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Friday, June 22, 2007

Republican vs. Republican, Round Two

You may recall Si Leis' letter countering Pat DeWine's letter on the jail tax. Now comes a Pat DeWine letter countering Si Leis' letter countering - uh, where were we?


Dear ...

You may recently have received an email or letter from Sheriff Leis regarding his support for the new sales tax enacted by my Democratic colleagues without a public vote. It's not common practice to attack fellow Republican officeholders and I don't intend to do that. But I do want to respond to the Sheriff's comments.

I certainly appreciate the need to expand the County's jail capacity. Last year I engineered the deal with Butler County that added 400 jail spaces at a cost that is much less than the current proposal - this was the largest increase in County jail space in 15 years. I also worked with Prosecutor Deters and Sheriff Leis to place on the ballot the proposal last year that was ultimately rejected. That proposal would have added the same number of spaces as the current plan, but would have cost $450 million less and been strictly limited to new jail construction

After the plan was defeated by voters at the polls, I put together a plan that would have added new jail space within the existing County budget by keeping our existing facilities open, making cuts in non-essential spending and building the space we need. Unfortunately, the Democratic majority refused to consider any plan except a costly new tax increase.

I believe that any plan must be consistent with Republican principles of limited government and controlled taxation and that the residents of the County must be allowed to vote on the plan.

Early this year, the Sheriff asked me to support the Democrats' tax plan that would include new jail space. I expressed concern about what I had learned regarding their intention to include significant new non- jail county spending in their plan. The Sheriff told me to my face that the Democrats needed to include this new social spending in their plan so that they could win support from liberal elements in their own party, and he asked me to put the tax on without a public vote.

Then, the Sheriff told me that he would campaign against me if I opposed the Democrats' tax hike.

Maybe the easiest thing to do at the time would have been to go along with the Sheriff and my Democratic colleagues and support the plan. But when I ran for the Commission, I said I was running "because our taxes are too high."

There is no way that I could support the plan that the Democrats enacted and remain true to my campaign pledge and Republican principles.

The Sheriff has been consistent in supporting ANY plan that will add jail space no matter the cost. Last year, he supported the proposal of then-candidate David Pepper, John Cranley and other City Council Democrats to build a casino in Over-the-Rhine to fund a new jail. He also supported the proposal that Commissioner Heimlich and I advanced to fund new jail construction for $450 million less than the current plan. As Commissioner, however, I felt I had a broader duty to the public, and couldn't support just any plan without considering the costs.

Now, to the specifics of the current plan. Quite simply, it is misleading to say that the current proposal is just about building a jail. It's not. The numbers don't lie. Of the $777 million their tax will generate only $198 million is slated for jail construction. Fully $92 million goes for new social programs. The rest goes for other new programs, subsidies for local communities, and County operations. The jail operating costs have always been paid for out of the County general fund. And that's the way it should be. As Commissioners, we have an obligation to pay for our County operations out of our existing revenue stream - not go to the taxpayers for a massive tax increase.

Despite its $777 million cost, it is UNDISPUTED that the plan will add fewer than 400 new jail spaces when you take into account the spaces we are currently using in Butler County. And in reality, it will be fewer new spaces than that.

You see, the Democrats have already announced that they intend to lease some of the new spaces to the federal government to house federal prisoners even though the federal government will not reimburse us ANY of the capital costs of the new facility. So the sad reality is that we are undertaking a massive spending plan that will only mean a minimal increase in the number of jail spaces. We'll have nicer space, but not much more.

As Commissioner, I am very concerned about the high rate of taxation in Hamilton County. Already Hamilton County taxpayers pay the second highest county property taxes of all 88 counties in the state, they pay the highest sales taxes in the region, and these taxes are literally driving people out of the County. Enough is enough.

I don't like disagreeing with the Sheriff. But I'm not going to back down on my stance: PEOPLE DESERVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE ON THIS HUGE TAX INCREASE.

