October 8, 201311 yr Pamula Thomas is now calling for the city to stop the streetcar project. Says "Its a burden" She's been the least impressive council person in a long time, and that's saying something. She seems confused, direction-less and in over her head.
October 8, 201311 yr Pamula Thomas is now calling for the city to stop the streetcar project. Says "Its a burden" She's been the least impressive council person in a long time, and that's saying something. She seems confused, direction-less and in over her head. Kinda like her old man?
October 8, 201311 yr Anyone know where Imhotep, I mean, John Deatrick is from? First time I've heard him speak on WLW, and he sounds Minnesotan or Canadian or something. Not that it matters...just curious. (BTW Imhotep is what Cunningham kept calling him, making fun of the streetcar as though it were the Pyramid of Djoser.)
October 8, 201311 yr Anyone know where Imhotep, I mean, John Deatrick is from? First time I've heard him speak on WLW, and he sounds Minnesotan or Canadian or something. Not that it matters...just curious. John is from Defiance, Ohio. He lived in the UK for a while, and is a Chartered Engineer there. Married a Brit. Has both planning and engineering - a scary thought.
October 8, 201311 yr wow, didn't realize the operating costs could be $5-10M/yr That $5-$10M number came from Cunningham after his call with John. Prior to his discussion with John, Mike Allen was on and had this (among other things) to say: ...As a citizen, I hope the people that were charged with studying this and thinking about it did their homework, because it's going to happen. I mean it's too late to stop it now, and it has been a success in other cities... Then he and Cunningham complained that it doesn't go up to UC or to the casino... But Allen did finish with "I think people need to stop being obstructionist about it because it's too late." "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 8, 201311 yr John Deatrick on WLW w/Cunningham at 12:35 to give an update and to discuss subsidized fares. Interview with John begins at 17:43: http://www.700wlw.com/media/podcast-bill-cunningham-bill_cunningham/mike-allen-new-streetcars-10813-hour-23812431/ "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 8, 201311 yr John is from Defiance, Ohio. He lived in the UK for a while, and is a Chartered Engineer there. Married a Brit. Has both planning and engineering - a scary thought. Well, I was certainly off the mark on that one. Though I guess Defiance does have a Great Lakes accent. His isn't very strong, so that might have obscured it for my ears. Glad he's on the job. He seems like a good guy to bring some sanity to the discussion. Someone should lock Cranley in a room with him for a couple hours.
October 8, 201311 yr Someone should lock Cranley in a room with him for a couple hours. I wouldn't wish being locked in a room with Cranley on ANYBODY. Man, I'm into some sick pooh, but you're just plain mean...
October 9, 201311 yr Nat Comisar LTE: Risk and vision Downtown: ‘We are on the right track’ John Schneider LTE: Streetcar’s benefits get greater over time "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 9, 201311 yr Nat Comisar LTE: Risk and vision Downtown: ‘We are on the right track’ This is EXACTLY the PR the project needs. More local staples and business owners coming out in support of the project. Some people honestly believe that no one supports the project and that it is being 'rammed down our throats' by Mallory. Completely untrue. Supporters, particularly Cincinnati famous staples, just aren't public enough This is great PR
October 9, 201311 yr ^ Particularly the people who have opened businesses along the line, for whom the streetcar featured in their decision. But I guess with the way many streetcar detractors live in the past, it's probably a lot more impactful for a former business owner to talk about it, rather than someone who has put money where their mouth is and already bet on the streetcar's success.
October 9, 201311 yr White and Orange Noise Mayoral and council candidates who say they’ll shut down the streetcar ignore the realities facing the project "In other words, after accounting for lost federal grant money, the city could be on the hook for an extra $29 million if it cancels the project over completing it. " http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-28786-white_%28and_orange%29_noise.html
October 9, 201311 yr Laketa Cole called into the Lincoln Ware show today and said "Black people do not like the streetcar. It barely goes 3 miles and doesn't go into our hoods"
October 9, 201311 yr ^Because you should only support something if it benefits you directly. What a joke. //edit: Also, the last time I checked, downtown and OTR weren't exactly lily-white. Not that her comment needs to make any logical sense.
October 9, 201311 yr From Chris Seelbach's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisSeelbach?fref=ts&ref=br_tf One of the most interesting moments running for office: Getting a mail piece asking Craig and me not to vote for Roxanne Qualls, Wendell Young, Yvette Simpson, Laure Quinlivan and MYSELF! Sorry "Citizens for Informed Voters, Courtney Ritter Treasurer," you wasted a stamp! PS Courtney's facebook profile photo, below, is classic! This is the facebook profile photo of the treasurer of the campaign attacking Qualls, Young, Simpson, Quinlivan and me! I can see why we might not agree on some issues! EDIT: I erased the photo on here. You can see it on his facebook page This is the woman sending out the false info about the streetcar
October 9, 201311 yr Laketa Cole called into the Lincoln Ware show today and said "Black people do not like the streetcar. It barely goes 3 miles and doesn't go into our hoods" There aren't any black people in OTR and Downtown?
