Berding Reverses Pool Policy

Faced with sagging poll numbers and automated telephone calls attacking him on the issue, embattled Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Berding recently did a turnabout on whether any city-owned swimming pools should be permanently closed.

Although council is on summer recess, Berding last week introduced a proposal that instructs city administrators to find the money needed to keep all swimming pools open next year from mid-June until school resumes in August. During the past two years city council has struggled to find the cash to keep the pools open, opting to close some early and close others on alternating days.

Berding proposed that administrators take $140,000 from City Hall's $800,000 annual travel budget and use it to keep the pools open longer. Council’s Finance Committee will decide on the issue in coming weeks.

The proposal is at odds with what Berding proposed last winter during contentious budget negotiations at City Hall.

Berding, who headed a council faction nicknamed the “Fiscal Five,” suggested budget cuts that would’ve closed some city health clinics and swimming pools to save money. Budget planners say the city will have an $18 million deficit next year due to rising expenses unless some changes are made.

In November, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. proposed a budget that would’ve closed 13 swimming pools. Berding and the Fiscal Five countered with a proposal that would’ve kept some of those pools open, but still closed nine of the city’s 39 pools, many in poor neighborhoods — while keeping facilities in more affluent areas like Mount Adams and Oakley open.

Pools targeted for closure by the Fiscal Five were located in Avondale, Clifton, East End, Fairview, North Fairmount, Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills, Washington Park and Westwood.

The faction’s proposal also called for closing the Carthage Recreation Center, cutting $3 million from the Health Department’s budget and eliminating the $310,000 budget for the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission.

Ultimately, the full city council decided to keep funding levels steady, which meant no pools were permanently closed but the 2007 season would end in early August, while kids still were out of school.

An $80,000 donation from local attorney Stan Chesley enabled city officials to keep 18 of the pools open for an additional two weeks this summer. Last year Mayor Mark Mallory led a private fund-raising campaign that raised $160,000 to keep all of the pools open through August.

Berding has defended his latest proposal. If the nine pools targeted by the Fiscal Five — which they say are little-used locations — would’ve been closed, the others could’ve been kept open longer, Berding says..

Now, with an election looming, Berding is declaring that all city pools should remain open.

In a campaign “robo-call” earlier this month, former Councilman Charlie Winburn called voters and urged them to call Berding’s council office to lobby council to keep all the pools open until Labor Day. Shortly thereafter Berding announced his new pool funding plan.

Winburn, a Republican, is seeking a return to council after an absence of several years. A recent poll conducted by some incumbents found that Winburn ranked third, indicating he would easily score a spot on the nine-member council. Two incumbents, Berding and fellow Democrat Cecil Thomas, didn’t fare so well. Both placed out of the top nine, with Berding ranking 12th.

Last week Thomas also held a press conference during city council’s summer recess to announce a proposal for cracking down on crime in publicly subsidized housing projects.

Campaign sources say Berding will introduce new policy proposals on an average of once every two weeks between now and Election Day to raise his profile.

— Kevin Osborne
(Photo: Chipola.edu)

Comments

[Anonymous]

Did the Fascist Fourgerers put out a press release to celebrate?

[Fiscal Phonies]

Kevin, stop refering to them as the "Fiscal Five", it was complete BS made up by a fascist idiot named Peter Bronson. Bronson didn't even look at the budget and if he had he would have seen their numbers didn't add up.

They've been called the "Fascist Five" by many and yet you never mention that.

[anon]

thanks for getting this out there, when I saw Berding giving his speech at one of the pools about saving them I thought it was a crock since before then he wanted to close them.

[anonymouse]

Berding's campaign mgr is the moderator for tonight's forum, so expect favoritism

2007 Oakley Candidates' Forum
Thursday, August 23
20th Century Theater, Oakley Sq.
6 p.m. - meet and greet
6:30 p.m. - program begins