Tuesday, June 15, 1999

Luken: Council has him 'pumped'

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Trades anchoring for campaigning

BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Luken

        Charlie Luken will announce today that he is trading the broadcast studio for the campaign stump, throwing his household name into this fall's Cincinnati City Council race.

        Mr. Luken, a former Cincinnati mayor, stepped down as anchor of WLWT-TV (Channel 5) on Monday, ending five years on a newscast that has been locked in third place.

        His candidacy is bound to change the calculation for the November council elections. He is one of three people ever elected mayor under the top vote-getter system, and the other two — Roxanne Qualls and Dwight Tillery — are term-limited and cannot run.

        “My juices get flowing when I think about this,” Mr. Luken said in an interview Monday. “It's exciting for me to get back. I'm pumped about it. I want to go.”

        He plans to announce his candidacy at the Tyler Davidson Fountain, downtown. It has a personal significance for him, as the place he saw John F. Kennedy visit.

        It also represents what is wrong with city government at this time, Mr. Luken said.

THE LUKEN FILE

• Graduated: From Purcell High School, University of Notre Dame and the University of Cincinnati Law School. • Practiced law: Taft, Stettinius and Hollister. • 1981: Elected to Cincinnati City Council. • 1984-90: Served as Cincinnati mayor. • 1990: Ran against Ken Blackwell for the U.S. House seat formerly held by his father, Tom Luken. Served one term before leaving politics for TV news. • Jan. 1993: Began as a general assignment reporter for WLWT-TV. Later named to anchor position. • Lives: Downtown. • Age: 47.

        “It's a symbol of the fact that city council, the city government, is not getting the job done,” he said.

        The fountain is boarded up until private fund-raising can pay for the nearly $2 million in needed repairs. Mr. Luken said people expect their taxes to pay for such things.

        His candidacy has been an ticipated. Local Democrats have endorsed eight candidates, leaving one position open.

        “Charlie Luken will be a very strong candidate,” said State Sen. Mark Mallory, co-chairman of the local party. His television job “has kept his name fresh, his image fresh.”

        Mr. Luken, 47, was first elected to city council in 1981. He helped pass the city's top vote-getter system of electing a mayor in 1987 and was elected mayor that year and in 1989. In 1990, he won the 1st Congressional District seat now held by Rep. Steve Chabot.

        Mr. Luken left Congress after one term and went to WLWT, first as a general assignment reporter and then as a news anchor.

        He hails from one of Cincinnati's Democratic dynasties: His father, Tom, served as a congressman for 16 years, as a city councilman and as mayor. Jim Luken, Tom's brother, was a city councilman, mayor and nemesis of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa.

        Charlie Luken said his first order of business would be to fix the relationship with the city manager.

        “There is a poisoned atmosphere in there right now,” Mr. Luken said. “They either have to decide this is our guy and to stand by him, or they have to decide the relationship should end.

        “It cannot go on having city council members treat the city manager like a pincushion and have the city manager saying things like, "If they don't like it, they can fire me.'”

        Council is preparing to evaluate the manager, and Mr. Luken called it “the critical event in city government.”

        With focus and a clear agenda at City Hall, developers will do business in the city, Mr. Luken said. Investment in housing and infrastructure is needed, he added.

        One thing city government has done right is improve relations between the police and the community, he said, though the Michael Carpenter shooting was “a terrible setback.” He supports video cameras on police vehicles and a citizens review board, which is being formed.

        This fall's election is the last of the top vote-getter races. Beginning in 2001, Cincinnati will directly elect its mayor, and the job will hold new power over city council.

        Mr. Luken said his interest in a council seat is not solely directed at a bid for the stronger mayor's job two years from now.

        At the same time, the stronger mayoral job is a tremendous opportunity to move the city forward, he said, but it will not end City Hall bickering as much as people hope. Mr. Luken suggested a simpler, more effective change: Have council members run every four years instead of every two.

        Trained as a lawyer, Mr. Luken said he has talked to some law firms about a job, but will focus on the campaign for now. He will be getting a late start and hopes to raise $200,000 — more than the $85,000 he spent last time he ran for council, but about half of what some candidates spend today.

        Tim Burke, co-chairman of the local Democratic Party, said Mr. Luken's candidacy, which must be formally ratified by the party's nominating committee, will help maintain council's Democratic majority.

       

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