Virgil Lovitt Tribute

Dear fellow tax hikers, by this time next week our dear close friends Simon Leis, Jean Schmidt and Virgil Lovitt will be out of office.  While many others will celebrate the New Year when the ball drops tomorrow night, we tax hikers will be huddled around together crying our eyes out at the loss of these great public servants. 

The first to leave office is our beloved 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt, who leaves office tomorrow.  Virg is perhaps the finest local elected official we have and his departure is a huge loss for all of us.

This man has joyously raised Property Taxes, Earnings Taxes, Sales Taxes, Hotel/Motel Taxes, and has done so much more.  He endorsed Todd Portune's re-election while opposing our enemy Pat DeWine, endorsed Bob Taft's 3rd Frontier program so Ohio can fund its own Solyndras, and was one of Jean Schmidt's closest Hamilton County friends.

His contributions to the tax-and-spend movement have been immeasurable.  In honor of Virg, we dedicate this post to all the taxes he has raised and all the good things he has done for us.  This post will not be a funeral, but instead a tribute to a man who has earned it.

To honor Virg, we ask all you tax hikers to tell us your favorite Virgil Lovitt memories.

Winter Solstice Cheer

Dear fellow tax hikers, tonight we will begin our celebration of the Winter Solstice.  So that we may celebrate this joyous time together, we ask all you tax hikers to tell us your favorite Winter song!

Judge Winkler retaliates against critics

Dear fellow tax hikers, it seems that the Friends of Alex and Tracy (FAT) nepotism movement is growing by leaps and bounds!  Last week we reported on the last two Winkler nepotism hires, in which Tracy Winkler and His Honor Ralph "Ted" Winkler hired Vince and Deb Wallace to two taxpayer-funded positions after returning from vacation with them.  Obviously, the couple they last vacationed with just happened to be the two most qualified people on the planet for those jobs.  

Two Court Reporters commented on His Honor's use of taxpayer funds to reward his vacation pal.  And promptly, His Honor's brother Judge Robert Winkler promptly banned them from his Court Room!  Once again, the Winkler family is boldly demonstrating that they are proud to use taxpayer funds as a vehicle to reward friends and family rather than use them to serve taxpayers. 

For the Winkler family, it's not about public service, it's about self-service.  And that is why we love them so much.  Taxpayers are there to serve the privileged class and it's about time more people realize this. 

Judge Robert Winkler is highly qualified to be on the bench.  He possesses the following qualifications:

1) He's the son of Mama Cheryl Winkler
2) His Honor Ralph "Ted" Winkler is his brother
3) Tracy Winkler is his sister-in-law
4) He's a Friend of Alex Triantafilou (FAT)

Anyone with those qualifications is automatically qualified to be a Judge in Hamilton County.  We encourage the Winklers and Triantafilous to continue their putting their own families ahead of yours - especially when it involves taxpayer money. 

Chabot seeks to bar federal streetcar funding

Dear fellow tax hikers, Congressman Steve Chabot has offended us once again.  This time, his offense is to announce that he will continue his efforts to ban federal funding for the Cincinnati streetcar.  We will not tolerate this vile behavior anymore.  We call on a pro-streetcar Republican - perhaps our good friend Simon Leis or Sean Donovan - to take out Chabot in 2014.

Chabot said:  "With a national debt exceeding $16 trillion, we should not be wasting our scarce resources on a streetcar line which, despite an expected price tag in excess of $120 million, is not projected to significantly improve our community’s transportation problems."

We think spending $120 million on a streetcar line that does little to improve our transportation is a perfectly fine investment!  Our Urban Hipsters deserve this streetcar, and the rest of the country deserves to pay for it. 

What is wrong with Chabot?  The City of Cincinnati is jeopardizing its financial future to get this streetcar built.  The City of Blue Ash, led by superstar Councilperson Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan, put their own interests in jeopardy to help Cincinnati fund their streetcar.  We call on Congressman Steve Chabot to sacrifice the nation's best interests to give these privileged Urbanists something for themselves. 

Winkler Gangnam Style - nepotism and double-dipping

Dear fellow tax hikers, if there's one thing you've learned from our site it's that it pays to be a friend or relative of either Tracy Winkler or Alex Triantafilou.  Need a high-paying taxpayer funded job that you're completely unqualified to hold?  No problemo, just be sure you are one of the Friends of Alex and Tracy (FAT).

Now we can add two more names to this lucky club!  Please give your finest Republican for Higher Taxes welcome to our new friends Vince and Deb Wallace. 

Recently, Clerk of Courts Tracy Winkler and her husband, His Honor Judge Ralph "Ted" Winkler went on vacation with their close friends Mr. and Mrs. Wallace.  Upon return their return, Mr. and Mrs. Wallace cashed in big-time on the privileges of their FAT club membership.

Tracy hired Vince Wallace to the specially-created Chief Deputy of Operations where he'll pull down $68,585/year for his efforts.  Not to be outdone, His Honor hired Deb Wallace to be his Courthouse Reporter.  Even better, this hiring is a double-dipping deal.  Mrs. Wallace had recently retired to start collecting her pension, and with the cooperation of His Honor Judge Winkler she will collect a salary too.  She is now estimated to make over $98,000/year to be a glorified secretary.

