PepTalk

GE Makes Long-Term Commitment to Region

2009-11-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today, I was thrilled to take part in an announcement with the Governor, GE executives, the new President of UC, and others, about a long-term partnership that will keep GE Aircraft in our region. This is huge news for our entire community.

Outside the announcement, two helicopters for which GE makes engines, the Blackhawk and the Apache, were on display as part of a service for veterans.

Big Phone-a-Thon Tomorrow To Avert Foreclosures

2009-10-13T07:51:00.001-07:00

Now this will be a big phone-a-thon!

The Homeowneship Center and WCET will launch a phone-a-thon tomorrow to assist homeowners worried about the possibility of a foreclosure.

Beginning tomorrow morning, call 1-877-7BUZZUS (1-877-728-9987) if you need help preventing a foreclosure.

Rolling Up Our Sleeves: Productive Budget Work Sessions

2009-09-27T07:57:00.001-07:00

A lot of attention was paid to the three budget work sessions we had over the last 10 days, particularly on some of the worst case scenarios outlined and a few dramatic moments where tempers flared.

The real story, though, was in how much progress was made. Official after official came forward, and for the most part either said they could live within the proposed numbers--or pinpointed precisely those areas where help is needed to avoid a particularly dire result. And our administration is now hard at work to deal with those particular areas.

For example, it's safe to say that no commissioner wants to see jailspace reduced by one more bed, courtroom prosecutors laid off, the crime lab closed, or the clerk of courts website shut down, and we will all work together to avoid those and other consequences.

Starting this process early, and conducting the work sessions through public meetings, has brought out the best in so many of our County leaders, and outlined a path to complete what may be the most difficult budget in decades.

And yes, it also allows Commissioners to ask the tough questions--which is part of our job of representing the taxpayers come budget time, even if those questions might ruffle a few feathers.

The President's Labor Day Visit to Cincinnati

2009-09-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

Community Tour: Columbia Township

2009-08-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last night, we had another one of our monthly meetings in the community--this one was in Columbia Township.

These have turned out to be an incredibly helpful way to keep up with the many great communities in Hamilton County. Next stop, Sycamore Township.

Cycling Cincinnati -- Fountains of Youth

2009-08-24T10:29:00.001-07:00

Had a great day Saturday cycling about 14 miles, visiting different fountains around Cincinnati. Thanks to all those who made it happen, and those who took part.

Budgeting 101 -- You Can't Spend What You Don't Have

2009-08-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

It was an unfortunate week in Hamilton County. The courts are refusing to consider budget cuts for next year. And they and other departments continue to suggest the only thing we can do is raise the sales tax. There are two pretty straightforward responses:

Principle 1. The problem in our county, as it is across the country, is not that our tax rate is too low. It's that economy activity is severely depressed. A couple years ago, this county saw about $270M in revenues from our various revenue streams. With the same tax levels today, we're below $230M in revenues this year. Solving that problem means we need to do everything we can to spur economic growth, consumer confidence, job retention and creation, etc.--and we're doing everything in a tough environment to get that done. But especially at a time where we finally are seeing a potential break in the economy, raising the sales tax takes us in exactly the wrong direction.

Principle 2. We simply can't spend what we don't bring in. It's a concept every business and every family has to contend with every day--you can't spend money you're not bringing in. And it's a concept all levels of government, including this County and all of its departments, need to live within now more than ever. So if we're bringing in less, we have to spend less. No way around this simple concept.

You combine these two principles, and the path in front of us is pretty clear, if not easy. We have to do all we can to get our economy going again. And in the meantime, every part of this County has to get through this challenging time by living within our more narrow means--which means finding ways to do more with less, to be more frugal, to set and stick to priorities, to change bad habits, to eliminate waste, to cut back on anything but bare necessities, and even to make sacrifices we otherwise would not want to make if that's what gets our budget numbers in line.

All the press conferences, letters, and public statements in the world will not change this basic reality.

And look around--it's the same reality everyone else in this community is also grappling with, with far less fanfare and noise than government.

Three Important Levies at a Tough Time: A Difficult Balancing Act

2009-08-10T11:34:00.001-07:00

This week, the Commission has to decide how to "size" three important levies that are seeking renewal on the ballot this November. For many reasons, this has become a daunting task for all three of us.

To be very blunt: with what looks like five countywide levies on the ballot at a uniquely bad economic time—a time that our residents are enduring the tightest squeeze on their wallets in years (over 9% unemployment, foreclosures, lower take-home pay nationally, etc.)—I worry we are watching a ship steaming toward an iceberg.

Just Tuesday, 61% of school levies on the ballot failed in Ohio, including a renewal in Mt. Healthy. And our Countywide online survey showed very little appetite for new levies or higher levels of taxation for renewals at this time. If any one of the levies we are discussing now (MRDD, Familty Treatment and Services, Museum Center) were to suffer a similar fate as so many school districts last Tuesday, the consequences to critical services as well as the County budget would be dire. If more than one failed, even worse.

So today I proposed a plan that would allow us to support the three levies' renewal while being sensitive to the tough times our taxpayers are enduring. Indeed, even if all three were renewed, citizens would pay less in taxes next year for these levies than they do this year. So we are not asking citizens who are earning less to pay more.

There are strong feelings about each of these levies, and I am a supporter of all three and what they do. But in this difficult economic year, I believe the best way to "protect" them, and maximize their chance for renewal, is to ask for as little as possible from an already financially squeezed community.

For the details of the plan I proposed, link here.

For the Enquirer story on it, link here.

Survey Results: Feeling the Pinch, but with Some Optimism

2009-08-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

My August survey results showed some interesting results. Reflecting the national news, people have cut back on their own consumption, seen layoffs and other cutbacks in the workplace, but also seem confident that the worst of the recession is behind us--or almost behind us.

Here are the basics:

1. Economic Outlook: 59% think the recession has already "bottomed out" or is bottoming out now. 16% think there is no hope until 2010.

2. Workplace Cutbacks: respondents have experienced the following steps in their workplace: 54.8% - salary freezes/cuts; 51.9% - layoffs; benefit cuts - 19.2%; furloughs - 12.5%; four day weeks - 7.7%. 23% said they've seen no changes.

3. Spending: Families cut back in numerous areas of spending: 42.3% drastically cut back on travel (73% cut back by some amount); 37.4% drastically cut back on clothing (71.5%); 28.5% drastically cut back on eating out (76.5%); 28% drastically cut back on charitable giving (64.8%)

4. Measures to Deal w County Budget: very clear results on what citizens want to see County do to deal with its budget problem:
1) Consolidate/Share Services (75% positive-8% negative);
2) Invest in Economic Development (56.5% positive-21.8% negative);
3) Cut Spending To Match Reduced Revenues (including layoffs/furloughs) (46.3% positive-25.4% negative; 28.5% neutral);
4) Raise taxes to keep critical services going (16.3% positive-59.4% negative)

5. Levies on Ballot: facing five levies on the ballot, 50% would vote for 3 levies or fewer; 50% would vote for more than 4 or 5

6. Effect of Stimulus: Respondents were generally optimistic about the stimulus package: 27.6% say we're already starting to see the results, and 37% say we'll see the results soon.

County Launches "Recovery Zone" Financing Process

2009-08-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Hamilton County rolled out a new financing program to spur economic development and job creation within Hamilton County.

Working with the Hamilton County Development Company (HCDC), the County has launched a competitive process for private sector projects to access $22,947,000 in tax exempt financing via the Recovery Zone Facility Bonds (FZFBs) that were part of the national "stimulus" legislation.

This financing program is available to private and non-profit enterprises to access tax exempt financing for facility improvements and expansions. Hamilton County is one of the first counties in Ohio to develop criteria and establish a process for allocating the FZFBs.

The Commission will focus on projects that result in new jobs and sales tax growth in the county, among other criteria.

The first deadline for projects to submit applications will be in late August.

The bottom line, with this and other approaches: we're doing everything we can to get our economy moving again and create jobs. This new program should help push some important projects forward at this critical time, and will lead to millions of dollars invested in the local economy."

For information on the Recovery Zone Facility Bonds Program please contact the Hamilton County Development Company at (513) 631-8292 or visit their website at WWW.HCDC.COM.

Take the New Economic Survey

2009-08-03T07:53:00.001-07:00

The national and local economy are at a crossroads. Some good signs amid continued challenging times. What's your view? How has it affected you? Are you optimistic we've "bottomed out"? What would you do in my shoes to help spur recovery?

Let me know by taking my Summer Economy Survey by clicking here.

Sharing=$aving: Regional 911 System

2009-08-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

The Enquirer ran a long story this morning on an idea we're looking into that might save millions of dollars over time: merging the County and City 911 Emergency Systems.

Make no mistake, this is a big, complicated issue. Still, at a time where we're all being asked to do more for less, this is the type of consolidation of services taxpayers expect us to look at closely. And if we can save money, and keep more police or firefighters on the job because we handle communications more efficienctly, we should move forward.

We're looking into similar approaches in other areas.

Will keep you posted. Interested in your thoughts . . .

Good News: County Receives COPS Grant

2009-07-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Today, we received the very positive news that the Sheriff's application for Department of Justice COPS grant dollars to rehire laid off deputies was successful.

The County will receive almost $3.5 million over the next 3 years, which will support 15 deputy sheriff positions.

We also expect to soon receive the stimulus dollars that will help us with jail overcrowding issues, by adding to our capacity for using electronic monitoring units. This will also bring back several Sheriff deputy jobs as well.

Finally, it's great to see the City receive grant funds that will retain 50 law enforcement positions.

From the outset, our goal was to use the stimulus dollars to serve our top priorities, including public safety. It's great to see that that approach is paying off.

More details here.

RIP (for now): Reforms To Save Dollars/Jobs

2009-07-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

Turns out, Charlie Luken was right about the difficulty of trying to argue with those who print newspapers for a living, even when taxpayer dollars are at stake.

Today I learned that media lobbyists succeeded in killing (through a Governor veto) proposed County reforms (using the internet for some public notice requirements, and a pilot effort to explore online advertising) that would have saved both taxpayers dollars and County jobs. Given the tough budget news of this week, and work we are all doing to make the best of a difficult situation, the timing could not have been worse.

I appreciate the bipartisan effort that was made to get these reforms as far as they went in the legislature.

We'll see if we can bring these ideas back in a future legislative process.

UPDATE: Ironically, this just appeared on the Enquirer's website -- state will seek to pay for rail initiatives through . . . . advertisements on signs along the highway.

Connecting Citizens to Jobs Created: A New Policy

2009-07-15T14:17:00.001-07:00

The challenging economic and budget times continue, unfortunately. Outside of reducing expenses to reflect revenues, the only way we're going to get out of this is renewed economic activity. More jobs, more sales, more economic growth, more tourism, more businesses, etc.--and more revenue. We need an upward spiral to replace what has been a painful downward spiral.

While the media focuses on our and other budget woes, we are simultaneously pushing hard to stimulate economic growth.

And today, we took a concrete step to ensure that County residents get connected to as many job opportunities as possible, and specifically to those jobs that are created by our economic development efforts.

Going forward, jobs created by the County, City and other efforts will all be posted at our Superjobs Center. Entities that partner with or receive public dollars in a way that helps them create jobs will be required to make those job opportunities accessible to citizens of the community.

The Super Jobs Center has a strong track record of providing job training and other services to connect citizens to jobs throughout our community. Children's Hospital, GE and many others use it already for their hiring and skills testing, with good results. And they are achieving the best results in the state.

So when citizens in the future hear about MSD rehabilitation projects, stimulus-funded construction projects, community development projects, and others, they will also know where to find the jobs that are generated from all this work.

For the resolution that passed, go here.

