Sunday, April 11, 1999
Democrats in a dither over Issue 4
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hold on to your seat. The following is shocking news. Ask the children to leave the room. They shouldn't see their parents in such distress.
But what we are going to peel the bark off and tell you is the absolute, unvarnished, undeniable truth:
The Democratic Party in Cincinnati is divided.
Rent asunder.
Sure, you say, sure they are. The party of Jefferson and Jackson always marches in lockstep when it comes to questions of principle and policy, don't they?
Well, not exactly.
Truth is, there are and always have been more points of view and grounds for argument in the Democratic Party — local, state and national — than there are ethnic groups in the Balkans.
If Democrats in Cincinnati were ever to come together for a single purpose it would be a surer sign of the Apocalypse than some Y2K computer glitch will ever be.
What has the local Democratic Party cannibalizing itself at the moment is Issue 4, the Cincinnati charter amendment on the May 4 primary ballot.
Issue 4 is, indeed, a whopper. It would fundamentally change the way Cincinnati elections and government have run for more than 70 years.
If, on May 4, whatever voters bother to show up for an otherwise humdrum election pass Issue 4, Cincinnati will have a direct election for its mayor in 2001.
Not just any old mayor, though. This mayor, under Issue 4, would have legislative clout. He or she would not be a member of council but would be able to veto council legislation and decide which council members would chair council committees.
The Republican Party likes this idea; there is no dissension there. They see it as a potential salvation in a city that is becoming increasingly Democratic. Plus, the business community likes it very much. They would find it much easier to influence one powerful mayor than nine Lilliputian council members. And the Republicans know how their bread is buttered — the business types fuel the GOP with money.
The Charter Committee, whose ancestors created the council-manager form of government in the 1920s, is behind Issue 4, although many high profile Charterites disagree.
But the Democrats — the Democrats are all over the map.
The party's co-chair, Tim Burke, was one of the original guiding forces behind the Issue 4 movement, and he has taken considerable heat inside the party for supporting the plan.
Other high-profile Democrats — such as former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan, state Sen. Mark Mallory, Mr. Burke's co-chair; and Mayor Roxanne Qualls — are on board. But such Democratic elected officials as council members Tyrone Yates, Paul Booth and Minette Cooper are heading the opposition campaign committee.
Last week, Mr. Burke sent out a letter to Cincinnati Democratic voters urging them to support Issue 4, and the opposition in the party began screaming bloody murder.
Saturday, the Cincinnati Democratic Committee — made up of Democratic precinct executives in the city — voted 77-62 against endorsing the ballot issue.
It's a dicey situation for the Democrats. Some of their biggest and most vocal constituency groups — particularly blacks or organized labor — are split over Issue 4.
Among African-American groups, the NAACP is for it, and the Baptist Ministers Conference and the Urban League are against it. In organized labor, the AFL-CIO Labor Council has endorsed the ballot issue, but individual unions have joined Mr. Yates' opposition committee.
What this means is that the rank-and-file of these constituencies — the people who show up at elections like this — are going to be getting mixed signals from their political leaders.
Vote for this and save Cincinnati, they'll hear in one ear.
Vote against this and save Cincinnati, they'll hear in the other.
They just might have to tune it out and make up their own minds.
Howard Wilkinson's column runs Sundays. E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com
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