NBow37

I might have missed this from 1 of the earlier 340 pages on this topic, but have any big companies stated their approval or disapproval of the plan? I know the casino owner wants it. I can't recall P&G or any other fortune 500 company speaking out in favor or against it along with the reds/bengals...

The enquirer has responded to the many accusations. Public support crucial for streetcar ENQUIRER EDITORIAL The public debate over Cincinnati's proposed streetcar system became even more intense this week with the release of an Enquirer-sponsored opinion poll that indicated substantial opposition to aspects of the project among city residents. Conducted by SurveyUSA, the poll found that while 44 percent believe it should be built, nearly half of that group consider it a "risky project," and an additional 48 percent oppose the streetcar as a "waste of taxpayer money." And by a 2-to-1 margin, residents oppose the city's borrowing plan to pay for the system's construction. Clearly, the telephone survey of a sample of 600 Cincinnati adults showed many city residents simply don't like the $128 million streetcar plan, although the issue is far more complex than such a survey could capture. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100525/EDIT01/5260347/Public-support-crucial-for-streetcar I'll give credit where credit is due. Kudos to the Enquirer for actually stepping up to answer tough questions and accusations as well as printing the many positive letters today (many of which I now know for a fact they ignored over the last 4.5 months). They could have easily hid behind the articles and the negativity, but they stepped up and explained their side.

Chris Bortz told to back off streetcar votes by ethics commission BY BARRY M. HORSTMAN • [email protected] • MAY 25, 2010 COLUMBUS – The Ohio Ethics Commission made it clear today that City Councilman Chris Bortz should not vote on the proposed Cincinnati streetcar or be involved with the $128 million project in any way because of a conflict of interest stemming from his family’s considerable property interests on and near the proposed route. Reaffirming and broadening an advisory opinion issued last year, the ethics panel unanimously approved a new draft opinion that, while not specifically naming Bortz, emphasizes that a council member in his circumstances is prohibited from “discussing, deliberating about, voting on or participating in any other way” on matters related to the streetcar. ... http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100525/NEWS0108/5250380/Bortz-told-to-back-off-streetcar-votes

Are you making fun of my post? No. I'm making fun of the letter to the editor counters :P Doh! Haha, sorry I just felt the need to count due to the disproportionate amount against the project. I didn't start out by saying "I think there's a vast conspiracy of the Enquirer against this project and also direct evidence linking them to the JFK assassination, moon landing, 9/11 'truth', and Obama's fake birth certificate." I'm still definitely not saying that nor will I ever. I just happened to look at the coverage from January and saw anti-streetcar letter after anti-streetcar letter and decided to count. It's as simple as that. Looking at all the articles and anti-streetcar bias from the only paper in town, I decided to let people be aware of how much disproportionate coverage on this there is. My guess is its a combination of 1) the pro-streetcar people not writing as much(majority) - along with - 2) the Enquirer, in general, simply does not like this project judging by its track record and selects what they want people to read. I will continue to count the letters to keep them in check. Is it Silly? - probably. Is it important in the grand scheme of things? - Probably not. Is it necessary? - I believe so. Did I butcher the grammar in the last 4 "sentences?" including this one? - absolutely

Reading some of the comments on those letters, it's mindboggling. One commenter is saying that because Portland and other cites have a different demographic (i.e. not as many black people/more white people) it was a success and that it won't be here because of it... TruthMightSting wrote: http://www.newgeography.com/content/001110-the-white-city?page=1 The White City 10/18/2009 Among the media, academia and within planning circles, there’s a generally standing answer to the question of what cities are the best, the most progressive and best role models for small and mid-sized cities. The standard list includes Portland, Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis, and Denver. In particular, Portland is held up as a paradigm, with its urban growth boundary, extensive transit system, excellent cycling culture, and a pro-density policy. These cities are frequently contrasted with those of the Rust Belt and South, which are found wanting, often even by locals, as “cool” urban places. But look closely at these exemplars and a curious fact emerges. If you take away the dominant Tier One cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles you will find that the “progressive” cities aren’t red or blue, but another color entirely: white.

