>> the inside story on the issues that affect you and your community. this is local 12 newsmakers. >> good morning and welcome to local 12 newsmakers. i'm dan hurley. last week i featured four of the six candidates in the democratic primary. the district sprawlsz across mamenten county incorporating numerous cincinnati neighborhoods. district 31 has been a reliably democratic district, currently held by denise streethouse who is term limited out. six democrats are vying for the

four on newsmakers last week. paul booth and paul sohee join me this week. mary hager will oppose the winner of the d. j. primary in november. paul booth was twice appointed to cincinnati security council in 1989 and 1998 and former president of the naacp. dr. paul sowee is a pediatric dentist, ran in a primary race for the ohio senate losing to cecil thomas who went on to win the seat in the general election. welcome to newsmakers. >> thank you. good to be with you today. starting with you, paul. paul, paul. >> that's just a coincidence. he must have gotten the blue suit memo, too. [ laughter ] >> paul, why are you running? you have been around politics, you have been around public affairs.

do you want to make this run? why is it important to you? >> well, i'm running because i have a great passion for public service. i have a great passion for people, and i'm committed to making a difference. i have been around a while. you mentioned in your intro i was appointed to security council twice but was also elected twice. >> reporter: twice. >> okay. i apologize. >> so i want to correct that. i love people. i love making a difference. my parents raised us with several pillars -- faith, family, community and service -- and it is with those pillars that i've led my life and that i continue to do that. >> dr. sowee how about you? you made your first run for public office two years ago, why get in this race? >> i have seen too many times politicians will play with the emotions of people and they get elected.

get disconnected with the people they're supposed to represent. i had the same experience myself. i called the state rep -- i won't name anybody -- but i placed 19 telephone calls, six e-mails and never got a response. i think that's not representation. representation means you are connected with the people, a common person on the street, a common woman and man, and i want to change that dirty politics. i want to be that face that will change it because i want to be hard wired to the people, the issues they face, the day-to-day problems, what's working, what's not working, that's the kind of representation i want to make. >> playing off of what you just said, i want to ask this question -- the ohio house of

of reasons, is skewed very much to republican control. you're both running as democrats. >> sure. >> it's two-to-one. to be representative in that environment, what's it going to take? what can you really do even if you get to the house of representatives? paul, let's start with you. >> well, and i say this, not only do you have to be a good democrat, but you also have got to be a good diplomat in order to make things work in columbus. you've got to be a consensus builder. you've got to be able to build and form relationships. yes, we will be outnumbered and we are outnumbered, but you can still get things done by forming coalitions and relationships with other persons in the house of representatives. >> what would you say about that? >> that's true but that does not issues. one of the things is people talk

you go and meet those republicans before they get to the aisle. you sit with them, you discuss the issues they are facing. you know, you talk about, well, you know, what can we do here? i will be the first healthcare provider in the legislature. they're making decisions about our healthcare. so when i go there with issues with healthcare, i will also bring out other issues. with that professionalism, with being in a business for 29 years in the cincinnati area, you have a role of being persistence and politely persistent to get the job done and that's what i plan to do.

if there had to be a top issue, what would that be? >> the top issue would be and dr. sohi touched on that is constituent services. you would be surprised that if you talked to ten people that maybe four of them will know who their state representative is and that shouldn't be. you should be able to know your state representative just like you know your members of city council origin one else that serves you, and the reason for that is, as state representatives, we have to be able to connect with our district. it's obviously a big district, but we have to connect with them to learn their issues -- not only learn their issues but to be able to provide their services. when i was on security council, i had a policy that i answered every piece of correspondence that came into my office. if i got a phone call or a

what the doctor experienced you would never experience in my office. i have three es, effect, efficient, equitable services. the government belongs to the people. >> dr. sohee, on your web site, you promised your constituents that you would protect them for three things and one of them is stop the prejudgment of race, background and government or judicial functioning by withholding those who do not withhold their judgment responsible to public reprimands. can you give me an example of where you think that has occurred and second what would be the nature of a reprimand that you think might come out of the house of representatives? >> well, you know, this is essentially the golden thread of all this communication is, that our justice system is truly

and a lot of times, when a young man enters a courtroom, actually it's a feeling that, you know, the community tells me this is what i get from the mindset of the people i meet. they are saying this. they are the ones saying that the justice system is broken, and i see that it's broken, because -- >> what can the legislature do? what can you imagine that the legislature can do about that? >> well, definitely i'm not the only person who can solve this problem. we have to get a consensus among professionals in this field which includes judges, prosecutors, community leaders, sit down and find out what can we do to stop this disproportionate incarceration of young black men in our communities? you know, there has to be some solutions out of that. i would be in the forefront to actually get that done.

