Cincinnati: Christopher Smitherman

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Surprise, surprise...Smitherman's brother gets a soccer stadium concrete contract:

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/09/17/fc-cincinnati-parkifc-cincinnati-parking-garage-property-limbong-garage-property-limbo/1336973002/

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Smitherman now accusing the "gang of five" of making fun of his wife's illness in their text messages to each other; working to have said text messages made public. 

[taestell]

Funny how this "Gang of Five" phrase has caught on with the WLW crowd. City Council is made up of 9 members, so another name of this group would be "The Majority."

[SleepyLeroy]

Funny how this "Gang of Five" phrase has caught on with the WLW crowd. City Council is made up of 9 members, so another name of this group would be "The Majority."

 

'The Majority' is the secret pet name the Mayor has given himself though.......

[Guest jmecklenborg]

There was a "gang of five" led by Qualls under Mallory.  I remember going to the old people's home back then and hearing the old ladies complain about this sinister "gang of five".  Oh, and they send check to Chris Smitherman. 

[ColDayMan]

Smitherman calls colleagues ‘evil’ amidst text flap

 

Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman described some of his Cincinnati City Council colleagues as “evil” on Monday, accusing them of trying to drag him into a controversy over their text messages. 

 

Smitherman’s comments came as council’s Budget and Finance Committee considered a measure to allow the city solicitor’s office to resume representing council members P.G. Sittenfeld, Wendell Young, Tamaya Dennard, Chris Seelbach and Greg Landsman, all progressive Democrats, in a case about whether the five of them violated the state’s Open Meetings Act in a group text between them. Smitherman is an independent.

 

Derek Bauman, a former City Council candidate and activist, attempted to intervene in the case and make Smitherman a defendant because he sent texts with eight other council members and then-City Manager Harry Blackin a separate exchange. Judge Robert Ruehlman denied Bauman’s motion. Bauman is an ally of some of the five whose texts are being sought, and lawyer Paul DeMarco, who represented him, is a prominent Democrat who helped lead a political action committee on behalf of Sittenfeld during his unsuccessful 2014 U.S. Senate campaign.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/10/29/smitherman-calls-colleagues-evil-amidst-text-flap.html

[Robuu]

City politics is going full Trump.

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Just now, Robuu said:

City politics is going full Trump.

 

A full dump of Smitherman's scandalous communications wouldn't matter.  All of the little old ladies who donate to his campaigns would still write their checks. 

[taestell]

The sooner we can get Smitherman out of city politics, the smoother everything will run.

[ColDayMan]

Landsman, Smitherman spar as council votes for city lawyers to represent members in texting cases

 

Cincinnati City Council voted Wednesday to have the city solicitor represent five council members whose text messages are being sought in several lawsuits, shedding outside attorneys that were hired to represent both them and the city several weeks ago.

 

But the vote sparked a tense exchange between Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman, an independent, and Councilman Greg Landsman, a Democrat, over comments Smitherman made on Monday. At council’s budget committee, Smitherman described Landsman and the four other Democrats involved in the case as “evil” because of an attempt made by Derek Bauman, a former City Council candidate with close ties to Councilman Chris Seelbach, to bring him into the case because of texts he sent.

 

Bauman attempted to intervene in one of the text message cases that contends that Landsman, Seelbach and council members P.G. Sittenfeld, Wendell Young and Tamaya Dennard violated the state Open Meetings Act in a group texts between the five. Bauman contended a separate string of texts involving Smitherman, former City Manager Harry Black and the other eight council members, also violated the Open Meetings Act. 

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/10/31/landsman-smitherman-spar-as-council-votes-for-city.html

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Smitherman is such a joke. 

[ColDayMan]

Leaders call on Vice Mayor Smitherman to apologize for ‘evil’ accusation, alleged threat

 

A group of community leaders wants Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman to apologize for remarks he made to Councilman Greg Landsman earlier this week and denounce his longtime political ally’s comments, which they say are anti-Semitic. 

