Speaker 1: Bill cunning Him the Great America. Welcome this Friday afternoon
Speaker 1: in the Tries date. In about thirty minutes, Steve Rowley
Speaker 1: will be here to talk about the weather coming in.
Speaker 1: We might have seventy five mile per our wins which
Speaker 1: is on the hurricane force later today. I'm going to
Speaker 1: keep you informed about that, plus to fall out from
Speaker 1: Pete Rosen Moore. And of course the Reds play the
Speaker 1: Battle of Ohio with the Cleveland Guardians starting about six
Speaker 1: forty tonight, which means first which means we begin the
Speaker 1: coverage of five point forty. But until then, until then,
Speaker 1: we have Connie Pillage joining us. There was a bombshell
Speaker 1: announcement yesterday in front of the county commissioners who are
Speaker 1: changing the legal team that's been representing in a sense
Speaker 1: him in the county for about twenty five years or so.
Speaker 1: And Connie Pillach Welcome again to the Bill Cunningham Show.
Speaker 1: And Connie, can you first tell the American people what
Speaker 1: your announcement was yesterday and where did this things go
Speaker 1: from here?
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, thanks for having me, Willie. It's
Speaker 2: always a pleasure. Yesterday I did make a recommendation to
Speaker 2: the county Commissioners that we make a big change in
Speaker 2: our negotiating team against the Bengals, and instead of retaining
Speaker 2: the guy who's been there for I think it's twenty
Speaker 2: nine years now, I wanted to move into a bold
Speaker 2: new direction because I think the county needs to step
Speaker 2: up and have some have some good negotiating cards in
Speaker 2: their hands. So I recommended that as as you know,
Speaker 2: i'm their lawyer as prosecutor, I'm the lawyer of the
Speaker 2: Bank of the County commission. But I recommended that we
Speaker 2: move into move Dinsmore, which is a local law firm.
Speaker 2: It's been it's got deep community roots. It was founded
Speaker 2: here in nineteen oh eight, so for more than a century.
Speaker 2: It's well known for its high level of professionalism and accountability,
Speaker 2: and it will bring a fresh set of eyes and
Speaker 2: negotiating shops to the legal team. So I recommended that
Speaker 2: the Bengals do that. Pardon me, Gosh, William, I think it's.
Speaker 3: Right, Tornadoes, but it's it's the county.
Speaker 2: It will help the county a lot, who have a
Speaker 2: very strong negotiating and legal team going forward with the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Now, for those listening prosecutors in Ohio anyway, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think the same thing with Kenton County. They have
Speaker 1: criminal responsibility. You have criminal felony responsibility, and also you
Speaker 1: have civil responsibilities, which mean you serve as the attorney
Speaker 1: in this case, for the for the elected officials in
Speaker 1: this case Hamiliny County commissioners. Did you consult with them
Speaker 1: before you made this decision as your client or not?
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely. First of all, it's the commissioner's decision. I
Speaker 2: make recommendations. But I started meeting with them. Of course,
Speaker 2: I had to meet one on one to so I
Speaker 2: could talk about legal issues with them, and I started
Speaker 2: doing that in early January, and I got to tell you,
Speaker 2: I heard a lot of frustration from them about the
Speaker 2: negotiation progress or lack thereof, against with the Bengals. I
Speaker 2: heard a lot of concerns about communications issues, a lack
Speaker 2: of clarity on what was happening, and lack of focus
Speaker 2: on the desired results that the commission wanted to achieve.
Speaker 2: And so after having some of these conversations, I started
Speaker 2: to work with my team here in the office, because
Speaker 2: you know, I have one hundred and twenty lawyers here.
Speaker 2: I worked with my civil lawyers to try to figure
Speaker 2: out what we could do to make this better so
Speaker 2: that the commission would feel like they had some ability
Speaker 2: to try to get the best deal for the taxpayers.
Speaker 1: And as as far as the new team, I've known
Speaker 1: George Vincent for most of my life and he's one
Speaker 1: of the partners there. And for those who may not know,
Speaker 1: he was a chairman of the Republican Party in Hamley
Speaker 1: County for many years.
Speaker 3: But this is a nonpartisan matter.
