Reprinted from Cincinnati.com, The Enquirer, Politics Extra 8/22/2020

PX column: After sneak attack tax, local Ohio lawmakers agree quirky law needs fixing

Greater Cincinnati state lawmakers are calling for a higher degree of accountability as Hamilton County parks leaders continue to refuse to take responsibility for their sneaky attempt to levy a tax this year.

Brigid Kelly and Tom Brinkman, state representatives from Cincinnati’s East Side, told Politics Extra that they are separately working on potential legislation that would bust up the power of public boards like the one that oversees Great Parks.

“You have to be able to hold somebody accountable, and it really has to come down to an elected group,” said Brinkman, a Republican from Mount Lookout.

Kelly, a Hyde Park Democrat, is exploring a possible change to a 103-year-old law that gives a county probate judge complete authority to appoint all members of a county parks board. A parks board is the only known county-level board in which all of its members are appointed by one elected official

Meanwhile, Brinkman is considering revisiting a bill he introduced in 2018 calling for elected officials to have the final say on whether any local board can levy a tax.

The parks board is among a handful of local boards that has the power to put a levy on the ballot without first seeking elected officials’ approval. The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, SORTA and The Port also can levy their own tax, but at least multiple elected officials make appointments to those boards.

House Majority Leader Bill Seitz, a Green Township Republican, said he first wants to hear from the Ohio Association of Probate Judges to gauge whether lawmakers should make changes.

“I’m not unwilling to revisit the issue, but I’d like to remind everybody that it is an 88-county deal,” Seitz said.

Any legislative action likely wouldn’t happen until at least next year.

Ohio Rep. Tom Brinkman, R, Mount Lookout

Republican Probate Judge Ted Winkler and his Democratic opponent in the November election, Pavan Parikh, have each said the state law needs to change to balance the power.

No one is saying the Great Parks board is corrupt. Winkler and Seitz both believe parks leaders learned their lesson from the surprise vote in July to put a levy on the November ballot. They commended the parks board for reversing the decision this month and scrapping the levy for this year.

Ginger Warner is the only person on the five-member parks board who bears no responsibility. She was absent from both votes in July, but Warner was present at the Aug. 5 board meeting and supported reversing the levy decision. Chairman Marcus Thompson, Buck Niehoff, Joe Seta and Bill Burwinkel all voted in favor of putting the levy on the ballot and then also supported revoking it.

Curiously, there remains little explanation as to why Great Parks CEO Todd Palmeter increased a lobbyist’s contract by 70 percent some 3½ weeks before the board initially voted on July 6 to pursue a levy.

If the parks are in such a budget crunch, why did it increase Downtown-based Government Strategies Group’s contract from $5,000 to $8,500 a month?

The contract “was increased for the expansion of services related to comprehensive planning for Great Parks including increased communications with the Great Parks CEO and GSG staff related to comprehensive planning,” Palmeter said in an email.

Private companies would be so proud of the corporate-speak response. But this is the public’s business.

Great Parks officials have already said they’re going for a levy in 2021. It’s why accountability and reform are critical. These problems can’t happen again.