Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

According to my source, this Friday marks a secret event when government dollars will be distributed to various projects—but the public and press have been excluded from the event.  From a letter forwarded to The Cincinnati Beacon (originally written by Rep. Bill Seitz) dated August 4th:  “This year, the Hamilton County legislative delegation has decided to extend to all known budget requestors an opportunity to make a brief presentation directly to the delegation, and to afford you with the opportunity to answer questions that our area legislators may have.” So some extra pork is sitting around, waiting for some empty pockets—but the process is about to go down behind the scenes.

Another letter by Seitz states the following:  “This is not a public meeting and we do not intend to invite the press.  It really is a learning experience for us, so that we all hear at the same time from those requesting capital dollars. “ Most members of the public may not be interested in sitting through hours of people making project proposals to get government money, but does that mean the public should be denied the opportunity?  Why should the press be excluded from reporting on an event when public money is being distributed?

This top-secret money-meeting is scheduled for this Friday, August 18th, at 1:30pm, at the offices of the downtown Chamber of Commerce (in the Carew Tower at 441Vine Street, Suite 300).

The secrecy of this meeting becomes even more suspect when taken in the context of another statement by Rep. Seitz.  He also wrote, “I do think there is some merit in the suburban elected officials hearing what projects are under consideration, if for no other reason than to explain the need for those projects to their own constituencies. “ Really?  If there is a value in having community members know about proposed projects using taxpayer money, why not let those community members hear for themselves?  Why not invite the press to report on the proposals?

Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.