OCtoCincy

^ When you only have 5 candidates to try to elect, instead of 9, you can afford to send mailers urging people NOT to vote for the other party. The dems have 0 money to even consider this- some negative mailers on Murray & lippert could easily help knock them off.

I was really hoping this thread would hit 500 by election day... haha- not sure if we'll make it now...

That's also why I find it insane that Bortz abstains from voting on streetcar issues, under the grounds that the streetcar would benefit his business. In that case, any city council member who lives in the city should not be allowed to vote on road improvements, sewer improvements, or any other issue that could potentially benefit themselves or their property. Trust me- Bortz does NOT want to abstain (although I'm sure in this anti-streetcar climate, he doesn't mind before election day)- he is pretty pissed at that ruling.

^ ya, and it kind of does... but we passed such a massive bond issue to build many new schools that the incentive is to build a new one exactly how they want it-- Either way, they've renovated some, and others have been replaced. Plus, with the case of SCPA, almost no one is saying that the new building was a bad idea- It's a great resource in a great location. The old building would make WONDERFUL condos, hopefully one day that's an option.

This is one thing I've always wondered about the Banks (and that I tried to articulate earlier). If you are trying to develop downtown, why are you building new buildings at the Banks when there are a bunch of abandoned buildings (not to mention 8 lanes of traffic and a highway and a hill) separating the Banks from the rest of downtown? I really don't get it, and every time I walk to Fountain Square or downtown from my apartment at the Banks and pass all of those empty buildings I wonder the same thing. One main reason---- The city can't just come in and "redevelop" privately owned buildings just because they want to... they can, however, lead the development of property on publicly owned land (city and county bought up the riverfront to lead the development). Several empty buildings downtown are being held hostage by banks through foreclosure, being held by property owners from chicago or other far away big cities that have hundreds of towers in their portfolios and are playing a waiting game. Other properties, like the Bartlett Building & Enquirer building (original on Vine) are empty, slated to possibly become residential, but have no parking and have owners who are in no rush. The only place the city really has control are properties where it owns the land/has a huge influence through financing (3CDC properties).

Editor there is probably getting an earful of Smitherman right now I doubt it- Smitherman is VERY popular in the African American Community- He will probably place 3rd or 4th overall in AA neighborhoods. East side neighborhoods won't trust him, so it comes down to west side neighborhoods. If enough westsiders are so anti-streetcar that they vote for Smitherman, he COULD win. As a generalization, you need to place in the top 5 of 2 of the three voting blocks (east side, westside and African American (which is generally West End, OTR, Avondale, North Avondale, Walnut Hills, Bond Hill & Roselawn, parts of college hill and others) to win, or in the lower ranks 6-9 in all three. The vote in the city is roughly 39% east side, 32% westside, 29% african american in a non-mayoral year.

^ difficulty in that situation is that The school board has to offer the SCPA building to a charter school before a private developer- any charter school can take a claim not the building due to state law BEFORE they can consider a private developer. Very crappy- That's why the School Board prefers demolition of older properties- they only other option they have is to offer the building to their competition.

Their endorsement process is semi-controversial. They STRONGLY suggest you buy ads, and it's rumored that the people who buy ads get endorsed and those that don't, don't. I am happy that they oppose Issue 48 though!

That's true in the very short term, but if 5 opponents/non-supporters are elected next week, any funding to Clifton/the Banks can be stopped. We need 5 or 6 streetcar supporters on Council after this election and after the next (roughly 4 years of construction & development time guaranteed to be backed by a pro-streetcar majority).

You're right, there really is no way of knowing. Which is why I chose to vote for candidates that were explicitly pro-streetcar and anti-48. ^ agreed. If you can't say, I support the current streetcar plan, then you are against it. I won't let the wealthiest candidate get away with a "non-stance" in order to play both sides and get more votes. It's not that hard, "I support the current streetcar plan" or "I won't stop the current streetcar plan" or "I would have voted to continue the streetcar plan" or "I will vote against any efforts to stop the streetcar plan". Here's what I think he'll do- If 48 fails, he will say, the voters have spoken, I now support the streetcar. If it passes, he will say, I've always thought that we should have our priorities ahead of streetcars, and am glad the voters agree with this position. Flynn and Seelbach (in my opinion, the strongest non-incumbents other than PG) have been vocally pro-streetcar, so there is no need to waste a vote on Sittenfeld HOPING that he will come out as a streetcar supporter after the election.

