Category: Politics

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News Politics Transportation

Truth behind county’s MSD vote comes out

UrbanCincy received an internal City email with additional information behind the County Commissioner’s Metropolitan Sewer District vote that happened Wednesday. The vote was to deny any money going to the Cincinnati Streetcar project – the city proposed 3 million be given to the project to replace aging sewer systems underneath the route, in an effort to prevent more costs to be incurred later.

Predictably, the Commissioners voted against the proposal. Here’s the rest of the story:

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Hello all –

I wanted to share some background on all of the chatter about the vote taken by the County Commissioners today. Below is a breakdown of the effects that was sent to me today. The bottomline is that the County Commissioners are sucking up to COAST. Their vote will actually make the Streetcar project cheaper, and cost MSD rate payers more money in the future when they have to pay the full cost of upgrading the sewers. But, whoever let facts get in the way of a good political argument?!

I know you guys like facts though, so read on…

4 key points about today’s [Wednesday’s] vote:

1) The actions taken today by the BOCC [Board of County Commissioners] will not stop the streetcar project. In fact, if the BOCC decides not to allow MSD to permit in the cost sharing agreement, it will actually save the Streetcar project money, as the streetcar will only pay to relocate the minimum conflicts with MSD facilities.

2) We need a final determination on whether the BOCC will participate in the cost sharing agreement within the next week. Final design for the streetcar is due November 1, and currently includes sewer design based on the assumption that the cost sharing plan will go forward as proposed. Our plan is to begin bidding the construction of the streetcar, including the sewer work, by the end of this year. If the BOCC does not participate, we will need to redesign the sewer and work to the minimum scope as well as other aspects of the design. That work must get underway as soon as possible and the longer we wait to start it, the longer we delay bidding the construction.

3) The cost sharing plan as proposed offers the BOCC and MSD to perform $6 million work of work at a tremendous discount of 50%. The MSD work proposed to be performed under the cost sharing plan is work that will eventually be necessary, as the facilities are over 100 years old. They could break anytime. Our goal is, like any other project in the ROW, to coordinate construction activities so as to dig up the streets as few times as possible.
Not participating in the cost sharing plan will only ensure that the MSD work happens at greater expense to MSD ratepayers, as it will not benefit from the unique cost sharing opportunity currently presented. Likewise, it ensures that this inevitable MSD work will happen with greater difficulty, as it will need to take place in an environment in which they have to work around a functioning streetcar system.

4) The construction coordination that is being proposed under the cost sharing agreement is not new. Regardless of your position on the streetcar, the proposed plan not only represents good, efficient construction practice, but a unique opportunity to save MSD ratepayers money.

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Despite some of our official’s best efforts, this is the little rail project that could.

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Business News Politics Transportation

Cincinnatians for Progress head into final weeks of campaign

The group dedicated to stopping the over-reaching, poorly worded and potentially debilitating piece of anti-rail legislation known (this year) as Issue 48 has mere weeks before the city’s population heads to the ballot box to decide the future of job growth, innovation, and progress in Cincinnati.

Cincinnatians for Progress has been working tirelessly to raise money and get the word out about Issue 48. If passed, the legislation would ban ANY money – both public and private – from being spent for rail transportation in the city of Cincinnati until the year 2020. After a similar issue was defeated in 2009, anti-rail forces outside the city are attempting to keep Cincinnati in the dark ages once again.

One big difference this year is the endorsement of two widely respected members of the NAACP- and both named Greatest Living Cincinnatians – Milton Hinton, a former Cincinnati NAACP president, and Judge Nathaniel Jones, former counsel of the national NAACP. Both men have publicly made a stand against Issue 48 and believe that the proposal will further discriminate against minorities.

Judge Jones spoke about his experience with racial discrimination and civil rights, particularly as they related to rail and the interstate commerce clause, saying,”Minorities need to be ever vigilant against back door efforts to take away their rights, including efforts to inhibit rail such as this…Transportation by rail is a key way for those who have been victimized in the past to take advantage of economic opportunities.”

This comes in stark contrast to Chris Smitherman, former president of the NAACP who has relinquished his seat temporarily to run for City Council. Smitherman is one of the architects of both Issue 48 and Issue 9 in 2009, and has been very vocal in his opposition to the Cincinnati Streetcar project. Despite the National Chapter of the NAACP encouraging passage of job growth legislation including public transportation, Smitherman has attempted to rally his base to block rail transportation projects that would put many back to work.

At a press conference this morning, Dr. Hinton said, “[defeating Issue 48 is] all about the availability of jobs… Issue 48 is self-defeating and the antithesis of job creation. Minorities have always had to fight to get a piece of the pie…with 48, there won’t be a pie to get a piece of.”

How You Can Help

If you feel that Cincinnati deserves to move forward with the rest of the country by establishing rail transportation systems, Cincinnatians for Progress needs your help in these last days of the campaign.

* Thursday night a Finish Line fundraiser will be held at Japp’s from 5.30-8.30 pm. $20 entry, $100 to be a host.

* You can donate online to Cincinnatians for Progress – your money is going to radio spots, direct mail, and yard signs and banners to help spread the word.

