The two sides in Cincinnati's escalating economic boycott debate spent most of the day Monday trying to figure out how best to deliver their message and win public support.

        On the eve of a community meeting proposed for today between city officials and boycott leaders, Mayor Charlie Luken and Vice Mayor Alicia Reece talked about how they think the city's administrative, police and neighborhood improvement efforts are being ignored by boycotters and are unfamiliar to many people. They say they need to do a better job of “getting the word out” about the positive work being done.

        Boycott organizers, meanwhile, rejected an invitation to this morning's 90-minute meeting at Integrity Hall with the mayor and others to discuss the boycott. They called the meeting a public-relations effort and pressed for negotiations behind closed doors.

        The Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, Cincinnati Black United Front and at least three other groups involved with the boycott announced a public forum of their own, to be held Thursday at New Prospect Baptist Church in Over-the-Rhine. At that 7 p.m. meeting, they will discuss their reasons for calling for economic sanctions, their demands and police and justice issues.

        City officials and boycotters both talked about the need to stay on course and do what's right. Each side claimed to have significant support from residents and organizations behind them.

        Both sides did a lot of talking on Monday; just not to one another.

        “The real issue is we have to move from accusations to facts and that's how you get resolution,” Ms. Reece told the Enquirer's editorial board on Monday. “There is a notion that nothing has been done, as if the city officials and all of the City Council has been sitting with our legs crossed since last April.

        “You get the impression that at least 50 percent of the African-American community is for the boycott. And really, if you do the math, it's just 1 percent,” she said. “But I do think a majority wants change.”

        The Rev. Damon Lynch III, leader of the Cincinnati Black United Front, which is one of the boycott organizers, said the mayor and city leaders are listening to the wrong people if they believe there is little support for the boycott.

        “The longer they choose to underestimate how many people are behind the boycott, the longer they don't take us seriously, the longer there will be sanctions in this city,” the Rev. Mr. Lynch said during a press conference Monday at Greater New Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Carthage.

        City officials had planned to listen to the concerns of boycotters at today's meeting in hopes of getting the groups to cancel the boycott. The meeting is not open to the public, but may be taped and shown on cable television.

        The meeting suggestion came after a recent private meeting between city officials and the Washington-based Progressive National Baptist Convention — a meeting that seemed to create more misunderstandings than it resolved. Progressive National Baptist leaders were to meet today to decide whether to hold their national convention here in August.

        “I think that when you're behind closed doors, there are different stories when you leave,” Ms. Reece said. “This is a chance to sit down, face-to-face, and the media will be there.”

        But the Rev. Mr. Lynch said the meeting amounts to little more than a public relations ploy.

        Boycotters said there have been scores of dialogues since the April riots but no real action. The groups maintain that, among other concerns, there has been little accountability by Cincinnati police officers, black organizations continue to have vital funds cut and demands for revisions of the Citizens Police Review Panel continue to be ignored.

        The Rev. Mr. Lynch said until the city makes a “good faith” effort to address boycotters' demands, they would not waste time and effort on meetings such as what city officials were offering.

        “We're talking negotiations, not public relations,” he said. “We will not be a part of the city's PR campaign to make the city look good while people are hurting.

        “We will not play games with the mayor and other city leaders. Anytime you invite (radio talk-show hosts) Lincoln Ware and Bill Cunningham to a meeting, it is not serious.”

        Ms. Reece said the meeting could have been a positive for all parties.

        “They asked us to have a meeting and we are having a meeting,” she said. “There's been accusations of a public-relations campaign, and yet they're sending out press releases and holding news conferences. And so are we. That's basically what it is. It's a PR war.”

        Mr. Luken said a number of the demands boycotters have asked for have either been met or are on the way to being met. He pointed to the hiring of a new city manager; the passage of Issue 5, which gave the city manager the ability to hire or fire the city's top managers; and the recommendations of the Department of Justice as examples of the city's commitment to change.

        “I have to ask myself, "When is the madness going to stop?'” Mr. Luken said. “When will the truth win out?

        “We have acted in good faith,” he said. “We just need to find a way to dialogue and do it in a way that is not full of angry rhetoric.”

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