Buck Rinehart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dana G. "Buck" Rinehart is an American politician. He was born in 1946, and served as Republican mayor of Columbus, Ohio, from 1984 - 1992.

Having served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel, Rinehart attended The Ohio State University in Columbus, earning an B.A. in Political Science. He later attended Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University, graduating cum laude.

Rinehart began his career as treasurer of Franklin County, Ohio, from 1976-1984. Rinehart also believed in the politics of shame. As County Treasurer he posted a sign at the county building listing the names of real-estate tax scofflaws, the "Dirty Dozen" (see [1]).

He was persuaded by Republican Party insiders to run for mayor in 1983, to replace disgraced outgoing Republican mayor, Tom Moody (1972-1984). Rinehart narrowly won the election to become the 45th mayor of Columbus. He won re-election in 1987. At this time, his politics of shame policy transformed to shameless politics. An example of this bizarre policy shift is illustrated in the second-term "State Pen" incident. Rinehart called an afternoon press conference in which he recklessly drove a backhoe into the Ohio State Penitentiary. Being property of The State of Ohio, this was widely considered an act of criminal trespassing and felonious vandalism. Despite causing over $40,000 in damage to the building, Rinehart never faced prosecuted.

His term as mayor was characterized by a downtown office boom, with the construction of many skyscrapers. The city also experienced a period of rapid growth and subsequent suburban sprawl. As mayor he was characterized by his side-show hucksterism, boisterous claims and clownish behavior.

In 1995, Rinehart pleaded guilty to DUI. He was sentenced to community service, a one-year suspension of his driver's license and 30 days in same Ohio Penitentiary he attempted to knock down years before. This was considered a highly unusual sentence as "The Pen" had stood vacant since 1983.

Rinehart currently works at the law firm of Rinehart, Howarth, Rishel & Kopech in Columbus.