Mixed Messages at Local Tea-Party Meeting with Phil Heimlich as Guest Speaker

On Tuesday evening, the Eastern Hills Tea Party gathered at the Madeira City Hall to hold one of their periodic meetings and to discuss the national debt. Just prior to 7pm, between thirty and forty people gathered outside the main meeting room looking through tea-party literature and eating some cake to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the founding of the Cincinnati Tea Party. As seven-o-clock came around, citizens were ushered into the main chamber in order to hear from the night's featured speaker, former Republican member of Cincinnati City Council and former Hamilton County Commissioner, Phil Heimlich.

Heimlich is the son on the famed Dr. Henry Heimlich (who is credited with inventing the "maneuver" which bears his name), sat on Cincinnati City Council, and was a Hamilton County Commissioner. Heimlich was also a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District of Ohio, but lost his bid in the 2008 primary to current Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH). Currently Heimlich runs one-minute television segments on WXIX-TV which he calls "The Hard Truths with Phil Heimlich".

The former Council member was slated to speak at this tea-party event on the issue of national debt, but Heimlich's presence at a tea-party gathering was puzzling given his stance on health care reform. Take this recent blog entry where he discussed how it is moral and Biblical for the government to provide health care for its citizens (emphasis mine):

I’ve heard many “believers” say it’s the job of the church, not the government, to take care of the sick. But Proverbs 29:14 says, “If a king judges poor people fairly, his government will continue forever.”

These and other scriptures command those in power to help the less fortunate.

Forty-six million Americans are without health insurance. Millions more have coverage that is wholly inadequate — so inadequate that over 60 percent of bankruptcies are due to medical bills. This need is unlikely to be met by the church or individual donors.

The Bible directs our leaders to meet this need — and do it efficiently — so as not to violate the Biblical principle of stewardship. But to do nothing is like the servant who, when given money to invest, buried it in the ground. Jesus said, “Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30)

Heimlich is saying that the Bible tells government leaders to meet the needs of those who do not have health care. In other words, the government should provide its citizens with health care. This is quite a different narrative than has been heard since the summer months when tea-party activists shouted down Congressmen and held rallys denouncing a "government takeover" of health care.

What is more, Heimlich's wife Rebecca is the Ohio State Director of Americans for Prosperity, an organization that has been very involved in organizing opposition to the health care reform legislation that is being circulated in Washington. A few months ago, Rachel Maddow discussed how this organization is corporately funded and how it has disseminated falsehoods in their fight to energize tea-party movements and defeat the health care legislation:

This is what these groups do. They're experts at fake grass roots campaigns that promote corporate interests. Americans for Prosperity is the group that ginned up anti-stimulus rallies earlier this year. They also organized what they called the "Hot Air Tour" to campaign against the whole idea of global warming. They were the ones who sent Joe the Plumber around the country to rail against the Employee Free Choice Act, which is pro-labor legislation.

This oil industry and Republican operative billionaires club is according to the Republican party spokesman today, just average middle class Americans. Just regular American folks sitting around the kitchen table thinking about whether they can get away with saying that the government, continuing its long standing policy of encouraging living wills, is really a secret plot to kill old people.

One other thing about Americans for Prosperity, their most visible spokesman, is a man named Tim Phillips. He is the President of the organization and we've asked him to come on the show to talk with us about the group. Tim Phillips got his start in fake grass roots with a firm called Century Strategies, run by Ralph Reed. Century Strategies is famous for having duped Christian groups into lobbying for energy deregulation. You know, like the Bible said.

[...]

These guys are the pros. This is an industry. Americans are showing up at these events to shout down the discussion, to chase their Congressmen, and they are enraged. And they're enraged at least in part because they're being riled up by over the top, fabricated conspiracy theories about health care. And they're being directed and orchestrated by the corporate interests that do this for a living and do it very well.

[...]

To talk about these town hall events as some organic outpouring of average American folks who have concerns about health care is to be willfully blind to what is really going on, which is professional P.R. operatives generating exploitative, manufactured, strategically deployed outrage in order to line their own pocket.

