Pow! Bang! Zoom! To the moon, Alice

In November, Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune jokingly gave fellow Commissioner Pat DeWine a pair of red, white and blue boxing gloves (pictured) after DeWine was involved in a spat at a swanky downtown restaurant.

It looked like DeWine was ready to use them at today’s meeting – on Portune.

First, the duo squared off over the Tax Levy Review Commission, an all-volunteer, commissioner-appointed board aimed at reviewing requests made by agencies seeking to get funding from Hamilton County property taxes.

The 12-year-old TLRC went through a major reorganization in November 2005 when DeWine and then-Commissioner Phil Heimlich fired all but one of the members, saying the board ignored commissioners’ directive to recommend no requests for taxation above the rate of inflation.

The only member not fired was Chris Finney, a business partner, friend and political supporter of Heimlich.

Now, with Portune and Commissioner David Pepper giving Democrats a majority on the three-man board, Portune is using the advantage to his advantage.

Portune made a motion today to remove two current TLRC members – Joe Allen and Scott McIntyre – who were appointed after the 2005 firings.

They were replaced by:

* Connie Pillich, an attorney who unsuccessfully ran last fall for an Ohio House seat as a Democrat, and;
* Dale Van Vyven, a Republican who is a former state representative. Van Vyven was one of the TLRC members fired in 2005.

Portune and Pepper voted for the changes. DeWine, now the lone Republican on the board, voted against Pillich.

Portune and DeWine also were at odds over a proposed sales tax increase that could go before voters.

Portune has warned that voters may be asked – again – to adopt a sales tax increase to build a new jail to solve jail overcrowding.

DeWine, who believes adequate jail space can be built in Hamilton County without a tax increase, noted voters have rejected such a tax increase three times since 1992.

The last time was in November when Issue 12 – a proposed quarter-cent increase to pay for a $230 million jail and $30 million property tax rollback -- lost 57-43 percent.

“My kids make fun of me losing my hair and I can’t see well without my contacts, but I can still hear pretty well,” DeWine said of the voters’ choice last fall.

Commissioners are considering a sales tax increase but have made no decision. To put one on the May ballot, though, they have to follow legal procedures that include advertising public meetings no later than Jan. 28.

If they don’t do that, they can’t place a proposed sales tax on the May ballot if they decided they wanted to.

After DeWine insisted the jail could be built without a tax increase and mentioned that Hamilton County’s high taxes are driving people to other counties, Portune countered with, “It’s a good speech, Pat.”

“That’s high praise,” an unapologetic DeWine shot back.

Portune then opined that all commissioners need to work together – “not create conflict and lob stones” -- to solve the jail overcrowding issue, but slammed DeWine for supporting Issue 12 last fall. He asked DeWine to be open-minded about the issue.

Immediately, DeWine told Portune “That was a good speech, too,” and noted he won’t seek a tax that voters rejected as recently as November.

“That’s all people are going to focus on,” DeWine said.

No blood was shed.