Frank Genadio wrote:
Elevated rail is the right solution; however, steel wheels on steel rails is not.
COLUMBUS, Ohio
"Pro rail, anti-rail supporters rail at each other over whether rail issue ballot good or bad" October 30, 2009
"The one vote next Tuesday that would slow down the pace of an already very slow train that Ohio rail officials want to run between Cincinnati and Cleveland and pay for with more than a half-billion dollars in federal rail funding would be for Issue 9 -- the controversial plan on the ballot in Cincinnati next week that would prohibit any rail transportation from entering the city unless approved by a public vote -- to be approved by Cincinnati voters on Election Day.
If the controversial measure passes, it would throw a rather large monkey wrench into the plans of Ohio rail bosses, whose current plan is to have the 3-C corridor train end its six and one-half hour run from Cleveland by Lake Erie in northeast Ohio at Lumpkin Field, a little used facility in eastern Cincinnati. Such a vote would move the end of the line out of Cincinnati, northward to Sharonville, a Hamilton County suburb.
With only three days left until Election Day, the dust up that's been brewing in Cincinnati between pro progress supporters, who say voting Yes on 9 will result in red tape, job loss and a bad attitude going forward, and Issue 9 supporters, who say the city has its priorities mixed up and that a public vote is needed to keep the city on track for good decision making, is just getting dustier.
An example of the community friction that's flaring over a proposal to pursue building a streetcar system, that supporters say will spur economic development and keep Cincinnati progressing but critics say could cost as much as $185 million at a time when Cincinnati's city budget is starring at deficits and reducing staff to make ends meet.
Other YOUTUBE spots use humor to play on the sales pitch that voting No on 9 is will keep good governance in tact. Supporters of Issue 9 say special interests have gotten to these elected leaders, convincing them to spend tens of millions on a streetcar system they say would bust the bank, be spent on other more important projects and reduce riders of the bus system:
While another spot zeroes in on the campaign talking point that Issue 9 is intentionally worded vague, so people will be mislead into voting Yes on 9. A pro-progress group fact sheet points to a statement by the conservative hometown newspaper, The Cincinnati Enquirer, that called the wording "...a classic example of lawyerly weasel-wording” and “deceptive in its language and intent.”
"We don't want California-style government in Cincinnati." Pro anti-rail supporters say a vote of the public is good for democracy.
For Gov. Ted Strickland, who along with his director of transportation has been pushing plowing over 500 million dollars into a train that will only average 39 mph on a trip from Cincinnati to Cleveland that will last six and one-half hours, the drop in his approval ratings could bleed over into the support state officials say Ohioans have for this passenger train
But greater transportation choices are here, if she would pursue them instead of pursuing old, slow trains whose very slowness will not attract riders and should not be allowed to chug into Ohio's future."
"So while this dust up in the Queen City will rub some nerves raw, the larger issue on Ohio's plans for re-establishing passenger rail is not about whether passenger trains should return or not but about the kind of train technology being considered."
http://www.examiner.com/x-23537-Columbus-Gove...
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