Sunday, December 12, 1999
Stein's boast brings backlash
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Denny Stein ignited a controversy after he claimed last week he had the votes to be reappointed to Villa Hills City Council.
Mr. Stein, the city's former mayor, said he was confident he would get four of the five votes on council to take the seat vacated by Bob Flaherty, who moved out of the city.
That may have well been the case. Mr. Stein is close to most members of council and considers them political allies.
Four council members — Bob Kramer, Steve Kramer, Mike Sadouskas and Tim Sogar — supported him last year when he lost the mayor's race to incumbent Steve Clark.
Not so fast
But once Mr. Stein's prediction appeared in the newspaper, some council members backed off, a lot of residents got ticked off and one of Mr. Stein's political enemies went off.
Council members now seem concerned about appearing to foster a good ol' boy environment by appointing Mr. Stein to council.
While they said they believe Mr. Stein would do a good job — he did serve nine years as mayor and four more as a council member — they want it known that the other nine candidates who applied for the appointment will be given fair consideration.
“I like Denny and I've supported Denny, but I'm not totally sure he should be appointed to that seat,” Bob Kramer said. “I still haven't decided. I may eventually go with Denny, and if I do I'll stand by my decision.
“But it's just that I haven't yet made that decision, and Denny made it seem like I have,” he said.
Then there are the residents, who have been calling members of council and complaining that the seat has been greased for Mr. Stein. They also fear that if Mr. Stein returns, the contentious atmosphere already festering between the council and Mr. Clark will just grow worse.
Council member Mary Koenig, who clashed with Mr. Stein during his time on council, released a statement saying she would support only candidates “that have no ties to either faction on city council.”
“We need a new perspective on City Council,” said Mrs. Koenig, who said she is angry that Mr. Stein wants to use his return to council to lay the groundwork for another mayoral cam paign.
“City Council needs to appoint someone who is interested in helping the citizens of Villa Hills, not in helping his future political aspirations,” she said.
Council is expected to announce its selection Wednesday.
New GOP leader
Members of the Campbell County Republican Executive Committee will meet Dec. 20 to select a new leader. Former chairwoman Sam Smith stepped down last month.
Fort Thomas resident Barb Haas, a GOP political strategist and fund raiser, appears to have the inside track. That will be good for the party, which is splintered into a couple of factions right now.
Mrs. Haas is smart, tough, hard-working and has a good relationship with most of the GOP elected officials in the county, including U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, state Sen. Katie Stine and Rep. Joe Fischer.
But there has been word that some party members are recruiting other candidates. There are those on the committee and in the party who don't want a heavy Fort Thomas influence on the committee.
That, however, is just what that committee needs. Fort Thomas is a great GOP stronghold, but in recent years the executive committee has done little to encourage involvement from Republicans in the city.
Mrs. Smith started to make some headway, but the time has come for one united Republican Party in the county. And Mrs. Haas could help make that happen.
A jail tale
Elsmere received lots of well-deserved attention for rallying and forming a grass-roots campaign to convince Kenton County Fiscal Court not to build a county jail there.
The court can say transportation costs and pressure from businesses located near the proposed jail site influenced the decision to start the site selection process over. But it's hard to believe the effort by the residents wasn't a major factor.
Just as community opposition was a factor in Edgewood, where earlier this year residents were successful in keeping the jail from being built near their city.
Edgewood got beat up, including in this space, because after residents there complained about the jail, it was moved to Elsmere. But it's only fair to point out that whatever the circumstances, the goal of residents in both communities was the same — they didn't want the jail in or near their cities.
Sure, the jail site was a lot closer to homes in Elsmere than it was in Edgewood. And some Edgewood residents certainly did use their political connections to help lobby the all-Republican fiscal court.
But Edgewood, like Elsmere, staged a well organized and effective campaign. So what if some Edgewood residents used politics to sway fiscal court members?
Our system of government allows that. In both cases, fiscal court listened to the concerns and made decisions based on the desires of constituents.
Is that to say this has been a clean process? No way. It's been a mess. While the court has been responsive, it also looks like it doesn't always have all the facts.
“The fiscal court obviously has no idea what it is doing,” said Kenton County Democratic Party Chairwoman Shirley Huelsmann. “The reasons they're now giving for abandoning the Elsmere site should have been evident from the start.”
The pain the jail site selection has caused all was evident in the anguish of Kenton County Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd, who was near tears when announcing the court's decision to dump the Elsmere site.
Now the court has a new set of problems. Where will it build the badly needed jail? How will it appease residents this time?
Good questions no one can yet answer.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for The Kentucky Enquirer. His column appears Thursdays and Sundays. He can be reached at 578-5581, or 502-875-7526 in Frankfort, or by e-mail at crowleys@cinci.infi.net.
