Public: Staff Picks

Best Reason to Rest Assured Your Vote Counts: The election of Republican Jean Schmidt over Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett in 2005. Hackett won the four eastern counties of the Second Congressional District but was beaten because Schmidt won the Greater Cincinnati vote. Hackett was defeated by just over 3,500 votes, so believe it when people tell you that your vote matters.

Best Second Place Finish: True, Indian Hill attorney Paul Hackett lost the special election in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District last summer. But he came so close to beating the Republican candidate, Jean Schmidt, in a heavily Republican district that the whole country took notice, prompting Hackett to a national celebrity of sorts who's helping other Iraq vets win elections this year.

photo: sean hugheseJohn Zeh Photo: Jymi Bolden

Best Underrated Reporter: John Zeh
Zeh, who died March 3 at age 59, was quirky, crotchety and nagging at times but also a fiercely tenacious advocate of civil rights for all people, no matter what was in their bank account, their sexual orientation or their race. Well known in local activist circles, he was both outspoken and out as a gay journalist. Zeh brought the Gaydreams radio program to WAIF (88.3 FM), which later became Alternating Currents, and helped found the Greater Cincinnati Gay Coalition in 1978. His reporting also appeared in Streetvibes, GLBT News, XRay Magazine and other local outlets and was marked by his passion for justice and love of Cincinnati.

Best Moment Without Scripture: U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt seemed perplexed at the lack of a Bible when she went to City Hall to administer the oath of office to Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz. Someone helpfully provided a copy. But what we want to know is why Schmidt, a Republican conservative, didn't have her own copy ever at the ready.

Best Smackdown in a Political Campaign: When David Pepper demanded that Mark Mallory, his opponent in the mayoral race, denounce statements by wingnut Nate Livingston, Mallory one-upped his sensitive political foe. He issued a categorical denouncement of "every mean thing ever said about Pepper." Mallory then asked for a daily report from Pepper's campaign so as to denounce any new mean statements made about him in the future.

Best Display of Pomposity: Mark Mallory's motorcade to a Museum Center celebration of his inauguration as mayor. If Charlie Luken had done that, people would have sneered at his sense of self-importance.

Best Appointment: Nobody predicted Eric Kearney would be named a state senator to finish Mark Mallory's term - including Kearney himself. The appointment of the publisher of The Cincinnati Herald showed imagination and a willingness by the Democrats to invest in new thinking.

Best Station Shuffle, Format Division: After Howard Stern dumped terrestrial radio, 97.3 FM dumped their hard rock format in favor of one billed as "Everything Alternative." The station playlist is officially on shuffle, and it's been positively received by listeners, who gave the station feedback in a rather lengthy survey at the end of the year. Their reward? A format that runs the gamut from classic Modern Rock to today's newest Indie releases.

Best Station Shuffle, Staffing Division: With Cincinnati Public Radio taking over WVXU (FM 91.7) from Xavier University late last summer, we suddenly could find news and public affairs 24/7, including WNKU's news team of Maryanne Zeleznik and Jay Hanselman moving over together. Despite losing them, WNKU (FM 89.7) bounced back by recruiting several former VXU announcers - George Zahn and Steve Hirschberg - and reviving some programs that got lost in the shuffle. WNKU's continued success means Cincinnati remains one of the best cities in America for diverse choice in public radio.

Best Word on the Arts: If you want to hear the voices of people making a difference in the arts, all you really need to do is tune in to Around Cincinnati on WVXU (FM 91.7) on Sundays (7-8 p.m.). CityBeat's Rick Pender and others interview performers and artists, and others who keep Cincinnati's cultural scene vibrant. Past programs are archived at www.wvxu.org.

Best TV Reporter Who Actually Reports the News: Channel 9 I-team reporter Laure Quinlivan is one of the few folks in local television news who isn't just a talking head. She won a Midwestern Regional Emmy in 2003, and the Ohio chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists named her Best Reporter in Ohio in the electronic division in 2004. In television reporting, often filled with sound bytes, spin and blather, Quinlivan stands out as a professional who actually reports real news.

photo: sean peOhio Rep. Jean Schmidt Photo: Graham Lienhart

Best Local Person Satirized on Saturday Night Live:
Ohio Rep. Jean Schmidt
Fumbling rookie legislator Schmidt got an SNL skewering in November. Days after being shouted down by her colleagues for essentially calling Pennsylvania representative John Murtha a coward (Murtha's a decorated Marine and war veteran, duh!), Rachel Dratch portrayed Mean Green Jean dressed in, essentially, an American flag (she loves America!) perpetually putting her foot in her mouth and being "violently booed' by the audience (the final straw: 'And like The Beatles said, "Let it be," because I think we all can agree that The Beatles were not that great of a band').

Best Unpaid On-Air Personality: And now for something completely different than you're likely to find elsewhere on the radio dial: Sawt Al-Arab (the Voice of Arabia) is now in its ninth year on WAIF (88.3 FM). Host Niran Al-Ubaidi spins some of the best in Arabic music every Tuesday between 5 and 6 p.m. An exotic, aural adventure.

