Civil rights activist wants NAACP to withdraw referendum

The local talk radio shows have been abuzz this week with debate on the Hamilton County public safety plan and the sales tax increase that county commissioners implemented May 30 to pay for it.

In an interesting side note, Cincinnati civil rights activist Donald Spencer called into WDBZ-AM 1230 "The Buzz" to voice his support for the plan after hearing County Commissioner Todd Portune on being interviewed about the project.

He told the Enquirer that he had actually been opposed to the project until he found out that it also included millions of dollars for rehabilitation programs. That's when he changed his mind and called in.

"I said 'That's what we really need,'" said Spencer. "Prisons oughtn't be just places to lock up people and keep people there, but also a place where they're given some structural and educational and other treatments in order to make them be good citizens and not repeat (offenders)."

He also said he is opposing the NAACP's efforts to repeal the sales tax increase. The NAACP and several others have launched a referendum to force a vote on the measure.

"I'm opposed to them getting petitions signed against the thing,"Spencer said. He said the safety plan is needed but if it's put on the ballot, many people might vote against it on principle, without researching what the plan is all about.

NAACP president, Christopher Smitherman has close ties to Spencer and his wife, Marian Spencer, also a civil rights activist. Marian Spencer is a former president of the local NAACP and backed Smitherman’s campaign to be elected the organization’s leader in March.



Smitherman e-mailed this plea for petition signatures today:

Members,
Those members who are at work can go by the office on your lunch break to sign the petition. Remember this petition simply puts the issue(jail tax) on the ballot for a vote. This issue can not wait until our next general membership meeting because the time would have lapsed to gather signatures. Your signature is time sensitive.
This is a time that the NAACP membership must move from talking to action. After the issue is on the ballot the NAACP membership will decide if it wants to support the issue or not. If it is not on the ballot we have no choice. The number to the office is 281-1900. Freedom is not free.