Mayor Charlie Luken waited impatiently for Clerk of Council Melissa Autry to certify the vote. He took hold of the ordinance and emphatically stamped the word “VETO” in big red letters.

        But then, having exercised the first veto in Cincinnati in at least 77 years, Mr. Luken kept the historic moment to himself. He proceeded with the City Council meeting as if nothing had happened.

        He waited until after the meeting to distribute a brief memo to council: “I wanted you all to know I have exercised the authority given to me under the charter and vetoed item number 52.”

        The veto — of a $65,890 study to find out how people choose subsidized housing — was a blow to the liberal coalition on City Council, which had won a rare victory in approving the study, 5-3.

        David Pepper, who has voted with the conservative majority more often than not, this time sided with fellow Democrats Paul Booth, Minette Cooper, David Crowley and Alicia Reece.

        Mr. Crowley was crestfallen. He figured the mayor would wait until a truly momentous issue before getting out the veto stamp.

        But Mr. Luken seemed ready to get the veto out of the way.

        “It's not the ordinance of the most consequence ever to come along,” he said. “But it's the kind of thing that the veto power was given to the mayor for.”

        The vote tally was also a factor, he said. It takes six votes to override a veto.

        Veto, Part II: The mayor doesn't have line-item veto power under the charter. But as he took his veto stamp out for a spin last week, Mr. Luken figured out a way to get around that.

        He said he will ask Finance Committee Chairman John Cranley — who he got to hand-pick under the new “strong mayor” system — to separate any expenditure he doesn't agree with into a separate ordinance, which he can then veto.

        Veto, Part III: Republican Pat DeWine, showing the tenacity of former GOP Councilman Phil Heimlich, wouldn't let the housing study pass without a fight.

        He tried a clever — but ultimately ignominious — parliamentary maneuver, offering substitute ordinances, each with something better the city could spend $100,000 on. (The ordinance was later amended to $65,890.)

        When those five votes failed, Mr. Booth said sardonically, “You might have to put out five more press releases.”

        It's become a pattern for Mr. DeWine:

        • The pre-meeting press release (“Is this any way to spend $100,000? — DeWine criticizes unnecessary council spending on study of federal program.”)

        • The during-the-meeting press release (“DeWine calls on mayor to veto $100,000 study on federal housing.”)

        • And the post-meeting news release (“DeWine fights council plan to spend $65,000 on federal housing study, persuades mayor to issue first veto.”)

        That last point is debateable; Mr. Luken had — unbeknown to Mr. DeWine — already vetoed the ordinance by the time the news release went out.

        The envelope, please: Five city employees were honored last week with awards from the Murray and Agnes Seasongood Good Government Foundation:

        • Raj Chundur, who developed a software module that allows building inspectors and others to take property data with them into the field.

        • Dale Doerman and Tony Procaccino, who developed the “Arts for All” program, hiring artists to provide programs to 14,000 people in the inner city.

        • Julia Carney and David Efland, for the Environmental Review Program, which has cut down on the time needed to complete environmental impact studies for federally funded programs.
        It's a boy: Mr. DeWine and his wife, Karen, celebrated the birth of a son, Brian Patrick DeWine, on Saturday.

        For those keeping track of the ever-expanding clan, it's the third son for the DeWines, and the seventh grandchild for U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran.

        City Hall reporter Gregory Korte can be reached at 768-8391.
       

Agreement reached in racial profiling
Neighbor charged in 3 Reading killings
Hugs for all from new city manager
Lemmie faces 9 council agendas
UC hoop star back in trouble
Gambling bill dies in committee
CAN set to unveil plan today
Children's to get $1.9M in study on improving care
Fire destroys home; officials seek owner
Girl's trial may be first under new law
Luken plays the veto card
Tristate A.M. Report
UC losing transplant director to Chicago
BRONSON: Spring break
HOWARD: Some Good News
SAMPLES: Destroyed art grew from determination
SMITH AMOS: Unrest, rebellion?
Female cop says she was mistreated
Quilter memorializes victims
Rally set to promote senior levy
School aide fired over drug charge
Three held after robbery at bank on Kenwood Road
Trial begins in robbery, murder case
Ohio tourism ad contract facing review
Cleanup campaigns begin this weekend
Contractor cited over blast that killed man
Developers aim to keep open space
House withholds action on budget
Lobbyist earns trust, respect
Northern Kentucky spring cleanups
Schools group drops chief