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Thursday, December 01, 2005

Crowley 'disappointed and disturbed' with Mallory

The 40th City Council hasn't been sworn in yet, but there's already a crack in the consensus-building.

Democrat David C. Crowley has evidently been shut out of the coalition that's been meeting over the past few days to reorganize City Council.

The committee he's chaired for two years -- the Community Development and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee -- has been split up, with economic development going to a committee chaired by Charterite Chris Bortz and environmental and transportation issues going to a beefed-up "Vibrant Neighborhoods" committee that will continue to be chaired by Democrat Laketa Cole.

Late Wednesday, he sent this e-mail to supporters:
Friends:

I learned tonight that Mayor-Elect Mark Mallory choose not to give me a chairmanship position on ANY City Council Committee for the term starting tomorrow. In fact, Mallory did not even recommend me for the vice-chair position of the committee I currently chair.

As the current chairperson of the Economic Development Committee and former chairperson of the Education Committee, the 4th top vote getter in this month's election, one of the most senior members on Council and a fellow Democrat, I am very disappointed and disturbed with Mallory's decision.

In fact, Mallory recommended two Charterites and one Republicans for chairmanships over me, a Democrat.

I urge you to contact Mayor-Elect Mallory TONIGHT and let him know that you are angered and frustrated with his decision to completely overlook me. He can be contacted at mark.mallory@cincinnati-oh.gov or 352-3250. The quickest way is to call the office and register a complaint because we are not sure whether or not Mallory is checking his email yet.

Thank you for your continued support,

David Crowley

Since the meetings to organize City Council have all taken place in secret, it's unclear where Crowley and Mallory parted ways. Crowley walked out of a meeting Wednesday night and declined to comment.

But some hints come in a memo Crowley wrote to Mallory earlier in the day, giving a point-by-point critique of rule changes proposed by a tripartisan committee Mallory appointed. Crowley suggested that the newly elected lawmakers should get in at least a couple meetings before proposing major changes in the council's procedures. He urged them to keep environmental issues as part of the mission of the Economic Development Committee and opposed rule changes that he said would restrict debate.

Rocky Merz, Crowley's chief of staff, had this response: "For the record the only thing I can figure is that David had the wherewithal to open his mouth with objections to the proposed rule changes, which were done secretly and many of which will severely inhibit the public from understanding how their elected officials will function. Mark is clearly directing these changes and as a result David lost his chairmanship. I don't know what else it could be. He has been an effective legislative leader on Council and a loyal Democrat."

Read Crowley's memo to Mallory on proposed rule changes (in .pdf format)

Councilman David C. Crowley hugs a supporter at the Hamilton County Board of Elections on Election night. (Photo by Tara Bricking Carvalho/The Cincinnati Enquirer)


29 Comments:

at 10:07 AM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thumbs down to Mark Mallory. This clearly says a lot about him. I'm a Crowley supporter and saw Mallory at a lot of Crowley's events. Obviously he was trying to with Crowley's supporters support and then to turn around and do this. Mayor-elect Mallory just lost my support. It is clear he is only interested in the councilmembers whose agendas are nothing but personal.

 
at 10:20 AM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess Crowley shouldn't have openly supported David Pepper over Mark Mallory.

 
at 10:36 AM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually, David Crowley didn't openly support a mayoral candidate, but I'm pretty sure other candidates who received committees did openly support Pepper.

 
at 10:53 AM, December 01, 2005 Blogger bp said...

I'm just glad the chaos has ended.

 
at 11:16 AM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a feeling that with some of the new members on Council, the chaos is just beginning...

 
at 11:34 AM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

While I am glad that we were going to have a strong person be strong mayor regardless of who won the election, this issue shows that we need to go even further. We need a strong, executive mayor who is not involved in Council's setup. Let Council organize themselves. Not only will it be easier to accept the committee chairs as legitimate, it gets them started on learning to work together with each other.

 
at 12:17 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mallory had not problem showing up at Crowley's events and gaining needed support. Then to turn on a guy because he voiced his opinion. That is a stab in the back.
Mallory just wants a bunch of "Yes-Men" to follow him and tell him he is doing no wrong.
I always thought highly of Mark, and voted for him because I thought he had good leadership skills. I guess I was wrong, because this is certainly a flaw that no leader should have.

 
at 1:56 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Back stabbing Mark Mallory - is that his new nick-name?

 
at 2:13 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Quite a presumptuous bunch here. Give it a day.

 
at 2:19 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is just a little taste of what's on the horizon. I'm a Crowley supporter & I, too, saw Mallory ride in on that man's coat tails at events to gain support.