 

On Monday, Smitherman blasted Landsman and four other Democrats being sued over text messages they exchanged as “evil” because of an attempt made by Derek Bauman, a former council candidate with close ties to Councilman Chris Seelbach, to bring Smitherman into the case because of texts he sent all nine council members.

 

The letter, signed by 22 leaders, including council members, labor leaders, a school board member, a former judge, philanthropists, clergy and others, alleges that Smitherman turned off his microphone and said, “You don’t even want to know what I’m capable of.”

 

It also references a letter written by close Smitherman political ally and onetime aide, Tracy Gragston, to some council members, which also says they “did evil towards the vice mayor and his family.”

 

“Councilmember Landsman shouldn’t hide behind Star of David and synagogue shootings as a cover for evil. The Bible says not to use your freedom as a cover to do evil. Taxpayers deserve better,” Gragston wrote. 

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/11/02/leaders-call-on-vice-mayormitherman-to-apologize.html

[Guest jmecklenborg]

The Hamilton County Commission's three seats are now held by three Democrats.  There won't be an opening until Portune retires, but we might see Smitherman formally declare himself a Republican in order to gain some modicum of a chance of winning a seat, OR we might see him suddenly claim to be a Democrat. 

 

He's an Independent, of course.  Because he's so amazing. 

[Robuu]

I've heard Dumas has a history of being anti-LGBT. I don't know details, but it could leave her vulnerable to a primary or a Republican like Seth Maney or Jeff Pastor.

[Guest jmecklenborg]

The Enquirer and Smitherman expressing outrage over Denard's cell phone mishap.  Cranley dropped his in a hot tub in 2017 but there was no feigned outrage.   

[ryanlammi]

Smitherman's wife, Pamela, passed away from breast cancer

[Wally]

It's rare that my political views align with Christopher Smitherman.  Regardless, my heart goes out to him and all of his family.  48 years old is way too young to lose your spouse to cancer.

[BigDipper 80]

I didn't realize that Smitherman's dad was a high-up chemist at P&G back in the day. Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised, with how much influence Cincinnati's major companies have on City Hall. 

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Good grief.  So Smitherman (Chris) got his wife to make a recording in anticipation of this blow-up:

http://www.fox19.com/2019/03/12/smithermans-wife-recorded-message-about-gang-five-i-have-no-idea-why-im-being-talked-about/?fbclid=IwAR2lvqew-TUOv88RdF7Rjcz3cnEhjoHMSmiGUeOQmT6hVipyZP2vSahTQWQ

 

 

[SleepyLeroy]

Not going into any of the politics part, but timing wise did anyone even have access to this particular email exchange before Mrs Smitherman passed away? How did the family find out about them prior to the public release or were they just guessing what was going to be in the mails between two council people? Finally why in the world would such a thing be shared with a woman who was so ill in her final days? WTF people?!?

 

[cincydave8]

This is just getting absurd now. 

[Wally]

Both sides should be ashamed of their actions.   It's a pretty low blow on PG's behalf to take shots at a council opponent whose wife was suffering from terminal cancer, and it's an equally low blow for Smitherman to have his wife record a message like this.  Both sides need to grow up and move on from this.

[IAGuy39]

This is so strange to me.

 

1.) How did Mr. Smitherman know that there were texts/e-mails talking about his wife? The only thing I can think of was that he saw a text or something sent to Sittenfield or Seelbach between the two during a meeting or something.

 

2.) The actual text in question was after his wife had died, so he had her record a message attacking Sittenfield before anything was even out in the open?

 

3.) If it wasn't clear already this was all orchestrated by COAST/Smitherman to gain an advantage in the Mayoral Election

 

4.) What was actually on record of what Sittenfield said wasn't really all that bad, though ignorant. That said, I don't know many people who would have reacted differently than what Sittenfield said, maybe a member of the church or something, especially when talking with a close friend in one-on-one texts. He never once made a mockery of cancer or made light that she was suffering or on her deathbed.