Natininja, it looks like the approach is working. On May 24th and 25th, the enquirer received 13 letters regarding the streetcar. 3 against and 10 for....I have never seen anything like it the past 4.5 months...The tally results as of the morning of May 25, 2010 are as followed: 78 letters total (64 against the project, 14 in support) Alexandria - 1 Amelia - 1 Anderson - 2 Arlington Heights - 1 Blue Ash - 3 California© - 1 Cheviot - 1 Cleves - 1 Colerain - 2 College Hill© - 4 Columbia Township - 1 Covington - 1 Delhi - 3 Downtown© - 1 Fairfield - 2 Finneytown - 1 Green Township - 3 Hyde Park© - 6 Indian Hill - 2 Kenwood - 1 Loveland - 3 Maineville - 2 Mariemont - 1 Monfort Heights - 3 Montgomery - 2 Mt. Lookout© - 2 Mt. Washington© - 2 Oakley© - 1 Over-The-Rhine© - 1 Price Hill© - 1 Sayler Park© - 2 Sharonville - 3 Springdale - 1 Springfield Township - 2 Sycamore Township - 2 Union Township - 1 Walnut Hills© - 1 West Chester - 3 Western Hills - 1 Westwood© - 3 White Oak - 2 The 12 positive letters were from: Hyde Park(3), Arlington Heights, Covington, Over-The-Rhine, Mariemont, Sharonville, Loveland, Downtown, Indian Hill, West Chester, and Blue Ash... The enquirer is publishing 67.94% of the letters regarding the streetcar(positive and negative) from outside of the 52 Cincinnati neighborhoods. In addition to that, there is only 2 letters from people who live along the route. No letters from uptown. So 97.43% of the letters are from areas that aren't in the neighborhoods affected by the streetcar route(including a majority that aren't even close to the projected route) Of the 53 letters from outside of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 46 were negative for a 86.79% negativity rate. Of the 25 letters from within Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 18 were negative for a 72% negativity rate. Combined, the 64/78 negative letters equal a 82.05% negativity rate.

3 Negative letters for the day so far...Up to date totals are the following: 65 letters total (61 against the project, 4 in support) The enquirer is publishing 69.2% of the letters regarding the streetcar(positive and negative) from outside of the 52 Cincinnati neighborhoods. In addition to that, there is only 1 letter from someone who lives along the route(The person who wrote it from downtown - I believe Brad Thomas). No letters from uptown or OTR. So 98.4% of the letters are from areas that aren't in the neighborhoods affected by the streetcar route(including a majority that aren't even close to the projected route) Of the 45 letters from outside of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 43 were negative for a 95.5% negativity rate. Of the 20 letters from within Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 18 were negative for a 90% negativity rate. Combined, the 61/65 negative letters equal a 93.8% negativity rate. Also I might add that some of the letters and comments are quite hilarious. If you have a weak stomach, I suggest you stay away. But it is absolute chaos in some of those letters/articles

City solicitor wants ethics panel to consider impact of streetcar project THE ENQUIRER • MAY 18, 2010 "Cincinnati's solicitor wants the Ohio Ethics Commission to consider how big a transportation project the proposed streetcar would be before deciding whether Councilman Chris Bortz has a conflict of interest. John Curp asked the commission for an advisory opinion, noting in his letter several prior cases in which the commission found it OK for officials to vote on projects unless the project would give the official a particular benefit for himself or herself, rather than a broad benefit to many people who live near or own property near a project. A project as big as the streetcar, Curp wrote, would create wide-scale benefits to many...." http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100518/NEWS0108/5190356/Bortz+vote+on+streetcar+reviewed

Thanks Eigth. I definitely am not ruling out any possibility of a brainfart here or there with the numbers, but I believe this version is accurate. I should add that there is one letter from White Oak in April that really wasn't for or against the streetcar...He wrote about how they ran in a flood when he was growing up in the 40's or something along those lines. So I just took that one out of the final tally

This is an initial Enquirer Streetcar letters by neighborhood breakdown/summary from January 1, 2010 - May 17, 2010...The number to the right of each neighborhood represents the number of letters sent in (Some are the same person I should add. For example: Luken sent in multiple letters from College Hill). The "©" represents it being one of the 52 Cincinnati neighborhoods based on this wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cincinnati_neighborhoods 59 letters total (56 against the project, 3 in support) Alexandria - 1 Amelia - 1 Anderson - 1 Blue Ash - 3 California© - 1 Cheviot - 1 Colerain - 2 College Hill© - 4 Columbia Township - 1 Delhi - 2 Downtown© - 1 Fairfield - 2 Finneytown - 1 Green Township - 2 Hyde Park© - 4 Indian Hill - 1 Kenwood - 1 Loveland - 2 Maineville - 2 Monfort Heights - 2 Montgomery - 2 Mt. Lookout© - 2 Mt. Washington© - 2 Price Hill© - 1 Sayler Park© - 2 Sharonville - 2 Springdale - 1 Springfield Township - 1 Sycamore Township - 2 Union Township - 1 Walnut Hills© - 1 West Chester - 2 Western Hills - 1 Westwood© - 2 White Oak - 2 The 3 positive letters were from: Hyde Park, Downtown, and Blue Ash... The enquirer is publishing 66% of the letters regarding the streetcar(positive and negative) from outside of the 52 Cincinnati neighborhoods. In addition to that, there is only 1 letter from someone who lives along the route(The person who wrote it from downtown - I believe Brad Thomas). No letters from uptown or OTR. So 98.3% of the letters are from areas that aren't in the neighborhoods affected by the streetcar route(including a majority that aren't even close to the projected route) Of the 39 letters from outside of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 38 were negative for a 97.4% negativity rate. Of the 20 letters from within Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 18 were negative for a 90% negativity rate. Combined, the 56/59 negative letters equal a 94.9% negativity rate.

I must correct myself...I missed the letter entitled "Another 'trust us, you'll like it' Promise".... So that's 6 negative letters for the day. That adds 1 to the may total in my previous post making it 23 negative and 2 positive Combined with April is 43 negative and 3 positive. Since January is 56 negative and 3 positive...

