The Three Rivers News Dispatch issued its first edition on August 17, 2021. Since then, it has reported on area events and government meetings in North Bend, Addyston, Cleves, and Miami Township. The subscriptions are free, and the number of registered subscribers has grown to over 1,000. The TRND also accepts no advertising fees. It encourages local businesses to submit advertisements by email.

August 9, 2023

Complete Disclosure Statement: As the editor of the Three Rivers News Dispatch, I want subscribers to know that I am not a professional journalist, but I am a Republican candidate for the Mayor of Cleves. Both Miami Township Trustee Mike Robison and my opponent, Democrat Kyle Eric Smith, have made claims that I am unethical for being a candidate and still writing for the Three Rivers News Dispatch.

Mr. Robison, a Republican Trustee who also works in the Cincinnati office of U.S. Representative Warren Davidson, first lodged this complaint to me via email when I suspended the publication for four weeks in the hope that I would not have to write the Civil War Edition describing the public conflicts among the Miami Township Trustees during the April 5 and 19, 2023 meetings.

I answered him then, "Before I decided to run for Mayor of Cleves, I discussed this issue with my attorney at Maguire Schneider Hassey LLP before deciding to run. I have a First Amendment right to continue my publication. I offered Mr. Robison to have Miami Township's attorney to call my attorney if he felt so strongly that I needed to be silenced. (Email verification can be provided upon request}

Mr. Smith is also welcome to have his attorney call my attorney for further clarification.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Robison are also free to present any factual evidence that my articles are inaccurate. Until then, I will keep the residents in the area informed about events that affect their lives.

Community Forum 1 -Held Saturday July 29

Village Finances -7.0 Mil Levy Explained

Cleves Mayoral Candidate and Three Rivers News Dispatch editor Chuck Birkholtz, pictured here, explained why he is running for Mayor of Cleves. Birkholtz told the crowd that he was happily retired and minding his own business until he learned the Cleves Village Council was planning to dissolve its police department in July 2020. Since then, he has attended every regular council meeting and most committee meetings. He told his audience that the current mayor and Council are happy making decisions without directly involving the public.

Birkholtz cited the Council's recent decision to place a 7.0 mil levy on the November ballot

without directly involving the public. He said," There is no question that the Village needs the money, but it is also responsible for its current financial problems. Our Council ignored citizen requests to get information out to the public about its "Renewal Levy" in the spring of 2021. After a recount, that levy failed in November by only four votes and created a budget hole of about $312,000. The Village tried a replacement levy in May 2022, but it failed by nearly 80% of the vote; once again, the Council did very little to explain why a new levy was needed."

Birkholtz told his audience that he read a statement to the Council asking them to answer a list of questions before voting on whether or not they would place a 7.0 mil levy on the ballot. Those questions were essentially ignored, with the exception of Council person Geri Meister responding to who was on the Finance Committee. Click this link for the questions read to the council

Residents were given a copy of an August 6, 2021, letter from Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes showing that the Village would receive approximately $311.287 if the levy passed. That levy would not have raised taxes for Cleves property owners. Birkholtz told residents at last Saturday's meeting, "Members of the Village Council could not legally ask residents to vote for the levy, but they could have made an attempt to ask residents to vote on November 2, 2021. That decision caused the Village to lose about $312,000 and gave Cleves residents a cut in their tax bill."

Below is a copy of the letter handed out to Village residents last Saturday. That letter also shows the other levies that the Village receives, with the exception of the renewal levy that was on the ballot in November of 2022.

Cleves Residents Told Village Council's Failure To

Communicate Helped Cause Budget Crisis

Birkholtz told his audience that local resident Dale Oppenheimer asked the council to send out a reminder about the 2021 levy with their water bills and that suggestion fell upon deaf ears. The results of the election below show that the voter turnout was small and that the levy failed by a small margin. That small margin resulted in the Village of Cleves losing about 1/3 of its annual budget. Please see the 2021 results as it was reported in the Three Rivers News Dispatch.

