Tuesday, September 07, 1999
Annual picnic a politician's feast
'Candidates come here because union people vote'
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati's 1999 council election began in earnest Monday the way it has for decades — at Coney Island amid a cloud of barbecue smoke and 15,000 picnickers who, for the most part, take voting very seriously.
“Candidates come here because union people vote,” said Dan Radford, executive secretary-treasurer of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, which sponsors the annual picnic for union members and their families at Coney Island.
Politics is as much a part of the AFL—CIO picnic as hamburgers and hot dogs. Seven years ago, it attracted then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton because of the huge crowd of union members friendly to Democratic candidates and because of the scenic riverside setting, perfect for a political photo-op.
And, every year, it attracts local candidates — Democratic and Republican alike — who make their way around the picnic tables and the midway, knowing that their city council and township races could turn on the number of hands they shake on Labor Day.
“We're working it hard,” said Cincinnati Councilman Todd Portune, standing in the midway passing out Portune kitchen magnets to picnickers as they strolled by.
Mr. Portune was particularly proud that his campaign volunteers had lined the front yards of Kellogg Avenue leading up to Coney Island with his campaign yard signs.
There were veteran incumbent candidates making the rounds of the picnic grounds Monday afternoon, such as Mr. Portune and Democrat Minette Cooper.
But the AFL-CIO picnic is most important to the first-time council candidates, the ones who need the name recognition and always leave the voters they meet with a reminder of who they are and what they are running for.
While Democrat Jane Anderson worked the crowd, her campaign volunteers knelt around a helium tank near the entrance and blew up balloons. And hundreds of kids at the picnic walked away with a Scott Seidewitz flying-disc toy, courtesy of the Democratic candidate.
Another first-time candidate, Democrat Alicia Reece, walked the picnic grounds with a small army of red-shirted volunteers, passing out fliers saying that former Cincinnati Reds slugger Dave Parker is backing her candidacy.
“I hope you'll remember me on Election Day, Ms. Reece told 74-year-old Irma Johnson of Westwood and her husband, Ernest, 76, a retired Teamster.
Mrs. Johnson said she and her husband “always vote.”
Two Anderson High School juniors, Jill Coy and Kelly Fitz, both 17, took advantage of the AFL-CIO picnic to work on a project for their government class. Their assignment was to interview voters about what freedom means to them.
They walked the picnic grounds with a video camera.
“People mention religion, the right to have a union, the right to vote,” Miss Coy said. “Everybody here has an opinion.”
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