Sincerely,

Pat DeWine


27 Comments:

at 5:48 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let's impeach Pepper & Portune!

 
at 6:20 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

"...But when I ran for the Commission, I said I was running "because our taxes are too high."..."

What a whacko !

Da Da Da whiner's plan would have cost the taxpayers more and for a longer period of time !

Not to mention the economic developement the hamilton county tax payers are providing butler county with the taxpayers money used as rent checks !

PATHETIC !

HAD ENOUGH, VOTE DEMOCRAT 2007 !

 
at 6:30 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pat thinks he sees a life preserver - just like Smitherman. We'll see. They could both turn out to be wrong.

 
at 7:05 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Called out by the Sheriff for his prior letter of lies, Pat DeWine is at it again. He's trying to explain away the exposed lies from his prior letter, but in the process, throws out more half-truths and outright lies.


"I certainly appreciate the need to expand the County's jail capacity. Last year I engineered the deal with Butler County that added 400 jail spaces at a cost that is much less than the current proposal - this was the largest increase in County jail space in 15 years."

Actually, Heimlich did this after Butler County called him, seeing dollar signs in their eyes. But too bad you paid for it out of the County reserves, which are now completely depleted. There's no money left thanks to this ridiculous temporary, election-year solution.

"I also worked with Prosecutor Deters and Sheriff Leis to place on the ballot the proposal last year that was ultimately rejected."

Actually, you fought with them for months on it. But at least you fess up that it was YOUR tax increase(unlike your prior letter, where it sounds like it was someone else's).


"That proposal would have added the same number of spaces as the current plan, but would have cost $450 million less and been strictly limited to new jail construction."

They actually are spending less to build the jail. But are being honest enough with the voters to pay $ to operate the jails which (like most buildings) run better when they are actually operated. And because last November's plan only constructed a jail, it was doomed to fail from the outset, as your own polls showed.

"After the plan was defeated by voters at the polls, I put together a plan that would have added new jail space within the existing County budget by keeping our existing facilities open, making cuts in non-essential spending and building the space we need."

People should call Pat and ask for this plan to review it themselves. It is about three pages long, and is based on the strangest math ever seen. It does nothing but waste more money on another temporary solution (like Butler County).

"I believe that any plan must be consistent with Republican principles of limited government and controlled taxation and that the residents of the County must be allowed to vote on the plan."

That type of plan was a real hit last November. In fact, it's been just these types of limited plans that have left us where we are today. We keep throwing these plans out, we will continue to have high crime, early releases and no real solutions.

"Early this year, the Sheriff asked me to support the Democrats' tax plan that would include new jail space. I expressed concern about what I had learned regarding their intention to include significant new non- jail county spending in their plan. The Sheriff told me to my face that the Democrats needed to include this new social spending in their plan so that they could win support from liberal elements in their own party, and he asked me to put the tax on without a public vote."

Actually, what he likely said is what the Democrats have been saying openly: if a plan is not comprehensive, and is only about building a jail, it not only will not solve the problem, but it will never be approved by voters. Jail-only approaces, like DeWine/Heimlich's, never get 50% of the vote. And with them, we have to build jail after jail.


"But when I ran for the Commission, I said I was running "because our taxes are too high.""

True. And then you ran for Congress, and later voted for a tax increase for a jail-only plan.

"The Sheriff has been consistent in supporting ANY plan that will add jail space no matter the cost. Last year, he supported the proposal of then-candidate David Pepper, John Cranley and other City Council Democrats to build a casino in Over-the-Rhine to fund a new jail."

What a terrible idea that was! If that had passed, we wouldn't need a sales tax at all.

"He also supported the proposal that Commissioner Heimlich and I advanced to fund new jail construction for $450 million less than the current plan."

Because it was the only plan you guys would offer.