The Anti-Rail Initiative: Update

2009-07-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I warned that the so-called "streetcar petition" potentially risks far wider consequences for our community--at a very time that major opportunities are arising. This is because it is drafted to apply to ALL passenger rail uses, not just the streetcar idea that is now before the City Council and being hotly debated in the community.

I was pleased that my discussion of this convinced some streetcar opponents to change their position on the ballot initiative because they support other forms of rail that could be a benefit for our region.

Today, Governor Strickland echoed that sentiment, explaining that if Cincinnatians adopt a charter change forbidding City spending on ANY aspect (right of way acquisition, etc.) of passenger rail without an affirmative vote of citizens, it could ultimately "exclude [Cincinnati] from a system that will be interconnective, not only with Columbus and Dayton and Cleveland, but Chicago and other major, major cities as well."

It's a competitive world out there. Voluntarily removing ourself from true economic opportunity, while our competitors are proactively grabbing hold of such opportunities, is clearly not the right direction.

If the streetcar opponents had simply wanted to stop the streetcar proposal now at City Hall, which they have every right to do, drafting ballot language that focused on that alone would have been simple enough. Inexplicably, they drafted something very different.

Citizens Grab Prescription Drug Discount Opportunity

2009-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

A program to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for County residents is off to a good start.

Since we launched in late January, through the end of May, 2,694 citizens have become holders of the County's prescription drug discount card. They have on average saved 20.63% on each purchase--or $9.51 per purchase. That's real dollars in your pocket, and tens of thousands in just a short time community-wide.

Thanks to all those organizations that are helping make this a success.

To get your card, or to get your organization, business, or community involved in the program, go to: http://www.hamiltoncountyrx.com/.

Welcome, Vice President Biden

2009-07-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Air Force Two at CVG.

Congratulations to Mayor Mallory and city leaders for a great, and important, visit.

Newspaper Interests Strike Again: Oppose Reforms That Would Save County Jobs/Services

2009-07-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back, I wrote about how the newspaper lobbyists were working hard to defeat some common sense proposals to help Counties save taxpayer dollars and get through the economic and budget crises we're in. If successful, these media interests could cost a County like our's hundreds of thousands of dollars, and far more long-term. That translates into jobs and services saved.

Well, they've struck again.

The Columbus Dispatch, echoing the Enquirer, and both echoing their lobbyist's distributed talking points, wrote a scare tactic editorial that seeks to stop even a "pilot" approach that would allow us to analyze if the online advertising concept can work in Ohio as it does in other communities.

These newspapers continue to raise the spectre of conflicts of interest with all sorts of nefarious scenarios, even though, when done elsewhere in the country, very clear rules are put in place forbidding online advertisers from having any sort of direct business with or before the relevant County. End of conflict.

And while they wage war on the very concept, they don't seem to be at all troubled by the fact that this happens all the time--such as public transportation agencies putting advertisements every day on public buses. If it weren't for those ads, bus fares would no doubt he higher, or services reduced. (Of course, bus ads aren't competing with newspaper advertising either).

It's interesting to see the same newspapers who routinely call for government to do more with less so adamantly opposed to letting us even explore common sense options to do exactly that.

At least they're honest enough to acknowledge that they have a clear conflict of interest on this issue (ie. their own revenue).

A Great Triumph for Foster Care

2009-07-02T07:19:00.001-07:00

I have devoted a number of posts on this blog to the many challenges for foster kids, particularly those who "age out" of the system without ever being permanently adopted.

Which is why today's story in the Enquirer on a young woman who emerged from the foster system and is on the path to great success is so inspiring and heart-warming. Thanks to all those who supported her every step of the way.

Good News: Resolution Opposing Blast Mining Passes

2009-07-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

Good news. As the Enquirer is reporting, Commissioner Hartmann and myself voted today (2-0, Todd Portune abstained) to support the resolution opposing the Martin Marietta proposal to conduct blast mining in Anderson Township, nearby numerous other communities such as Newtown, Terrace Park, Indian Hill and Mariemont.

Our resolution will now join all the other jurisdictions that have weighed in on the proposal as part of the public input process. In my judgment, it's a common sense decision: the risks and costs of the activity far outweighed any projected benefit, economic or otherwise, to the community.

Some key terms from the resolution were (link to the full resolution here):

WHEREAS, the following surrounding entities have all enacted resolutions in opposition to the mining proposal, concluding that the proposal would undermine the quality of life, property values, safety and health of their respective communities and residents:
· Village of Terrace Park
· Village of Newtown
· Village of Indian Hill
· Village of Mariemont
· Columbia Township
· Union Township
· Mariemont School District, and
· Milford School District.

WHEREAS, the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners represents citizens from communities throughout the County, including those in Anderson Township and the surrounding communities concerned by the proposal, and

WHEREAS, underground blasting would take place at least once each workday and would be permitted to occur as close as 50 feet from the property line of businesses, 250 feet from the property line of residences, and 50 feet from public rights of way; and

WHEREAS, the Martin Marietta property is in close proximity to several public and semi-public recreation areas; and

WHEREAS, expert witnesses presented evidence that the proposed mine presents risks of noise, light, dust, air pollution, heavy truck traffic, perceptible vibration, and lost value to surrounding properties and communities, and surrounding jurisdictions have expressed opposition based upon all of these factors; and

WHEREAS, the Anderson Township Comprehensive Plan calls for the Martin Marietta property and surrounding area to be used for office and light industrial development; and

WHEREAS, the presence of an underground mine as proposed might deter other types of job-creating and revenue-creating businesses, both office and light industrial, from locating on the surface in areas above or near the location of the mine; and

WHEREAS, along with all the jurisdictions that have expressed their viewpoint, the County Commission believes that the potential risks and costs, economic and otherwise, to the communities near this site, by all the above factors, far outweigh any economic benefits to the Township, surrounding communities and the County as a whole;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, responding to the BZA’s request for public input as it deliberates on this decision, expresses its opposition to the proposed mining operation.

Thanks to all those who weighed in on this. And feel free to weigh in here, or at the Enquirer's comment section.

UPDATE: Newspaper Interests Blocking Cost- and Job-Saving Reforms

2009-06-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Mayor Luken used to say you never want to go to war with people who print news for a living, and county governments across Ohio are learning that lesson right now.

In an effort to cut costs and generate revenues without raising taxes (which would allow us to save jobs and maintain critical services such as public safety), counties across the state have asked the state legislature to provide us with several new tools that won't cost one penny in tax dollars. Indeed, they would save hundreds of thousands.

The Senate, hearing our request for help, included them in there budget bill. Among them:

1) Modernize the public notice requirements to alleviate the thousands of taxpayer dollars spent buying page after page in the local newspaper for certain required notices (such as listing tax delinquent properties). Under new rules proposed by County auditors across Ohio, counties could use the internet to do much of this public notice--eliminating most of the cost of the advertising which is paid by the taxpayers to the newspaper. Real savings. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that can go instead to critical public services.

2) Allow counties to at least explore the option of online advertising for their websites. Of course, as other governments have done in different parts of the country (see this site, which includes advertisements from Monster.com), each county would have to come up with rules to deal with conflicts of interest, prohibiting companies who do business with the county from advertising, etc. But the change in law would at least allow such discussions to take place.

Together, these two changes would help counties across this state alleviate some of their budget woes. And they could literally save taxpayer dollars and jobs--keeping patrols on the street and services going.

But they do have one thing in common. They directly or indirectly threaten some of the revenues of our friends in the newspaper business, including revenues that come right from the taxpayers. Our hope was that despite this, newspapers--seeing the squeeze placed on governments right now by the tough economy--would allow government to be creative, and save taxpayer dollars and jobs through these changes. Apparently that was naively optimistic.

Several days ago, the Ohio News Association, the lobbying arm for newspapers across the state, sent the following alert to its members . . .

URGENT ACTION NEEDED !!!

(Another alert on public notice provisions is coming on Tuesday)

Attached are the sections of the state budget bill that propose allowing any and all county government offices to sell commercial advertising on their websites, including links to and from commercial websites. . . .

ONA opposes this provision and is lobbying for its removal from HB 1 as the conference committee resolves House & Senate differences in the state budget. The negative aspects of this proposal should be brought to the attention of legislators and the public. Among those negative aspects are:

· Government would be creating commercial websites in direct competition with private enterprises

· Government would be soliciting advertising from the same companies & businesses advertising on traditional commercial media, thus taking revenue away from media outlets in Ohio that are already suffering from the recession with massive cutbacks, including layoffs of media employees

· This concept presents the potential for abuse and misconduct as county offices would be allowed to solicit advertising from the same companies that are trying to get government contracts, or the same business people who may be contributing to the political campaigns of elected county officials

· This concept allows government to set up its own internal revenue stream, away from the oversight of taxpayers

· This concept allows government to operate with non-tax revenue, setting up the potential of avoiding voters whenever additional county revenue is needed

· This concept is a conflict of interest that violates the separation of government (the public sector) from business (the private sector)

. . . .

Please editorialize immediately against the proposal and call for its removal from House Bill 1.
Please write a letter calling for abandonment of this proposal.

Lo and behold, in today's Enquirer, look what ran. An editorial that basically repeats, point by point, these "scare tactic" and loaded talking points. (It's interesting that the editorial is so skeptical that government would be unable to create conflict of interest rules that separate advertising from their neutral performance of public service, yet the very business model of newspapers rests on an assumption that they are able to do exactly that when it comes to their advertising interests not interfering with their neutral coverage of news).

Interestingly, there was also no objection when then-Commissioner DeWine proposed several years back, and we explored, increasing revenue by placing advertising billboards on County property to potentially generate revenue. No real difference there except the medium of the advertisement, and who it would compete with.

UPDATE: The Enquirer today ENDORSED a public notice reform proposal that has just been put forth--but it is a watered down version, and would replace, the Auditors' proposal described above that would save the most money.

Let's face it. This is a very difficult time for all. We know newspapers are struggling, and as a firm believer in the importance of a strong press, I don't like to see them struggle at this time. I feel for reporters and staff who are going through furloughs, just as our public employees are.

At the same time, government leaders are working hard to find solutions to minimize cuts in services and jobs while avoiding asking the public to pay any more to government than they already do.

Let's call time-out on narrow special interest lobbying, and do what's best for the taxpayers and the public. Rather than killing cost-saving and job-saving reforms at a challenging time, at least let counties explore new tools and options such as these.

Let the Games Begin: Cincinnati To Host 2012 World Choir Games

2009-06-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

This is BIG NEWS.

The largest event Cincinnati and our region have ever hosted.

20,000 singers from around the world. Hundreds of thousands of visitors to watch them compete.

A short-term economic boom of tens of millions of dollars from spending and activity alone. But even more importantly, a long-term chance to build an international brand as a cultural capital--which has an incalculable economic benefit for years to come.

That's what our successful bid to host the 2012 World Choir Games--the first ever held in the United States--means. 50 cities across the country sought this honor, by the way. We won. (And the Enquirer provides a good explanation of why).

Thanks to all who helped make this happen--the Governor, the Mayor, County leaders. And our Convention and Visitors' Bureau leaders most of all. (And Nick Lachey and the Cincinnati Choir for putting us on the map as the City most excited about singing in the country!)

(On a side note, in the last several years, and with some criticism from others, we have made the strategic decision to invest in better infrastructure, better facilities, and far more proactive marketing of these assets across the country and the world. This is why!)

Next stop? World Cup, 2018.

Update: Resolution Opposing Mining Plan for Anderson Township

2009-06-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Today I introduced a Resolution at the Hamilton County Commission that, if passed, would voice the County's strong opposition to the mining proposal for the Martin Marietta site in Anderson Township.