These P.R. spin misters get paid a lot of money for doing it. The corporations they work for get to kill legislation that would hurt their profits. And the real people who they launch into these town hall settings after they're told that health care reform is a secret commie plot to kill old people and to mandate sex changes, those real people get more, and more, and more and more angry, and more, and more, and more alienated, and ultimately they get left, like the rest of us, with a health care system that is broken and doesn't work in the interest of the American people, but does work in the interest of the corporations that profit from the way the system is now.

This is professional, corporate funded Republican staffed P.R., and it should be reported as such.

This is the context in which Phil Heimlich was to give his remarks at the Eastern Hills Party meeting on Tuesday night. It seemed as if schizophrenic conservatism had hit overdrive: Heimlich posts a blog entry advocating government-provided insurance but has long been a staunch Republican whose wife now is a State Director of an Organization that has been instrumental in drumming up the anger of citizens to oppose health care reforms. I attended this tea-party meeting to see if I couldn't figure out what was going on here.

Heimlich was introduced by the facilitator of the meeting and took the stage making a joke about his wife. "I had to rush my, you know my wife is very demanding," Heimlich started, "She made me take her to the hospital Saturday morning just because she had appendicitis."

He went on to discuss how his wife recovered enough to have him drive her to Columbus on Monday so that she could participate in a huge health care protest that was organized by Americans for Prosperity. He also mentioned that she was also involved in organizing the "Hands off our Health Care Rally" that was held on the other side of Cincinnati that same evening. "She's really doing some exciting stuff," Heimlich said of his wife's organizing efforts.

After praising his wife's courage and "exciting" efforts in organizing citizens against health care reform, Heimlich apologized for not wearing a tie to this event and said his tie-less appearance reminded him of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "I don't mind that the guy brutalizes his own people, rigged the election and the guy denies the Holocaust, but the guy is such a shabby dresser," joked Heimlich, "He outta stop by Brooks Brothers or something and get a pair of pants before he goes to the UN or something like that."

Heimlich then began his talk on the financial troubles that face the United States with why the tea-party crowd should listen to him on this issue. He admitted that the only economics course he took was Economics 101 during his time at Stanford, but said that he finds it interesting that the economists who are viewed as experts on the issue are all getting it wrong. Heimlich especially went after Nobel Prize recipient and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman:

"Here is a guy who won the Nobel Prize for Economics, he's Professor of Economics at Princeton, a columist for the New York Times; his solution to the economic problems facing our country, do you know what it is? Bigger stimulus. He thinks the problem is that we are not spending enough. That's his solution."

[...]

"So my point is just that, I don't know if having a big economics degree necessarily qualifies you to speak about some of the crisis, the financial crisis that our country is facing."

So the first reason that the tea-party members should trust Heimlich's views on economics are because even though he has only taken one economics class, he doesn't think that a Nobel Prize winning Professor of Economics like Paul Krugman, is qualified to speak about the economic crisis? An interesting (and somewhat confusing) stance.

After appealing to the crowd that he is just a normal guy who "has something to say" like "you might have something to say", Heimlich launched into his views on the national debt. He told the crowd that if they take away anything from his talk, they should understand that "The United States is broke". He slammed the United States government for out of control spending that has led to a "$14.5 trillion dollar debt" that is complicated by billions in borrowed interest.

Sounding at times like an apprentice of Ron Paul, Heimlich told the crowd that while they are concerned with cutting spending on social programs, the problem also lies in spending on wars and the military. He criticized Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) and Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) for taking funds so that GE could produce a "duplicate engine" to the F-35 aircraft; a project that Heimlich views as "wasteful spending". Heimlich also outlined the how the spending on the Iraq War is out of control:

"Most of us on our side, we thought that was the greatest thing in the world. Maybe it will turn out that way, but you know, what I don't get about that is that there used to be a situation in that region where you had...two countries that basically hated each other. You had Iran and Iraq and you know what they did? They went around killing each other. They fought a war for eight years and even though it was pretty terrible for their people, for our national security that was a pretty good deal."

[...]

"Now why the heck we spent, what will be, $1 trillion dollars, 4,000 lives, 100,000 lives of Iraqi civilians, why we did that to get rid of one of the bullies so that now the other bully is dominating the region, I don't know. But it seems to me that if we are going to be truly fiscally responsible, if that's really what we are after, then we have to be fiscally responsible across the board."

