Mayoral Power

While I now sit on the County Commission, I still like to keep up with happenings at Cincinnati City Hall.

I read today that the Mayor says he does not think it makes a lot of sense to have a referendum on creating a stronger Mayor position. At the risk of sticking my nose in City Hall business, I completely agree with him.

The new structure provides a nice balance. It gives the mayor more control and power than in the 1990s (which really was a bad system), and enough authority to set the agenda of Council while leading the administration. But it still keeps the best elements of the Charter form of government. (ie. an appointed, professional manager who is less political, and runs the day-to-day operations of the City). The manager in this case, Milton Dohoney, is doing a good job, and seems to have won the confidence of the community and Council.

While there are many challenges we must solve in the community, I think the current structure is more than adequate to solve them. Better to use our time and energy on directly addressing those issues than have the mayor power/structure debate all over again.