I do this after 1) hearing from so many concerned citizens on the numerous ways this propose use would damage the community, 2) seeing the opposition of so many bodies of government in the surrounding communities, and 3) after listening to considerable testimony at several hearings. In my judgment, the potentially enormous costs to the community of this proposed use far outweigh any benefits that the community would ever see from the mining operation (to say the least!).

The resolution reflects the primary reasons citizens across the community are standing against this proposal.

I intend to hold a vote in two weeks on this issue, and then we will forward it on to the Board of Zoning Appeals as they begin to reach the final stages of their deliberations.

Thanks to the many citizens who have reached out and communicated to me on this important community issue.

County Earns National Recognition -- 6 Times!

2009-06-17T13:00:00.001-07:00

Today, we announced the good news that six county programs have been awarded 2009 National Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo). These awards honor innovative programs that enhance county government by modernizing and streamlining processes while increasing services to residents. This year, NACo honored only 13 programs from Ohio, and 6 of those programs came from Hamilton County .

The programs honored at today’s ceremony include initiatives to: encourage recycling in the workplace; encourage employees to innovate and save taxpayer dollars; promote foster parenting (Everyday Heroes campaign); intervene with fathers in danger of falling short of support responsibilites; and holding accountable those that have failed in their child support responsibilites.

Especially at a time when our County workforce is being asked to do more with less, these awards are a testament to a talented, creative and innovative work force.

The award winning programs will be listed as “Model Programs” in the NACo national database and will be recognized at the association’s annual conference in Nashville on July 26.

Congratulations to all recipients!

County Launches Energy Efficiency Effort

2009-06-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

At our staff meeting today, we received an update from our Administration on an energy efficiency strategy that should prove transformational in the long run.

Using federal stimulus dollars, we will invest millions of dollars in energy efficiency upgrades that will, over the long run, save taxpayer dollars, businesses and households millions of dollars, while creating new “green” job opportunities for residents. We will ultimately invest $4.8 Million in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG).

Our approach will allow governments, businesses and individual homeowners across the County to save money over time by making strategic, sustainable investments in energy upgrades. The program will also help generate job-creating economic activity across the County.

The county plans to make key investments in:
- public building energy improvements, both County facilities and in communities across the County (facilities are the largest user of energy in government);
- public grants and loans to implement and finance energy improvements for eligible small - businesses and residents;
- specific, high-profile energy improvements on the Banks Project; and
- support the purchase of hybrid or alternative fueled vehicles within Hamilton County.

One of the most important directional changes we've made in the County in the last several years is our commitment to improving our environment while saving dollars on energy, and this plan will play a key role in achieving these goals.

We will submit our plan to the federal goverment on June 25, and hope to begin making these investments in a few months.

Tough Medicine: Sales Tax Still Off for June

2009-06-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, the tough news continues when it comes to our revenues.

We received our June sales tax results yesterday, which represents March sales activity (which may have been the low point of the economy, if the general media discussion is any barometer). Our June receipts were down 8% compared to the same month in 2008--a steep fall, but at least higher than the 10% fall we saw in May. State-wide, sales tax receipts were down 10% for June.

Because we have been erring on the side of the caution, we had already assumed a 10% reduction for June because of the 10% reduction realized in May, which prompted the cuts we made last months across departments.

Nominate A Local Civil Rights Pioneer

2009-06-08T05:19:00.000-07:00

On June 20, Great American Ballpark will play host to the Major League Baseball Civil Rights Game (Reds versus White Sox). A number of national dignitaries will be present and honored during the day's events.

We at Hamilton County decided to take it a step further, and also recognize and honor five local Civil Rights pioneers at the same time.

To do so, we are asking for nominations from the community. Please go to this link to make your nomination. And please be sure to do so by this Wednesday, June 10, at 5:00 p.m.

A selection committee will announce the honorees on June 17.

The Long-Term "Savings" of Prevention

2009-06-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

After I posted a story (An Ounce of Prevention) early this week on investments we are making with federal stimulus dollars, in employment, job and job skills training for high-risk youth, I was sent a fascinating article by a friend of mine in the criminal justice world.

It is a detailed analysis of the "monetary value" of "saving" a high-risk youth from becoming a career criminal. The full article can be accessed here.

Let me be clear. The most important reasons to do all we can to keep high-risk youth from becoming career criminals go way beyond dollars and cents. It is to allow our young people to lead fulfilling, productive lives--and to prevent criminal acts against fellow citizens in our community.

But when measured in dollars and cents, this article makes it clear just what a good investment effective prevention is. Every high risk youth we "save" from a criminal path through effective prevention and intervention saves between $3.2 million and $5.7 million for the lifetime costs the community would have incurred if that young person had become a career criminal. We see substantial savings when we also prevent heavy drug use ($1.15M-$1.3M) and drop-outs ($675k-$1M).

I ran for the Commission seat arguing that I wanted to hold those who commit crimes accountable while also addressing the root causes of crime, after my opponent proudly stated he was "not a root cause guy." Not only is prevention the right thing to do, but it turns out, it also is the most fiscally prudent approach.

Friday Lunch, Fountain Square

2009-06-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Not an empty seat in the Square (ok -- maybe there's one next to the guy who's relaxing in the sun).

Jails Opening, Jails Closing: There Has To Be A Regional Solution

2009-06-05T07:48:00.001-07:00

Today's headlines are all about jails. One's being built (Kenton County). Others are underutilized or are now sitting empty (Butler County). Other places, like Hamilton County, are running short on jailspace. Campbell County is looking to rent space to others.

I've had the discussion before, but like other government "services," some mechanism for sharing jailspace and jail capacity among all these regional entities has to be part of the long-term solution. From a 30,000-foot level, the current situation just doesn't make sense. And the taxpayer is paying for it all.

I will pursue this further and keep you posted.

In Our Tough Economy, Help is a Click Away

2009-06-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

The economy continues to struggle, and so do many of our families.

I want to remind people that there is help out there, whether it's how to reduce costs on everything from prescription drugs to energy to child care, or avoid a foreclosure, or find access to job training and jobs.

You can find all these resources at a website we set up several months ago. Just go to http://www.hamiltoncountyfamilies.com/.

60 New "Green" Schoolbuses for County School Districts

2009-06-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

I was excited yesterday to join the EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, in announcing a $1 million grant award for our Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services.

Working with seven school districts across the county, this grant, leveraging $3 million being invested by the school districts themselves, will build upon years of work to make our collective school bus fleet "green." Specifically, this grant will lead to the purchase of 60 new clean diesel schoolbuses, removing 15,000 pounds of contaminants from our air annually.

The Southwest Ohio Clean Diesel Campaign was started by Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services in 2004 after we received our first grant from EPA, and has already retrofitted 460 district-owned school buses with clean diesel technology, removing an estimated 28,000 pounds of air pollutants annually.

For stories on the announcement, go here and here.

World Cup in Cincinnati? Worth Going For

2009-06-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

26 billion viewers across the globe. Four to six games--all sold out. Three weeks of hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the county and the world. A huge economic impact.

That could all take place in Cincinnati/Hamilton County in 2018 if we get the job done.

Hamilton County submitted our initial interest in being one of the sites for soccer's World Cup with the USA Bid Committee. We will put together a working committee to more intensely assess and pursue the opportunity, and the Bengals, Convention & Visitors Bureau, and City of Cincinnati have already agreed to take part.

It's a long time from now, and there will definitely be a competition to get there--but it's also a huge opportunity. More to come.

An Ounce of Prevention . . .

2009-06-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

At our staff meeting today, we discussed the rolling out of a program that will benefit hundreds of young people in the County--particularly young people who face the greatest obstacles to "making it."

Through federal stimulus funds, nearly 700 area young people will see summer jobs and skills training for future employment opportunities.

The young people, ages 14 to 24, will be chosen based on certain barriers to employment, such as dropping out of high school or a history in foster care. They will then be exposed to skill training, jobs and careers in green industries, health care, construction, advanced manufacturing, education, science, technology, engineering and math.

Most young people will receive a combination of work readiness training and placement with a local employer. Additionally, participants may receive computer and financial literacy training, career exploration and planning, and/or student aid assistance.

By making these kinds of strategic investments in our young people, particularly those that are facing the greatest obstacles, we not only build the workforce of the future, but we prevent problems that cost us all.

Five providers with proven track recorders were selected out of 17 proposals to deliver the services – the Easter Seals Work Resource Center, Great Oaks, Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates, Arbor Employment and Training and the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati.

We will shortly provide more information on how families can access this opportunity.

Well-Deserved Praise for Banks Project Manager

2009-05-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

The Enquirer wrote a very nice story on John Deatrick, the person the County and City brought on about a year ago to oversee and implement the Banks Project.

As opposed to highly political appointments that too often can sink governent and waste taxpayer $$$ because they are unqualified and/or make politically driven decisions (ie. Hamilton County, 2005-2006), John is the epitome of a good, professional, competent public servant.

John came back to Cincinnati from Washington to help us complete the project.

He was instrumental in the County/City successfully securing millions of stimulus dollars, as well as keeping the project on time and under budget. And as some argue that we should do nothing but leave a parking lot and mudpit at the heart of our riverfront, John articulates well why that is not the answer: "It's a real problem to have empty surface parking lots where we should have a beautiful riverfront," he said. "Getting the central riverfront developed is absolutely critical to getting any economic benefit."

Read about John here.

Bringing Hope To Our Kids

2009-05-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Source (here)

About a year ago, I sat down with a small group of faith leaders and other citizens who are passionate about helping our most vulnerable young people. We talked through ways they might apply that passion to the critical need of supporting and caring for foster children in our community.

And most importantly, we agreed that the top solution is simple (in theory): find as many loving, caring adults to help and support our foster kids as possible.

Well, this weekend (the last of May, Foster Care Awareness Month), their incredible hard work and passion will come to fruition through a multi-day, multi-location effort called "Every Child's Hope." Twenty six churches and congregations will be involved. Their goal is to inspire people across our community to help kids in foster care--whether to become foster or adoptive parents directly, or for those who are not in a position to take those steps, to help support foster kids or foster families in all sorts of other ways.

These types of grassroots and community efforts that will ultimately make all the difference. And as I said in the State of the County Speech, there is no better prevention program than proactive support (and ultimate adoption) of foster kids.

Thanks to the leadership of the Coalition of Care for organizing this wonderful, compassionate effort.

Here's an Enquirer story on the effort, and here's the website for Every Child's Hope, laying out this weekend's program.

Always Remember

2009-05-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

Photos from the Newtown Memorial Day Parade.

Let the County Know YOUR 2010 Budget Priorities

2009-05-24T12:46:00.001-07:00

This year, the County Administration is seeking more public input than ever as they put together the 2010 County budget. If revenues continue to stagnate, we will have some very tough choices to make, and public input on those choices is incredibly helpful.

So the Administration is rolling out on online survey to understand public priorities. It's quite long, but very exhaustive. But it will only be helpful if many people, and a true cross-section of citizens, take it.

If you have a few minutes, take the survey here.

UPDATE: A Local Poison Pill for All Passenger Rail

2009-05-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

(Source: White House blog)

One of the more exciting proposals in Ohio today is a passenger rail line, ultimately high-speed, between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, to also include Dayton. It's called the 3C Corridor.

Several months ago, the County Commission unanimously passed a resolution that Cincinnati/Hamilton County be included in that rail line (because occasionally there are rumors that it would simply go between Cleveland and Columbus). And just last month, the Cincinnati-Cleveland corridor was included in the 10 national high-speed rail corridors that have been identified by the federal government for long-term development.

In other words, this looks to be an enormous long-term opportunity for the state, and for our region. In my recent survey, 85%(!) of 300 voters were supportive of the idea, including 68% who were strongly supportive.

