 |
 |
Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 07:32 PM
Mayoral preview 2005
By Rebecca Clark
Queen City Forum Magazine feature writer
Beginning nearly 16 months before the election with State Sen. Mark Mallory’s declaration of his candidacy this past July, the 2005 mayoral race is turning out to be the first to generate the kind of enthusiasm commensurate with the newly expanded powers of the office.
The 1999 changes to the City Charter giving the mayor a direct line to the voters and a greater say in city government have undoubtedly made the office more appealing to potential candidates. However, in the 2001 race, the challenger to incumbent Charlie Luken, Charterite Courtis Fuller, did not enter the race until shortly before the filing deadline. The Republicans did not field a candidate. The primary did include a total of four candidates.
|
|
While the only other definite candidate to date is Democratic Councilmember David Pepper—and even Pepper has been rather quiet about his candidacy—over half a dozen names have been put forward. After Luken made his surprise withdrawal from the race last August, his protégé, Democratic Councilmember John Cranley made a very public announcement of his candidacy. Cranley, however, backed out of the race in mid-November, just as Charterite Councilmember Chris Smitherman expressed his interest in the race. Another Charterite, Jim Tarbell, also suggested recently that he may run.
Democratic Vice-Mayor Alicia Reece is expected to announce her decision after the 1st of the year about where she will be directing her political ambitions. An exploratory committee is evaluating three potential races for Vice-Mayor Reece: one for State Senate and another for Secretary of State in addition to the Mayor’s race.
On the Republican side, it is Judge Mark Painter of the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals whose name has been floated around as a possible candidate. Tara Kriss, the Hamilton County Republican Party’s Executive Director says the party will definitely field a candidate. “We’re in the process of meeting with people, but I don’t want to mention any names.” As the Republicans are currently focused on filling the Council seat being vacated by County Commissioner-elect Pat DeWine, as well as a number of judicial appointments, their decision about a mayoral candidate is not expected any time soon.
|
“We flat out had trouble finding a candidate four years ago. Luckily, we had nine people run for city council (in 2003).” Kriss notes an increased interest among Republicans in city government, and suggests that Cincinnati’s continuing budget and crime problems present an opportunity for Republican candidates to get elected in a city that tends to favor Democrats. “I think that the city has gotten worse in the past two years. There’s definitely a lot of room for improvement.” Kriss mentions crime, spending, population loss, and a renewed look at managed competition as the Republican candidate’s likely concerns.
What decisions the Charter Committee will make in this race are less clear. “There are so many variables. It’s very possible that we (the Charter Committee) could wait to endorse a candidate until after the primary,” says Executive Director Jeff Cramerding. He says that Charterite Councilmembers Smitherman and Tarbell are “watching to see who else enters the mayoral race to see if there’s anybody else they can support who they think will be an effective leader.” Any Councilmember pondering a bid for Mayor would also be waiting to see who else might run for City Council next November, he explains. According to the “strong mayor” amendments to the Charter in 1999, any Councilmember who enters the Mayoral campaign must give up his or her seat on Council.
* * *
| |
|
|
|
|
When Sen. Mallory announced he would be running back in July, there was immediately speculation that a Mallory-Luken matchup would cause deep rifts among Democrats locally. Luken implored Mallory and other potential Democratic contenders to hold back on any “mud-slinging” until after the November presidential election in order to maintain unity in the Party. Councilmembers Pepper and Reece remained mum about their mayoral ambitions for that reason. While Luken is no longer in the race, the prospect of Democratic in-fighting lingers. With Sen. Mallory and Councilmember Pepper being the only two definite candidates at this point, it is of course tempting to begin drawing comparisons between the two, and asking what a campaign led by two Democratic contenders will mean for their Party.
Both men bring widespread support in the community to the race, and perhaps as importantly for voters, well-established and respected family names. Sen. Mallory’s father, William Mallory Sr., served in the Ohio House for three decades, including a tenure as Majority Leader, and his brother, William Jr., is currently a Hamilton County Municipal Judge. Councilmember David Pepper is the son of former Procter & Gamble CEO John Pepper.
“As a young Democrat in Cincinnati, I’ve really looked up to both Councilman Pepper and Senator Mallory. They are both not just good, but outstanding Democrats,” says Adam Rosenberg, Executive Director for the Hamilton County Democratic Party.
What is most striking in hearing from the two candidates is how similar both their vision for the city and their approach to the campaign seem to be. Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke affirms, “I think in a lot of ways they (Pepper and Mallory) probably agree on more issues than they disagree on. It’s not like you’ve got the conservative wing of the party running against the liberal wing of the party. That’s not at all the case.” Both men have cited the rising crime rates and population loss figures as signs that city is moving in the wrong direction—Mallory in his July announcement ceremony and Pepper in a November “town hall” forum with Democratic activists.
|
Sen. Mallory and Councilmember Pepper also seem to agree that increased grassroots input in the decision-making process is the key to improving the city’s prospects. Sen. Mallory’s campaign vows “to be in every single one of Cincinnati's neighborhoods from now until election day 2005.” Sounding a similar note, Councilmember Pepper explains that he wants to win by “running a campaign the right way for once.” For Pepper, the future mayor’s strength must begin with the campaign itself, by building a candidacy around community input and involvement. Pepper’s goal is not merely to win, but, as he puts it, “to win in a way that actually allows me to lead.” Both candidates have been querying voters for many months about the issues that concern them.