Granted, we need a strong mayor & a strong city council, but strong isn't defined as Dictatorship, which it is already starting to look like.

But, if you remember, Luken did the exact thing to DeWine, pitching him off as Chair of the Law & Public Safety Committee.

I'm pleased, very pleased, that Mr. Crowley had the courage & countenance to stand up at the swearing in ceremonies to speak out against the wrongs that have already started.

Mr. Crowley isn't a "yes" man, isn't a bootlicker & isn't a puppet. This man truly represents the good of the people of Cincinnati & will continue to do right by all of us.

Hang on folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

 
at 3:53 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank god for Mark Mallory. He finally had the courage to put ineffective council members like Crowley where they belong.

If Crowley was actually interested in moving this city forward he would accept that he did not get a committee chair, get over himself and just do what he can to help this city. However, it appears that Crowley is taking his bitter old man act on the road.

 
at 4:15 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hopefully this will show people Crowley's true nature. I think his cover as the "elder statesman" is finally blown. People should be able to see that Crowley is one of the problems on council and should have been voted out with Malone and Smitherman.

 
at 4:43 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just sworn in and already making blunders. First Tarbell's goofy speech with terrible jokes. And then this, disrespecting a council member that has a ton of supporters. What next, asking David Pepper over for Christmas dinnner?

 
at 4:58 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

chris bortz is an attorney with a strong development background (towne properties) - an easy choice over crowley for the ED chair.

cecil thomas with 27 yrs of law enforcement, too, was an appropriate choice to chair safety/law.

before crowley signs up as the council agitater, he ought to examine the plights of smitherman & reece.

further, crowley ought to recognize that he simply didn't receive favorable comments from the persons who advised & advanced mallory on life at city hall.

donny shacks

 
at 5:00 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

So let me get this straight. Mallory is making blunders because he is attempting to move this city forward by appointing EFFECTIVE people as council chairs. Whereas Crowley is making a fool of himself by storming out of meetings, sending juvenile emails, and being the only councilmember to set a negative tone at the swearing in ceremony.

And by the way, Pepper would probably accept Mallory's offer becasue he has class, unlike Crowley. Finally, the last time I checked Mallory got many more votes than Crowley.

 
at 5:10 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm tired of folks perpetuating the myth that Crowley is ineffective and the rampant ageism. And I blame Mallory for perpetuating these myths through his undermining of Crowley.

 
at 5:23 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

David Crowley disrespected this city, its government, and his fellow councilmembers when he spoke at todays swearing in ceremony. He should do everyone a favor and just resign.

 
at 5:24 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess everyone can now see what a lot have known for a while, Crowley is a cry baby, who gets nothing done. Why is anyone even believing his angry side of the story.

 
at 6:19 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

this new mayor & council will marginalize crowley if he doesn't cut the crap.

no longer can he hide his inflexibility & archaic thinking behind the theatrics of smitherman & alicia.

he seems to have forgotten that demon lynch nearly beat him out for ninth pl. in 2003.

d. shacks

 
at 6:39 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

First, David Crowley is old. This is a fact. David himself uses it as a selling point when telling people that he is the oldest member of council. I happen to find David bitter and stubborn. Therefore, I find him to be a bitter, stubborn old man.

The fact that he is bitter and old is not what make him ineffective. His lack of ideas, lack of knowledge about the issues, and inability to work with his fellow councilmembers is what makes him ineffective. David does not deserve to be a committe chairman and he should stop acting like he is entitled to a position.

