The reason you've heard so little about Jerome Campbell since his death sentence was commuted to life in prison is that state officials won't let him talk to reporters.
"Currently we're not allowing him any media interviews, because he violated our media policy, which allows us to do that," said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Corrections Department. "He conducted what we call an illegal interview, and he admitted it. Right now we have him on ice."
The allegedly illegal interview was a phone conversation between Campbell and a family member, who then put CityBeat writer Leslie Blade on the line. Because Campbell didn't get permission to speak to Blade, he could be barred from giving interviews for up to one year.
Nate Livingston Jr., co-chair of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, has filed a protest with the Hamilton County Board of Elections challenging City Councilman Pat DeWine's eligibility to run for re-election. Last week Livingston asked for more time to honor the board's request for an amended complaint. It seems he objected to DeWine's use of the ZIP code 45209 on some re-election petitions and 45208 on others.
"Mr. Livingston, would you agree that the street address on both those documents are the same?" board chairman Timothy Burke asked.
But Livingston, who thrives on being disagreeable, didn't concede the point. He couldn't even read the address on some petitions, he said.
Burke asked Livingston several times to stop speaking.
"Is this a meeting or some sort of kangaroo court?" Livingston said.
"Mr. Livingston, you don't get the last word here," Burke replied.
"I read a Supreme Court case this morning, Mr. Burke...," Livingston said.
"Congratulations," Burke interrupted.
The board adjourned for five minutes to call police. Livingston's rhetoric cooled after officers arrived. The board granted the continuance.
Keeping the Public off Public Property
A man stopped a reporter last week as the Rev. Damon Lynch III held a press conference outside City Hall.
"Is this about the homeless people?" the passerby asked.
No, it wasn't, the reporter explained.
"I guess we're passe," the man said, moving on.
Not so. Last week City Councilman Chris Monzel proposed a motion directing the Cincinnati Police to immediately enforce trespassing laws by removing homeless camps under bridges and highway overpasses. Monzel said he's concerned someone will get hurt. Apparently at the top of his list are the rubberneckers driving past homeless camps. Perhaps the spectacle distracts them from their cell phones.
Mayor Charlie Luken said he supported the proposal, "sympathetic as we may be to the people who are involved."
But it seemed the only sympathetic voice was Councilwoman Alicia Reece's. Monzel's motion also called for continued collaboration with social service agencies, 30 of which receive a combined $1 million or so from the city.
Reece rejected Monzel's claim that there are abundant services and shelters for the homeless. The city spends $1 million on 30 agencies but $52 million for one company, the subsidy for the Convergys Corp., she said.
"Now we say we've done enough for these agencies," Reece said.
She also pointed to the ordinance restricting the construction of new low-income housing in the city. Now council wants the poor off the streets, too, she said.
"We have bigger issues as a city," Reece said. "All of us really are one paycheck from being out there."
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Photo By Jymi Bolden
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City Councilwoman Alicia Reece disputes claims the
city has "done enough" to help the homeless.
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Some council members apparently don't think the homeless even qualify as members of the public. Councilman John Cranley, for example, said it's clear Cincinnati needs a "retaking of our public property." DeWine rendered the purpose of the motion thus: "Go out and evict the people who have chosen to move into our public spaces."
Council sent the proposal to the Law Committee.
City workers recently destroyed a community garden at the Civic Garden Center on Pleasant Street in Over-the-Rhine. The workers had orders to mow a lot across the street and got the addresses mixed up. Michael Flood, an employee at ReStoc, which used to manage the garden, calls the incident an honest mistake. He says there are fewer gardeners this year than in the past, so the garden didn't look its best.
Kathryn Stehlin, one of the gardeners whose plots were destroyed, said she's frustrated, because if the beds are maintained they're more attractive to vandals. Besides, meticulous tidiness isn't her idea of gardening.
"It's not my gardening style," Stehlin says. "Everyone should be able to use their plot in their own way."
While Stehlin believes there were no bad intentions, she's suspicious, because the city workers had to cut a lock off a gate to get in. There's also a sign that says, "Community Garden."
Porkopolis TIP LINES: 513-665-4700 (ext. 138) or pork@citybeat.com
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