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Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Leslie Ghiz: Profiles on Council, Part 1
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
If the Blip.TV video above does not work, try the same thing at Google video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2612300871503300748
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22 Nov 2006 at 08:38 am | #
Boy she was hugging that water bottle. Wonder what was in it?
22 Nov 2006 at 09:23 am | #
Nice job on the interview Dean.
Next time you talk to a council member who is for the jail, why not ask them why they aren’t pushing for more house arrest (only home, approved work or community service allowed) for non violent crimes.
The offender would have to pay the daily fee (think it was about $25 per day) for the ankle bracelet. Those who couldn’t afford it could pay with community service.
This would keep track of offenders (it would be easy to find the prostitutes that Ghiz was worried about losing), cut down on overcapacity, clean up some streets, etc. The only cost would be administrative and I can’t believe that it would cost as much to administer (since you are having the offenders foot part of the bill) as maintaining a new jail.
And if they decide to do a new jail, why not build another building next to the current on at Broadway Commons. Think about all the overtime for the Sheriff’s department that will be needed just to transport prisoners to/from the courthouse for trial if it were elsewhere in the city/county. Besides, for all the best intentions, I haven’t heard anything being developed on Broadway commons in the future.
22 Nov 2006 at 11:29 am | #
Did she advocate the legalization of marijuana? I am pretty sure I heard her say that as long as I was not operating a car or carrying a weapon, then I wouldn’t go to jail for drugs or I wouldn’t be targeted by the police. - Confirmed: she is an idiot.
Also, If I recall, several days after Phil Bates shooting in North Avondale, Mayor Mallory had a press conference to address crime in Cincinnati. So what the hell was “grandstanding ghiz” talking about when she said “we have a mayor who was absolutely quiet about the shooting? WHAT?!!
AND pay-cuts for the council was the number one thing that she campaigned on and now she says “it’s no big deal”. moron.
I’m only half way through the video and I have to stop because my eyes are rolling back into my skull from watching her. I only hope in the 2nd half she will talk about her staff boy, Scott Gehring’s crushing defeat and how she pushed him into the race. -awesome!
22 Nov 2006 at 12:43 pm | #
It’s true that “the Ghiz” may not be the best interview in the world… not being able to remember the title of the LAST BOOK SHE READ? And she seemed awfully concerned about the proclivities of her fellow councilmem… ahem, I mean “prostitutes”. But what I’m really anxious to see is whether or not the Dean gives softball questions to Cole, Cranley, and, well, anyone else who isn’t Republican.
I have obtained a copy from the Office of the Dean entitled: “Sample questions for Democrats”. It’s an interesting read. I’ve taken the liberty of posting some of the questions below. For example:
What do you love most about Cincinnati?
Why are Republicans so evil?
When should we deport the entire Heimlich family?
Aren’t kittens cute?
Et cetera, et cetera. I can’t wait for the rest of this gripping series.
22 Nov 2006 at 02:03 pm | #
Fill, feel free to submit some questions. It is called a profile. You can always write her yourself and post the response to your questions. You’ll get paid the same amount as the Dean and then have a right to bitch.
I take it you saw his coverage of Phil Heimlich. You can thank him for being the real Heimlich Remover by donating to the Beacon.
22 Nov 2006 at 03:13 pm | #
Outside of her professional career, Leslie has had a rich history of service to her community.
22 Nov 2006 at 03:34 pm | #
Ghiz on her campaign promise to take a pay cut:
“To me, it’s not a battle cry in the sense that is it gonna make or break what I do on council, it’s not. If it passes fine, if it doesn’t pass fine and I’ll live.”
She’ll live even better until election day!
22 Nov 2006 at 03:45 pm | #
Fill,
What do you mean? I thought I had some solid, totally legitimate questions.
As for softball questions for Democrats, talk to Vic Wulsin and see what she thinks.
22 Nov 2006 at 04:34 pm | #
Ghiz complains that Mallory didn’t attend a safety summit in Northside, saying “It isn’t always pretty, but it’s what you need to do to understand what’s going on in the community.”
I didn’t see Ghiz at the public forum where 550 citizens came out and said they wanted the 1.5% for human services instead of a jail and more cops.
She goes on to say “no one thinks that there doesn’t need a to be a jail.”
I guess if you only go to meetings where a small group agrees with what you’re saying, you can say this and it isn’t really a lie.
She’s clearly out of touch with hundreds of citizens that came out in the rain to be heard. Maybe she’ll take a look at the video from that night, but I bet she just moves forward with her agenda of more jails and cops because that’s what the “experts” and her political donors that don’t even live in the city want.
22 Nov 2006 at 06:09 pm | #
About 3/4 through the tape Ghiz goes into saying that the marijuana laws that were created are a tool for police to hit the real drug offenders, not the recreational users. Which in my mind is probably true.
