Just 12 hours after unofficial election results confirmed him as Cincinnati's new strong mayor, Charlie Luken began flexing his muscles Wednesday.

        First, he appointed Councilwoman Alicia Reece as his vice mayor.

        Then, he said he would send to the mostly Democratic City Council a series of sweeping changes in city government.

        Mr. Luken said he would propose eliminating two city departments, cutting money for Citicable in favor of economic development, and asking for ultimate authority over the Citizens Police Review Panel.

Newly elected as the city's strong mayor, Charlie Luken appointed Councilwoman Alicia Reece as vice mayor. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        He also said he was “disappointed” in the pace of his own race relations commission in addressing the issue of police-community relations and asked it for a written report in 60 days.

        Only one of the six items he outlined Wednesday — the establishment of an arts committee on City Council — was part of his campaign platform, and many he did not mention at all during the campaign.

        But they are the kind of structural changes that will consolidate power under the mayor and his city manager — and, Mr. Luken hopes, allow him to start implementing his agenda in 2002.

        To get that agenda through City Council, he will call on Ms. Reece, a second-term council member who finished third in the City Council race.

        “I don't think anyone could have witnessed the last two years without being impressed with Alicia's intelligence. And she's been assertive on the issues she cares about,” he said.

        Wearing jeans and a gray sportcoat with no tie, Mr. Luken made the remarks in a short news conference Wednesday before leaving on vacation.

        “Cincinnati is at a point where we have got to change. We have got to dramatically alter the direction of city government,” he said.

        Among the proposals Mr. Luken said he will send to City Council:

        • The elimination of the economic development department and extension of the port authority's jurisdiction from the Ohio River “all the way to Central Parkway.”

        He said using the “talent pool and resources” of the port authority will result in “better decisions” about development.

        What remains of the city's development functions would be merged into the Department of Neighborhood Services, he said.

        • The elimination of the Safety Director's office, making police and fire chiefs directly answerable to the city manager.

        The public safety office is redundant, Mr. Luken said, and taxpayers could save as much as $500,000 a year by eliminating it.

        • The establishment of a $25 million development fund. The $1.2 million in franchise fees paid by Time Warner Cable subscribers would finance bonds to set up the fund.

        The move would likely result in the elimination of Citicable Channel 23 and public access television.

        The budgetary move would have an added benefit, in Mr. Luken's view, of eliminating a weekly televised forum for City Council hecklers to reach a citywide audience.

        • The establishment of mayoral authority to appoint members to the Citizens Police Review Panel. The city manager makes those appointments now.

        Mr. Luken said he was disturbed by comments by the panel's chairman, Paul DeMarco, after the acquittal of two officers on charges of assaulting a black man who died in custody a year ago.

        Mr. DeMarco said last Friday that the verdict “says it's not a crime in Cincinnati for police officers to kill a black man. ... If that is what passes for justice in Cincinnati, every citizen of this city should be ashamed.”

        Mr. Luken said the comments were “over the line” and wanted authority to rein in the panel.

        “This is the United States of America. Everybody should be entitled to due process of law. If anybody should understand that, it's a lawyer on the Citizens Police Review Panel,” Mr. Luken said.

        Mr. DeMarco was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

        • The mayor said he would ask Cincinnati Community Action Now (CAN), his race-relations commission, to find ways the city can implement U.S. Justice Department recommendations on police-community relations, and report to him in 60 days.

        “I've been somewhat disappointed in the pace of Cincinnati CAN, particularly with regard to the police-community relations issue,” he said. “We have to move.”

        In a meeting with The Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial board Wednesday, Ross Love, a CAN co-chair, said implementing the Justice Department findings was “a good assignment” for the commission. But Mr. Love also defended the commission's pace, saying it was already addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

        “I wish we had set the pace differently from the beginning. We named the group Cincinnati Community Action Now, and I think we created an expectation that things would be changed by the end of the summer,” he said.

        • Mr. Luken said he would ask City Council to create an arts and cultural committee.

        The importance of the arts was a substantial part of the platform of his Charterite opponent, Courtis Fuller. But Mr. Luken, too, supported a higher profile for the arts at City Hall.

        Mr. Luken said he doesn't expect the new City Council of six Democrats, two Republicans and a Charterite to move in lock-step with his agenda. Indeed, Mr. Luken seemed to almost relish the thought of mixing it up at City Hall.

        After his campaign manager, Brendon Cull, asked a reporter if the newly elected mayor could have a “honeymoon,” his boss corrected him.

        “I don't want a honeymoon. I want to get to work,” he said.
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