from CityBeat's election insert, provided by the Cincinnati League of Women Voters. emphasis is my own.
ISSUE 9:
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT
CITY OF CINCINNATI
A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.
Shall the Charter of the City of Cincinnati be amended to
prohibit the city, and its various boards and commissions,
from spending any monies for right-of-way acquisition or construction of improvements for
passenger rail transportation (e.g. a trolley or streetcar) within the city limits without
first submitting the question of approval of such expenditure
to a vote of the electorate of the city and receiving a majority affirmative vote for the same, by enacting new Article XIV?
EXPLANATION: The proposed ballot issue would amend the Charter of the City of Cincinnati by adding Article XIV. The new article would require the approval of City voters before the City or any of its Boards and Commissions could spend money for right-of-way acquisition or construction of improvements for any passenger rail transportation,
including but not limited to streetcars.
The proposed Charter amendment was placed on the ballot through an initiative petition process that gathered sufficient qualified signatures requiring City Council to place the issue on the November 2009 ballot.
What the amendment would do: The new Charter article would require the City to hold an election for the purpose of asking voter approval before the City could spend any monies on acquisition of right-of-ways or construction of improvements for any passenger rail transportation projects within the City of Cincinnati. "Trolley or streetcar" is provided in the amendment as an example of passenger rail transportation.
The amendment would affect all current and future passenger rail transportation including proposals for rail transit in the Eastern Corridor and passenger rail service connecting major Ohio and mid-west cities and any other passenger rail projects planned for the future which involve any city spending.
BACKGROUND: The amendment is on the ballot because sufficient signatures were collected in a petition effort in response to a Cincinnati Streetcar Proposal now being considered by the City. According to petitioners, a Charter Amendment is an effective means to require a vote of the electorate before money is spent on such projects. The proposed Charter Amendment requiring a vote of approval for purchase of right of way or construction of improvements would apply to any passenger rail transportation within the City (streetcar or trolley used as an example). This requirement would affect current planning for and eventual construction for
passenger rail service connecting Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, and Cincinnati and eastern suburb.
SUPPORTERS SAY:
- This Charter Amendment would assure a public vote on passenger rail transportation including a streetcar before City funds are spent for right of way or construction.
- Voters should have a say about passenger rail projects which are usually expensive and long-term investments.
- A charter amendment is an appropriate means for citizens to exercise their right to petition their government.
- Voting on rail transit projects would force city government to be transparent in its funding and long range planning.
- The proposed streetcar route under discussion is the wrong plan.
OPPONENTS SAY:
- This amendment should not be in the charter because it is too specific and restricts a particular aspect of City Council's legislative authority and responsibility related to passenger rail service in the city.
- This amendment would effectively prohibit the City from planning rail transit projects because the project may be denied by a vote of the electorate and the expenditures in planning could not be recovered.
- This amendment will delay the City from accessing state and federal transportation dollars if every passenger rail project has to wait for voter approval.
- This amendment would restrict passenger rail transit as an option for our City unless voters approve each project.
- Requiring voters' approval before spending money on passenger rail transit would result in excessive delays in the development and implementation of an adequate transportation system for our City and limit transportation options that are part of local, state and national long range plans.
your humble blogger's response:
i'm all for democracy. representative democracy, that is. in city council elections, i vote for the individual who will best represent my needs and opinions to the city government. i don't need a referendum every time city government decides to embark on "expensive and long-term investments." i myself am not qualified to approve or disapprove a budget for such a project, as such planning is well outside the scope of my own experience. i'm not stupid, and nor is the electorate of the city of cincinnati, but the purpose of the city's government is to plan and implement projects that will ultimately benefit the city at large. long-term, big money projects are exactly the kinds of things for which representative democracy was designed.
while the streetcar system may be the "wrong plan," (even though it's not) issue 9 would not be limited to building inefficiencies into the planning process for the streetcar alone. special interests looking for a slice of the budgeting pie would rally against ANY kind of rail to preserve city funds for their causes, regardless of what is ultimately best for the city and our region. we'd get bogged down in a city-wide vote every time passenger rail was on the council's agenda, and with the inevitable campaigning and the funding necessary to present a plan to the public, we'd create a bloated mess of a process.
consider the source. the folks who are seeking to pass issue 9 are firmly anti-streetcar. they're not truthfully interested in increasing the public voice in local government - they want to buy some time to block the streetcar initiative. why they're also interested in slowing the planning process for national rail projects is beyond me.
so, vote a big nein on nine, folks. unless you really don't want the economic improvement that comes with streetcars (portland), regional high-speed transit (atlanta's marta system), or national rapid transit networks (germany). think about it.
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