Gingrich, Bortz, Smitherman: Self-Dealing In Plain Sight

What do presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, recently defeated Cincinnati City Councilmember Chris Bortz, and Christopher Smitherman have in common? Besides the fact that they are all Republicans (yes, Bortz and Smitherman are Republicans, they just won't come out of the closet), they've all tried to use their public positions to enrich themselves and/or their family members.

Mainstream, alternative, and independent white media outlets have taken Gingrich and Bortz to task for their ethical (and sometimes legally questionable) lapses. For examples, watch this story from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow titled "Getting To The Root Of Newt's Loot!" and read this story from CityBeat's Kevin Borne titled "Losing 10,000 Voters Is Nothing to Shrug Off," that discusses the Ohio Ethics Commission advisory opinion indicating Bortz shouldn't participate in discussions or make decisions on the streetcar project, in part, because Bortz's family business stood to gain from the project. The media hasn't focused on Smitherman.

Here at The Cincinnati Black Blog we realize that we are constantly attracting new readers who may not be familiar with our exclusive reports on Smitherman and his brother, Albert Smitherman, owner of Jostin Concrete. Our faithful readers know all about the Smitherman family's work on the streetcar. It was wrong for Bortz to participate in streetcar discussions or votes and it would be wrong for Smitherman to do so.

Some of you are still mad at us for writing about Smitherman. You think we should look the other way, or even worse, join with certain other Black media outlets and make excuses for Smitherman. We disagree. Since its inception in 2004, The Cincinnati Black Blog has served many roles, one of which is the moral conscious of the community. We didn't choose this role for ourselves, the community bestowed it on us. Regardless of how it came about, we take our responsibility seriously. So, you'll have to stay angry at us, because we intend to keep reporting on unethical and illegal activities taken by public figures in Cincinnati, and we intend to do so even when the out-of-order person is Black. As a matter of fact, it might not be fair, but we expect more from Black people and we hold them to a higher standard. White people have a way of straightening out their public figures or getting rid of them. They threw Newt out of Washington and will throw him off the national stage if this self-serving in plain sight is as bad as it seems. The voters just threw Bortz off Council.

Smitherman should voluntarily abstain from participating in discussions or votes on any project where Jostin is involved. If he doesn't take this step voluntarily, we will reach out to our concerned partners and find someone to complain to the Ethics Commission. If all else fails, our founder and publisher will stop Smitherman by any means necessary.

It occurs to us that Smitherman may actually benefit from our involvement. Here's why. He has promised the white community in general and the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxation (COAST) specifically that he will fight against the streetcar. Now, he can't really do anything to stop it or even slow it down. Could he get some publicity by railing against the streetcar every step of the way from inside City Hall? Sure. But, having served a term on Council where he didn't get a single piece of meaningful legislation passed, Smitherman has got to want this term to be different. He may be in the minority with Charlie Winburn, but he is in the majority when you consider the racial makeup of Council. To get anything accomplished, he will need more friends than Winburn. So, abstaining voluntary, or being forced to abstain, means Christopher can go back to COAST and the white folks on the East and West sides of town and say "I really am opposed to the streetcar, and I would be fighting against it, even if it makes the Democrats on Council mad at me, but I can't because the Ethics Commission has tied my hands." He can let Winburn tilt at windmills. And maybe he can get a few legislative wins under his belt and not be a total failure like he was last time he was on Council. Finally, he might stay out of federal prison.