Neighborhood Endorsement?

Folks have been talking for days about the recent issue of the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood's community newsletter, which encouraged people to support City Council candidate Pat Fischer. Fischer, a lawyer with Keating, Muething & Klekamp who raised the most campaign money so far, lives in the neighborhood and was formerly president of the community council. He's also past president of the Cincinnati Bar Association.

Blogger Jason Haap, aka The Dean of Cincinnati, this morning asked for an investigation. Here's the e-mail he sent to John Williams, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, and copied to reporters:

Attention Hamilton County Board of Elections:

I would like to file a formal complaint against the Pat Fischer campaign for City Council. It appears there may have been misconduct concerning an endorsement placed in the Pleasant Ridge community council newsletter. I believe this warrants investigating from the BOE.

A recent issue of the Pleasant Ridge newsletter included an endorsment of Fischer, which is in violation of a community council's standing as a 501(c)3. Fischer is a former president of that group, and one of his campaign volunteers, Kate Powell, reportedly still has a role with the 501(c)3.

I trust the BOE will conduct a swift and detailed investigation into this matter. We must insure that politicians do not blatantly corrupt our political processes with a flagrant disregard for the rules.


Respectfully,

Rev. Jason A. Haap, MA

The Dean of Cincinnati

Publisher, The Cincinnati Beacon

Haap first complained to the city, but Roshani Hardin, chief counsel in the city solicitor's office replied that the Cincinnati Elections Commission has no jurisdiction because his concerns do not involve "campaign contribution limits imposed by the Cincinnati Charter, or related reporting requirements imposed by the Charter or the Municipal Code."

Kreg Allison, Fischer's campaign manager, says he's looking into it.