Local and national tea party groups are
pushing a ballot initiative that would privatize Cincinnati’s pension system
by moving city workers from a public plan to 401k-style plans, but city officials and unions are urging voters to reject the measure because they claim it would raise costs for the city and reduce gains for retirees. Cincinnati for Pension Reform paid Arno Petition Consultants nearly $70,000 to gather enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. It’s so far unclear where that money came from. Virginia-based Liberty Initiative Fund, which is supporting a similar pension proposal in Tucson, Ariz., is backing the Cincinnati effort, with one of two blog posts on
its website
praising the local initiative. Liberty Initiative Fund has given at least $81,000 to the Tucson campaign. For more information about the Cincinnati campaign and initiative,
click here
.
Hamilton County Judge Carl Stitch on Wednesday
ruled against granting a temporary restraining order
that would prevent the trio that owns and leases the Emery Theatre from evicting the nonprofit seeking to renovate the building. The ruling means Requiem Project, which was founded in 2008 to renovate the theater, might be kicked out by the University of Cincinnati, Emery Center Apartments Limited Partnership (ECALP) and the Emery Center Corporation (ECC), the groups that own and lease the Emery Theatre. Still, the judge said that the ruling should in no way indicate what the final outcome of the case will be and it could turn out that Requiem deserves a long-term lease.
Gov. John Kasich received campaign donations from and served on the board of Worthington Industries, a central Ohio steel processor,
before the company got tax credits from JobsOhio
, the privatized development agency. Kasich’s spokesperson told the Associated Press that the governor severed ties with Worthington before the tax deals were approved. Still, the latest discovery adds to a series of conflicts of interest that have mired JobsOhio in the past few weeks. Previously,
Dayton Daily News found that most of the board members on JobsOhio had direct financial ties to some of the companies getting state aid. Republicans defend JobsOhio because they say its privatized and secretive nature allows it to carry out job-creating development deals more quickly, but Democrats say the agency is too difficult to hold accountable and might be wasting taxpayer money.
Commentary: “Disparity Study Now
.”
looking to tighten limits
for local governments passing budgets, issuing debt and funding pensions. State Rep. Lou Terhar, a Republican from Cincinnati, and State Auditor Dave Yost say the proposal is aimed at correcting pension problems such as the one in Cincinnati, which Yost labeled “Pension-zilla.” Cincinnati’s unfunded pension liability currently stands at $862 million, which
earned the city a downgraded bond rating
from Moody’s in a July 15 report.
A task force convened by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor is set to meet again to
discuss possible changes to the state’s death penalty
. The panel recently proposed eliminating the use of capital punishment in cases in which an aggravated murder was committed during a burglary, robbery or rape.
A record number of white women, many from rural areas, are being
sent to Ohio prisons
, according to a report from the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C., think tank.
Two City Council candidates are
struggling to get their names on the ballot
because of a couple different circumstances. Newcomer Mike Moroski fell 46 petition signatures short of the requirement of 500 signatures that have to be turned in by Aug. 22. Meanwhile, hundreds of Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld’s petitions might be thrown out because several dates were corrected by crossing them out and writing the accurate date on the back of the forms. The Hamilton County Board of Elections says it’s unclear whether it can accept those signatures. Both candidates are now renewing their petition drives to ensure they appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.
resigning as CEO of SoMoLend
, the embattled local startup that previously partnered with the city of Cincinnati to link local businesses to up to $400,000 in loans. City officials
announced
Monday they were severing ties with SoMoLend after it was revealed that the Ohio Division of Securities is accusing the company of fraud because SoMoLend allegedly failed to get the proper licenses and exaggerated its financial and performance figures. SoMoLend’s specialty is supposed to be using crowdfunding tactics to connect small businesses and startups with lenders, but the charges have called its expertise into question.
turns 40
today, and it plans to hold a party on Fountain Square from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in celebration.
Activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman sold a majority of his Procter & Gamble stocks
.
Popular Science has the list of the 10 weirdest robots at this year’s drone show
here
.
This article appears in Aug 14-20, 2013.