October 9, 201311 yr Not sure if I've posted this here, but someone named Gordon Werner is documenting the construction of Seattle's First Hill Streetcar in photos. You should check them out, because it's very similar to what we'll be seeing in Cincinnati when the rail arrives next week: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordonwerner/
October 9, 201311 yr There aren't any black people in OTR and Downtown? Well, downtown the vast majority of those who live there are white, but in OTR... :drunk: "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." - Warren Buffett
October 9, 201311 yr The streetcar is just the most politically palatable first step to a massive upgrade of the city's transit network. Anyone of any race who uses public transit should be cheering it on wholeheartedly. That message should be shouted from the seven hills. Or campaign mailers. Does Cranley even support things like Complete Streets in concept? Or is magically lowering bus fares his only plan to help transit riders or non/light auto users?
October 9, 201311 yr it would be good for everyone on this board except the COAST lurkers to get out this weekend and knock on doors for pro-streetcar candidates. If you've never done this, you should. It is very well organized. You'll be given a list of thirty or so households on consecutive streets to visit in a three-hour period. Fifteen to twenty of them will be home. You will know the names of who lives there, their party registration and their ages. We all believe in what is happening in the core of our city, but a lot of Cincinnatians don't. Not that they necessarily oppose it. Many simply don't know what's going on, or if they do, how all of this big picture fits together. Reading natininja comment above, that's exactly the discussion you can engage them in. You'll learn a lot about parts of the city you may never go. Four Saturdays and Sundays remain before the election. You can type about it between now and then, or you can do something about it. The active members of this board could easily visit 1,000 Cincinnati homes this weekend. And if you really got into and got your friends and family into it, as many as 10,000 homes before the election. Getting a small fraction of those residents to understand why we are building a streetcar could be decisive in an election where only 60,000 people may vote. No single group in Cincinnati is more capable of telling the Cincinnati Streetcar's story than this page of UrbanOhio. Think about it.
October 10, 201311 yr ^great idea, but I'm going to be out of town a lot this month. Where's the best place to donate money? Qualls' campaign? Cincinnatians For Progress? The campaigns of council candidates?
October 10, 201311 yr ^great idea, but I'm going to be out of town a lot this month? Where's the best place to donate money? Qualls' campaign? Cincinnatians For Progress? The campaigns of council candidates? Contribute to Cincinnatians for Progress, which will be spending the dispel the myths, as it always has. Really, this time, make a stretch contribution. And then some. Leave it all on the floor. There won't be another chance.
October 10, 201311 yr White and Orange Noise Mayoral and council candidates who say they’ll shut down the streetcar ignore the realities facing the project "In other words, after accounting for lost federal grant money, the city could be on the hook for an extra $29 million if it cancels the project over completing it. " http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-28786-white_%28and_orange%29_noise.html Outstanding piece of writing by German Lopez. He let a pure list of the facts make the argument for him. If this sort of writing appeared regularly in The Enquirer, obstructionism wouldn't be an effective political strategy in Cincinnati.
October 10, 201311 yr What John said is so important ladies & gentlemen. It can't be overstated. Everyone on this board actually has an opportunity to make a difference in this election and maybe change the course of history. Right now, we have the ability to ensure that rail is brought to this city and the region. Please email [email protected] to get involved now. Please head to www.cincy4progress.org and donate a stretch donation as John said. Again WE have to opportunity to positively alter the course of history!
October 10, 201311 yr Early voting has been 'anemic' avoiding to the Enquirer http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20131010/NEWS0106/310100042/So-far-early-voting-turnout-anemic- This favors john Cranley since his base is extremely angry (not saying Qualls doesn't but we saw how the primary went) We have got to stay canvassing the neighborhoods like John said. This election is going to be tight. While it's conceivable that Cranley and smitherman cannot stop phase 1A, they will destroy it slowly to make it as unsuccessful as they can while killing the uptown phase and stopping any chance of rail in the future. My opinion is that This city's momentum would be grinded to a halt if we let the Westside, smithereens, GOP and tea party have their way with their candidates smitherman, Cranley, murray, Wegman, winburn
October 10, 201311 yr could someone list again those candidates for and against the streetcar? I can't find it anywhere...