The Charts below were not handed out to residents that attended Saturday's meeting, but the effect of the levy's failure was described to those in attendance. The Village lost revenue while individual property owners paid less taxes.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Subscribers can look at Birkholtz's tax bill from the Hamilton County Auditor's site below. Please note that his second tax bill on 6-11-21 was $2536.46. Due to the Cleves renewal levy failing, his 1st half of taxes paid declined to $2328.34. An effective cut is taxes of $208.34. All due to the Village of Cleves Council's failure to pass a renewal levy.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Another example of how residents received a tax cut because of the Council's failure to pass its 2021 renewal levy is the property located at 250 S. Miami. This property is owned by John Tisch and houses "Another Bar." Please note that on 6/21/2021, Mr. Tisch paid $4389.69, and on 01/31/2022 paid $4193.93. His tax bill went down $176.76.

Village Fiscal Officer James Brett- Village Is Broke without Levy in 2025

The Village of Cleves Fiscal Officer James Brett's forecast for the Village was also passed out to those attending Saturday's meeting. Birkholtz told those present, "Our Council has known that this budget hole would have to be plugged for the Village to survive financially since 2021. Instead of going out into the community and accepting responsibility for the abysmal financial condition of the Village, they sat on their hands, preferring to talk among themselves and make decisions without doing the grunt work required to build voter support to pass a levy. In effect, I am doing their job for them."

The chart below shows where the Village will be without a 6.0 mil levy. It indicates that the Village will be $205,228.01 in the RED at the end of 2025. It also shows that with a passage of a 6.0 mil levy, the Village will be in the RED again by the end of 2028 to the tune of $19,317.00. Based on these numbers, the Village Council decided a 7.0 mil levy was needed instead of a 6.0 mil levy. Brett also projected that the Village will be in the RED at the end of 2029.

Birkholtz concluded this portion of the meeting by telling citizens, " Paula Drake from the Hamilton County Auditor's office said that the calculations in the following handout are based on 2022 property valuations. Residents can expect property valuations to increase between 18% and 35%. This does not mean your property taxes will increase at that level. The Ohio Tax Commissioner will set the increase and most likely will NOT be known in November or December. Since Cleve's 7.0 Mil levy is NOT a renewal levy but is for new money, the tax generated will be based on 2023 values, not the 2022 values shown in the handout."

This is the end of the article on The Cleves Community Forum. Part 2 of the Cleves Community Forum will appear in the Next Edition of the Three Rivers News Dispatch. It will include quality-of-life issues that were discussed at the meeting held on July 29, 2023.

Cleves' Told by ODOT to Maintain State Rt. 264

Miami Township residents, and in particular Coleman Woods residents, have had to deal with this overgrowth that has prevented drivers from seeing the road signs until recently. Cleves/Coleman resident and Mayoral Candidate Chuck Birkholtz first addressed this issue with Village Administrator Mike Rahall by email on February 21, 2022. In that email, he asked for permission to do a control burn along the side of the road to clean up the debris along the road so he could continue to cut that area for the Village of Cleves. (Please see February 21, 2022, email to Mike Rahall from Chuck Birkholtz below:

Village Administrator Claimed "Cleves Has No Jurisdiction"

Village Administrator Mike Rahall answered by email, "That area is in ODOT's right away. We have no authority over that area. After receiving the email from Administrator Rahall, the area was cleaned up entirely by Coleman Woods resident Chuck Birkholtz by hauling the debris up a steep grade into his yard. The picture on the left (below)was taken in March 2022 and shows some of the debris and the steep grade into his backyard along State Route 264. The picture on the right shows the chain saw used to cut back the growth.

The picture below is the view of State Route 264 after the Birkholtz's cleanup along State Route 264 in the spring of 2022.

View of State Route 264 on July 5, 2023

The picture below was taken on July 5, 2023, after Duke Energy completed pole replacement along State Route 264. The picture shows the growth and debris along the same area of State Route 264 that Birkholtz cleaned out in 2022. Neither the state of Ohio nor the Village of Cleves had done any maintenance of this area leading into the Coleman Woods subdivision.

