Council Candidate Lamarque Ward Signs No Tax Pledge

Independent Council challenger Lamarque (pronounced la-MAR-kay) Ward has signed COAST's pledge against raising taxes and against new fees during the coming Council term, bringing to seven the number of signers of the pledge. Please e-mail Lamarque to thank him for taking the Pledge.

Lamarque Ward joins Chris Monzel, Leslie Ghiz, Amy Murray, Charlie Winburn and George Zamary, and Brad Wenstrup in promising not to raise taxes during the coming Council term.

As COAST reports here, City Council has dug itself a huge budgetary hole exceeding $40 million per year starting in 2010. City Manager Dohoney has signalled his intention to levy new fees and taxes to fill the projected $40M deficit.

COAST thanks Lamarque Ward for his leadership in taking the Pledge and his fellow Council candidates who are also committed to fiscal restraint.

The text of the pledge is:

2009 Cincinnati Mayoral and Council Candidate
Taxpayer Protection Pledge

I, Lamarque Ward, pledge to the taxpayers of the City of Cincinnati and all of the people of this City that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes and create new fees during the 2010-2011 term of Cincinnati City Council. This includes without limitation, any increase in the City earnings tax or property tax, and the imposition of new fees such as a garbage collection fee.

/s/Lamarque Ward___________

August 6, 2009____________

Brad Wenstrup takes COAST pledge

Seventh City candidate to commit to voters:
No tax increase

Brad Wenstrup is only candidate for
Cincinnati Mayor to take COAST pledge

Brad Wenstrup, candidate for Cincinnati Mayor, last week signed COAST’s pledge against raising taxes in the coming term as Mayor.

COAST encourages you to call or write Brad Wenstrup for this courageous stand. You can e-mail him here or call him at 513-378-2716.

The pledge, modeled on the pledge for Presidential candidates, and candidates for Congress, and State Legislatures of Americans for Tax Reform, is a promise from Council candidates and the Mayor not to raise property taxes, earnings taxes or add new fees such as a garbage tax during the coming term for which they are running.

To date, Council incumbents Leslie Ghiz (R) and Chris Monzel (R), and challengers Charles Winburn (R), George Zamary (R), Amy Murray (R) and Lemarque Ward (I) have all signed the Pledge.

Mayor Mark Mallory and the remainder of Council’s incumbents have refused to sign the pledge so far. Please encourage them to do so.

Wenstrup Takes the COAST Pledge

Mayoral candidate takes firm stand on City budget crisisDr. Brad Wenstrup takes the COAST pledge
against raising taxes during coming Mayoral term

Yesterday, COAST exposed City Manager Milton Dohoney’s plan to raise taxes right after the November election. The same day, Mayoral candidate Dr. Brad Wenstrup signed on to the COAST Pledge against raising taxes during the coming Mayoral term as a way to solve the City’s over-spending problem.

“As President John F. Kennedy said, ‘Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity,’” said Dr. Wenstrup, “and conversely higher rates of taxation suppress economic activity. COAST’s pledge is compatible with my philosophy for governing.”

Please e-mail call Dr. Wenstrup or call him at (513) 321-1090 to thank him for taking the Pledge. You may learn how to support his campaign here.

Mayor Mallory has so far refused to take the COAST pledge against raising taxes. Please e-mail him or call him ((513) 352-3250) and demand that he take the pledge as well.

To date, Chris Monzel, Leslie Ghiz, Charlie Winburn, George Zamary and Amy Murray have taken the pledge. The other Council incumbents and candidates have not taken the pledge.

“COAST salutes Dr. Brad Wenstrup for taking the Pledge,” said COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd. “He has shown wisdom and courage through his service as a physician and in our military in Iraq. Dr. Wenstrup has applied those leadership qualities to the City’s budget crisis and has committed firmly to the voters that he will not raise taxes. We encourage Mayor Mark Mallory to disavow City Manager Milton Dohoney’s plan to raise taxes and sign the Pledge as well.”

