May 13, 201114 yr ^ agreed!! Don't know if I caught this 100% but Luken was on Darryl Parks 5 minutes ago and said something along the lines of "They've already spent hundreds of millions" on the streetcar. Also rambled incoherently about a lot of crazy stuff.
May 13, 201114 yr ^and I think Leslie Ghiz is becoming the female version of Tom Luken. Just crazy statements after another.
May 13, 201114 yr ^and I think Leslie Ghiz is becoming the female version of Tom Luken. Just crazy statements after another. and apparently she has the bladder of someone Tom's age. isn't she the one that has missed multiple sessions or votes because of bathroom breaks? it's incredible what politics can do to a person. I remember when she presented for an urban lobbying class before she was well known or on council and she was completely coherent, polite, articulate, etc...now she just seems like she has lost her marbles.
May 13, 201114 yr ^ In her defense over the physical issues...I believe she was pregnant during much of that time.
May 13, 201114 yr ^Yeah, and she let 700 WLW play porn sound effects when she called in to announce she was pregnant. Her political act at once wins the favor of little old ladies AND meat head guys with her "cool bar chick" call-ins.
May 13, 201114 yr ^and I think Leslie Ghiz is becoming the female version of Tom Luken. Just crazy statements after another. and apparently she has the bladder of someone Tom's age. isn't she the one that has missed multiple sessions or votes because of bathroom breaks? it's incredible what politics can do to a person. It's also amazing what pregnancy and childbirth will do to one's bladder.
May 13, 201114 yr ^and I think Leslie Ghiz is becoming the female version of Tom Luken. Just crazy statements after another. and apparently she has the bladder of someone Tom's age. isn't she the one that has missed multiple sessions or votes because of bathroom breaks? it's incredible what politics can do to a person. It's also amazing what pregnancy and childbirth will do to one's bladder. they shouldn't make you miss key votes. During my wife's multiple pregnancies along with co-workers of mine, they never missed key events because they had to pee.
May 13, 201114 yr So we know the streetcar positions of the incumbents- FOR: Quinlivan Qualls Thomas Young Bortz (obviously can't vote though) AGAINST Lippert Ghiz Winburn Murray What about non-incumbents? Positions I'm aware of are: Simpson: FOR Seelbach: FOR Sittenfeld: was for- but I've heard that he has hesitations now that it's the shortened route- he wasn't at the Wednesday event. Smitherman: AGAINST I don't know: Riveiro Flynn Hollan Mills Correct me if I'm wrong and please fill in the others if you know off hand-
May 13, 201114 yr So we know the streetcar positions of the incumbents- FOR: Quinlivan Qualls Thomas Young Bortz (obviously can't vote though) AGAINST Lippert Ghiz Winburn Murray What about non-incumbents? Positions I'm aware of are: Simpson: FOR Seelbach: FOR Sittenfeld: was for- but I've heard that he has hesitations now that it's the shortened route- also, he wasn't at the Wednesday event. Smitherman: AGAINST I don't know: Riveiro Flynn Hollan Mills Correct me if I'm wrong and please fill in the others if you know off hand-
May 13, 201114 yr Last I heard, Riveiro is in favor of the streetcar. I'm pretty sure Flynn is as well.
May 13, 201114 yr Bortz does not support the project as is without the Uptown Loop Did he say that publicly? I hadn't heard that. The original plan was without the uptown connection... that was added by Qualls. Did he not support it originally?
May 13, 201114 yr So if Streetcar supporters wanted their own City Council Ticket- it would be: Qualls Quinlivan Thomas Young Seelbach Simpson Flynn Riveiro Bortz Again-- I'm not sure the position of Hollan- and Sittenfeld seems to be on the fence.
May 13, 201114 yr Bortz does not support the project as is without the Uptown Loop Did he say that publicly? I hadn't heard that. The original plan was without the uptown connection... that was added by Qualls. Did he not support it originally? Yes. He was on Mark Amazon's show one night and basically they just bashed the project. Amazon devotes at least an hour per show to bashing the project
May 14, 201114 yr Actually Bortz was on the radio the day of the TRAC decision saying he didn't support the streetcar project "at this time". Of course he supports the project, he's just laying low and letting others take the heat.
May 14, 201114 yr Well-- If Hollan is publicly pro-streetcar then there would be 9 candidates for a pro-streetcar slate- Pretty impressive!!
May 14, 201114 yr Ghiz is one of the most harebrained and utterly unprofessional council reps Cincinnati has had in the last ten years and I'm frankly shocked some of you are just now confirming that. In a way I do wish Cincinnati was building a "streetcar to nowhere". That way once it was completed, the entire city could strap in Ghiz, Winburn, Thomas, Berding and Bortz (the remaining top 5 worst council reps of the last ten years) and send them along their merry little way.
