Thursday, September 02, 1999
Subpoenas issued over Booth residence
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Republicans have subpoenaed everything from phone records to where Cincinnati Councilman Paul Booth puts his garbage in their effort to prove he is not a city resident.
The four-member Hamilton County Board of Elections — two Democrats and two Republicans — issued subpoenas Wednesday for information and testimony on whether Mr. Booth, his wife and two children live in a house they own in Amberley Village or a two-bedroom apartment they rent in the Stonebridge apartment complex in Oakley.
But Democrats on the board warned the Republicans not to go too far digging up information about the Booth family, saying they wanted to avoid invading the privacy of the Democratic councilman and his family.
“If you want to go on a witch hunt and ask for all this repetitive information, you ought to realize you are making a very big mistake,” said Tim Burke, the elections board chairman and co-chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.
Last week, Markus Jenkins, treasurer of the Hamilton County Republican Party, challenged the nominating petitions of Mr. Booth, who was appointed to his council seat in December.
The challenge argued Mr. Booth has not made good on his promise upon taking office that he would move his family into the city. They said Ohio law states a candidate's legal residence is the place where his family lives.
The board of elections has scheduled a hearing Wednesday to determine whether Mr. Booth's name should be placed on the ballot. The hearing will be conducted much like a trial — with testimony, evidence and cross-examination of witnesses.
Wednesday, the board issued subpoenas for:
• Several neighbors of the Booth house on Aracoma Drive in Amberley Village and the apartment in Oakley.
• Two reporters for WXIX-TV (Channel 19), Kevin Landers and Wendy Shaw.
• Officials of the Amberley Village sanitation department, who will be asked if garbage is regularly picked up at the Aracoma address.
• Cincinnati Bell records, which the Republicans think will show calls to the Oakley apartment are forwarded to the Amberley Village address.
• Records of whether the Cincinnati Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer newspapers are delivered to the Amberley Village house.
• Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle records showing where the family cars are registered.
Mr. Booth was not at Wednesday's board meeting, but his attorney, Mark Vander Laan, argued no subpoenas should be issued until Mr. Booth and his wife, Cynthia, had testified to the board about where the family lives.
Mr. Booth said previously he resents the challenge to his residency and he and his family live in Oakley.
The information sought by the Republicans, Mr. Vander Laan said, is “a significant and intrusive entry into the lives of private citizens.”
Republicans said they have no interest in the Booths' personal business.
“All we want to know is where the family lives,” said Kim Burke, attorney for Mr. Jenkins and the GOP.
Both the Democrats and the Republicans on the elections board agreed not to issue subpoenas that Ms. Burke had requested ordering the Booths' 17-year-old son to testify or records from the Booth children's schools.
If the board deadlocks, the matter will be referred to Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican.
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