This morning on NPR, a panel discussed city council races. They talked through the incumbents and the strongest non-incumbents. They said PG is a likely win (streetcar opponent) and that Flynn & Seelbach were the only streetcar supporters that have a chance. They dismissed Riveiro as having no chance since he has no money and no tv and almost no mail, and didn't even bring up Simpson as a viable candidate. They also said Smitherman and Allen have a long shot, but could maybe win. Panel was gene beaupre and howard wilkinson.

^ Agreed!!! Look, the first thing to open at the banks, which has been incredibly busy, is a local (two locations is not a chain) bar- and it's doing great!

I went yesterday- great wine, great atmosphere and very good mediterranean food- ALTHOUGH I will say it's very pricey. They recommend that 1 person buys two dishes off the menu for a full meal, and each dish is between 11 and 15. I had two glasses of wine, $9 each (the cheapest wine by the glass). So this isn't A Tavola pricing where things seem very nice but are very reasonably priced- Abigail street is definitely priced above everything else in OTR on Vine right now.

^ followed almost immediately by a really tough hit piece on the Riverfront Transit Center. Interviews with Charlie Luken and the reporter saying things like "your tax money paid for nothing" And then the streetcar was tied in and how it was supposed to be inside the transit center but now it won't because of the shortened route. AHHHHHHHH these people are idiots!

WCPO noon news just said "opponents to Cincinnati's streetcar are having a rally at the Kingsgate Marriott tonight at 6PM, they want you to vote NO on 48 to stop the streetcar." AHHHHH- It's so easy- DO YOU WANT TO BAN THE STREETCAR is essentially what they are asking. It blows my mind when conservatives attack liberals for "making the language tricky" when THEY are the ones proposing the ban.

Last year, when approving a loan to help the banks move in more tenants faster, Council considered adding a clause that said they had to start construction on the western buildings in 2012- The developers fought it and it got shot down. Which seemed to mean to me that there would be virtually NO new construction in 2012. Disappointing!

So.... What's next for the Banks? When do they start on the western blocks? Is there any NEW Banks related construction in the next year (other than storefronts filling up)?

Most Loyal? I feel like Qualls, Quinlivan, Young, Seelbach & Simpson are certainly the most vocal streetcar supporters and have the strongest campaigns.

Infill in Amsterdam. Proposed Metropol (hilarious!) hotel in Prauge. Moral of the story? Everyone has some great infill, and some bad infill- so let's stop the constant Cincy bashing and just accept that mixing the old and the new is what happens. Huzzah!

Yes and no. Strong name ID means you need less $$ to win. Also, lots of money with a bad message doesn't lead to a win. (Pat Fischer-R raised almost $300,000 and lost) Republicans need way more money than democrats historically. First time whites need more money than first time blacks historically. To see some really interesting trends, check out the "City Council Contribution Summary" reports for the last few elections on the following link. http://city-egov.cincinnati-oh.gov/Webtop/ws/election/public/reports/SearchForm

Just a heads up, 99% chance CityBeat will have an article about Smithermans Facebook lies tomorrow.

I can't STAND the conversations about the "conspiracy" to make a Yes vote ban the streetcar and a No vote allow the streetcar. What are you proposing: A BAN ON RAIL So when i go to vote, I am voting on the BAN. Yes to BAN no to NOT BAN. There is no conspiracy!! But people like Smitherman & Mary Kuhl get excited by saying the "Mallory Mafia" is against them!

Hey Neville- Can you please post those to tinypic.com or something that allows embedding/downloading of the file. I'm going to press a few media contacts of mine to cover this.

The gold line is a HUGE reason why Issue 48 would be horrendous. So many of the Yes on 48 people say "we're not against light rail". But The gold line, undoubtedly a light rail line, spends several miles on city streets "existing public right of way" and would be ILLEGAL under Issue 48.