24 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

^ Just because you did not think they had anything bad in them does not mean that whomever read them in Court could not have inflicted a tone that made them seem much more nefarious

 

Of course.  Luckily I was only a bit player in the saga. 

 

Another time, I was successful in suing my landlord in small claims court because of a single text message.  He basically tried to screw us out of our security deposit and didn't expect us to take him to small claims, so he was sloppy in his communications prior to that point. 

30 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

^ Just because you did not think they had anything bad in them does not mean that whomever read them in Court could not have inflicted a tone that made them seem much more nefarious

 

Fun Fact: Vincent Price put his grandkids through college by doing this very thing in courtrooms all across the U.S. in his later years

700WLW going hog wild over this mostly made-up issue.  Fake callers, one after another, calling in with jabs at Seelbach. 

 

Why do Republicans hate Seelbach so much?  Because he knows which ones are secretly gay. 

It's crazy that everyone is glossing over the fact that Cranley's corruption caused the whole Harry Black fiasco from the beginning. I believe the council members communicated through texts because they wanted to avoid a political spectacle over how to clean up the mess that Cranley made. I wish Black would sue the city and expose all the dirty tricks that Cranley uses. Instead, we have a scenario where Republicans are foaming at the mouth over texts, while the man responsible for all the drama basically gets out scott free. Cranley is absolutely awful.

6 minutes ago, edale said:

while the man responsible for all the drama basically gets out scott free. Cranley is absolutely awful.

 

It's why Cranley is in charge.  The man can literally start riots and get away with it. 

31 minutes ago, edale said:

It's crazy that everyone is glossing over the fact that Cranley's corruption caused the whole Harry Black fiasco from the beginning. I believe the council members communicated through texts because they wanted to avoid a political spectacle over how to clean up the mess that Cranley made. I wish Black would sue the city and expose all the dirty tricks that Cranley uses. Instead, we have a scenario where Republicans are foaming at the mouth over texts, while the man responsible for all the drama basically gets out scott free. Cranley is absolutely awful.

I don't think that is really the case. Republicans are sitting back and maybe shaking their heads at this, but they really have no dog in the fight and will not see any political benefit from this. Remember these are non-partisan elections to begin with, and second, it is not like if all 5 step down, the Republican candidates will be a de-facto replacement. If they step down, the replacements will likely be more progressive in many cases. Blaming the GOP for any of this is just misplaced.

36 minutes ago, edale said:

It's crazy that everyone is glossing over the fact that Cranley's corruption caused the whole Harry Black fiasco from the beginning.

 

They're not glossing over it; they have invented a completely alternate reality where Cranley is the hero and City Council is somehow to blame for "gross mismanagement of the City Manager situation." It makes absolutely no logical sense.

 

 

^It's like when your crazy sister messes up and turns the whole thing around on you and the whole family believes her. 

1 hour ago, taestell said:

 

They're not glossing over it; they have invented a completely alternate reality where Cranley is the hero and City Council is somehow to blame for "gross mismanagement of the City Manager situation." It makes absolutely no logical sense.

 

 

No matter what people think of Cranley in the whole thing, the whole concept of attacking the judge as a partisan hack is over the top and not a good look for them.

Not a partisan hack, just a regular hack, according to the Enquirer editorial board:

 

Hamilton County voters should take a closer look at one Common Pleas Court race this year: that of incumbent Judge Robert Ruehlman vs. challenger Darlene Rogers. The Enquirer editorial board doesn’t typically weigh in on judicial races, but we feel compelled to do so in this one. [...]

 

In an Enquirer op-ed published earlier this week, Kathy McNamara of Cleveland criticized Ruehlman’s “callous, inexcusably ignorant and astonishingly biased rationale” for finding a rape defendant not guilty. McNamara is the mother of one of the two alleged victims, so hardly objective. But the editorial board has reviewed a transcript of that trial, and some of Ruehlman’s comments are indeed troubling. [...]

 

Ruehlman's opponent, Darlene Rogers, doesn’t have three decades of experience on the bench. We’re OK with that. It's time for a change.

Yes, that is the enquirer opinion. That is not factual. He is a good judge and has a ton of experience and in his last term. Did not need to be disrespected as a partisan hack because he is not.  