While Dr. Brad Wenstrup was signing the Pledge, Mayor Mallory was holding a press conference encouraging Cincinnati to move forward with his $185 million trolley boondoggle. Quite a contrast in positions, it seems to COAST.

The text of the pledge is:

2009 Cincinnati Mayoral and Council Candidate
Taxpayer Protection Pledge

I, ___________, pledge to the taxpayers of the City of Cincinnati and all of the people of this City that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes and create new fees during the 2010-2011 term of Cincinnati City Council. This includes without limitation, any increase in the City earnings tax or property tax, and the imposition of new fees such as a garbage collection fee.

Signature:___________

Date:____________

Challenger Amy Murray Signs No Tax Pledge

Republican Council challenger Amy Murray has signed COAST's pledge against raising taxes and against new fees during the coming Council term, bringing to five the number of signers of the pledge. Please e-mail Amy to thank her for taking the Pledge.

Amy Murray joins Chris Monzel, Leslie Ghiz, Charlie Winburn and George Zamary in promising not to raise taxes during the coming Council term.

As COAST reports here, City Council has dug itself a huge budgetary hole exceeding $40 million per year starting in 2010. Council member Bortz said Council's budgetary gimmicks last week are "a clear signal that Council fully intends to levy new fees and taxes to fill a projected $40M deficit "

However, to date Bortz has not signed the Pledge. COASTers are encouraged to e-mail him to demand he sign the Pledge.

COAST thanks Amy Murray for her leadership in taking the Pledge and her fellow Council candidates who have previously so committed.

COAST again asks its members to call or write the other seven Council members and the Mayor asking that they sign too (click name to email).

Name/email	Title	Telephone
Mark Mallory	Mayor	(513) 352-3250
David Crowley	Vice Mayor	(513) 352-2453
Jeff Berding	Council Member	(513) 352-3283
Chris Bortz	Council Member	(513) 352-3255
Y. Laketa Cole	Council Member	(513) 352-3466
Greg Harris	Council Member	(513) 352-5303
Roxanne Qualls	Council Member	(513) 352-3604
Cecil Thomas	Council Member	(513) 352-3499

The text of the pledge is:

2009 Cincinnati Mayoral and Council Candidate
Taxpayer Protection Pledge

I, Amy Murray, pledge to the taxpayers of the City of Cincinnati and all of the people of this City that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes and create new fees during the 2010-2011 term of Cincinnati City Council. This includes without limitation, any increase in the City earnings tax or property tax, and the imposition of new fees such as a garbage collection fee.

/s/Amy Murray___________

June 24, 2009____________

Cincinnati's Spending Addiction Continues

This week's failure to cut spending assures 2010 drive for higher taxes

Faced with a $20 million deficit this year and a $40 million deficit in 2010, Cincinnati City Council did what it always does on Wednesday -- it elected on Wednesday of this week to continue its irresponsible spending. As the Enquirer story explains, Council's $20 million in "cuts" are anything but, including furlough days the unions must approve (an unlikely $4.2 million of the "savings") and uses $6.4 million in surplus from prior year income tax collections.

Thus, because more than half of the claimed savings are not cuts at all, the deficit that Council faces in 2010 is now closer to $60 million.

"As COAST has explained before," said COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd, "Council's persistent practice of whistling past the tax-and-spend graveyard is merely postponing the imminent fall for the taxpayers. We are being set up for a massive tax increase in 2010."

Even more odious, Council violated its own rules against spending surplus monies in the spending vote this week.

To bring attention to the plan this election year, and to stave off the drive for higher taxes, COAST has issued a Pledge against tax increases to all 2009 Mayoral and Council Candidates. To date, Ghiz, Monzel, Winburn and Zamary have signed the Pledge.

Below is a statement issued by Council member Chris Bortz on this week's spending spree by Council. Note the last paragraph of the Bortz statement, which confirms the COAST position. Seems like he is thinking right (on the issue of the City Budget). We encourage COASTers to call or email Chris Bortz' office (352-3255) to thank him for speaking out on the budget, and also ask that he sign the COAST Pledge.

