SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT: The final 2003 campaign finance report for Damon Lynch III's City Council campaign listed some eyebrow-raising celebrity contributions: $1,000 from actor Danny Glover and $400 from singer Bonnie Raitt.

But the most interesting disclosure was a $1,000 contribution from Lynch himself.

There's nothing wrong with that, except that Lynch listed his address as Timberland Drive in Woodlawn.

Lynch, who owns a home in Woodlawn and a condo in Price Hill, registered to vote from his Price Hill address three days before filing petitions to run for City Council. He later gave a sworn statement to the Hamilton County Board of Elections saying he intended to make his permanent residence in Price Hill and lived "separate and apart" from his wife.

Lynch did not return phone calls to his Price Hill number (and his cell phone) seeking comment.

THE $13 QUESTION: Councilwoman Laketa Cole has picked up a political trick from her former boss and mentor, former Councilman Paul Booth.

Almost any correspondence she gets from a constituent - from a complaint from Joe Gorman about litter on Mulberry Street to a proposal for residential parking permits from downtown resident April Bolton - ends up on a council agenda.

Though popular with constituents, every one of those communications requires a report. The rules of council generally discourage clogging up the council agenda with such items unless they involve a policy issue.

Most recently, City Solicitor J. Rita McNeil responded to a Cole referral from Gerald Beverly, a Metropolitan Sewer District employee asking to be reimbursed $13 for a tire damaged on city property. (It took three months to process the response.)

Cole said she prides herself in constituent service.

"Any time a citizen takes the time to sit down and write a letter to me, it's my responsibility to refer it to get a report. That's just part of my job," she said.

"But on that one, we should have just called down and gotten an answer for that," she conceded.

REWRITING HISTORY: Former police monitor Alan Kalmanoff resigned in 2002 because of harsh criticism from City Council about his bills. Right?

That's not the way Kalmanoff tells it. In his motion last month asking for another $37,810, the California criminal justice consultant blames U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott. The judge pushed Kalmanoff to hire former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Andy Douglas as deputy monitor.

"Regrettably, certain suggestions and actions by Justice Douglas exacerbated the totality of circumstances that frustrated Dr. Kalmanoff's effort to monitor effectively, and ultimately led to his resignation."

Therefore, Kalmanoff said, Dlott has a conflict of interest in hearing his billing dispute. Asked to elaborate on that conflict, Kalmanoff replied by e-mail: "Please forgive my refusal to comment."

QUOTEABLE: "If I brought in a motion tomorrow that said Lite beer tastes great, someone else would bring in a motion saying it was less filling, and we'd debate it for four hours."

Councilman David Pepper, lamenting the loss of civility City Council enjoyed during the 2001-2003 term.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com