Cincinnati's Charter Committee unveiled a four-candidate City Council slate Thursday it hopes will increase its foothold in a city government that will be vastly different from the one Charterites created 75 years ago.

        Charter, the city's independent political party, has yet to name a candidate for mayor and is unlikely to do so by the June 28 filing deadline.

        But the one incumbent Charterite on council, Jim Tarbell, who briefly considered a run for mayor himself, will run this year with three non-incumbents who have never run for political office before.

        They are:

Denno

Harrison

        • Dawn Denno, 49, of Mount Lookout, who works for the Ohio Department of Education and heads Operation Smile, a nonprofit group that sends doctors to Third World nations to perform reconstructive surgery on disfigured children.

        • John Schlagetter, a 36-year-old architect who lives in North Avondale and works in the West End.

        • Kino Harrison, 29, a College Hill resident who is a residential adviser with the Job Training Corp.

        Mr. Tarbell is 59 years old and has been on council since 1998, when he was appointed to the seat held for nearly a quarter of a century by Charterite Bobbie Sterne.

Tarbell

        He recently led a move in council to fire City Manager John Shirey on the spot. Instead, Mr. Shirey agreed to resign effective Dec. 1.

        Charter has been a force in Cincinnati politics since the 1920s, when the original Charter Committee — including such men as Murray Seasongood and Charles Taft — pushed successfully for a council-manager form of government to replace a corrupt Republican political machine that had dominated City Hall for decades.

        Two years ago, Cincinnatians voted to change the city's political and governmental system to one where the mayor is directly elected and, while no longer a member of council, has greatly enhanced powers — including the power to initiate the hiring and firing of the city manager, veto council legislation and appoint committee chairs.

        “All governmental systems occasionally go through a tweaking,” said Gerald Newfarmer, a former city manager who is now Charter president. “Our job at Charter remains the same — to be the watchdog of good government.”

        The four Charter candidates bring the total of party-endorsed candidates to 18, including nine for the Democrats and five Republicans, all running for nine seats on council.

        A number of independent candidates, with no party backing, are also expected to enter the race.

British warning targets Cincinnati
Fuel-dependent businesses turning to surcharges
Killer Scott is executed by injection
RADEL: Race task force Panel can't risk more delay
Tough talk will be part of rally
Welcome to Southbank? Covington's miffed
Findlay Market manager resigns
Hundreds of police mourn fellow officer
Smog won't stay around
New cops survived on-scene riot training
Bowling Green stars in McBride music video
Budget shortfalls loom in '02
Center opens for complaint calls
Charterites endorse 4 for council
Church takes time to decide disputes
Foes travel to protest execution
Ft. Thomas police get non-lethal weapons
Job-help programs get grants
Judge dismisses bootlegger; decries hypocrisy
Play's the thing for these kids on stage
Program for disabled gets $30K grant
Shootings, wrecks drain blood supply
State acquires second half of old-growth forest
Talawanda schools need $41M upgrade
Tristate A.M. Report