Citywire
By David Lewis |
|
Death and...
The 25-percent city income tax increase spearheaded by Mayor Michael Coleman and deemed necessary by...almost anyone with a voice in Columbus...passed with around a 2-percent majority on the August 4th special election. City officials say the tax increase saved the jobs of nearly 600 firefighters and police officers, as well as keeping parks and other public facilities from hitting the rocks due to budgetary restrictions.
Analysis: The city has spent more than it brought in since 2002, and yet negotiations with city unions have been classically generous. The tax increase is permanent; a temporary tax increase was never even debated publicly.
There is construction on Parsons Avenue near Nationwide Children's Hospital - very near Mooberry Street. Every day, I see a uniformed police officer staring into a hole there, his back to the traffic. It seems our highly trained law enforcement officers might receive better crime-fighting assignments. What do they expect to find in the hole?
"Perhaps a massive underground reservoir of criminals," postulated one observer.
That would be terrifying. Carry on, Inspectigator Doo-Dah.
Scratched
Ohio Lottery Commissioner, Mike Dolan, resigned his position as Executive Director after a controversial administration of the Ohio Lottery Commission. Dolan once mailed 100 instant lottery tickets to a state trooper after being issued a verbal warning for traffic violations, and was accused of withholding information from legislators regarding the vendors operating the Keno lottery game found in bars. Dolan also appeared stymied when questioned by senate Republicans wary of the Governor's plan to install slot machines in Ohio's seven horseracing tracks, the revenues of which were included in Strickland's budget proposal. Strickland appointed Kathleen Burke on August 24th to take Dolan's place. Burke, also from Cleveland, was a corporate litigator for the law firm Jones Day, and was the first woman to serve as president of the Ohio State Bar Association.
Analysis: State-run gaming is like electing your local mafia, and Dolan seems representative of the attitude dominant in the Commission: a little sneaky and a lot stupid.
"Beyond his work at the Lottery, I believe that Mike is a person who exemplifies the creativity and commitment to Ohio that we expect of those in public service," said Strickland in a release.
When you are running a multi-billion dollar state-run gaming agency, integrity should be ranked right up there with creativity and commitment.
Keno was supposed to bring in the big bucks: Strickland's Folly was projected to bring in $73 million in tax revenue, but turned in just over $30 million. That's a massive failure, and does little to inspire faith in our state government's ability to administer gaming programs that our schools and state budgets depend on. If he wants to hang on to his seat in 2010, he better make less embarrassing appointments - and set up a state-run bus service to get the geriatrics to the racetracks. No one else is going to go.
Attorney General Looks to do a Little Ash-Kickin'
On August 14th, the Attorney General's office announced they were suing two Ohio bars for violating the state's smoking ban; O'Neal's Tavern in Hamilton County will be sued for $21,000 in fines, and Columbus' own Zeno's (384 W Third Ave.), for $28,000...but Zeno's is fighting back. The ban requires business owners to remove ashtrays and post 'no smoking' signs with an enforcement hotline, but doesn't provide very much direction on what bar workers are supposed to do when someone lights up. The police have no jurisdiction over the ban's enforcement, and if the enforcement number is called, the Health Department typically shows up and issues a fine to the establishment - hardly a satisfying solution for the business owners.
Dick Allen, owner of Zeno's and a bar owner in Columbus for over 40 years, has indicated that he will likely file a countersuit; he plans to sue on the constitutionality of the ban. Maurice Thompson, of the Buckeye Institute, will be representing Allen, who said that some sort of tactical police squad raided his bar last month.
Analysis: Allen has a hell of a fight ahead of him, but the wily proprietor has been around town for a while - and has picked good counsel, to boot. Thompson is known as a property-rights litigator, and his track record is impressive for a young attorney. He is hungry, but taking on the state two years after a ban is passed is unlikely to result in an overturn. The ban is effective for those venues whose patrons and owners are satisfied with not smoking, but the language of the law is weak enough to provide some fighting room - provided the fighter can hire the right lawyer.
I am not unfamiliar with Zeno's - I find it satisfyingly squalorous, replete with fine happy hour prices and good, dark booths; this kind of bar is disappearing fast. While such venues are a reflection of the consumer's media-fed desires, those of us who like a good old-fashioned dive bar are drinking at home more and more these days. I am excited to watch the battle unfold.
Originally Published: September 1, 2009
