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Thursday, August 20, 2009
Downtown Residents Council Adopts Opposition to Anti Rail Charter AmendmentBelow is their statement of opposition adopted on Aug. 11thDOWNTOWN RESIDENTS COUNCIL RESPONSE AND STATEMENT ON THE PROPOSED PASSENGER RAIL CHARTER AMENDMENT: THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT READS: AN AMENDMENT TO THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF CINCINNATI TO PREVENT THE EXPENDITURE OF MONIES BY THE CITY FOR RIGHT-OF-WAY ACQUISITION OR CONSTRUCTION OF IMPROVEMENTS FOR PASSENGER RAIL TRANSPORTATION (e.g., a trolley or streetcar) WITHOUT FIRST SUBMITTING THE SAME TO A VOTE OF THE ELECTORATE AND RECEIVING A MAJORITY AFFIRMATIVE VOTE FOR THE SAME. The Downtown Residents Council (DRC) membership is opposed to the proposed charter amendment concerning acquisition and funding of rail projects in the city. The wording of the proposed amendment is overly broad and precludes the city from taking full advantage of future opportunities for growth and development. This amendment requires that any rail project first be subject to a general vote by the citizens of Cincinnati. This delays projects and increases costs associated with inflation and electioneering. Even projects that do not have tax increases attached to them would require a vote under this referendum. We urge our members and the public at large to vote against this change to the City's charter if it should appear on the ballot in the next or future elections. The following is a list of reasons the DRC has come to this decision. 1. The language of the Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment clearly indicates it applies to all passenger rail, as the amendment references construction of improvements for passenger rail transportation. 2. The first project that will be affected by the Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment will most likely not be the Streetcar - it will be the proposed Inter-City Rail connecting Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. 3. The intent of the Amendment is to stop all passenger rail. The Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment was written by a member of COAST and is strongly supported by COAST—an organization with a history of opposing passenger rail. Their website lists one of their most notable accomplishments as: joined a coalition called ALRT to defeat a 1 ¢ sales tax increase for a light rail transit system. 4. Projects that have no associated tax increase will require a citywide vote. The Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment includes the following phrase: The City, and its various Boards and Commissions, may not spend any monies for right of- way acquisition. Streetcars run in existing rights of way. The Cincinnati Streetcar would not require any right of way acquisition so if this amendment were truly about streetcars, that phrase would be extraneous. By placing the bold phrase above in the amendment, the author of the Amendmentis clearly trying to prevent any long-range preservation of corridors for light rail or expansion of passenger rail.
posted by Cincinnatians For Progress at
10:55 AM
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