Thursday, January 19, 2012

Here's an idea: Let's lay off the attorneys. Smitherman and Winburn get our nod for "capital idea of the year"

At the same time the batsh*t crazy Council is dreaming up and implementing new and crazy ideas of how to spend our money (read here, here and here), a few Council members are taking seriously the job of governing in Cincinnati: Christopher Smitherman and Charlie Winburn.

This week, they proposed laying off every lawyer in the City and farming out the services they provide to competent professionals.  Makes a lot more sense than laying off cops, firefighters and trash collectors, doesn't it?

Even the Enquirer's editorial page is weighing in in favor of the idea.

City prosecutors only appear in Municipal Court each day, prosecuting misdemeanors, and they stand alongside Municipal Court prosecutors from the County Prosecutor's office, wastefully duplicating manpower.  City attorneys do not prosecute felonies.

The City Law Department's civil litigation side is, according to COAST's attorneys, marginally competent but willing to endlessly litigate even the simplest issues, and wastefully gamble with taxpayer money instead of settling meritorious claims.  This ends up costing taxpayers millions of dollars unnecessarily annually.  Only the transactional team at the City appears more competent and responsive, and perhaps worth saving.

Our COAST hats go off to Christopher Smitherman and Charlie Winburn for this needed, overdue and groundbreaking initiative.

Unfortunately, the other seven, who are seriously nuts, won't give the proposal the attention it deserves.

Read more here.

8 comments:

  1. "This week, they proposed laying off every lawyer in the City and farming out the services they provide to competent professionals. "

    AKA: Lets fire our already competent staff and hire Chris Finney so he can make more taxpayer money. Sorry the rest of council opposes kickbacks for your buddies, COAST.

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  2. Kickback Kelly doesn't understand the issue. The city is paying good money to have city prosecutors going to court when the County Prosecutor is equipped to do it themselves. You'll have one attorney from each government prosecuting the same guy at the same time when the County Prosecutor's office could handle the entire case. If you whiny liberals could set aside your personal attacks for a few minutes, you might understand this issue.

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  3. In other words: Let's hand over the city's justice department into the hands of the man who ran off from the state Treasurer's office in disgrace and scandal.

    No, sorry, I'll pay the extra to ensure that the city prosecutors continue to prosecute these cases. Higher standards cost money, but that's something I'm willing to pay for.

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  4. So the rest are "seriously nuts", when Winburn performs exorcisms and Smitherman scared people into thinking the water works, if privatized, was going to pump syphilic water into black neighborhoods. And that's just the beginning with those two.

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  6. Folks,
    Whoever impersonated WineMeDineMe just got whacked. Shame too, because the comment favored our point of view.

    Comments from verifiable sources under the author's real name are preferred because they are absolutely the most persuasive.

    We're fine with anonymous comments, but please come up with something more original than "Anonymous." Responses and conversations become impossible to decipher otherwise.

    That said, imposters will not be tolerated. If you want to parody a well known commenter, then use a satirical spoof on the true name.

    Dragging non-combatants like WineMeDineMe into the fray will also get you deleted.

    We enjoy the dialectic slug-fest; please don't make us clamp down the commenting rules to stifle that.

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  7. Whine Me Feed Me PleaseJanuary 20, 2012 at 2:09 PM

    COAST is correct about the impersonations (here and elsewhere). They have gotten out of hand. But calling wmdm a non-combatant reveals ignorance. Her twitter page has three tweets bashing Herman Cain (somewhat tinged with racism), and that's just from today.

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  8. All this talk about food is making me HUN-GA-RY.

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We follow the "living room" rule. Exhibit the same courtesy you would show guests in your home.