Private Complaint was sent to The Village and ODOT on July 5, 2023

Text of the Complaint: "During winter 2022, I began cleaning this area out. Duke consistently cuts limbs but never cleans up their mess. I asked the Village to allow me to do a controlled burn and to maintain the area."

"I have kept the area mowed for the Village for 26 years. Mr. Rahall claims that this is ODOT's responsibility. I thought the Village received state funds to maintain the area along the road. I know that I do not get paid to do it. These are the pictures I took along State Route 264 in the Cleves Village limit. I am 72 years old and try to take pride in my Village. I am 72 years old, and it is far too dangerous for me to continue to do this for the Village or the State. The signs going down the hill warning drivers of curves can no longer be seen as you drive down the hill. Pulling out of the subdivision from Laurelwood is also very dangerous because drivers regularly exceed the speed limit."

View looking up State Route 264 on July 5, 2023, from Laurelwood Drive in the Coleman Woods Subdivision.

View of debris cut by Duke Energy while instilling poles in June 2023.

ODOT RT. 264 "IS VILLAGE'S RESPONSIBILITY"

Kathleen Fuller of ODOT sent the following email to Coleman Woods resident Chuck Birkholtz on July 7, 2023, and also contacted Village Administrator Mike Rahall.

[email protected] <[email protected]>[email protected]@dot.ohio.gov, [email protected]<[email protected]>DateFriday, July 7th, 2023 at 10:07 AMFriday, July 7th, 2023 at 10:07 AM

Hello, Mr. Birkholtz.

Thank you for writing the Ohio Department of Transportation and your inquiry regarding maintenance responsibility on state Route 264 {sic, 262} in the village of Cleves.

While ODOT is responsible for the state and federal highway system outside cities and incorporated villages, responsibility for the maintenance of roadways inside municipalities falls to the local, respective government entity. Maintenance includes patching potholes, repairing pavement, sweeping, brush clearing, mowing, cleaning drains, replacing lighting, and picking up litter. Per the Ohio Revised Code, though, ODOT is responsible for longline pavement markings, such as lane lines and edge lines, as well as regulatory signs (speed limit and stop signs) in order to provide consistency for motorists. Within certain villages, ODOT does perform snow and ice maintenance during the winter-weather months under a specific agreement with the village; such is the case with the village of Cleves, whereby ODOT does perform these activities on S.R. 264 within the village. Thus, the village of Cleves is responsible for maintaining S.R. 264 between its junction with U.S. Route 50 at the 0.00-mile marker and the village’s eastern corporation limit at approximately the 1.10-mile marker, west of Indian Brave Trail.

I hope this serves to answer your inquiry; however, please let us know if you have other questions or need additional information.

Thank you,

Kathleen Fuller, CPM

Public Information Officer

ODOT District 8

505 S.R. 741 South, Lebanon, Ohio 45036

Village of Cleves Service Director John Knuf and his crew are seen here cleaning up the roadside as cars approach the Laurelwood Drive Entrance to the Coleman Woods subdivision on July 13, 2023.

The Village of Cleves also continued to cut the brush back along East State Street into downtown Cleves. The parking lot of the library and Skidmore Street can be seen in the distance on the right.

End of Article on St Route 264

Miami Township Is Subject to an Ohio Civil Rights Commission Investigation

The Three Rivers News Dispatch has learned that the Ohio Civil Rights Commission has decided to investigate Miami Township's alleged discrimination against Miami Township Fire Fighter Tomas Bilson-Jimenez. Bilson-Jimenez filed a formal racial discrimination complaint with OCRC following the township's decision not to hire him as a full-time firefighter.

Officials at Miami Township confirmed that they were notified that OCRC opened an investigation of the charge of discrimination on June 27, 2023. A formal response to Bilson's allegations was to be returned to Ohio Civil Rights Commission by July 18, 2023. There are no more details available about the complaint right now.

