Friday, February 05, 1999
Council overhaul on hold
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Both Republican and Democratic party leaders say that there is now virtually no chance that a bipartisan plan to overhaul Cincinnati's government and election system will be on the ballot in 1999.
But organizers of Build Cincinnati, the bipartisan group that has been working on a charter reform plan for more than a year, say they will keep working and haven't given up on the idea of putting a ballot issue before voters this year.
The chairmen of both the Hamilton County Democratic and Republican parties, who have overseen the Build Cincinnati efforts, said Thursday they don't think it will happen.
“It would not be good to rush into this,” said Buck Niehoff, who took over as GOP chairman last month. “I think we ought to do this at a more rational time than during a Cincinnati City Council election.”
Hamilton County Demo cratic Party Chairman Tim Burke said Thursday he has recommended that any ballot issue be put off until next year.
Build Cincinnati organizers had hoped to have their plan ready for the May primary this year, but gave up on that after it became apparent that various interest groups — particularly within the Democratic Party — could not agree on details.
The plan was the brainchild of a small group of Democratic, Republican and independent political activists, working under the auspices of the political parties and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Some black leaders in the Democratic Party have argued that Build Cincinnati should wait until the 2000 U.S. Census data are in before drawing council district lines, saying the data would reflect greater black voter strength in the city.
Other Democratic Party leaders oppose the idea of districts and think Build Cincinnati should leave well enough alone, since Democratic candidates have dominated at-large council elections in recent years.
On Saturday, about 100 members of the Cincinnati Democratic Committee decided to put off further discussion of charter reform. Republican Party leaders, who have been more supportive of the plan, have said they will not go forward unless the charter reform is a bipartisan effort.
Mr. Niehoff said “there is plenty of time” to work out the details of a charter reform plan.
“Something could be put on the March primary ballot in 2000,” Mr. Niehoff said. “If the voters pass it, there would still be 18 months before it would go into effect for the next council election. Delaying this isn't going to hurt anything.”
Mr. Burke agreed that it was probably unwise to have the charter reform package on this November's general election ballot, in the middle of a Cincinnati City Council campaign.
Another alternative would be holding a special election in March, but Mr. Niehoff said he would oppose that, saying it would be too costly.
Jeff Berding, a Democrat who has worked on the Build Cincinnati plan since the beginning, said the people who are drafting a plan have not yet given up on 1999.
“If our people still want to put an issue on the ballot this year, then we would do so,” Mr. Berding said. “We'll move when we feel we're ready to move.”
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