Mayoral race, hotly debated issues highlight Hamilton County elections

By Kathryn Rosenbaum 
& Meghan Berneking

Photos courtesy of electmallory.com and hamiltoncountyrepublicanparty.org

Incumbant Mayor Mark Mallory, D (left), will face off with challenger Dr. Brad Wenstrup, R (right), on Nov. 3.

Hamilton County elections take place Tuesday, Nov. 3, and though several officials are up for reelection (including Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory), many of the debates leading up to these elections have focused on the state and local issues presented on the ballot. The Gallagher Student Center will again serve as a polling location for area voters, including those registered with an on-campus address.

Candidates

Although voters will not be voting for president or for senators, there are a number of local elections in Cincinnati and Norwood.

Cincinnati voters will vote for mayor and council candidates next week.

Mayor

Current Cincinnati mayor Democrat Mark Mallory is running for a second four-year term. His campaign website (electmallory.com) does not list platform goals, but if elected, his focus will be improving economic development, public safety and neighborhood growth. Mallory also supports the proposed streetcar system in Cincinnati.

Challenging Mayor Mallory is Republican Brad Wenstrup. Wenstrup is a podiatrist who served in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve. He is running on a slogan of “Solutions for Cincinnati.” Wenstrup wants to focus on increasing jobs and economic development—especially at the neighborhood level. He is opposed to the streetcar system at this time and also promises not to cut police and fire personnel. His website is wenstrupformayor.com.

City Council

This year, 19 candidates are running for 9 at-large positions. There are eight incumbents running: Democrats Jeff Berding, Laketa Cole, Greg Harris and Cecil Thomas; Republicans Lesile Ghiz and Chris Monzel; and Cincinnati third-party Charter candidates Chris Bortz and Roxanne Qualls. Qualls is also endorsed by the Cincinnati Democratic Committee.

The Cincinnati Democratic Committee pulled its endorsement of Berding for this election, and Harris is trying to win his first elected term. He was appointed to the position in January after Council Member John Cranley resigned.

City Council challengers are: Democrats Tony Fischer, Nicholas Hollan, Laurel Quinlivan, Lamarque Ward, Bernadette Watson and Wendall Young; Republicans Amy Murray, Charlie Winburn and George Zamary; Charterite Kevin Flynn; and Green Party Member Anitra Brockman. All challengers are endorsed by their respective parties except Ward.

Norwood

In Norwood, residents will vote for President of Council, along with Council Candidates.

Republican Jane M. Grote is running for reelection. She has served as President of Council for 16 years. Her opponent is Democrat Cheryl Cole. Incumbent Republican James Stith and Democratic Joseph Geers are running for Auditor.

Norwood Council

Residents vote for Council Members in the Ward they reside, as well as for three at-large members. All members serve two-year terms. The at-large candidates are incumbents Republicans Michael Gabbard and Victor Schneider and Democrat Joseph Sanker. Democrats David Keszei and Peter Tepe and Republican Andrew Clark are also running for at-large positions.

Ward 1 incumbent Democrat Keith Moore is running against Republican Alfred Boehme. In Ward 2, Republican incumbent Steve Thornbury is running against Gordon Williams. Democratic incumbent Chuck Barlow is being challenged by Republican Donna Laaka in Ward 3. In Ward 4, Democrat John Mumper is running for reelection against Republican Todd Tittle.

State issues

Issues 1-3 deal with statewide concerns. Issue 1 regards a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment to authorize the state to issue bonds to provide compensation for Ohio veterans of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. The amendment would allow the state to issue up to $200 million in bonds for these veterans until Dec. 31, 2009. Certain survivors of these veterans may also be eligible to receive these bonds.

Issue 2 on the ballot pertains to the creation of a Livestock Care Standards Board. The board would aim to lay down standards for animal care, maintain food safety, advocate locally grown food and safeguard local farms. Among those represented on the 13-member board are veterinarians, family farms and food safety experts.

The hotly debated Issue 3 deals with the amendment for the authorization for one casino each in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo. A 33 percent casino tax would be charged to the operator of each of these facilities, the revenue from which would be allocated, among other things, toward each county based on its population, public schools, the Ohio Casino Control Commission and a state problem gambling and addictions fund.

The licensing and regulation of the casino facilities would be governed by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Each operator will be charged a $50 million initial license fee, which will go towards state economic development programs.

