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Photo By Jymi Bolden
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Ever ready to give Mayor Luken a hand, Councilman
John Cranley’s reach exceeded his grasp of the facts.
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Poverty and Other Unpleasantries
It's getting so mean around here that a hungry person needs a rule book to beg for a meal. Six members of Cincinnati City Council are backing a motion to ban panhandling after sunset and before sunrise, at bus stops, on private property without permission, in lines at businesses and within 20 feet of automatic teller machines and banks. Also illegal under the proposal would be asking someone twice, even if saying "pretty please"; false or misleading representations and the use of "profane or abusive language."
Council members Pat DeWine, Chris Monzel, Paul Booth, John Cranley, Jim Tarbell and David Pepper signed the motion.
The proposal does nothing to address homelessness, according to Molly Lyons of the Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project.
"If they want to end homelessness, then they need to focus on solutions to those problems instead of criminalizing the actions people do to get by when they don't have any other alternatives," Lyons says.
The Law Committee discusses the motion in a hearing at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
At least the panhandling bill doesn't contain any measures against Streetvibes, the newspaper sold by homeless people to earn a living. Mayor Charlie Luken seems to have dropped the attack he began against Streetvibes when he called for new laws against begging. The Friends of the Homeless organized a postcard campaign, hoping to get 500 people to tell Luken they support Streetvibes. More than 2,000 people responded, according to Susan Knight, an organizer with Friends of the Homeless. The group was scheduled to give Luken the postcards Feb. 27.
Streetvibes doesn't only pick on Luken. The paper recently gave CityBeat its comeuppance, refusing our ad. We were willing to pay good cash money to show support for the beleaguered paper, but Streetvibes found our ad in poor taste: "We've been riding the city's ass so long, our sexuality's at issue." There. Now we've said it for free.
Every Picture Tells A Story, Don't It?
Just you watch. Some clever young radicals will smell opportunity March 9 when the Westin Hotel hosts "My Cincinnati," a sort of family-photo exhibit for the city. Councilwoman Alicia Reece wants people to show pictures of children playing and old folks barbecuing. But she might end up with "Our Cincinnati," replete with photos of cops savaging peaceful protesters and little girls crying after police brutalize them.
Councilman John Cranley tried Feb. 26 to put a good face on the police crisis, but the facts got in his way. The Law Committee was discussing the U.S. Justice Department's recommendations on the use of force by Cincinnati Police. To hear Cranley tell it, the city should be proud.
"Normally the Justice Department comes in not at the request of the city, but as the result of some major lawsuit or bad situation," Cranley said.
Perhaps Cranley forgets Luken invited the feds after a riot in April 2001.
Lawyer Billy Martin, who represents the city in the Justice Department investigation, chimed right in, saying Luken was "ahead of the curve" by inviting the feds. But what Cranley and Martin seem to have missed is Luken's admission that he hardly acted voluntarily (see Some Showdown issue of Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, 2001).
"The Justice Department was coming in here," Luken said in November. "They were prepared to sue us before the invitation."
Luken might have been ahead of the curve, but it seems he was driving in the wrong lane.
The Cincinnati Music Hall concert formerly known as Prince's has moved to the Ohio Theatre in Columbus. Yes, we know it's got nothing to do with the boycott. Some technical difficulty caused the cancellation in Cincinnati. Fortunately for Prince's fans, the Ohio Theatre is able to stage his act Tuesday -- the same night he was scheduled here.
Greg Harris, executive director of Citizens for Civic Renewal, could be the Democratic candidate for Congress in the First Ohio District. Greg Martin, former secretary-treasurer of the Southwest Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters, withdrew from the race shortly after winning the party's endorsement. Party Co-Chair Timothy Burke plans to recommend Harris for the race against U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot.
Porkopolis TIP LINES: 513-665-4700 (ext. 23)
