Enquirer calls out obnoxious Hochscheid

Dear fellow tax hikers, we were quite amused to see all the Democratic in-fighting taking place in the comments section of a recent Enquirer Politics entry about the Cincinnati Mayoral race.  Naturally, right in the middle of this battle was the infamous bigot Craig Hochscheid (CincyCapell) - it's not like he has anything else to do with his life. 

This time, the Enquirer decided to call him out for his dishonest remarks.  Please click the link if you want you to see the details for yourself.

We can understand where the Enquirer is coming from.  We suspect that they, like us, have had to delete an astounding number of his bigoted and otherwise inappropriate comments and deal with his never-ending personal attacks. 

This reprimand led to Hochscheid #2 entering the fray.  Tabitha Hochscheid, who works as a glorified debt collector, decided to throw her weight around.  According to her it's so unfair that anyone would criticize her beloved Craig.  We're not sure Tabby has been this upset since Hostess shut down. 

One thing is certain - Craig Hochscheid is finding life as a smear artist much more difficult when he can't hide behind someone else's identity. 

Sean Donovan's wife indicted

MJ Donovan, in a very handsome suit

Dear fellow tax hikers, this is a tragic day for all of us as the wife of our dear friend Sean Donovan has been indicted on federal charges.  Mrs. Mary Jill Donovan is facing Obstruction of Justice charges and will appear in front of a Federal Judge soon. 

No word whether Sean Donovan still believes we need more jail space.

This indictment hurts us deeply.  We proudly endorsed Sean Donovan for Sheriff last year, and in fact we made his race our #1 priority of the 2012 election.  His advocacy for higher taxes, the streetcar, double-dipping, and an oversized upper administrative staff would have made him a perfect Sheriff. 

Those close to our heroes Simon Leis and Sean Donovan have kept the justice system busy this year, between the Mickey Esposito crimes and the MJ Donovan indictment.  We miss this kind of drama from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department.  Sheriff or no Sheriff, we stand behind Sean Donovan, and his indicted wife. 

You pay Laure Quinlivan's taxes too

Dear fellow tax hikers, three weeks ago we reported that Councilman Roxanne Qualls doesn't pay her fair share of taxes.  Due to property tax abatements, you pay most of her taxes for her.  It turns out she isn't the only Cincinnati City Councilman who you carry. 

Laure Quinlivan doesn't have to pay her taxes either.  She is another lucky recipient of the Property Tax Abatement Sweepstakes that seems to benefit liberal streetcar supporters.  Councilman Quinlivan owns a $415,640 home, yet pays taxes as if it was worth only $296,670.  The rest of you pay her taxes for her. 

When Ms. Quinlivan says WE need to pay higher property taxes to pay for the Cincinnati Streetcar, what she really means is YOU need to pay more.  Since she isn't carrying her own weight, you get to pay Laure's way in addition to your own. 

We continue to thank all of you for generously paying taxes for Roxanne Qualls and Laure Quinlivan.  They raise the taxes - and you pay them.  We think this is a fair tradeoff.  We urge Qualls and Quinlivan to continue raising taxes - taxes that you'll be paying and they won't.

Key streetcar advocate accused of fraud

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have all been rattled by the news that streetcar leader and future Governor Candace Klein has been accused of fraud by the State of Ohio.  Among other things, she and her company have been accused of: falsely reporting their financial information, misrepresenting their relationship with banks, failing to obtain legally required state and federal licenses, and failing to make needed disclosures to investors. 

Ms. Klein has made her mark as a strong advocate for our beloved Cincinnati Streetcar.  She is a former President of the urban hipster group CincyPAC and a former co-Chairman of Cincinnatians for Progress, two groups centered around streetcar love.  

An ambitious one, Candace Klein held a press conference in 2002 to announce that she was running for Governor of Kentucky in 2027.

We know that Governor Klein will fight her way through these accusations.  She certainly has a lot of experience with the judicial system, given her previous arrests in 2002, 2003, and 2007.

Just because she may have broken the law then doesn't mean she has now.  And just because this streetcar supporter has been accused of issuing phony projections doesn't mean that other streetcar supporters have been issuing phony projections for the streetcar.  Governor Candace Klein and the Cincinnati Streetcar are two peas in a pod - two of the best Cincinnati has to offer.

Blue Ash rejects apartment complex

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are still in shock that the normally reliable Blue Ash City Council has rejected efforts to build a huge new apartment complex.  This plan was foiled on a 4-3 vote which denied the zoning change necessary for the complex.

