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On today's date in The Beacon archives, we published:
•City Politics, Bad Taste, and Sean Holbrook (2007)•An Inconvenient Truth (the “better late than never” New Year reflection) (2007)
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Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Hey CEC: Investigate Pat Fischer, Please!
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Roshani Hardin
Cincinnati Election Commission
Cincinnati Law Department
801 Plum Street Room 214
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Dear Roshani Hardin:
I would like to file a formal complaint against the Pat Fischer campaign for City Council. It appears they have failed to provide proper notification concerning who has paid for some of their advertisements, and additionally there may have been misconduct concerning an endorsement placed in the Pleasant Ridge community council newsletter. Both of these actions, I believe, warrant investigating from the CEC.
In Pleasant Ridge, very large “Vote for Fischer” signs have been displayed. One has been attached to the former Ridge Market building, in violation of CMC 895-1-O, section (f). These signs are handmade, and they do not include proper disclosures concerning who paid for them. This kind of blatant misconduct from a new political name cannot be tolerated. We must hold those who seek to become our elected leaders to proper standards.
Additionally, a recent issue of the Pleasant Ridge newsletter included an endorsment of Fischer, which is in violation of a community council’s standing as a 501(c)3. Fischer is a former president of that group, and one of his campaign volunteers, Kate Powell, reportedly still has a role with the 501(c)3.
I trust the CEC will conduct a swift and detailed investigation into this matter. We must insure that politicians do not blatantly corrupt our political processes with a flagrant disregard for the rules.
Respectfully,
The Dean of Cincinnati
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18 Jul 2007 at 08:43 am | #
Updates:
So I just sent this:
18 Jul 2007 at 09:03 am | #
I just finished digging though everything I can find on Google about similar violations.
Typically there is a fine.
Sounds like they could get fined in this case.
And that’s about it.
I know you guys want blood and viscera, but that’s about the only possible end of the story - this story, anyway. I’m sure if you keep digging, you can find something else. (Suggestion: Write a letter asking Fischer to “repudiate” the views of Phil Heimlich, whom he may have met at some kind of social function once. That one is always a laffer.)
Cue the righteous thunder.
18 Jul 2007 at 09:15 am | #
What in the hell are you talking about. If Fischer should be fined, then Fischer should be fined. Likely nothing will happen if citizens don’t step up and file a complaint to get the process started. I did that.
Heimlich and thunder have nothing to do with this. I know Fischer is your Pleasant Ridge boy, but that doesn’t put him above the law.
18 Jul 2007 at 10:45 am | #
All I said was, in similar cases, people were fined. They certainly weren’t “investigated” - but I suppose any politically-motivated election official might be free to begin some kind of open-ended troll for any conceivable violation. (Grist for the mill, eh?)
Otherwise, if this is a violation, a fine would be consistent to what happens to everyone else in elections across the country, folks from any party.
Also, help me out: Is there some reason why he’s “my boy”? I don’t recall ever saying anything about Pat Fischer publicly (or even for that matter, privately) before reading your post this morning, not one single word.
Was there some connection between myself and the candidate that I’m not aware of?
18 Jul 2007 at 12:04 pm | #
What I am talking about: In similar cases, people were fined. They certainly weren’t “investigated” - but I suppose any politically-motivated election official might be willing to begin some kind of open-ended troll for any other violations.
Otherwise, if this is a violation, a fine would be consistent to what happens to everyone else in elections across the country, folks from any party.
Also, help me out: Is there some reason why he’s “my boy”? I don’t recall ever saying anything about Pat Fischer publicly (or even for that matter, privately) before reading your post this morning, not one single word.
I’m always fascinated by the way it comes around to being about me. Was there some connection between myself and the candidate that I’m not aware of?
18 Jul 2007 at 04:52 pm | #
Great job Dean. Keep up the good work. If watchdogs like you were not calling this stuff out no one would.
18 Jul 2007 at 08:58 pm | #
.
One would think that an attorney and former head of the Cincinnati bar association would know the law ?
As an attorney, one would also think he has the duty to report improprieties to the proper jurisdiction pursuant to the <a href="http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Rules/professional/default.asp"code of professional responsibility.</a>
He may face more than just a fine ?
.
18 Jul 2007 at 11:11 pm | #
Porkopolis broke the story July 17:
http://blogs.citybeat.com/porkopolis/2007/07/fischer-endorse.html#comments
Glad Dean is making inquiries.
Here’s the link to funding guidelines:
investinneighborhoods.com/NSPlimitations.html
(NSP, Neighborhood Support Programs,funds Invest in Neighborhoods)
2.1 Ineligible activities and expenses include:
L. Use of NSP funds to endorse or promote political candidates.
As noted in the Porkopolis story, Invest In Neighborhoods will now refuse to pay out the $1200 they would have contributed for that edition of the newsletter,and both the Director of Invest in Neighborhoods, and the president of the community council, sound pretty steamed that this stunt was pulled.
The banners are the more likely basis for a violation of campaign laws. The Board of Elections’ campaign finance staff may be of help- they’ve probably received a few calls since this came out!
