BY LAURA GOLDBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A group working to radically change Cincinnati's form of government has named a chairman and a vice chairman, and the pair, like the group, is bipartisan.
Aaron Herzig, 26, an account executive with Dan Pinger Public Relations and the Hamilton County Democratic Party's former executive director, will serve as chairman.
Chip Gerhardt, 38, director of national accounts for Cinergy, will be vice chair. Gerhardt, a Republican, oversaw Gov. George Voinovich's economic development offices across the state.
The two will lead the group's efforts to gather public input on its proposal. A small group of mostly Democrats and Republicans is crafting a plan to replace the city manager with a separately elected "strong mayor," with broad executive powers, and to go from an at-large council election to a district system.
Unlike previous failed efforts at changing the city's form of government, both major parties and the NAACP are involved in this one.
A new draft of the plan is expected next week. The group plans to hold public forums and address neighborhood and other groups over the next couple of months.
"We want to get this out as broadly as possible," Mr. Gerhardt said.
Mr. Herzig added: "I think for any city charter change to be effective it needs to have grass roots, public input and that's what the committee has asked me to coordinate."
Republican lawyer Patrick DeWine, among those writing the plan, said it's unlikely the group would change any of the following core elements: the strong mayor, a partisan mayoral primary or electing council members by districts.
Mr. Herzig led the 1995 campaign to defeat a strong mayor plan put forward by business leaders and rejected by voters. This process brings diverse elements to the table and, he said, this proposal is more than just a strong mayor.
The three who have driven the effort will continue to focus on drafting a final plan. They are:
Mr. DeWine, 30, a lawyer with Keating, Muething and Klekamp. He is the son of U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio and a potential city council candidate in 1999.
Jeff Berding, 31, a Democrat who ran the successful sales tax campaign for two new stadiums in 1996 and is the Bengals' director of community affairs.
Johnathan Holifield, 33, first vice president of the Cincinnati NAACP and a lawyer in the law firm of Hamilton County Democratic Party chairman Tim Burke.
They have talked often to Mr. Burke, Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Mike Allen and NAACP President Milton Hinton about the proposal.
Mr. DeWine said he expects the plan to make it on the ballot only if both parties and the NAACP support it.
