That's So Cincinnati

Forget 2020. What lies ahead for Greater Cincinnati in the New Year?

Regional political, business, legal and media leaders share their hopes for 2021 in That’s So Cincinnati’s annual New Year’s resolutions episode. 

It's not easy answering tough questions. It's also not easy asking them. 

But veteran Cincinnati TV journalist Angenette Levy has made a name for herself by asking tough questions of Greater Cincinnati's public officials on the air over the past decade.

Levy, who left Local 12 in September, joined That's So Cincinnati podcast this week to discuss: 

• Her approach to the journalism and how the Anderson Township native got into the news business

• Reporting on a story that eventually became the subject of a popular Netflix true crime documentary

• And what might be the next step in her career

Mayor John Cranley joins That's So Cincinnati podcast this week. 

Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Landsman answers tough questions about his role in the Gang of Five texting scandal, embattled Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld and the state of affairs at City Hall. You won't want to miss this episode. 

As a trial lawyer, former assistant prosecutor and ex-journalist, Steve Goodin might be the perfect fit for a seat on Cincinnati City Council at the moment.

The Republican has a firm understanding of public accountability – something City Hall is sorely lacking in the wake of three council members being arrested this year on federal corruption charges.

Goodin, newly appointed to council this week, has a clear vision for what he wants to do immediately after City Hall reopens later this month following a pandemic-related shutdown.

"The public really needs, wants and expects at least a roadmap as to how the remaining council members are going to address systemic corruption,"  Goodin told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. "The sooner we speak to that in an intelligent and comprehensive way, the better."

Goodin on Monday was appointed as the temporary replacement for Republican Councilman Jeff Pastor, who's suspended pending the outcome of his court case stemming from federal pay-to-play charges.

In the wide-ranging interview, Goodin discusses how he believes his diverse career experiences have prepared him for the challenge of being on council. The 51-year-old father of three started his career as a news reporter for the News-Sun in Springfield, Ohio, his hometown. He's also served stints in the Peace Corps and Army.

Several members of council do not have jobs and careers outside of City Hall, and Goodin believes that's led to a loss of perspective. 

On his decision to join the Peace Corps early in his career, Goodin said: "I just had a real desire to travel and do something radically different. So I went over to Africa and (was in) the Sahara Desert for a year. I worked as something called a 'sanitation engineer,' which meant I was digging outhouses. It was a fascinating experience. It expanded my horizons."

In his work for Graydon Law Firm, where he's a partner, Goodin has focused on business litigation and municipal law. The latter has made him quite familiar with City Hall, where he's been hired to help fix the city's pension fund. 

It's helped him to have intimate knowledge of the city's charter, but the experience also has given Goodin insight into council's problems.

"I've been sort of alarmed by the lack of fiscal literacy," Goodin said. "There needs to be a better stewardship of these funds. There needs to be better stewardship of our infrastructure, and we need people to, frankly, be more adult about this and to manage this like you would your personal finances, like you would your personal business and like you would your safety and the safety of your children."

Goodin recalled times testifying in front of council while some of its members were interested in what was happening on their phones and laptops.

"I have always been, particularly in the last few years, distressed by just the raw political gamesmanship that you see," Goodin said. "I've got teenage girls. I spend a lot of my time yelling at them to put their phones down when they're at the dinner table. Sometimes, I'd be testifying at council and people are playing on their phones. There needs to be a different, more adult approach to this job."

Goodin doesn't have a Twitter or Facebook account, something he's not needed as a litigator. He said he plans create social media accounts to provide information to the public, but he doesn't care about the petty and uncivil Twitter fights that have distracted this council at times.

"All the social media, particularly among some of the council members, has not been helpful," Goodin said. "It leads to this posturing. It leads to these false presentations of who folks are. It leads to people playing to small groups of people and not thinking about the city as a whole. It becomes sort of a weird echo chamber. My sense is, by and large, it's the same 200 or 300 people who are on Twitter weighing in over and over and over. I don't think that reflects the folks that I'm concerned about."

So what is Goodin's concern?