5 anti streetcar letters released by the Enquirer today bringing the May total to 22 Negative and 2 positive. In combination with April, that brings us to 42 Negative and 3 positive From January to the present, the total is 55 Negative and 3 positive...

I hope so...I would imagine that wouldn't be the only soundbyte from Luken

By the way John I emailed Kevin with all the information from January until the present that he needs. As of this morning, the total tally of negative vs positive streetcar letters for this month are: 17 negative, 2 positive.

When streetcar's here, I predict you'll like it BY LAURE QUINLIVAN • MAY 14, 2010 I'm proud of Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney, who made streetcars a priority, and I'm proud of my City Council colleagues who passed streetcar bonds on Wednesday. The enthusiastic support of so many engaged citizens was crucial, and cheers to them as well.... http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100514/EDIT02/5140373/When-streetcar-s-here-I-predict-you-ll-like-it?plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:a3f20326-6a6d-4c22-930c-9757ea3ffb81 *Also there is this moronic gem from the comment section. Is this what the opposition is resorting to now?* "The only people supporting this is the gay and lesbians that want Cincinnati to be more like San Fran, and the friends and families of those that are going to make a hell of a lot of money. With the City Solicitors office having the ethical compass of an Over the Rhine hooker, we can look forward to an ever growing exodus of families out of this area. "

Lets just hope the federal funding does come and it comes soon... I never feel comfortable when it is left up to a vote. Last year there was so many half truths and flat out lies being thrown around (Not to mention the enquirer has taken its biased side, their less than honest ways of collecting signatures, and pro issue 9 people ripping out my NO on 9 sign and replacing them with multiple YES on 9 signs). There has to be an underlying reason as to why Luken is so vehemently opposed. Hopefully that will be exposed soon.

Are we sure about that?? "Luken, meanwhile, says he plans to circulate petitions to place the streetcar issue on the November ballot." Honestly I have no idea. John said though if everything falls into place construction could start in the fall...I'm hoping that's the case.

^ Kevin Osborne of CityBeat is doing a story on this. He's looking for facts. You should contact him = [email protected] Ok thanks for the heads up. I'll contact him.

City council OK's streetcar bonds Opponents will try to get it on November ballot, Thomas Luken says BY BARRY M. HORSTMAN • [email protected] • MAY 12, 2010 Funding for two-thirds of the $128 million Cincinnati streetcar project is tentatively in place after City Council on Wednesday approved nearly $67 million toward the Downtown-to-Uptown line, a move that local leaders hope will draw the remaining money needed from state or federal sources. News of council’s action quickly reached Washington – from both sides.... “If you think this vote puts an end to this controversy,” Luken said, “you’re wrong.” http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100512/NEWS0108/305120048/City+council+OK+s+streetcar+bonds

But we won't hear about the federal funding until the end of June, correct? In the mean time, are they doing the engineering so that when federal dollars are approved they can start construction this summer, or are we still looking at another year before dirt is moved? We'll be under construction by fall. Excellent news! No time for COAST and/or Luken to form any stupid ballot initiatives. Also, does anyone know where Winburn is getting his numbers? Today he said it would cost over 200 mil. The other day he inflated it even higher... One last thing, the updates on the cincinnati.com letters as of May 12 2010 go as this: April - 20 negative, 1 positive May 1 - 12 - 14 negative(including 4 today), 2 positive This brings our tally to 34 negative, 3 positive over the last 2 months. Since January, the total is 47 negative and 3 positive...

Anyone see this? "A $45 MILLION dollar project to be built along the streetcar line including 155 residential units and 15,000 square feet of commercial space will be constructed one block away from the Cincinnati Streetcar" http://cincystreetcar.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/18-2-million-project-to-be-built-along-streetcar-line/ http://soapboxmedia.com/devnews/0511mercercommons.aspx

Hopefully this $64 million in funding will signal our local commitment, meaning that we receive federal funding for the remainder of the cost of the project. Unless there are other unexpected funding sources as some have hinted at recently... Do you happen to know the timeframe for when we will hear about the federal funding?

That lawyer is speaking now threatening a lawsuit vs Bortz on the behalf of Mark Miller and Luken

Council expected to OK streetcar BY JANE PRENDERGAST • [email protected] • MAY 10, 2010 http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100510/NEWS0108/305100039/Council+expected+to+OK+streetcar "It appears Cincinnati City Council today will approve a $64 million bond issue to pay for half the initial phase of the streetcar system. Councilmen Chris Bortz and Jeff Berding have agreed to vote for the project, Bortz said, after meeting with Mayor Mark Mallory and the city administration. They were promised, Bortz said, that the administration will develop an operating plan, including how the city will pay for the estimated $3 million in annual costs to run the streetcar....."

"Looks like streetcar has 6 votes. After Bortz, Berding got assurances today that city won't go forward w/o fed $." http://twitter.com/janeprendergast Live video here http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Dato=99999999&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=90617007&Ref=AR&template=livestream