Jos Callinet

There is something about the total cliff-hanger nature of this Streetcar Saga that has brought about what must be regarded by any standard as THE most engaged, wide-ranging and heated discussion of a mass-transit project ever to be held in the history of the United States, never mind Cincinnati! Today's events in city hall mark a turning point for transit in many respects. It's amazing how a modest little starter line of a streetcar could have become the object of such fiercely-determined opposition from so many fronts and still survive. It has weathered numerous blows ranging from COAST's forcing two referenda to the Governor of Ohio quashing the state's share of funds for it (despite its having been rated the state's most highly qualified transit project) to the shutdown resulting from this most recent mayoral election. From my vantage point in Chicago I found myself drawn into this fray as much as I would have been if I actually lived in Cincinnati. I couldn't bear to see this already-started project canceled. Many times I thought it didn't stand a chance of surviving this latest round of opposition - the forces of darkness seemed too powerful to overcome. I hope that today, Thursday, December 19, 2013, marks the end of divisive bitterness over the streetcar and the beginning of a renewed determination to make Cincinnati a city that many, many people will eagerly want to call, home. May the ghost of the incomplete subway cease to haunt the Queen City! Those furloughed streetcar construction workers can't wait to get back to their jobs. I hope they're fully compensated for the month of lost wages. Christmas feels a little bit brighter now for me, anyway. Bravo! and Brava! to everyone who worked so hard to make today a success. And, thank you, Peter Rogoff and the FTA, for standing behind us this December. One last-but-hardly-least thought: A number of streetcar and tram projects have a tradition of naming their streetcars after notable local personalities and historical figures. Case in point: the city of Besançon, France, which has named one of their new trams after its native son, the famous author Victor Hugo. http://www.globalrailnews.com/2013/09/25/besancon-tram/ I'm sure I won't be the only one to suggest that the first of Cincinnati's five new streetcars be named "John Schneider."

I picture the Cincinnati Streetcar (and Cincinnati's reputation) as perched precariously on the rim of the bowl of a very large toilet. Will Flynn pull them back to safety from the brink or vote to let Cranley press the flush handle? We shall soon find out.

The ON and OFF AGAIN nature of Flynn's announcements suggest he's having a helluva time tearing himself free from Cranley's ironclad grip. He must be in agony over whose side he's going to come down on.

Now that the audit has come back saying it's going to cost more to complete than cancel the streetcar, it's all over as far as I can see. Cranley & Co. have won this one, hands down. The two on-the-fence councilors will now vote to cancel. There's no realistic hope the vote can or will go the other way, now.

I think most of us have a pretty good idea how this is going to pan out by the end of the day on Thursday. Charter Amendment, here we come!

Dream on, dream on!

It's a long shot at best that either man will side with the streetcar supporters - Flynn was clearly echoing the Mayor's side of the argument at today's news conference. I haven't a clue about Mann - we know that Cranley will put enormous pressure on both men to cancel.

I just finished watching the Mayor's news conference re: SORTA's announcement, and heard Flynn speak as one of its four participants. Cranley has made it clear, barring some "miraculous last-minute announcement" that truly saves the day, that he intends to override Council if only five councilors vote to continue and complete the streetcar on Thursday. My gut feeling is that SORTA's announcement may actually have done the streetcar's cause more harm than good. Given what SORTA is - Cincinnati's provider of bus service and an agency essentially dependent on the city for a part of its funding, should never have entered the fray. How could SORTA's staff NOT have known that Cranley would ask THE tough question: what resources do you have that I can count on to be there to guarantee the streetcar's operating costs? SORTA's spokesperson could only come up with $1 million from the Haile U.S. Bank Foundation plus vague promises based on vague hopes. THAT sure wasn't gonna cut it with Cranley! Cranley and a majority of City Councilors appear to be ready to say, "We would much rather pay all the costs of cancellation, including returning the $45 million to the Feds and paying all the lawsuits arising from terminating contracts, etc., than saddle the city with eighty million dollars in operating costs for the streetcar over the next thirty years. Our city's reputation may take a hit in the process, but that's not our big worry." The audit, whatever number it produces, does not look like it's going to have much if any impact one way or the other on how Council votes this Thursday. I'll go so far as to assert that the audit is meaningless. As things look now, the vote on the streetcar this Thursday will be the same as it was on December 4: four opposed to cancelling, six in favor. It's unlikely private industry will step forward to save it, not in the next 48 hours anyway. At the news conference Cranley himself stated that the majority of Cincinnati's big firms do not support the streetcar and aren't interested in underwriting or guaranteeing its operating costs. I don't see how the streetcar can be pulled out of the fire by Thursday night if we're counting on Cranley and his majority on City Council to change their minds. We have our Charter Amendment Ballot Initiative, which is very important and potentially valuable, but without the Federal dollars, what can we realistically hope to do? I expect the Feds, as promised, will take back their funds when Council votes to cancel on Thursday. They've already bent over backwards to accommodate the city. The best we can do is attend both tomorrow's and Thursday's council meetings and make our voices heard. Doubt there'll be anyone present listening to what we have to say besides the four councilors on our side.