"Now, to the specifics of the current plan. Quite simply, it is misleading to say that the current proposal is just about building a jail. It's not. The numbers don't lie. Of the $777 million their tax will generate only $198 million is slated for jail construction. Fully $92 million goes for new social programs. The rest goes for other new programs, subsidies for local communities, and County operations."

Almost all of it goes to operate the jail. Other parts will pay for more police on the street, money to help Joe Deters prosecute our worst offenders, and reforms that will be recommended by the Vera Institute-the group PAT DEWINE brought to Cincinnati last year to help reform our system (didn't call them "social programs" then, Pat). Pat simply proposes throwing more money at Talbert House ("social programs") without any oversight at all.

"The jail operating costs have always been paid for out of the County general fund. And that's the way it should be. As Commissioners, we have an obligation to pay for our County operations out of our existing revenue stream - not go to the taxpayers for a massive tax increase."

This is an absurd statement. The most expensive part of a new jail is operating it. Pat has not once proposed how he would use current revenue streams to operate any of his jail proposals, because he knows it can not be done.

"Despite its $777 million cost, it is UNDISPUTED that the plan will add fewer than 400 new jail spaces when you take into account the spaces we are currently using in Butler County."

Nice (new) caveat from your old letter. Butler County beds are not paid for past October, and there's no money to pay for them, so you can't "take those into account" as if they were ongoing beds.

"And in reality, it will be fewer new spaces than that. You see, the Democrats have already announced that they intend to lease some of the new spaces to the federal government to house federal prisoners even though the federal government will not reimburse us ANY of the capital costs of the new facility."

Just like the DeWine/Heimlich plan proposed. Hmmm. This provides more revenue in the early years since the new jail won't be full immediately-actually makes the length of the tax shorter.

 
at 7:51 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

First, glaringly absent in DeWine's dissertation is the costs tooperate a jail. Butler County can attest to the fact that having a facility does nothing to address crime if you don't have the money to run it. That's why they are leasing us bed space in an otherwise unused wing of their jail - because they couldn't pay to run it -- SHould we continue to rent or should we own our own facility with a finite end to facilty costs?
Second, DeWhine is again wrong in relation to the federal costs to house their criminals - the formula to determine cost per day per inmate includes overhead on a pro rata basis and those costs were also included in Butler County determining the costs for Hamilton County. (stop whining long enough to get your facts straight Pat)
Third, DeWhine compares an urban county with a population more than double the surrounding areas with rural communities going through a growth spurt. When those counties 'grow up" they will have the same needs and demands on their budgets that Hamilton County experiences. DeWhine is comparing apples to oranges - the correct comparison when be communities of the size, scope and diversity as well as the level of services provided in Philadelphia, Toledo or Lexington relative to comparable tax rates and comparable services.
Fourth, DeWhine, it's the fricken crime, stupid! If you cut the all the other "nonessential" programs you will compound the criminal problem exponentially-- stupid.
Finally, fifth, what DeWhine calls nonessential services/programs means: No Drake for catastrophic medical incidents like brain trauma, stroke and cancer (not all of us have the county paying for their health care), Less help for the mentally retarded in our community - heck, let's just throw them in an institution and let them fend for themselves like they do in Russia, and elderly services, and services to our foster care children --- DeWhine hasn't thought any of this through except how it impacts his own bank account and he can create another generation of trust fund babies for his own kids and those of his rich buddies.
Stop the DeWhining and address the crime problem you lacky, you're right, you have a responsiblilty to the elderly, the children, the sick and to address the crime problem - get with it.

 
at 8:56 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

This sounds like a desperation move by DeWine to save his job.

 
at 10:13 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Try calling or writing DeWine about possible financial waste going on in certain County Departments. He will not reply to your concerns. Try contacting him sometime about a concern--you will quickly learn how the true DeWine treats the average Hamilton County resident.

 
at 11:31 PM, June 22, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Si Lies is a bully trying to brow-beat everyone into giving him his new palace, to be named after him of course. Our White Democratic wimps on the County Commission can't stand up to him, but at least Pat DeWine will. Like most Republicans, I am squarely with DeWine on this issue. We all should thank DeWine for standing behind the taxpayers.

 
at 7:47 AM, June 23, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The only thing Dems know how to do is spin their own scandals (i.e. the Marc Dann hirings of friends and convicts, Strickland data loss, Frankie Coleman and on and on) and raise taxes with impunity.

he Dems have had more scandals in their first 6 months in office than Republicans had in their first four-year terms from 1998-2002.