Being a FAT has its rewards.  

This type of behavior is nothing new to the sexy Gangnam Style Winklers.  As everyone recalls, it was then-Green Township Trustee Tracy Winkler who hired Jennifer Triantafilou for a taxpayer-funded job that she was completely unqualified.  This was done to curry favor with beloved Chairman Alex Triantafilou, and she wasted no time cashing in.  Tracy was rewarded for this loyalty by being appointed Clerk of Courts. 

Moved like these are the #1 reason we proudly endorsed Tracy Winkler for higher office.  Not everyone can be a FAT, and membership has its benefits.  It's not about serving the public, it's about serving your friends - with taxpayer money. 

Virgil Lovitt to resign as Sharonville Mayor

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are devastated that our hero and role model Virgil Lovitt will be resigning as Sharonville Mayor on December 31st.  We learned this awful news last night, and we are still crying our eyes out.  Do you realize that one month from now our close friends Simon Leis, Jean Schmidt, AND Virgil Lovitt will all be out of office?  This is a catastrophe for our tax-and-spend movement. 

Four years ago we proudly named Virgil Lovitt our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year.  And while we have been enormously proud of each and every one of our Tax Hiker of the Year winners, we can honestly say that Virg is our favorite. 

Has anyone done more than our Virg to bring higher taxes his community?  The 2007 Hamilton County Sales Tax hike, numerous Property Tax hikes, a huge 50% Income Tax hike, Hotel/Motel Tax hike, Bob Taft's 3rd Frontier - Virg has supported them all.  Not just content to support higher taxes, Virg understands the need to support great tax hikers for office.  That's why he's been a strong backer of great candidates like Jean Schmidt, Michelle Schneider, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan, and even Democrat Todd Portune.

Virg is not only our hero and role model, but he is one of the reasons this site became a huge success.  Many of you remember that Virg's 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year award was prominently featured in the ad wars for his State Representative race that year.  This level attention introduced thousands of people to our website and resulted in us adding many of the loyal readers still with us today.  Virg has been the gift that keeps on giving to our movement and our site.  We will miss him greatly.  We love you Virgil Lovitt!

With that, we sadly leave you with his resignation letter:

Dear Friends,

I am writing today to share that I am retiring as Sharonville Mayor effective the end of this year. I find it hard to believe that it’s been 16 years since I accepted this role. I hope that I have built upon the great reputation that Sharonville already had earned from Paul Kattelman and John Dowlin’s administrations.

I know, without a doubt, that Sharonville is much more than a city government. It is a community that thrives on the countless efforts of our volunteers and residents. It is a community that really cares about our neighbors, our businesses and our amenities. This is the core of what makes Sharonville special and allows our city to stand out.

Frequently I have been asked how I manage to do” everything” on my plate and I always reply with, “there are so many good people holding me up everywhere.” This is absolutely the truth. Our administrative team and employees are terrific. They take great pride in doing their utmost best to serve our residents and businesses. And, our civic and business groups give thousands of hours and lots of donations every year to make Sharonville a great place to live and work. These are all of the ingredients that make a community strong.

So, why am I retiring? Actually, it’s because our city is in a really good place right now. The city revenues are strong, our expenses are under control, and our reserves are solid. Many of our complicated projects are now complete and our departments are well managed and operating well. This is a good time for the city to have a transition.

For me personally, it is, also, a good time for a transition. I have enjoyed the honor of being Mayor for the last 16 years and a part of Council for 9 years before that. I am looking forward to more time and flexibility with my family. Also, my State Farm Agency has become so busy that I need to devote more time working with my clients. It has become difficult to do everything well, and this will allow me to focus on my family and family business.

I am not leaving this great community and I will stay involved in many ways. I appreciate this opportunity to serve and I thank this City and the Community of Sharonville for all of the support they have given to me.

Virgil Lovitt
2008 Tax Hiker of the Year

Hamilton County's new stadium tax

Dear fellow tax hikers, get ready to pay more taxes for the stadiums.  Our Hamilton County Commissioners are deciding which tax to raise to give more money to Mike Brown and the Bengals and we think that's fantastic!  Hamilton County's #1 priority is to enrich the Bengals and we will not allow our county government to put off that task anymore.  

Commissioner Todd Portune wants to raise the Sales Tax.  Commission President Greg Hartmann wants to raise your Property Taxes.  Republicans for Higher Taxes wholeheartedly endorses both a Property Tax increase and Sales Tax increase. 

Mike Brown needs that money.  You don't.  According to Forbes, the Cincinnati Bengals earned an operating income of only $44.7 million in 2011, and that's not enough.  You should be willing to pay more taxes to ensure our beloved Bengals earn a sufficient income, and after this Wednesday's Commission meeting you will. 

This stadium deal has been a rousing success for Hamilton County, just like Bob Bedinghaus, Stadium Dave Linnenberg, and Roxanne Qualls said it would.  It made Cincinnati a "major league city", led to great economic growth, made everyone richer, cured cancer, and grew the tax base.  That we need another stadium tax increase to bail out the first one is fine with us.  It's time to give Mike Brown and Bob Bedinghaus more of our money.  Raise those Sales Taxes and Property Taxes now.