May 14, 201114 yr I took the bus home from the Reds game this afternoon- the two riders behind me were complaining about how pointless the streetcar is-- The man said, and I quote: "The city has it's priorities all wrong-- they shouldn't spend a dime on that streetcar until the fix the problems we already have- like the escalator at Paul Brown Stadium that never works" There are some people who will just never see the vision.
May 15, 201114 yr It's all the same government to those who don't care to understand details, policies, laws, etc. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 17, 201114 yr haha- love it. Any idea if "Fall" means BEFORE the Nov. Election? Anyone on the inside know when we might know a more precise date?
May 17, 201114 yr haha- love it. Any idea if "Fall" means BEFORE the Nov. Election? Anyone on the inside know when we might know a more precise date? No one can pin-point a date yet because its not up to the city at this point. The FTA is running the show and the city can't spend any money on building it until the FTA gives the OK. They are currently waiting on word from the FTA regarding the environmental impact study. That is expected to be approved sometime late may/early June I believe. After that there are more hoops to jump through. All that they can do is guess that they should be ready to go sometime towards the end of the year. Unless someone here works at the FTA, no one is going to be able to give you much more specific info than that unfortunately. Its incredibly frustrating that we have a plan, we have all the money we need for that plan, but still we have to wait another 6+? months to actually start that plan!
May 17, 201114 yr Well, that is something that Dems & GOP both get frustrated over is the amount of time it takes to get through these stages. It adds time and money to the process and as you can see, creates REALLY bad situations for bad feelings to fester and second guessing to occur.
May 17, 201114 yr Guest column: Plan for streetcar is still a bad idea COUNCIL MEMBER WAYNE LIPPERT Guest column from Wayne Lippert in the Enquirer today. He again cites the Detroit People Mover as a failed transit system that Cincinnati should look to for 'worst case scenario.' Can we vote this clown (in addition to the other clowns Winburn and Ghiz) out of office... PLEASE!
May 17, 201114 yr I'm really disappointed in Lippert- He's actually a really genuine nice guy- (unlike some other republicans on council). Unfortunately, I disagree with his politics so much and he's not a very strong leader. The people mover is a ridiculous comparison for several reasons- at the same time, it has a ridership of over 2 million people a year! Also- the people mover charges $100 for an annual pass! or $10 for a monthly pass- that's INCREDIBLY cheap- no one is expecting our streetcar to have rates that low. And the .50 cents for ever $3 figure that he often quotes is from 1998.
May 17, 201114 yr Guest column: Plan for streetcar is still a bad idea COUNCIL MEMBER WAYNE LIPPERT Guest column from Wayne Lippert in the Enquirer today. He again cites the Detroit People Mover as a failed transit system that Cincinnati should look to for 'worst case scenario.' Can we vote this clown (in addition to the other clowns Winburn and Ghiz) out of office... PLEASE! We need to all write letters to the editor about this as well as write and/or call Lipperts office to call him out on his ignorant arguments.
May 17, 201114 yr Actually Lippert opposed Issue 9, from what I hear. He is probably a streetcar supporter but was put on council to punish Mallory, so it is his job to oppose it.
May 17, 201114 yr Guest column: Plan for streetcar is still a bad idea COUNCIL MEMBER WAYNE LIPPERT Guest column from Wayne Lippert in the Enquirer today. He again cites the Detroit People Mover as a failed transit system that Cincinnati should look to for 'worst case scenario.' Can we vote this clown (in addition to the other clowns Winburn and Ghiz) out of office... PLEASE! We need to all write letters to the editor about this as well as write and/or call Lipperts office to call him out on his ignorant arguments. Good luck getting it published. I've written 2, I know others who have written as well. ZERO made it. Meanwhile later that week, a guy from Franklin calling the streetcar "Communist" and Tom Luken's ramblings get published
May 17, 201114 yr Guest column: Plan for streetcar is still a bad idea COUNCIL MEMBER WAYNE LIPPERT Guest column from Wayne Lippert in the Enquirer today. He again cites the Detroit People Mover as a failed transit system that Cincinnati should look to for 'worst case scenario.' Can we vote this clown (in addition to the other clowns Winburn and Ghiz) out of office... PLEASE! We need to all write letters to the editor about this as well as write and/or call Lipperts office to call him out on his ignorant arguments. Good luck getting it published. I've written 2, I know others who have written as well. ZERO made it. Meanwhile later that week, a guy from Franklin calling the streetcar "Communist" and Tom Luken's ramblings get published Yeah, you're probably right. I've written one recently that never got published either. I really wish the Enquirer would just go away and we could have a fair paper in town.