According to the "Byrne Investigative Report" that was presumably leaked by a Miami Township official to Fox 19, "Lt. Lacey alleged that FF Bilson was denied a promotion because of his relationship to the Laceys and because of his race."

The Byrne Report also says on page 10, "Notably, there is a perception within the department that Firefighter Bilson has received preferential treatment within the department because he is related to Chief Lacey and Lt. Lacey. However, some of this perception is based on statements FF Bilson has made himself. For example, before the promotion process, FF Bilson told other firefighters within the department, "I am guaranteed Kaylee's (former FF Haggard) spot when she leaves."

According to the Byrne Report, FF Brandt is the individual who alleged FF Bilson made the statement that was guaranteed Kaylee's spot. It does not appear from her report that others heard FF Bilson make this alleged statement. Her report also does not show that FF Bilson-Jimenez was asked to confirm or deny this allegation.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The TRND interviewed FF Bilson-Jimenez on July 28, 2023, about his relationship with FF Brandt to determine if Ms. Byrne questioned him about the allegation made by FF Brandt. or if she questioned him about whether or not he felt that he had been racially harassed or discriminated against.

He responded, "I was not interviewed by Ms. Byrne directly, but rather by her partner. He asked if I had made the statement about Kaylee's position. I never said the word guaranteed regarding any position. There was an assumption that the fifth-ranking candidate would be on the list to fill Kaylee's position. When it was discussed (2022), FF Truitt asked Chief Lacey if a list would be created for Kaylee's spot, and he said they were. I was ranked 4th, offered a position, and declined because I was apprehensive about spending 25 years in a department I have been the subject of harassment. That meant the 5th and 6th candidates, Ashley Beck and Eric Godby, were offered the positions."

FF Bilson-Jimenez continued, "I briefly considered re-enlisting in the Marine Corps but decided it was not the right time for my family. I was under the assumption that the 2023 process would be the same; Chief Lacey told me that was not how the 2023 process would work."

According to Bilson-Jimenez, Ms. Byrne's co-investigator did not ask him any questions about him being harassed or if he felt that he was denied the promotion as a full-time firefighter with the Miami Township Fire Department.

FF Bilson-Jimenez is pictured above on the far right.

Byrne Report "Appears" To Absolve Miami Township of Racial Discrimination Allegation- But OCRC Will Decide

Julie Byrne, former "Managing Partner" for Frost Brown Todd, was recommended by Alex Ewing of Frost Brown and Todd to the Miami Township Trustees. She concluded on page 11 of her report that the township did not discriminate against FF Tomas Bilson Jimenez.

FF Bilson-Jimenez, who is Hispanic, received the highest score on the test. The Byrne Report dismissed this fact by stating, "There is no applicable policy, rule, or contract that requires the Township Trustees to hire the applicate with the highest score." Byrne also stated in her report, "The Chief recused himself from the promotion/hiring process, but Lacey did not. (Byrne refers to Lt. Shelly Lacey, Bilson-Jimenez's mother-in-law.)

The Byrne Report stated, "She (referring to Lt. Lacey) prepared the written exam using a test generator. Based on the text of the report, it does not appear that anyone other than the "Township Trustees" was interviewed about Lacey's allegation that Bilson-Jiminez was discriminated against because of his race. Even if the "Township Trustees" were interviewed, nothing is shown in the report about it other than Byrne's statement that the Trustees were concerned about the appearance of another Lacey family member being promoted.

END OF OCRC Article

Subscribers can read the Byrne Report that was leaked by a Miami Township official who access to the Confidential Attorney Privileged Report. Click here for Byrne Report Leaked to Fox 19

Reid Can't Provide Communication on Sheriff's Contract

Former Miami Township Administrator Dan Reid, pictured here, became angry when he was questioned about his communication with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department and the Hamilton County Commissioners to begin negotiations on a new contract.