have read the new jim crow which lays this out in great detail and the way the justice system has been used. >> and let me piggy back on that. we have to look at expungement in certain cases. you know, it's unfortunate -- i was speaking with someone the other day. they had something on their record from 30 years ago that keeps coming up, prevents them from being employed. so we've got to look at the whole issue of how the law is applied and not only how it's applied but how we redeem and how we reform persons that have committed crimes following -- giving their service that they have been given. >> if you had been here last week -- and that is my fault. you two were unavailable because i called late, i admit that. but if you had said yes, i don't know what i would have done with

this set is not made for six people. we barely got four on. last week, one of the issues was around the whole controversy with ben lindy and his position about unions. do you want to address that? do you feel that's an important issue? the party came close to censoring him. what do you feel about that situation? and we talked about it for some time last week. >> well, i really don't want to get into whether he should be censored or not because it's irrelevant from my point of view. it's irrelevant because the ohio democratic party has already censored him. he's completely barred to use benefits like bulk mailing. so when the top state party, the ohio democratic party decides and takes such a serious step against a fellow democrat,

so i'm nobody to further that, i guess. we respect the chairman and if that's the decision that's come down, that's the we respect the decision. >> this was a paper he wrote in law school and ultimately the people decide. i say pundits, parties and prognosticators and polls likely don't decide things. the public really decides it and that's what's important. it's up to ben and all of us to win public faith and to win public confidence and put our story out there and to tell them what we want to do for them and ultimately the voters decide. >> i have about a minute left. real quickly for both of you. at the core of that issue is the question of the role of unions and the democratic party, and are you -- how do you feel about unions and the democratic party,

>> well, the democratic party unions, and everybody else are welcomed. >> i am very strong for the collective bargaining and the benefit of school teachers. people have worked so hard. their collective bargaining cannot be taken back and their benefits cannot be reduced. you cannot have people serving us be stressed every day because their benefits can be taken. so i will strongly fight for the union rights. >> very last thing. your web page. >> go to my web site for my issues. it's paulsohee.com (phonetic). >> and mine is boothforohio31. >> thank you for having here this morning. stay tuned after the break.

the 2016 archway campaign. >> reporter: playing for the

the white house is challenges, but pratt has used music to build bridges his entire life and working to make sure this year that all cincinnatiians have the opportunity to discover the artist within ourselves and use art to close gaps right here in cincinnati. welcome back. every year at this time i do a segment about the upcoming fine arts weekend and the annual fine arts -- artsway campaign. this year it's different. the couple chairing the campaign emy the threads that make the arts a robust part of life in cincinnati, a collaboration between professional arts community and the leader of the business community. jill meyer is the new c.e.o. of the cincinnati u.s.a. regional chamber. before accepting that position last august, was the member in

brown, todd. abu dag pratt is a concert pi anest that performance around the world, is at the college conservatory of music at u.c. and artistic director of the world piano competition. welcome to news makers. just to make sure everybody is clear, you two are married. >> we are. >> so when i say couple... the other thing i have to make clear, i have another giant conflict of interest this week, jill is my boss in the chamber. but i am retiring, so she will not have power over me, but abu daj, you're married to one of the most powerful businesswomen in our region. does this change your life? >> not so much. i mean, getting married was a bigger change than her changing jobs.

>> yeah. >> how long was that? >> four years ago. >> so, jill, i know you a little bit. i've known you for a while. i know the arts is something that's been part of your life. but how is being married to abu daj change your relationship, understanding, whatever, of the arts? >> well, tremendously. i'll tell you a funny story. abu daj was studying sheet music one day getting ready to conduct a premier. i was looking over his shoulder and i said you know what's interesting about this piece? he said, what? i said, that makes sense to you. to me, it's just a pretty piece of paper. now you understand my level of knowledge of music. but seeing it in action every day and seeing what it allows him to express. on the flip side, but the

his students, is seeing the world through their eyes and understanding the relationship, it opened my eyes to a whole different side of what i previously had enjoyed listening to, but understanding how it is very much a part of what people feel right here and it drives a lot of what can really happen in the world and what does happen in the world. >> if i read your bio, you started music lessons at 6. >> that's right. >> was that because they thought you were a prodigy or because they thought every child should have experience making music? >> it was actually neither of those things. my parents listened to classical music all the time and it was the only music we listened to and i liked it and i told them that at the age of 6 that i wanted conducting lessons and they thought about it for a minute and said let's try the piano.

house. >> why did you say you wanted conducting lessons? >> because i must have seen a conductor on television. we actually have -- this is how long ago that was -- but we had the real-to-real, dad would tape pieces off the radio on a real-to-real and play it back in the house. so it must have been, you know, associating that finally with seeing leonard bernstein conducting and i said that's what i want to do. we didn't have a piano in the house. we got a toy piano. and after it became clear i was maintaining interest, my parents bought an upright piano. >> now, when you sort of -- one of the launches for the arts wave campaign this year at ccm, there's a photo that showed up on facebook which i love.

