BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
With talk of doing away with the council-manager form of government swirling around Cincinnati politics, no group feels more threatened than the Charter Committee.
After all, it was Charter, Cincinnati's independent political party, that was responsible for the creation of the council-manager from of government in the 1920s, when the original Charterites threw out the machine politicians -- and it is Charter that has been the self-appointed defender of the system ever since.
But now, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans calling themselves Build Cincinnati is putting together a plan that would scrap the present system and replace it with a directly elected "strong mayor" and an eight-member council elected from districts. If it passes, the experiment in "good government" that the original Charterites began in the 1920s will be over and their descendants will be left without a government system to defend.
While some think it will be the end of Charter, many within the organization believe it would just transform Charter into what it was in the beginning -- a reform group to lobby for change.
"It's hard to imagine what will happen to Charter, because in my wildest imagination I can't believe these people will be able to change the system," said Marilyn Ormsbee, executive director of the Charter Committee.
"But I don't think it would mean the end of Charter," Ms. Ormsbee said. "It's more likely it would mean there will be a lot of people knocking on our door to get it repealed."
Others believe that, if the Build Cincinnati plan is successful, Charter will wither on the vine.
"They would no longer be relevant," said Hamilton County Republican Chairman Mike Allen, a backer of the Build Cincinnati plan. "If their sole purpose is to preserve the council-manager form of government, there just won't be anything left for them to do."
Charter has weathered many assaults on the council-manager form of government since lawyer Murray Seasongood started the movement more than 70 years ago.
In the 1920s, after decades of corruption and financial mismanagement by a Republican political machine, the original Charterites -- a coalition of anti-machine Republicans, Democrats and followers of progressive presidential candidate Robert LaFollette -- persuaded Cincinnati voters to do away with the old system and replace it with a nine-member council. The members would be elected without consideration to political districts. The day-to-day operations of the city would be headed by a professional city manager, a novel idea at the time.
Although most of the original Charterites did not envision it as a permanent political organization, Charter remained a major player, fielding slates of council candidates and controlling council on and off over the years.
In the 1990s, Councilwoman Bobbie Sterne has been the lone Charterite on council. She resigned this month, and her seat was taken by Jim Tarbell -- who was nearly elected on his own as a Charterite last fall.
Mrs. Sterne, who could not run for re-election in 1999 because of Cincinnati's term limits law, said last week that the main reason she left office early was to give a Charterite council member a chance to run with the advantages of incumbency.
"It's very important to me that Charter continue to have a presence on council," Mrs. Sterne said.
Charter, she said, will play a major role in trying to convince Cincinnati voters that Build Cincinnati's "strong mayor" plan is a mistake.
Ms. Ormsbee said the only part of the Build Cincinnati proposal that the Charter Committee "could even remotely support" is the direct election of the mayor, but not with broad executive powers.
If Build Cincinnati succeeds in changing the system, Ms. Ormsbee said, "we'll probably revert back to what the original Charterites were, a reform movement. We'll fight to change back the system." But many Build Cincinnati supporters see Charter as a group that is simply against change and defending a system that has become indefensible.
Jeff Berding, one of the organizers of Build Cincinnati, said there is nothing in his group's plan that would preclude Charter from having a role to play.
"We think this system allows them to compete," Mr. Berding said. "They would be able to run candidates for council in the districts and keep a presence on council. We're not saying they should go away. There will always be a need for "good government' people."
