It was supposed to be the city's dog-and-pony show. A sure way to boost Cincinnati's image, a chance to defang boycotters who question alleged racial progress since April.

        Instead, a community meeting Tuesday turned into an unmitigated disaster, handing boycotters more ammo while turning the spotlight on city leaders' inability to corral even friendly troops.

        It's exactly the sort of confusion that led us to this boycott and isn't helping us resolve it. Mayor Charlie Luken and Vice Mayor Alicia Reece appeared not to see it coming. But it was all caught on camera, and no one looked good.

        Not the mayor, who through most of the meeting seemed barely engaged. Not the vice mayor, who was as earnest as always but unprepared for the bombs lobbed her way. Not to mention that the chief boycott groups also boycotted the meeting.

Surprise from police chief

        The low point came midway through an already trying 90-minute confab. The mayor and vice mayor called on Police Chief Tom Streicher to discuss his department's success at achieving some of the Justice Department's 92 recommendations for improving ways police do their jobs.

        Chief Streicher mostly talked about the federal criminal investigation of the Timothy Thomas shooting. Although the investigation has been going on for months, new information was recently turned over to the Justice Department, he said.

"We couldn't say anything'

        The feds are investigating Officer Stephen Roach's actions the night of April 7, 2001, when 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, an unarmed black man, ran from police and was shot to death in an Over-the-Rhine alley.

        “I was very surprised,” Ms. Reece said later. So was the mayor, she said. “I looked at him, and he looked at me. We couldn't say anything.”

        Neither was expecting such a statement, but that's how most of the meeting went.

        City officials, when called on, didn't say what was expected. Various community group “partners” chose to air grievances. And some City Hall friends came off like enemies.

        Ms. Reece said she set a loose agenda to accommodate the unpredictable. “We didn't duck any issues, we didn't hide from any issues.”

        But were city administrators supposed to prompt more questions than they answered on issues involving the city's “empowerment zone,” for instance?

        The zone encompasses nine depressed neighborhoods that were supposed to receive investments from city and federal sources. According to interim city manager Timothy Riordan, Cincinnati has invested $84 million there over the past nine months, on everything from home repairs to safety services.

        How come the zone doesn't look $84 million richer? How could that much money be so invisible? Norma Holt Davis, president of the Cincinnati chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wanted to know.

        Then, Mr. Luken said the Greater Cincinnati Urban League would again lead the city's summer-jobs program, which last year fell short of the goal of 3,000 youths in summer jobs. Some 2,414 youths got jobs for at least part of the summer, costing $2.7 million to donors and taxpayers.

        Sheila Adams, president of the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, corrected the mayor, saying the group would be handling only the privately funded summer jobs this year. The government-funded jobs, which last year prompted nasty calls for oversight, will be handled by two other groups.

        Ms. Reece said she was disappointed some city and community leaders did not come prepared to discuss these issues. They apparently also didn't come prepared to present a united front.

        Denise Smith Amos can be reached at 768-8395. Fax 768-8340 or e-mail damos@enquirer.com.

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