BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati City Councilman Dwight Tillery - who served a term as Cincinnati's first popularly elected black mayor - ended weeks of speculation Sunday afternoon by announcing he was stepping down from council.
The 50-year-old Mr. Tillery suggested that Paul Booth, who served on council as a Republican briefly in the late 1980s and is now board chairman of the Citizens Committee on Youth, be appointed to fill the remainder of his term. Mr. Tillery designated Democratic Councilwoman Minette Cooper to choose his successor, and she indicated her support for Mr. Booth - now a Democrat - on Sunday.
Mr. Tillery's announcement was not a surprise. City Hall insiders for some time have speculated that he would resign - either for another job or to make room for someone who could gain name recognition in hopes of winning the 1999 race.
But the way Mr. Tillery resigned was inauspicious.
Inside an arts-and-crafts classroom of the Bond Hill Recreation Center, Mr. Tillery called an end to a public career considered as much brilliant as tumultuous.
"I felt that this was right in the community - this is not a fanfare kind of thing," said Mr. Tillery, who would not be able to run for council again next year because of term limits.
Rose Nelson, president of the Bond Hill Community Council, lamented Mr. Tillery's departure, saying he had been a friend to the neighborhoods.
"He's been a real asset to our community and the city of Cincinnati, and I'm sorry to see that he's leaving," Ms. Nelson said.
"I think he's done a lot for Cincinnati neighborhoods - he's one of the few members of council who seems to look at all of Cincinnati instead of just chunks of it."
Mr. Tillery was one of the leaders in a battle to fight Hamilton County's request to put a juvenile jail in Bond Hill - the same neighborhood where the Democrat makes his home.
Council ultimately voted against putting a jail in the neighborhood. The county, which owns the former Millcreek Psychiatric Center for Children property, says the site is an economical alternative to building a jail. The 60-bed juvenile center would house low-level felony offenders.
Bond Hill residents argue that a jail would hurt real estate values and neighborhood revitalization. The case will likely end up in court.
Mr. Tillery was vague about why he resigned at this time, saying: "It is just simply time to move on and give someone else an opportunity." He made a cryptic mention of other possible pursuits but said he had no immediate plans to run for a higher elected office. For now, he plans to continue working at his law firm, Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley.
"I am considering some new opportunities that have been of interest to me for several years," he said, declining to elaborate. Mr. Tillery's struggles with members of council, Hamilton County's Democratic Party leadership and some members of the community are well-documented. But supporters and detractors alike said Sunday they consider such conflicts the result of his passion for solving the issues and struggles facing the city.
"It's no secret that he and I have had a sometimes strained relationship," said Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke, "but at this point, when someone has served as long has he has on council, it's time to recognize the enormous contribution he has made."
Mr. Tillery did not inform Mr. Burke he was resigning Sunday or whom he had recommended as a successor. Mr. Booth made the call to Mr. Burke on Sunday afternoon.
Mr. Tillery and his supporters, who have feuded with Mr. Burke, said they want an African-American to share the chairmanship with him. Mr. Tillery has been critical of Mr. Burke's leadership since last fall, charging that African-Americans - who make up the largest single voting bloc for the Democratic Party and about 40 percent of the Cincinnati vote - have been excluded from decision making. Mr. Tillery's group includes one of his closest council allies - Ms. Cooper.
The two have even splintered from the party on council issues, joining a bipartisan coalition with Republican council members Charles Winburn, Phil Heimlich and Jeanette Cissell.
In the past two years, the group has been a force on budget issues, and last year they reorganized council.
Ms. Cooper said the impact of Mr. Tillery's resignation was personal to her: the loss of a mentor. Council, she said, loses more - Mr. Tillery's breadth of knowledge about the city and the government that runs it.
"I think by and large he served the city well and his absence will be noticed," Ms. Cooper said.
Councilman James Tarbell, a Charterite, raised concerns about how council would be able to put together the city's 1999-2000 budget in the next few weeks without Mr. Tillery as Finance Committee chairman. "I'm concerned. He does have more experience and more knowledge than most of the folks on council as far as finance is concerned; and . . . I think he's been a good steward there," Mr. Tarbell said. "I wish him well, but at the same time my question is where we go with the finance committee from here."
On Sunday, Mr. Tillery alluded to the possibility that Ms. Cooper could take over as chairman of the Finance Committee.
Mr. Tillery's support to a large degree is based in the constituency that not only elected him but chose him to be the first popularly elected black mayor of the city. (Ted Berry was the first black mayor, but fellow council members tapped him for the job.)
Even though he served just one term as mayor, he enjoyed enormous popularity afterward - finishing as one of the top three vote-getters in his last three elections.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Mr. Tillery got his first taste of Cincinnati City Council at age 19, when he worked for a councilman. At 27 he was appointed to city council but lost a bid for election. He made an impressive re-entry in 1990, when he was appointed to finish the unexpired term of Charles Luken. Ten months later, Mr. Tillery surged past a ballot full of veteran politicians to become the top vote-getter, and therefore mayor.
At the time, Mr. Tillery credited his election to his ability to address the issues that reached every corner of the city. Experts credited high black voter turnout for a city school levy on the ballot that year.
But toward the end of his mayoral term, his time as a political darling had faded.
In July 1992, his struggles with Gerald Newfarmer, then the city manager, were escalating. Mr. Tillery erupted in anger at Mr. Newfarmer about an administrator's memo to Mr. Tillery, questioning some comments he had made about the Community Oriented Policing teams. By 1993, Mr. Newfarmer was fired.
In the years following, Mr. Tillery said the media incorrectly labeled him as the one who led the charge for Mr. Newfarmer's ouster. But Mr. Tillery did not reflect on any of those political struggles Sunday, nor did his colleagues. Instead, he thanked his constituents for their faith in him.
"I am deeply grateful to the citizens of this community for the opportunity to serve in this office," he said. "Cincinnati is indeed a great city, and its citizens are the best in the world." Mr. Tillery, whose resignation is effective Nov. 30, is the second term-limited council member to step down this year. Charterite Bobbie Sterne resigned earlier this year, giving up her seat to Mr. Tarbell. Mayor Roxanne Qualls and Councilman Tyrone Yates, both Democrats, also are facing term limits.
