But in hindsight, it should have been clear that Ms. Lemmie wasn't going to break ranks with Police Chief Tom Streicher.

        One clue: her presentation to the conference, titled “Connecting Communities for Reconciliation and Justice: Towards an Inclusive Society.”

        A summary of her speech in the official program contained this sentence about Ms. Lemmie: “In Cincinnati she has astounded observers by building bridges with the most unlikely person: the police chief who was at the center of controversy during the community disturbances of last year.”

        While some have criticized her for being in the Swiss Alps as racial tensions simmered at home, Ms. Lemmie doesn't think her absence made any difference.

        “Had I been here, I'm not sure in retrospect that I could have changed any forces that were in effect,” she said.

        And for the record, Ms. Lemmie's trip — to Caux, Switzerland, a mountain resort outside Geneva where world leaders have gathered since 1947 — was paid for by two international foundations: Hope in the Cities and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

        No city taxpayer money was spent, Ms. Lemmie said.

        Overkill: Ms. Lemmie's Economic Development Task Force began work Tuesday on its mission to cut red tape at City Hall, with an introductory meeting at which few disagreements emerged.

        But already, the developers on the panel are venting their frustration at a lack of accountability in city government.

        Alan Mallach, a former economic development director in Trenton, N.J., told the panel they're not alone. In New Jersey, he said, public employees were so hard to discipline that if one city worker shot and killed another city worker, it might result in a five-day suspension.

        Blurted one panelist: “At least there would be one dead bureaucrat.”

        The sporting news: City Hall Democrats are crying foul in the Young Democrats' 14-9 loss to the Young Republicans last week.

        The defeat, in a seven-inning softball game at Schmidt Field, prompted this loser's lament from Richard “Rocky” Merz, an aide to Democratic Councilman David Crowley: “We may have lost on the field, but on the things that are really important — fair play, honesty and inclusion — it was a blowout.”

        News from elsewhere: From the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel comes an uncannily familiar story from Plantation, Fla., dated July 19:

        “Police Chief C.E. "Sonny' Sharrett Jr. has fired a veteran detective accused of lying to traffic investigators about how his patrol car was damaged last June.

        “Thomas H. Butt still faces criminal charges stemming from the incident filed by the Broward County State Attorney's Office. Police investigators think he falsified information about how his department-issued Ford Escape received $2,580 in damage on June 25, 2001.”

        The story goes on to say that police doubted Mr. Butt's account of the hit-skip accident because there was no debris in the restaurant parking lot where Mr. Butt said it happened.

        There's no word of any protests.

        City Hall reporter Gregory Korte can be reached at 768-8391 or gkorte@enquirer.com.

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