>> not six yet. >> no. >> but here he comes out under the stage with his violin. >> a ukulele. >> is that what it is? >> yeah, he's got a little violin, actually. >> so what's your attitude about introducing your son to music? >> it's one of the things that i've thought about, you know, because, as a musician, you run into people whose parents are, like, as your opinion saying, started them really young, you must do this, and others who kind of drifted into it late for life, and i think it's important because i do it and he's around it all the time, for him to just be around it. so when he was in my dressing room for some concerts, when he was very small, and there was a piano there, he would go to the piano and go to the piano in the house and at some point he said he wanted a violin so we got a violin.

he wants to do, we'll have it. he's been practicing his bow for a very long time. >> even in that photograph, he has a tremendous sense of presence, and that i can kind of understand. >> it's a little scary because he was very excited to go on stage with us and it was when we were announcing the goal, he stood and played his ukulele while we were talking. when we announced to goal, everybody clapped, and derek appropriately stopped, took a bow, took another bow, surely they were clapping for him. >> surely! [ laughter ] >> he thinks this is very fun. jill, whether the arts or other things, you also have this interest, it's why i've heard you say you've taken the job at the chamber, that you see the ability to continue to transform our community.

those who enjoy going -- you know, they like to be entertained, they like to be inspired, whatever, by symphony music, by classical music, by theater, whatever it happens to be, what larger role do the arts play in this community and what do you hope -- and i suspect, i don't know -- why you may have taken on this task? >> arts are, i think, maybe our biggest opportunity to define ourselves as a different place to be. i say that because i don't have to go through the history of our arts offerings, but even if you bring it up to present day, the variety, the breadth, it's meet people everywhere they are. it has an ability like nothing else to bring a group of people together around a common nut in the middle, and the interesting thing about that, when we first launched the campaign, somebody

why you're interested in the arts. i said, don't get me wrong, if we didn't have the arts community we have, this guy wouldn't be in town. as personal as it is for me, that's the example. he wouldn't be in cincinnati if we didn't have the tremendous place at ccm and the wonderful arts that surround it. but that's telling for the type of mix and the people who come together because you have the offerings that allow people to explore a different side of the world and take a step maybe out of their comfort zone or to understand something about a different part of the world or another person that there is just nothing else that can help them bridge that gap like the arts can.

the art music, you can get people different and put them in the room they don't have anything to talk about but if you ask them to comment on a painting or sculpture and a piece of music and all of a sudden they can talk with each other. >> how do you feel about the goal? you mentioned the goal. the goal this year is $12.45 million which is the most that you've ever tried to raise. >> yeah. >> and they have a tremendous record of being the best in the country. is that daunting? >> as a performer, as an artist, is that daunting? >> there are a loft zeros -- a lot of zeros attached to that number. it is daunting, and more so if i felt i had to raise every dollar of it. but arts wave has a great infrastructure and there is some people in the communities that are on our cabinet and in the

that are all super enthusiastic about raising the money. so it's a real army of people going out and it's kind of exciting to be a part and say, hey, let's go do this. >> reporter: next weekend is the macy's art sampler. what are you looking forward to there? >> you know what i love about sampler weekend is, as we referenced just before, seeing all the different people who are there. because if you start going to a certain -- if you go to the symphony on the weekends or the children's theater, you kind of see the same types of people at those events, but the sampler really brings all kinds of people together and the other thing i love about it is on saturday, obviously, it's all around town and sunday it's just at music hall, so much happening there. but the all-around town, i think, opens a lot of people's eyes who think that to enjoy the arts you have to go downtown. we don't. we have really great

nice way to showcase that. >> which is the whole point about the arts wave. >> absolutely. >> i want to reinforce this. for those of you won't to find out about the macy's art sampler weekend, go to the web site of arts wave at the arts wave.org. sunday is really interesting this year because it's really focused at music hall, and remember music hall is going to be closing down this summer for a long period of time. it's a great chance to go and explore that fantastic building. thank you for being here this morning. good luck on this. good luck with your son and let's get him introduced to my granddaughter. >> we talked about that. >> thank you for making newsmakers a part of your sunday morning. we leave you back at the white house. be sure to listen to the end. i don't think bach wrote the

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