"Quick and Decisive Action"

If you follow Cincinnati politics at all, you've probably heard about the letters to George Vincent. He's the chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party and, if you believe everything you read, his mailbox has been pretty full lately with calls for a thrashing of Chris Monzel because he voted with Democrats to give $800,000 each to the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati History Museum and Music Hall.

One letter, purportedly from Terry Deters, says the writer is "tired of working for turncoats like Monzel."

Key word here: purportedly. Two of the alleged writers, Westwood activist Mary Kuhl and Price Hill activist Pete Witte, say they wrote no such thing.

"It's a sad forgery," Witte said.

The first giveaway, he said, was that the letter was on "From the Desk of Peter Witte" letterhead. He has no such letterhead.

"I'd be more likely to have a Dilbert cartoon in the corner," he said.

Plus, if he wanted to talk to Vincent, he'd pick up the phone or send him an e-mail. Does he have any suspects?

"I do, but I won't tell you," Witte said. "It's not worth stirring it up."

As for the implication that POWR PAC would withdraw its endorsement of Monzel: "It would be an unbelievable thing to happen. I don't want to speak for everybody, but in my mind Chris Monzel and John Cranley are the most consistent in voting for middle-class values on the West Side."

Others point out that Deters hasn't been active in party politics for some time. They also spotted some handwriting and verbiage similarities, suggesting all the letters came from the same place, and noted that the letters are dated the day after an e-mail from past Blue Chip Young Republicans president Betsy Sunderman that urged members to contact Monzel's office to try to stop him from voting the way he did.

That email contained the sentence "This is not a fiscally responsible."

Two of these letters say that almost that exactly, though corrected to "This vote is not a fiscally responsible vote."

Whoever did write the letters seems to love the phrase "quick and decisive action."

The "Witte letter" says Q&D action "will show the grassroots party activists that you take such egregious abuses seriously."

The "Kuhl letter" says Q&D action "by party leadership will show the community that you care about the concerns of the taxpayer in the neighborhoods."

And again from the letter purported to be from Deters: Q&D action "by party leadership will show the grassroots members of the party that you care about our concerns and you will enforce party discipline."

Party discipline?

Read the whole letters here.