Berding Fires Another Staffer

Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Berding is hoping the third time is the charm for his struggling reelection campaign.

Berding recently decided to switch campaign managers for the second time in three months, replacing Dave Schaff. It’s now likely that Berding will temporarily fill the campaign manager’s spot with someone from his city council office.

Schaff is a longtime Democratic Party operative who previously worked for Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune and is Oakley Community Council president. Berding hired Schaff earlier this summer to replace Miles Lindahl, his first campaign manager.

Like Lindahl, Schaff was let go because Berding wasn’t pleased with his performance, said party sources. Berding partially blamed the campaign managers for his unpopularity among some of the party’s base and for not reversing his sagging poll numbers, they added.

A telephone poll conducted earlier this summer by three incumbent city council members — one of whom was Berding, sources said, although he has declined to comment on his involvement —found Berding might be in trouble. Results showed six candidates ranking closely enough together around eighth and ninth place, making the final two council seats highly competitive. Two incumbents, Berding and Cecil Thomas, were among those candidates.

Some rank-and-file Democrats are upset at Berding because of his extensive ties to Republican candidates and campaign contributors, his proposal last winter to cut $3 million from the city’s Health Department, a tendency to cut deals outside public meetings and his frequent clashes with some Democrats on council.

Berding, 40, is sales director for the Cincinnati Bengals. He managed the successful campaign in 1996 to increase Hamilton County’s sales tax by a half-cent to build new stadiums for the Bengals and Reds; the team later hired him on its staff. Berding is divorced and lives in Mount Lookout.

Lindahl’s hiring earlier this year was controversial, criticized as political payback by some party insiders.

Berding hired Lindahl shortly after he provided the swing vote to secure Berding’s endorsement by the Cincinnati Democratic Committee’s nominating panel. Lindahl — who was hired by Berding about two weeks after the vote — said he hadn’t yet spoke with Berding about working for his campaign when he cast the vote but was impressed by Berding’s speech to the panel.

Lindahl said Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper recommended him for the job later, but Pepper told CityBeat that he couldn’t recall when he spoke to Berding on Lindahl’s behalf, even though the time period mentioned by Lindahl consisted of only two weeks.

— Kevin Osborne

Comments

[Yellow Dog]

Berding is his own liability. He creates his own problems every time he opens his mouth.

[Sy]

Berding's campaign is imploding. He thought he could buy his way into re-election, but no amount of money can sell a product that the public knows is a lemon.

[CincyJeff]

Berding's problem isn't his campaign staffers. Berding's problem is that he's a sleaze and nobody likes him. As they say, you can fire everyone but the candidate.

[KevinP]

Hey, I hear Scott Gehring is looking for work.

[Not the Mamma Cass!]

If Berding is smart he'll hire Jeff Cramerding. Cramerding worked wonders for Bortz for Council and Pepper for Commission.

[Former Berding Staffer]

I used to work for Berding. How can you tell when he's lying? His lips are moving. He'll lie about what he had for breakfast, even if no one asked. I think there's a DSMIV diagnosis for that.

[anon]

Wow, is this the sign of a campaign in desperation or what?

Anyone who knows jeff knows he'll cut your throat as soon as he has the chance. Glad to see it is catching up with him.

Props to Schaff for getting out of there and restoring his credibility with faithful democrats.

[SW]

Schaff is a quality guy. Berding may have gotten away with firing his previous staffer due to his inexperience, but he can't say this about Schaff, who ran Portune's campaigns, etc.