Which is why it's sad to see that a political dispute over streetcars in one part of Cincinnati could turn into a political fight that harms this much bigger regional opportunity

As the Enquirer reported today, the petition language circulating to stop streetcars is written incredibly broadly:

"a new Article XVI of the Charter is hereby added as follows: The City, and its various boards and commissions, may not spend 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."

So even though the public dispute and opposition centers around the streetcar proposal, the language appears to apply much more broadly--including throwing a wrench into this exciting opportunity for a cross-Ohio passenger rail corridor.

Given that we are already concerned about being included as a full participant in the Ohio rail corridor, the last thing we need in making our case is a provision that prohibits the City of Cincinnati from being part of it without a later vote. And practically speaking, 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.

In other words, we would be voluntarily taking ourselves off the passenger rail map, as 10 other parts of the country (including Northern Ohio) move forward into the 21st century. A decision with decades of ramifications.

There are certainly strong opinions on both sides of the streetcar debate. And those will play out over time, as Councilmembers, citizens and advocates on both sides debate and decide on the best course, what plans might work, and what plans the City can afford, if any.

But let's not let that debate spill over into the much larger issue of state and national passenger rail options, and our region's (or the City's) ability to be part of them.

The current language of the petition risks exactly that.

UPDATE: Kudos to the Cincinnati Beacon for being open-minded (a rare trait in politics) in considering my observation. I think many streetcar opponents will echo their stance once they look closely at the language of this ballot initiative, which (intentionally or not, and completely unnecessarily) encompasses far more than the streetcar issue.

UPDATE: Feedback on Blasting

2009-05-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

The controversy continues to brew on the proposal to allow underground blasting in Anderson Township, as residents fear the potential impact on a number of commuities. The next public hearing is June 4, at Turpin High School. (Here's a summary of the public hearing, which I attended last night. It's fair to say it was packed, and almost unanimously opposed).

In the meantime, I know the public hearings are packed, lines are long, and comments are limited to two minutes. So I'd love to hear people's comments on this proposal here.

New Tool To Promote Foster Care and Adoption

2009-05-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

It's Foster Care Awareness Month, and we are doing all we can to promote the criticial need for more foster parents in our community. I have addressed this issue many times on this blog, and how it makes such a difference in the community.

There are many great initiatives taking place, including public service announcements (see above) and a faith-based foster care initiative that will roll out later in the month.

And we are launching a new internet tool to make the process of thinking through becoming a foster or adoptive parent far more accessible and user friendly. The new website is http://www.hckids.org/, and it even includes personal videos of some of the kids who are awaiting a foster or adoptive home. Check it out, and pass it along.

(This is also part of the County's effort to make all sorts of services that help our families more accessible, particularly at this challenging time. Go to http://www.hamiltoncountyfamilies.com/ to see others.)

Saving $$$, Reducing Energy Usage of County Buildings

2009-05-18T07:37:00.001-07:00

At our staff meeting this morning, we received a great update on steps the County is taking to be more energy efficient (and save $$$) as a government--specifically, in the way we operate our facilities/buildings.

As background, by far our biggest use of energy as a County comes from the operation of our buildings and facilities. Operating jails, courthouses, large administrative buildings and offices, engineers' garages, and the like, which comprise the daily workplace of thousands of employees, takes up a whole lot of energy. So when we assessed County government's carbon footprint several years back, it was not a big surprise that by far the biggest source of our carbon footprint was our buildings.

So improving the energy efficiency of our facilities is the most important step we can take to reduce our County's carbon footprint. Which is why the good news from today is so important. A couple highlights:

In 2008, we reduced our green house gas emissions by 2,715 tons in 2008. This means we have reduced our total emissions 7% since 1997.
One building, 800 Broadway, qualified for an EPA Energy Star Award in 2008--the first and only government office building in the state of Ohio to do so. Through increased automation and technology, better scheduling of energy usage, and some other steps, the operation of energy systems of this building has become a state model.
Numerous steps and individual projects our Facilities Departments has taken to increase energy efficiency and reduce electrical usage decreased energy costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2008 alone. At this time of budget challenges, these savings are incredibly important.

The best news? In the coming months, we will be rolling out many more steps to do even better--and there are new resources (federal Energy Efficiency Block Grants) that will allow us to make even more upgrades, and save even more taxpayer dollars on operations every year.

As we work with all jurisdictions in the County to reduce their carbon footprint, it's great that we have an in-house case study of improvement to point to.

Thanks to our Facilities Department for leading the charge on this important issue.

Update: County Passes Stream Protection Measure

2009-05-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Last month, I mentioned an exciting piece of legislation that I've worked on, as a member of the County's Stormwater Committee, for some time: creating stream corridor protection zones in order to clean up our streams and rivers.

After two public hearings, the Commission unanimously agreed today to the legislation. This echoed a unanimous, bipartisan vote of the Stormwater Committee several months back.

Going forward, we will have in place "zones" that protect headwater streams that, when polluted with runoff and other materials, ultimately lead to the pollution of our major water corridors. (The EPA explains the issue well here -- including the photo above).

By reducing runoff and pollution into these headwater streams through the new "protection zones," we are taking a major step toward cleaning up our rivers, streams and water corridors.

Thanks to all those who helped bring about this important change. It was a great consensus-building process.

Moving Forward on Transparency, Ethics: UPDATE

2009-05-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Today's meeting brought forward actions steps on two important principles we are bringing to County government: transparency and ethics.

1. On transparency, today we will go live on our updated approach to the Government Accountability in Spending Program (GASP), introduced last year by now-Judge Dewine, and supported unanimously by the Board in 2008. Previously, the approach only allowed citizens to examine the spending within County Administration/Commissioner departments--which does not make up the majority of the County's spending.

The new version launching today allows us to examine ALL County spending, across all departments. It also has an easy search function allowing citizens to search by category and department. We also have taken steps to ensure that there are no privacy risks in this effort at transparency (unfortunately, such a breach occurred in the roll-out of the first version), and that the program can be implemented in real-time, and at minimal cost.

UPDATE: It is now up and running. Search away by clicking here. And if you find questionable spending, etc., let us know. This is all about transparency, and empowering citizens.

UPDATE: Here's an Enquirer story on this. From the comments, it looks like a lot of people are already looking through the spending.

2. On ethics, we have finalized and will distribute a County manual on ethics and County government. This manual is a resource clarifying for all employees and citizens the laws and rules around permissible and impermissible political involvement of employees, the law against nepotism, our policy against double-dipping, and all sorts of other guidelines to ensure County ethics are first-rate.

This work is critical--to ensure county employees are always doing the right thing, to ensure that decisions by all levels of employees are always made on the merits, and not other influences, and that employees are hired and promoted based on the quality of their work for the taxpayers, and not other, unrelated issues.

Both employees, and citizens, will benefit from a full knowledge of our laws, rules and policies around different ethics issues. And County government performs at its best when these rules are adhered to 100%.

Sunday Media Review

2009-05-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

A couple stories relevant to things we're working on at the County.

1. Story on electronic monitoring units: kind of states the obvious that an EMU is not 100% substitute for a jail cell. But the point is: it's a very cost-efficient alternative (and in many cases, perhaps the best solution), especially at a time where we are low on resources, have an overcrowded system, and voters have spoken twice, loudly, about paying higher taxes for a new jail.

2. A pretty tough column on the Queensgate Terminal project: like 80% of almost 300 citizens who took my countwide survey, the columnist thinks moving forward is a good idea. Most of the commenters agree.

3. A big story on State efforts to reform our criminal justice system: there will be a lot of debate about this. We at the County will take advantage of every dollar made available to us to reduce crime and recidivism, and alleviate jail overcrowding--particularly the low-level cases that take up space and waste money.

On to a busy work week.

NAMI Walks: A Great Event, an Important Cause

2009-05-09T11:13:00.001-07:00

I was honored today to serve as an honorary co-chair, with Channel 9's Carol Williams, of the annual NAMI Walks event--a community walk to support the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Hamilton County, and to raise awareness, and help end the stigma, of mental illness.

NAMI and its members and families have been a great help to me in understanding the impact of mental illness on families across this community. Many have shared incredibly personal and difficult stories, but it is those stories that all citizens need to hear to understand. Carol highlighed one heroic mother in this story.

And NAMI and its members have been effective advocates to spur government, and the criminal justice system in particular, to better address and respond to citizens with mental illness.

Partly due to the relationship I have built with NAMI, we are working hard at the County to ensure that we improve our system. Amending the Medicaid rules so those who leave jail can immediately get the treatment they need for their mental illnesses, pushing for a mental health court at the felony level, expanding our pretrial and reentry services so there are upfront assessments of those with mental illnesses, and other steps, are all part of this important effort.

Thanks to NAMI for all you do in the community, and thanks to NAMI families for opening up, sharing your stories, and educating us all.

EMUs: Everyone Take a Deep Breath

2009-05-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

It's disappointing to see this EMU issue become such a source of controversy online and on air.

And we definitely can't let it drive a wedge between the City and the County at a time where we must build on what has become a great partnership on so many issues.

Indeed, it was due to the Mayor's and my positive working relationship that the City and County worked out a 50-50 split of the joint stimulus public safety dollars (through something called the Byrne Grant). Under the federal formula, the funding allocation for the Byrne grant requires signed consent of both the City and the County (ie. no one "gives" money to the other; it's a mutual agreeement about how to divide up a joint allocation). We have always split it 50/50 for that reason, which also makes sense because we both bear the costs of criminal justice in the City.

And to be clear, when some had inexplicably proposed that the City horde far more than their usual 50% share of the 2009 grant (something the County would not have agreed to, meaning no grant would have been received by either), the Mayor was the key person who intervened to ensure, as common sense dictated, that we maintain the usual 50-50 split once again 2009.

That is what happens when you have a good working relationship.

With the 50-50 split in place, it is indeed up to the City to determine how it spends its half of the money.

Of course, I have made clear that Electronic Monitoring Units are incredibly helpful, especially at this time of jail overcrowding. That's why I originally proposed, and we at the County ultimately will add, 75 EMU units, along with the Sheriff's deputies to oversee them, with our portion of the stimulus dollars. While we are working on many long-term solutions to our jail problem, I can't think of a near-term expenditure that will more immediately help us than this investment in more, and more modern, EMUs. (The story today on the 90-year old arrested for DUI shows how helpful an EMU can be in dealing with some inmates in better ways than having them occupy valuable jailspace).

And knowing of Councilmembers Ghiz's and Harris's motion to spend some dollars from their allocation on EMUs, I even wrote to explain to Councilmembers on Monday why we at the County believe that EMUs make a big difference, and why such an investment would help if they made it. (At the time, I honestly did not anticipate how much this issue would boil over in a few days) (See below).

But in the end, it is up to City Hall to make this decision--weighing all the pros and cons of EMUs versus other investments they might make, and hearing from their constituents about their priorities. And it is clearly not for the County to tell the City how to spend dollars it receives, just as the County would not respond well if the City told us how to spend dollars we receive.

Most importantly, whatever decision is made by City Hall about how to spend their share of these funds, that decision should and will not become a source of friction between the County and the City.

We've come too far to return to the old days of City-County bickering.
_________

My email on Monday:

Friends on Council:

I understand that Councilmembers Harris and Ghiz have put forward a motion to invest a small part of your overall stimulus allocation for the leasing a significant number of electronic monitoring units (EMUs) for several years.

It's obviously up to each member to determine whether this spending would be more impactful on public safety than the other ways these dollars could be spent.

