January 28, 201114 yr If you want to nail these critics, get a local reporter or blogger to start investigating who funds them....follow the $$$$$$. If the story is done well, all of the other local media will jump on it. Trust me, most of these critics are backed by well-funded right-wing and Libertarian benefactors who are tied to either the oil business or highway contractors (asphalt & concrete manufacturers) who have a vested interest in going after any transportation project that runs on rails. They have thrown their lot in with the "Tea Party", giving them an added boost with that portion of the public that supports them. There is a concerted effort to undermine funding for all passenger rail and rail-based transit projects..... check out this story from "The Infrastructurist" about the current efforts in Congress to go after Amtrak and high speed rail funding.... both of which could also impact Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio. http://www.infrastructurist.com/2011/01/27/why-cutting-rail-funding-would-hurt-americas-transportation-network/
January 28, 201114 yr ^ 3CDC's official stance is neutral- Although they would clearly benefit from it as most of their landbanking that has yet to be developed between Elm and Race.
January 28, 201114 yr I'm reading the initiative now, can this phrase: "the term “Streetcar System” means a system of passenger vehicles operated on rails constructed primarily in existing public rights of way" be interpreted to include any other forms of rail?
January 28, 201114 yr ^Not a lawyer but that would be a "yes" to your question in my book. But I am also biased in support of the streetcar. I live in the suburbs too. Gasp! This again will be too broad. It begs the question: Why is it bad now and not after 2020? Also, can anybody give a breakdown of what funds are contributed by the feds, the state and Cincinnati's capital respectively. My thought is that the large sum of $128MM (?) is thrown around as if the city has to provide all of that. This is not true, correct? In know it is all here but it might be nice to get a scorecard on page 407. Thanks!
January 28, 201114 yr ^^Yes. Public rights-of-way include streets, alleys, existing city owned rail r-o-w, ... so its basically another back door ballot initiative to ban all rail till 2021. “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
January 28, 201114 yr ^^Yes. Public rights-of-way include streets, alleys, existing city owned rail r-o-w, ... so its basically another back door ballot initiative to ban all rail till 2021. Wow. They repeat the exact same mistake as they did last time. This message needs to get out to everyone ASAP. It's just another poorly worded initiative
January 28, 201114 yr Author ^ 3CDC's official stance is neutral- Although they would clearly benefit from it as most of their landbanking that has yet to be developed between Elm and Race. 3CDC wrote a letter of support to the federal government for the Urban Circulators grant.
January 28, 201114 yr >This might get negative national attention. The point of this is to get national attention. COAST/NAACP create problems and then exploit those artificial problems. Chris Finney, who is both COAST's and the NAACP's lawyer, is the same guy who wrote the language for Article XII, which was on the books from 1993 until 2004. It's literally this one asshole who is behind all this stuff.
January 28, 201114 yr Then he's where attention should be focused. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 28, 201114 yr Well our local media keeps running to him and his goons for quotes. These journalists and the public are trained to be skeptical of elected and appointed officials, but not to be even more skeptical of their hecklers, especially the figures who comprise these anti-tax groups.
January 29, 201114 yr Well said, and very true. If traditional news reporters won't look into Finney, then Internet-based reporters should. I'm sure there are people who know his dirt and would love to share it. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 29, 201114 yr Well said, and very true. If traditional news reporters won't look into Finney, then Internet-based reporters should. I'm sure there are people who know his dirt and would love to share it. CityBeat is the most likely candidate, and they have the loudest non-Enquirer (and non-TV network) voice. Internet-based reporters preach to their choirs, for the most part.
January 29, 201114 yr Well said, and very true. If traditional news reporters won't look into Finney, then Internet-based reporters should. I'm sure there are people who know his dirt and would love to share it. CityBeat is the most likely candidate, and they have the loudest non-Enquirer (and non-TV network) voice. Internet-based reporters preach to their choirs, for the most part. Every single one of their leaders has credibility issues. COAST supported the stadium debacle while not supporting the fountain square development. Smitherman thinks the city is trying to taint the water in black communities with syphilis. Etc etc etc...
January 29, 201114 yr COAST pursues something, then tells people a year later they didn't. They fight against something, then tell people a year later that they supported it. Our useless media then blames the pro streetcar people for "not getting the message out". This is the level of insanity our country is operating at. This ballot measure is only going to be defeated with brute force -- a huge television and radio ad campaign. Ads during Dancing With The Stars.
January 31, 201114 yr Just a reminder that everyone should be sending emails or letters of support of this project as COA T is telling their people to do on a weekly basis. I just saw this "action alert" today: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=eoxgoicab&v=001yqHNAgdI3XjCGSVG3QXREddGU_GIY7LJOf8Wg2pbaBaEQKlkrbWsjkvKT0yc_tYtvLrRcJHt7G_vAAhJwVEpYfcjP1HhfqCDcNyUopvX8GLtAY4VE6Zu-w%3D%3D Send a letter of support to the same addresses that they list in the above link! I just sent one today and it takes about 3 minutes to do. Remember to put something like "Support the Cincinnati Streetcar" in the subject line!
