In this Issue:

• Recap of Congressman Landsman’s Town Hall at the Madeira Library Feb. 4.
• Hamilton County Democratic Party and the Executive Director (second installment on our meeting with Isaac!)
• Upcoming events, Precinct Executives meeting alert, Madeira City Council election reminder, and more.

It’s that time! Please pay your ’23 dues of $15 to Madeira Democrats via Venmo (@Timothy-Messerly) or a check made out to our treasurer, Tim Messerly. (Questions? Email Tim.)

You can also use the Donate tab of our website (adds a $1 transaction fee for using Paypal or Apple Pay).

Congressman Greg Landsman Holds District Town Hall at Madeira Library

Congressman Greg Landsman held his second town hall for the First District at the Madeira Library on Feb. 4. More than 100 people attended to ask questions and share their input. Madeira Dems were there, along with residents from Indian Hill, Montgomery, Mariemont, and other parts of the District.

The gathering began informally, with talk of the Bengals and an introduction to Landsman’s daughter Maddie, nearly 13. Landsman began and ended the one-hour meeting on time, a commitment he intends to keep for all community meetings. He limited his opening remarks to just over ten minutes and devoted the rest of the time to conversations with the crowd.

Landsman introduced his staff and noted his selection to the House committees for Small Business and Veterans Affairs. He added that he’d like to serve on appropriations in the future, but that isn’t assigned to freshmen in Congress. His immediate goals include working on bipartisan issues like Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans services. He’s also focused on the fight for affordable insulin, noting the benefit to seniors of the new $35 cap. One of his goals is to work for similar caps for others, especially children. He will support the earned income tax credit and spearhead the Headstart revitalization.

Congressman Greg Landsman held a District Town Hall at the Madeira Library on February 4th with nearly 100 people attending.

This was the second of three town halls Landsman has scheduled in his first six weeks in office.

The largest spontaneous applause was received when Landsman chuckled and vowed to devote himself to “team normal,” working toward civil bipartisanship without pandering to extremists. Landsman spent the remainder of the meeting taking notes on paper, responding to questions, and agreeing to work on issues and follow up.

Small Business
An Indian Hill small business owner asked for help with licensing reciprocity in the tristate so he can hire more employees for his chain of day spas in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Each state has different licensing requirements for aestheticians. Landsman noted that other small businesses could also benefit from similar reciprocity agreements in other trades.

Clean Energy and Environmental Issues
One woman spoke about the environmental cost of fossil fuels and the governor’s inaccurate depiction of natural gas as clean energy. A Montgomery resident also asked Landsman to back clean energy and work on initiatives similar to the Honda battery plant to be built in Fayette County. Landsman spoke enthusiastically about attracting desirable energy businesses to the First District. He related it to the solar farm initiative that will eventually power Cincinnati government buildings, which he worked on as a city councilman.

Madeira’s Susan Kissel asked Landsman to support continuing and improving tax credits for home solar panels and electric cars. A woman from Greenhills highlighted the FCC’s failure to monitor wireless and radio frequency radiation, even after a court ruling that the FCC’s outdated 1996 emission guidelines fail to protect the public adequately. Daylight saving time was an issue raised by one Cincinnatian hoping for its repeal. 

Healthcare and Human Rights
Peg Ballard of Madeira thanked Greg for stepping into the “lion’s den” that is the current House situation and asked about his stance on Roe v. Wade. He expressed concern about Ohioans losing reproductive rights. He said that having fewer rights and freedoms than other states makes it harder for Ohio to keep and attract people here, whether as residents applying for jobs, businesses investing in communities, or students attending college.

A Cincinnati woman spoke of the need for childcare centers and adequate pay for teachers. Landsman agreed and applauded her work as an activist in a program working with three- and four-year-olds as essential to the community.

One man spoke of attending the town hall to represent the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) population and learn more about the workings of local government. Landsman congratulated citizens wanting to learn more about local, state, and federal government. He committed to holding additional town halls or community meetings so that under-represented groups are heard.

The last speaker read from a prepared statement critical of federal border measures on fentanyl. Landsman said the issue is complicated, but there is common ground among parties, and agreed that fentanyl is a serious national issue.

Looking Forward
Landsman said he plans to hold more town halls and wants them to be both in-person and virtual sessions. If people have an issue, they can reach out to his office, and his team will try to set up a town hall or community meeting, no matter how small the attendance. He also plans to post short recorded videos to let people know where he stands on issues and how he votes in the House.

Madeira City Council Elections

Three seats on Madeira City Council are up for election in 2023. Are you interested in running? This year, Executive Director Isaac Goff-Mitchell is committing help and resources from the Hamilton County Democratic Party (HCDP) to provide more support to municipal candidates. Reach out to Chelseaor Isaac if you’d like more information on available support. 