Heimlich made the case that since the U.S. is mounting a debt that will never be repaid, it will affect everyone's personal finances. He claims that this calls for radical action (emphasis mine on a point I will come back to):

"I think we all ought to start thinking about being a little less patriotic. I'm all for electing the right people...I'm all for everything that you guys are doing, I think this is an incredible, incredible turnout you have here, my wife works with tea-parties all over Ohio and I think it's great, but I gotta tell you something. I think it's time to start thinking about protecting ourselves. I do. Protecting our families."

[...]

"I think the bottom line is, let's not run our lives like the government runs theirs. That make sense?"

As Heimlich concluded he chose to take a few questions. As I sat through his presentation, I couldn't help but continue to think about the apparent contradiction that his presence at a tea-party meeting posed. After all, in that last quote, Heimlich stated that he was "all for everything that you guys are doing" and that his wife's work with other Ohio tea-parties was "great"; yet his own blog post where he advocated for government-run health care seemed to contradict his support for the tea-parties and the work that his wife was doing.

As the Q&A continued, I asked about this contradiction. Below is the video of my question, Heimlich's response and the aftermath:



Clearly, Heimlich was only interested in, as he stated, criticizing Republican hypocrisy on this issue instead of taking a firm stand either single-payer or the public option, like he hinted at in his blog post. You could see that members of the tea-party were not pleased to hear his stance on health care reform and even gave some pushback.

After this segment, Heimlich exited the main chamber to allow the tea-party meeting to continue. I followed Heimlich into the lobby with my digital audio recorder in hand and asked him what health care reforms he would like to see implemented. (Note, another man who had attended the meeting was standing with us and he is the third voice you hear in the audio)



It is interesting that Heimlich has such strong criticisms for members of his own party, even calling them out on their inaction during the years of President Bush. What is also interesting is Heimlich's condemnation of the partisanship that surrounds the health care debate when he openly says that he is "all for" what the tea-parties are doing and that his wife's efforts with the tea-parties are "great" and "exciting". The level of partisanship has been been well-documented at these tea-party rallies and for Heimlich to suggest that he supports the efforts, but is outraged by the partisanship in the debate, is disingenuous.

Heimlich also states that he is "not necessarily a member of the tea-party" when I asked him if he is worried about Republican influence, but his presence at these events and in telling members that he is "all for" what they are doing sends mixed messages at best and makes his self-described hate of hypocrisy ironic at worst.


This piece is cross posted here.

Interview with Laure Quinlivan, Democratic Candidate for Cincinnati City Council

Laure Quinlivan is a Democrat running for Cincinnati City Council. She is a former I-Team Reporter with Channel 9 and currently describes herself as a mother and a new small business owner. Quinlivan is endorsed my Mayor Mark Mallory, U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus, several current City Council members and various organizations such as CincyPac, Equality Cincinnati and the AFLCIO.


CB: On your website you state: "My experience as a watchdog for taxpayers will pay off for you. If you liked me on the I-Team, you’ll love me on City Council, and this time, I’ll be reporting directly to you." As a reporter, there is a certain level of trust that you must establish with the public so that they can believe the information that they receive is accurate and trustworthy. What measures of transparency will you establish so that the public can trust you as a "watchdog" who has their best interests at heart?


LQ: I would be in favor of posting online as much of our Cincinnati government budget items and expenses as possible, so the public can see what government is doing with tax dollars.

Another plan I have is to report directly to citizens through my web site, with stories and videos on important issues. For example, right now on www.LQReportingtoYou.com, people can watch my in-depth video report on Streetcars. It shows what I found visiting Portland and some German cities with streetcars. I produced an animation of the proposed Cincinnati streetcar route so people can see where it’s going to go, because everyone I speak with wants to know detail like this.


CB: Do you support the proposed Streetcar plan? Why or why not?

LQ: I strongly support the streetcar plan because I think it’s the best thing we can do to repopulate downtown and OTR and grow our tax base who we have more revenue. The streetcar investment will bring us more than a billion dollars in private investment. I base this on my research and interviews with Portland’s Mayor and streetcar riders, and my transportation experts I met in Portland and Germany on my trips to investigate streetcars.

