Postcard attacker of Pepper subpoenaed

Here's the story from the print edition of Saturday's Enquirer, with additional reporting and links to source documents:

The Hamilton County Board of Elections voted Friday to subpoena a 53-year-old Walnut Hills Republican in an effort to investigate his involvement in a postcard attack on Democratic mayoral candidate David Pepper.

Donald Tye Jr., an ordained minister and body shop owner, admitted in an interview Friday he paid for the postcard, which was sent to Democratic voters just before the Sept. 13 primary. It accused Pepper of being a "lawbreaker," a "flag burner" and "not a Democrat."

The postcard was signed by Alene T. Annan, a 37-year-old Walnut Hills waitress. Board of Elections Chairman Timothy M. Burke said he wants to know who else might have had a hand in the mailing.

Subpoenas will go out to Tye and his bank for bank records and other documents that might reveal where the money came from and where Tye got the mailing list.

Political statements -- even by anonymous individuals -- are protected under the First Amendment. But Under Ohio election law, parties, campaigns and other groups that seek to influence the outcome of an election must include their name on all communications and disclose their sources of money to the Board of Elections. The postcard did not contain a committee name, and Tye has not registered his group with the board.

Annan told Burke that she believed that the money ultimately came "from sources other than Tye's own funds," according to a memo Burke wrote to fellow elections board members seeking the subpoenas. She said Tye paid her $450 for her time, in addition to the costs of printing and mailing the postcard, according to the memo. She said it went out to about 1,000 voters.

Tye denied Friday that anyone else was involved, and said he was not connected to any other campaign or committee. He said he supported Republican Charlie Winburn in the primary, but had a falling out with the candidate because Tye said Winburn wasn't spending enough time campaigning in the black community.

Winburn lost the primary. Pepper, a city councilman, is running against another Democrat, state Sen. Mark L. Mallory, in the Nov. 8 general election.

Tye said he was simply supporting Annan's right to free speech.

"She had explained to me that she was disconcerted over David Pepper, and she had no recourse, as she already voted absentee," Tye said. "She and I came up with a scheme of taking a picture of her at the Brewhouse in front of a board that said 'Vote no on Pepper.'

"She's a private individual. She decided to do it. I just lent her the money to get it done," he said. "It's a private citizen doing it. ... It's time for people to understand that the private citizens in this town, given the political battle from far left to far right, the citizens have to be educated."

Tye had previously filed two complaints against Pepper at the Ohio Elections Commission. On the first count, the commission found that Pepper falsely implied he was the incumbent mayor, but failed to seek criminal prosecution; on the second count, the commission had found probable cause that a violation of election law has occurred but has not given a final ruling.

The Pepper campaign released a statement Friday: "This act was part of continuous and seemingly orchestrated negative attacks from not only actual opponents, but non-disclosed and third-party sources, some who vocally support my opponents," it said. "The Board of Elections action today may open the door for us to get to the bottom of these other potentially illegal actions."

Among those other attacks: an automated phone call before the primary that purported to be from the Pepper campaign, which urged voters to support Pepper because he was "the only white candidate in the race," and an anti-Pepper Web site comparing him to Adolph Hitler.

The board voted 2-1 to issue the subpoena. The fourth member, Republican Party Executive Director Brad Greenberg, is a lawyer who represented Tye before the Ohio Elections Commission. He abstained. He said he knew nothing about the postcard.

Tye said he has opposed Pepper because, as chairman of the Law & Public Safety Committee, Pepper failed to respond to a complaint of police misconduct that Tye filed with the Citizen Complaint Authority. Tye has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that "city policymakers" have participated in a "cover-up" of illegal activities by the Cincinnati Police Department. "He has my full wrath. He should have done something. He didn't," Tye said Friday. "I will give my full effort to take David Pepper down. It's not personal. It's just business."

UPDATE (Tuesday, 4:46 p.m.): Todd Ward, a Republican member of the Board of Elections, voted against the issuance of the subpoena. A previous version of this entry said the vote was 3-0, based on the vote tabulation from the board chairman. Ward clarified his vote to the board secretary after the meeting.