As soon as Republilcans tripped up and started making bad decisions, Republican voters got rid of them. It will be interesting to see if Democrats do the same thing or if they continue to blindly make excuses for them, attempt to justify their actions or simply misdirect the conversation and try to blame everything on Republicans.

Dems wanted to be in charge, an since they have, their performance has made Republicans look like governing geniuses.

 
at 11:34 AM, June 23, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Election time must be near---DeWine finally comes out of his stupor---stuttering all over the place about the jail tax issue.

 
at 12:41 PM, June 23, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am sure DeWine will gladly stand behind any Hamilton County Taxpayer.

 
at 3:08 PM, June 23, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pat DeWine is a sad case study of a politician who accomplishes nothing, and opposes everything, so he has a winning line or two in his next campaign. What has the guy ever accomplished, except some of the strangest allies:

- he and Chris Smitherman together opposed the "Cops" show featuring the CPD

- he, Smitherman and police-hating boycotter Nate Livingston are waging a petition fight that, if successful, will ultimately lead to prisoners getting out of jail

- another ally of DeWine's is Michael Patton, who openly states that the CPD is corruptly part of the drug trade

The only theme in the DeWine career has been constant undermining of law enforcement. First, the Cincinnati Police, now the Sheriff. His allies in this fight are all police-haters.

No wonder his entire existence in office has coincided with a crime wave.

 
at 3:37 PM, June 23, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

It appears that the Hamilton County GOP is self destructing and as usual Brinkman & COAST are in the middle of it.

 
at 8:43 PM, June 23, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I believe DeWine is on the verge of a nervous breakdown... he's all over the place.

Sad that he is all about politics and not about doing the right thing...

Thank goodness Pepper unseated Heimlich!!!! Thank goodness we finally have a commission that votes the way of what is right not what is political.

Shame on DeWine for writting such misleading information!!!!

 
at 10:27 AM, June 24, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Already Hamilton County taxpayers pay the second highest county property taxes of all 88 counties in the state, they pay the highest sales taxes in the region, and these taxes are literally driving people out of the County."

I didn't agree with Dewine at first, but am I to understand from this that these taxes are "literally" getting into cars and driving residents to other counties? My god - maybe we do have a serious problem here.

 
at 2:57 PM, June 24, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Repugnicants are absolutely impoding. West Fest was a rough place to be last night if you are a Repug politician, getting jeered by people and spit on. and this is in the right-wing bastion the West Side. It was so refreshing to watch the average voter treat representatives of the party of Bob Ney and Mark Foley like they were the criminals and sex offenders.

Clearly, even West Siders know how bad these people screwed up their city, county, state, and country.

I don't think a Repug is going to get elected to anything at all this Fall. The voters have finally gotten wise!

It was so bad i heard that one Repug official had to have a police escort to his car.

 
at 5:50 PM, June 24, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The real question is will Portman be back in time to to stop the Hamilton County Republican Party's self destruction?

 
at 9:57 AM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

-$800 million

-Less than 400 jail spaces

That's $2 million per new jail space.

Not too shabby. For all of you hard-working average voters out there struggling to make your mortgage payment, call and thank Pepper and Portune for giving criminals $2 million homes.

 
at 10:33 AM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just want to get the "OPERATIONS" portion of this new tax straight:

We're trimming facilities and consolidating to one facility that will be more streamlined and efficient - less wasteful, and one location as opposed to the multiple locations we have now (Queensgate, Talbert House...).