* Phone banking and canvassing will begin this weekend. CFP is looking for phone bank volunteers Tuesday through Thursdays from 6-8pm, and canvass volunteers on Saturdays and Sundays. Please email jenelln.hubbard@gmail.com to sign up. UrbanCincy will be holding a phone bank night if you don’t want to go by yourself – keep tabs on our Facebook and Twitter pages for more details.

* Pick up yard signs and banners at local businesses. Currently Park+Vine and Coffee Emporium downtown have signs for you to display.

* Last but not least, word of mouth and spreading information is easily the best way you can help the campaign. Tell all your friends, coworkers and relatives who live in Cincinnati about Issue 48 and how debilitating it will be for our city. You can research talking points and learn more at the CFP info page.

Councilman Cecil Thomas put it pretty succinctly this morning: “This [issue] is not about the “now.” It’s about the growth of the city….the future of the city.”

Issue 48 picture by Noel Prows.
Casey Coston contributed to this article.

Categories
News Opinion Politics Transportation

Visit from President Obama raises political stakes surrounding the Brent Spence Bridge project

The Brent Spence Replacement/Rehabilitation Project – the Cincinnati region’s largest public works project in a generation – has received more media attention in the past three months than in the nine years since project planning began in 2002. But unfortunately much of the recent conversation has been politicized, with dozens of leaders and media outlets errantly stating that the existing Brent Spence Bridge will be demolished after a new bridge is built.

At an April 20, 2009 press conference, OKI announced that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Ohio Department of Transportation had agreed on a plan that would see a new bridge built for I-75 immediately west of the Brent Spence Bridge and that the existing bridge would be rehabilitated and carry I-71. This plan was endorsed by politicians such as Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who remarked at the conference that “Conceptually, what they’ve pointed out to me is a very workable plan and it will be something that we all can be proud of.”

Although the local media did report on this “hybrid” plan, it was not covered repeatedly, and so failed to be absorbed by the public. When a great media wave did appear this past summer, outlets repeatedly reported that the Brent Spence Bridge would be “replaced”. Another media surge appeared in September, in anticipation of the September 22 visit by President Barack Obama. Again, it was repeatedly reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer and various television and radio stations that the Brent Spence Bridge will be replaced.

The incredible amount of confusion surrounding the project appears to have been caused by a mix of ghost writing by highway lobbyists, the unfamiliarity of the local media with how Interstate Highway projects are funded and the lingering power of postwar pro-highway propaganda.

On a half-dozen occasions this month, various Cincinnati Enquirer reporters wrote that the bridge would be replaced, in addition to letters to the editor that repeated this myth. On September 14, Enquirer reporter Amanda Van Benshoten reported that the Brent Spence Bridge would be replaced and that it “would remain open” – all in the same article.

Functionally Obsolete vs. Obsolete
The local media and politicians who have associated themselves with this project have made liberal use of the term Functionally Obsolete, engineering jargon that most often describes a bridge with no emergency shoulders, a low overhead clearance, narrow lanes, or ramps with tight curves. The power of this phrase was even invoked by President Obama in his September 22 speech:

“Behind us stands the Brent Spence Bridge. It’s located on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America. It sees about 150,000 vehicles every single day. And it’s in such poor condition that it’s been labeled “functionally obsolete.” Think about that — functionally obsolete. That doesn’t sound good, does it?”

No, it doesn’t sound good, which is why some bureaucrat (or more likely an auto industry public relations wizard) concocted it decades ago. It insinuates structural deficiency – an official term that does denote structural problems — but which does not describe the current condition of the Brent Spence Bridge.

When it is rehabilitated after a new bridge is built, the Brent Spence will have its decks restriped with three wide lanes on each deck instead of its current four narrow lanes, and emergency breakdown lanes will be restored. Its approaches will be reconfigured and it is possible that after 2020 or so the Brent Spence will no longer be classified as Functionally Obsolete.


The Delta Queen passes under the existing Brent Spence Bridge.

The Brent Spence Bridge as Boogeyman
The Brent Spence Bridge (or more accurately, the configuration of its approaches) is the worst traffic bottleneck in the Cincinnati area, but a source of delays and a panorama of rust that would hardly pass notice in New York City or Boston. It nevertheless has been pitted as an enemy by local politicians, and the failure of the local media to do basic public document research, has allowed the bridge project to become whatever any elected official says it is.

Most believe that the Brent Spence Bridge Replacement/Rehabilitation Project, even after last month’s visit by President Obama, will not receive enough funding in the upcoming Transportation Bill to break ground until the next bill is negotiated sometime around 2017 or 2018. Look for local politicians – especially those with Tea Party affiliations – to blame this delay on government.

The project could in fact break ground in the short-term if Ohio and Kentucky cooperated to toll all area Ohio River bridges. Modest tolls could generate over $1 million per week and enable the neighboring states to sell bonds sufficient to fund this project.

But the fact that this is not happening perhaps best illustrates why Congress has hesitated to allocate money – there are no major structural problems with the Brent Spence Bridge, there are three other interstate highway bridges nearby if any problem should arise, and the project’s huge scale promises a very low rate of return on the investment.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

OKI seeking public input on 2040 regional transportation plan

The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) has been working to adapt and produce a transportation plan that would affect the Cincinnati area for the next 30 years.

