Mallory: `Stand at ease.'

Easily the most interesting thing that happened at Wednesday’s Cincinnati city council meeting is something that didn’t happen at all.

After the regular business portion of the meeting, council members are allowed to bring forward by-leave items that weren’t on the agenda. It takes six members of council to vote to waive the rules to bring the issue to a vote.

Council member Jeff Berding was about to do that with a resolution that would require items voted out of committees to be placed on the council agenda the next week.

Just before Berding was about to do that Wednesday, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory told the council to stand “at ease,” and proceeded to lobby Berding to wait a week before introducing the resolution.

The discussion was an animated one, and lasted more than 10 minutes. It was inaudible to the audience because it happened in a corner of council chambers and out of range of the microphones.

Berding eventually agreed to the delay, but wasn’t happy about it afterward. When asked if he was “uncomfortable” with the way the mayor handled the situation, Berding responded:

“Very much so. I’m uncomfortable because I feel that we are not following the rules. It’s ironic because we’re not following the rules on a matter that’s about changing the rules for the better.”

A rule change forcing the mayor to place items on the agenda passed out of the Rules Committee two weeks ago. That item gave the mayor 30 days to place committee-approved items before council.

Berding’s resolution Wednesday was different in that it requires committee-approved items to go directly to the clerk of council, and that the clerk place it on the next week’s agenda.

Mallory said that difference was the reason he asked for the delay.

“He had a some kind of motion he wanted to offer which I had not seen,” Mallory said of Berding. “It had not been through the committee process. The particular motion was not the same motion that was voted out of committee. That’s what raised a concern to me.”

Berding said the rule change is necessary because City Solicitor Rita McNeil has issued an opinion that says once a resolution has been passed out of committee, council can’t vote to waive the rules and force the issue to a vote. That leaves it up to the mayor as to when, or if, it’s placed on the agenda.

Council member Leslie Ghiz has said that power amounts to a pocket veto, where the mayor doesn’t have to place items he disapproves of on the calendar for a vote of the full council.

“The reason we’re all trying to do this is so council can work professionally,” Berding said. “We’re just trying to do our business. We don’t want to play games with the mayor.

“It’s unprecedented that legislative matters are kept from council.”

Berding said he agreed to wait a week “in the interest of keeping council and the mayor working together in a positive way.” He said eight council members are solidly behind the idea, and he doesn't expect that to change.

Council members agree that the mayor has delayed placing items he disapproves of on for a vote. The most notable example was a resolution brought forward by Ghiz that would require the mayor to pay for his bodyguard out of his own budget, rather than the police officer’s salary and overtime charges coming out of the police budget.

That issue was only brought forward for a vote on a week when Berding – a supporter of the idea – was out of town. It was eventually referred back to the Law and Public Safety Committee by council member Cecil Thomas.

Another example is an idea to rearrange the make-up of the Port Authority’s board, which was voted out of the Economic Development Committee in March, but has never been placed on an agenda.

When asked why he thinks the mayor wants another week, Berding said “He doesn’t support it.”

Ghiz had a more succinct explanation.

“He wants another week to beat people down,” Ghiz said. “He should have that discussion in a public session, but he doesn’t want to be accountable. He doesn’t want to take a stance on anything. So he’s circumventing the public process and trying to keep his opinion out of the public sector.”

When asked if Berding’s resolution indicates a larger issue of council not trusting the mayor, Mallory responded that he’s simply misunderstood.

“I’m not sure what motivates them. I think there is a lack of understanding about the need for the legislative process be fluid.”