"We need to really get back to addressing the basic services, the public safety issues that our neighborhoods are seeing," he said. "It makes me kind of sick that those concerns have been pushed aside for people who are shaking-down developers. It's an absolute shame. There are folks who are depending on the government to provide services, to provide safe streets and that's been lost. The fact that that's not a priority –and now of all times (amid the pandemic) – is simply a disgusting state of affairs."

Goodin plans to work on a comprehensive package of charter amendment reforms centered on more transparency around economic development deals and increased accountability for council members. He said he's not interested in small, piecemeal changes or creating bureaucratic commissions and task forces – something some of his colleagues want.

"We know what generally needs to be done," Goodin said. "If we need a special ethics officer to convince people not to take bribes, then we have a bigger problem than we could've ever dreamed of. If we need another charter review committee – when all this great work has already been done – then we're just kicking the can down the road."

Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman has been speaking out against some of his council colleagues' illegal and unethical behavior for years. 

It's time others join him, Smitherman told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. 

Especially since he believes federal investigators aren't done rooting out corruption at City Hall in the wake of three city council members being arrested on pay-to-play charges this year.

Smitherman recently called Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to ask the Republican to consider overhauling state agencies that are supposed to be in charge of holding public officials accountable. 

"We've had some state organizations, one being the Ohio Ethics Commission, that failed here," Smitherman said. "I think his office needs to take a real hard look at the state agencies that are charged with looking at public bodies across the state of Ohio. The ethics commission says, 'We're not a proactive body. We sit back and wait for the complaint.' "

Smitherman continued: "What proactive steps could the Ohio Ethics Commission (take) knowing about what was happening in Cincinnati? It seems to me that the Ohio Ethics Commission somewhere through this process over the last three years would've intervened, and they didn't. What could they do better?"

In the year David DeVillers has spent on the job as the region's top federal attorney, the Ohio Speaker of the House and two Cincinnati City Councilmembers have been arrested in pay-to-play schemes.

And he didn't shut the door on the possibility there could be more corruption-related arrests coming at City Hall.

The rash of arrests are a reflection of DeVillers making it a top priority to crack down on public corruption immediately after the Trump appointee took over as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio in November 2019.

"I really think we did a disservice by not being aggressive," DeVillers told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. "The idea of taking shots is what we need to do in cases like that. We do it in murder cases. We do it in drug cases. We should do it in public corruption cases."

Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou watched election night as a blue wave swept in, taking with it two county elected leaders – treasurer and recorder – and nine judgeships.

The latter flipped both the common pleas and appellate courts to a Democrat majority – something that was unthinkable a decade ago for the once-dominant Hamilton County GOP.  

Those losses have some local Republicans quietly grumbling about the need for new party leadership. Triantafilou addressed his and the party's future on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast.

"If you go around the state of Ohio, (Republican leaders) think we do a terrific job here and we do," Triantafilou said. "We have a great staff. We have great volunteers. We have great donors. I understand I'm on the hot seat. I'll take the heat as it comes. I know my business. I know what it takes to win. I also know the challenges associated with winning in a blue county. What's the future for me? I'm staying."

Triantafilou, who's led the party since 2008, welcomes the challenge of recruiting a new wave of GOP candidates. 

"My focus is really going to be on finding candidates who have the appeal across the political spectrum," Triantafilou said. "That's going to take some infighting within my party as we push to get candidates who don't always toe the party line."

He added: "I want to unite the party, so I end up taking a fair amount of arrows to do that. But I'm going to start speaking out a little bit stronger about the people who aren't working with us."

Triantafilou's interview begins at the 21:45 mark in the episode, which can be listened to for free by clicking the link at the top of the article. That's So Cincinnati also is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major listening platforms. 

Other takeaways from Triantafilou's interview:

• With Prosecutor Joe Deters' reelection on Tuesday, Republicans were able to hold onto the most powerful seat in local government. Speculation has already started about whether Deters, the longest-tenured prosecutor in county history, will finish out his next term.

"As I told Joe, he needs to stay healthy and run again in four years because he gives us our best chance to hold that seat," Triantafilou said. "He's been a great candidate and a terrific prosecutor. He hasn't committed to running in 2024, let me make sure that's clear." 

