“We’ve entered the next phase of the site selection process with all cities on an even playing field — there are no favorites, there are no underdogs,” said RNC Site Selection Chair Enid Mickelsen. “The technical visits will help aid the committee in their decision-making process as we narrow the field of cities in contention for the 2016 Republican National Convention.”
A report on the initial visits from the advance team will be given to the RNC Site Selection Committee. That committee will then vote, likely the week after it receives the report, to determine which cities will get the official visit from the full RNC delegation. The field of six will be further narrowed, according to the RNC.
Officials Site Selection Committee visits are scheduled to take place in late May through early June. Another round of cuts are possible this summer and initial negotiations with the final city, or cities, will begin, according to the RNC.
The full RNC governing body will vote on the final decision in late summer or early fall.
Beck back in court
State Rep. Pete Beck, R-Mason, is set to be back in court on Thursday where the state lawmaker will either enter a plea or have a court date set for his trial on theft and securities fraud.
Beck faces 70 charges — 16 of which were filed in July 2013 and 54 filed in February — involving political corruption, perjury, theft, money laundering, and telecommunications and securities fraud. They stem from his involvement in the now-defunct Christopher Technologies where he was the tech company's chief financial officer.
A continuation of the case is still possible as similar previously scheduled hearings had been continued due to the amount of evidence compiled by the prosecution, the Ohio Attorney General’s and Hamilton County Prosecutor’s offices, and the attorneys defending the 61-year-old former Mason mayor.
Beck, who is running for re-election against Mary Jo Kubicki and Paul Zeltwanger, both of Mason, has maintained his innocence despite
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No false statements
West Chester Twp. resident and author George Nafziger said he’s “disappointed” the Ohio Elections Commission dismissed his March 24 complaint that alleged Carpenter made false statements in campaign material.
But she will have a hearing on April 24 on two other parts of the complaint — filing a semi-annual campaign finance report late and not identifying who paid for campaign material at a Feb. 10 campaign forum. Nafziger said at worst she’ll receive a “slap on the wrist” for the alleged violations.
Carpenter, a first-term county commissioner, is attempting to win the GOP nomination in the May 6 partisan primary over three opponents — Nafziger, Liberty Twp. Trustee Christine Matacic and Madison Twp. resident Julie Holmes.
The first part of Nafziger’s complaint that alleged Carpenter misrepresented her educational experience lacked probable cause at an April 8 hearing in Columbus. He accused Carpenter of implying she graduated from the Southwestern Ohio College of Business when she only attended there, not being a student at Miami University, and not being a member of the National Honor Society at Fairfield High School.
Carpenter said she thought Nafziger “was perhaps trying to get some publicity off (the complaint).”
“We were able to prove that his accusations were not true, and they dismissed them,” she said.
Nafziger said he plans to petition the full commission to reconsider the first part of his complaint, which is an option, according to the Ohio Election Commission.
“She had a lawyer, and he did his lawyer magic and misrepresented things in my book,” Nafziger said. “There are too many fuzzy issues.”
Billboard ‘congratulates’ Carpenter
A billboard on Bypass Ohio 4 that reads “Congratulations Cindy Carpenter” is part of a campaign strategy for the incumbent candidate seeking re-election, she said.
“It’s part of a positive campaign message, and there’s more to come,” Carpenter said.
The second part of the message arrived in county residents’ mailboxes as early as Friday. Carpenter’s campaign manager said the mailings congratulated Butler County citizens for making the community a great place to live. Part two of the message is also set to be on billboards, including the one on the bypass.
“I’m really proud of Butler County, and no matter what the people say about it, we’re really prospering,” she said. “We should be really proud.”
Carpenter said she will have to fix the political disclaimer on the signage, claiming the billboard company used the wrong template. The disclaimer says the ad was “paid for by the Carpenter for Clerk Committee.” Carpenter was the county clerk of courts for 12 years before being elected county commissioner in 2010.
Matacic has seen photos of the billboard and said she “(doesn’t) understand nor can I can speculate on why (Carpenter) runs her campaigns the way she does.”
“I will be focused on bringing about a more professional and collaborative atmosphere as a leader who has worked to turn things around in Liberty Twp.,” she said.
Nafziger said he isn’t familiar with this billboard, which was unveiled Tuesday, but says “her signs are everywhere and her (campaign) machine is busy.”
“It’s phenomenal how much she’s spending on that campaign,” he said.
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