Some candidates more welcome than others

Tuesday night’s meeting of Westwood Concern, the neighborhood’s upstart pro-police, anti-blight organization, was billed as a "Meet the Candidates’’ night.

It turned out to be a more of a "Meet Some of the Candidates We Like A Little Bit’’ night.

About half of the field of 31 Cincinnati City Council candidates made the trip to Westwood First Presbyterian Church Tuesday night for Westwood Concern’s monthly meeting, hoping to make an impression on the crowd of about 75 citizens of Cincinnati’s largest neighborhood.

Only eight of them were allowed to speak.

Four of the six candidates endorsed by POWR PAC, the west side political action committee supported by Westwood Concern, showed up and were told early on by Westwood Concern’s Mary Kuhl that they would not be invited to the podium because Westwood residents can hear them at three POWR PAC events scheduled in October.

One of the POWR PAC candidates, Jeff Berding, left for another campaign event; John Eby, Cecil Thomas, and Chris Monzel, stayed, even though they had to the one thing no political candidate can bear – stand around with their mouths shut.

Then, Kuhl announced from the podium that only those candidates who received e-mail invitations from her would be allowed to speak and that they would be called to the podium in alphabetical order.

Incumbent Democrat David Crowley sat waiting near the food table, trying to remember whether or not Kuhl e-mailed him. It turned out he did, because he was called up to give his two-minute stump speech.

But two Democrats – incumbent Laketa Cole and challenger Damon Lynch III – cooled their heels for over two hours waiting for a chance to speak that never came.

"I wish they had told me; I could have gone somewhere else,’’ said Cole, who stood through most of the event with her hands folded across her chest, glaring at Kuhl.

Lynch sat patiently at a table at the far end of the room, rifling through a stack of papers and playing with a roll of campaign stickers.

"Their loss,’’ Lynch said, when asked if was miffed at not being allowed to speak.

After the event, as the remaining candidates gathered up unused campaign literature from the church basement (Kuhl also announced that the candidates would have to clean up after themselves), Kuhl said that Westwood Concern is not an official community council, doesn’t receive any city funds and can invite anybody it wants.

Lynch is on Westwood Concern’s "naughty’’ list because of his role as during the 2001 riots and as Leader of the economic boycott of the city; Cole, the organization believes, is not supportive of the police force.

"Why do we want to hear from people who don’t support us?’’ Kuhl said. "They can go someplace else and talk. We don’t want them here.’’

-- Howard Wilkinson