October 10, 201311 yr ^great idea, but I'm going to be out of town a lot this month? Where's the best place to donate money? Qualls' campaign? Cincinnatians For Progress? The campaigns of council candidates? Contribute to Cincinnatians for Progress, which will be spending the dispel the myths, as it always has. Really, this time, make a stretch contribution. And then some. Leave it all on the floor. There won't be another chance. Done. Thank you. Here's the link, for those interested: http://www.cincy4progress.org/
October 10, 201311 yr I wish I voted in Cincinnati. Alas, I do not. Then give money, here: http://www.cincy4progress.org/
October 10, 201311 yr could someone list again those candidates for and against the streetcar? I can't find it anywhere... CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL (elect nine): Supporting the streetcar: Chris Seelbach (I) Yvette Simpson (I) Laure Quinlivan (I) Wendell Young (I) Shawn Butler Michelle Dillingham Kevin Johnson Greg Landsman Mike Moroski Opposing the streetcar: PG Sittenfeld (I) Christopher Smitherman (I) Pamela Thomas (I)* Charlie Winburn (I) Angela Beamon Kevin Flynn David Mann Amy Murray Melissa Wegman Vanessa White "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 10, 201311 yr could someone list again those candidates for and against the streetcar? I can't find it anywhere... CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL (elect nine): Supporting the streetcar: Chris Seelbach (I) Yvette Simpson (I) Laure Quinlivan (I) Wendell Young (I) Shawn Butler Michelle Dillingham Kevin Johnson Greg Landsman Mike Moroski Opposing the streetcar: PG Sittenfeld (I) Christopher Smitherman (I) Pamela Thomas (I)* Charlie Winburn (I) Angela Beamon Kevin Flynn David Mann Amy Murray Melissa Wegman Vanessa White Thanks! Now just need to figure out who to vote for for CPS BOE...
October 10, 201311 yr CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL (elect nine): Supporting the streetcar: Chris Seelbach (I) Yvette Simpson (I) Laure Quinlivan (I) Wendell Young (I) Shawn Butler Michelle Dillingham Kevin Johnson Greg Landsman Mike Moroski Opposing the streetcar: PG Sittenfeld (I) Christopher Smitherman (I) Pamela Thomas (I)* Charlie Winburn (I) Angela Beamon Kevin Flynn David Mann Amy Murray Melissa Wegman Vanessa White Here is my predictions of the likelihood of non-incumbents winning. (s) stands for streetcar supporter. Also, don't assume all streetcar incumbents are safe. People with virtually 0 chance of winning: Shawn Butler (s) Kevin Johnson (s) Angela Beamon Melissa Wegman Timothy Dornbusch Sam Malone People with a chance to win in a major upset: Michelle Dillingham (s) Mike Moroski (s) Vanessa White Most competitive non-incumbents: Greg Landsman (s) David Mann Amy Murray Kevin Flynn
October 10, 201311 yr Author Someone mentioned the demographics along the streetcar line earlier. For Phase 1: White: 41.4% Black 51.7% Other 7.2% City Overall: White: 49.3% Black 44.8% Other 5.9%
October 10, 201311 yr CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR: Supporting the streetcar: Roxanne Qualls - says it's essential to extend streetcar to Uptown Opposing the streetcar: John Cranley - promises to stop construction of the streetcar CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL (elect nine): Supporting the streetcar: Chris Seelbach Yvette Simpson Greg Landsman - wants to lead effort to build streetcar to Uptown Laure Quinlivan Wendell Young Michelle Dillingham Shawn Butler Mike Moroski Kevin Johnson - says streetcar project is too far along to cancel Opposing the streetcar: Amy Murray - says "streetcar project is a mess" and will vote to stop the construction David Mann - wants to see if Cincinnati can break the streetcar construction contract Kevin Flynn - says the streetcar project "must be terminated" Melissa Wegman Vanessa White Angela Beamon - says the streetcar "has robbed our neighborhoods" Christopher Smitherman Charlie Winburn PG Sittenfeld
October 10, 201311 yr Fishwarp Chat with John Deatrick about the streetcar noon Monday, 10/14 http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2013/10/10/get-your-streetcar-questions-answered/
October 11, 201311 yr Kevin Flynn comes out swinging against the streetcar http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2013/10/11/city-is-doing-fine-without-streetcar/ Sometimes I think these people don't realize it is being currently built. Rail is going on next week.
October 11, 201311 yr Crazy. Has everyone early voted already? You should early vote so that you can spend some time volunteering on election day for a pro-streetcar candidate.
