Like we’ve said before, if you’ve never seen a pumpkin “chucked” then you haven’t lived….well, that might be an exaggeration. Nevertheless, Tom Brinkman was once again on hand for all the fun at the annual Pumpkin Chuck that took place at Stanbery Park on Saturday, November 2nd. This is the signature event for Mt. Washington and quite a unique one for the area!
State Representative Tom Brinkman was a speaker at the FreedomWorks Morning in America Summit this past Saturday at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Brinkman spoke to the thousands of conservative grassroots activists on hand about his leadership on the Right to Work issue in Ohio.
On Tuesday, December 1st, State Representative Tom Brinkman gave the following testimony to the Commerce & Labor Committee of the Ohio House of representatives.
Sponsor Testimony on HB 377
Good Afternoon Chairman Young, Vice-Chair Devitis and Ranking Member Lepore-Hagan. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on HB 377, the Private Sector Right-to Work bill. Simply put this bill is about making Ohio more competitive and business friendly as well as supporting personal liberty.
Our neighboring states of Michigan and Indiana have passed Right to Work and Ohio would be the 26th state to do so, after Wisconsin in March of this year. In the global economy when companies are considering places to move or expand into; Ohio must be able to compete with Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin for those jobs. Right to work is long overdue here in Ohio.
Beyond the economic benefit right to work would create for Ohioans; this bill presents an opportunity to expand one of America’s most fundamental and cherished principles …freedom of choice. Why should someone be forced to join a Union in order to have a job? Why should someone have their hard earned money taken and used to support issues (political or social) that they may not agree with? If this bill passes then unions will have to compete on a level playing field for membership.
I believe this bill is good for Ohio and I ask for your support. Thank you for your time today, I’d be happy to answer any questions from the Committee.
A State representative from Mount Lookout Thursday threatened a taxpayer lawsuit over city Parks Director Willie Carden’s authorization and disbursement of park foundation funds to pay for the production and design of a website in support of the Issue 22 parks levy.
Click here to read the letter
Earlier this month, Tom Brinkman Jr., R-Mount Lookout, threatened a taxpayer lawsuit over Cincinnati Park Board of Commissioners’ $200,000 donation toward the park levy campaign.
Brinkman dropped the issue when the board rescinded its donation and returned the money to city parks and taxpayers.
According to emails obtained via a public records request, Carden approved $2,200 to be paid for the levy website on June 29. A few days later, Carden authorized spending another $375 related to the website.
“We will pay this through the Parks Foundation,” Carden wrote, telling the foundation’s executive director Jennifer Hafner-Spieser that they could talk about it the next day.
The emails appear to have been on Carden’s city email account.
“Such actions by the director of the Cincinnati Parks Board have clearly violated foregoing prohibitions in City Charter,” the letter to Cincinnati City Solicitor Paula Boggs Muething reads, quoting Article XIII, Section 3, which says that “no monies of the City of Cincinnati or any of its Boards or Commissions, from any source whatsoever … be disbursed to … for the purpose of advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for any public office, or for the passage or defeat of any ballot issue.”
Brinkman has served as a spokesman and chairman of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes in the past. The group opposes the levy.
Ohio law creates a provision for any taxpayer to challenge its government for “abuse of corporate powers and/or misapplication of funds.”
Muething said Thursday that she had just received the letter and needed time to review it and analyze the claims. Carden said this had been early in the discussion and that the bill for the website was not paid by him but ultimately came from the park levy campaign.
A campaign finance report released last week for the pro-levy campaign, Citizens for Cincinnati Parks, shows that the levy campaign paid $3,466.25 to the web design company, WebFeat Complete, based on Eastern Avenue on Sept. 15, two and a half months after the emails were sent by Carden.
Campaign manager Jared Kamrass said the original invoice was sent to the parks department, but was ultimately paid by the levy campaign. If an earlier payment was made by the Park Board or Park Foundation, Kamrass said he has no knowledge of it.
“We made it clear that every penny of the website needed to be paid for by the campaign,” Kamrass said. “To my knowledge it has.”
