A fight over "****ing idiot"

Tony Lang reports:

Jail tax opponent Jason Gloyd has accused Hamilton County Chief Deputy Sean Donovan of calling him a “****ing idiot,” and claims it’s part of a pattern of intimidation by the Sheriff’s office against foes of the half-cent sales tax increase on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The alleged incident occurred after a spirited debate about the Issue 27 jail plan Tuesday night at the Price Hill Civic Club. Anti-plan campaign chair Gloyd said Sheriff Simon Leis approached him, spoke very respectfully and walked away.

Then Donovan leaned in, about four inches from his face, and pronounced him a “****ing idiot,” according to Gloyd

UPDATE, 6:30 pm, Friday: Gloyd said that Donovan was armed and uniformed. But after this item was posted, several people present at the event - including Donovan and the organizer - called to say Donovan was wearing a suit - and no gun.

"I wasn't in uniform. I wasn't armed," said Donovan, who said he was wearing a coat and tie.

Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper also said Donovan was wearing a suit.

And Pete Witte, president of the Price Hill Civic Club and host of the event, said Donovan was "definitely in civilian clothes."

As for the "****ing idiot" remark, there are no witnesses. But, Witte said, "it was absolutely a spirited debate. There was a lot of passion."


Gloyd, a real estate agent, said he was left dumbfounded. “Maybe it was good-cop, bad-cop, I don’t know.”

The next day, he e-mailed Donovan and Leis to ask why the two sides can’t disagree, without venom.

Donovan said he didn’t recall any such incident, that jail opponents were “grasping at straws” for publicity, and that Gloyd was an “uninformed, nondescript puppet.”

The chief deputy believes this year the county is closer to getting the law enforcement resources it needs than at any other time in the last 20 years. “Nobody wants to pay taxes,” he said. “But they want to live in a safe county. I want people to stop moving out.”

As for Gloyd, Donovan said, “I couldn’t pick the guy out of a line-up.”

No one heard the alleged comment, but Charles Norman, an aide to Commissioner Pat DeWine, said he saw Donovan speaking to Gloyd.

Commissioner David Pepper attended the debate, but was busy talking with others. He argues the real story is that “crime is so bad in Price Hill, residents have to sit on lawn chairs on street corners to keep the drug dealers away.”

Issue 27’s sales tax increase would raise $736 million over 30 years to finance a new 1,800-bed jail, treatment programs for inmates and more neighborhood sheriff’s patrols.

Pepper said he planned to continue to be civil, and others should also, but he dismissed complaints by the WeDemandABetterPlan.Com group as “a small group of people saying how scared they are. It sounds like schoolyard silly stuff.”

Commissioner Todd Portune wasn’t there, but said the opponents have no plan, no solution. “They just make stuff up to get everybody distracted with bogus claims. Issue 27 is not just about a jail. It’s about public safety.”