Tag: Politics

Categories
News Opinion Politics

EDITORIAL: It’s Time to Consolidate Local Governments in Hamilton County

For years local officials and civic boosters have been calling for the merging of local government operations. A core issue that has not been discussed, however, is that of merging local municipalities entirely.

In Hamilton County there are 49 different political jurisdictions ranging from a few hundred people to approximately 300,000 in the City of Cincinnati. That is approximately 16,334 people per political jurisdiction. Certainly we are not serving our residents in the most effective and prudent way when there is so much fragmentation.

Many of the smaller communities, with just a few hundred a couple thousand people, have recently fallen on more difficult financial times. Both Arlington Heights (population 745) and Elmwood Place (population 2,188) have been embroiled in scandals revolving around their use of speed traps and cameras to generate revenue.

Proposed Hamilton County Municipal Mergers
Smaller jurisdictions throughout Hamilton County should be merged with larger ones like Cincinnati and Cleves. Map by Nate Wessel for UrbanCincy.

In Arlington Heights the scandal revolved around the stealing of $260,000 of public money, and in Elmwood Place it involved an abusive use of traffic cameras to issue tickets.

“The Village Council needs to seriously consider dissolving the Village of Arlington Heights,” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters proclaimed after the two theft indictments. “The Village seems to be nothing more than a speed trap with no checks and balances…Consolidating with another political subdivision is long overdue.”

In other cases, like Silverton (population 4,788), the jurisdictions have become so small that they can no longer be considered a city.

There are certainly some efficiencies to be gained by merging local police and fire departments in smaller communities throughout our region, but merging entire municipalities will reap much bigger savings.

In Hamilton County, some 15 communities could be easily folded into the City of Cincinnati. Many of these municipalities already are served by Cincinnati Public Schools and are either adjacent to, or completely surrounded by, Cincinnati’s city limits.

Most of these 15 municipalities have less than 5,000 people, and would surely benefit from the much broader public services offered by the City of Cincinnati. Larger cities like Norwood (population 19,207), Reading (population 10,385), and Cheviot (population 8,375) would also see improved public services and improved financial stability.

Furthermore, it would put an end to the many economic development incentive battles that are waged across these arbitrary political boundaries.

Each of the 15 communities could continue to maintain its identity by becoming a new official neighborhood within the City of Cincinnati, which would see its population grow by more than 77,000 people as a result, as they essentially function now in the region’s urban fabric. This would allow these places to stay true to their roots while also gaining more political clout, improved financial stability and public services, and expanded opportunities within a much larger political jurisdiction.

State budget cuts are continuing to cut into the core of local public operations, and at some point each of these communities will reach a point where “belt-tightening” will no longer achieve the savings needed to remain financially productive.

Plus, if you community’s sole purpose for maintaining its separate political jurisdiction is to maintain those positions, then it might be time to rethink your reason for being.

Categories
Up To Speed

Instead of relying on overly simple solutions, Chicago’s land bank will use big data to target vacant homes

Instead of relying on overly simple solutions, Chicago’s land bank will use big data to target vacant homes.

As Cincinnatians have seen with Hamilton County’s demolition program, funded through state foreclosure funds, it can be difficult to properly implement a program of that nature. Simply tearing down properties seems to be too heavy-handed, but more nuanced solutions can be more costly. In Chicago a slightly different approach is being taken. More from NextCity:

How can cities unload the properties they hold, and facilitate the transfer of empty properties held privately, to owners that can use them? In the age of Big Data, these decisions are becoming less complicated. Last month, fellows with the University of Chicago’s Data Science for Social Good began working with the Chicago area’s newly born Cook County Land Bank Authority. The aim is to create a tool that will make it easier to process data on foreclosures, real estate trends and the like to determine which properties are the best candidates for redevelopment. Think of it as a data-backed triage unit for vacant land.

Categories
Up To Speed

Is the deck stacked against cities in state legislatures?

Is the deck stacked against cities in state legislatures?.

It is difficult enough for local or regional governments and agencies to figure out how to pay for their necessary infrastructure investments, and it’s even more difficult when state legislatures dominated by rural representation do not even grant those entities the authority to hold public votes on the matter. Is this yet another example of anti-city bias in our nation’s political system? More from the Seattle Times:

When the gavel sounded adjourning the state legislative session this year, a critical piece of work was left undone. The Legislature failed to grant local cities and counties the power to ask voters for transportation funding. We will face crippling congestion in the coming year.

In 2011, the state Legislature recognized the reforms Metro made to reduce costs and run more efficiently, and partnered with King County to provide a temporary Congestion Reduction Charge, allowing Metro to avoid transit cuts for two years. A public hearing over whether the Metropolitan King County Council should enact the charge or cut transit service drew a thousand people who stood in a line around the block to testify in favor of saving transit service.They deserve to have their voices heard by leaders in the state senate.

The pending cuts to Metro Transit is an emergency that can no longer be ignored, particularly by the state Senate Majority Coalition Caucus. Transit cuts mean fewer buses, and the overcrowding and inconvenience drives people back to their cars. When there’s no more room on our crowded buses and congested roads and highways, jobs move elsewhere and we lose out.

Categories
Up To Speed

More bike/ped money from the feds equals more bicycle commuters

More bike/ped money from the feds equals more bicycle commuters.

In most cities, Cincinnati included, all you need to do is look outside to see that the number of people bicycling is on the rise. And perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out that there is a “statistically significant” correlation between per-capita bike-ped funding from the federal government and a city’s bike commute rate. More from Streetsblog Capitol Hill:

Bicycling is at a tipping point in many American cities. Bike-share systems are multiplying rapidly, infrastructure that used to be seen as novel is now commonplace, and commuting rates are growing. There are many explanations for this cultural shift, but here’s one not to be ignored: federal funding.

Georgetown Public Policy Institute student Marissa Newhall posits in her master’s thesis that there is a statistically significant correlation between per-capita bike-ped funding from the federal government and a city’s bike commute rate.

The finding comes at a time when federal bike-ped funding programs are 20 years old and have poured $8.5 billion — a tiny fraction of overall transportation dollars, but not an insignificant sum of money — into reshaping American streets to accommodate non-motorized transportation. But these programs face an uncertain future.

Categories
Up To Speed

Mexico to invest $100B in its infrastructure over next five years

Mexico to invest $100B in its infrastructure over next five years.

It’s been no secret that America has fallen behind on its infrastructure investments. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers recently improved the nation’s infrastructure grade to a D+ from a D. Now that’s improvement! Meanwhile other countries are heavily investing in their infrastructure, like Mexico’s recent announcement to invest $100 billion in its rail, ports and roads over the next five years. More from Bloomberg Businessweek:

The Mexican government announced plans Monday to invest about $100 billion in rail, road, telecom and port projects over the next five years, including Mexico’s first high-speed rail links. Among the projects are the modernization or building of four airports, seven seaports and about 3,350 miles (5,410 kilometers) of highways. The government will strengthen fiber optic networks and expand broadband internet access, and speed up freight train service.

But in announcing the plan, President Enrique Pena Nieto emphasized the goal of reviving passenger trains in Mexico…Pena Nieto said Monday that about 360 miles (583 kms) of high-speed rail links will be built, including links between Mexico City and the nearby cities of Toluca and Queretaro. Another line will cross the Yucatan Peninsula.