 

I have argued in front of Judge Reuhlmann in the past and have found him to be one of the best judges and reasonable jurists I had worked with. I lost both of those cases before him, but I did appreciate how he handled his courtroom.

So you think it was appropriate for him to tell voters to never vote for these politicians again from the bench?

Would I have chosen those words, probably not. But, he is allowed to inject his opinion into the case, that is what a judge does, they write opinions.

These politicians broke the law. He can excoriate them how he sees fit. Same with the judges who excoriate the people in the Trump admin who are convicted.

 

If they did not appreciate being told off by the judge, they should have never put themselves in position to appear in his courtroom to begin with. i.e. don't break the law.

4 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

What an asinine statement. Why should the attorney forgo his fees? He spent considerable amount of time on the case which is worth something. He could have been doing something else with his time. Fact is, these 5 members did wrong. THEY should be the ones paying. THEY broke the law, THEY misused taxpayer money. THEY should have the stain of this on their record. Say what you want about COAST, but in this case, they are not to blame. COAST did not break the law, Finney did not break the law. Just because his firm exposed wrong doing does not mean he should not be paid.

 

The amount of partisan politics in a non-partisan body is getting absolutely disgusting here. The head of the Dem Party should be ashamed of herself. Her tweet about it was disgusting and wrong criticizing Judge Reuhlmann the way she did. 1) Judicial races in Ohio are non-partisan, so the fact he is a Republican is not relevant, 2) Especially in judicial matters, the parties work together to create fair and reasonable justice and standards that can be applied across the board. To say that this is tainted because the judge happened to be a Republican is flat out wrong and should not be tolerated. She should be the one to resign in this case.

 

Tim Burke would never stoop so low to criticize the sitting judge like that. Remember who the people are that broke the law. Don't pull a Chris Seelbach and accept no blame and completely blame others for your problems.

Found the attorney. Perhaps since this was already brought to light, this one should have better spent his time working for something that helped the city instead of spending his time working to bring the unrelated conversations public in a partisan attempt to humiliate these council people, and charging the city to do it. Nothing was gained from what happened here and if bringing any alleged illegal backroom deals to light was his intended goal he quit way too early, as there are a few other people that would need that light on them as well. This was just a distraction to give the public a shiny object to focus on while others moved and gave away millions. The same thing happened during the last stadium debate in the 90's, though it was with inperson meetings and not via cell phones. Lessons learned it didnt happen again until the tech blurred the lines and it came out amid this stadium fuss. I dont follow all the candidates but the ones i do, Seelbach included, eventually apologized.

Would hardly call what Seelbach said an apology. Saying sorry in court and then going on Twitter to lambast the judge and everyone else for your illegal activities is hardly an apology.

 

Seelbach is just a horrible person. I knew him from way back and he acts the exact same way and plays the same games that he did way back in his 20s.

1 hour ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

Would hardly call what Seelbach said an apology. Saying sorry in court and then going on Twitter to lambast the judge and everyone else for your illegal activities is hardly an apology.

 

Seelbach is just a horrible person. I knew him from way back and he acts the exact same way and plays the same games that he did way back in his 20s.

 

 

He didn't at first, but specifically came back & apologized. Also said he would pay off his share of the fine today.

 

 

Edited March 8, 20196 yr by SleepyLeroy

Good for him.

 

Really, of all the people involved, I actually gained a new level of respect for Landsman during this whole process. I generally disagree with his politics but throughout this scandal he handled himself like an adult. He owned up to it, made no excuses and did not seek to deflect blame at all. While he may not have been politically in favor of certain actions during his tenure, he made the tough decisions when needed.  The sign of a leader and integrity is not how a man conducts his day to day business when things go well, but how he handles adversity and how someone accepts his mistakes. To that, Landsman has done a great job

 

Is Michelle Dillingham the first candidate to announce she's running for City Council in 2021?

Is the 7th time a charm for Ms. Dillingham? 

She finished in 10th place last time. With 2/3 of the current council members leaving office at the end of this term, I would say Dillingham has a good shot of being in the top 9 in 2021.

2 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

Is the 7th time a charm for Ms. Dillingham? 

