John Cranley got eight years of Jesuit theology beaten into his head at St. Xavier High School and John Carroll University, so he's not going to forsake his principles for mere political expediency.

But like any other politician, if he can find an issue that's the right thing to do and will bring him votes, he's unstoppable.

Not even his friend and mentor, Mayor Charlie Luken, could talk him out of introducing a resolution last week calling for a moratorium on commercial flights at Lunken Airport.

The politics of Lunken Airport are as tricky as a crosswind landing. Remember when Todd Portune proposed bringing in Southwest Airlines in 1998?

"Lunken is a sleepy little gem out there that is not being put to its highest and best use," he said, arguing that Cincinnati travelers were being "held hostage" by high fares at the big airport across the river.

Reaction from the surrounding neighborhoods was so swift that Portune pushed for the Lunken Airport Oversight Advisory Board, assuring neighborhood participation in any decision affecting the airport's future.

Cranley, appointed to Portune's seat in 2000, now wants to ban airlines from the airport, citing new rules that would allow federal funding without necessarily requiring scheduled flights.

Cranley said his proposal fulfilled his campaign promise to listen to Lunken neighbors. (Remember those campaign ads with his fingers in his ears?)

But counting votes isn't so easy. Jim Tarbell noted that he came in second place on the east side despite being the only vote against a resolution opposing airport expansion last year. "There certainly are as many people in Mount Lookout in favor of keeping this open as there are in closing this up," he said.

David Crowley has followed Cranley around to east-side neighborhoods, debating the issue in Lincoln-Douglas fashion. Crowley wants the advisory board to finish its work before City Council starts making pronouncements.

"My position is probably cutting my own throat in terms of votes in Mount Lookout and Hyde Park. But the airport isn't owned by wards 5, 4, 3 and 1," he said, waving at a map in his office.

Good thing for him, because if only those wards had voted, Republican Leslie Ghiz's name would be on his office door.

CHARTER MEMBER: Councilman Christopher Smitherman undoubtedly knows financial planning, but his learning curve at City Hall looks like a stock chart for Taser International.

Smitherman recently suggested in a memo that Howard Konicov, an environmentalist and the president of the University of Cincinnati's Adjunct Faculty Association, be appointed to the Board of Park Commissioners and the Board of Health.

A routine request, except that Smitherman sent it to City Manager Valerie Lemmie, who politely reminded him that Section VII of the charter gives those appointments to the mayor.

Keep in mind: Smitherman is a Charterite.

QUOTEABLE: "I always gave my success to the fans who cheer for you. I know some of them will boo you and call you names and things like that. But you have to overlook that. You just have to say, 'Thank God I'm alive.'"

- Chuck Harmon, 80, the Cincinnati Reds' first African-American player, receiving the key to the city from the mayor last week. Luken had just ejected four African-American protesters from City Council chambers for shouting racial slurs.