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Questions raised after Romney criticized in city news release

Mayor says City Hall was not appropriate place for pro-Obama speech.

Dayton City Commission letter Feb. 3, 2012.

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By Lynn Hulsey, Staff Writer Updated 8:44 PM Friday, February 3, 2012

A news release targeting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney issued Friday using city of Dayton resources and a City Hall news conference by two Democratic city commissioners raised questions about improper partisan activity at taxpayer’s expense.

In the news release and at the news conference in commission chambers Commissioners Nan Whaley and Matt Joseph touted the latest monthly decline in the national unemployment rate and credited President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Whaley and Joseph disagreed that the news release and news conference were unduly partisan, arguing that it is legitimate to oppose Republican policies that they believe would hurt the city.

“I’m talking about two people running for political office and the effects they will have on the city,” said Whaley. “City Hall is a public space.”

Mayor Gary Leitzell, whose name appears along with the other four city commissioners on the commission letterhead used in the news release, watched the news conference from a seat in the audience. He did not participate.

“This is fine news if the numbers are accurate but I don’t feel that the commission chambers at City Hall is an appropriate location for partisan politics,” said Leitzell. “This could have been done at Democratic Party headquarters, which is just up the street.”

Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman Greg Gantt joked that he would “call on Monday and ask if I can reserve City Hall to hold a Republican rally. I will see if they grant my request.”

Whaley and Joseph had Tom Biedenharn, the city’s public information officer, issue via email a news release that attacked Romney and praised Obama after the federal government announced the jobless rate had declined to 8.3 percent in January.

In the release Whaley criticized Romney and said Republicans won’t admit that the economy is recovering.

“He and his party don’t think we should invest in our workers, our students or American industries like carmakers and clean energy,” Whaley said in the news release. “Romney doesn’t even think that we should be rewarding companies when they bring jobs back to states all across the country, rather when they send them overseas.”

Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said, “President Obama and his liberal allies continue to target Governor Romney with false and dishonest attacks because they are intimidated by his candidacy. President Obama knows that if he is forced to compare his abysmal economic record with Mitt Romney’s record as a successful businessman and fiscally responsible governor, he will lose the White House in November.”

Biedenharn said he was just responding to a request from commissioners to issue a news release, which he often does, and “didn’t think it would be inappropriate.”

“I don’t know what planet they’re living on,” said Gantt. “It’s using city, state and federal government resources to get your person elected so that you can get more city, state and federal resources on the backs of taxpayers.”

Deputy City Manager Stanley Earley and Law Director John Danish both said they do not believe the news release distributed by Biedenharn or the City Hall news conference violated city policy or charter limits on political involvement by employees.

“I don’t believe that Tom engaged in political activity,” Danish said. “Statements, whether political or not, handed out by commissioners are not statements by Tom, they are statements by commissioners. He does not promulgate them.”

During the news conference Whaley and Joseph stood beside a chart that appears on Obama’s official campaign website showing job losses under former President George W. Bush and Obama, along with job gains that have occurred since March 2010. The Ohio Democratic Party issued a news release featuring the same chart and, just prior to the news conference, David Bracken of the Democratic National Committee called a reporter to make sure the Dayton Daily News would be covering the City Hall event.

“We are trying to promote the event,” Bracken said.

When asked if Republicans who control the U.S. House or Ohio government deserve any of the credit on the positive job numbers Whaley said Obama’s policies are what helped the economy.

“I’m happy to give anybody credit who voted to increase government’s role in bringing jobs back to folks. Very few Republicans did that,” said Joseph. “Instead we get people clinging to the fantasy that it will happen on its own, that people magically get jobs because rich people are getting richer.”

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