God I hope not

Who is termed limited off council?  Do the new term limits give people the chance of running for a third term? 

Term Limited:

Chris Seelbach (D)
PG Sittenfeld (D)
Wendell Young (D)

David Mann (D)

Christopher Smitherman (I)

Amy Murray (R)

Not Term Limited:

Greg Landsman (D)

Tamaya Dennard (D)

Jeff Pastor (R)

 

Term limits did not reset with the switch to 2 year terms. Anyone elected in 2013 and 2017 is ineligible to run in 2021

PG is a lock to run for Mayor, right? 

2 hours ago, taestell said:

She finished in 10th place last time. With 2/3 of the current council members leaving office at the end of this term, I would say Dillingham has a good shot of being in the top 9 in 2021.

 

Even though many people will leave in 2021, the field could be crowded with ghosts of council past.  We could see a return of Chris Bortz, Laurie Quinlivan, Greg Harris, Sam Malone, etc.  We could also see a return of repeat candidates from the past like Tony Fischer, Nicholas Hollan, etc. 

 

The biggest wild card of all is of course big money candidates who come out of nowhere.   Sittenfeld came out of nowhere in 2011 to place second behind Roxanne Qualls, far ahead of repeat candidates and incumbents.  Last time, the unknown but mysteriously-funded Jeff Pastor rode that Village People outfit into the #9 space.   Tamaya Dennard was also a first-time candidate to beat out former councilwoman Laurie Quinliven and repeat-candidate Dillingham. 

 

 

PG, Seelbach, Landsman, and Dennard all tried to pull a fast one by claiming they intend to pay their share of the fines - given that the overall settlement amount was $101,000 and the "fine" they were referencing was only a $1000 portion of that.

 

'Gang of five' case: Four members of Cincinnati City Council have offered to pay $200 each toward the $101,000 in fines and fees

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/11/cincinnati-city-council-texting-case-members-gang-five-pay/3104674002/

The fine was $1000.

^ Yep the rest was a settlement to the plaintiff & attorney's fees. Why would they even bother paying the other parts if the plaintiff & attorney admit that they want to drag this along as far as possible and it may rack up 1mill for them. Keep moving the goal line and the "goal" becomes meaningless.

 

Edited March 12, 20196 yr by SleepyLeroy
me stil spelt bad

2 hours ago, taestell said:

The fine was $1000.

 

Props of you managed to type that with a straight face. The total bill was $101,000. Paying $200 of that total is a bigger slap in the face than paying $0. It's like leaving a dollar tip to "send a message" instead of stiffing.

I am not in favor of giving Chris Finney and his associates a tip.

9 hours ago, taestell said:

I am not in favor of giving Chris Finney and his associates a tip.

 

They get paid either way. The beef I have is that 4 of the 5 council members in question are trying to get credit for paying their fair share of the bill, when in reality they're each paying a $200 portion of a $101,000 charge. I think I've posted before that the cover-up was worse than the original transgression, and now the reaction to being caught and exposed is worse, as well. This all could have likely been avoided - the legal fees, the release of the texts, etc. - with an earlier admission of guilt. This is the sort of behavior that will result in a Mayor Smitherman.

Speaking of Smitherman, he apparently had his wife record a message before she died condemning Sittenfeld (and no one else). This whole thing is really strange...

This case could not be a better example of a nothingburger. Some council members texted eachother and said mean things about the mayor and other council members. No actual City Council business was being secretly decided behind closed doors. The Council Members stopped texting eachother once they were informed that it was a violation of open meetings laws. Lazy local media writes clickbait stories playing up the reality TV show drama while ignoring the very serious accusations that came out in these texts, like the fact that John Cranley has been steering economic development deals to his buddies. The Blue Blood culture of Cincinnati lives on.

7 minutes ago, taestell said:

This case could not be a better example of a nothingburger. Some council members texted eachother and said mean things about the mayor and other council members. No actual City Council business was being secretly decided behind closed doors. The Council Members stopped texting eachother once they were informed that it was a violation of open meetings laws. Lazy local media writes clickbait stories playing up the reality TV show drama while ignoring the very serious accusations that came out in these texts, like the fact that John Cranley has been steering economic development deals to his buddies. The Blue Blood culture of Cincinnati lives on.

