Top 8 Fundraisers Get Council Seats

8 out of the top 9 fundraisers got Council seats this year. The only exception was 9th-place fundraiser Christopher Smitherman, who was replaced by Cecil Thomas from down the list at no. 16.

Despite the 90% correlation between being among the top 9 fundraisers and winning one of the 9 Council seats, there was minimal correlation between the amount of money raised and the number of votes received (0.105).

The average dollars-per-vote for the 9 winners was $4.63. The range with Std Dev is $2.11 to $7.15. Only two candidates fell outside this range: Jeff Berding had the most at $8.94 and Cecil Thomas had the least at $0.77.

Perhaps the most telling statistic comes from the next 9 finishers: the average dollars-per-vote for them was $1.76. This figure is far lower than that of the winner's group. One candidate, Gerry Kraus, did average out to $4.31 per vote, but to no avail. She turned out to be the "losing" exception and Cecil Thomas the "winning" exception.

The top 5 white finishers raised $160k (+/- $66k) which is an average of $5.30 per vote received.
The top 5 black finishers raised $43k (+/- $19k) which is an average of $1.70 per vote received.

GOP Officials Still Plagued by Avian Stupidity Virus

State Rep. Courtney Combs, who we've previously surmised has his head up his ass, is now exchanging unpleasantries with Butler County Commissioner Michael Fox, who is an ass.

At least these two Republicans have the modicum of maturity to use words, which is more than can be said for these three.

Election Predictions

Mayor: Mallory will be elected mayor by a wider margin than expected;

Council:

Bortz
Berding
Cranley
Tarbell
Ghiz
Cole
Smitherman
Eby
Young

Issue 1: YES
Issue 2: YES
Issue 3: YES
Issue 4: NO
Issue 5: NO

Issue 8: YES
Issue 9: NO

State Issue Endorsements

Issue 1: NO

The goals of Issue 1 are worthwhile: high-tech job creation, economic development and university R&D. So how did it end up as mostly another corporate welfare program? Probably because it has some of Taft’s genes.


Issue 2: NO

This bill is not the answer to long voting lines; better (and fairer) election management is (see Issue 5). Furthermore, I share the concern that expanding early voting concomitantly expands opportunities for fraud and error. It might be a case of one step forward and two steps back.

I also don’t understand why this requires a constitutional amendment and not just a law.


Issue 3: YES

Of course Ohio needs campaign finance reform. After passing last year’s insulting House Bill 1 that blatantly skewed campaign rules to favor one party and their special interests (see this article), reform is badly needed to level the playing field. The special interests’ campaign to defeat Issue 3 ignores its background and grabs at air with moot talking points about out-of-state money.

Again, I don’t understand why it has to be a constitutional amendment instead of a law, but the need for campaign finance reform is so critical that this just has to be done. It’s been one corruption story after another this entire year. It’s ridiculous and embarrassing that Ohio’s government is characterized by corruption, and we should take this opportunity to change that.


Issue 4: NO

This was a tough one. The benefit is that this issue will take redistricting out of the hands of politicians and into those of an independent commission’s. Politicians should not be in charge of drawing their district lines because they have a conflict of interest. The formula authorized by this issue to create more competitive districts is a better system.

But the disadvantage is that the formula only takes into account the two major parties. I view this as a serious disadvantage because the two-party duopoly stifles the marketplace of ideas and produces worse government than is otherwise possible. It is critical that third parties and independents acquire a greater presence in government, and this bill does not allow that.

Once again, if this issue were a law, then I would probably vote ‘yes’ because I think it would be easier to diversify the political marketplace under a competitive-districting system than the current "self preservation-" districting system, and it would be easier in the future to amend legislation than to amend (again) the constitution. But making it an amendment is too much.


Issue 5: YES

The Secretary of State is in charge of election oversight, and that means there is a clear conflict of interest for him to also be in charge of a campaign. I would never have expected that anyone would actually have the sass and/or poor judgment to actually do this, but that was before Ken Blackwell. Let’s not have any more of that nonsense.

Local Issue Endorsements

Issue 8: NO

Issue 8 is the kind of political gimmick that appeals to people who watch local news. The only rationale for this issue is that Council salaries are (a) unreasonably high for (b) part-time employees. If this is the case, I suggest (a) changing the formula at the statehouse (to 50%, for example), or (b) making Council a full-time job. And voting for this issue out of fiscal constraint is like rejecting the sunroof option on your new Mercedes to save money. Council spends far more on corporate welfare and out-of-state consultants.

Issue 9: NO

Even my rudimentary understanding of fiscal management and tax policy is enough to recognize this issue as piece of junk. The fact that COAST would put forth such a fiscally catastrophic proposal (now for the second time) totally discredits them as pro-Cincinnati group. I would take COAST much more seriously if they recognized that corporate tax loopholes shift the burden to individuals, and that eliminating those loopholes would level the playing field and lower individual taxation.