Best FCC Baiting: Though likely unintentional, Fox 19 ran its license renewal alert - asking viewers to send any objections over their renewal to the FCC - during the May 1 premiere of ever-controversial Family Guy, which featured "animated nudity," sex talk and a spoofy Passion of the Christ II. Timing É is É every É thing?

Best Smooth Jazz Saturday: Warm 98 (98.5 FM) presents Smooth Jazz every Saturday from 7 p.m. to midnight, with host Michael Grayson, who's been spinning Jazz there since 1986 (and also holds down the weekday morning shift at WNKU). Listen for tracks by Norah Jones, Boney James, Patti Austin and many other faves.

Best Political Style Over Substance: If there ever was a public relations scheme that was designed to look like good government, Cincinnati City Council's proposal for tougher penalties for pot possession would be it. As it stands now, a person caught in Ohio with less than 100 grams of marijuana gets no more than a $100 ticket, but council's recent moves would make it punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. It's council's most foolish waste of time in recent memory.

Best Unsung Activist: Jimmy Heath, editor of Streetvibes, the local newspaper of the homeless, is an activist who understands the streets of Cincinnati. He's been there, living as a homeless person in Over-the-Rhine lost to drugs and alcohol, and is still there today - recovered and working to help others through his advocacy, writing and photography. Heath and his coworkers at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, which publishes Streetvibes, help others tell their stories and find dignity through meaningful work.

Best Turnaround in Police-Community Relations: At the start of 2005 a federal judge rebuked Cincinnati's police chief and one of his assistant chiefs for the blatant disrespect shown a court-appointed monitor overseeing the collaborative agreement on police reform. One year later the monitor team issued a report finding the police department making major strides in complying with the reform plan.

Best Sign That There's More Work to Do: In November a neighborhood group organized a basketball game called "Cincinnati Police vs. Da Streetz," meant to foster goodwill between cops and inner-city youth. The police agreed to play, then stood up the kids.

Best Sign That Teenagers Know a Stupid War When They See One: About 150 students at Walnut Hills High School walked out of classes last fall to protest the U.S. war in Iraq. The students willingly incurred detention to stand up for what they believe, and it wasn't a one-time effort. Students organized earlier in the year to limit military recruiters' ability to bother them while visiting the school

photo: sean hughes/peProcter & Gamble Photo: Sean Hughes/ Photopresse

Best Corporate Behavior: Federated Department Stores and Procter & Gamble
The local corporations scored very high on the annual Corporate Equality Index, used by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation to rate Fortune 500 companies on policies that respect the human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The index studies seven areas, including domestic partner benefits, diversity training and the inclusion of sexual orientation in equal-employment opportunity policies.

Best Proof That One-Party Rule Fosters Corruption: Ohio Gov. Bob Taft's guilty plea to ethics violations might be the best news Democrats have had in the Buckeye State in decades. Every elected statewide office is in the hands of the GOP. But Taft's fall from grace might make change in Columbus possible in this year's election.

Best Way for a Politician to Get Fired: First-term City Councilman Sam Malone, a Republican who posed as tough on crime, had the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police when he ran for re-election. But voters tossed him after his own arrest for domestic violence.

Best Reminder That Good Intentions Aren't Enough: Like many, City Councilman Christopher Smitherman wanted to help the people of New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Unlike most, he had the resources to organize a caravan of three charter buses to bring refugees to Cincinnati. Only problem was Smitherman didn't coordinate with relief crews already on the scene of the disaster. The buses had the capacity to carry 150 passengers, but only 17 people wanted to leave the area and come here. Smitherman didn't do any screening, either; within days of his rescue, one of the visitors was arrested for shoplifting.

Best Determination to Go Down Fighting: Alicia Reece got her ass kicked in the mayoral primary, finishing third. But she got nearly 10,000 votes and, say what you will about her service on city council, she never backed away from a fight.

Best Proof That Politicians Make Poor Developers: The Banks. Even the name sucks. Who wants to live in a place called The Banks? Too bad it's not called The Insurance Policy. Maybe then there'd be a payoff after the nearly a decade of yammering between the city and the county - you know, the people who brought you that sweetheart of a deal on the stadiums.

Best Under-the-Radar Radio Station: With the passing of 97X as we once knew it, WLHS (89.9 FM) has taken the No. 1 spot on some dials. Granted, it's a Lakota/West Chester-based station, so reception tends toward the sketchy side of fuzz as you head toward the city. They rock from Matisyhu to Kanye West to James Blunt to Death Cab for Cutie to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Alkaline Trio to The Strokes to The Clash to Beck. Mmmm, Beck. Oh right, and it's run by high school students. Rock on!

Best Local Boy Done Good in Hollywood: After years of ridicule for being just another Hollywood hunk, the eternally good-natured George Clooney finally silenced his critics with an impressive one-two punch: a fine, understated performance as a CIA operative in Syriana and as the co-writer and director of the stellar Good Night, and Good Luck. Who could have predicted that the guy who starred in 1988's Return of the Killer Tomatoes! would have made two of the more politically relevant movies of 2005? And still have a shitload of fun while doing it.