• On former Cincinnati City Councilwoman Amy Murray, who left in February to take a job in Washington with the Trump administration, Triantafilou said he expects Murray will return to Cincinnati if the president loses to Joe Biden.

Murray considered running in Ohio's 1st Congressional District, but decided not to challenge Steve Chabot in the Republican primary. Will she look to run for office locally again?  

"When you're the coach trying to put players on the field, I'm dying to get Amy Murray. She's a five-tool player, so to speak in baseball parlance," Triantafilou said. "She's got everything you want in a candidate. She's brilliant, a great legislator, a great government official. She's a good fundraiser. I would love to see Amy Murray return to the local political scene, but I have no idea what her next step is going to be."

How many outstanding absentee ballots will still need to be counted on Election Night? What time will results be released? And how do you become Ohio's top elections official? 

Secretary of State Frank LaRose answered these questions and more on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. 

Listen to the full episode for free by clicking the link at the top of the article. That's So Cincinnati can also be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and other major listening platforms. LaRose's interview begins at the 9:20 mark in this week's episode.

Here are some snippets from the discussion: 

Highlighting outstanding absentee ballots 

New this year. We're going to actually highlight the number of outstanding absentee ballots (with Election Night results on the Secretary of State's website). This office has always tracked that number. We're going to put it right at the top of the site, and here's why that matters: If your favorite candidate is ahead by a million votes and there's only 200,000 outstanding absentee ballots, then you can look at that and say this is conclusive. But likewise, if your favorite candidate is only ahead by 100,000 and there are yet 200,000 outstanding absentee ballots, then that contest is not over. It's important that we have transparency so people know on Election Night whether they're looking at a conclusive result or not.

When to expect results on Election Night

It's up to the voters. If Ohio voters wait to send in their absentee ballots, then it will cause counting to take longer on Tuesday, Nov. 3. We know based on (this past Tuesday's numbers) there are still over 800,000 outstanding absentee ballots that are sitting on people's kitchen tables or the dashboard of their car.

If tens of thousands of people return their absentee ballots on Saturday or on Monday, what's going to result is a big avalanche of mail arriving on Tuesday that the Board of Elections is going to have to process. That's where it could take longer. But if that doesn't happen, we'll be one of the earlier states (to report results), I really believe. Ohio begins processing our absentee ballots as soon as they arrive. So on Election Night at 7:30, those ballots are ready to count and they count them right away. When you (see results) at 8 or 8:15, those are absentee votes. 

Contrast that to states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. In those states, they can't even slice open the envelopes until election day. Imagine a big place like Wayne County, Michigan, Detroit, they have a vault at their board of elections that has to have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of envelopes in it right now that they can't touch until election day. It could be Friday or Saturday before Michigan has results.

What keeps him up at night

The thing I'm perhaps most concerned about at this point is false information and it comes a whole variety of different sources. It's just the old fashioned rumor mill, it's internet trolls, it's foreign adversaries. We're working hard to make sure that we're getting accurate information out there. We're debunking myths and rumors, shooting down the latest fantasies that people have invented about elections. 

It's the offseason, and Reds President Phil Castellini has some time to reflect.

In a candid, hourlong discussion on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast, Castellini covered a wide range of topics, including:

 • His strong bond with his father, Reds owner Bob Castellini, and their passion for Cincinnati sports

• Lessons from working for his father's companies since he was a teenager, when he started as a laborer in the produce distribution and warehouse businesses

• Thom Brennaman's future, and why Phil Castellini believes the broadcaster will be back in the TV booth someday

• The pandemic's likely impact on Opening Day 2021

Here are some snippets from Phil Castellini's interview:

Father-son bonding 

Growing up in Glendale ... late grade school into high school. We had season tickets to the Reds and Bengals and at the time, we were also involved (as part-owners) in the Cincinnati Stingers, the hockey team. We went to every Stinger home game. I got to go to the two Bengals Super Bowls. I went to the ice bowl, you know that famous deep-chill freezer playoff game against the Chargers. A lot of going to games with dad, especially on the football front. We had a special connection through all of our sports teams.