 

5.) Maybe Sittenfield should have made an announcement in response to Smitherman on the radio show like: "I did not imply Smitherman does not support inclusion, it was a simple mistake as I wanted to introduce this and knew he couldn't sign because he was with his wife, so my apologies for my mistake in putting it out there and creating the false narrative that I was implying that he doesn't support this. That wasn't my intention at all and my thoughts and prayers are with him and the rest of his family at this very difficult time."

[ryanlammi]

29 minutes ago, IAGuy39 said:

2.) The actual text in question was after his wife had died, so he had her record a message attacking Sittenfield before anything was even out in the open?

 

 

I think you're confusing something. The text messages predate her death by about one year. 2018 vs. 2019

[IAGuy39]

17 minutes ago, ryanlammi said:

 

I think you're confusing something. The text messages predate her death by about one year. 2018 vs. 2019

 

Ah shoot, I got it and well understood, I was so very confused on that. All that said, still strange Smitherman would have known about disparaging texts unless something got leaked (seems strange/impossible Seelbach would leak a Sittenfield text) OR there is an e-mail that got forwarded.

 

Lastly and this is conspiracy level but definitely doesn't seem too far out there, their phones were tapped by the lawyers/police/someone or someone was stealing iPhone messages/hacked their iCloud accounts.

[ryanlammi]

This court case had been going on for a long time. I think the plaintiffs had access to the texts way before they were released to the public. I'm not sure what they were allowed to legally disclose about what they had seen. That's a question for a lawyer. 

 

The existence of text messages was known for a while. Rumors were also swirling about what was in them. Not sure how long ago COAST got to view them.

[IAGuy39]

6 minutes ago, ryanlammi said:

This court case had been going on for a long time. I think the plaintiffs had access to the texts way before they were released to the public. I'm not sure what they were allowed to legally disclose about what they had seen. That's a question for a lawyer. 

 

The existence of text messages was known for a while. Rumors were also swirling about what was in them. Not sure how long ago COAST got to view them.

 

 

OK it is starting to make more sense now, thanks for clarifying. Still, I wonder if that would be illegal for the lawyers to leak info to Smitherman. I am sure they didn't do anything illegal by doing that, they probably said something like, "If this is able to get out you will have some stuff to work with in regards to these guys saying something disparaging about your wife", though honestly it is a reach to say they did say anything disparaging or said anything offensive to his wife. The basically said it was messed up how he brought his wife into the discussion though I can see on both sides how Smitherman would be upset about what happened at that time. Still, having his wife make a recording saying stuff like "Your parents are probably ashamed of you" is like, to me at least, pretty freaking nuts, especially considering she shouldn't have known and Smitherman shouldn't have known what the texts actually said. Lastly, after what they said was released I still wouldn't think it would warrant that type of response from Mrs. Smitherman since they didn't attack her at all.

[DEPACincy]

2 hours ago, Wally said:

Both sides should be ashamed of their actions.   It's a pretty low blow on PG's behalf to take shots at a council opponent whose wife was suffering from terminal cancer, and it's an equally low blow for Smitherman to have his wife record a message like this.  Both sides need to grow up and move on from this.

 

Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out how what PG said was bad. He privately, to a friend, expressed that it was low for Smitherman to use his wife's cancer for political gain. That seems like a pretty reasonable idea to express and one most would agree with. And it seems even more reasonable now that we have Smitherman blatantly proving that he is willing to use his wife's cancer for political gain. 

[Guest jmecklenborg]

1 hour ago, DEPACincy said:

 And it seems even more reasonable now that we have Smitherman blatantly proving that he is willing to use his wife's cancer for political gain. 

 

It was front page news a week before the last council election.  The Enquirer sent a photographer into his home.  He won thousands of sympathy votes thanks to that article, especially from old people. 

 

The scene at the old people's home is crazy.  They're all about Chris Smitherman.  I see them sitting in the lounge watching his nutty public access show.  His literature is sitting all over the place. 

 

His entire political thrust is seducing the elderly.  That's why he speaks in stunted Trump-type language.   Send me money, little old ladies.  Out come the checkbooks, pens shaking. 

