Inside Pitch

Now that Democrat David Mann is a declared candidate for Cincinnati City Council, he has stepped down as co-convener of Beyond Civility, a project aimed at promoting more civil discourse and understanding among people of different political views.

Mann will be replaced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2010 by President Obama.

Black joins U.S. District Court Judge Sandra Beckwith, who was appointed to the federal bench in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush, as co-convener of the organization.

David Mann - former Cincinnati City Council member, mayor, and congressman - is running again for Cincinnati City Council, 20 years after he left that legislative body.

About three dozen supporters crowded into the lobby of Mann's downtown law office Tuesday morning to hear him officially announce his candidacy.

"I am not running for mayor again; I'm not running for Congress,'' the 73-year-old Democrat said. "I'm running to be  the best city council member I can be."

Mann served on that body from 1974 to 1992, with two stints as the city's mayor - 198-1982 and 1991.

Libertarian Jim Berns has filed petitions to run for Cincinnati mayor, setting up what will be the first mayoral primary election in the city since 2005.

Democrats Roxanne Qualls, a former mayor and now vice mayor, and former council member John Cranley have not filed their petitions yet, but are actively campaigning and raising money and plan to file petitions by the June filing deadline.

Berns' entry into the race guarantees a primary election in the city of Cincinnati on Sept. 10; and it will be a costly one.