Enquirer took time to fake that screenshot in order to embarrass a Republican on Cincinnati City Council. It's the only logical explanation.

 

No matter what the explanation (if we ever see one) - a journalist publishing a statement that says an event occurred 10 hours ago, when if it happened at all it would have happened 3-6 months ago is incredible irresponsible. Especially given the context here.

Looks like it happened in August actually. Either way, this is the kind of passive endorsement that lent credibility to these more extreme factions of the political right.

^ That appears to be the source of the screenshot, but I don't see anything indicating the "like" in question actually took place. I don't know how much I trust someone who's handle is "Defund the Police" but I am a bit of a skeptic, in general.

 

Regardless, "MAGA Army" was a term used for years to refer to the large crowds Trump always attracted at rallies and events. It's sort of like the name "Maslow's Army." Nobody thinks the great work they do is bad just because the word "Army" is in the name.

I'm with @Ram23 here. The timing of the "like" makes a world of difference. Criticizing Sundermann for supporting Trump is extremely valid. Posting it without context, implying it was contemporaneous with the events of January 6 is misleading.

 

I also generally question these screenshots when it shows that an individual liked a tweet. Since you can change your name on twitter, how do you validate if it was the real "@voteSundermann" who liked the tweet, or someone who temporarily changed their name to "Betsy Sundermann"? I'm genuinely curious about how that works.

This is why there is no reason why any public figure should be directly on Twitter.  Your social media activities should be handled by a staffer.