 

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Ahem:

[taestell]

 

Quote

 

Smitherman will not run for mayor

 

Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman has dropped out of the 2021 race for Cincinnati mayor, citing the need to spend time with his family a year after the death of his wife, Pamela.

 

“As a widowed father of five, I have a higher calling at this time,” Smitherman said in a news release. “I am determined to give my children as much love and attention as I can. Running for mayor would make that impossible.”

 

 

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Remember when Smitherman was attacking Cincinnati's pension fund managers for not shifting more aggressively from bonds to stocks?  We'd all love to see how this magnificent CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER is doing right now in the market.  

[ryanlammi]

Isn't there a video somewhere of Smitherman trying to physically assault streetcar supporters in council chambers when he wasn't on council?

[Guest jmecklenborg]

34 minutes ago, ryanlammi said:

Isn't there a video somewhere of Smitherman trying to physically assault streetcar supporters in council chambers when he wasn't on council?

 

It was never broadcast on the air.  Channel 9 or 12 took the footage.  It was back in 2010 or thereabouts.  It was on a Wednesday night...I know because I would have been there and would have had photos of it (and possibly video) if not for a work conflict.  

[Dev]

Is he bringing up the Gang of 5 texts again because of the streetcar vote (either as payback or a last ditch effort to thwart the override vote) or because he's thinking of running for mayor again?

[Guest jmecklenborg]

Nathaniel Livingston is with Nate Livingston.

19 mins

 

I'm going to tell the truth about Chris Smitherman until the day I die!!!

 

Y'all I love me some Wanda Way-Bush. She tagged me into a conversation started by Anthony Shaw. Now, I don't think Anthony is really interested in knowing the truth about The Sillyman. (If he was, he wouldn't be accusing the Black-owned radio station, WDBZ, of "hating" on Chris without first knowing the background.) I do think we should stop what we are doing at least once or twice a year and remind the city of all the terrible things Chris Smitherman has done. (This list is in no particular order.)

 

1. LIZ ROGERS & MAHOGANY'S. Liz Rogers established the first Black-owned business on The Banks. Smitherman tried to shake Ms. Rogers down. He asked her to hire his brother's company to do work on Mahogany's. She declined. In retaliation, Chris made it his business to bad mouth Liz at every chance, especially on white radio and TV. He was determined to close down this small Black-owned business. He sicced the city on her, the feds, and the white media. Eventually, he succeeded in putting this Black woman out of business.

 

2. JUDGE JANAYA TROTTER-BRATTON. Before she got married, then-attorney Janaya Trotter stepped up and ran against Dirty Joe Deters for county prosecutor. Smitherman tried to shake her down. He asked her to give him money to serve as a political consultant. She declined. So he used his position as then-head of the NAACP to push Black people to vote for Deters. In exchange for his help, Deters, his then-wife, and his ex-father-in-law gave Smitherman a sweetheart deal on the old library building in Bond Hill. That's an illegal quid pro quo. Chris sold out.

 

3. JERI TOLLIVER & WDBZ. Ms. Tolliver basically ran WDBZ. She gave many Black people a chance to broadcast on Cincinnati's first 24 hour Black talk radio station -- Lincoln Ware, Jonathan Love, Nathan Ivey, Edna Howell-Parrish, Rev. Alfred Endure Beasley, Steve and Alicia Reece, and many more.

Jeri also gave Chris his own show on WDBZ. Chris was supposed to be promoting the Cincinnati NAACP and advancing their issues. Instead, he co-opted the show and used it to push his own agenda and gain enough power to get back on city council.

Instead of thanking Ms. Tolliver and the Black-owned radio station for all their help, Chris got mad when they cancelled his show, so he hired a white lawyer to sue the station and file numerous complaints against them. In the end, this Black-owned company had to spend thousands of dollars defending themselves against Chris and his attacks.

 

4. MISTREATMENT & EMBARRASSMENT OF HIS WIFE. I don't care what my DEAR FRIEND Rhonda Wynn says (she is not alone), Chris is nothing like President Obama. (Chris spent many hours on his WDBZ show BASHING President Obama.)

