The new council majority

Monday, in the waning hours of the Cincinnati mayoral campaign, David Pepper and Mark Mallory showed once again that they have very different visions of what kind of city council they want to deal with as mayor.

Pepper has made it clear that there are certain candidates he wants to work with and others he can live without; Mallory seems more willing to take pot-luck when it comes to Tuesday's council election.

Early Monday afternoon, Pepper showed up at the Cincinnati Police substation on E. McMillan Street in Walnut Hills, the place where he held his first campaign event 10 months ago.

Flanking the mayoral candidate as he pledged to identify and root out "hot spots'' of crime in neighborhoods like Walnut Hills were six non-incumbent council candidates, most of whom had come out in favor of Pepper. There were three Democrats, Jeff Berding, Wendell Young and Cecil Thomas; two Republicans, Leslie Ghiz and John Eby; and one Charterite, Chris Bortz.

"I want Tuesday to be a turning point for this city,'' Pepper said, after praising the council candidates who are supporting him. "I want to be a mayor who works with a council on a common vision of moving this city forward.''

A hour later, Mallory stood in the parking lot of the Walgreen's at University Plaza in Corryville, greeting voters as they hustled in and out of the drug store.

Mallory asked a reporter following him around the parking lot if there were any council incumbents at Pepper's Walnut Hills event. He was told there weren't.

"See?'' said Mallory. "He wants to pick his own council. I'm willing to let the voters do that for themselves. I can work with anybody."