He said the amounts likely vary because they had asked for more work to be done and needed to raise the money first in order to pay WebFeat Complete.
There is no record of a payment to Webfeat Hosting in the campaign finance report. This second payment, $375, was to be made out to that entity, according to the emails between Carden and Joyce Kamen, who handles media relations for the parks department.
The relationship between the public Park Board and private, non-profit Parks Foundation is no simple thing. Concerns about the relationship and flow of money between the board and the foundation were initially raised in a 2010 internal city audit, which was never finished nor publicized.
The Board of Park Commissioners is a public body that includes five members, all appointed by the mayor. The board has the power to hire or fire all parks department employees.
Members of the board for the private Parks Foundation nominate their own members, but final approval is given by the public Park Board. The nonprofit’s offices were located in Park Board offices for years. They moved recently to another building, also owned by the Park Board.
In a previously publicized case, Carden and Marijane Klug, the parks department’s second-in-command, were cited in 2013 by the Ohio Ethics Commission for accepting bonuses directly from the Parks Foundation between 2004 and 2010. They paid the money back and quit their roles with the foundation.
The ethics settlement stated that Carden received a total of $61,073 between January 2005 and December 2010, while Klug received $37,174 between December 2004 and December 2010. Carden paid back $30,536 and Klug returned $18,587, or the net amount they received after taxes.
But other details about the situation were kept confidential per the settlement agreement and Ohio law. No criminal charges were filed.
In an interview earlier this month, Klug said the Park Board and Parks Foundation are distinctly different organizations.
Board funds and foundation funds “are totally separate,” Klug said. “No funds are co-mingled.”
Brinkman filed his suit under a provision of Ohio law that requires that a taxpayer give the municipality or county government the chance to act and reverse the action in question.
“I hereby request that you, as City Solicitor, make application to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order of injunction … as well as the recovery of such funds on behalf of the City of Cincinnati,” Brinkman wrote.
Otherwise, Brinkman’s attorney Curt Hartman said his client is prepared to file a lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
Regarding the news that the most offending parts of the Eastern Corridor Project have been eliminated, State Representative Tom Brinkman said
“I am so happy for the communities that had been threatened by this project that they finally got a reprieve. I am honored that they trusted me to serve knowing that I would force this issue. Special thanks to Speaker Cliff Roseburger and Senator Seitz who both worked hard helping bring this to a conclusion.”
UNION TOWNSHIP The state has killed a controversial plan to relocate a major commuter route through parts of eastern Hamilton County – ending an arduous, years-long battle between residents and public officials.
The plan to re-route a part of Ohio 32 around Newtown and through historic land in Mariemont has been scrapped, state officials told The Enquirer on Thursday. Work will continue on other parts of the $1 billion Eastern Corridor project across eastern Hamilton and western Clermont counties, but eliminating a big chunk of the Ohio 32 relocation plan could untangle a bureaucratic mess.
“I’m elated,” Mariemont Mayor Dan Policastro said. “We’ve been saying for years (for the state) not to do this, and they finally did it. It’s going to work out for everybody.”
The Eastern Corridor is designed to improve access and alleviate congestion with roadway improvements, a new highway interchange, bike lanes and passenger rail. It has been on the drawing boards since the 1970s, and many phases have failed to move forward because of a lack of consensus and money.
Thursday’s news was a long-time coming for residents of Mariemont and Newtown, but the roadway relocation plan isn’t officially dead just yet. The state, which has spent at least $14 million planning the Ohio 32 relocation, still is beholden to a federal process that requires more time and paperwork. Ohio Department of Transportation officials say the process could be complete by the end of this month.
“This is great news, but it’s almost like you have to get the coroner involved to make sure it’s really dead,” Newtown Mayor Curt Cosby said.
State officials broke the news to community leaders, politicians and transportation planners during a closed-door meeting Thursday morning in Eastgate. It was the first major meeting about the Ohio 32 relocation since a state-hired mediator released a damning report in November.