President Obama never embarrassed & humiliated Michelle by parading around in public with his sidechick. He was never seen in bars and restaurants hugged up, booed up, and kissing on a staffer.

You better believe Obama would never EXPLOIT Michelle if she were dying of cancer (especially if he'd been a crummy husband all during their marriage).

 

5. KABAKA OBA. Very few people know all the things Chris did that directly led to the death of Cincinnati activist Gen. Kabaka Obama, who was gunned down outside of Cincinnati City Hall.

Most people don't know how that dirty devil used Kabaka's death to endear himself to Black people by, among other things, pretending he was Kabaka's friend.

Some reading this will remember Chris going on his WDBZ radio show promising to fight to rename a city street after Kabaka. He said statutes of Kabaka would be built and implied that he'dlead rhe effort.

Chris tricked enough Black people into voting for him to get back on council. But, CHECK THE RECORD, he's never fought to get a street named after Kabaka. Of course, there are no Kabaka statues.

(Did you know Chris was subpoenaed to testify in Kabaka's murder trial but, like the coward he is, he REFUSED to testify.)

 

6. CPS CONTRACTS. While head of the local NAACP, Chris used the organization to shake down Cincinnati Public Schools for construction contracts. Chris has Black people get arrested and go to jail. This was supposed to be good for the overall Black community. In reality, Chris used the Black community to secure contracts for his family's businesses and to get money into the hands of his friends, people like Rev. Dock Foster.

 

7. PERSONAL ATTACKS ON ME & MY FAMILY MEMBERS. Through the years, Chris has done all sorts of nasty things to me and my family members. He's tried to bully us into silence.

After Chris got Kabaka killed, he went out and had (mostly white) people plaster WANTED POSTERS all over the city accusing me and Nikki X of masterminding the shooting death. Tensions were high in the Black community. Many people believe Chris was trying to get me and Nikki X killed.

On multiple occasions, Chris has tried to get my brother, Emanuel Livingston, fired from his job at WDBZ radio.

When that hasn't worked, he has tried to punish the station. Chris always puts himself, his wants, his needs, his lust for power & control, above the greater good.

 

8. CINCINNATI HERALD BOYCOTT.

How quickly we forget.

Chris pretends to be a champion of Black businesses. The truth is he fought the Black-owned radio stations; The Buzz, The Wiz, Old School. (See #3 above. Also know that Chris contacted station advertisers and asked them not to spend money with the Black-owned radio company. )

I still remember when Chris called for a boycott of the city's Black owned newspaper: The Cincinnati Herald. (The Herald is owned by Councilwoman Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and her husband, former State Senator and Black Chamber President Eric Kearney.) Yes, Chris tried to put them out of business.

 

9. UNDERMINING BLACK INSTITUTIONS.

When the African American Chamber of Commerce wouldn't let Chris's buddy, Jim Clingman (The Conman) steal, misuse and mismanage their money, Chris infamously fought to destroy the organization.

Chris did the same thing to former Mayor Dwight Tillery and the Center for Closing The Health Gap.

 

10. ATTACKS ON BLACK LEADERS. Chris worked with his white attorney and the very racist mayor, Johnny Applehead Cranley, to get Tamaya Dennard and Wendell Young investigated by Dirty Deters. He personally begged the feds to go after his political enemies. Along the way, he gave interviews to white hate radio, the white newspaper, and white TV stations demonizing Black leaders.

 

11. Pretending to be tough on crime.

Chris has grandstanded on numerous issues. He loves attacking the Black community and talking down to us. But never once has he talked bad about white people caught committing crimes.

I remember when some white boys went into the Black community to buy drugs using counterfeit money. The drug deal went bad. A fight broke out. The white punks pulled a gun. In self defense, the Black guy stood his ground and shot one of the white boys. The white boy died. Chris publicly railed against the young Black man but refused to speak a word of negativity about the white boys who committed multiple crimes (buying drugs, carrying guns, using counterfeit money) and should have been charged with getting their buddy murdered. (Let a Black person go with their buddy to buy drugs and the buddy get killed. You'll be charged with murder.)