Speaker 1: So as far as what the commissioners told you, they
Speaker 1: expressed may use the term dissatisfaction of the direction the
Speaker 1: negotiations we're going.
Speaker 3: And now we're about.
Speaker 1: Six weeks from the conclusion and the Bengals have issued
Speaker 1: a press release that I have in front of me
Speaker 1: from yesterday expressing dissatisfaction with the other aspect to this
Speaker 1: is engaging this other firm in order to say inner
Speaker 1: Sports Circle, shall I say to remain the lead negotiator
Speaker 1: and explain the differential between Dinsmore on one hand and
Speaker 1: Inner Circle Sports on the other. What are the activities
Speaker 1: and functions of each of them?
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I'm happy to do that, and I am
Speaker 2: very happy that George Vincent is on this Dinsmore team.
Speaker 2: He certainly got a lot of connections and a lot
Speaker 2: of smart were really excited to work with him and
Speaker 2: the other members of the team. So Inner Circle Sports
Speaker 2: actually I looked into the background. The County did start
Speaker 2: discussions with them back in twenty twenty two as they
Speaker 2: were starting to figure out how they would approach the
Speaker 2: looming lease deadline, and in twenty twenty three they did
Speaker 2: a little bit more refined discussions. I signed the final
Speaker 2: contract with Inner Circle Sports in January of this year,
Speaker 2: So for the Bengals to come out and start complaining
Speaker 2: months later, it is a little disingenuous to me. And
Speaker 2: they have no absolutely no business telling us who we
Speaker 2: can have on our negotiating team. I would never tell
Speaker 2: them who they can have on theirs, and it's just
Speaker 2: not appropriate.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, one thing the Bengals have said in their press
Speaker 1: release that this Inner Circle Sports, and by the way
Speaker 1: each party selects their own lawyers, it'd be great to
Speaker 1: have for you to pick the lawyers for the Bengals
Speaker 1: or vice versa.
Speaker 3: That's not the way it works.
Speaker 1: But the Bengals are saying that the Inner Circle Sports
Speaker 1: group is connected to the Browns, and that somehow being
Speaker 1: connected to the Browns is wrong because they'll be serving
Speaker 1: two masters. How would you respond to that press release?
Speaker 2: Well, I think the Bengals may have been misled into
Speaker 2: with their their so called research. There was one member
Speaker 2: of Inner Circle Sports that did do some work or
Speaker 2: may continue to do some work with the Cleveland Browns,
Speaker 2: but he left Inner Circle Sports, so there's there's no
Speaker 2: conflict there. And the man that we're working with, David Abrams,
Speaker 2: has not done any work with the Cleveland Browns. So
Speaker 2: but I do appreciate the Bengals trying to look out
Speaker 2: for the for us in their own way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, David Abrams has as I understand it. I read
Speaker 1: a press release that Abrams and this group also works
Speaker 1: for like two or three other NFL cities enfranchises, and
Speaker 1: it tends to look as if the goal is to
Speaker 1: have the Bengals pay at least fifty percent of the freight,
Speaker 1: which might be up to eight hundred and fifty million dollars.
Speaker 1: And by saying that we're unhappy with who the county
Speaker 1: is picking to negotiate with us, that seems to me
Speaker 1: saying we're going to extend the least two years because
Speaker 1: this abrupt change six weeks before the culmination of the
Speaker 1: lease is too close to become familiar. Is this deployed
Speaker 1: by the Bengals. Do you think to stretch this out
Speaker 1: another two years which keeps the county on the hook
Speaker 1: for these improvements under the old lease.
Speaker 2: Well, look, the county is absolutely intent on getting a deal.
Speaker 2: We want a win win resolution, so everybody's happy. And
Speaker 2: let's think about this. These contracts when they're written, they've
Speaker 2: got hundreds of day It's like, what David Abrams' skill
Speaker 2: is is that he's a nationally recognized expert in negotiating
Speaker 2: with municipalities and cities as well as with the NFL
Speaker 2: and other sports teams. That's why we chose to bring
Speaker 2: him on three and a half months ago. So it's
Speaker 2: not a new thing. But here's what the commission wants.
