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News Politics

It’s Election Day: Get Out There and Vote!

Urbanist Candidates ForumVoting and participating in the democratic process is a fundamental element of our democracy.

This is your chance as a citizen to vote for those people you would like to represent you on Cincinnati City Council and the Cincinnati Board of Education. These are the people that will decide how to spend your tax dollars. These are the people that will chart the course for the city. These are the people that will decide how to represent you to others around the country and world.

This is important.

There are many significant issues on today’s ballot. Issue 1 is asking voters to renew a tax levy for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. Issue 2 is requesting a tax levy renewal to provide maintenance funds for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens. And Issue 4 is seeking to majorly overhaul how the City of Cincinnati manages its pension system.

These are important issues.

In terms of representatives, voters in Cincinnati will elect a new mayor for the first time in eight years. They will also elect nine council members who, for the first time, will serve four-year terms.

These decisions are important.

As a result of continued state funding cuts for local governments, a wide array of school levies and other tax levies are on the ballot in communities across the region. Will these resources receive the funding they need, or will they experience trickle-down cuts from the state level?

That is an important question to answer.

There are 381 polling locations (find your voting location) serving Hamilton County’s 545 precincts, and each location is open today from 6:30am to 7:30pm.

Many experts believe that the turnout for today’s election will be less than 40% of registered voters. This and all elections are important. Make sure you get out there today and vote for the candidates you feel will best represent you, and support the issues you feel are important and add value to our community. It is your right and privilege as a citizen to do so. Vote.

Categories
News Politics

Council Candidates Talk Urbanism at Forum

This past Wednesday we collaborated with the Niehoff Studio to host our first Urbanists Council Candidates Forum. The event drew a large group of young professionals and university students as 10 City Council candidates answered several questions about urban design, immigration, transportation and land use policy.

The first question outside of general introductions involved the candidates stance on immigration and what the city could do to attract new populations. These issues had been discussed before in our podcast on immigration. In general the candidates deferred to national policy including the immigration however some candidates pushed for an effort to increase bilingual signage.

The second question asked candidates about updating the regional mass transit plan. The plan, commonly known as MetroMoves, went to a vote in 2002 for funding through a sales tax increase. The tax failed that year and plans moved forward for the streetcar portion of the plan since the tax was widely supported within the city limits.


Video by Andrew Stalhke for UrbanCincy and Niehoff Urban Studio.

Candidates took the opportunity to use the question to elaborate on their positions regarding the streetcar. Candidate Greg Landsman (D)  reiterated his views on the streetcar from the op-ed published on UrbanCincy a few months ago, and mentioned that both an extension of the streetcar and the implementation of a regional transit system will require support from the private sector. P.G. Sittenfeld (D) said he would support a larger plan than the current system being constructed.

Candidate Melissa Wegman (R) responded by calling for more road connections to the west side and better highways. Councilmember Laure Quinlivan (D), meanwhile, called for the development of a comprehensive multi-modal system that includes more bicycle infrastructure.

The remaining candidates were asked about upgrading Union Terminal for inter-city passenger rail service. Councilman Wendell Young (D) provided a very in-depth response citing the conditions of the terminal and the freight companies that would need to be engaged in the discussion.

Three audience members also asked questions ranging from metro government, public safety to developing a sense of community.

Attendees said they came away feeling more informed about making decisions about candidates.

“I’m encouraged that public transportation has become a pivotal point for a lot of the candidates and I am encouraged by a lot of their answers,” AJ Knee, a UC student pursuing his Masters Degree with the School of Planning told UrbanCincy, “It was very helpful to have this kind of community engagement.”

It has long been a priority of UrbanCincy to better engage young people in the public policy discussions affecting their future. The large, predominately young turnout in Corryville is evidence that young people are becoming increasingly involved. For the 10 candidates that participated in our first Urbanist Council Candidates Forum last week, let’s hope your message resonated with those young urbanist voters.

Categories
Up To Speed

Brent Spence Bridge on the outside looking in as Tappan Zee Bridge replacement gets $1.6B DOT loan

Brent Spence Bridge on the outside looking in as Tappan Zee Bridge replacement gets $1.6B DOT loan.

Originally built during the Korean War, the Tappan Zee Bridge is in need of replacement. The structure is old and requires a number of upgrades – much like Cincinnati’s Brent Spence Bridge. The State of New York was in need of financial assistance to get the $4 billion project moving (sound familiar?). That assistance came last week when the Federal Government announced a $1.6 billion loan for the project, thus ensuring its completion within five years. More from Engineering News Record:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) made the announcement Oct. 31, calling it “the largest loan the U.S. Dept. of Transportation has ever made for any project like this.”