But I wanted to relay that we at the County believe that within the current economic and budgetary difficulties, EMUs are the best immediate way to expand jail capacity. Which is why we are investing the majority of our stimulus (Byrne Grant) dollars to support adding EMUs--and the added sheriff's deputies needed to monitor them, and any the City might also invest in.
(While we are also pursuing many other reforms and changes to increase efficiency and jailspace, and reduce recidivism, those have a longer timeframe).

As you may hear from the judges tomorrow, the bottom line is that the number one result of our overcrowded jail system is that there is almost no space for those convicted of misdemeanors to serve time. (Felons go to the state prison system, and await for their trial in our jail, and this takes up most of the space we now have). So most of the work of (and your investment in) the police department and city prosecutors to enforce those misdemeanors goes for naught.

Needless to say, a sizeable investment in EMUs (earmarked for City arrestees) will help alleviate the problem.

Of course, we at the County will continue to do all we can within this tough climate to also solve the problem. But it's safe to say there will not be any big influx of local revenues anytime soon--so spending these one-time stimulus funds on top priorities such as EMUs has been doubly important to us.

Just wanted to share my perspective on this important issue.

Thanks.

David

Updated Survey Results

2009-05-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

262 Responses, from all over the County .

1. High speed rail (Cleveland-Cincinnati) idea: 84% support the idea (68.7% strongly); 7.3% neutral. 8% oppose.

2. Queensgate Terminal project on the river: 78.5% support the idea (39.6% strongly); 13.5% neutral. 8% oppose.

3. Banning texting while driving. 65% support the ban (41.5% strongly). 16.5% oppose the idea.

4. Casino. 54.4% support (32% strongly); 16.6% neutral; 29% opposed (14% strongly).

5. Consolidating fire districts. 55% support; 31.5% neutral; and 13% opposed.

6. Lengthening the school year: 50% support; 28.4% neutral; 22% oppose.

7. Charter referendum that stops all investments in passenger rail pending a separate referendum: 58.8% strongly oppose; 13.2% oppose; 13.6% neutral. 14% supported (10% strongly).

Survey Results: Strong Support for Rail, Port Projects

2009-05-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

We've received numerous responses (140) in just one day on the survey, and the results so far have been pretty clear-cut. People answered from around the County.

1. People are very supportive of the high speed rail (Cleveland-Cincinnati) idea: 76% support the idea (54.7% strongly); 10.2% neutral. 14% oppose. This was the most popular idea.

2. Second most popular is the Queensgate Terminal project on the river: 75.6% support the idea (35.3% strongly); 12.2% neutral. Only 12% oppose.

3. There is strong support for banning texting while driving. 65% support the ban (44% strongly). 22.3% oppose the idea.

4. The casino idea receives general support, but with some strong opposition as well. 57% support (34% strongly); 13% were neutral; but 30% opposed (20% strongly).

5. There is general support for consolidating fire districts. 54% support; 30% neutral; and 16% opposed.

6. There was more lukewarm support for lengthening the school year: 46% support; 24% neutral; 30% oppose.

7. People are strongly opposed to a Charter referendum that stops all investments in passenger rail pending a separate referendum: 38% strongly oppose; 21.2% oppose; 20.4% neutral. 20% supported (12% of those strongly).

If you haven't yet done the survey, go to the blog posting below . . . .

New Survey: Weigh in on Some BIG Issues

2009-05-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of big issues brewing in the County, region and state. From casinos, to education, to economic opportunities, to rail, leaders and citizens will be making some important decisions this year.

Weigh in with your views on these big issues through this month's Citizens' Survey, by clicking here.

NSP: Moving Forward to Invest in our Communities

2009-05-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

As we work to push a local economic recovery in every way, one important aspect is our County's $7 million+ Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), which we planned last year and is in the early stages of implementation.

Fifteen Hamilton County communities have submitted plans to reclaim blighted and foreclosed property. With these funds, the County will support projects to remove blight and unsafe properties from our neighborhoods, to replace them with new commercial, residential and greenspace development, and to create job opportunities for our citizens.

Projects include four main options for communities: acquisition, rehabilitation, demolition and/or new construction of housing. North College Hill, for example, has already demolished a blighted structure to pave the way for a public parking lot in the business district. Mt. Healthy plans to demolish a vacant and abandoned structure so it can be developed into green space in conjunction with a park. Lockland plans to demolish six to seven condemned structures that have become eyesores.

So, one property at a time, we are using these dollars to improve our communities’ safety and quality of life. And the program also helps generate job-creating economic activity across the County.

NSP Investment Communities include: Cheviot, Cleves, Colerain Township, Elmwood Place, Forest Park, Golf Manor, Lincoln Heights, Lockland, Mt. Healthy, North College Hill, Norwood, Silverton, Springfield Township, St. Bernard and Woodlawn.

Informative Update on Port Opportunity

2009-05-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Enquirer today provided a broader analysis and update on the Queensgate Terminals project I wrote about several weeks back. As I've said before, this is an opportunity all citizens of the City and region should know about, and weigh in on with their elected officials.

The Enquirer also wrote an editorial urging City Hall to solve the problem.

The choice is clear-cut: move forward to gain jobs and a long-term strategic advantage in this competitive global economy, or risk a multi-million dollar liability (paid for by taxpayers across Cincinnati) for an egregious government taking.

For more information and a video illustrating this important opportunity, go here.

And for another blog that's provided a lot of information, go here.

Counting All Citizens: Preparing for the 2010 Census

2009-05-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

In 2010, the U.S. Census will define us as a Nation, a State, a County, a Township, a City and a Village.

In addition to helping our state leaders define our Congressional and Statehouse districts, the census outcome directly impacts the allocation of billions of dollars in government funding. And sometimes an accurate count can mean the difference in the very identity of a jurisdiction--between, say, being a "city" (5,000 people or more) or a "village."

That’s why I've teamed up with Mayor Mallory, Green Township Trustee Dave Linnenberg, and Silverton Mayor John Smith, to create the best countywide effort possible to ensure that every citizen of the County is counted, and every jurisdiction’s count is as accurate as possible.

In the past two weeks, on the East and West sides of the County, we have brought together Mayors, Trustees and administrators from the vast majority of the County's 49 jurisdictions to meet with census experts to ensure a complete count in Hamilton County. From those meetings, each jurisdiction will form their own "Complete County Committee," which will work in the coming year to do all they can to get every citizen in their community counted in the 2010 census.

Stay tuned as this work begins.

For more information, go to the Census Website. (For a video, click here). And over this year, the County will be providing far more information to help ensure every citizen is counted.

Moody's Gives Positive Report on County Fiscal Discipline

2009-04-29T11:44:00.002-07:00

Amid a lot of difficult decisions and severe revenue pressures, it was gratifying that Moody's rating agency not only gave the county a "stable outlook" on our bond rating, but praised our efforts to limit spending and bring strong fiscal discipline amid this challenging environment. Moody's also noted positively our continued investment in growth measures, such as the Banks project, as a way to "grow" out of the economic difficulties we all face.

Among Moody's observations:

"the stable outlook is based on the newly adopted minimum General Fund reserve policies, which should prevent further narrowing of reserve levels"
"Progress continues on various downtown redevelopment projects, including the Banks project, which is expected to bring long-term economic benefits."
"Unemployment figures remain lower than the state"
"Moody's believes the county's financial operations are well-managed"
"Moody's believes that county management's demonstrated commitment to making the necessary cuts will help maintain an adequate financial position"
"In response to declining reserves, in September 2007, county management, with the support of elected officials, implemented key policies and set specific goals to restore reserves to healthier levels"
In 2008, "county administration, including elected officials, moved quickly to make the necessary reductions to close the gap" to maintain the County's reserve policy
"In general, the county has undertaken a broad strategic initiative targeting key financial challenges, including frequent monitoring of budget to actual financial performance and a commitment to making adjustments to insure financial targets are achieved."
"Moody's believes that significant efficiencies have been gained"

Finally, Moody's concluded that the stable outlook "takes into account [] the county's adopted policy to rebuild reserves, and demonstrated willingness to make difficult budgetary decisions to reduce expenditures in order to retain limited reserve levels."

No doubt, we've been making difficult decisions every step of the way, particularly since the economic slowdown began to hit. Much pain has been involved--and much of it shouldered by employees at all levels.

But as the Moody's analysis underscores, the fiscally disciplined (and pro-growth) approach we have been pursuing is the only responsible course we can take in the long run. And it is the best way to carry us through until the time that our economy--and revenues--rebound.

Making Work Pay: Another Successful Effort

2009-04-28T17:45:00.001-07:00

Today, I was thrilled to meet and thank the volunteers who make our regional "Make Work Pay" effort such a success.

As I explained at the beginning of the tax season, this is a free tax preparation program that boosts working families by helping them apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit. For many, this provides the boost that lifts them out of poverty (while avoiding the fees and high interest payments they have to pay through a private tax preparer).

The key to the program are the hundreds of volunteers who sit down with citizens and walk them through the tax filing process. Today we recognized them and thanked them for their work.

At the same time, we got the first preliminary results from the season--and they were strong.

Last year, not including the one-time "checks" sent out from the first stimulus legislation in early 2008, Hamilton County's effort brought in $5,577,496 in tax refunds--including $2,486,050 in EITC refunds.

This year, that number jumped considerably--to $6,788,605, including $2,632,838 in EITC refunds. These refunds went to 4,826 total individuals.

This is almost $7M brought into the local economy through a voluntary effort. And in this tough economic time, this boost--along with the savings from our prescription drug discount program and other efforts--puts real money in our families' pockets.

"Build Hamilton County": Making the County More Business-Friendly

2009-04-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

Today we began to roll out an exciting new change in Hamilton County.

It's called "Build Hamilton County," and it's our effort to streamline and accelerate the process for residential and commercial development in the County.

As the Business Courier reported, the process involves:

1. creating a one-stop approach to the development meeting process, with one, multi-agency predevelopment meeting (as opposed to the multiple meetings that are now required), saving valuable time and resources for all involved

2. creating a "Build Hamilton County" development web portal which provides the key information to developers on how to move forward with projects, including the ability to schedule and initiate the development process. Currently, no such centralized website exists to help projects go through the development process.

3. working with all the 48 jurisdictions of the County to share and coordinate on development projects and code enforcement, as opposed to requiring businesses to go through the ringer of dealing with multiple jurisdictions separately.

This is part of our broader effort to stimulate investment, economic activity and job creation as much as we can in this challenging year. I'll provide more details as we roll these changes out in the coming weeks.

Swine Flu Update

2009-04-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

We had an update today from County Health Commission Tim Ingram about the swine flu outbreak in North America, the handful of cases in the United States, and what we are doing locally to prepare for any cases that might come here.

The bottom line: the cases that have been in the United States thus far have been mild (19 of 20 people didn't even go to the hospital), so there is no reason for alarm. If someone feels flu symptoms, they should see their doctor. And the best way to avoid getting or spreading anything is the same common sense one should always use: wash your hands, do not cough openly, and other basic hygiene.

For more information, go to www.hamiltoncountyhealth.org.

Unemployment: Keeping Our Head Above Water

2009-04-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

The most recent unemployment numbers are in, and although our rate is still far too high (8.2 percent), we remain among the strongest counties in Ohio in terms of keeping our citizens employed.

Only seven counties, out of 88, have lower unemployment rates. We have the second lowest of the major metropolitan counties. (Franklin: 7.8%; Cuyahoga: 8.6%; Montgomery: 11.3%; Summit: 9.6%). And we have the lowest in the region. (Warren: 8.5%; Clermont: 9.4%; Butler: 9.1%).

This is where our diverse economy really boosts us, even in tough times.

Next step: getting back below 8, then 7, percent.

