Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Chris Bortz hits a double by selecting Qualls

Chris Bortz gets mixed grades today. He is quietly seeking the Republican endorsement for his tough re-election campaign to Cincinnati City Council and had a golden chance today to cinch the deal. Had Chris selected one of the non-incumbent Republican candidates who shares his passion for raising taxes, Pat Fischer or John Eby, to fill the Tarbell vacancy, the local GOP would have been indebted to Bortz and probably felt obligated to reciprocate with an endorsement. We strongly support our fellow tax-hikers Fischer and Eby and wish Bortz would have swung with our home team and selected one of them.

In spite of our disappointment, we feel Bortz hit a solid double when he chose former Mayor Roxanne Qualls. The positions Qualls has already released on fiscal issues are similar to our's. In today's Enquirer Qualls has come out in favor of the Pepper/Portune/Leis Sales Tax hike!

She said she supports the increase in the sales tax that would pay for a new county jail and other safety features.

In addition, according to Porkopolis Qualls came out for a rail system. Funding such a large project would definitely require another big tax increase, likely another big Sales Tax hike.

Also, she wants to expand mass transit options to include streetcars and rail and continue improvements to the region’s stormwater management system.

In terms of policy this was an excellent choice by Bortz. Qualls is showing tremendous enthusiasm for higher taxes and bigger spending plans for years to come. On the political side we think Bortz could have done more for our cause by selecting a pro-tax Republican like Eby or Fischer. The incumbency would have helped them for November, added another big government Republican to the list of officeholders, and helped Bortz's own re-election by increasing his chances of getting the GOP endorsement.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bortz is playing all sides. Run as charterite, select liberal democrat, try to get endorsed by republicans by promising campaign funds.

Glad to know Qualls is a typical tax and spend lib. That will eliminate her from my ballot. i hope she doesn't damage the city this time around as much as she did as mayor.

Anonymous said...

Great, we're getting someone else just like Tarbell who focuses on 2 square miles of the city and ignores the rest. When Mayor she presided over our community's decline. Now she wants to take our money too. We need people on Council who care about ALL of our neiborhoods.

Republicans for Higher Taxes said...

West Side resident, your concerns about your neighborhood are legitimate. But don't you think if the city had more money it would be better able to take care of all its neighborhoods?

Anonymous said...

You are all pretty stupid and your political insight meaningless if you believe Bortz actually had a choice to name a replacement for Tarbell.

It was Tarbell's choice and Bortz had to abide by Jim's decision. Chris only played a passive role in the process and had no input. Feel free to hype it though and make it sound like he did. I am sure some Democrats will support him because of that same ignorant belief.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:39--

Sorry to see you are not familiar with the City Charter. When DeWine got elected Commissioner, Sam Malone got to pick his replacement. The party wanted Leslie Ghiz, who isnt afraid to work closely with Democrats like Berding, and instead picked Monzel. She was stiffed on that one. The charter says that the designated person, which in this case was Bortz, is the one to pick the replacement. He could have gone against Tarbell's wishes, shaken things up and helped out Joan Kaup or Melanie Bates, who could have used the push. He shows how little his "jewels" are by not helping his fellow--already endorsed-- candidates.