War of the Press Releases

It's a war of the press releases in Hamilton County.

Commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper, both Democrats, issued a press release Monday: "DeWine Jail Plan Crumbles Only One Week After Proposing It." In it, they state fellow commissioner Pat DeWine's plan to solve jail overcrowding without a tax increase had "crumbled."

DeWine, the lone Republican on the board, fired back with his own press release: "Is There Anything Pepper and Portune Won't do to Salvage Their Sneaky August Election Tax Plan." In it, he called the details in the Pepper/Portune release "lies."

The dueling opinions in the press releases are based on an e-mail from CCA, the company that owns the Queensgate jail building. Keeping Queensgate open is an important component of DeWine's plan. CCA had earlier proposed a way to rehab Queensgate and keep it open.
The e-mail was discussed during a closed-door meeting Monday morning attended by all three commissioners.

Portune and Pepper said they sent their release based on their understanding of CCA's position after that meeting. Portune said he later re-read the e-mail. "I am still very clear on it and stand by everything we said." he said. "The letter speaks for itself."

He said DeWine should have said something at the morning meeting if he disagreed.
DeWine said he called CCA for clarification after getting the Portune/Pepper press release before sending out his counter-release.

"This press release is a flat-out lie," he said. "They (CCA) are still very much interested."
(The company noted in the e-mail, MGT of America, would have analyzed CCA's proposal to see if the numbers made sense.)