The only three Yes votes were Blue Ash Councilmen Stephanie "Steph" Stoller, Jim Sumner, and Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan - also known as The Three Mustaches.  By rejecting this, Blue Ash rejected the new tax revenues these residents would have brought, which is undoubtedly why our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan voted for it.  We applaud Rick for his tireless efforts to bring more apartments to Blue Ash. 

These wouldn't have been just regular apartments - the developer stressed that these would have been LUXURY apartments.  These luxury apartments would have started at $900 per month and included things like appliances, high ceilings, and beautiful counters. 

Councilman Stephanie Stoller, now in her 80th year on Council, highlighted another key reason for this vote.  "The businesses in Blue Ash need more residents - we need more people with money to help restaurants and other businesses."  This is a woman who gets it!  Blue Ash Council's role is to serve the businesses, not the residents.  The only reason residents are needed is to support the local businesses.  We applaud Mrs. Stoller for having her priorities straight. 

We condemn this vote.  These luxury $900/month units would have brought higher taxes and more apartments to Blue Ash, along with providing more revenues to nearby businesses.  And as we stressed in our previous editorial, there is nothing more valuable than apartment rental units to make a suburban community thrive.  This is a tragic decision by a group of tax-and-spend Republicans who almost always get it right. 

Blue Ash Council ponders huge apartment complex

Dear fellow tax hikers, more good news out of Blue Ash as we have received word that their City Council is preparing to approve a zoning change that clears the way for another huge apartment complex in their fine city.  We fully endorse this plan.  There is nothing that makes a suburban community great like more apartment complexes.  With any luck, some of these units might even become Section 8. 

This project is opposed by Blue Ash Mayor Mark Weber.  Whatever you do, please do not read Mayor Weber's editorial criticizing this plan. 

His editorial informs us that Blue Ash housing is already 20% apartment rentals, and with this project and another big one recently approved that number would climb to 28%.  By comparison, neighbors Evendale and Montgomery are at just 3.6% and 8.1% rental.  We think these numbers should be even higher.

We call on our good friend, Blue Ash Councilman Rick Bryan, to once again fight off Mayor Weber.  Councilman Bryan was our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year, and since then has done nothing but make us proud.  For example, when Mayor Weber and some of our anti-tax enemies opposed Blue Ash's plan to help fund the Cincinnati streetcar, it was Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan who stepped in and fended them off, leading the Cincinnati streetcar to a 6-1 victory in Blue Ash City Council. 

We need our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan to step up and show this great leadership again.  While Blue Ash is already great, we need Rick to make the rest of Council understand that more rental units is what will take them to the next step.  And don't forget - more residents means MORE TAXES!  We call on Blue Ash City Council to approve this plan Thursday night. 

Who pays Roxanne Qualls' Taxes?

Dear fellow tax hikers, our investigative prowess has uncovered more exciting information about our tax-hiking Goddess Roxanne Qualls.  We have always loved her because of her intense efforts to raise taxes on everyone and everything, from sports stadiums to streetcars to shiny new jails and everything in-between. 

Even as she is forever busy raising taxes, we have learned that Roxanne manages to avoid paying her fair share of local taxes.  So who *is* paying her taxes???  YOU are!

Roxy owns a Lytle Place condo in downtown Cincinnati valued at $287,470.  Yet she only pays taxes on $37,000 of it.  87% of this property is tax-abated.  This results in Qualls paying significantly less towards local levies and assessments than anyone else in a $287k property.  For example, Roxanne will pay a whopping $11.24 this year for the Senior Services levy, when she should be paying $87.  But this is no problem - the rest of you get to make up the difference. 

When Roxanne Qualls says *we* need to pay more taxes, what she really means is: YOU need to pay more taxes.  She sure ain't paying. 

Another highly important figure living in this building, and receiving the same sweetheart tax deal, is City Council candidate Mike Moroski.  Moroski, btw, happens to be an avid reader of this blog.  Moroski lives in a $430,000 condo but pays taxes as if he was living in a $37,000 hut.  The rest of you get to pay that $393,000 difference.

Moroski often likes to say that he'd be happy to pay higher taxes.  What he means by that is - he'll be happy to have YOU pay higher taxes for him.  His money goes to far more important things than paying his share of local taxes.

We applaud all of you, our loyal readers, for your willingness to pay higher taxes so that Roxanne Qualls doesn't have to pay hers.  And there are still so many more taxes to raise.  You will continue to pay more so Qualls can pay less.