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Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Seven Corporations Dominate Cincinnati’s Economy, Society, and Politics
Posted by Media Release
Situation leads to “distorted development,” and poverty.
“Who Rules Cincinnati?” argues that seven corporations have dominated the City of Cincinnati’s economy, society and politics leading to “distorted development” and “grotesque contrasts between rich and poor” with “a particularly damaging impact on the African American population.”
The study, a compendium of information on Cincinnati-based corporations, their revenues, profits and the salaries of their officers, and their political contributions, also describes the role of corporate coalitions such as Cincinnati Business Committee (CBC), Downtown Cincinnati Incorporated (DCI), and Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC).
The study also found that two families, the Lindners and the Peppers, the first associated with American Financial Group and the second with Procter and Gamble, play an inordinate role in the financing of local political campaigns and candidates.
This is the first such study of wealth and power in Cincinnati since Polk Laffoon IV wrote “Who Runs Cincinnati?” published in the former Cincinnati Post in the 1980s.
The principal findings of the study are are:
* Seven corporations, by virtue of their enormous wealth and power, dominate the economic and social life of Cincinnati – 1) Procter & Gamble; 2) Kroger, 3) Macy’s/Federated Department Stores/; 4) Fifth Third Bancorp, 5) Western and Southern Financial, 6) American Financial Corp, and, 7) E.W. Scripps. They can be said to rule Cincinnati and among them, Procter & Gamble plays the predominant role.
* In Cincinnati the seven dominant corporations and some other companies guide all the important civic, cultural, and social organizations of the city. They influence or control the boards of directors of foundations, universities, museums, and social welfare organizations. They sit on boards while community members and working people are virtually excluded from participation. Middle class and working class people have almost no role in these organizations or at best have token representation.
* Cincinnati corporations and wealthy families play an inordinate role in financing and shaping local politics. Corporate Political Action Committees or PACs, such as the P&G PAC, and corporate families loom large in local, regional and state politics.The Lindner family (American Financial Group) and the Pepper family (Procter & Gamble) make large financial contributions to political candidates and ballot issues. These firms and families contribute significant funding to local Republican, Democratic, and Charter candidates in order to shape the city’s government and the educational and judicial systems.
* To achieve their goals, Cincinnati corporations have created a series of private organizations—CBC, DCI, 3CDC—which have usurped democratic control from the city council, from city agencies and from the public. Creation of the “strong mayor,” abolition of the planning department, and handing over public planning functions to private organizations have all worked to the detriment of public discussion, debate and democratic control.
* Control of the city’s economic and political life for profits and the accumulation of corporate wealth and property has made Cincinnati the third poorest mid-sized city in the United States. Social and economic indicators in areas of unemployment, health care, segregation and education reflect devastation from corporate priorities. Cincinnati’s middle class and working class neighborhoods have declined while corporations focused on downtown development. The inevitable growth of crime out of poverty further degrades the lives of all working people in Cincinnati while also imposing the heavy costs of the police and judicial apparatus.
* Corporate control of Cincinnati’s economic and political life has preserved and sometimes deepened patterns of racial segregation, discrimination and outright racism. The focus on downtown development and emphasis on expensive entertainment and luxury consumption, redefining the city in terms of the interests of white suburban visitors, and creation of a climate of fear of African Americans have all worked to the detriment of the city’s black population.
The study’s recommendations call upon Cincinnati’s citizens to organize in social and political movement to change the city’s direction. “ Cincinnati’s priorities need to change from development that favors narrow corporate objectives to development that strengthens neighborhoods, creates industrial, technical and service jobs with high wages, and that favors a green, sustainable economy,” writes the author.
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23 Jan 2008 at 07:59 pm | #
Just for shits and giggles…..take a look at who is married to whom in this mess. Like there is a somewhat powerful physician who is married to a Script Daughter! And on and on and on.
It is incest at it’s best!
24 Jan 2008 at 12:24 am | #
So, if Cincinnati’s corporations are the Devil (AMWAY’s opinion must equal the Dean’s), and they damage poor people and leave them back economically, then why does Columbus and Cleveland have higher poverty rates than Cincinnati? Are all companies everywhere evil? Is the Dean now a communist?
24 Jan 2008 at 06:42 am | #
Yes! Yes! Yes!!!! Somebody finally gets it; or has finally worked up the nerve to clearly point out what is really going on in Cincinnati. It didn’t really take a study to get to the heart of the matter now, did it? All I did was read over the list of the original board members of 3CDC, and I got it. What took you so long? I guess the real question is this…What do we do about it? How do we fix it? Vera Z
24 Jan 2008 at 10:06 am | #
And this comes as news to whom?