Best Use of Toilet Humor: Dismayed at being forbidden by zoning officials to build a privacy fence around their yard, a couple in Anderson Township collected more than a dozen toilets, festooned them with flowers and other decorations and lined them up in the front yard. Having been informed the fence wasn't an appropriate match for the neighborhood, the couple posed the potties as an alternative.

Best Plagiarism in Service of Bigotry: Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. was in rare form when he addressed the annual Police Memorial Day gathering on Fountain Square, denouncing homosexuality, feminism and other aspects of what he called the "satanic pestilence" overtaking the community. But as UC professor Jay Twomey soon discovered, the vitriol wasn't even original; Leis had lifted virtually the entire speech from a diatribe given by a sheriff in Florida, where the good ol' boys know how to treat uppity women and pinko troublemakers.

Best Individual Effort to Rub Their Noses in It: Ray Owens has been stalwart in trying to ruin the mood of local Republican gatherings, often serving as a one-man demonstration at fund-raisers, holding signs denouncing the war in Iraq and other GOP misdeeds. He posts photos and a blog of his many courtesy calls at www.unrelated.net/antiwar/
index.html.

Best Blue Genes: Dan La Botz, author of a biography on Cesar Chavez, and Dr. Sherry Baron, organizer with Cincinnati Progressive Action, are the parents of Traven La Botz, who organized anti-war activities at Walnut Hills High School last year.

Best Settlement: Originally touted as the largest settlement of a sex-abuse lawsuit in the country, the final details didn't quite live up to the hype. But the settlement of a class action lawsuit by victims of clerical sexual abuse will cost the Covington Diocese a potential $80 million. While money won't heal the damage, it's the one thing Catholic bishops seem to understand when confronted with their decades of cover-up.

Best Civil Rights Lawyer: Bob Newman did it again. This time he proved in federal court that Hamilton County Municipal Court illegally jails people for being unable to pay fines and court costs. Newman takes the kind of cases no other lawyers want to be bothered with, making sure the rights of poor people and prisoners are respected.

Best Lawsuit Waiting to Happen: It's not just Fountain Square's appearance that's being overhauled. So is its management, now in the hands of the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC). Sometime soon someone will organize a protest on the square, and someone will be arrested. Then it's back to federal court for the city, which over the years has tried so hard - and so far failed - to limit demonstrations on the square.

Best Landmark Rescued: Old St. George's might have been razed to make way for a Walgreens store unless the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. bought it. The historic church's future is less than assured, but for now it still stands.

Best 'Get Out the Vote' Message: The League of Pissed Off Voters sent this e-mail reminder just before Election Day, urging support four state constitutional amendments on the ballot: "You. Me. A cozy little voting booth with the curtains closed. A yes, another yes, and another, and oh yes!"

Best Waste of Political Currency: The fact that the Fraternal Order of Police has too much power in Cincinnati politics doesn't mean they know anything about campaigning for office. The police union arranged automated phone calls supporting the Rev. Charlie Winburn for mayor. Unfortunately, the calls went to the wrong area code, and people in Buffalo, N.Y., were left wondering who Winburn is.

Best Way to Say 'Up Yours' Without Saying it: City Manager Valerie Lemmie left town so quietly that city council didn't even get to hold one of its schmaltzy tributes to her four years of service.

Best Way to Avoid Paperwork: An investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff found that a cop in Cleves confiscated a gun from a driver, then threw it in the river. Never mind the ecological implications; most police departments check confiscated guns in case they were stolen or used in a crime.

Best Cleanup Campaign: Justice for Janitors is a union drive by the Service Employees International Union. It's hard to think of a group of workers more in need of collective bargaining.

Best Game of Cops & Robbers: A CityBeat investigation last year found that John Ruebusch, assigned by the sheriff to the Regional Electronics and Computer Investigations Task Force, isn't a certified police officer at all. That's a problem because Ruebusch was allowed to execute search warrants, an oversight that's now under scrutiny in a pair of criminal cases.

Best Way to Keep the Momentum Going: Equality Cincinnati organized after the 2004 repeal of an anti-gay amendment in the city charter. Then a few weeks ago came passage of a human rights ordinance by city council. Is Ohio's odious ban on same-sex marriage next?

Best Assertion of Civilian Control of the Police: After the police department erected a barricade on 13th Street to inhibit people visiting the neighborhood to buy illegal drugs, residents objected. It took a few months, but city council eventually ordered the barricade removed.

Best Thing Charlie Luken Ever Said: "People want somebody to lead." Uttered as a reflection on his much-praised handling of a styrene leak in the East End, the aphorism also works as a summary of what Luken mostly didn't do during his final years as mayor.

Best Unwanted Improvement: Many vendors resisted the idea of opening Findlay Market on Sundays. But the change has accomplished exactly what it was meant to do, making the market accessible to a larger clientele and increasing the vendors' sales.

Best Blast from the Past: Last spring Bobbie Seale visited the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine, offering both a useful history lesson and a call to continue the important work started by the late Buddy Gray.