Speaker 2: They really basically want three things. They want a long
Speaker 2: term market rate lease. They want a diverse funding stack
Speaker 2: and that means contributions from the county and the state,
Speaker 2: the team and the NFL. And three, they want more
Speaker 2: community benefits. So it's basically community access to the stadium.
Speaker 2: And frankly, let me tell you this, Willie Commissioner Alisha
Speaker 2: Rees has been asking for that for a long time,
Speaker 2: and she is not wrong.
Speaker 1: Do you have a sense when I had on Denise
Speaker 1: Treehouse and Alisha Reese, they they were saying, we're working together.
Speaker 3: It looks great.
Speaker 1: About two weeks ago, we had a document that came
Speaker 1: out that said, if we have a lease, the Bengals
Speaker 1: going to pay two thirds of one hundred and eighty million,
Speaker 1: in the county was going to pay one third. I
Speaker 1: had a sense doing this that they things are in
Speaker 1: the right way. Another things we're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 1: And then this bombshell hit yesterday. Do you have a
Speaker 1: sense that the negotiations at this point are not in
Speaker 1: a good place to renew the lease in six weeks?
Speaker 2: I know I don't. I think we're in an excellent
Speaker 2: place because by taking this step forward, bringing in a
Speaker 2: Backerjack legal team, continuing to use the lead negotiator that
Speaker 2: we've been using for several months now to come up
Speaker 2: with that little memorandum of understanding a couple of weeks ago. Look,
Speaker 2: I think this just tells the Bengals and the county
Speaker 2: and the taxpayers that we are very serious about getting
Speaker 2: a win win resolution.
Speaker 1: And you're saying you don't want the Bengals to pick
Speaker 1: your representatives.
Speaker 2: You went the county negotiator. We have one too.
Speaker 1: Well, they've done very well, by the way, Mike Brown
Speaker 1: can take down the Irs and tax Court for God's sake,
Speaker 1: and so yes, I mean.
Speaker 3: They're pretty good at this.
Speaker 1: So at this point, Tom Gableman, I've met him a
Speaker 1: couple of times.
Speaker 3: Nice guy. What would you say about the representation of
Speaker 3: Tom Gableman.
Speaker 2: I really can't say much about it other than from
Speaker 2: my conversations with my clients at the County Commission. They
Speaker 2: were ready for a change. And sometimes of change is
Speaker 2: like a holiday and it's just a breath of fresh air.
Speaker 2: You get a lot of new energy and excitement. Mister
Speaker 2: Gableman did pledge to make sure the transition was smooth
Speaker 2: and complete, and I appreciate him for that.
Speaker 1: What wasn't he paid like twenty six million dollars or
Speaker 1: some amount of money about a million? Explain the financial
Speaker 1: resources given to Tom Gableman.
Speaker 2: Well, I did get a print out from the county
Speaker 2: esterday that just had It was very vague, but it
Speaker 2: did have a summary of what he'd been paid each year,
Speaker 2: and it did total twenty six million for the last
Speaker 2: twenty nine years. So I think he made a lot
Speaker 2: of money off of taxpayers and it's time to change,
Speaker 2: change our our arrangement.
Speaker 3: And you know, Tom's not happy about this.
Speaker 1: I haven't spoken to him, but I imagine he's not pleased
Speaker 1: with this decision of the county commissioners.
Speaker 2: I got the impression that he's not. I met him
Speaker 2: for the first time yesterday. He was waiting for me
Speaker 2: in the lobby of the County Administration building. But look,
Speaker 2: I've called him multiple times before I took office, and
Speaker 2: he never called back, never tried, never sent an email,
Speaker 2: as far as I can tell, was.
Speaker 1: That a frigid meeting in the lobby outside after he
Speaker 1: was fired?
Speaker 3: Was that somewhat frigid?
Speaker 2: No, I met him before, well, I met him before
Speaker 2: the meeting, but we had given him a heads up
Speaker 2: phone call that this was going on.
Speaker 1: All right this point, as we sit here this Friday afternoon,
Speaker 1: at this point, there's a new negotiating team that is
Speaker 1: a George Vincent Dinsmore and you hired a couple months ago.
Speaker 1: This other group, Inner Circle Sports, that have negotiated six
Speaker 1: other deals in which the NFL slashed the team paid
Speaker 1: about fifty percent of the whole deal, and you look
Speaker 1: forward to a deal being completed, hopefully in six weeks.
