Local Democrats wasted little time in trying to make some political hay out of this week’s Porkopolis column about an e-mail written by Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Monzel’s chief of staff.

Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke is urging Monzel, a Republican, to fire his employee, Brad Beckett. Burke wrote that Beckett’s e-mail was inappropriate and contained gratuitous insults.

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With a current budget proposal pending before Cincinnati City Council calling for laying off up to 112 police officers, police supervisors are working on a new plan for responding to calls for service.

The plan, dubbed the Police Differential Response Program, is an attempt to reduce the number of calls for service that the department responds to on a daily basis. Under the plan, police won’t send a patrol car for certain types of calls.

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With two weeks left until Election Day, the Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus has issued a mass mailing informing voters about its endorsed candidates this year for City Council, mayor and school board.

Although it’s no surprise that City Council’s right-leaning minority — Republicans Leslie Ghiz and Chris Monzel, Charterite Chris Bortz and Democrat-in-exile Jeff Berding — didn’t win the organization’s endorsement given their past statements about women’s reproductive rights, two moderate Democrats who are incumbents also didn’t make the cut.

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At least three of Cincinnati City Council’s four new members will appear at a meet-and-greet event next week in Price Hill to answer questions.

Chris Seelbach, Yvette Simpson and P.G. Sittenfeld are scheduled to attend the Jan. 5 forum, which will be held at Elder Hill School’s Schaeper Center. It’s uncertain at this time whether the fourth and final new council member, Christopher Smitherman, will attend.

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As part of its slate of endorsements announced today, the Cincinnati U.S.A. Regional Chamber of Commerce stated it's opposed to Issue 48, the proposed charter amendment that would block construction of Cincinnati's planned streetcar system.

The Chamber announced its positions on six local issues that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

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Several groups are teaming up to sponsor a forum on Friday for candidates running for Cincinnati City Council.

So far, seven candidates — including one incumbent — have indicated they will attend the session. They are Councilman Wendell Young, a Democrat; Nicholas Hollan, Jason Riveiro, Chris Seelbach and P.G. Sittenfeld, also Democrats; and Kevin Flynn and Yvette Simpson, who are Charterites.

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Interviews will be held Monday to screen the candidates interested in filling the remainder of John Cranley’s term on Cincinnati City Council. Facing term limits, the longtime Democratic councilman resigned Thursday to ponder the next step in his political career as he works as an attorney.

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(**UPDATE FOLLOWS BELOW)

A sanitation worker has filed an incident report with Cincinnati Police alleging City Councilman Chris Bortz threatened him and used a racial slur while doing so.

The alleged incident occurred Thursday morning outside of Bortz' townhouse in Mount Adams, when the worker blew the horn on his garbage truck a few times because the vehicle's path was blocked by the councilman's parked car.

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Chris Seelbach, a first-time candidate for Cincinnati City Council, has won an endorsement from the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a national group that could provide a boost in campaign fundraising.

Founded in 1991, the Victory Fund  provides strategic, technical and financial support to openly gay and lesbian candidates across the United States, helping them win elections at local, state and federal levels. Most recently, the organization helped elect Mayor Anise Parker of Houston, Texas, the fourth-largest city in the nation.

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An historic local political group’s policies about who may join are again raising questions about new media like the Internet and the citizen journalism movement.

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