Local issues

The first of the local issues (Issue 4) that Hamilton County voters will see on their ballots is the proposal for an additional residential and commercial property tax to go toward providing family health and hospitalization services and treatment programs.

Another proposed property tax levy increase (Issue 5) will provide funding for community mental retardation and developmental disabilities programs.

Issues 6 and 7 regard other property tax levies to fund the maintenance and repair of the Cinicinnati Union Terminal—where the Cincinnati Museum Center is located—and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, respectively.

Issue 8 deals with whether city voters must approve the sale of any assets to any regional water or sewer districts, particularly dealing with the future of Cincinnati Water Works.

Issue 9 addreses whether the City of Cincinnati should prohibit the use of any monies for construction or improvements of a passenger rail system without a city election. This would not only affect streetcars or trolleys within the city, but also passenger rail projects connecting Cincinnati with other major cities that would require city spending.

Norwood issues

Norwood voters will also see Issues 16 and 17 on their ballots, which both regard the sale of liquor on Sundays at the Kroger location at 4500 Montgomery Road. and Donna’s Carryout at 1919 Cleneay Ave., respectively.

A “Yes” vote on either issue would support the permission to sell wine, mixed beverages and liquor on Sunday between 10 a.m. and midnight at the respective location.

Voters can go to smartvoter.org, sponsored by League of Women Voters to find specific information about the candidates and issues they will be voting for on Nov. 3.

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SAC copes with budget

By Mike Glynn

Staff Writer

Newswire photo by Shane Hughes

Emily Dougherty, SAC chair.

Because Student Government Association received the same amount of funding this year as they did in the 2008-2009 academic year—instead of the usual one percent of undergraduate tuition—Student Activities’ Council has been trying to plan events economically to stay within their budget.

This year, SAC is hosting late night movies on only Friday and Saturday nights. Previously the movies were also shown on Thursday nights.

“The decision to drop Thursday night for Late Night Movie was purely financial,” Emily Dougherty, SAC chair, said.

“In order to continue having a movie a month, we had to cut down on the days that we showed the movie.”

Last week Cintas Center hosted Taking Back Sunday and Anberlin. SAC played a supporting role by offering students discounted tickets.

It is estimated that 250 student tickets were sold out of the 540 floor tickets originally reserved for Xavier students.

This does not include those who purchased tickets prior to the discounted SAC tickets.

SAC also is sponsoring the Halloween House Decoration contest, a program specifically designed to include commuters in the campus community.

“The Weekend Committee came up with the event and the board passed it. The idea behind the $700 is that it could go toward rent for a month—not necessarily a specific person.” Dougherty said.

“The Weekend Committee has a larger budget than the other groups and they felt it was a worthy prize,” Ian Heflin, a second year member of SAC said.

SAC continues to plan new events for the remaining part of fall semester.

The next major event will be a Late Night Gaming tournament featuring the FIFA 09 soccer videogame.

Plans for a spring concert are still not set.

“When it comes to a concert this spring, it is impossible to say right now,” Dougherty said. “There are too many ifs out there right now including who will be going on tour.”

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Police Notes

Oct. 21, 7:20 p.m. – A student reported the theft of his or her bike from the bicycle rack outside Buenger Hall.

Oct. 21, 11:01 p.m. – A student reported the theft of his or her wallet and cell phone from an unlocked locker in O’Connor Sports Center.

Oct. 24, 1:30 a.m. – A student was cited for underage consumption of alcohol near the lower entrance of Gallagher Student Center.

Oct. 24, 1:46 a.m. – Two students observed wrestling in the O’Connor Sports Center lot were cited for underage consumption.

Oct. 25, 1:04 a.m. – A student observed falling outside Cintas Center was cited for underage consumption of alcohol and failure to comply with a university official for giving false information.

Oct. 25, 2:15 a.m. – A student observed having trouble standing in Husman Hall was cited for underage consumption.

Oct. 25, 2:23 a.m. – Campus Police assisted Norwood Police with a loud house party on the 1900 block of Cleneay Avenue. Nine underage students were cautioned and a large amount of beer was observed in the residence.

Oct. 25, 3:05 a.m. – Campus Police investigated a report of a student sleeping in his or her vehicle in the C-1 lot with the car’s motor running. The student was cited for underage consumption of alcohol and was transported to his or her residence.

Police Note of the Week

Oct. 21, 12:17 a.m. – Campus Police and Residence Life responded to a report of a loud party in the Village. A beer pong table and a traffic sign were taken from the residence.

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