The report revealed the utter frustration of Mariemont and Newtown residents – showing the project was plagued by government mistrust, accusations of hidden agendas and disagreements about the merits of the Ohio 32 relocation plan.
Many had long questioned the merits of spending up to $277 million on relocating Ohio 32, considering the Western Hills Viaduct and Brent Spence Bridge need to be replaced. The mediator’s findings gave extra ammunition for opponents of the roadway relocation.
Hamilton County Commissioners Greg Hartmann and Chris Monzel have opposed the project, and state Rep. Tom Brinkman tried to kill that part of the Eastern Corridor in the Legislature earlier this year. Brinkman’s efforts helped establish a do-or-die deadline of Dec. 31 on the plan to relocate Ohio 32 through Mariemont and Newtown.
“I’m pleased for the people who were going to be in harm’s way, and I’m happy that I was able to force a conclusion,” said Brinkman, a Mount Lookout Republican.
Mariemont loathed the plan because the roadway would have cut through the South 80 park, which residents use to plant gardens and for recreational activities. Newtown feared a new bypass would cripple the village’s small business district and deplete its tax base.
The mediation process helped guide ODOT’s call.
“They really cared about what we had to say,” Policastro said.
The state will consider minor congestion-relief improvements to Ohio 32 through Newtown and U.S. 50 in Mariemont. Those could include different road striping patterns and new traffic lights with prioritization technology.
The state also will continue to look at expanding Ohio 32 east of Newtown in Anderson Township near the border of Hamilton and Clermont counties.
The controversy over the Ohio 32 relocation created a negative perception of the entire Easter Corridor, Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune said. He now hopes the criticism will stop.
“The Eastern Corridor program is more than the relocation of State Route 32, but in the minds of the public, that’s what it became,” Portune said. “This provides some real clarity as to where this is going.”
Others aren’t so sure. Many also have questioned the merits of a plan for a passenger rail from Downtown to Clermont County. Ridership projections have been low, and the rail line has a $230 million to $323 million price tag. The state has spent $4.4 million on the railway.
“It would be a waste of taxpayer dollars,” Monzel said.
This week Ohio Governor John Kasich signed the $7 billion biannual Transportation Budget that funds statewide transportation-related projects. Included in that budget was a provision, inserted by State Rep. Tom Brinkman, requiring a deadline for action on the Eastern Corridor project by the end of the year.
The statement below was issued by Rep. Brinkman’s statehouse office and provided here as a courtesy to our supporters:
Rep. Brinkman Applauds Governor Kasich’s Signing of Transportation Budget
House Bill 53 includes provision related to Eastern Corridor highway project
COLUMBUS—State Representative Tom Brinkman (R-Mt. Lookout) today applauded Governor Kasich’s signing of House Bill 53, the state transportation budget.
The final bill included a provision submitted by Rep. Brinkman related to a construction project on the Eastern Corridor. Specifically, HB 53 requires the Director of Transportation to submit written notice to the Ohio House and Senate regarding the recommended preferred alignment of the connector between Red Bank Road and Bells Lane, otherwise known as the “Eastern Corridor.”
The provision offered by Rep. Brinkman that became part of the final version of the bill, includes a strict deadline for the Director’s written notice, which is to be submitted by the end of this year.
“I am encouraged that the governor signed this bill that includes a strict timeline for the Department of Transportation to make a decision on the Eastern Corridor project,” Brinkman said.
Gov. Kasich signed the transportation budget Wednesday morning at Daifuku America Corporation in Reynoldsburg, a suburb east of Columbus. The bill provides funding for about 1,600 infrastructure projects statewide.
Nebraska State Senator Bill Kintner is in town visiting his parents for Thanksgiving. We used the occasion to conspire for the betterment of the republic.
Like we’ve said before, if you’ve never seen a pumpkin “chucked” then you haven’t lived….well, that might be an exaggeration. Nevertheless, Tom Brinkman was once again on hand for all the fun at the annual Pumpkin Chuck that took place at Stanbery Park on Saturday, November 2nd. This is the signature event for Mt. Washington and quite a unique one for the area!