In addition, streetcars will be our first step in modern public transportation which we desperately need in this city. Transportation was the #1 priority identified by the thousands of people who participated in Agenda 360. Finally, streetcars will help our environment by getting people out of cars, the top source of pollution in Cincinnati.

CB: Would you support the implementation of a Domestic Partnership registry for the City of Cincinnati, as has been done in places like Toledo and Cleveland? Why or why not?

LQ: Yes, I think it’s the right thing to do. I believe in equal rights for everyone.


CB: On your website, you state that you will continue to make Cincinnati "green" by "creating more urban farms, community gardens, bike paths and green space." What will your first priority be to continue to "green" Cincinnati if you are elected to office?

LQ: Getting involved in the Banks project to ensure bike paths and public green spaces are part of the plan, I will talk to our city/county transportation and planning folks about how we can create more bike paths whenever we re-do a road.

I will also use my reporting skills to highlight the good “green” projects by neighborhoods and groups to help inspire and encourage other people and businesses to do the same.


CB: On your website you mention the importance of creating more public spaces in Cincinnati. Currently, 3CDC has taken more control in the operation of Fountain Square downtown. Are you worried about the influence of corporate interests on public spaces? If so, how would you work to ensure that people would be able to freely gather to express their opinions within newly created public spaces?

LQ: I am really not worried about that right now, because I think 3CDC’s changes to Fountain Square have been a major improvement. Many, many more people gather at FS than they did before. That said,I will always be in favor of ensuring people’s right to gather and express their opinions in public spaces.

CB: What is your position on ordinance 910-23, Cincinnati’s “anti-marijuana ordinance”? Should it stay on the books, or be repealed—and why?

LQ: If the ordinance has not produced good results for citizens and in fact, is a drain on resources, I’ll be in favor of repealing it. Iwant to talk to more involved parties before making a final decision, including police officers.

CB: GOP Mayoral Candidate Brad Wenstrup wants undercover outside agents to spy on Cincinnati police to monitor their behavior. Do you think this a good idea? Why or why not?

LQ: I’m not familiar with his plan. However, as a former I-Team reporter, I did undercover investigations which sometimes involved police. For example, a few years ago the I-Team partnered with ABC’s 20/20 to test several police agencies in our region, to get police reaction when a citizen asks about how to file a citizen complaint against police. We conducted this undercover test at more than 15 local police stations. A couple police officers from departments outside the city were very rude and intimidating to our citizen tester, but the Cincinnati Police district officers reacted very professionally. I’m not against undercover work, but it all depends on the proposal and the credibility of who’s doing the undercover work..


CB: In your experience as a reporter you have been privy to many of the inner-workings of the City of Cincinnati over the years. What is the biggest lesson that you have learned about politics in this City and how will that lesson shape your actions if you are elected to Council?

LQ: The lesson is: government is not efficient, open and responsive to citizens. I think it should be. Citizens (and journalists) find it hard to get through all the red tape, and service is slow. I’ve learned we need to put incentives in place to encourage city employees to help us find solutions, save money, and achieve excellence in our government. It would be money well spent.


This interview is cross posted here.

Above Photo Courtesy of here.

Interview with Nicholas Hollan, Democratic Candidate for Cincinnati City Council

Nicholas Hollan is a lifelong Cincinnatian and a Democrat running for Cincinnati City Council. Nicholas currently works for the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Red Cross as the Community Outreach/Disaster Services Coordinator and is endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Party, the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus and the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. You can listen to a previous interview that Hollan gave the Cincinnati Beacon by clicking here and you can visit Hollan's website by clicking here.


CB: What is your position on ordinance 910-23, Cincinnati’s “anti-marijuana ordinance”? Should it stay on the books, or be repealed—and why?

NH: I would push to repeal this inappropriate and unnecessary ordinance that results in non-violent offenders overcrowding limited jail space.