Vera Z: invest in these companies and vote your shares if you wish to have a say in their activities.
One of the reasons Cincinnati is so “poor” is because of the huge poverty industry that attracts and retains low income workers and no-income idlers.
24 Jan 2008 at 10:06 am | #
The main thing missing for me in this study that I pored through was there was no connection between the facts of there being corporate headquarters here and the fact that many who work at these companies sit on boards of social/art/non profit organizations and the conclusion that this is what has caused the problems that Cincinnati faces.
He showed A and showed B but doesn’t show how that logically means A+B=C but rather relies on emotion.
Maybe I missed the connection so someone can point it out from the study…my eyes were glazing over after page 25.
24 Jan 2008 at 10:16 am | #
Justin: shouldn’t you disclaim your membership on the publishing organization’s Editorial Board, lest you commit the type of conflict of interest disclosure Maggie Buchanan is guilty of at the Enquirer in re 3CDC?
I’d think you’d want to let readers know you’re affiliated with the study.
24 Jan 2008 at 11:09 am | #
If we look at the anti-christ mentioned by the born again crowd and the corporations made up by men in collusion with our government, the parallels become hard to ignore.
War, starvation, pollution, famine, poverty, slavery, theft of resources can all be traced back to the men acting irresponsibly behind the curtain, protected by the corporate veil. Try to travel without the mark of the beast and you won’t get far.
This is not God’s creation, but rather, something man made up to suit his needs that now rules over him. The work of fiction now rules the world and terrorizes people all over the planet. Greedy men hiding behind a veil to deceive us all.
End corporate charters and end corporate rule. We made it up and we can change it. It only exists because we believe it. Hang the traitors.
24 Jan 2008 at 03:49 pm | #
Urbanist, the Dean simply posted this piece just as Maragret Bucahnan’s Enquirer blog did. We haven’t written glowing reviews of an oganization’s plan to take over public space and failed to mention important details like the city giving up 40 years of garage revenue in the deal and the Dean or myself being on the board of that organization. See the difference?
In other words, there is no conflict of interest here. We post articles that are written by people in our community and designed to spark debate and discussion about our city and other topics of interest. The Dean would have been happy to post this even if I wasn’t on the board because this is what we do here.
Anyone who reads the report can see who sits on the board by clicking the button at the top that says Board. Having said that, I’m proud to be on the board and think this is a great piece of work that should be discussed thoroughly in our community. I am not the author and refuse to let the discussion be focused on myself here.
Details, you should pay attention to more details and you would know that the Dean didn’t write this and he never said he was a communist. The study is about Cincinnati, not Cleveland or Columbus. The study doesn’t say that all corporations are the devil, it says that the corporate interest isn’t the same as the public interest which should be obvious to anyone.
Bearman, it asks ‘Who Rules Cincinnati?’ And shows how corporations influence not only our political system, but media, arts, charities and culture more broadly. It sparks discussion about why a city with such incredible wealth is so impoverished. The author draws his own conclusions about why the city’s priorities are distorted in favor of corporations and the few who run them instead of the public that should be served by governement and civic boards. You can feel free to disagree and say why. That is the reason why Mr. La Botz took the time to do the study in the first place. Who do you think rules Cincinnati and why?
24 Jan 2008 at 05:03 pm | #
.
It may be interesting to note that the ‘fishwRap’ has failed to post comments that may be viewed as favorable to the article.
.
24 Jan 2008 at 05:16 pm | #
I meant to correct myself earlier: investiture of interest, not conflict.
Apologies.
24 Jan 2008 at 07:20 pm | #
Justin…he may well be right. However, he didn’t show how he came to this conclusion. My feeling is that he had a conclusion in mind, and went in search of data to support it. He found some good data but it wasn’t complete so he made his conclusion anyway. The data he shows is a good starting point for discussion but I don’t think based on it he can strongly say things like “Corporate control has dangerously corrupt Cincinnati’s economic development, political ideals,and social welfare.
24 Jan 2008 at 08:22 pm | #
Urbanist, apology accepted.
Bearman, he asks the question, “who rules Cincinnati?” He then shows how huge corporations, specifically seven of them, and the people that run them have a huge influence on the political, cultural and charitible organizations in the city and County. Who do you think rules this city?
Surely the people that rule the city shape its direction and development. The city has increasingly focused on corporate priorities like building half a billion dollar stadiums, parking garages and other multi-million dollar handouts for corporations while at the same time slashing health and human services for people in need. Government is of, for and by the people. Or at least it’s supposed to be.
