Photo courtesy of here.

As everyone knows, facing a national economic crisis, a County economic crisis, and a City economic crisis—further exasperated by the tenuous City retirement system—the City of Cincinnati needs to start tightening the belt to stay solvent.  So how does half a million dollars sound?  Is that a significant amount of money?  In Mayor Mallory’s recommendations to the 2009-2010 budget, he has several line items that are near this dollar amount.  Why, then, should the City throw that much money away into a pointless system that benefits no one in particular?

If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about the strong mayor primary election that will happen in September—an election for the City of Cincinnati alone that has never included any other item than a run-off for the mayoral candidates.  We asked John Williams at the Hamilton County Board of Elections how much this special primary will cost for the election of the 2009 mayor.

“A rough estimate for the mayoral primary is approximately $550,000,” stated Williams. 

In Mallory’s budget recommendations, he wants to eliminate the gas light fee that had some City residents upset by the extra expenditure.  That would have generated $100,000 annually.  In other words, less than the price of this pointless, special election.

It costs approximately $340,000 to keep the pools and recreation centers open.  That costs less than one expensive and obscure special primary for the mayoral race.

Here’s how ridiculous our system has become:  mayoral candidates run all summer, and then face off in a September primary about which most people know nothing.  The top two vote earners then face off for the November general election.  By why waste all this money for the extra step?  Why not just have all the candidates face off in the general election?  This will still result in the direct election of a strong mayor!

Mallory wants to create a Co-op Coordinator position to help the future of City government.  He says it will cost $61,000.  In other words, one excessive and bloated mayoral primary costs what could fund that position for eight years.

To save money, Mallory wants to cut $30,000 to the Cincinnati Arts Consortium.  But cutting the mayoral primary could provide that level of funding for over a decade!

Starting to get the picture?

Now, getting rid of this would be rather simple.  City Council places it on the November ballot and we get rid of it, saving this money from now on.  Why wouldn’t the City do this?  It is the fiscally responsible thing to do for the long-term health of Cincinnati.

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