Honoring A Heroic Community Activist

2009-04-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Those of us in City or County politics know Amos Robinson well--he is a tireless advocate for public safety and law enforcement, both for his own neighborhood (College Hill) and the broader community. And to his credit, he isn't afraid to let elected leaders know when they need to do better.

Well, last week he stepped up even more than usual: he stopped a fleeing felon trying to escape a courtroom. He received a whole lot of attention for this selfless and courageous act, from Akron, to Columbus, to Toledo.

Today, on Commissioner Hartmann's initiative, we honored Amos for not just what he did last week, but for what he does every week for our community. Thank you, Amos.

Earth Day Activity: Climate Initiative Moves Forward

2009-04-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

As part of our Earth Day activity, Hamilton County hosted the last of our series of community meetings that comprise our "Climate Community Initiative."

This has been a wonderful partnership with the majority of our local jurisdictions, as we together work to reduce our carbon footprint while saving taxpayer dollars through reduced energy usage.

Today's meeting was "the end of the beginning" of our process. After months of meetings covering different topic areas, we launched a new tool that will help all of our local partners achieve these goals. It's called the Carbon Calculator, and it will allow each community, in the coming months, to create their own path to reduce their carbon footprint. We will then compile these individual community plans into one Countywide green plan.

And the best news? Federal stimulas dollars, in the form of Energy Effiency Block Grants, will allow us to support initiatives that come out of this work. We are also working on ways that these block grants can be used to incentivize energy efficiency and cost savings for businesses, citizens and local governments (and taxpayers) across the County.

In all, important progress in a critical area.

Happy Earth Day!

Curious: Thoughts on Texting While Driving?

2009-04-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

There's a proposal at City Hall to ban texting while driving.

As the dialogue begins, I'm curious what readers think about this idea.

Prayers for Lockland Officer

2009-04-20T14:42:00.001-07:00

Sadly, today is a sober reminder that whether it's our Sheriff's Deputies or the many police officers from across the County, our law enforcement officials put their life on the line every day.

Let's all pray for a full and speedy recover for the young Lockland Police Officer injured this morning while doing his job to protect the public.

Amid economic storms, some daylight?

2009-04-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

We just reviewed our revenue for the first quarter of 2009, and the tough economy continues to have a huge impact on our revenues (which we had already projected very conservatively in our 2009 budget). We will have to make adjustments--and the earlier we make them, the better.

No surprise, revenues associated with the housing market are the hardest hit. The real estate transfer tax (as it sounds, paid whenever real estate is sold), for example, is projected to bring in $5.3 million in 2009. That's off from $8.4 million in 2008, $11.5 million in 2007, $13 million in 2006, and a peak of $14.4 million in 2005. That's right, the revenue amount stands at just over one-third of where it stood only four years ago--a precipitous fall. (FYI -- our transfer tax rate is lower than most counties).

Still, our initial 2009 numbers also give some reason for hope that the worst may be behind us, and things might get better by the Fall. In April, sales tax was only off of April 2008 by 1.1% ($51,000). This substantially exceeded our projected decrease of 4%, and marked the best year-to-year sales tax results we've seen so far this year, by far.

While we are budgeting assuming the worst, let's hope these sales tax numbers continue in this direction. But more than just hoping, we'll soon be rolling out a series of steps to encourage as much economic activity as possible.

Congratulations Superintendent Ronan

2009-04-15T22:16:00.001-07:00

I'm thrilled that Mary Ronan will go from being interim Superintendent to the Superintendent, apparently very soon.

From all accounts, including my own, she has been impressing the whole community with her steady and open leadership, even as the "interim" leader. I can only imagine how strong she'll be once that somewhat limiting title is removed.

Congratulations, Superintendent Ronan.

A Shout Out to Cincinnati Chili

2009-04-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

A great story ran in the Washington Post the other day, highlighting the wonders of Cincinnati-style Chili.

I hosted the reporter at Price Hil Chili, but as you can see from the story, he did a full tour. Great to see this wonderful local tradition receive national attention:

The Challenges of Regionalism: A Case Study

2009-04-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Also in today's online Enquirer is an item detailing our efforts to regionalize our SORTA Board. It is a somewhat perplexing and disappointing story, I've got to say. But I'll chalk it up as a case study in the challenges of regionalism.

You see, we voluntarily offered to expand the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Agency (SORTA) to include our three neighboring counties. We did this simply because we think a more regional governance structure will ultimately create a more regional transportation system, which most people and businesses believe we should strive for. And because more generally, regionalism just makes sense.

So, asking for nothing in return, Hamilton County and Cincinnati added a new seat on the SORTA Board for each of our neighboring Ohio Counties: Clermont, Warren and Butler. And then we reached out to those counties, encouraging them to recommend, suggest and encourage citizens from their community to volunteer to be on the board.

We received several very impressive applications, and ultimately appointed three highly qualified people to the three seats--bringing a nice mix of both public and private sector experience and perspective to the work of this important entity. Collectively, the new appointees should greatly enhance the SORTA board, and will soon begin their work.

Given all this, it was puzzling to see the reaction of some Warren County commissioners to this in the paper today. Nonetheless, I'm a big believer in the change, pleased about the more regional direction in which we are moving, and look forward to working with all three counties as we move forward.

___

(Just for the record, given the suggestion that Warren County was not given a chance to be heard on the appointment, below is a copy of what was sent to the commissioners, as I proactively sought their input in making that appointment.)

March 2, 2009

Dear Commissioners and Administrators:

I write to you to ask for your help in recruiting three members, one from each of Butler, Warren and Clermont counties, to serve on the recently restructured Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) Board.

As you know, Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati recently retooled the SORTA Board to make our public fixed route bus system more regional in governance and service. And Hamilton County agreed to use three seats to represent the three surrounding Ohio counties. We recently publicly advertised those board seats for citizens from each county to apply to join the SORTA board.

As the elected representatives of those counties, you know your citizens and your counties’ priorities best. If you know of someone who is interested, knowledgeable of transportation issues, and would dutifully represent your county on our board, please direct them to submit an online application and any references they may wish to list. Interested residents can find the application at http://www.hamiltoncounty.ohio.gov (top left of the page) or for more information, call 946-4410. Please ask them to submit those applications by the end of this week.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

David Pepper
President
Hamilton County Board of Commissioners

In addition to other broad communications, four days later I specifically wrote Warren County officials again:

I really enjoyed our joint meeting earlier this week, and appreciate your leadership in putting it together.

I wanted to be sure to communicate to you directly about the upcoming appointment to our SORTA Board we are making. As you no doubt have seen, we will be making an appointment of someone to occupy the “Warren County seat” that will be part of our new, more regional board.

Please encourage any citizens, officials or others you feel would represent Warren County well, and are knowledgeable of transportation issues, to apply to be part of the board. They can send in an application by going to the following website: http://www.hamiltoncountyohio.gov/boards_commissions/forms/application.asp.

If you have any questions, give me a call at 946-4410.

Thanks, and see you soon.

David

Sharing Services: A Case Study

2009-04-10T13:47:00.001-07:00

We talk all the time about the need to share and consolidate services in order to save taxpayer dollars and deliver better service, and we recently implemented this philosophy in the critical area of tourism.

As the Enquirer outlined online today, we will soon be consolidating from two convention and visitors bureaus, to one. The merger frees up hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and also allows us to have a unified strategy for marketing all of our county's assets, hotels and tourism attractions. In the long run, it should also bring more exposure to our Northern County hotels, because of the much broader reach and scope of the main Convention and Visitors Bureau's marketing efforts.

Taxpayers want to see us do more with less, and want to see us reduce redundancy and consolidate services where possible. In this important area, we've taken a step in the right direction along those lines.

An Uplifting Morning: Honoring Some "Stars"

2009-04-09T05:57:00.001-07:00

(Photo from the Enquirer blog)

Yesterday, at the beginning of our County Commission meeting, we recognized a number of up and coming African Americal professionals in our community for being Leaders of the Future. It's called the "Reaching for the Stars" program, and we now honor them every year.

I've got to say, it was an unbelievably impressive group of people who are dedicating their education, their passion and their talent to improve our community in so many different ways. I'm so glad they all are choosing our County and region as the place to call home.

As Commissioner Portune and I both said yesterday, with talent like this in our community, our future indeed looks bright.

Queensgate (IV): Time To Move Forward

2009-04-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

In Part I, I described the great opportunity presented by the Queensgate Terminals.

In Part II, I described the blatant "taking" of property rights and very expensive litigation that has kept it from happening, and could cost City taxpayers millions.

And in Part III, I tried to show that good views and high property values can coexist with a new terminal. They do in other parts of town.

But despite what I said in Part III, this is not even a simple up or down decision on whether this project can coexist with the community. This is not a question about a variance, or a new zoning proposal, and getting public input before deciding on a proposed change. And this is not a question where we are being asked to subsidize something with City or County funds.

Instead, those asking the City to continue to stand in the way of this project are asking the City Council, the City, and all City taxpayers, to continue to stand by, defend, and ultimately foot the bill for, completely inappropriate government actions that will likely cost millions.

And City Councilmembers who continue to stand against the project, too, are essentially standing in defense of this inappropriate government action (even though, like the Mayor, many weren't there when it happened). They too will ultimately be asking all taxpayers to foot the bill for this stance.

Respectfully, I think it’s far too much to ask.

In my judgment, the benefits of moving forward to the city, county and state dramatically, overwhelmingly outweigh any costs (and those costs can be minimized). On the flip side, the costs to taxpayers of stopping the project is in the millions from the takings compensation, property upkeep and further legal action alone, and far more in lost economic opportunity. And given the condition of the property, any benefit from that stance is hard to measure.

It's up to them, not me, but I hope the City will finally allow this strategic opportunity to move forward.

Queensgate (III): Viewing a "Working River"

2009-04-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

In Part I, I described the great opportunity of the Queensgate Terminals.

In Part II, I described the blatant "taking" of property rights and very expensive litigation that has kept it from happening, and could cost taxpayers millions.

Now, I want to talk views. Part of the reason for the City’s actions is that some neighbors in Lower and East Price Hill are concerned about replacing a cement mixing facility and old port with a new, more modern and green port. They are concerned that it will impact the quality of life, their property values, etc. (Others actually support the project).

I never like to argue with citizens about their own neighborhood. And I certainly respect their passion for their neighborhood.

But others, including City Manager Dohoney, have already pointed out that this part of Queensgate is already industrial, that there are rail lines and manufacturing sites everywhere, that those sites are in plain view already and have been for decades, and that this site itself was used for barging and mooring before. Which explains why the zoning was never an issue.

Moreover, while we’ve never had enough port capacity, it’s safe to say we’ve always had a working river, and views of a working river. All along the river, East and West, we watch barges go to and fro. We watch trains come in and out all over the region. A balance between green and some “working elements” like ports is part of being on a river, and is part of the view. And if done right, it doesn’t undermine a good quality of life, high property values, or even parks.

A good example?

Just East of Ted Berry Park . . .

Right below the very popular Eden Park overlook, one of the best river views in the region . . .

Right under high-priced homes and redeveloped and new condos all along the river in East Walnut Hills . . .

Sits a port terminal . . . with a large industrial crane in plain sight.

This terminal transfers steel, and unlike the proposed Queensgate port, is not modern, and is not green. But there it is, is nestled among some of the nicest neighborhoods, some of the highest property values, and most popular parks in the whole city—and it's smack dab in the middle of some of the nicest, most highly sought views along the whole riverfront.

And as the above pictures show, this old crane actually is far closer to, and far more directly in the view of, these locations than the Queensgate port would be.

Indeed, most of the photos are from the most popular two river view locations in Eden Park. And one is even from the newly renovated Edgecliff Condominiums, which apparently has a nice new pool (with fancy columns). See, you can spot the crane directly between the two columns.