CB: You state on your website that: "What I have observed, all too often, is that our responses are reactionary. For our city to move forward, we must together and proactively address the root causes of the pressing issues we face." Can you describe ways in which you believe City Council has acted in ways that are reactionary to problems that face Cincinnati?

NH: One area of reaction that recently dominated the press was the proposed police layoffs.

While I believe that maintaining public safety is one of the most important functions of local government, I also think it is right and just to question how money is being spent. We are currently spending over $100 million on policing which essentially, reacts to crime and deters crime through the threat of imprisonment. Unless something changes, we are going to be spending $110 million in five years and $120 million in ten. I intend to work to break this cycle by proactively focusing on those root causes that initially lead people down this path: job training, education and healthcare. As more individuals achieve self-sufficiency, crime will diminish as will the request for federal, state and local assistance. Everyone wins in this scenario.

We should remember to fund the police to the best of our ability but not forsake those programs necessary to lessen their workload.


CB: You state on your website that you want to work with community councils to create a long-term vision for each of Cincinnati's neighborhoods. How do you plan to create a meaningful dialog with all 52 community groups?


NH: My professional background is in human services but I can’t go into anyone’s neighborhood and tell the residents how I am going to fix them. The first step is reaching out to every community and listening, more than speaking, to truly understand the concerns of residents for their neighborhood. By collaborating with all of the stakeholders in each community and obtaining their buy-in, priorities can be established and a vision set forth.

Creating this type dialogue with all 52 neighborhoods is an enormous, yet necessary task. To accomplish this and my other objectives, I will serve Cincinnati residents as a full-time council member. A part-time representative will only produce part-time results. I believe the people of Cincinnati deserve elected officials who will make public service their top priority.

CB: You have stated that you want to encourage people to move into Cincinnati by elevating the quality of life. If you are elected to council, what is the first step that you would pursue to elevate the quality of life in the city?

NH: With the city facing a $50 million deficit next year, I believe the first step for all council members should be delving deeply into the budget to ensure that it is balanced while still meting out city services as easily and as efficiently as possible.

The point of contention will be what constitutes a core city service. I don’t want to live in a city where the only service offered is policing. Cincinnati boasts a renowned performing and fine arts community, a dedicated green initiative and a focus on providing our residents with a minimum level of care through human service programs. We need to find the funding to support these crucial life enhancing opporunities.

As your councilmember, I intend to work closely with all elected officials both in the city and county to ascertain cost cutting opportunities like the group purchase of salt. I think it is also important to point out that this level of focus on cost saving measures should be a basic function for stewards of taxpayer dollars and conducted when the economy is strong as well as weak.


CB: Do you support the local NAACP’s frequent petition drives, or do you think that organization is abusing City government? Please explain.

NH: All citizens have the right to garner signatures and put whatever issue for which they are passionate on the ballot for a public vote. However, I do feel this is a tool that is best used in moderation.

I am concerned that repeated use of these ballot referendums take us down a perilous path towards the California model of slow, ineffective government.

Local government officials are elected to make key decisions on behalf of all residents. If people disagree with the direction of leadership then they have the opportunity to remove council and replace them with candidates who more closely align with their particular interest.


CB: As you are probably aware, Celeste Thomas, the daughter of Councilmember Cecil Thomas, was recently tased during a traffic stop by Cincinnati Police. This act was quickly labeled as excessive use of force by the Chief of Police. This incident just added to the list of accounts throughout the country of questionable use of tasers. What is your position on the use of tasers by Cincinnati Police?

NH: The incident involving Councilmember Thomas’ daughter was exceptionally unfortunate and I commend the measured response from Councilmember Thomas as well as the swift condemnation of the act by the police administration.

Tasers, providing a non-lethal tool for police officers, are a tremendous asset that doubtlessly saves lives. We as a society authorize our police offers to make split second decisions under extreme stress regarding the use of force. My hope is that officers use force according to the prescribed guidelines and face repercussions when they go outside of accepted practice.


CB: With the debate over health care reform at the forefront nationally, one of your priorities on your website is: "to ensure children in our community are born healthy, are immunized and receive proper health and oral care." How do you plan to ensure that children in Cincinnati are born healthy? Are you implying more of an educational campaign or something more concrete for those who may not be able to afford proper prenatal care?