Finally, David Crowley undermined himself when he started acting crazy yesterday. If he doesn't want people to relate his activities to his age he should not act like a loony old man.

 
at 7:29 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

well said, DC!

d. shacks

 
at 8:13 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Horrah for Mallory....We voted for a strong Mayor and a strong Mayor is what Cincinnati received...

Mallory's chair changes makes sense to me....The newly appointed chair leaders have extensive experience in their choosen field which is directly related to the chairs they will hold....congrats!

Now that's a strong bold move! Keep up the good work Mayor...

one more thing...Why would Crowley even have the nerve to believe that he should be appointed Vice Mayor...If I was Mayor, I surely wouldn't appointment someone as my assistance when we clearly aren't on the same page..duh

 
at 8:37 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

We've got so much to look forward to this term! For all Mallory's talk of his management experience, he sure got trumped before he even took office - first Berding leads the press coverage with his proposals to make City Council more civil. Then Mallory pisses off Crowley?! Chaos, chaos, chaos...what will tomorrow bring? Oh let me guess...more chaos!

 
at 9:19 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Last time I checked the only chaos was caused by old man Crowley. So far Mallory has made positive moves for the city.

Of course only a Crowley support would equate allowing another council member to submit a proposal with chaos.

Impeach Crowley!!!

 
at 9:30 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Only a Mallory supporter would call his changes positive. He can't even get through his first meeting wihtout controversy. I thought he was going to get rid of this stuff?

 
at 9:47 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mallory tooted his horn that he was going to end the chaos at City Hall. This is the second mistake he's made that will keep stoking the chaos furnace. First, it's the slammed door meeting & then this tawdry business with Crowley. It's not about to end!

For those of you bashing Crowley for being "old", don't forget - you're going to get the exact same way one day & hopefully, if you still have some mental faculties, you'll be hoping for some "old" gray hair to represent you on City Council.

I've also noticed that the lone white woman was also passed over for a Committee Chair appointment.

The Mallory supporters got what they wanted & I hope they can suck it up, because as Anonymous 2:19 pointed out, "Hang on folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride!"

 
at 10:54 PM, December 01, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chaos does not mean "disagreement."

 
at 8:49 AM, December 02, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mallory can only do so much to stop the chaos. Unfortunatly the voters did not go far enough in voting out ineffected and problem council members. The only person yesterday who was not willing to move this city forward was Crowley. I find it rather amusing that all of the Crowley supporters seem to think he is entitled to a committee chair. Mallory has the sole authority to chose his committe chairs, see Article III, Section 1 of the Charter. Why would he chose someone who is ineffective and is obviously willing to resolve issues through petty and classless behavior to be a committee chair.

David Crowley has shown his true colors these past few days. Giving out our new mayors personal phone number for his supporters to harass him the day before he is sworn in, storming out of a meeting because he didn't get a position he has no right to claim, being the only council member to make a negative speech at the swearing in ceremony, and being the only member of council to not show up to the mayors follow-up swearing in. How do these activities show that Crowley is looking out for the best interest of Cincinnati?

What it actually shows is that Crowley is more interested in have a title and some little shred of personal power than in moving this city forward. If Crowley is really upset, and he obviously is, he shold rededicate himself to creating policies and passing bills that will show his effectivness as a councilmember. Of course if his past performance on council is any indication he will simply do nothing and be a roadblock to progress.

As to the chaos does not equal disagreement, you are correct. However, David does not have a valid disagreement. He is not angry about some policy proposal or andy other sustanative change in the city. He is upset because he did not get any personal accolades. His conduct is not a valid disagreement, it is indicative of the chaos that he has helped to perpetuate on city council.

 
at 5:29 AM, December 03, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Appearances are everything, politics and deception depend on it. It appears that there are problems between Mallory and Crowley while I believe that it is just smoke and mirrors. Mark is a very savvy Statesman and would never alienate anyone as close as a councilmember knowing that they could hurt him. On the other hand Crowley having a paternal need to be needed will not allow himself to be alienated because of his own obtuse behavior. He will fall in line before the next council meeting. In the meanwhile I don't think the citizens of Cincinnati can stand to pay Mr. Crowley or any other councilperson some $60 odd thousand dollars to act a fool.

 
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