The point is, from all these great locations, you can't miss port activity. But while my photos focused only on the port element, it is part of a much broader tableau of the entire river. So when you look out at the river from those locations, while the port is there, it's part of a much broader and interesting picture. (Just as, from the West Side, you see dozens of rail tracks in the foreground as you look at the great view of downtown.)

And so this port's nearby location has not appeared to hurt Mt. Adams, Ted Berry Park, Eden Park, the Edgecliff or other new condos, or the expensive homes of East Walnut Hills. Or their reputations (and high values) for having great river views.

Queensgate (II): Egregious City Action Could Cost Millions

2009-04-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

In Part 1, I explained the enormous opportunity presented by the Queensgate Terminal project.

And I explained that the hold-up in moving forward was neither money, nor zoning. What is the obstacle? . . . . .

The problem has been one of the most startling, indefensible cases of a government eviscerating private property rights you’ll ever see.

You see, after this property was leased for the development of this port, after the property owner and City had worked together to apply for federal funds to support the project, and after the City had previously granted permits for the project, in 2005, the City informed Queensgate Terminals that they planned to permanently cut off access from this property to any public roads (in this case, River Road). Just like that.

As Judge Painter of the Appellate Court wrote: “Here, it seems that the city proposes to landlock the 30 acres, not just legally, but actually—by making the property inaccessible from land.”

Under the law, that's called a government taking. Usually such acts breed outrage, but in this case, it hasn’t raised a stir. Still, it could prove very pricey to taxpayers.

Needless to say, this rather blatant act led to a lawsuit, and the City desperately tried to defend itself all the way through the Ohio Supreme Court, losing every step of the way (not one judge ever sided with the City's arguments). And last year, in a unanimous opinion, the Court ordered the City to begin proceedings to pay, with taxpayer dollars, the value of which they deprived Queensgate Terminals through this “taking”. The process of valuing the cost has not yet occurred (which is a good thing for taxpayers), but could be well into the millions.

You can read the cases yourself (Supreme Court case, Appellate Court case, Appellate Court case II) to see just how strongly each and every city argument was rejected. A few snippets will give a taste of it:

“When a party [city] relies on a dissent, but the majority decision is binding on us, its argument is looking bleak.”

The city’s argument “shows that lawyers who have an incentive to do so can read any case to say anything.”

“Again, the city cites an inapposite case for a goofy proposition.”

Bottom line: Government can not simply cut off access to private property. And if it does, it has to pay the cost. So in this case, in stopping a project that has an enormous economic impact for our region, the City and its taxpayers are now on the hook for potentially millions of dollars because its actions were such an abuse of government power.

But that’s not all. There’s another unseemly step the City took. At about the time this case was at the Supreme Court, the City apparently reached a settlement with Queensgate Terminals. The agreement was that the City would purchase the land themselves from the original owner, then lease it to Queensgate Terminals to build and operate the port.

But once they acquired the land—the City refused to follow through on leasing it as they had agreed to! I needn’t tell you that violating an agreement in such a way opens the City up to even more liability—in addition to now shouldering the costs of maintaining the property they own, plus the cost of the "taking".

So today, this potentially enormous project sits motionless. The City owns it, and won’t lease it as it agreed to do in a legal settlement. And the only reason it hasn’t moved forward previously has nothing to do with money or zoning. Rather, it’s because the City egregiously violated the rights of the owners by inappropriately and arbitrarily cutting off all access of the property to public rights of way.

Rather than generating millions of dollars, many new jobs and new community investments if and when the project moves forward, the City’s actions are likely to cost taxpayers millions.

Queensgate: An Opportunity Too Big To Pass Up

2009-04-04T12:57:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week, a small story ran in the Enquirer about an issue I believe has huge economic implications, regionally and long-term.

Unfortunately, it has only been treated as a local neighborhood issue, when I believe it instead represents a unifying and ENORMOUS economic opportunity for the City, County, region and southern Ohio. It's an issue all citizens should know about, and all citizens should weigh in on. And the time to weigh in is now.

I wrote about the general issue of freight infrastructure several weeks back. Simply stated, improving our ability to ship goods by river and rail in and out of our region is one of the keys to competing effectively in the 21st century. Jobs and businesses will be located in places that have easy and low cost global access. And using rail and river provides a far cheaper, far greener approach than trucks on roads.

And, because we happen to be 1) located on a river that doesn't freeze, 2) tied to a number of rail lines, and 3) within 450-500 miles of half of the country's manufacturing and population, our region is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the rapidly growing demand for rail and river transportation options--particularly as the coastal ports are already at or above capacity, and busiensses want to be able to ship products across the world.

The Queensgate Port Opportunity

This means we need to do all we can to develop intermodal, river-rail connections where they make sense. For a region which is ideally positioned to take advantage of this 21st century opportunity, we are woefully underserved when it comes to such connections, and failing to take advantage of a great strategic strength.

But we have an opportunity to change that.

It is a project called Queensgate Terminals—an old barge and mooring site that recently housed cement mixing operations. As its name suggests, the site is located along the Queensgate bank of the river in an area that is already intensely industrial/warehouse.

Several years ago, a private entity (Queensgate Terminals) leased the site, with a plan to develop this location into a compact and modern port terminal operation. Once developed, the terminal will connect to a rail line that takes goods directly to a large distribution center in Fayette County, near Wilmington, Ohio. So goods would be shipped from all over the world, up the Ohio River (via the Port of New Orleans), to the Cincinnati port, hoisted onto a railcar at Queensgate, then transported over rail to the Fayette County distribution center, and then shipped across the entire midwest and heartland of the country. And goods could be shipped out to the world from the Midwest via the same route.

And all along the way, jobs would be created. Jobs at the port. Jobs on the rail line. And many jobs at the distribution center (Wilmington, needless to say, badly needs those jobs).

But more fundamentally, the jobs will come long-term because this infrastructure will provide the global, green and cost-effective access to the global stream of commerce that all manufacturers are looking for to be competitive. They want to locate in places where such access exists.

Two other benefits:

1) for each container that flows through the port, a local "tariff" will be collected that will be invested back into the local communities nearby--Lower Price Hill, East Price Hill, etc. These revenues will provide for revitalization and other investments that would otherwise never be made in these communities, at this scale, from the City's general fund (which must be divided among 52 neighborhodos).

2) the plan is to develop the port to be "green"--utilizing solar power, accompanied by green/trees, and using modern technology to keep its operations far quieter and less intense in its use of energy than older facilities.

(A good summary of the project and its benefits can be found here.)

Usually, the big question now would be: sounds great--but who's gonna pay for it?

Not us. Seeing this as a 21st century opportunity, the private sector is willing to shoulder much of the risk of this endeavor. And because of the enormous job implications for Southwest Ohio, the state has signaled interest in also supporting the development of this key 21st century infrastructure, using state and federal funds. The City and County don’t have to pay a dime—we only receive new revenues from the increased economic activity.

And of course, the other big question: sounds great, but there's got to be a zoning problem?

Nope. The zoning of the site already allows for barge and train loading and unloading and bulk material storage, handling, and distribution.

Overall, then, this is an enormous win for the City, County, region and state, and the obstacles to moving forward would seem comparatively low.

So what's the problem, if it's not money or zoning?

Stay tuned for part II.

Stimulus Part II: Supporting Public Safety

2009-04-04T05:22:00.001-07:00

In addition to receiving a large amount of stimulus dollars for transportation projects and the Banks, County leadership worked hard over the last week to ensure that we also use stimulus dollars to improve public safety.

A story in today's Enquirer touched on what we're doing. A Department of Justice grant allocation will provide about $2.4 million to be split between the County and the City (thanks to the Mayor and Manager, we were able to hammer out an equitable split), and a number of other smaller grants for cities and townships in our County.

This Friday, we finalized our request for the $1.2M. Needless to say, we dedicated the funds to assist with the jailspace problem:

- We will acquire (75) additional electronic monitoring units, as well as hire back three deputies who are needed to oversee the EMU units. Better yet, these will be GPS-based EMUs, which are far more useful, and also help alleviate jail overcrowding. (The older type of EMUs have to be tied to home (land-line) phones--and require days of delay to install a home line so a person can be monitored. Not good.)

Overall, these new EMUs are a tool that give judges additional jailspace by allowing for home detention--some "EMU inmates" would otherwise need to be locked up pending trial, and for other types of inmates and crimes,including probation violations, an EMU can be how they serve a sentence. For more information, go here.

- We will bolster our pretrial service division, which plays a key role in reducing recidivism and pinpointing non-violent offenders who are approriate for treatment/diversion--preserving needed jailspace and ensuring more high-risk offenders are never released.

- We are investing in a real-time, web-based jail information system, so each judge, and the courthouse generally, can monitor the status of who's in jail, the status of each inmate (pretrial or sentenced), etc. This is the type of investment that will greatly improve the management of our corrections system, and should be a great help to judges.

And the best part . . . we are using the money to fund each of these important additions for the next three years.

Once again, our goal is to use stimulus dollars on our priorities.

CityBeat Recognizes PepTalk -- "Best Transparency"

2009-04-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled yesterday to have this blog recognized by City Beat for providing transparent government:

"BEST TRANSPARENCY BY A PUBLIC OFFICIAL: Perhaps inspired by Barack Obama’s incredibly effective use of the Internet during his presidential campaign, Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper launched his own blog in July, called PepTalk (www.cincypeptalk.blogspot.com). Pepper’s blogging allows him to expound on the details of decisions by county commissioners in a substantive way that space-constrained media like newspapers make difficult. More interestingly, he doesn’t shy away from criticism like a lot of elected officials on the Web; he lets everyone have their say as long as they don’t delve into personal insults."

The major reason I wanted to start this blog was because the County has so much it can do, and is doing, to move our community forward--but so much of that work is lost behind a few issues that get all the attention. I'm glad CityBeat, at least, thinks that it has helped shed light on so many of other other issues.

Protecting Our Streams

2009-04-01T09:26:00.001-07:00

Today we announced public hearings to consider a big step forward on an important issue: cleaning up our streams.

Through the work of the Stormwater Committee (which I used to be a part of until early this year), we are proposing a "Stream Corridor Protection" system that ensures that we have a system in place that minimizes the amount of pollution that enters streams, and then rivers, by "runoff" from rain and stormwater.

Many people don't realize that one of the biggest sources of polluted streams and rivers is all the soil, dirt, chemicals and other pollutants that get picked up by "runoff" from rain and stormwater--particularly as that water flows over parking lots, construction sites, roads and other paved surfaces directly into our streams, along with all sorts of pollutants it has accumulated. The more the runoff, the more polluted our streams and rivers get. The US EPA has a good explanation of this here.

Figuring out ways to slow that runoff, and protect those streams from all that pollution is not just the right thing to do to protect these invaluable natural resources--this has also become an increasing concern of the EPA, which is requiring jurisdictions like our's to do something about it.

So we are. On the Stormwater Committee, we worked hard to create a balance that respected the rights of property owners, but also created a clear set of rules to protect our streams and stream corridors from runoff and pollution. After much debate, we garnered a unanimous vote (mine included) of the Stormwater Committee, and this issue is now before the County Commission for several public hearings before we vote later in April.

For more information on this whole issue, the Stormwater District has a nice brochure here.

A Letter to Cincinnati, 2109

2009-03-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today, I had the honor of participating in the burying of a time capsule at the Museum Center to be opened in 100 years. I also submitted a letter in the time capsule to the citizens of our region in 2109. It was a very interesting task, but also a great reminder of how much work we all have to do to ensure that we leave this world and this community better than it was when he inherited it.