City Council Endorsements

Clark Street's Council endorsements are below. Key considerations in the selection process were:

Does the candidate have a vision of what the city can be like in the future and can he/she develop sensible, creative ideas that lead there?

Does the candidate have the intellect to understand and critically analyze the range of issues that may come before council (policy, administration, economics, technology, etc.)?

Can the candidate work well with a team? Council will have difficulty implementing policies and dealing with crises if it cannot work cohesively and efficiently. Candidates with “issues” are a red flag.

Council should reflect the city’s diversity to at least some extent (geographic, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic).

Samantha Herd
Paul McGhee
David Crowley
Wendell Young
Cecil Thomas
John Cranley
Christopher Smitherman
Nick Spencer
John Eby

It’s disappointing to end up with only 1 woman, but I won’t add another woman just for balance. Maybe next time I’ll end up with 8 women and 1 man. I’d pay a poll tax to see that.

I like the idea of district voting more than the idea of Jeff Berding on Council.

Chris Bortz’s association with Towne Properties was all it took for me to reject him. Developers are the antithesis of smart growth and the last thing we need on Council is more influence from developers and home builders.

A final thanks to all the candidates who stepped up to the plate for public service.

Blade Series Reveals Corruption and Pay-to-Play

Corruption and quid pro quo: that’s what characterizes the Republican Party, as a new series in the Toledo Blade is revealing. Link to the relevant articles through HypoSpeaks.

Fairfield Republican Puts Head in Ass

State Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Fairfield, has said he will introduce his Ohio English Unity Act, which would require state agencies to produce records only in English by the end of the year. Combs believes society has been “coddling” Spanish-speakers for too long so they won’t learn English. Julia Arbini Carbonell, president of the Ohio Hispanic Coalition, said the legislation disrespects immigrants. She calls it "a bill about intolerance." [Cleveland.com]

Does this really make any sense? Let's look at some statistics comparing Ohio to the nation (Ohio figures in yellow):

White persons: 85% / 75%

Asians: 1.6% / 3.6%

Hispanics: 2% / 12.5%

Foreign-born persons: 3% / 11%

Language other than English spoken at home: 6% / 18%

Minority-owned enterprises (1997): 6.3% / 14.6%


Clearly, Ohio should not be ground zero for xenophobia. Furthermore, it is well known that immigrants are good for economic growth. A steady influx of immigrants means a steady infusion of human capital. That grows economies, something Mr. Coombs should be well aware of as a member of both the Commerce & Labor and Economic Workforce & Environment committees.

There is also another reason Mr. Combs gets recognition for cephalocolonoscopia: the GOP is making a concerted effort to bring in Latinos into the Party, and he's pretty much shooting his party in the foot with this kind of idiotic right-wing grandstanding.

Somebody send Mr. Combs to Toronto for a weekend so he can experience a better melting pot than Hamilton or Fairfield.

Mr. Combs has sponsored 3 other bills this year: HB209, a bill to allow nonprofits to sell booze; HB303, a bill to designate the children's book Lentil as the official children's book of the state and its author as the official children's book author of the state; and HB313, which modifies the sentence an offender receives under the Sexually Violent Predator Law so that any person who is sentenced under this law (and who is not sentenced to death) must receive a term of life imprisonment without parole.

Interesting guy.

Purple People Bridge Getting New Owner

The ball is rolling to transfer ownership of the Purple People Bridge from Kentucky to Newport and then to a subsidiary of private firm Southbank Partners, which will then own the bridge.

Southbank already oversees the bridge, but once it gets ownership it’s possible things may change because it will be able to set its own rules and usage fees. Will it allow certain kinds of public gatherings and not others? Will it permit certain kinds of banners and not others? Will it set restrictive policies and fees? How much profit will Southbank want to make after covering maintenance costs?

Aside from these questions, the transfer of ownership to a local entity may bring some exciting and creative things to the bridge. I don't know how much you can really do with a bridge, but who knows, maybe they'll come up with something out-of-the-box.

Big Pharma’s ‘Screwball’ Marketing Scheme

An exec at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, came up with the idea to commission a novel. The plot was to focus on the danger of importing cheaper drugs from Canada.

“According to the proposal, PhRMA would pay Phoenix a six-figure sum for the marketing and production of a written-to-order fictional thriller. The plotline was what Hollywood would term high-concept — a group of shadowy terrorists conspires to murder thousands of Americans by poisoning the medicine they're importing from Canada to beat U.S. drug prices.”

Eventually, higher-ups discovered the "screwball" idea and pulled the plug. The authors “were informed that PhRMA didn't like the book and was pulling out. He says the group offered them $100,000 if they would agree never to speak ill of PhRMA or the drug industry for the rest of their lives. They refused.”

Also noteworthy: PhRMA’s new president is former Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-LA). Another one through the revolving door.