'Work as hard as he did'

Before I had a driver's license, I rode a moped from Glendale to Lockland to cut cabbage at our salad processing plant. And when I was old enough to drive, I would drive downtown to work on the docks of the produce company. At this time of year, I would be doing Christmas trees from October to December. All the way through college, I worked for the family businesses. 

Dad worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day. The only thing that you thought about if you were Bob Castellini's family is you were going to work as hard as he did. 

If you're raised in the executive office and you always live in the executive office and you never went down to the production floor, you have a hard time relating to that whole spectrum. That is the biggest benefit of working in and up through any company, whether it's a family company or not. That perspective is really important later in one's career if you continue to manage people and processes.

Buying the Reds in 2006

Dad sees an article in the paper that the final three bidders on the team, none of the groups are from Cincinnati. He's like, "Wait a second. We can't have somebody buy the Reds that's not from Cincinnati." If you remember back in '05, there's still talk of you can pick up a team and move them somewhere. That's certainly something we never wanted to see happen. He gets a hold of Tom and Joe Williams and says, "Hey guys, what do you think about putting in a bid for the team?" He saw Mr. (Carl) Lindner at a game that August and said, "What would you think if we threw our hat in the ring quickly?" He said, "That's great, but the final bids are due in the next two weeks and everybody else has been doing their homework since March." So we asked for a two-week extension, which was granted. We wound up doing all the research and getting a handshake to buy the team in 30 days. It was a pretty wild ride.

Watching a Reds game with his dad

Sometimes by the third inning, you don't want to be anywhere near dad depending on how the game's going. Every pitch, every out, every at-bat, it is an emotional roller coaster. You could not have anybody more dialed in than he is. We keep trying to tell him, 'It's a long season, relax.' But that's just the way he is in life and business. That's his DNA. I don't think it's that great for his health, but that's the way the guy is wired. It's a great passion.

Thom Brennaman's future

Brennaman last month resigned from Reds' TV play-by-play job following a suspension for using a homophobic slur on air.

He's as good as anybody in the business, in my opinion. It was just an all around tragic situation. It's something that shouldn't be thought, much less said out loud. Thom knows that. We all know that. In today's day and age, there's a zero tolerance approach to that. That's just not something you have associated with your organization. He knew exactly what the organization had to do and why. We were at the end of a contract year. That's when he came to us and said, "I think I need to move on and repair my own damage done." He's done a ton of that and is making a lot of great relationships. He's certainly had an eye-opening, soul-searching experience of his own. You will see Thom back in a broadcast booth.

Likely not (with the Reds). I just mean as a broadcaster because the guy can do any sport. He's got that kind of talent. I think it'll do him well to have some time off. But yeah, I absolutely expect that we will all see Thom somewhere again as a broadcaster of live sports. 

The Brennamans have been such an amazing part of the Reds history. We'll be inducting his dad (Marty) into the Reds Hall of Fame next year. You'll definitely see Thom be a part of that ceremony.

Hoping for some fans at Opening Day

This thing's going to go on well into '21. I think we all understand it's just a reality. We're going to re-submit (to the state) at maybe closer to 30 percent (stadium capacity), which would be about 13,000 or 14,000. What I would prefer is turn off the protocols. We the operators are going to have to show you a COVID-safe park. Even without the protocols, these buildings are going to empty themselves by fan interest. The average age of my fan is 56 years old. Even if I had no regulations, I'm going to have a change in my consumption just by the nature of people's comfort level of going out to large venues with a lot people. As a society, certainly from a business environment, we have to learn to live with COVID – not hide from it.

I don't have enough reasons to be optimistic about a 50% capacity by Opening Day. I think maybe by the All-Star break, it seems more reasonable.

Opening Day parade a 'huge wild card'

Are you better off punting on an event and waiting to bring it back the way everybody's used to consuming it rather than bringing it back in this candy-coated, super-weird COVID way that it's just going to be kind of a letdown? I will tell you the answer to that question that we asked ourselves starting with RedsFest was, I'd rather wait and do it the way we know how to do it and the way the fans like to consume it than to have everybody walking around in bubble suits. I'm not sure where the Findlay Market folks will be feeling by then, but I think it's a huge wild card at this point.