Miami Township Trustees Board President Jack Rininger has asked Mr. Reid since November 2022 numerous times to contact the Sheriff's Department and the Hamilton County Commissioners about why there have not been any discussions. In past meetings, Reid often struggled to remember whom he had spoken to or to provide a record of those contacts; he was asked to give the Three Rivers News Dispatch a record of email contacts and phone logs on June 21, 2023. A public records request was filed with Mr. Reid on June 22, 2023. That records request remains unfulfilled. (Subscribers can access the article by clicking on

https://conta.cc/3JNNGQk

When Mr. Reid was rehired for a second time as Miami Township Administrator, he was to remain until August 15, 2023; however, he left early on July 15, 2023, to return to Cincinnati State. Ironically, the Miami Township Trustees and the Villages of Cleves and North Bend were asked to attend a meeting to discuss a new contract immediately following Reid's departure.

A new Contract was offered to all three political subdivisions at that meeting, and it was discussed at the Board of Trustees meeting held on July 19, 2023. The chart below was provided by Cleves Village Administrator Mike Rahall, who attended the meeting. According to Rahall, who supports the plan, the top section of the chart with the times drawn through it is the full cost of the contract and is not applicable because the Sheriff's Department will subsidize the contract until 2029.

The plan below for 2024 provides 3 -24 hour cars for the three political subdivisions of North Bend, Miami Township, and the Village of Cleves. The 1.75 means that these subdivisions are paying for 1.75 cars, and Hamilton County taxpayers will pay for 1.25 cars for a total of three. The cost goes up each year through 2029 when the three subdivisions will be responsible for the cost of $2.270,500.

The proposed breakdown is that Miami Township residents in unincorporated areas will pay 66% of the cost, the residents of Cleves will pay 25.6%, and residents in North Bend will pay 8.4%.

According to Miami Township Trustee Jack Rininger, residents in the unincorporated areas must increase their levy to pay for additional police services from 2.1 mils to 5.2 mils. That current levy brings in about $500,000 a year. That means that in 2024 alone, Miami Township will have to pay the extra amount, about $185,000, from its General Fund.

Miami Township Fiscal Officer Cindy Oser has projected that Miami Township residents will have to place a levy on the ballot in 2026. The Township will lose about $500,000 in revenue when the Miami Fort electric plant closes.

END OF ARTICLE- Reid Can't Provide Communication on Sheriff's Contract

Township Trustees Discuss Roundabout at Special Meeting with County At Special Meeting

The Miami Township Trustees were asked to revisit Shady Lane Roundabout at last Wednesday's special meeting. To go forward this year, Hamilton County wanted the township to pick up the inflated cost of the project. The Trustees declined to pay the $1.7 million. The project now depends on resubmitting a grant to the State of Ohio this September. The project remains on hold until the grant is resubmitted for the increased costs and will depend on the grant's approval.

END OF ARTICLE ON SHADY LANE ROUNDABOUT

A Three Rivers News Dispatch Editorial Opinion

Miami Township's Independent Investigation of Former Miami Township Fire Chief Is Deeply Flawed

When the Miami Township Trustees decided to hire an outside firm to do an "Independent Investigation" of the allegations made by Lt. Shelly Lacey that she had been sexually harassed by subordinates in the Miami Township Fire Department and that her son-in-law was denied a promotion in the Miami Township Fire Department because of his race and that he was a member of the Lacey family, I was encouraged that it would be a fair process.

In my opinion, the process was a waste of Miami Township resident tax dollars and, at best, is only worthy of comparing it to a "Kangaroo Court Investigation" used in Third World Countries.

Miami Township Board of Trustees President Jack Rininger, in a private conversation, told me that Miami Township attorney Alex Ewing said to him that he did not want to be involved because of his long-time relationship with the township and because he had represented the Miami Township Fire Department in the past. That sounded good then, but as the investigation dragged on for months, it became clear that something was amiss. So I began researching the attorney Mr. Ewing selected to conduct the investigation. What did I find, Ms.Bryne and Alex Ewing's firm, Frost Brown and Todd, have a long-term relationship. She was a managing associate in the firm's litigation department from 2009 to 2017.