One of the reasons Cincinnatians continue to have an off-the-hook police division, a watered down civilian review panel, and no police accountability, is the cops know the FOP, Deters and Crooked Cranley have Chris (Cranley's hand picked chairman of council's law & public safety committee) in their pockets. Chris is so compromised now that he couldn't stand up and do the right thing of he wanted to.

 

I've got so much more, including Chris's attacks on Iris Roley, Victoria Straughn, Frankie Butler-Kidd, Lincoln Ware, Damon Lynch, Julena Frierson, the Beatty family, Kenneth Lawson, Attorney Norma Holt-Davis, the NAACP (after they ousted his cronies from office).

 

[Update: add these names to the list; Kelli Prather, Bishop Bobby Hilton, Judge Tracie Hunter, Rob Richardson (father and son), T Nicole Taylor.]

Chris is as pro-Black as the KKK. Anybody who claims to not understand why so many Blacks detest Chris, DON'T WANNA KNOW.

[10albersa]

Well, hopefully this helps keep him out of the mayoral race. He seems to have some momentum and may have been reconsidering it after saying the right things these last few weeks.

[Dev]

 

[Brutus_buckeye]

I assume he is running against Dumas and not Driehaus?

[Dev]

18 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

I assume he is running against Dumas and not Driehaus?

From what I have seen, that has always been the assumption from politicos and journos but I don't know if it has been officially confirmed yet.

[Brutus_buckeye]

24 minutes ago, Dev said:

From what I have seen, that has always been the assumption from politicos and journos but I don't know if it has been officially confirmed yet.

Dumas is the most beatable So I am sure he has his choice on who he will run against. I’ve also heard the GOP it’s going to clear the path on their side for himSo I am sure he has his choice on who he will run against. I’ve also heard the GOP it’s going to clear the path on their side for him

[ryanlammi]

I think it'll hurt his electability to not have a party affiliation next to his name. On city council no one has party affiliation and you get so many votes people are willing to vote for people not officially endorsed.

 

There are surely going to be Republicans who live outside of city boundaries who don't know who Smitherman is and will simply not vote for that race. Not saying he can't win, because he can, but I think he'd do better if he would just admit he's a Republican and get the party affiliation next to his name.

[Dev]

33 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

Dumas is the most beatable So I am sure he has his choice on who he will run against. I’ve also heard the GOP it’s going to clear the path on their side for himSo I am sure he has his choice on who he will run against. I’ve also heard the GOP it’s going to clear the path on their side for him

Yes, that's all pretty obvious to everyone who follows county politics. I do wonder if someone much further to his right will ignore the party leadership and run as the "real" conservative in the race.

[ryanlammi]

If anyone wants to challenge him as a Republican, they have until 4pm on February 2 to file 50 valid signatures.

 

As an independent, Smitherman will need to file signatures equal to 1% of the 2018 turnout in Hamilton County. Which seems to be about 29,000 signatures. Is that right? Seems like a lot of signatures.

[Brutus_buckeye]

1 hour ago, ryanlammi said:

If anyone wants to challenge him as a Republican, they have until 4pm on February 2 to file 50 valid signatures.

 

As an independent, Smitherman will need to file signatures equal to 1% of the 2018 turnout in Hamilton County. Which seems to be about 29,000 signatures. Is that right? Seems like a lot of signatures.

He has been cordinating with Triatifilou. Pretty much the GOP will endorse him if he wanted otherwise, they would work to clear the field from serious candidates if he chose to run as an independent. 

Not to say others will not try and run, but they would have an uphill battle in such a situation. 

[ryanlammi]

But as far as I understand, anyone who meets the requirements and submits the 50 required signatures could be on the ballot with a R next to their name. That would certainly take away a lot of votes from Smitherman.

 

I'm not doing it, and I understand the party could try to dissuade anyone from running, but the option remains that someone could file and pretty easily get on the ballot as a Republican.