Updates on Leis, Berding and Buses

Here's an update on several items reported in recent weeks on this blog and in the pages of CityBeat, ranging from Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis backing down on his campaign tactics and the latest on alleged Democratic Party dirty tricks to bus service for suburbanites.

Sheriff Leis and "the letter": To settle a federal lawsuit, Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis this week agreed to mail letters to his 1,072 employees that will be written by a group opposed to a proposed county sales tax increase.

An assistant county prosecutor who represented Leis and Hamilton County in the lawsuit said the settlement isn't an admission of wrongdoing. Still, as the agreement provides every provision that anti-tax groups were seeking in the lawsuit and doesn't require them to make any concession to the blustery Leis, it does appear that the settlement is a tacit admission that Leis stepped over the line in regard to Ohio election laws.

Local activist Jeff Capell filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court after Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, Leis’ fellow Republican and former protégé, declined to pursue complaints that Leis broke state election laws. Anti-tax groups were upset that Leis recently included a letter in paychecks to his workers urging them to support a sales tax referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot and encouraging them to lobby their families and neighbors. Also, the anti-tax groups didn’t like that Leis and Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune allowed the lobby of the county’s administrative building to be used by a pro-tax group for a press conference and allowed them to hang a large banner there.

Under the settlement, the anti-tax groups also will be able to use the lobby and hang a banner.

Ohio election laws prohibit using public money or resources, such as equipment, for campaigning for or against a political candidate or issue. It also prohibits using public money to compensate an employee for time spent on campaign activities.

Rumored attack ads: A local political blog reported Tuesday that Cincinnati City Councilman David Crowley, an incumbent Democrat who is seeking reelection, has joined with the mayor’s brother, State Rep. Dale Mallory, and local GOP operative Marcus Jenkins to produce a mass mailing that attacks council incumbent Jeff Berding and council challenger Charlie Winburn.

Crowley’s campaign manager told CityBeat that Crowley didn’t know about the alleged mailings and hadn’t contributed any funds to the effort.

Party insiders, however, say the two attack-style flyers do exist — one each on Berding and Winburn —and Berding’s already has been distributed in some quarters. Although it’s not known with certainty who paid for the flyers, it’s believed to be funded by the Service Employees International Union with the blessing of Mayor Mark Mallory, sources said.

Bengals fundraiser: Speaking of Berding, the first-term Democrat is calling on his well-heeled boss and his $912 million football franchise for help in raising last-minute campaign cash.

Bengals players Rudi Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Madieu Williams will appear at a campaign fundraiser for Berding, scheduled for Nov. 2 at a Pleasant Ridge house. Admission is $150 per person. The event is slated just four days before the election, so presumably Berding — already among the top fundraisers in the race — will use the cash for a TV commercial blitz in the final days or to pay off debt.

The fundraiser will be held despite Berding’s routinely downplaying or omitting altogether the fact that he works for the Bengals during public appearances on the campaign trail. For example, when he spoke before the Cincinnati Democratic Committee seeking its endorsement in April, he scrupulously avoided any mention of the Bengals.

Berding supporters should hope that his re-election bid fares better than the bungling Bengals have so far this season.

Suburban bus service: Mason city officials this week did a U-turn on whether they will pay for Metro bus service that’s already been provided this year.

In late August Mason had notified Metro that it wouldn’t fund its share of 2007 bus service to Warren County, which totals about $33,000. Metro officials said the news was especially troubling because the city hadn’t informed the agency earlier in the year — and essentially got service provided free of charge for more than eight months.

Two bus routes travel through Mason. The first is Route 71X, an express service to take Warren County workers into downtown Cincinnati. Statistics show that route is used by an average of 225 people on weekdays. The other route is Route 72, which provides a “reverse commute” service from downtown to Kings Island and has been used by young people who have jobs at the theme park.

It costs about $500,000 annually to operate the routes but after federal grants and bus fares are subtracted, only about $90,000 is needed from local sources. Warren County, Mason and Deerfield Township have split the cost in recent years.

Mason City Council decided this week to pay up for 2007, but indicated it wouldn’t fund bus service next year. One city official said an informal study determined no local businesses used the service.

Metro’s statistics, however, paint a different picture.

In 2006, Metro’s Route 71X Kings Island Express service carried 120,112 for the entire year. The Route 72 Kings Island reverse-commute service carried 19,545 riders on weekdays throughout the year; the same route carried 4,408 people on weekends, which is service paid for by Metro.

Also, the Route 72 Kings Island Direct service — which is an extra route operated to provide summer youth employment opportunities and is funded separately — carried 21,953 people last year.

Transit officials say the Route 72 service is provided to bring workers from Cincinnati’s urban core to jobs in Warren County, serving Field-Ertel and Mason-Montgomery roads, the Natorp/Duke/Irwin Simpson area and Western Row, as well as Kings Island.

— Kevin Osborne
(Photo: Thepalmdubai.com)

Comments

[Caleb]

Berding is getting desperate.

Ain't it grand?

[ToeJamFootball]

Re: Busing

Why is a little thing called fares not factored into these dollar amounts? It looks like the 71X Kings Island Express fare cost $3.25 @ 120,112 = $390,364.

Of course a bigger concern is how these outer suburbs can financially flourish by ignoring the DT core. Gas prices be damn, businesses are going where the money is. I wouldn't be surprise if one of the major hospitals move from Pill Hill and head north.

[Jennifer Farmer]

This is in response to the October 25 post regarding the Jeff Berding and Charlie Winburn attack ads - SEIU did not fund or in any way contribute to these ads. Any assertion to the contrary is false.