January 31, 201114 yr Just a reminder that everyone should be sending emails or letters of support of this project as COA T is telling their people to do on a weekly basis. I just saw this "action alert" today: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=eoxgoicab&v=001yqHNAgdI3XjCGSVG3QXREddGU_GIY7LJOf8Wg2pbaBaEQKlkrbWsjkvKT0yc_tYtvLrRcJHt7G_vAAhJwVEpYfcjP1HhfqCDcNyUopvX8GLtAY4VE6Zu-w%3D%3D Send a letter of support to the same addresses that they list in the above link! I just sent one today and it takes about 3 minutes to do. Remember to put something like "Support the Cincinnati Streetcar" in the subject line! Seriously, has anyone put together a good letter they're willing to share with everyone? A comprehensive list of addresses of people to send it to would be very helpful too. Who would be better to send a snail mail letter to versus e-mail? "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
February 1, 201114 yr Kasich blah blah blah "He was less than enthusiastic about following through on $35 million in state funding for the Cincinnati streetcar. “That’s yet to be determined,” he said in brief news conference afterward." http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110201/BIZ01/302010020/Kasich-meets-with-business-leaders
February 1, 201114 yr ^the top ranking transportation project in the state Exactly! “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
February 1, 201114 yr ^the top ranking transportation project in the state As long as he can't do anything to the funding, I could care less what he yaps about.
February 1, 201114 yr As long as he can't do anything to the funding, I could care less what he yaps about. Then you should care because he can do something about the funding. But there should be consequences for pulling back funding for the state highest-ranked transportation project. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 1, 201114 yr As long as he can't do anything to the funding, I could care less what he yaps about. Then you should care because he can do something about the funding. But there should be consequences for pulling back funding for the state highest-ranked transportation project. I was not aware he could do anything legally about it? I had no idea
February 1, 201114 yr Grrrrr!!!! I can't stand this back and forth! Is everyone sending letters/emails to TRAC/ODOT that politely say they support the streetcar?
February 1, 201114 yr Author Comments can be submitted until February 11 in two ways: By regular mail to: Ohio Department of Transportation attn: Ed Kagel, TRAC Coordinator 1980 W. Broad Street Columbus, OH 43223 Jerry Wray, Director Ohio Department of Transportation 1980 West Broad Street Columbus Ohio, 43223 By email to: [email protected] Be sure to mention how the streetcar will benefit our city, create new jobs, attract new businesses and help make Cincinnati a better place to live.
February 1, 201114 yr ^ Not a good thing to post. Yeah, a good thing to post would be that boilerplate letter and addresses to all relevant recipients that I asked for a week ago. Seriously, if the COAST people can produce a form letter for their ilk to use, why can't we?
February 1, 201114 yr ^ Original, thoughful, fact-filled letters are alway better. Anyone on this board has ample knowledge to write one.
February 2, 201114 yr Has anyone heard of a proposed groundbreaking date for the project? The longer this bickering continues, the less optimistic I feel about the success of it.
February 2, 201114 yr Since when does anyone care about facts or originality? It's about perception, knee-jerk feelings, polls, and politics. 20 beautifully written support letters won't mean squat in the face of 100 letters of opposition, even if they are all the same. For this effort to work, we need as many people to write in about their support as possible, and providing a good letter for people TO START WITH is the way to do that. There is an anti-streetcar letter writing campaign out there, and it must be countered with a pro-streetcar writing campaign of equal or greater strength. To just leave it to everyone on the pro side to go it on their own is extremely risky and naive. At the very least, the VERY least, we need that list of people and addresses to send the letters to. I'm just stunned at how unorganized and ineffectual the pro side is being here. Do you actually want COAST to win? If not, then you have to make it just as easy to support the project as they are making it for others to oppose it.
February 2, 201114 yr Has anyone heard of a proposed groundbreaking date for the project? The longer this bickering continues, the less optimistic I feel about the success of it. The most recent talk is: If the Environmental review goes well, they can start right when it finishes (goal of late feb/early march). Potentially it could take longer- but that is the part of the process we are in.
February 2, 201114 yr I'd imagine Kasich is weighing his options carefully. Questions he is probably mulling over are, how will he explain that he chose to eliminate state funding for the state's highest rated project, and the fact that he can't completely kill the project unilaterally. Even if he pulls the funding for the project, it will be 10-15 million short of the 128 million needed. Politically it is not the easiest funding to pull because it will not have the impact he desires which is killing the entire project.
February 2, 201114 yr ^ agreed- if he pulls the money they might just start the downtown loop and delay the uptown connection.
