James (Jim) Tarbell is an American politician of the Charter Party, who was a member of the city council and vice-mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Tarbell's family moved from a small Ohio town to the Hyde Park neighborhood of Cincinnati in 1946.
[1] Tarbell opened the Ludlow Garage, a local concert venue, in September 1969 and operated it until its closing in 1971, featuring artists such as Grand Funk Railroad, Spirit, Santana, Elvin Bishop, The Kinks, Humble Pie, Sons of Champlin, Cold Blood, Boz Scaggs, James Gang, Bo Didley, Iggy and the Stooges, MC5, Fairport Convention, Taj Mahal, NRBQ, Commander Cody, Herbie Mann, the Staple Singers, Alice Cooper, The Lemon Pipers, Neil Young and the Allman Brothers, who recorded a live album there.
He was first appointed to Cincinnati City Council in 1998 to replace the retiring Bobbie L. Sterne, was elected in 1999, and re-elected in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
[8] In September 2014, Tarbell announced that he was running for Hamilton County Commissioner again, this time as a write-in candidate.