BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
CRESCENT SPRINGS -- Residents wearing T-shirts denouncing Mayor Ken Robinson showed up at city council Monday to further their protest of his support for a proposed landlord - tenant law and his way of running meetings.
Some residents carried signs asking "What happened to freedom of speech?" because they could not debate the law's merits. Mr. Robinson, for his part, showed a five-minute video of an apartment with a leaky ceiling.
The law's fate could be decided at council's Nov. 9 meeting. Mr. Robinson said Monday that no special meeting would be called for the second and final reading before the Nov. 3 election. The 7 p.m. meeting on Nov. 9 is council's first opportunity to vote, and Mr. Robinson said there would be time for talking then.
"I don't have time for a special meeting," Mr. Robinson said. He added that council could call one.
Crescent Springs resident Lynn McPhillips said she doesn't believe Mr. Robinson won't try to bring the matter to a vote before the election.
"I believe he's lying," she said. "He said it, but that doesn't mean he'll stick to it."
Judy Evans, who lives in Meadowood Apartments, said she was glad Mr. Robinson wants to wait until after the election, but she thinks the city should hold off on the law until January.
"I think the whole thing should be held over until the new council comes in," Ms. Evans said. "There's dissension in the city. There's been so much commotion."
Council members Roger Randolph and Helen Winterberg were mad that residents were sometimes rude.
"We've heard everything," Mr. Randolph said. "They don't answer questions. They scream and yell."
About 80 people attended Monday's meeting and heard council give first reading to the ordinance. Among other things, it would allow tenants to go directly to district court to address disputes with landlords.
Covington attorney Phil Taliaferro, who represents a group of Crescent Springs tenants, said other provisions -- which include a tenant's having to notify a landlord if he will be gone for more than seven days -- are unfair.
"They don't feel like they should have to tell Big Brother when they're taking a vacation," Mr. Taliaferro said. "I don't know of anyone who's for it except Ken Robinson."
A motion by Councilwoman Claire Moriconi -- who is running for mayor against Mr. Robinson -- to allow discussion failed by a 4-2 vote. Mrs. Moriconi and Councilman Larry Gronefeld voted for it. Mr. Robinson said it is normal to prohibit public comment on first readings, but near the end of the meeting Mr. Taliaferro argued his case and produced four large panels containing excerpts from a Sept. 20 letter Mr. Robinson wrote to Crescent Springs' apartment tenants. Mr. Robinson countered with his video.
Mrs. Moriconi said council was unaware Mr. Robinson wrote the letter and that city money should not have been used for it. Mr. Robinson said he spent between $200 and $300 for the mailing.