February 2, 201114 yr i have a brilliant idea. lets start a ballot initiative that all funds generated from the cincinnati southern railroad must be spent on rail transit development or at least that it may not be used on roads...id love to see them refute rail technology while whining about not getting money from it haha. omg...we should seriously do that
February 2, 201114 yr lets put them on the defensive. ballot initiatives that only safety improvements and upkeep may come from funds other than gas taxes, no roadway expansion of non existing right of ways and no property purchase or imminent domain for highways or garages unless by a vote and council cannot vote on highway expansions...we'll show them who cares more about excessive taxation.
February 2, 201114 yr >all funds generated from the cincinnati southern railroad must be spent on rail transit development or at least that it may not be used on roads Actually that would probably require a change in state law. Everything related to that railroad, going back to the 1860's, has always tested state laws and required their modification. Believe it or not an act known as The Cincinnati Southern Railroad-Expressway act allowed revenues from the railroad to back bonds to build the Millcreek Expressway and anything else outlined in the 1946 Master Plan. Yes, revenues from the railroad quite literally paid for surface sections of the Rapid Transit Loop (subway) to be bulldozed.
February 2, 201114 yr Author The Cincinnati Streetcar project was recommended to receive two State of Ohio grants in the total amount of $36.8 million to build the line from the riverfront to the University of Cincinnati and to plan the build-out of the system throughout Uptown. These two grants will create new jobs and economic development in the City of Cincinnati. The first phase of the Streetcar will create 1,800 new construction jobs and 9,000 permanent jobs—growing our city’s tax base and increasing the resources available for all 52 neighborhoods. The Cincinnati Streetcar is the top-ranked transportation project on Ohio’s 2011-2015 Major New Program List. The list can be found online here. These are draft recommendations that still must be finalized by the TRAC board following the Public Comment period. Please show your support for the Cincinnati Streetcar by writing to the Transportation Review Advisory Council before February 11. Please be sure to mention the two streetcar allocations included in the draft-list: $35 million in Construction Funding for “Cincinnati Streetcar Phase 1″ (located on the middle of Page 1) $1.8 million in Preliminary Engineering funding for the “Cincinnati Uptown Streetcar” (located on top of Page 4) Comments can be submitted until February 11 in two ways: By email to: [email protected] By regular mail to: Ohio Department of Transportation attn: Ed Kagel, TRAC Coordinator 1980 W. Broad Street Columbus, OH 43223 Jerry Wray, Director Ohio Department of Transportation 1980 West Broad Street Columbus Ohio, 43223 Be sure to mention how the streetcar will benefit our city, create new jobs, attract new businesses and help make Cincinnati a better place to live. Thank you for your support of this transformative project for our City. Support the future of our City—Support the Streetcar.
February 2, 201114 yr From this mornings online Cincinnati Business Courier article "Kasich: Declining airport puts jobs at risk": Apart from airport news, Kasich had plenty to say on matters of regional import, including the Cincinnati streetcar project. Asked whether Ohio will fund a $35 million grant recommended by the Ohio Transportation Advisory Council in December, Kasich would not commit: “I have (ODOT Director) Jerry Wray looking into a series of things and that’s yet to be determined. I’ve told him that he needs to come down here and talk about it but there’s no decision yet.” "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
February 2, 201114 yr Let's see, what makes more sense for taxpayers to invest in during an era of declining oil supplies coupled with unprecedented demand for oil: a dinky, surplus airport that's lightly used by middle/upper-class people and their fuel-guzzling aircraft, or the first phase of an electric streetcar system that's ranked by the TRAC as the most cost-effective transportation project in the state? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 2, 201114 yr The problem with you KJP is that you make too much sense. That is not going to get you very far with this group which has a particular world view and certainly don't want to be told they are wrong.
February 2, 201114 yr Let's see, what makes more sense for taxpayers to invest in during an era of declining oil supplies coupled with unprecedented demand for oil: a dinky, surplus airport that's lightly used by middle/upper-class people and their fuel-guzzling aircraft, or the first phase of an electric streetcar system that's ranked by the TRAC as the most cost-effective transportation project in the state? The crazy part is he's not talking about Lunken-- He's talking about CVG-- He's saying Cincinnati and Ohio need to start fixing and running Kentucky's airport...
February 2, 201114 yr Author Smitherman: Latest streetcar petition will be the last Thomas, though, says the information sought by Smitherman and streetcar opponents have been provided repeatedly, they just choose to ignore it for use as a red herring. “All of that information is out there,” Thomas says. “We’ve got an independent study from the University of Cincinnati, we’ve got the example of other cities, but the streetcar opponents just discount everything. They ignore them, then ask the same question and put the same bad information out there. “It’s frustrating,” he adds. “They go out there with opinions, and we respond with hard facts supported by numbers, but they just keep going fighting against a project that’s going to be a real win for Cincinnati.” http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-22634-once-more-with-feeling.html
February 2, 201114 yr ^ I wish that article would mention the 10 year ban after Smitherman's defense of, "we're not against the streetcar..." 'we just don't think this is the right time' (paraphrased).
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