NH: With the issue of healthcare raging on the national news front, I believe that the need for healthcare reform is clear and immediate.

For proof of this as a concern, I cite our city’s deplorable infant mortality rate. Generally considered a good indicator for the overall health of a community, our children are dying at a rate that is twice the national average.

Certainly an educational program designed to reach at risk mothers is critical in an effort to alter potentially negative behavior and provide information regarding existing healthcare options. I also believe that the existing healthcare clinics must continue to receive the funding they need to operate. We are talking about an at-risk population that is statistically less likely to have a primary care physician, receive pre-natal care or care for the newborn after birth.

While the city as a whole has an infant mortality rate twice the national average, families receiving treatment from the Cincinnati Health Department are below the national average. That type of success must be encouraged and allowed to grow.


CB: Would you support the implementation of a Domestic Partnership registry for the City of Cincinnati, as has been done in places like Toledo and Cleveland? Why or why not?

NH: This is not a gay-rights issue as much as it is a basic issue of equal human rights. I am proud of my endorsement by Equality Cincinnati and support a Domestic Partnership registry as a step toward complete equality for all Americans in the eyes of the law.


This interview is cross posted here.

Interview with Tony Fischer, Democratic Candidate for Cincinnati City Council

Tony Fischer is a Democrat who is running for one of the nine seats on Cincinnati City Council. Fischer served two tours of combat in Iraq from 2005-2008 and has the endorsements of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus, and the Miami Group of the Sierra Club. You can read more about Fischer at his website by clicking here.


CB: What is your position on ordinance 910-23, Cincinnati’s “anti-marijuana ordinance”? Should it stay on the books, or be repealed—and why?

TF: Jail space should be primarily utilized for violent offenders. That would be my primary goal in determining punishments the city has authority to consider.

CB: On your campaign page, you say you want to "Make targeted infrastructure investments to leverage Cincinnati’s physical position and transportation connections." What's the latest on the Queensgate terminal project, and how does that fit with your platform point above?

TF: We have to be concerned about any liabilities the city has outstanding. There are presently many active working terminals on both the east and west sides of the river. The statement I made was primarily focused towards the need to make local investments so that we can take advantage of new high-speed rail projects, specifically the 3-C corridor and the Midwest regional rail initiative. Cincinnati can not be bypassed by these projects.

CB: What is your position on the debate between how to define "basic services"? Are swimming pools, rec centers, and other human services "basic"? Please explain.

TF: Basic services that people expect from their city are public safety, transportation repair and maintenance, water and sewer services, garbage collection, public health, and parks and recreation. Basic services means not that we have a little bit of each service but that the services that are offered are effective.

CB: Do you support the local NAACP’s frequent petition drives, or do you think that organization is abusing City government? Please explain.

TF: Individuals and citizen groups have a right to circulate petitions to amend the charter by popular vote. That is a basic feature of American government on the state and local level.

CB: GOP Mayoral Candidate Brad Wenstrup wants undercover outside agents to spy on Cincinnati police to monitor their behavior. Do you think this a good idea? Why or why not?

TF: No, I do not think this is a good idea. There is currently both an internal investigations section and the Citizens Complaint Authority to handle questions about police behavior.

CB: On your campaign page, you say you want to "Coordinate with neighboring rural areas to develop markets for local products and maintain healthy food sources for our citizens." Can you explain how this fits with your role as Councilmember? Please be specific.

TF: The city owns Findlay Market, so it has been its business to "coordinate with neighboring rural areas to develop markets for local products and maintain healthy food sources for our citizens" for over 100 years. I think it is important for many of our neighborhoods that don't have a full service grocery (e.g. Avondale, as well as others) to have access to healthy and fresh fruits and vegetables.

CB: Wouldn't form-based codes make it more difficult for neighborhoods to protest certain kinds of development from entering their areas? Please explain?

TF: It is important that our neighborhoods function as centers of business as well as residential areas. It is much better to have neighborhoods that serve multiple functions than a single function. That single use suburban style development is not sustainable.

CB: Would you support the implementation of a Domestic Partnership registry for the City of Cincinnati, as has been done in places like Toledo and Cleveland? Why or why not?