Speaker 1: But if it's extended by two years by the Bengals,
Speaker 1: which is they're right, that wouldn't surprise you.
Speaker 2: It'd be fine. I know these things take time, and
Speaker 2: certainly they're stinging for some reason. I'm not really sure why.
Speaker 2: We're just changing our legal team, and we have every
Speaker 2: right to do that. But again, I know the county
Speaker 2: is one percent in favor of getting a deal at
Speaker 2: the earliest opportunity.
Speaker 1: In county pillage that Bengals do not pick your representatives.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right, Willy. I.
Speaker 1: Now, lastly, since this other issue came up, this is
Speaker 1: about the killing of Ryan Hinton. This is completely unrelated.
Speaker 1: Put on your county criminal hat instead of your civil hat.
Speaker 1: The county corner. Last me, some Marco was going to
Speaker 1: hold a news conference today. We were going to cover
Speaker 1: about I guess the results of the autopsy. I would
Speaker 1: think of Ryan Hinton and maybe Larry Henderson. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that the dead police officer and you issued a
Speaker 1: grand jury subpoena. Can you explain what's happening in that case?
Speaker 2: Well? As is typical in cases like this, when there's
Speaker 2: a case coming up, the grand jury will subpoena all
Speaker 2: kinds of things. A subpoena the surveillance video in the
Speaker 2: area of a subpoena the black box from the car,
Speaker 2: the so called black box from the vehicle. They'll subpoena
Speaker 2: born cam, and they'll subpoena the results of toxicology and autoxies.
Speaker 2: This is pretty basic stuff going forward. And I know
Speaker 2: that the community is hoping that we do a very
Speaker 2: thorough and account a pull job on this case.
Speaker 1: And you told me a month or two ago in
Speaker 1: another police shooting, that it's up to the county prosecutor
Speaker 1: criminally to submit or not to submit to the grand
Speaker 1: jury all the evidence. In order to submit it to
Speaker 1: the grand jury, you must believe that there's a viable
Speaker 1: case here of maybe police misconduct or not. This is
Speaker 1: a very high profile case. It was one of the
Speaker 1: stories national news. Are you going to make a decision
Speaker 1: before you give it to a grand jury whether to
Speaker 1: indict or not the police officer involves CINCINNTI police or
Speaker 1: if the evidence comes out a certain way, may you
Speaker 1: not submit the case at all?
Speaker 3: Of the grand jury.
Speaker 2: It's just too early to say. I haven't seen enough
Speaker 2: information yet. And I know people are eager. We always
Speaker 2: want everything immediately, especially in twenty twenty five, But sometimes
Speaker 2: you got to let the police department do their job
Speaker 2: and do their investigations. And as you know that there'll
Speaker 2: be a homice investigation, and they also have their oh,
Speaker 2: their internal investigations, and the citizens investigation. There'll be three
Speaker 2: investigations going on at any given time. I got to
Speaker 2: let them do their job before I make a decision.
Speaker 1: Have you seen any information to date that the Cincinnati
Speaker 1: police officer should be criminally.
Speaker 3: Charged with anything?
Speaker 2: No, I have not yet.
Speaker 1: All right, Connie Pillage, thank you very much, and this
Speaker 1: is interesting. We hope the Bengals lease works out. I
Speaker 1: hope that Joe Burrow leads the team to the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I hope there's a long term lease. I hope the money,
Speaker 1: diverse funding mechanisms, community benefits.
Speaker 3: I want it all there, we all do.
Speaker 1: And I know Denise Treehouse has said to me she's
Speaker 1: not going to submit it to the taxpayers ahead of
Speaker 1: time because she doesn't have to.
Speaker 3: And so we hope this deal works out.
Speaker 1: And once again, Connie Pillage, thanks for coming on the
Speaker 1: Bill Cunningham Show.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Connie, my pleasure, God, God bless you. Let's
Speaker 3: continue with more.
Speaker 1: There you have it, so another twist and turn in
Speaker 1: the Bengals lease in the Bengals relationship with the hamble
Speaker 1: In County. It continues on news radio seven hundred WLW