The regional council released a presentation in August outlining the goals and plans meant to address Greater Cincinnati’s current and projected transportation needs. Citing objectives like mobility, environment, economic vitality and efficiency, the presentation describes OKI’s projections for both population and job growth in the future, and hints at how the council plans to address the region’s transit needs.

According to OKI’s projections, the regional population is expected to grow from 1.9 million (in 2005) to nearly 2.4 million people in 2040. Every county is expected to grow in population and job creation. With these numbers in mind, the council has planned, or is carrying out, a total of 33 highway projects and six transit projects, which include bus purchases, park and ride facilities, transit centers and the Cincinnati Streetcar project.

According to OKI, transit currently accounts for approximately two percent of trips taken throughout the region. Whether lack of ridership is due to an inadequate and struggling system remains to be seen, but for whatever reason, OKI appears to be putting the majority of their focus for the future into highway maintenance and construction, with multi-modal transportation options as an afterthought.

While the August presentation only mentioned freight rail, Robyn Bancroft with OKI had this to say about the future of commuter rail in Cincinnati:

“The current plan includes rail transit (Eastern Corridor and Cincinnati Streetcar) and right-of-way preservation for regional rail transit corridors,” Bancroft stated. “How the public feels about these issues is important to us and we hope the meetings may provide some feedback. It is our goal to produce a multi-modal yet fiscally constrained plan, so we have some limitations.”

OKI leadership expressed concern, to UrbanCincy, about the potentially harmful effects of Issue 48 (the anti-rail amendment on the ballot this election) could have on future systems.

Brian Cunningham of OKI said, “[passage of Issue 48] will absolutely have an effect on the streetcar project, but it’s very possible that projects like the Eastern Corridor, Oasis Line, and securing future right-of-way for multi-city rail is also in jeopardy.”

Cunningham emphasized the importance of public input to help shape the future of the region’s transportation system. “If regional commuter rail is a priority for Cincinnatians, they need to let us know. We very much value community input, and every form of communication – whether at public meetings or through email and mail – helps us to understand where the priorities are for our constituents.”

If an effective, regional commuter rail and transit system is something you would like to see in Cincinnati by 2040, please speak up and let the OKI Regional Council of Governments know. There are three community open houses coming up – one of them is today, September 15, at the Crestview Hills City Building (map) from 4pm to 7pm. The other two meetings will take place September 27 at Xavier University’s Cintas Center (map), and September 28 at Butler County’s Government Services Building (map).

Today also marks the official kickoff of the No on Issue 48 Campaign. Cincinnatians for Progress is looking for volunteers to help get the word out about this damaging amendment to the City’s Charter. Sign up here.

Your voice makes a difference. Speak up for Cincinnati and let it be heard.

Categories
News Opinion Politics

It’s time to put an end to the campaign falsehoods

New data released by the Ohio Department of Health says that state’s four-year-old, voter-enacted, smoking ban is not in fact negatively impacting Ohio businesses. The analysis goes completely against the claims made by those originally opposed to the idea of a public smoking ban, and highlights how campaign rhetoric is often left unquestioned.

In 2005, Cincinnatians heard over and over how the $48.9 million ($4M public funds, $44.9M private funds) renovation of Fountain Square and its underground parking garage would end up as a waste of scarce public resources. Since its renovation, public activity, private investments and the number of businesses in the area have gone up, and crime has gone down. Furthermore, you could argue that the renovation of Fountain Square was the initial force that sparked the urban renaissance currently taking place in Cincinnati.


A crowd gathers for a fashion show and concert on Fountain Square in August 2011. Photograph by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

The trend continues in 2011 as transit opponents wage yet another battle against the Cincinnati Streetcar and the future of rail transit in the Queen City. It was less than two years ago that this same group of opponents asked voters if they would like to hold a public vote on all rail transit expenditures in Cincinnati. The voters rejected that proposal and yet in 2011 Cincinnatians are being asked to vote on the first rail transit expenditure to come about since November 2009.

Rigorous public debate should take place in America, that is, in part, what makes the nation so unique. The problem is that voters seem to have a short memory, and the media often has no interest in reminding them of the false rhetoric put forth by the same parties in the past.

Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) is not a new group, and does not include new political players. The small group of well-connected men running COAST have been around Cincinnati politics for some time.

These are the same people who, under the auspice of Citizens for Community Values (CCV), amended the City’s charter to legalize discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation, which was terrible for the city and later repealed. These are the same people that called the renovation of Fountain Square a guaranteed boondoggle. And these are the same people that continue to beat the boondoggle drum in regards to the Cincinnati Streetcar project.

This group has perpetuated falsehoods for too long. Cincinnatians, and reality, continue to reject their special interest ideologies focused on holding the city back, but yet, it is time once more to entertain their tired antics. This November I look forward to Cincinnatians voting against this group’s proposed anti-rail transit Charter amendment, and sending them a bit further into the depths of irrelevancy.