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I'm hoping you're sarcastic, this whole mess reeks of political games... neilworms, I was being sincere - I know there's probably a lot of gamesmanship going on - I'm looking for ANY signs of mature positive thoughtful thinking taking place here, and this letter signed by the six councilmembers shows some. Please forgive me my naïveté!

This is the kind of thoughtful governance it is so good to see in action, the very kind that Cincinnati so richly deserves and needs now, more than ever. I see real leadership possibilities here. The letter itself is a must-read.

The group "Believe In Cincinnati" has put out a request for help with signatures: "Petitions coming in fast & furious - staff needs our help asap. They are checking signatures for validity, comparing them and addresses with online voter records. Also checking the Voter Registration forms of all the new voters we have signed up. They can't keep up. They really need your help. Can you spend a few hours today helping out at 27 East Court? Can you help at the First Lutheran Church @ 1208 Race Street tonight? Say "yes" and call Eilleen Voorhees @ 513-255-7235. Thanks, John"

Posted by: BuckeyeB « on: Today at 12:32:21 PM » We'll pay, do, anything to maintain our car culture, just as we're equally unwilling to pay for transit improvements. The public still doesn't care how much pollution, traffic congestion, sprawl and obesity their devotion to autos and road-building costs them. In today's Enquirer is an editorial suggesting it's do or die time for the Cincinnati Union Terminal, which needs very extensive repairs if it's to be prevented from falling down from neglect. This council and mayor will almost certainly opt to have it torn down rather than ask the citizens to OK a tax increase to pay for its repairs. It seems Cincinnati is on course to lose more than its streetcar. A lot more. It's going to take the same kind of determined citizen action to save Cincinnati Union Terminal as it is, now, the streetcar.

Wcpo's article on Cranley is right to the point. HOWEVER, they're addressing Mayor Cranley. Wcpo stands a better chance of engaging in a meaningful dialogue with - and getting their point across to - a cinder block ..................... Does anyone in their right mind think for a split second that a single word in this article will penetrate Cranley's monumentally thick skull? Get him to rethink his all-or-nothing stance? You're dealing with an anti-artist. SIGH !! Thank you, anyway, Wcpo, for publishing your article.

r'm curious - is anyone here experienced enough with legal-signatures gathering for ballots, etc., to have a rough idea of what's the normal, expected ratio of "raw," (unverified signatures) collected versus those that survive verification and therefore legally count toward the signatures goal? Is there anything like a "usual, to-be-expected ratio" of duds versus OK ones? Follow-up question to the above: who gets assigned the privilege, if you will, of having to dig through thousands of signed sheets and do the verification? I'd think a team of lawyers certified to do these assays would have to be assembled - not an inexpensive proposition, unless they're willing to handle the task pro-bono. One more KEY consideration - PLEASE, whoever's in charge of storing the collected Charter-Amendment Ballot signatures overnight, DON'T leave them in a known location where evil-minded forces could break in and/or steal/set them on fire. The collected sheets should be deposited each night in a secure trusted bank vault accessible only to the inside-most of the insiders working on this.