But… tell me if I am wrong on this. Leslie Ghiz goes on to say that if a recreational drug user is caught and cited, arrested, whatever that they can go to Leslie Ghiz and she will “look into it.” Ummm pardon me Ghiz but the law isn’t based on a case by case analysis. No matter what their intentions are with the marijuana they are breaking the law.
I can’t believe this city elected this person. What a nut.
22 Nov 2006 at 06:20 pm | #
Years ago, in civics class, I was taught that Government is supposed to act in the best interest of the people, not imitate the
business practices of for-profit corporations. We are going down the same road we’ve traveled before. The “gotta have” project is now the jail. In no particular order we have had one private deal after another: Fountain Square, Bengals’ and Red’s
Stadia, Freedom Center, Kroger Garage Condos, The Arena, Gateway, Convention Center, Saks. I could go on but you get the picture. These were done at great expense to the taxpayers in the name of economic development. Where are the jobs? Aside from the construction jobs, that end upon project completion, and all the jobs by the paper shufflers we have realized no tangable improvement in the unemployment rate. In this years budget we anti-up another $6 Million for more hot air from the fat cats. Way to go Mayor Mallory and City Council, status quo lives on. Don’t worry about the citizens-after all, you’ve got yours.
22 Nov 2006 at 07:23 pm | #
So she is one of two republicans on a council full of Democrats and Charterites and she doesn’t understand why she has problems- idiot
She blames all the bad on the Mayor and never supports him, bad mouths him at every chance and THEN complains that he is just not a “real” leader.- idiot
What is the answer to this question: leslie ghiz can’t remember the last book she read because-
a) Due to a blow to the head she has no short term memory and thus her body is covered with tattoos with important information
b) The last book she read read was soft core porn and she learned nothing from it (except that thing on page 276 - wow)
c) SHE CAN’T READ!!! she has Scott Gehring read all important info into a tape recorder. She plays with a blackberry during meetings to cover it up.
The answer of course is D) all of the above. You saw that coming a mile away.
22 Nov 2006 at 09:34 pm | #
I got that out of the interview too. Plus it seems the new logic regarding marijuana use is a lean back to the old days of all boys should be have sex but all girls should be virgins.
Praytell, if the dealers are committing a crime where are the “casual users” going to get their weed from? At best it’s hypocritcal and at worse it’s selective law enforcement.
Why doesn’t she just say it outright. By drug dealer you mean a brown skinned mail with his pants sagging and a gun who gang bangs and carjacks in his spare time and tries to deflower your white daughter when you’re not looking.
By casual user she means middle class black and white folks, the occasional graduate student (undergrads still have to live in fear of their Permanent Record) and anyone living in a mostly white east-side suburb.
Not only is she advocating legalization she’s advocating profiling as a way of not merely selecting people but actively or inactively prosecuting them. Damn, wasn’t she around during the riots?
As for her comments about the budget...*sigh*
First things first, she is under the mistaken impression that folks actually want a jail they just don’t want to pay for it through taxes.
Leslie you are wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong in this notion. I can’t say it enough. You are wrong. Read it again.
You. Are. Wrong.
People do not want another jail. People do not want another jail.
I just feel like if I say it enough maybe it’ll start sinking through.
You are wrong. The citizens of Cincinnati and Hamilton County DO NOT WANT ANOTHER JAIL.
What we do want are prevention, treament and rehabilitation services, not merely the crime and punishment view. We’ve tried that. It’s not working.
Schools that are 1000% better than the ones we have right now would be a good idea. Schools that are equipped to address the social issues of the students and their families. They’re already dealing with those issues. Wouldn’t it be great if they actually had the money and resources to actually help?
Schools that can actually prepare our kids for an academic future. Schools with swimming pools and laptops and that can guarantee, oh let’s say 90% go to college and the rest have a vocational future or better.
Please note: You do not have to lock people up BEFORE YOU CAN HELP THEM just so Streicher can claim greater arrest rates and pat himself on the back. You can actually help people before they get desperate enough to turn to drugs and crime.
Lock up violent citizens. Help everyone else realize their dreams. Start with the young ones who are in school now and make sure they get the best future they can. Think bigger.
Can’t you see that the old ways just aren’t working anymore and the folks who elected you want not only new buzzwords and new ways of giving away tax dollars but a new way of thinking and creating a better community.
If you and your fellows can’t visualize that, why are you even on council?
23 Nov 2006 at 05:46 am | #
Bravo Dean,
I liked the interview.
I bet that the Mayor will avoid any interview with you in the future.
Ghiz is spot on. The Mayor is grandstanding. He wants to look like a hero and screw the retirement fund.
He had Dahoney set him up so he could “save” the swimming pools.
I look forward to the other 8 council interviews.
Nathanial, the CD player installer
23 Nov 2006 at 10:42 am | #
Dean - I forgot to thank you for asking her right away about her pledge to cut her own salary. Right on. I owe you one, maybe the next time you are scheduled somewhere, I will buy you a beer. However, did you believe here that “just yesterday” she was was on the case? I am calling shenanigans. I would like to see her blackberry records to confirm this - ha! Thanks again though.
