natininja

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/10/joe-paterno-and-penn-state-s-code-of-omerta-in-the-sex-abuse-scandal.html

"known for its early racial intolerance"???

We'll see what she can do with the bridgedoggle/75-widening. She's been the one paying lip service to tying it to neighborhood redevelopment. So far, it's just talk, from what I can tell.

I agree, but get the first loop in the ground first. Then persistently get signatures, year after year, for extensions and other projects. Do like Smitherman and COAST did -- just keep posing the questions.

Accidentally posted this in the City Council thread: My gut reaction on the slimmer margin by which 48 failed (seeing precinct results will help confirm or refute): 1) West side (blue collar) whites were motivated to turn out to defeat SB5. They largely hate the streetcar. 2) Anti-streetcar blacks (and maybe 98 Degrees whites, haha) turned out because Smitherman was running. A wildcard is if people learned over the past two years that they made a mistake in 2009 by voting "no for no streetcar". Thing is, like Eighth & State said, it's hard to know which side is more affected by this problem (surely some voted "yes for yes on the streetcar" both times). The question, I suppose then, is which constituency is less educated (or has a lower reading comprehension level) -- supporters or opponents? That would determine which side is more affected by "confusing" ballot language. If turnout is bigger on the west side than in 2009, and black precincts went more pro-48 than pro-9 (with other areas showing less variation), this would confirm my thinking. Remember that SB5 brought out FOP sympathizers and labor liberals who are a different type of voter than the liberal elite who is likely to believe there is benefit in the streetcar (combine this with west siders' aversion to supporting investments in other parts of the city). Then there's the uniquely-Cincinnatian coalition of lower-income blacks, faux-environmentalists, and homeless advocates who see some types of public transit improvements as a threat. Edit: Yet another thing to remember is the sneakier ballot language: some people thought they were voting on streetcars, not any passenger rail primarily in public right-of-way. Anyone who is pro-rail and anti-streetcar would be more likely to have voted for 48 than 9. I don't believe this alone could account for the large shift in votes, because CfP (and in the very end, the Enquirer) did a fairly good job of getting the truth out there.

There are some other things different now vs. 2003/4 that might make Smitherman's schtick less effective. The biggest thing, I think, is that blacks hold more positions of power. It's harder to use that for dividing and conquering when blacks have a majority on council, the police chief is black, the mayor is black, etc. On a related note, Streicher is no longer chief of police. The riots, and related strife, are not so fresh in citizens' minds, and the leadership who presided over those days of strife are not around to serve as a punching bag. The new punching bag will be the mayor, who Smitherman will paint as an inappropriate leader for black Cincinnatians. If he aims to ally with Winburn at all, he'll need to be careful the way he goes about this. But I'm not sure he'd gain a lot by allying with Winburn, so he may write that off from the start. One thing is for sure: local politics will be verrrry interesting, and uniquely Cincinnati, for the next two years.

One thing about Smitherman on council is I think his alliance with COAST will become untenable. If he acts as his constituents would like him to (i.e. NAACP supporters), his voting record will quickly become unpalatable to COAST-types. My gut reaction on the slimmer margin by which 48 failed (seeing precinct results will help confirm or refute): 1) West side whites motivated to turn out to defeat SB5. They largely hate the streetcar. 2) Anti-streetcar blacks turned out because Smitherman was running. A wildcard is if people learned over the past two years that they made a mistake in 2009 by voting "no for no streetcar". Thing is, like Eighth & State said, it's hard to know which side is more affected by this problem (surely some voted "yes for yes on the streetcar" both times). The question, I suppose then, is which constituency is less educated (or has a lower reading comprehension level) -- supporters or opponents? That would determine which side is more affected by the "confusing" language. Edit: Oops, thought this was the streetcar thread for a second. I'll cross-post the part relevant to the streetcar in that thread.

April Fools. Mike Allen, Amy Murray, Wayne Lippert, Charlie Winburn, Catherine Smith Mills, Leslie Ghiz, and Sandra Queen Noble were the top vote-getters. Issue 48 passed, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway, since there is now a streetcar-proof majority. Suburbanites have decided to move back into the city, determined to revitalize OTR "in West Chester's image". Chris Smitherman was soundly defeated. He is now lobbying to be appointed mayor, when the current Republican-controlled council passes its emergency motion to recall Mallory.

Good point. What do they find so important in Cincinnati as to divert funds from the SB2 campaign?

Is it time yet to call Cincinnati a progressive city?

Yo, we gotta get to 500 pages! :D Where's the first place you're going to go on the Cincinnati streetcar??? To the STL guy: Uhmm, we just elected 8/9 liberals to council. The other one is a black Republican. (Yes, I still count the president of the NAACP as a liberal...even though he has strange priorities.)

If Sittenfeld sticks to his word, we have 7. And Bortz is gone, so that's 7 WHO CAN VOTE!

Smitherman is going to be utterly impotent on council. He and Winburn will have fun screaming (often at each other) in the corner.

Guys, 1% to go and more than a 1% margin -- it can't change!

YEAH WE WIN

Suspense: :shoot: (me)

God, I hate when people assume everyone has a smart phone. Yes, bus systems need timetables to be useful to anyone who hasn't "used that particular system long enough". Metro needs to install those, ASAP. Fewer stops? Fine. Put in some maps and timetables. Seriously. More on the "haven't used that particular system long enough": That's the point. Streetcars don't have a learning curve like buses do. People with transportation choices are not wont to bother with a mode which has a daunting learning curve. And it might be subjective for each individual that rail is more attractive, but it's a fact that statistically more people with transportation choices will take rail than will take buses. There are reasons for those preferences which are not subjective, such as a smoother ride. (And a lower learning curve.)

Soo...Has the fishwrap covered this at all? Or any other Ohio paper, as it pertains to Ohio law and is bizarre and interesting?

Or it could be that Valentine One likes COAST's message, so they support them. It's a two-way street, and causation can go either way. It's like when streetcar opponents won't recognize studies showing the benefits of the streetcar, on the grounds that they were done by firms prone to supporting rail transit. Or to say someone supports X because their job has to do with X, so they gain financially. Well, maybe they picked their job because it aligns with their support for things like X.

I just hope the properties actually get developed, rather than having speculators sitting on the property, waiting for the value to increase.

I would guess the president of the NAACP has a fairly automatic endorsement from the Herald. They might be stirring up trouble for themselves, otherwise.

Enjoyed these. Thanks.

I got a lot of work done on my car once, including having the radiator replaced, so I could go on a road trip. Well, when I left to drive out to the east coast, I got no further than Washington Courthouse (I was stopping for gas) and the car overheated. Smoke. The whole deal. Turned out it was a hose that blew. Easy fix, but a pain when 1) you're useless as a mechanic, and 2) you still need to get to Autozone and you're in exurban sprawlville. I guess with the radiator working more efficiently, it put more stress on the hoses or something? That's what it seemed like, anyway, because every few days the same thing happened after that. Until I just replaced every damn hose under the hood. Sure pissed me off, though, as I just put all that money into the car, in order to have some piece of mind, then sh!t continuously hit the fan for a while as a reward. I think my experience with car troubles has induced my antipathy toward suburbanization as much as anything intellectual or aesthetic. Getting stranded as a result of auto-dependence has led to some of the worst experiences of my life. I've never been robbed, but I imagine it to feel similar in a way: you're helpless and you end up poorer as a result. Moral of the story is: 1) I feel you on your sh!tty experience. 2) It's possible they indeed fixed something, but the fixing caused something else to give.

Why isn't Beau on UO?

Lord. Don't botch this again, guys. Edit: Who is the attorney for CfP?