A civil-rights group calling for entertainers not to play in Cincinnati unveiled a five-page proposal Tuesday on how the city can end the 11-month-old boycott.

        Some members of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati want City Council, Hamilton County commissioners, the Cincinnati business community and other social activists to sit down in a mediation process.

        The proposal centers on expanding minority participation in city contracts, more civilian control over police and firing the police chief.

        “It has been stated by some people that we don't want to see an end to the boycott,” said Amanda Mayes, one of three newly elected co-chairmen of the coalition.

        “We wanted to present something to the mayor to show a way in which this can be done. We wanted to show that we do want to see an end to the boycott.”

        But Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken called it something else.

        “I think this is a road map for (going) over a cliff,” Mr. Luken said. “This is obviously a decision of the City Council and the Hamilton County commissioners. But my recommendation would be no.”

        Mr. Luken, who has refused to negotiate with the boycotters, said the proposal would cost taxpayers millions.

        “We now have pre-demands before we get to the demands,” Mr. Luken said of the proposal released Tuesday. “And the pre-demands themselves will cost taxpayers millions of dollars.”

        At a joint press conference Tuesday night at New Prospect Baptist Church in Over-the-Rhine, representatives of the Black United Front and the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for Justice said they had not examined the proposal unveiled by what they described as “a splinter group” of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati.

        “We have a few that are acting as dissenters,” the Rev. Stephen Scott said. “The boycott is alive and well.”

        The Rev. Mr. Scott, who was vice chairman of Coalition for a Just Cincinnati but was not elected recently as one of the three co-chairmen, maintained that he remains a spokesman.

        “We had never seen (the proposal) prior to today,” said Victoria Straughn, spokeswoman for the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for Justice. “The boycott is in effect. We are standing in solidarity.” The Rev. Damon Lynch III, president of the Black United Front, said the three groups continue to have discussions with city officials aimed at ending the boycott based on their original proposal, including reforms in the criminal justice system and elections, and empowerment zone funding.

        Before sitting down to negotiate, Coalition for a Just Cincinnati members want the city to meet several preconditions, including:

        • Settling lawsuits brought by the families of three men who died at the hands of police: Timothy Thomas, Roger Owensby Jr. and Michael Carpenter.

        • Settling lawsuits brought by people who have accused police of unjustly shooting them with beanbag rounds during the April 2001 riots.

        • Paying fees for lawyers who were involved in a federal lawsuit against the city accusing police officers of racial profiling.

        The boycott has cost the city an estimated $11 million resulting from several high-profile cancellations, including by Bill Cosby and Wynton Marsalis, and at least five conventions.

        The coalition faxed copies of the proposal Tuesday to city leaders, other groups participating in the boycott and former President Clinton, who recently expressed an interest in helping resolve Cincinnati's racial problems.

        Mr. Clinton did not return calls Tuesday about the proposal.

        Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce spokesman Raymond Buse refused comment on the proposal, saying the chamber would let the mayor address it.

        Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune, who is a former Cincinnati City Council member, said the proposal could be seen as a positive step.

        “It seems as if everyone has wanted to play it this (isolated) way,” Mr. Portune said. “In general, that approach makes the issues more difficult to address.”

        Mr. Luken offered last month to participate in proposed mediation talks between the Cincinnati Arts Association and the coalition to settle lawsuits stemming from the cancellation of entertainers. Coalition leaders declined the invitation.

        The proposal calls for negotiations by several teams representing the coalition, the city, business leaders and other local civil rights groups such as the Black United Front, Concerned Citizens for Justice and the gay rights group Stonewall Cincinnati.

        “We don't agree with all of the (proposal). But we stand in solidarity with the coalition,” said Stonewall co-chairman Roy Ford. “A lot of people think that after the racial profiling settlement, that everything is OK, that we are all holding hands and singing "Kum Ba Yah.'”

        The proposal calls, among other things, for:

        • Civilian control of police.

        • Civil and human rights.

        • Reform of government and elections.

        Read the entire proposal in pdf format.

       
Enquirer reporter William A. Weathers contributed.

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