natininja, I'm afraid there isn't much reason to feel optimistic about the current majority of those on council when it comes to reasoning with them about the streetcar. However, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to P.G. Sittenfeld for having shown the courage to change his mind on this matter, and stick by his decision to do so, gracefully. He's been Council's Principal Voice of Reason and a gentleman and scholar to boot. He's given us streetcar supporters hope and encouragement. We'll remember him, if there should be a recall election down the road. P.G.'s a natural successor to the mayor's seat. He'd make Cincinnati proud.

From Flying Dutchman « on: Today at 08:52:04 AM » Flying Dutchman, you've said it! Cranley has made his position and attitude toward the Streetcar abundantly clear - he can hem and haw all he wants about how willing he is to reconsider his stance if the audit shows it'll cost as much or more to cancel the streetcar than to complete it. NO WAY! It seems he's not smart enough to realize that when he made that statement about "moving on," he showed his full deck of cards (a pretty thin one at that) and that he actually intends to "deep six" the streetcar come hell or high water, no matter what the audit says or how powerful the arguments are against taking such a rash and destructive action. As I said before, Cranley is not a man we can trust to keep his word. If he conducted himself in a transparent, honest, respectful and above-board manner befitting his position as mayor, people might at least respect him. Unfortunately, the more we're seeing of him, the more we're feeling the need to recall him. The one thing we can be sure of about Cranley is that he's making a complete fool of himself and the city he was elected to serve!

I've been keeping a close watch on all the proceedings surrounding the Cincinnati Streetcar project, some of which appear on their surface to be promising, such as the business community's expressing an interest to step in and to at least some extent guarantee the money to pay down the line's net operating expenses after income, whatever that net expense turns out to be, thereby freeing the city from any financial obligation. However, we mustn't forget that there is only one thing about Mayor Cranley that we can put our trust in - his complete untrustworthiness. Everything Cranley and his two "on-the-fence" councilors have been feeding us about how they MAY back down from cancelling the streetcar if a sufficient amount of private money is raised by next Wednesday, December 18 - is just that: not to be believed. We must face reality: Cranley wants that streetcar dead, gone and buried SO bad - he can taste it! He has no use for, sees no value in, this project. He could not care less how strongly the substantial number of Cincinnatians who support it feel about losing it. Same goes for the soon-to-be-taken-back Federal dollars and the severe hit to Cincinnati's reputation that will result from cancelling (unless you're a Tea Partier). The city will gladly pay the shutdown costs and lawsuits - I'm sure your mayor feels it's a small price to pay for his Pyrrhic victory*. Everything Cranley has said these past two days is calculated as a sop to us supporters - and we're not believing a word of it. It's virtually guaranteed Council will vote to cancel on Wednesday, regardless of the results of the audit due out shortly - said audit was just another bone tossed to those naïve enough to believe it was going to make any difference. A vote to cancel is a foregone conclusion, and we'd better be prepared for it. The bright shining star in this dismal saga is, of course, the enormously positive and creative energy streetcar supporters are putting into gathering signatures for the Charter Amendment ballot. Good leadership and strategic thinking! * From Wikipedia: A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has been victorious in some way; however, the heavy toll negates any sense of achievement or profit.

As far as I'm concerned, Cranley is NOT TO BE TRUSTED under any circumstances! The man is next to evil in his seeming lack of morals and malevolent intentions - he'll stoop as low as he has to, to achieve his objective that the streetcar be no more come December 19. He's as Machiavellian as they come! Please ignore anything and everything Cranley puts out there! His utterances will be nothing more or less than snares and delusions designed to deceive and lull us streetcar supporters into a sense of false complacency. We can't afford to fall - a second time - into complacency. Rather, we must redouble our efforts to collect as many signatures as we can. He totally blew whatever chance he had to earn our trust by how he conducted himself at City Council, manipulating the agenda and sneering at the public during the "pause the streetcar" hearings and votes after being sworn in. Pay no attention whatsoever to what Cranley says tomorrow other than view it as evidence to what lengths he'll go to get his way. Put bluntly, he's a snake in man's clothing.