May 17, 201114 yr I've been messaging on Twitter with Carolyn Washburn about streetcar letters. If you've submitted a LTE regarding the streetcar that hasn't been published, PM me your name and the date you submitted it. She told me that they've only received 1 pro-streetcar LTE in the last month. I want to be able to tell her I have several people (with names) who have submitted LTEs. Can you help out?
May 17, 201114 yr Mark Donaghy, president of the Ohio Public Transit Association, sent an Op-Ed in support of the Cincinnati Streetcar to the Enquirer in late-March or early-April. Never appeared.
May 17, 201114 yr Reversing trend, shootings jump in OTR The always fair and balanced Enquirer loves to get it's daily Streetcar jabs in (last paragraph)... "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
May 17, 201114 yr Reversing trend, shootings jump in OTR The always fair and balanced Enquirer loves to get it's daily Streetcar jabs in (last paragraph)... Yep, unbelievable. They had to interview a known streetcar opponent on a totally unrelated issue just so they could get their daily negative press on the project.
May 18, 201114 yr I think it was a few pages back that there was a discussion (involving Eighth and State?) about the funding systems proposed for the streetcar as opposed to highways. An interesting article on cnn.com about a potential "driver tax" that would be a tax per mile. Apparently the government has had to kick in $30 billion for highway funding over the past few years because the gas tax no longer funds all the highway needs. http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/18/news/economy/gas_tax_drivers/index.htm?hpt=T2 I am sure this won't fly with voters, but I would love to hear how those who talk about light rail/streetcar needing to "pay for itself" view this. (Note, I am not suggesting that posters here take this position, but it is something we obviously see in the political debate about rail projects.) Is it long overdue?
May 18, 201114 yr Some random poll on Business Courrier. Since I had to choose, I actually voted for Over-The-Rhine, thinking most people would as well...and was surprised at the results! http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/poll/results/52241
May 18, 201114 yr I think it was a few pages back that there was a discussion (involving Eighth and State?) about the funding systems proposed for the streetcar as opposed to highways. An interesting article on cnn.com about a potential "driver tax" that would be a tax per mile. Apparently the government has had to kick in $30 billion for highway funding over the past few years because the gas tax no longer funds all the highway needs. http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/18/news/economy/gas_tax_drivers/index.htm?hpt=T2 I am sure this won't fly with voters, but I would love to hear how those who talk about light rail/streetcar needing to "pay for itself" view this. (Note, I am not suggesting that posters here take this position, but it is something we obviously see in the political debate about rail projects.) Is it long overdue? Even before the Highway Trust Fund was bailed out multiple times totaling $34 billion in general revenue fund dollars since 2008, it wasn't paying its own way (and it will have to be bailed out again this year). This analysis used pre-2008 Federal Highway Trust Administration data: http://subsidyscope.org/transportation/highways/funding/ Today, highways cover less than half of their costs from user taxes. Meanwhile Amtrak covers 85 percent of its costs from fares, advertising and other internally generated revenue (up from 75 percent two years ago). Yet Amtrak gets ripped by conservatives who don't say a peep about growing highway subsidies. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 18, 201114 yr All I ask for is consistency from folks, which makes the discrimination against rail infuriating.
May 18, 201114 yr Reversing trend, shootings jump in OTR The always fair and balanced Enquirer loves to get it's daily Streetcar jabs in (last paragraph)... Yep, unbelievable. They had to interview a known streetcar opponent on a totally unrelated issue just so they could get their daily negative press on the project. The online article was revised to exclude the paragraph you talked about, b/c I did not see it. Not sure about the print article tho.
May 19, 201114 yr Some random poll on Business Courrier. Since I had to choose, I actually voted for Over-The-Rhine, thinking most people would as well...and was surprised at the results! http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/poll/results/52241 Update: The streetcar was way ahead, but the poll has shifted wildly in favor of The Banks, by something like 20 percentage points in one day. Perhaps someone got wind of it and started a voting rout for some reason? Polls always fascinate me.
May 19, 201114 yr Save the talk about crime & punishment for the appropriate thread. Moving on.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 19, 201114 yr Does anyone know what the budget is to move water and sewer lines/manholes? I'm aware of the Duke budget for electric and gas... but I was wondering if there was a line item for manholes/sewer/water. Between Vine and Main on 12th I counted nearly 20 manholes that are on the streetcar side of the street on that small portion of the track. I was talking with a construction worker who is anti- streetcar- He was saying that there is no line item for moving manholes & sewer and water access points.- Is that true?