At the recent “town hall,” Councilmember Pepper introduced his “broad, strategic plan” for making the City a more attractive place to live. Of particular concern to Pepper is his assessment, based on the census data, that “the lion’s share of those who have left are families.” He would begin with “fixing the basics,” which he identifies as crime and education. Pepper argued that, as Cincinnatians, we also “need to tout our assets, such as the universities and the landscape itself. We don’t even appreciate our own beautiful, physical assets.”
Pepper also referred to “empowering citizens” through economic initiatives such as the city’s “Make Work Pay” program, which provides financial advising and volunteer tax preparation assistance to low-income residents so that they can take advantage of the earned income tax credit.
Sen. Mallory will be releasing a “Roadmap for the Future of Cincinnati” outlining his agenda as the campaign builds. In a recent interview with QCF, he identified economic development, particularly on the riverfront, as a priority among a number of concerns. “We have to look for development opportunities all along the Ohio River, from the East End in Columbia Tusculum all the way to the West End. The River is our greatest asset, and we have to take full advantage of it.” Like Pepper, he emphasizes the need to create economic development opportunities to make the city a more attractive place to live and do business. His campaign manager, Patrick McClean, adds that Mallory is “also committed to reestablishing the city's planning department, which will help neighborhoods access city services and assistance.”
As the campaign builds steam throughout 2005, it will be interesting to see what, if any, political differences emerge between the two Democrats. It is not clear how much attention each is paying to the other at this point in the campaign. “We’ve talked about a lot of things, but we haven’t really talked about each other’s vision for the city,” Mallory admits.
Mallory and Pepper and their respective supporters will likely draw their distinctions on the basis of political background and personality. “I have a proven track record of being able to reach across the aisle and bring people together,” Mallory maintains, and he adds that he has done so as a member of the minority party. Pepper, in turn, refers to the fact that he has often cast the swing vote on close matters in Council.
In terms of what sets him apart from Sen. Mallory, Councilman Pepper will say little at this stage in the game, except to suggest that his City Council experience better qualifies him for the job. He explains that he has “been in City Hall just long enough”—not to the point of being jaded, but long enough to understand the structure, the issues, and the personalities. Pepper has finished first in both of his runs for City Council.
Political experience is also what Mallory suggests will distinguish his candidacy from Pepper’s. Sen. Mallory explains that his time in state government, first as a State Representative and for the past 9 years as a State Senator, gives him a background that “is more complex and more diverse that David would have experienced by this point in time.” Sen. Mallory’s campaign manager, Patrick McLean, identifies Pepper’s Council experience as a liability, because it connects him with “the failed leadership at city hall.”
Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke explains the quandary for the Democratic Party in this election. “These are two very bright, very articulate people, both of whom bring an awful lot of political skills to the table.” He goes on to say that “both candidates appear determined (to run). They both have their reasons for doing that, I see no way for the Democratic Party to force either candidate out of the race.” Until resigning just after the Nov. 2nd election, Mallory himself was co-chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. He resigned in order to devote his full attention to the Mayor’s race.
Because the race is officially nonpartisan, candidates need not compete within the parties for a single nomination slot. While they may run with an endorsement from a political party or the Charter Committee, there is single, nonpartisan primary election that determines the two candidates who will go on to the general election. The effect is that Pepper and Mallory may end up duking it out in both the primary and the general elections, if the two candidates emerge as the top two vote-getters in the primary, a plausible scenario given the popularity and name recognition of both candidates. Of course, the influence of a Republican, Charterite, or other candidate in the race cannot be gauged at this point.
“Whatever the outcome (of the 2005 elections), Cincinnati will definitely be headed in a new direction,” Rosenberg says. “The whole dynamic of city government is going to change because of the Mayor’s stepping down and 1 or potentially 3-4 Councilmembers running for the job, as well the appointment to replace DeWine,” who will be heading a few blocks east in January to serve as County Commissioner. As Luken’s tenure has been the first under the recent changes to the office, the experiences of the next mayor will also serve to shed light on the ongoing conversation about further expanding the mayor’s powers.
Links
· “Cincinnati's longest-serving mayor makes his toughest call”
· “Luken: I won’t run again”
· “Mayoral race has wannabes jockeying”
· Mallory for Citizens campaign website (under construction)
· “Mallory gets Qualls' support, Senator's mayoral run puts 'Democrats in a tough spot'”
· Mark Mallory’s biographical information
· David Pepper's Campaign website
· “Pepper’s moneypot tops field”
· David Pepper’s City Council Page Biography
Contact Information
· rebeccac@queencityforum.com
|
|
| |
|
|
