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Photo By Jymi Bolden
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Mayor Charlie Luken (left) and James Franklin, the
city's coordinator for Vine Street revitalization, opened
the Neighborhood Pride Center last week.
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If Nate Livingston keeps it up, he'll do what Mayor Charlie Luken never could -- destroy the civil rights boycott of Cincinnati. Livingston has been waging a slash-and-burn defense of the indefensible, attacking allies who criticize Amanda Mayes' participation in an anti-Semitic rally on Fountain Square (see Porkopolis, issue of Dec. 12-18). The two are co-chairs of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati (CJC) -- or what's left of it. The third co-chair, Linda Newman, has resigned from the group's leadership.
"I've had recent disagreements with my co-chairs over matters of principle," Newman says. "I'm not yet ready to make a statement going into all the reasons, because I'm still reflecting on the experience."
Newman's resignation stirred Livingston to call her a racist, according to several CJC members. That, in turn, led activist Michael McCleese to resign from the CJC altogether.
"Calling Linda Newman a 'slave master,' a 'white supremacist' and a 'racist' is inflammatory and a terrible insult," McCleese says. "I have experienced Linda as a committed civil rights activist with a heart for justice for all people. I understand why Linda felt compelled to resign as a co-chair of the CJC, and I support her in the decision to do so."
The CJC has had impressive success with its grassroots boycott efforts. But Mayes' attacks on Jews and Livingston's attacks on his own allies led to a fractious meeting Dec. 16 that could mean the end of the group's viability.
"I understand that using anger and strong words can be an effective tool for activists, but the actions and words I have seen lately from the CJC leadership are shocking, vulgar and bigoted," McCleese says.
In the coming months, Hamilton County residents could learn a lot more about hundreds of millions of dollars in planned spending on sewers -- negotiated almost entirely in private -- plus $1.4 million in related legal bills racked up by the county. The information will become public thanks to an order from U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel in a lawsuit pressed by the Sierra Club's Cincinnati chapter.
The environmental organization is suing to invalidate a consent decree among the county, the Metropolitan Sewer District, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. EPA. The agreement is supposed to fix long-standing sewage pollution problems, but the Sierra Club argues that residents have been shut out of the process, the agreement violates the Clean Water Act and the proposed spending won't do enough to fix the sewage overflow problems.
After Spiegel granted the Sierra Club the right of discovery, the government agencies asked for a delay so they could negotiate a consent decree that might satisfy "some of the Sierra Club's primary concerns." Spiegel's ruling allows the defendants to negotiate a new agreement but also gives the Sierra Club discovery rights.
"Right now we're just going through an awful lot of data," says Marilyn Wall, chair of the Ohio Sierra Club.
The defendants turned over 65 boxes of information about how the decree was negotiated, she says.
After more than three years of closed-door negotiations, county commissioners provided only a few days of public notice before signing the consent decree in early 2002.
Are We Revitalized Yet?
In his "state of the city" address in January, Luken promised to focus this year on revitalizing Vine Street. The city would open a neighborhood center to coordinate efforts to clean up abandoned buildings, reduce crime and attract small businesses, he said. With only two weeks left before the year comes to a close, the new Neighborhood Pride Center opened Dec. 12. The neighborhood is otherwise largely unchanged -- except perhaps more dangerous than a year ago.
Looking for a way to support the Bush regime's peacemaking goals? Become an honorary weapons inspector on a search for weapons of mass destruction -- right here in the United States. Rooting Out Evil is a Canadian organization training volunteers to search for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons stockpiled by the U.S. military. To join the program or offer support, visit www.rootingoutevil.org.
About 100 people attended the Dec. 10 observance of Human Rights Day at Christ Church Cathedral. The anti-war event featured a reading of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, accompanied by slides showing how war violates human rights.
The anti-war movement might receive little play in the mainstream press, but it's surprisingly broad in its constituency. Among the groups represented at the event were Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Child Advocacy Center, Miami University Professors for Peace, the Sisters of Charity and several churches.
Porkopolis TIP LINES: 513-665-4700 (ext. 138) or pork@citybeat.com
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