From: cincySAL on: Today at 01:22:51 PM To cincySAL: I understand how you feel - this "Cranleymergency" has been a most remarkable wake-up call for everyone who didn't vote in the mayoral election. People won't soon forget this moment in Cincinnati's history, nor lose sight of how important it really is never to let our guard down, especially when we're thinking, "We've got it made in the shade - no worries now!" Who thought Cranley stood a snowball's chance in hell of being elected? Furthermore, the streetcar had already been approved (twice, no less), was funded and under construction - therefore safely beyond the reach of destructive marauders! Oh my, how mistaken we were on both counts - but now we're more than making up for our oversight by going to work to rescue our streetcar from the Grinch's grip.

Thank you, natininja, John Schneider et al - I'll keep the faith and contribute dollars.

The issue of what the Federal Government will do with its money if City Hall cancels the streetcar on the deadline day, December 19, 2013 is the million dollar question sharing the room with the Charter Amendment. The Federal Government has so far made it abundantly clear that it will immediately take back its money if City Hall votes to cancel on December 18. Has the Charter Amendment initiative changed this? Removing the Federal share of the funding leaves the streetcar project dead in the water, even if the voters approve the Charter Amendment later next year mandating the city to complete its construction. The city surely won't pony up those lost federal dollars. Another concern is that, even if the Feds keep their money in Cincinnati until after the Amendment has been put to a vote next spring, by the time said vote has been held all the contractors involved will have been standing idle for months, and their employees out of work if not reassigned to jobs elsewhere. I don't see how the contractors can afford to sit around idle. THEY will call it quits and declare the whole affair null and void! The only workable answer is if the Charter Amendment team succeeds in collecting the required number of legally certified voter signatures, the city is then required to immediately restart the streetcar project pending the outcome of the vote next spring, thus fulfilling the Fed's requirements that the project remain on track and the money's kept in place. Is there any such requirement? Yes or no. Otherwise, why collect thousands of signatures for a project that can't be paid for and/or the contractors give up on because they can't stand around idle for months? The city surely isn't going to pony up those lost federal dollars. People signing the Charter petitions need to know the answer, as do those volunteers who'll be putting in long hours in the cold and darkness over the next ten days collecting signatures.

KJP - thank you! I for one will strive to keep as positive as I can about this. I think a lot of the negativity and depression stems from the profound shock that this happened at all! What I'm hoping is that, even if Cranley wins and the Feds take back their money, the business community might be willing to step in and finish at least this first stage of the project on the same agreed contractual terms. What worries me is Cranley might try to get an ordinance passed requiring all the newly installed track be removed and making it against the law to install any railed transit in the streets of Cincy. Could he get away with something like this? I wouldn't put it past him to attempt it. We'd better be prepared for any and all such eventualities.

I'm with you, theCOV, it's a tragic waste all around. Goes to show how dysfunctional our country has become. Very many more of these crazy acts involving canceling transit projects under construction and our federal government will cease funding them altogether. There's no question that this stunt in Cincinnati has already set in motion a new precedent legitimizing such acts of civic vandalism which, I predict, we'll soon see copied all across the country. Cincinnati has just handed anti-transit forces everywhere powerful new ammunition.

To TheCOV - please forgive my bringing in the grammar and spelling police to comment on your good post: the word you mean to use here is "EFFECT," not "affect." This is a common mistake a lot of us make. It helps to know that when we say or do something to somebody which causes them to change their mind, for example, we have AFFECTED, meaning influenced, modified, changed ..... their thinking. Conversely, when we try to change a person's thinking on a subject but fail to do so, we can say that our efforts had no EFFECT on their thinking. So that's why you must say "Facts have no EFFECT (meaning, no IMPACT, no INFLUENCE) .... on the mayor's thinking, I assume you're saying. Same applies to all the other instances in your comment above where you used "affect" to mean "effect."