BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tim Burke
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Six weeks after a Democratic disaster at the polls and a year of internal party strife, Hamilton County Democratic Party chairman Tim Burke has decided to step down.
Mr. Burke, who took over the unpaid job five years ago, stunned many fellow Democrats Saturday morning when he told a meeting of the party's executive committee that he plans to be gone by the end of February.
"I just decided it was time," Mr. Burke told The Enquirer Saturday. "It's time to let someone else give it a try."
It was not immediately clear who that somebody might be, and Mr. Burke said Saturday he plans to have no role in picking his successor. Mr. Burke said he would call a meeting of the party's central committee early next year to pick his replacement.
The decision to leave by Mr. Burke, who has been active in local Democratic politics since his student days at Xavier University 30 years ago, comes while the party is preparing for the 1999 Cincinnati City Council elections.
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WHO'S NEXT?
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Democratic Party sources said some Democrats are likely to ask former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan to take over as chairman, at least through the rest of Tim Burke's term, which would end in June 2000. Others said there is likely to be an intense battle for the chairmanship over the next two months; and that the party might end up with co-chairs
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"I have to admit, I was stunned," said Forrest Buckley, a 1999 council candidate and sometime critic of party leadership. "This is going to get really interesting."
The Democratic party chairman's job is not paid, unlike his counterpart for the Republicans, who makes a six-figure salary for running party affairs. But the Democratic chairman is usually a member of the Hamilton County Board of Elections - a paying job - and has the final word in putting together slates of candidates for county and local offices.
This year, the Democratic party slate fared poorly in county elections. The party's entire statewide ticket lost, and Hamilton County Democrats lost two incumbent judges. The only bright spots for local Democrats were the re-election of Dusty Rhodes as county auditor and State Rep. Mark Mallory's upset win over GOP incumbent Janet Howard in Ohio's 9th Senate District.
Mr. Burke said that while the election results were "very disappointing," they were not the major reason for his leaving.
"Since I have been doing this job, my billable hours have gone down 50 to 60 percent," said Mr. Burke, a senior partner in a downtown law firm. "There is also the fact that I want to have more personal and family time. This job takes an enormous amount of time."
In recent months, Mr. Burke has been criticized by some in the party for his backing of Build Cincinnati, a bipartisan group that wants to scrap Cincinnati's council-manager form of government and replace it with a directly elected "strong mayor" and a council elected from districts.
Earlier this year, Mr. Burke weathered a storm brought on by then-Cincinnati Councilman Dwight Tillery, who failed to spark a revolt in the party by claiming Mr. Burke had done little for African Americans, a key constituency group in the Democratic party. Mr. Burke vigorously denied Mr. Tillery's charges.
The departure of Mr. Burke will mean that both of Hamilton County's major political parties will be getting new leadership in early 1999.
Next month, Hamilton County GOP Chairman Mike Allen will step down and be appointed Hamilton County prosecutor, taking over for Joseph T. Deters, who was elected Ohio treasurer last month. H.C. "Buck" Niehoff, the GOP's finance committee chairman, will take over as county party chairman.