So when you consolidate, efficiancy is supposed to increase. The Sheriff already has an operating budget for these multiple facilites from the County budget.

Are we to assume that this new tax will replace the current operating budget or increase it? If it replaces the current operating budget, where will the current operating funds shift to?

And they call this tax "honest".

 
at 12:58 PM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The new system is more efficient, but is adding much more total capacity, so it's still more expensive overall--but providing far more capacity per dollar.

My understanding is that the operational increase covers the net new costs of the new spaces, which is expensive in itself. (As an example, just having 300 beds in Butler COunty has cost the County $8 per year). The preexisting operational costs are not covered.

Interesting, Pat always suggests he knows how to pay for all operational costs from current revenue. But in two years, he hasn't even found or proposed a way to pay the ongoing costs of Butler County-which is why it has completely depleted the reserve fund to pay for. Let alone identified ways to pay for ongoing operating expenses of any new facility. The proof is in what he's done, which has been nothing.

 
at 1:14 PM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Look how sad Pat DeWine's effort is getting. When no one paid any attention to his stupid video from last week (see blog below), he sent the following today to local news stations in a pathetic effort at self-promotion and fundraising:

"Dear [news station],
I just wanted to share with you a video on the sales tax increase imposed
by my two Democratic colleagues on the Board of County Commissioners. You
can check it out by clicking on the link below.

LINK: Hamilton County Sales Tax Increase Video

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me on this very important
issue. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Pat DeWine
email: patdewine@hotmail.com"

PATHETIC!

 
at 3:19 PM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pathetic? Lying to voters and telling them this is anything but a PERMANENT TAX is what I would call pathetic.

DeWine has the guts to stand up to the Sheriff, King Portune and Prince Pepper and say enough is enough with these ridiculous taxes and the gravy train of new spending that will come with them.

Keep up the good work Pat!

 
at 4:11 PM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

To say it's a permanent tax is the lie, actually. It's temporary, and can not be extended. The funding creates a fund, which gains interest, which pays for the whole 30 years of operations and programming, even though the tax sunsets after 15. To say anything other than that is simple false.

 
at 4:54 PM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

To the poster that posted at 3:19 PM, June 25, 2007... I bet that was Pat DeWine... He probably posted from his Blackberry while shuffling through his top ten reasons why how we can find the money by shutting down the engineering department.

Boy, I think DeWine is in a bind and come election time it's over... Who can speak for Pat DeWine now? I know... O'dell Owens? HE DOES SPEAK FOR THE DEAD AND EDUCATES THE LIVING.

 
at 10:57 PM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Peter Deane - Thanks for the slick detective work Columbo. Here's another case for you to take on. Don't you thiink the anonymous posts above sound an awful lot like Pepper staffers reciting their talking points. One aide was already busted for calling in to a local radio show and saying she was someone else. I know you'll get down to the bottom of the mystery!

 
at 11:04 PM, June 25, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

PS to anonymous - How's the stadium tax going? Are we going to pay that off on time?
Yeah - that's what I thought.

This plan creates a bunch of government programs. Whether that is valuable or not is another issue, but if anyone thinks those programs, with their employees and bureaucracies, and vested interests are going to just magically go away when the funding from the tax is gone I have a bridge to sell you.

What about the part of the plan that puts Sheriff's deputies all over the County? What future County Commission is going to slash back that law enforcement when the funding stops?

What about the part of the plan that goes to funding the Communications center? When the tax is up is some future County Commission going to smack local governments with a 250% 911 fee increase?

The answer to these questions is, "of course not!" They'll have no choice but to extend the tax, or smack another tax on us without letting us vote.

 
at 6:36 AM, June 27, 2007 Anonymous Anonymous said...

It would have saved a lot of writing for Pat and a lot of reading for all of us if he just would have sent out the last sentence of his e-mail:

"PEOPLE DESERVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE ON THIS HUGE TAX INCREASE."

 
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