Once More, with Feeling

Cincinnati City Councilman Cecil Thomas, chair of the Law and Public Safety Committee, called a press conference Jan. 17 to express support for the efforts of the Cincinnati Police Department. Joining him were members of council, Mayor Mark Mallory, Police Chief Tom Streicher, FOP President Kathy Harrell, Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich and Joe Diebold, president of Cincinnati Firefighters Local 48.

“As a former police officer, it is extremely critical to an officer, to a firefighter, that they know they have the support of the city administration, of the council, of the mayor,” Thomas said. “This is what motivates them to go out and put their lives on the line.”

Referring to recent shootings in Roselawn and Bond Hill, Thomas said Cincinnati is facing the same problems other cities around the country are facing.

“These shots and many more have brought the community of Greater Cincinnati to a common ground,” he said. “That common ground is that lawlessness and violence will not be tolerated on the streets of Greater Cincinnati.”

Mallory thanked Thomas “for bringing forward this issue” and called on the community to offer their support.

“We need to make it clear to the entire community that we have to be supportive of the men and women in law enforcement,” Mallory said. “We have to be supportive as a community.

We can’t do it alone. We can’t do it without your help. We can’t do it without your eyes and ears.”

Mallory said that Thursday he’ll announce a comprehensive plan to address public safety in Cincinnati. Noting that “there’s no quick, easy fix,” he said the gathering was a “first step.”

In point of fact, however, we’ve seen this dance before. Cincinnati politicians have been saying “Support the police” for nearly five years now and backing the slogan with money for 75 new officers and expanded foot patrols. Always left unasked is why the police, having been explicitly supported, are unable to more effectively protect the public.

Remembering King
Several thousand people participated Jan. 16 in the 31st annual Cincinnati march to honor the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. This year, because of renovation work on Fountain Square, the march started at Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine. That location was certainly more in line with King’s mission of solidarity with the poor; he was assassinated, after all, while visiting Memphis to support striking garbage workers.

In an online newsletter last week, Wayne Hicks, president of the Cincinnati Business Incubator, reminded readers of the economic component of King’s call for equality.

“Often, our understanding of this great man is reduced to the simplistic reciting of his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,” Hicks wrote. “However, I am struck by the fact that King was moving towards strong statements and demonstrations for economic justice and economic development towards the end of his life. … He repeatedly condemned the United States’ economic system for withholding the necessities of life from the masses while heaping luxuries on the few.”

Wages paid by hospitals make a good point of comparison for King’s philosophy. The Care for Ohio Project, sponsored by the service Employees International Union (SEIU), recently studied salaries paid to chief executive officers of Ohio hospitals. In 2004, a year in which Ohio’s 166 hospitals earned total record profits of $1.48 billion, hospital CEOs earned an average $474,167 in total compensation, according to the study (visit www.careforohio.org).

“The extravagant compensation of top hospital executives is even more surprising given that the vast majority of hospitals are considered nonprofit institutions, which by law are forbidden to use their tax-exempt revenues to enrich individuals,” the report says.

The average health-care support worker in Ohio — including nursing assistants and orderlies — earned $23,140 in 2004, the union says.

Some of the highest CEO salaries were paid in Cincinnati. Topping the list was Michael Connelly, CEO of Catholic Healthcare Partners, whose 2004 salary was $2.14 million. Others high on the list included:

· Kenneth Hanover, Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, $1.15 million;

· James Anderson, Children’s Hospital Medical Center, $1.14 million;

· Thomas S. Urban, Mercy Health Partners of Southwestern Ohio, $936,921;

· John S. Prout, Tri-Health (Bethesda North and Good Samaritan), $762,989; and

· James Hurst, University Hospital, $485,616.

This article appears in Jan 18-24, 2006.