Howard Wilkinson

No referendum, but plenty of campaign fireworks

Howard Wilkinson — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

So, it appears there will be no referendum on the city of Cincinnati’s parking lease agreement on the ballot this fall.

Unless, that is, in the unlikely event that the Ohio Supreme Court decides to take up the appeal of the decision made by the Ohio First District Court of Appeals this week saying the agreement is not subject to referendum because it was passed in March as an emergency ordinance.

But nobody on either side of this really expects this to happen.

Smitherman to give up NAACP presidency for now

Howard Wilkinson — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:10:51 +0000

Cincinnati council member Christopher Smitherman will step down as president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP while he is running for re-election to council.

A number of members of the local chapter have urged Smitherman to leave the NAACP presidency while running for office. In a statement released Friday, Smitherman said he was doing so under a policy adopted by the NAACP's national board of directors in 1968.

Howard Wilkinson's weekly chat

Jay Hanselman — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:02:08 +0000

Howard Wilkinson's weekly political chat for June 10, 2013.

Former mayor Eugene Ruehlman dies

Howard Wilkinson — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:51:31 +0000

Eugene Ruehlmann, who was mayor of Cincinnati in the late 1960s and early 1970s, died Saturday night at the age of 88.

Mr. Ruehlmann, a lawyer who was first elected to council in 1959, served through 1971. During his last four years on council, his Republican council colleagues elected him mayor; and he is credited with working to put together the deal that led to the construction of a new stadium on the riverfront and helping to bring professional football to the city.

GOP donors find a candidate, and he's a Democrat

Howard Wilkinson — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Poor old Cincinnati Republicans.

They don’t have a mayoral candidate of their own.

There’s John Cranley, Democrat. Roxanne Qualls, Democrat. Jim Berns, Libertarian. And probably a couple more before the June 27 filing deadline for the September 10 mayoral primary.

But nary a Republican.