TF: Yes, because it is the right thing to do.



This interview is cross posted here.

Interview with Amy Murray: Cincinnati City Council Candidate, 2009

Amy Murray is the past President of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council and has been endorsed as a Republican for her 2009 race for Cincinnati City Council. Murray is also President of The Japan Consulting Group and has previously worked for Procter and Gamble as well as Xavier University. Her website states that her objective in running for council is to "to make Cincinnati known as a top, American livable city - one where our children stay or choose to return to live."

CB: What is your position on ordinance 910-23, Cincinnati’s “anti-marijuana ordinance”? Should it stay on the books, or be repealed—and why?


AM: Possession and distribution of marijuana laws are already on the books here in Cincinnati. Other cities in the region do not have ordinances like this. I would recommend a review of the ordinance to determine if it has been effective or not.


CB: You recently signed a pledge with COAST not to raise taxes. COAST has a mission which claims it wants to limit taxes to the rate of inflation. However, the current system known as "property tax rollbacks" holds that portion of taxes at a rate that is actually below inflation, which means the City cannot keep pace with growing expenses. Do you support continuing the property tax rollbacks? Please explain your answer.


AM: As you mentioned, I will not support raising taxes. And I do support continuing the property tax rollbacks. It is important for the City of Cincinnati to live within its means, just as the taxpayers and their families have to do the same. When a family is having trouble keeping pace with growing expenses, it usually cuts its expenses, or finds other sources of revenue.


CB: What is your position on the debate between how to define "basic services"? Are swimming pools, rec centers, and other human services "basic"? Please explain.


AM: In the specific case of our city; Cincinnati neighborhood pools provide a healthy and safe way for many of our youth to occupy themselves during the summer months. In our current financial crisis it is all about smart choices and setting priorities. I would clearly see the pools as a priority and a good investment in our youth. I would consider basic services - Police, Fire, Sewer, Water and Trash.


CB: Do you support the local NAACP’s frequent petition drives, or do you think that organization is abusing City government? Please explain.


AM: Any local group is allowed to hold a petition drive if it wants to. That is one of the great freedoms we enjoy as Americans, as is outlined in the US Constitution.


CB: GOP Mayoral Candidate Brad Wenstrup wants undercover outside agents to spy on Cincinnati police to monitor their behavior. Do you think this a good idea? Why or why not?


AM: It is my understanding that this was not a correct quote. The Cincinnati Police Department has an Internal Investigations unit that already reviews alleged misconduct by officers.


CB: You say you want to offer tax relief to families who pay to send their kids to private schools. Why should families get a tax benefit because they have the resources to pay for what amounts to a fringe benefit (private education)?


AM: A strong education system is very important to keep and attract families and jobs to Cincinnati. Many cities are looking at innovative options to make education a reason that all families stay in the city. I am in favor of looking “outside of the box” and seeing what we can do to support education in Cincinnati.


CB: You say you want to reach out to the community councils. Can you explain with some specificity how you intend to create meaningful dialog with all 52 community groups?


AM: My background is with neighborhood councils. I was on my local council for 8 years and was President of the Hyde Park Neighborhood council. These community groups do so much for our city – zoning, beautification and youth efforts. This is critical work that City Council would not be able to do without the efforts of our Community Councils. I plan to reach out to the councils in 2 ways:

1. Open and transparent government – I will reach out to all community councils so that they have my complete contact information and feel comfortable contacting me as issues arise in the communities. I want to be known as the Council member to go to when you need community help and assistance. We may not always agree on every issue or every solution – but I will always be there to listen and offer support and solutions.

2. I plan on personally establishing regular times that are open for meetings with community councils – and I will attend community council meetings on an on-going basis.


CB: Would you support the implementation of a Domestic Partnership registry for the City of Cincinnati, as has been done in places like Toledo and Cleveland? Why or why not?


AM: I do not see this as a role for the City of Cincinnati. The state of California has a similar registry. If the state of Ohio were to follow suit, it would save the taxpayers money, by having one statewide office.


Photo is Courtesy of here

This is crossposted at the Cincinnati Beacon which you can find here.