October 11, 201311 yr With the ballot language changing, I'm not so sure early voting is a good idea. When did the streetcar operating budget triple? When the uptown leg quadrupled?
October 11, 201311 yr Why is he lying about the budget? And maybe 3.6 is not quite 3.9 (I seem to remember there was a portion south of 2nd Street in the studied route), but it's sure as hell a lot closer than what he said -- that the Uptown connection was part of the study. He wouldn't even admit to getting that wrong, but he bothered to pen a letter. I might write a rebuttal later and see if it gets published. I encourage others to do this, too. This politician's already lying, and he hasn't held an office yet.
October 11, 201311 yr ^It's also possible that he is just woefully uninformed, which may actually be scarier.
October 11, 201311 yr Why is he lying about the budget? And maybe 3.6 is not quite 3.9 (I seem to remember there was a portion south of 2nd Street in the studied route), but it's sure as hell a lot closer than what he said -- that the Uptown connection was part of the study. He wouldn't even admit to getting that wrong, but he bothered to pen a letter. I might write a rebuttal later and see if it gets published. I encourage others to do this, too. This politician's already lying, and he hasn't held an office yet. So here's the story: * When the streetcar was going to McMicken, the line was 3.9 miles * Once we identified the maintenance site that's a (long) block south of McMicken, we cut the line back a block on Elm and a block on Race. * It was Roxanne Qualls, after the 2007 study was complete, who insisted that the streetcar go to Uptown in the first phase. * John Cranley withdrew his support after Qualls called for the extension to Uptown. * City got the money to get to Uptown from the Strickland Administaration. * Kasich Administation took the Uptown money away. * So now we're back to where we were in 2007, a totally viable first-phase streetcar route which returns almost three times what it cost to build. Prior to the time Kevin Flynn bothered to read the 2007 study over the past few days, it's pretty clear that he believed the success of the Cincinnati Streetcar was dependent upon its getting to Uptown. Kinda sad, really.
October 11, 201311 yr Where is he getting the tripled operating expenses? that sounds Luken/Cranleyesque.
October 11, 201311 yr This very brief article, currently on the front page of Cincinnati.com, mentions track installation. Wonder if the Enquirer will now stop reffering to the project as the "proposed Cincinnati streetcar"... Elm Street closure planned for Streetcar work From today: "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 11, 201311 yr Will the Enquirer produce a stripped-down giveaway paper for streetcar passengers like the Washington Post does for Metro riders?
October 11, 201311 yr Apparently some people are questioning whether Landsman is, in fact, a supporter of the project. He is not saying that he'd cancel it -- in fact, he says it should be extended to Uptown -- but he told the Enquirer that he would have voted against the recent $17m. Here is an editorial he wrote for UrbanCincy on the topic: http://www.urbancincy.com/2013/08/greg-landsman-riding-the-cincinnati-streetcar-to-success/ So, read what he wrote and decide for yourself whether or not he's a supporter. I'd still rather have Landsman than Sittenfeld on council when it comes to this issue.
October 11, 201311 yr Apparently some people are questioning whether Landsman is, in fact, a supporter of the project. He is not saying that he'd cancel it -- in fact, he says it should be extended to Uptown -- but he told the Enquirer that he would have voted against the recent $17m. Here is an editorial he wrote for UrbanCincy on the topic: http://www.urbancincy.com/2013/08/greg-landsman-riding-the-cincinnati-streetcar-to-success/ So, read what he wrote and decide for yourself whether or not he's a supporter. I'd still rather have Landsman than Sittenfeld on council when it comes to this issue. I sent in my absentee ballot a few days ago and Landsman got my vote over Sittenfeld.
October 12, 201311 yr I've gone back and forth on this issue. I think that it's a good thing to have some pragmatists who acknowledge the streetcar is going to happen and are committed to making it work. Unlike Murray, Mann, and Flynn (the other strongly competitive challengers), Landsman seems like he wants to do the responsible thing and see it succeed. It might require some elected leaders like that to get the opponents on board or help bring us in the PR battle. I've got 9 votes, Landsman is getting one of them.
October 12, 201311 yr I've gone back and forth on this issue. I think that it's a good thing to have some pragmatists who acknowledge the streetcar is going to happen and are committed to making it work. Unlike Murray, Mann, and Flynn (the other strongly competitive challengers), Landsman seems like he wants to do the responsible thing and see it succeed. It might require some elected leaders like that to get the opponents on board or help bring us in the PR battle. I've got 9 votes, Landsman is getting one of them. Seems like all your posts are about Landsman, pushing this exact point. Hmm....
Create an account or sign in to comment