19 Jul 2007 at 02:53 am | #
"In similar cases, people were fined. They certainly weren’t ‘investigated’”
How is a person or an organization ‘fined’ without some type of investigation being conducted? Do fines just randomly get doled out??
19 Jul 2007 at 08:42 pm | #
Can he also be fined for taking the PR newsletter’s email list and emailing all of the recipients with his campaign trash 2-3 times a week?
Some of us are tired of getting his campaign “ad mails”. I didn’t sign up for the community email list to be sent candidate information.
I don’t even know who he is, but the fact that these emails annoy me is enough for me not to vote for him.
20 Jul 2007 at 12:25 pm | #
Can he also be fined for taking the PR newsletter’s email list and emailing all of the recipients with his campaign trash 2-3 times a week?
Glad to hear that I’m not the only one. Well, “glad” is probably not the term I’d want to use.
22 Jul 2007 at 10:05 pm | #
I haven’t received his e-mails but I get the Informant & the weekly e-mail, “What’s Going on in Pleasant Ridge”. Kevin and From Far Away, do you recall ever giving your
e mail to the community council? If not that’s worth investigating, or at least a call to his campaign to complain and to see how they got your e-mail address. I tried to sign up for his e list to see what he was sending out but you’re required to give name, address and phone to get on his list. I don’t recall ever seeing another candidate demand so much info just to get on their list. One of the the tacky homemade banners he had at the parade said “This is Fischer Country” and was in the front yard of Powell’s law office. He is nuts if he thinks he’ll be handed votes in Pleasant Ridge just because he lives there, but he actually said to a voter I know, “Oh I have your vote because you live in Pleasant Ridge”. Has any reporter tried to get a comment from him? It annoys me that this hasn’t appeared in the paper- if a Dem did it, you better believe it would be.
23 Jul 2007 at 07:45 pm | #
I get the PR list email and not Fischer, like the previous post, so if at least two of us aren’t on Fischer’s then the chances that they are identical is slim.
24 Jul 2007 at 09:47 am | #
Using your “logic” Pat Fischer is not officially running for anything!
24 Jul 2007 at 02:11 pm | #
anonymouse #12,
The only thing I ever signed up for was the “What’s Going on in Pleasant Ridge” e-mail list.
24 Jul 2007 at 05:14 pm | #
Nate has a point (comment 14)
You are raising a fuss about Fischer even though based on your own definition, he is not officially yet a candidate.
In a previous post, you indicated Justin might consider a run for Commissioner. So since he is not yet a candidate, if I owned a building and hand painted a sign that says “Vote for Justin Jeffre for Commissioner”, Justin would be responsible for paying the fine???
24 Jul 2007 at 06:04 pm | #
Dean: you need to respond to the contradiction Nate cites. You can’t have it both ways; complaining about infractions by “candidate” Fischer and defending the not-yet-official “candidacy” of Smitherman.
25 Jul 2007 at 06:04 am | #
Kevin- You write a blog about the city. Your email address is all over the internet. It’s not too farfetched to think that you are probably on the radar of a lot of candidates and that your community active friends/or people who just want to annoy you by adding you to a mailing list, just might!
25 Jul 2007 at 04:49 pm | #
^ Kelly LL...the e-mail address I use for my blog is different than the one that I use to subscribe to e-mail lists, though. It is plausible that somebody could have found that the two were related after doing some digging, but that sounds like a little to much work to me.
26 Jul 2007 at 08:44 pm | #
Kevin- Thanks for at least considering the possibility. My point is that it’s important not to just jump to conclusions. This political season is going to be a big battle. Let’s not let the politician’s distract us from what’s really important for our city. It’s community activists like you, volunteers, and community councils that often know what’s going on in the trenches more than city hall. I don’t like to see a community council getting skewered for something that may or may not have been done, we at least owe our community volunteers the benefit of the doubt, regardless of whether or not we like a candidate.
28 Jul 2007 at 07:04 pm | #
Kelly,
The anger is at Fischer and Powell.The newsletter endorsement is documented, as are guidelines that city funds for a council can’t be used to support a candidate. The possible misuse of the e-mail database to help Fischer’s campaign, while less easily proven, is equally egregious if not more so. “What’s Going On in Pleasant Ridge” is subscribed to by a number of people, not just Pleasant Ridge residents, so it’s a larger database than the list for the informant. It will be interesting to see if people like Kevin who got Fischer’s messages before, still get them after this. I hope people call Fischer’s campaign or law office to complain. If he does this so early in the game, what will he do down the road? All Cincinnati voters need to know about this.
02 Aug 2007 at 10:42 pm | #
It will be interesting to see if the community council discusses FischerGate at their meeting next Tues. Aug.7 at 7pm at the P. Ridge Rec Ctr. Wonder if Fischer will attend. His donor list is 99% lawyers, some even Dem leaders- did they all fear his clout and feel compelled to give because he was Bar Ass’n Pres?If anyone who reads this blog goes to the meeting it would be good to hear what was said.