The loan was made through the DOT’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program. Established in 1998, TIFIA has ramped up its lending recently, spurred by last year’s Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). The DOT also began taking steps earlier this year to speed up the TIFIA loan approval process.

Categories
Business Development News Transportation

PHOTOS: All Aboard Ohio Visits Cincinnati to View Streetcar Construction Progress

On October 26, rail transportation advocacy group All Aboard Ohio hosted their fall meeting in Cincinnati. Members came from across the state, and other states including West Virginia and Iowa, to see how the construction of the Cincinnati Streetcar is progressing.

Members were able to ask questions of Paul Grether, Metro’s Director of Rail Operations, who was leading the walking tour. Grether answered many technical questions relating to the streetcar’s rail gauge, power system and the light rail vehicles. He also addressed many of the urban legends that still surround the project — yes, our streetcars will be capable of climbing the steep Vine Street hill.

Streetcar advocate John Schneider also gave a presentation on the history of the project and the many political hurdles supporters have had to overcome. He explained one of his most effective methods of promoting the project: taking skeptics to visit one of the modern streetcar systems currently operating in the United States.

Schneider went on to say that a number of local leaders, including former Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis (R), became supporters of the project after seeing the benefits of modern streetcars in person.

Late October was a good time for the group to visit, as construction was highly visible around Over-the-Rhine.

On Elm Street, various phases of work stretched approximately one half mile, from 12th Street to Elder Street. The first rail was installed near Washington Park on October 16, and crews started pouring concrete and shaping the track bed on October 25. Utility work is also taking place on Race and 12th streets in advance of track work.

The project is on schedule, and track work on Elm Street (from 12th Street to Henry Street) is expected to be completed by January 9, 2014.

All photos by Travis Estell for UrbanCincy. Click any photo to view larger size.

Categories
News Opinion

GUEST EDITORIAL: Absence of Language Programs Will Be Felt Across Cincinnati

On November 5, constituents in the Oak Hills Local School District will make a very significant choice: To pass or kill an emergency levy (Issue 20). This decision will impact the well-being of not only the school, but of the future of Cincinnati’s economy.

I make this claim due to the threat to the district’s German program. The Lakota School district has already quietly killed their language program, and now Oak Hills’ is under fire.

Oak Hills’ German program is the second largest in the region and strong in college placement. Students routinely advance to 200-level courses upon entering college and shine amongst other German programs in the city, achieving first place three years running at UC’s German Day language competition. Should Issue 20 fail, Oak Hills will remove German from Delhi and Rapid Run Middle Schools and one of the three remaining German instructors at Oak Hills High School.

Oak Hills High School
Oak Hills High School is one of the largest in Ohio, but the district’s German language program, the second largest in the region, may be at risk. Image courtesy of Google Maps.

Why does German matter? As you probably know, Cincinnati has a strong German heritage. What you may not know is that Germany’s influence remains not only in our last names, our festivals, and the foods we eat, but is strongly represented in our business sector with over 100 German-owned companies in Cincinnati.

This translates to local jobs in industries like engineering, banking, chemistry, and medicine. Many of our leading local businesses, including P&G and General Electric, have global offices in German-speaking regions because they are some of the strongest centers of innovation and economic power in Europe.

By removing German from our middle schools and high schools, we deprive our future business leaders of exposure to a key foreign language when they are developmentally most inclined to learn a second language. We deprive them of the ability to navigate through cultural differences when dealing with their future colleagues. We deprive our city of the ability to maintain ties to the strongest economies in the European market, losing our ability to compete in regional and global market places.

Programs like Oak Hills’ are being cut all over the city. Remember that curricula are determined at the local level by voters like you. Whether you live in the Oak Hills School District or not, consider the significant impact of your vote when going to the ballots on November 5. Support your local language programs to provide our middle and high school students the tools they need to succeed and to foster the growth of Cincinnati.

Issue 20 by the Numbers:
Oak Hills School District has the third lowest total costs per pupil and administrative rates in Hamilton County at $9,166. This is $1,341 lower than the state average and $2,367 lower than the Hamilton County average.

It is the first time in 16 years that the school district has requested that voters decide on an increase in revenue for operations.

This $4.82 million operating levy translates into a $168.72 per year increase to homeowners on $100,000 of assessed property valuation.

Lisa Bambach is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning where she studied graphic design. She currently works as the Marketing and Creative Director of Cincideutsch, a local German language and culture organization. If you would like to submit a guest editorial of your own, please contact UrbanCincy at editors@urbancincy.com.