May 20, 201114 yr Some random poll on Business Courrier. Since I had to choose, I actually voted for Over-The-Rhine, thinking most people would as well...and was surprised at the results! http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/poll/results/52241 Update: The streetcar was way ahead, but the poll has shifted wildly in favor of The Banks, by something like 20 percentage points in one day. Perhaps someone got wind of it and started a voting rout for some reason? Polls always fascinate me. Somehow, OTR and the streetcar got a little boost. Wonder how that could be.
May 20, 201114 yr Save the talk about crime & punishment for the appropriate thread. Moving on.... Anytime something you personally don't feel is merited is posted, it disappears. How the Enquirer covers minorities is directly related to how they have covered the Cincinnati streetcar. The paper has labeled the project as a waste primarily because of the origin of the location doesn't warrant dollars being spent there. Isn't that outright support of disenfranchisement of African-American neighborhoods? The Oasis Line hasn't been labeled unworthy on the grounds of community makeup in the Enquirer even though it intends to serve the eastern, white burbs of Cincinnati, putting city residents on the back burner. Insinuating that the OTR loop will be unsafe or that no one will ride it because of the "thugs on every corner in OTR" is an accusation against the community, whether you believe it or not.
May 20, 201114 yr ^ the biggest problem with your argument is that the NAACP doesn't want the streetcar either because they say it will disenfranchise African-Americans. In fact, several of the speakers against the streetcar were African American. Hell- Charlie Winburn at a recent public safety hearing said he's against it because of the crime in the area. This isn't a clear cut racial issue, so please don't paint it as one.
May 20, 201114 yr Charlie Winburn is not exactly the person I would look to for a representative of black Cincinnatians' opinions, generally. Just because the NAACP doesn't like the streetcar doesn't mean the Enquirer doesn't push racial bias on the issue. City Blights said, "The paper has labeled the project as a waste primarily because of the origin of the location doesn't warrant dollars being spent there." This is ostensibly a very different reason from why the NAACP doesn't like the project. NAACP is against it (correct me if I'm wrong) because it will 1) cause gentrification (i.e. it will be successful, where the Enquirer's position is that it's a waste because it will fail), and 2) the money would be better spent on other community services, ones which those subscribing to the Enquirer's view would likely see as equally or more wasteful than the streetcar, for the same (racially tinged) reason: "the location[s ] [don't] warrant dollars being spent there." I think City Blights is right, in that the Enquirer stokes (and exploits) the fires behind racial tensions in the city, including (perhaps especially) in the case of the streetcar. I don't think this is unique to the Enquirer, but it's there.
May 20, 201114 yr Charlie Winburn is not exactly the person I would look to for a representative of black Cincinnatians' opinions, generally. Just because the NAACP doesn't like the streetcar doesn't mean the Enquirer doesn't push racial bias on the issue. City Blights said, "The paper has labeled the project as a waste primarily because of the origin of the location doesn't warrant dollars being spent there." This is ostensibly a very different reason from why the NAACP doesn't like the project. NAACP is against it (correct me if I'm wrong) because it will 1) cause gentrification (i.e. it will be successful, where the Enquirer's position is that it's a waste because it will fail), and 2) the money would be better spent on other community services, ones which those subscribing to the Enquirer's view would likely see as equally or more wasteful than the streetcar, for the same (racially tinged) reason: "the location[s ] [don't] warrant dollars being spent there." I think City Blights is right, in that the Enquirer stokes (and exploits) the fires behind racial tensions in the city, including (perhaps especially) in the case of the streetcar. I don't think this is unique to the Enquirer, but it's there. The enquirer usually says not to do it "right now" because of budget problems and a lack of funding. This entire "the enquirer is racist" argument is totally silly. Smitherman is incredibly popular in the black community- The reverend (whose name I can't remember) who spoke against the streetcar is again very influential in the black community. These people are against the streetcar as well. The enquirer doesn't have some racist agenda against the streetcar. If anything, it's more so about socioeconomic status than it is about race- two very different things. The enquirer is not against over the rhine being redeveloped- The enquirer is 3CDC's number 1 champion- their Publisher is very active on the board of 3CDC. Simplifying the issue into saying the enquirer is against the streetcar because it wants Over the Rhine to remain a ghetto is an incredibly uninformed and short sighted.
May 20, 201114 yr Most of what I said was to clarify that the position City Blights attributed to the Enquirer cannot be attributed to the NAACP. What I was arguing on my own behalf is that the Enquirer stokes the racial tensions that exist in the community. That's different from saying the Enquirer is racist. Including a negative quote about the streetcar in an article about an upswing of violent crime in OTR is a clear example of this, IMO.
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