We should ask ourselves how a city with so much wealth is rated the third most impoverished city in the nation? A nation that has more adult and child poverty than any other nation in the industrialized world. I think he presents a lot of important information and yes it is a good starting point for discussion, which is what it was intended to be. You can draw your own conclusion and be a part of the discussion.
If our political system is shaped in a way that the focus is on transfering public funds to private wealth, as opposed to providing basic services and development that benefits more people than just the favored few, then we see fewer opportunities, services and mobility for everybody else.
The stronger the power and voices of corporations are, the weaker the power and influence of the people is. Try and have oversight on 3CDC or the CBC. They will tell you that what you want to know is private information even though they act as quasi-governmental organizationts that now control public resources, spaces and decision making processes.
27 Jan 2008 at 05:05 pm | #
LaBotz was on the second half of the Sunday Newsmakers show on channel 12. Watch it online.
As to the claim there is no evidence of any harm coming from the corporate CABAL, just look around at the condition of the city, its people, parks, schools, streets, etc. and the policies and practices that created them. Then ask a few simple questions as these are addressed:
Who wins? Who loses? Who decides? Who decides who decides?
27 Mar 2008 at 11:05 am | #
I tend to agree with Bearman…also, i think that an overlooked source of poverty and such is the failure of manufacturing in this country in the past 30 years. It has simply become too expensive for companies to manufacture their products in this country…(not all products, i’m mostly talking about car companies and the like). These companies with long term shipping goals save lots of money bringing their products from overseas. Sadly, protectionism isn’t going to save anyone from that trend.
Don’t a lot of these companies bring very bright and able people to this city? doesn’t that benefit the city in great ways? Certainly you want representation for all walks of life on all of these various boards…but who has more time for sitting on volunteer boards? A CEO or Director at 5/3 or a single mother?
There are a lot of causes for these types of things and no single source of blame.
27 Mar 2008 at 06:05 pm | #
NtotheC, the manufacturing jobs went overseas because of job killing trade agreements like NAFTA. Big business bought politicians, like Bill Clinton, and had them change the rules so they could get workers in other countries to work for slave wages and lower environmental standards.
They make cars in other industrialized countries and it can be done here but it’s hard to compete with third world wages. And our for profit health care system makes corporations in our country pay for health care and in other countries health care is paid for by the government. That’s a big disadvantage for American businesses.
I’m sure some people move here to work for these corporations and that is a good thing. That doesn’t mean that they should have an undue influence on our government. Many of these corporations don’t pay their taxes and get millions of dollars in corporate welfare. Our vital resources get redirected and benefit the favored few instead of the many. The corporate interest isn’t the same as the public’s interest.
You might think it’s a good thing, but it’s hard to deny that corporations rule this city. Corporations aren’t democratic structures, they are top down tyrannies.
28 Mar 2008 at 10:55 am | #
Justin,
Well, if you’d like to fight the global economy…feel free. It’ll be as successful as a war on terror.
Does the city set all of these tax breaks for these organizations or do the state and federal governments?
Also, why do you think that a lot of these corporate people sit on these boards? I certainly wouldn’t denounce these people’s civic action. Many people you advocate for don’t have the time or money to do as much volunteer work.
28 Mar 2008 at 02:41 pm | #
NtotheC, who said anything about fighting the global economy?
I’m all for trade, I just think it should be fair trade. There wasn’t any law that came down from God that said NAFTA was the only way to negotiate trade deals.
Bill Clinton bowed down before his corporate Gods and did the work of his campaign investors against worker, consumer and environmental rights groups. The WTO, IMF and World Bank are serving the interests of corporations and capital, not people. They take away the sovereignty of nations.
These things aren’t set in stone and they should be challenged and changed. If you recall the battle in Seattle in 1999 they certainly were and that was a small victory for the people.
Corporations are fictitious entities created by man to serve man. They were fraudulently given the right of personhood so they have more rights than real people do. Now they rule over the most powerful government in the world.
The city sets all the tax breaks at the city level, like $52 million for Convergys and parking garages for Kroger and Corporex etc. The state and federal governments give their own tax breaks and corporate welfare.
The issue isn’t really that some corporate people sit on boards, it’s that they are all pretty much dominated by corporate people. Powerful boards like 3CDC only have CEOs on them. I don’t think most of these CEOs live in the city and yet they have a huge influence on our city and our public servants. I believe that there is certainly room for more diversity on these boards and what’s good for corporations isn’t necessarily what’s good for our people.
I haven’t denounced anyone’s civic action. I’ve simply questioned how decisions are made, that lack of transparency, public input, oversight and accountability. The point of LaBotz’ work was to question who makes decisions and who rules our city. I think it’s clear that corporations rule our city and nation. They control our media which defines what the issues are, who has a voice and who doesn’t.