Blog — Vote No on Issue 9 |
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Anti-Progress Charter Amendment Would Create Cleveland-Sharonville High Speed Rail LineAccording to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Governor Ted Strickland is in DC today lobbying Federal officials to contribute $400 Million to build a high-speed passenger rail from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Remember that President Obama earlier named Cincinnati as one part of his top 10 high speed rail priorities.As County Commissioner David Pepper has said, President Obama's High Speed Rail plan would become the"Cleveland to Sharonville connector if this thing passes," Pepper said. Why? Because no matter the amount of federal and state investment, this project will require some local funding to maintain and operate the line. Pepper continued at his blog: "...as transportation planners at the state and federal level make major decisions about where to invest money, and choose among different priorities and competing regions, such an anti-rail poison pill in the City charter would clearly put our entire region at the bottom of the totem pole." The folks pushing the Anti-Progress Charter Amendment want you to believe that it is a referendum on the streetcar. Not true. As County Commissioner Todd Portune recently said, "Its supporters say its just about streetcars, but the language covers much more than that and will put the voters of Cincinnati in the middle of virtually every countrywide development that has a transit element of any kind," Portune said. When Cincinnati is competing with municipalities across the nation for critical infrastructure, this Anti-Progress Charter Amendment will put our City at a competititve disadvantage. This funding will go to other cities, not Cincinnati. To see President Obama's high speed rail plan actually be implemented in Cincinnati, we need to vote down the Anti-Progress Charter Amendment.
posted by Cincinnatians For Progress at
2:08 PM
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