"Today the Mayor and five members of Council violated the Rules of Council to pass a mid-year budget correction that, despite City Manager Dohoney's warning of, "inevitable layoffs in December," spends more money to create new positions (2 lawyers and a census coordinator); spends the City savings; risks public safety; and has even more accounting gimmicks such as counting on savings from furloughs that have not been agreed to by any union, counting on savings from forcing police to shut their cars down for 1 hour per shift, and shifting over $1M in rent to another account).

The Rules of Council are adopted by City Council under the authority of the Charter. There has never been a willful and flagrant violation of these rules by any Council. The rule which requires six votes to spend the City's reserve accounts was specifically agreed to by Council in order to provide a measure of spending restraint outside of the annual budget appropriation. While I have often disagreed with members of City Council on fiscal policies, I have never witnessed such a breach in integrity. Council Rule 9.6 states,

'Council shall pass no Ordinance providing for an expenditure of City funds except as a part of the approved annual City budget unless the Ordinance at the same time provides for a specific offsetting expenditure reductions or revenue increases. In the absence of the declaration of a genuine emergency by the City Manager, offsetting expenditure reductions shall not include funds taken from the Reserve for Contingencies, from any surplus, or from the previous year's Carryover Balance.'

The rule was written to prevent exactly what was done today. In reference to this item, the City Solicitor, in a written opinion, states, "Passage of such an ordinance would therefore violate Council Rule 9.6...." Mayor Mallory has made Council decorum a central principle of his tenure. The move today shows that to be only a principle of convenience, discarded when politically expedient.

The failure to get support of six members of Council for such a crucial vote is a failure of leadership, shows unwillingness to compromise, and signals to the public that the long-term stability of the public coffers takes a back seat to election year politics.

The budget passed today is a clear signal that Council fully intends to levy new fees and taxes to fill a projected $40M deficit. By utilizing reserves and accounting gimmicks, Council has ducked the hard choices until after the coming election. Those hard choices are now even harder."

Winburn, Ghiz, Zamary sign pledge

COASTers: Call others to demand they sign
Cincinnati City Council Candidate George Zamary
signs COAST's no-tax pledge

Three more Council candidates have signed the COAST pledge against raising taxes to solve Cincinnati's budget problems in the coming Council term -- incumbent Leslie Ghiz, and challengers Charlie Winburn and George Zamary.

Council's seemingly incurable addiction to spending has created a $20 million deficit for the second half of 2009 and a huge $40 million deficit in 2010. In addition, years of stealing from the City's pension fund to pay for out-of-control general fund expenses has left an enormous hole in the City's pension system.

To make matters worse, bungling City bureaucrats projected a revenue increase in a year of recession and hardship for the nation. As a result, City revenue projections this year were nearly 12% off actual receipts.

COAST thanks Winburn, Ghiz and Zamary for their commitment against higher taxes and spending.

Currently, two Council incumbents have signed the Pledge -- Chris Monzel and Ghiz. COAST asks its members to call or write the other seven Council members and the Mayor asking that they sign as well (click name to send email):

Name/email	Title	Telephone
Mark Mallory	Mayor	(513) 352-3250
David Crowley	Vice Mayor	(513) 352-2453
Jeff Berding	Council Member	(513) 352-3283
Chris Bortz	Council Member	(513) 352-3255
Y. Laketa Cole	Council Member	(513) 352-3466
Greg Harris	Council Member	(513) 352-5303
Roxanne Qualls	Council Member	(513) 352-3604
Cecil Thomas	Council Member	(513) 352-3499

The text of the pledge is:

2009 Cincinnati Mayoral and Council Candidate
Taxpayer Protection Pledge

I, __________________________________, pledge to the taxpayers of the City of Cincinnati and all of the people of this City that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes and create new fees during the 2010-2011 term of Cincinnati City Council. This includes without limitation, any increase in the City earnings tax or property tax, and the imposition of new fees such as a garbage collection fee.