There are many definitions for an independent investigator; however, one has to look at the two words and how they fit together. Let's start with the word independent. A great definition of independent is an individual who is not influenced or controlled by others, and an excellent description of an investigator is a person who carries out a formal inquiry.

In my view. an independent investigator's only loyalty is to objective truth. After reading her report multiple times, I know many statements made by Ms. Byrne are factual. Still, in my opinion, many other statements are either incomplete, minimized, or appear to be a political cover for the Township Trustees rather than one who seeks an objective truth of an "Independent Investigator."

Chapter Three: Peeling Back the Rotten Onion

Providing Political Cover for the Miami Township Trustees

In my view, the Byrne Report was more about providing political cover for a political agenda than it was to find objective truth. Multiple examples of political cover for the Township Trustees are provided within the Byrne Report.

For example, Ms. Byrne quickly blames Chief Lacey for not distributing the Nepotism policy that the Board passed on November 2, 2022, claiming he was present at that meeting and, therefore, not believable that he did not know the policies were passed. The video, supplied through a public records request, shows that Mr. Reid was absent from the meeting and that Chief Lacey was there. The policies were passed but should have been discussed or read publicly. They were not. Only this week, most department heads received the policies passed on November 2. 2023.

In my view, it is clear from the following statement that Ms. Byryne places more significant blame on former Fire Chief Brien Lacey for not distributing the policies to members of his department than she does his boss, Administrator Dan Reid. "Township Administrator did not distribute the policies to all Township employees and instead relied on the department heads to communicate to their employees. The Chief failed to distribute the Township's non-discrimination policy to the fire department employees." The question is, why does she minimize Mr. Reid's failure to distribute policies to his subordinates?

Byrne also wrote: "Lacey alleges that FF Bilson was denied a promotion because of his relationship to the Laceys and because of race (FF Bilson is Hispanic)."

Ms. Byrne displayed some of her best "covering my client skills" in Section 7, laying a foundation that Bilson-Jiimenez was not discriminated against.

She cites the nepotism policy passed on November 2, the Ohio Ethics law about hiring relatives living in the household, citing FF Brandt's interview claiming a perception of preferential treatment for Bilson-Jimenez while slipping in that Shelly Lacey created the test with a test generator possibly insinuating that Bilson-Jimenez's highest score on the candidate's test might be related to his mother-in-law creating the test.

The testing process will be the subject of Chapter Four of Peeling Back the Layers of the Rotten Onion. I am waiting for responses from the Township Trustees to questions sent to them this week.) The questions sent by email to the Miami Township Trustees can be found right under Th-Th-Th-That's All Folks at the end of this editorial opinion.)

Byrne also pulled a giant "quilt" from her bag of covers when she said, "The Township Administrator opined there was some question whether the Township nepotism policy applied due to the fact that Bilson was already hired, and the transition from part-time to a full-time firefighter is generally viewed as a promotion in the fire department." By golly! She makes it almost sound like Mr. Reid is almost pulling for Bilson-Jimenez to get the job!

That was a brilliant use of Miami Township Administrator Dan Reid's words by Ms. Byrne. They were used just like setting up a volleyball for a spiker to attack the net! Ms. Byrne exonerated the "Township" for racial discrimination by concluding, "Nothing in the investigation uncovered any indicia of racial discrimination or harassment with regard to the promotion/hiring decision."

I tried to find in Ms. Byrne's report anyone who was asked questions about how Bilson-Jimenez may have been discriminated against for the position and came up empty. Maybe that is why her investigation did not uncover any indicia of racial discrimination against him. Or, maybe there wasn't any discrimination, but how would an "Independent Investigator" know for sure without asking Bilson-Jimenez?! For the record, that was a rhetorical question.

Where is Bill O'Reilly's No Spin Zone when we need him? You will have to wait until next week's edition of the Three Rivers News Dispatch to find out. I will do my best, O'Reilly impersonation. In Chapter Four of Peeling Back the Layers of the Rotten Onion, you will learn about how the test for Fire-fighter promotion was created and how Mr. Reid was AWOL for the process. For now! Th-Th-Th-That's All Folks!