On that note, is there a way I can contribute to your site anonymously? I really don’t want my home address or phone number getting out to some people (hey, it’s my opinion and I shouldn’t have to fear a flaming bag of pooh on my doorstep every-time I say something). And if you think I am paranoid, I have been physically threatened several times on this site (For the record, I am thinking about only using polysyllabic words, so this won’t happen again- ha!)
23 Nov 2006 at 12:37 pm | #
I found that her comments about reducing council salaries and the part-time nature of the councilmembers’ work may explain a lot. They may explain why council approved the debacle called the new Fountain Square—no one wanted to spend the time to review it. After all, it’s just a part-time job. Okay, Ghiz wasn’t on council when it was approved, but what is her major proposal so far? The “tent jail?”
It’s also interesting that she says she is talking with the Charter Committee about further eviscerating the old charter and getting away the system that was put in place originally to get rid of rampant corruption.
Myself, if we can’t go back to the city-manager system, then I would rather save money by having 5 full-time council members who look at running a city and overseeing a $1.2 billion budget as their main job, rather than 9 who look at it as merely a side job.
23 Nov 2006 at 04:21 pm | #
Yossarian:
Sure, you can send me things anonymously. Click “Tip!” at the top of the screen, and anyone can use the webform to send anonymously.
24 Nov 2006 at 12:44 pm | #
"And if you think I am paranoid, I have been physically threatened several times on this site (For the record”
I am calling shenanigans. When has anyone physically threatened you Yossarian?
24 Nov 2006 at 08:53 pm | #
A certain bald douche bag has written more than once that he would kick my ass. I think it was because I never spell douch-bag the same way twice.
25 Nov 2006 at 03:07 pm | #
Dean!
This was painful to watch.... Leslie doesn’t have any idea what she is talking about!
1. Leslie claims to have talked to the Charter Committee about placing a Charter Amendment on the ballot. Huh? The Charter Committee doesn’t place Charter Amendments on the ballot, so why would she be talking to them about this? I suspect she is lying.
2. Leslie said: “In order to get placed without going through the signature process we have to get 5 members of Council to agree to it… “ This is incorrect. It takes SIX members of Council to place a Charter Amendment on the ballot, not FIVE. I pointed this out on my blog over 2 years ago in a blog entry titled, ”Ask Leslie (To Find Out What She Is Talking About)” Is it too much to expect a member of Council to know what the Charter says? Maybe when she incorrectly stated this information in 2004, she had the excuse that she wasn’t actually on Council, but she has been on Council for a year now. It appears that not only hasn’t she read any books, she hasn’t bothered to read the City Charter!!!
3. Leslie claims that the Charter Committee has agreed to collect enough signatures to place her Council salary reduction amendment on the ballot. As I said, Leslie isn’t a member of Charter, so why would they do the hard work (and believe me it is hard to get all those signatures) for Leslie, who is a Republican? And why wouldn’t Leslie be having these conversations with the Republican Party, a group that is much more likely to support this proposal. Again, I think Leslie is lying. Just a suggestion, why don’t you contact the Charter Committee and ask them what their stance is on the issue of changing the Charter to reduce Council salaries?
4. Ghizzy: “Our government is supposed to be run by a Mayor, who does the will of the people, does what’s important, talks and consults with his Council....” Where does she come up with this?! Article III, Section 2 of the Charter clearly outlines the Mayor’s role and responsibilities. According to the Charter, our government is supposed to be run by the City Manager, not the Mayor.
5. On the marijuana law… I seriously doubt that Ghizzy has read the 6 month report on the marijuana law.
That’s all I have time for right now.
25 Nov 2006 at 04:53 pm | #
Leslie talks about how the prostitutes keep getting back on the street after they’ve gone to jail. Her solution is to keep them locked up longer, but they’ll still go back to being prostitutes in a vicious cycle.
Did it ever occur to her that maybe they need programs to help break out of this desperate cycle? It doesn’t solve anything to through them in jail. They need treatment and help to find a better way. Social programs deal with the root causes while more cops and more jails does nothing, but put an expensive band aid that continues this cycle. The politicians get to act tough on crime, but they’ve only made things worse.
25 Nov 2006 at 05:27 pm | #
Tax cuts for the rich, more money for 3CDC, more cops and jails. Ghiz says we told them that human services would be cut, she claims she’ll help fundraise for the human services right after she takes a pay cut. Don’t hold your breathe!
25 Nov 2006 at 07:42 pm | #
Nate!
I hope you enjoyed the interview, from the perspective of gathering information about Leslie Ghiz. That was our intent—and it was our first sit down, semi-"professional" political interview on camera!
I like your points raised.
26 Sep 2007 at 08:27 am | #
The interview was great i wish i was there to ask a few questions myself.
26 Sep 2007 at 08:28 am | #
People can advocate whatever they want to, they aren’t going to get anything unless there is a major interest for that thing. Just my opinion.