Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Winburn: Join 3 city agencies
Council may support plan
BY ROBERT ANGLEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Councilman Charlie Winburn today will introduce a proposal to eliminate three city departments.
Reacting to a series of “scandals” that have plagued economic development, neighborhood services and the planning department, Mr. Winburn says he wants to combine them into one agency.
And his idea is generating support among several council members, who might not be ready to commit to a specific plan, but are ready to talk about shaking up and restructuring the departments.
“I am ready to support it,” said Councilman Paul Booth. “We need to reorganize, clean up and set a new agenda.”
While the proposal has issues that need to be worked out, Mr. Booth said it has “opened the door” for discussions that have been a long time in coming.
Councilwoman Minette Cooper, who chairs the council's finance committee, said she has been working on ways to consolidate the same city departments.
“One hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing over there,” she said, adding the proposal has several merits. “We need to look into it, plan it and make it a success.”
Mr. Winburn's plan is to merge the three departments into what he calls the Planning and Community Development Agency, which would be overseen by one director instead of three and lower the total num ber of employees from about 100 to 50.
He said the immediate result would be to cut city spending and get rid of unnecessary bureaucracy. He said it would also help officials to get a handle on a number of problems, including a lack of oversight that has resulted in millions of taxpayer money being misspent.
“There has been a lack of oversight that has resulted in scandal after scandal after scandal,” he said, referring to recent disclosures about Genesis Redevelopment Inc. and Owning-the-Realty, two development groups under investigation.
He also said the departments have failed in their goals to develop housing and new businesses.
City Manager John Shirey, who oversees all city departments, did not respond to repeated interview requests.
“I certainly support the spirit of the motion,” said Councilman Pat DeWine. “These departments definitely need restructuring.”
Councilman Todd Portune agrees there needs to be restructuring, but said he is unsure how far it should go.
“I want to sit down with Councilman Winburn and see if we can come to an agreement,” he said. “This gives us something to start talking about.”
Councilman Phil Heimlich is opposed to the proposal, saying he wants government out of the development business altogether. He is supporting state legislation that would replace city departments with a private economic development authority.
“We don't need any more bureaucrats doing development,” he said. “If you like the parking lot at Fountain Square, or the Walgreens fiasco or Genesis, then you'll like this proposal.”
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