_________________________	_________________________
Signature	Date
_________________________	_________________________
Witness	Witness

Monzel Signs Tax Pledge 1st

COASTers urged to thank him
Cincinnati City Council Member Chris Monzel becomes first candidate to sign COAST's no-tax pledge.

Within hours of COAST issuing its demand for a pledge against raising taxes to solve Cincinnati's budget problems in the coming Council term, Cincinnati City Council Member Chris Monzel became the first to sign the pledge.

Council Member Chris Monzel consistently has been a voice and vote against higher taxes and wasteful spending while on Council. For the past five, years Monzel has sponsored the resolution to roll back property tax rates to assure that increasing valuations did not result in a windfall tax increase for the City.

With the City of Cincinnati facing a $40 million deficit in 2010, and an enormous hole in its pension system on top of that, and with City bureaucrats exacerbating the financial crisis by badly bungling tax income projections, COAST has predicted a 2010 push for higher earnings and property taxes. It has issued the Pledge to stop the drive for higher taxes.

Monzel previosuly endorsed COAST's opposition to the Pepper-Portune Super-Sized Jail tax and the campaign against Red Light Cameras. This year, Monzel is Honorary Vice Chairman of the campaign against the wasteful Trolley and has announced his opposition to the sale of the Cincinnati Water Works.

"I am honored to sign this pledge today reaffirming my belief that the very last thing we should be doing during tough economic times is raise taxes," said Monzel. "Americans across the board are overtaxed. It's time government reforms itself and stops spending money on pet projects and starts focusing on providing core services in the most efficient manner."

COAST thanks Chris Monzel for his consistent leadership against higher taxes and spending, and for taking the Pledge this campaign season.

Please call Council Member Monzel's office at 513-352-3640 or e-mail him and thank him for his leadership.

The text of the pledge follows:

2009 Cincinnati Mayoral and Council Candidate
Taxpayer Protection Pledge

I, Chris Monzel, pledge to the taxpayers of the City of Cincinnati and all of the people of this City that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes and create new fees during the 2010-2011 term of Cincinnati City Council. This includes without limitation, any increase in the City earnings tax or property tax, and the imposition of new fees such as a garbage collection fee.

/s/ Chris Monzel__________	6/18/09__________________
Signature	Date

Cincinnati tax increase?

COAST issues pledge

Cincinnati headlines are filled with news of the Cincinnati budget crisis due to the over-spending habits of Cincinnati City Council, and horrible financial projections by incompetent City officials.

COAST believes that our Mayor, Manager and Council are quietly setting us up for a massive tax increase in 2010. So, we want a dialogue about this issue during the 2010 Mayoral and City Council election.

COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd today issued the pledge below to the announced Mayoral and Council candidates to "smoke them out" on the tax issue now, before we vote on their election.

This threat of a tax increase is not COAST's imagination. The Cincinnati Business Courier ran a story recently in which City Manager Milton Dohoney discussed a 25% increase in the City earnings tax, before the story was carefully edited to remove such references. Also, look just 100 miles north in Columbus, where they are facing an August 4 special election on an increase in the City's earnings tax from 2.0% to 2.5%.

COAST needs you to encourage Mayoral and Council candidates to come clean on their plans for 2010, and take the pledge now.

COAST will send out regular e-mail updates as to which candidates have taken the pledge, and which have not, and COAST members will be attending Council forums throughout the City to thank those who have taken the pledge and confront those who have not.

The text of the pledge is:

2009 Cincinnati Mayoral and Council Candidate
Taxpayer Protection Pledge

I, __________________________________, pledge to the taxpayers of the City of Cincinnati and all of the people of this City that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes and create new fees during the 2010-2011 term of Cincinnati City Council. This includes without limitation, any increase in the City earnings tax or property tax, and the imposition of new fees such as a garbage collection fee.

_________________________	_________________________
Signature	Date
_________________________	_________________________
Witness	Witness