Dohoney: Streetcar Has $17.4 Million Shortfall, "Needs More Funding"" (Cincinnati: how much, income tax)

[kjbrill]

> I mean, people are PISSED OFF about this. It's impossible to get good things done in this town when the media literally does not understand the extent to which they are being played by these stooges.

What I don't understand is why the media should have such a say in it. As you said before, the streetcar should be up and running by now. So what is the problem. The people have spoken at the ballot box - twice. So why does not council have the gumption to go ahead and sign the orders to build the thing? This what I do not understand. How many people pay attention to talk radio or the Enquirer to begin with?

That is my only complaint. I will reserve my final opinion on the benefits of the streetcar until after it gets built. But the past two years have made Cincinnati look like it has a group of inept imbicles in charge.

[abr7rmj]

Kjbrill is right on the money on this. Talk radio's influence is negligible, at best, while what remains of the Enquirer loses more credibility by the day.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by abr7rmj

Kjbrill is right on the money on this. Talk radio's influence is negligible, at best, while what remains of the Enquirer loses more credibility by the day.

\\

Thank you. Somtime even if we do not see eye to eye, there has to be a declaration fix this stupid thing!

[natininja]

The media has a large say in everything political in a democracy. This is why the founding fathers addressed the press in the Constitution.

You've charged the mayoral administration with not doing a good job of making their case for the streetcar, but you fail to recognize the media plays a central role in the administration's ability to communicate. For such a "controversial" issue (which has in fact been settled on numerous occasions), they choose to trump up the continued controversy, rather than delving into what it might mean to have a streetcar, and details about the plan. They farm dubious quotes from people who make it their life's goal to roadblock this project as much as possible, and never seem to research the plethora of documents made available on the city's webpage which actually have thoroughly researched facts and data.

"How many people pay attention to talk radio or the Enquirer to begin with?"
Anyone who wishes to make informed decisions in the ballot box needs to get their information from somewhere. Even if it comes indirectly from these sources, these (plus the TV stations) are just about the only sources to receive information about issues such as the streetcar. Again, this is why the founding fathers included the press in the U.S. Constitution. The role and influence of the press is real and fundamental and I honestly don't understand why you trivialize it.

[natininja]

Originally Posted by abr7rmj

Kjbrill is right on the money on this. Talk radio's influence is negligible, at best, while what remains of the Enquirer loses more credibility by the day.

Where do you suppose people are getting their information? It's still a small minority going to blogs and social media for news, and even still blogs/social media are 1) heavily biased by design, and 2) more supplemental than primary. People have to be informed by something to make informed decisions. And, like it or not, it is still traditional media that serves this role for the vast majority.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

...That is my only complaint. I will reserve my final opinion on the benefits of the streetcar until after it gets built. But the past two years have made Cincinnati look like it has a group of inept imbicles in charge.

Lest anyone forget, let's add how Kasich sabotaged Cincinnati's original "Uptown" streetcar ambitions...

Without doubt, this treacherous governor and his Columbus cronies sabotaged our city's vital rail connection to both its hospital-district and UC student-body. And lest anyone forget, this Republican governor and his political pals also dealt Cincinnati's primarily Democratic city-council and its popular Democratic mayor one devastating sucker-punch from which neither have fully recovered. ($52-million Ohio tax-dollars sent elsewhere, Cincinnati's best streetcar plans trashed, and Mark Mallory's political career sullied)

[bertwrench]

Originally Posted by motorman

($52-million Ohio tax-dollars sent elsewhere, Cincinnati's best streetcar plans trashed, and Mark Mallory's political career sullied)

So are you saying there was Ohio tax dollars as well as federal money that were diverted from this project? I remember seeing federal money being diverted/declined by the governor (which given our national debt I agree with on some level) but not state funding as well.

[unusualfire]

Yes it was state money and not only that. He got a state representative that is not even from the Cincinnati district to ban state funding for this project.

[natininja]

Originally Posted by bertwrench

So are you saying there was Ohio tax dollars as well as federal money that were diverted from this project? I remember seeing federal money being diverted/declined by the governor (which given our national debt I agree with on some level) but not state funding as well.

Are you thinking of the 3C rail line? That's totally different from the streetcar.

The streetcar was the state's top-ranked transportation project, according to the "non-partisan" TRAC board, which determines where state transportation money goes. It had been set to get $52 million in state funds. The Kasich administration proceeded to change the project ranking criteria specifically to take the top-ranked project off the list entirely. Keep in mind, the TRAC board was created in order to remove partisanship from these decisions. One of the projects which ended up receiving money instead was bus service in Kasich's home district.

There’s a New Sheriff at Ohio DOT, and He Likes Asphalt | Streetsblog.net
Cincinnati region, transit projects take overwhelming brunt of recommended transportation cuts — UrbanCincy

It's also worth noting Kasich's head of ODOT was an asphalt industry lobbyist between his stints at the top of ODOT.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by bertwrench

So are you saying there was Ohio tax dollars as well as federal money that were diverted from this project? I remember seeing federal money being diverted/declined by the governor (which given our national debt I agree with on some level) but not state funding as well.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure which was which, but I do know that Kasich withholding that $52-million funding sent the city back to the drawing-board--and what emerged was a terribly reduced streetcar plan that sent city-council into the disastrous tail-spin from which they've never fully recovered (nor have we).