Elections for council members are held every two years in a rotation that
groups four or three open seats. A council member’s term is four years.

State and County Updates

Southwest Ohio Democrats Meeting with ODP Our February 8 meeting was replaced by the chance to attend the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Southwest Ohio Family Meeting online. Six Madeira Dems attend.ODP Party Chair Liz Walters responded directly to questions from the audience. Watch for the next issue of the Madeira Democrats Newsletter for a summary and highlights. (Subscribe at madeiradems.org)

Reproductive Rights Bulletin:

According to Chair Liz Walters, expect to see a reproductive rights ballot measure go before voters. Signature gathering will begin in a few months. Sign up here so that ODP can contact you to host a petition signing event when the process is ready. 

Goals for Hamilton County Democrats and Executive Director, presentaton by Isaac Goff-Mitchell

We continue highlights from our January meeting with Isaac Goff-Mitchell, Executive Director of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. Isaac started his job the week after the November election. 

We reported his election recap and statistical data in the January issue.
Below, we paraphrase his remaining remarks, including his goals going forward.

Live Our Values
A primary goal for me coming into this position is to prove that we, as Democrats, can actually live our values. What I mean by that is, going beyond the work from August to November to elect candidates. For the rest of the year, we still have this dedicated group of volunteers with time, money, and the ability to do hard work.

I think we should be out in our communities, making them a better place. So to start, we did a toy drive in December with state representative Dani Isaacsohn, and we were able to bring in enough toys to give out to over a hundred families.

Now, every single month the Hamilton County Democratic Party will be sponsoring some sort of volunteer opportunity or a community service drive to bring in products to give to people who need them. So that’s a huge priority of mine. We need to live our values and walk the talk that we talk.

Hamilton County Democratic Party is Not Just a Cincinnati Party
I think there’s been a perception of the party that it focuses on Cincinnati but not necessarily serving folks outside the city equally. We want to change that since the suburbs offer a huge opportunity. 

For example, we have a city like Madeira, where a state representative very narrowly misses winning, yet we don’t really back the democrats running for city council. So in 2023 and in every other municipal election year, my plan is to make sure we’re investing with resources for folks running for township trustee, city council, or school board across the county.

Municipal Elections (impacts Madeira City Council election 2023)
The municipal endorsement process used to happen but hasn’t been done in our recent history.

I’m building out services that HCDP can offer any endorsed candidate. So that Madeira Democrats can endorse a candidate, and then you actually get something in return, it’s not just a D on the ballot. It means you get access to field organizers and Vote Builder, and you get other support.

This serves the purpose of helping communities and also helps build a bench. The Republicans have done this forever. They’ll put people on school boards, and then that person runs for city council, and then that person runs for Congress. Whereas the Democratic candidate may have been in office for two years. Compare that to a Republican candidate who’s been in office for 30 years, with more experience and connections.

I really want to make sure that we’re building a bench, not just in the city of Cincinnati but everywhere, including the suburbs. And that involves running people for every election and then actually supporting them. 

Fundraising to Professionalize the Party for Hamilton County
I also plan to “professionalize” and bring our party into the next era. Hamilton County is now definitively a statistically blue county. We have every countywide office except for an engineer and the prosecutor. A major goal is to get our party into a fundraising scope where we can hire more staff.

A lot of people don’t realize our county party has one full-time paid staff member, and now it’s me. It has traditionally been somebody in their early twenties. They do it for one or two years, they realize there’s no promotion, there’s no raise, and then they leave. They take with them all of their experience and knowledge and systems. If we can fundraise to establish a solid financial base, we can hire more staff and have more permanence going forward.

Winning
And then, lastly, I just want to win. We have to start winning all of our judge races. We have to take the prosecutor’s office, which comes with around 150 jobs that could go to Democrats, jobs that are currently held by Trump-supporting Republicans. Those are the folks who prosecute people in the whole county. So, you know, we need to take that office and move forward.

Hamilton County Democratic Party (HCDP)

Make a monthly donation to HCDP and support Isaac’s vision. Even $5 per month will go a long way! 

Check out the HCDP website to order merch (shirts, mugs, etc.) directly through a union shop, with items delivered to your door.

Mark your calendar:

• Feb. 21, Tuesday, 7pm, BANDC/Northeast Democrats Club, Blue Ash Recreation Center
• Feb. 27, 7 pm, (virtual) A Conversation with the Powerhouse Democratic Women Leaders: Russo, Walters, Antonio
• March 8, 7 pm, next Madeira Democrats Meeting March 18, 9:30 am Central Committee and Precinct Executives meeting at 3457 Montgomery Rd.
• March 18, 9:30 am Central Committee and Precinct Executives meeting at 3457 Montgomery Rd.