 

And nobody cares that Cranley dropped his phone in a hot tub, or that he blew $500k forcing out his hand-picked city manager.  That his hand-picked city manager turned on him because he's really that insane. 

 

 

 

Nice performance, I bet he's running for council in 2021.

Bet he's in the 2018 COAST Christmas Party photos. 

On 3/14/2019 at 12:29 PM, Ram23 said:

Lmao I blocked this dude on Instagram due to the sheer doucheyness of his posts. He's like 22, idolizes Roger Stone (yes, that one, lol), and thinks he's some sort of...somebody. Total clown. 

Edited March 18, 20196 yr by edale

Jesus.  Look at all of those stooges praising him on Twitter. 

 

I get the feeling we're going to end up with all sorts of characters in the next election. With so many current council members term-limited, we could end up with a wild city council.

36 minutes ago, Ram23 said:

I get the feeling we're going to end up with all sorts of characters in the next election. With so many current council members term-limited, we could end up with a wild city council.

 

Will we see the return of Laketa "Sassy" Cole?

Alecia Resse has to be coming up on term limits. Could she return to council?

 

As far as Laketa Sassy Cole. - What about "all aboard the Cole Train" wasn't that her slogan at one time.

City manager orders employees to retain text messages

 

Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney directed city employees to retain text messages related to city business on Friday, nearly a week after an Ohio court official decided that they are public records.

 

A special master for the Ohio Court of Claims determined on March 13 that text messages are subject to the Ohio Public Records Act if their content meets the definition of public record under the law.

 

That means if a text documents the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the city, they are public record.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/03/25/city-manager-orders-employees-to-retain-text.html

Councilman unveils new regulations, tax on short-term rentals

 

 

Cincinnati Councilman David Mann has proposed a 7 percent tax on all short-term rentals within the city, which would go to an affordable housing trust fund, as well as limit the number within a single building.

 

The new ordinance would limit the number of units in a multi-family building that could be used for short-term rentals. If a building has four or less units, all of them could be rented on a short-term basis. If a building has five or more, the building could have four short-term rentals, plus one additional short-term rental for every four additional overall units in the building.

 

Every property owner with a short-term rental would have to register with the city and get a certification that the rental complies with building codes.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/03/26/councilman-unveils-new-regulations-tax-on-short.html

Seems way more reasonable than past proposals. I haven't seen the actual language, so that impression could change.

Is David Mann the heat meiser in disguise with cold meiser's hair?

This is not going to go anywhere. This is Mann with a stick up his a$$ and listening to his friend's in the hotel business about what a problem it is. Framing it as a fair housing issue and affordable housing issue may get people like Landsman and/or Dennard to support it, but Sittenfeld and Seelbach are against it because in their views, it is the "future" and Pastor, Murray and Smitherman are against it on free market principles. So really Mann is just a one man show promoting this right now.

 

 

COASTies are now circulating a list of "Gang of 5 operatives" that include people like Julie Niesen (a.k.a. Wine Me Dine Me), Justin Jeffre, and Molly Wellmann. They're really going full Alex Jones with this conspiracy theory, huh? #benghazi #chemtrails #911wasaninsidejob

34 minutes ago, taestell said:

COASTies are now circulating a list of "Gang of 5 operatives" that include people like Julie Niesen (a.k.a. Wine Me Dine Me), Justin Jeffre, and Molly Wellmann. They're really going full Alex Jones with this conspiracy theory, huh? #benghazi #chemtrails #911wasaninsidejob

 

 

Dang it! I'm only "Gang of 5 Operative adjacent", I've got to step it up to get in the big leagues.

 

2 hours ago, taestell said:

COASTies are now circulating a list of "Gang of 5 operatives" that include people like Julie Niesen (a.k.a. Wine Me Dine Me), Justin Jeffre, and Molly Wellmann. They're really going full Alex Jones with this conspiracy theory, huh? #benghazi #chemtrails #911wasaninsidejob

 

I have occasionally been named as a co-conspirator with people whom I have never met in real life, have never called on the phone, have never emailed, have never communicated with in any fashion.  I doubt that know I exist.  Yet I'm conspiring with them.