For those interested, here's what I wrote . . . (warning -- it's pretty long).

March 29, 2009

Dear Cincinnatians of 2109:

Greetings from 2009. I write this at what is a historic time for our country.

Just two months ago, the nation swore in President Barack Obama, our first African American President. To win that election, he defeated (in the Democratic primary) Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who would have been the country’s first female president. For us, the prospect that the President would either be a woman or an African American made it one of the most momentous elections in our nation’s history. By 2109, I am assuming such outcomes are far less dramatic.

As you read this, I can only hope that we have left you a community and country that is even better and stronger than the one we inherited from our forbears. But as I write this, there are many challenges we must address if we are to succeed.

Economically, we are facing short- and long-term challenges. Short-term, we are experiencing economic difficulties (the deep 2008-2009 recession) that I am confident we will get through if we work hard and learn from our mistakes . But long-term, we are seeing great competition from countries such as India and China, and will have to work hard, and work very smart, to maintain the economic preeminence and high standard of living this country has become accustomed to. You will know better than we if we made the right strategic decisions—to invest in education, technology, infrastructure, transportation, new energy alternatives, worker training and other key priorities—to position ourselves to succeed over the next 100 years.

In recent years, we have also begun to understand the damage many of our past (and current) practices and bad habits have done to our planet. Most citizens are greatly concerned about a trend in recent years of “global warming,” and the widespread and damaging effect it might have if it continues, both on human beings and where we live today, as well as the entire planet and its millions of species. We are struggling to come up with widescale solutions and global cooperation to solve these climate challenges. But we know we must.

One of the key solutions is exploring ways we can provide and use energy without so heavily relying on oil from other countries or energy sources that contribute to global warming and pollute our air. Specifically, we are looking to see if we might do a better job using solar power, wind, hydropower, biomass, and other forms of renewable and clean energy to fuel all the activities we have grown accustomed to. We are also looking into all sorts of ways to travel, live, and conduct business that demand less energy, and create less negative impacts on our environment. Indeed, many governments such as Cincinnati and Hamilton County have recently passed mandates to reduce our “carbon footprint” through 2050. These will require great changes in how we do things in 2009.

Hopefully by 2109, these solutions are in full effect. Even better, I can only hope that they were the first generation of all sorts of other solutions we couldn’t even imagine today—solutions that have allowed our country to thrive economically without damaging our environment and climate any further. (And hopefully as you read this, the temperature of Cincinnati generally varies between 25 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with anything over 90 seeming rare and very hot. That’s how it is today, and it’s quite comfortable.)

Another major challenge is the state of relations among the world’s countries, religions and ethnic groups. As there has always been, there remains a lot of tension among nations, cultures and religions—particularly at the extremes. But unlike in the past, more and more nations are developing weapons, or trying to, that could wipe out entire cities and regions at once. The United States and the world have a lot of work to do to address these threats and tensions.

While there are many challenges, in other areas, there is also great excitement and progress being made. Over the last several decades, the world has gotten a lot smaller due to new technologies and networks. Rapid development of the computer, the dawn of the internet, cellphones, instant messaging, social networking webpages (more recently), and other changes in recent decades and years have allowed us to communicate quickly, across our planet, in ways few could have imagined even 20 to 30 years ago. They are also having major consequences on how we used to do things—more people, for instance, are reading books and newspapers on computers and smaller hand-held devices, as opposed to paper versions. As fast as these technologies have developed in the past 10 years, we can only imagine what they will be like in 2109. In fact, most of the change that will take place is well beyond our imagination.

Here in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, our view is that those regions that best position themselves to take advantage of these long-term trends will see great opportunity as communities and for individuals. But that those that do not will likely become the “ghost towns” of the future.

Needless to say, we are doing our best to position ourselves to benefit from these new opportunities. It is a tough global competition these days, and our ability to compete will stem directly from our success in 1) creating a quality of life where people and families want to live (this is only getting more important over time), 2) an infrastructure, technology, private sector, and education system that allows us to most effectively compete in this global economy, and 3) a system of government that can effectively help us tackle all these challenges successfully and efficiently. (And my guess is that our forms of government will be dramatically different by 2109 in order to help us accomplish this).

In closing, my hope is that despite all the changes, even in one hundred years, some great local traditions that have withstood the test of time remain unchanged.

Among them, I trust that Graeter’s ice cream (started in 1870) will have grown into a worldwide chain of the best-tasting ice cream on the planet, still based in Cincinnati, and into its 10th generation of leadership.

I am confident that our largest local company, Procter & Gamble, will be in its 272nd year of business, producing and sending across the world products that we can not even imagine today.

I imagine that the friendly rivalry between Cincinnati’s West Side and East side will continue as it has for generations, and only hope we have discovered new and better ways to get across town by then.

And I fully anticipate that Cincinnati will soon open the 240th season of Cincinnati Reds baseball, and we will continue to proudly hold ourselves out as the birthplace of professional baseball all those years ago. Who knows, maybe the Reds will be taking on Tokyo on Opening Day, 2109.

And on a more serious note, I can only hope that the citizens of 2109, when attending Reds’ baseball games and other public events, still stand and sing our National Anthem, hand over heart, with the same national pride we do now. And that you will do so because in all the years between when I write this and when you read this, through thick and thin, we as a nation have continued to live up to our nation’s founding principles of freedom, equality and opportunity for all.

Sincerely,

David Pepper
President
Hamilton County, Board of County Commissioners

Dealing with Jail Overcrowding

2009-03-28T10:25:00.001-07:00

There are many things we are working on to try to deal with the safety and jail overcrowding problem amid a tough budget. I've talked about many of them at this blog. Examples include:

Find ways to get homeless people in shelters and transitional housing, as opposed to jail
Identify veterans that can be appropriately diverted and receive treatment, paid for by benefits they earned through their service.
Get citizens with mental illnesses and substance abuse the treatment they need, and out of the revolving door of the jail.
Improve and reform processes so we move cases more quickly, and house fewer felons waiting for trial.
Use more electronic monitoring units, and more fully utilize the River City (state-funded) facility.
Use pretrial services to do "reentry planning" to reduce recidivism.
Use federal gun laws (Project Disarm) to get the worst offenders into the federal system.

Even in our tight budget, we are working on all these, and many more solutions. They are all important steps.

But even with all these solutions being pursued, there remains a jailspace crunch. Specifically, with a great percentage of jail beds being taken up by accused felons waiting for trial (who, if convicted, will go to the state penitentiary), there are very few spaces left for convicted criminals (misdemeanants) to serve any sentence at all. (Note: Misdemeanor sentences are served at the county jails, while felony sentences are serves at state penitentiaries). And nothing more frustrates judges, police officers or citizens than convicted criminals walking away from sentences because there's no room at the inn.

Which is why, after discussions with Campbell County officials, I offered a plan to the City that was reported in the Enquirer today. Campbell County is willing to house convicted misdemeanants at a far lower rate (under $44 per bed ber day) than is available in Ohio. They are willing to pay to transport these offenders to and from our court. And unlike past agreements, there is no "guaranteed minimum" of beds that must be paid for. So the City would only pay for the beds it uses.

But the point is, through the Campbell County option, the City (or any municipality) could guarantee itself a number of beds for convicted misdemeanants (arrested through their police agency) to actually serve their time.

My role has been simply to facilitate another option. It will up to each jurisdiction to determine if it's worth taking advantage of.

A Real Boost: County Lands $45M+ in Stimulus

2009-03-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today we received some fantastic news.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced his priority transportation projects to be funded by Federal Recovery Act Resources (aka “The Stimulus”). In that announcement, Cincinnati and Hamilton County are slated to receive a total investment of $23.2 million in stimulus funds for the Banks Project. We also received an additional $25 million for other key transportation priorities.

In our stimulus request, we chose to be strategic, and the City and County worked in close collaboration —and we’re thrilled this approach received so much support from the Governor. Overall, we received more than almost all other counties and regions in Ohio.

The result of these investments will be job creation and economic stimulus in the short run, and the transformation of our Riverfront in the long run.

Little Known Fact: Hamilton County Taxes Lower Than Our Peers

2009-03-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes politics can get in the way of some basic facts. And sometimes politicians don't even look at the facts before they start arguing.

As we try to compete for jobs and businesses in Hamilton County, one fact that always gets bandied about is our rate of taxes. Is it high? Is it low? Especially around property taxes, this has been a highly contested question.

Well, a recent Forbes survey studied property taxes (as a percentage of income) across the state and country, and the results might surprise you.

Of Ohio's six largest urban counties (400,000 people and up), Hamilton County had the lowest property tax, as a percentage of income, in the state. We were 26% lower than Cuyahoga County, 16% lower than Franklin County and 8.5% lower than Summit County.

Of Ohio's 10 largest counties (250,000 and up), we were tied for the third lowest property tax.

Again, these are the results of Forbes research, and a nonpartisan group called the Tax Foundation--not me or Hamilton County.

In addition to this, few people realize that our sales tax is also relatively low.

Of the top 6 urban Ohio counties, we are tied for the lowest sales tax with Summit County. We are 16.5% lower than Cuyahoga County, 7% less than Montgomery County and 4% less than Franklin County. (And don't forget, .5% of our sales tax goes for stadiums, etc., while most of these other Counties' taxes go directly to their governments).

This data does not suggest we should not be tax sensitive. We definitely should be, especially at this challenging economic time for families and businesses.

But what we should also do is realize that, as we compete for jobs and businesses to come our way, we actually have a pretty competitive tax burden when we compare ourselves to the other major counties in Ohio.

UPDATE: Here's a great example of the misinformation that this study rebuts. Americans for Prosperity recently wrote that "Hamilton County . . . has the 2nd highest county property taxes in Ohio." I believe they got that from local sources--looks from this website that then-Commissioner DeWine wrote the same in an editorial. Problem is, it's totally false.

Making Transportation Truly Regional

2009-03-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today, the Commission approved three new appointees to the Board of the newly reformed Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). These appointments are historic because they represent the first time this transportation board has had true, regional representation--representing all four Ohio counties from the region.

Equally importantly, the three individuals we appointed will greatly enhance the board because of their personal experience, background, and interest in the area of regional transportation.

To represent Clermont County on the SORTA Board, we selected Ed Humphrey, the President of the Clermont County Board of County Commissioners, who has a strong interest in regional transportation. To represent Butler County, we selected Liberty Township Trustee Christine Matacic, who has been a long-time leader at OKI, our regional transportation planning organization. And to represent Warren County, we selected Gregg Hothem, a private realtor and former developer who also is a member of the Warren County Planning Commission, and an appointee to the Loveland Finance Committee.

These individuals will not only represent their counties well, but they will help lead us into a far more regional approach to public transportation in the coming years.

Community Tour #2: Forest Park

2009-03-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

We had an incredibly substantive discussion last night in Forest Park, for our second "community tour" meeting of the year.

The Mayor (Chuck Johnson), City Manager, Vice Mayors and Councilmembers put a lot of time into a presentation that highlighted their priorities of economic development, infrastructure, blighted and foreclosed properties, and public safety.

Needless to say, any regular reader of this blog knows that those priorities align directly with the County's priorities. While we don't have the resources to address these issues as much as we'd like, we look forward to working with Forest Park leaders and other communities to take on these very challenges, and we will follow up on many of their concrete suggestions.

Thanks to Forest Park leaders and citizens for making last night's meeting such a successful and productive session.

Brownfields, Infrastructure and Public Safety

2009-03-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

We had a busy week last week--and today the Enquirer posted stories on three items we worked on.

First, we have finalized a list of brownfield revitalization projects for the County, and we are looking for resources to do this work through both stimulus funds and other opportunities. This is a priority for me, because turning these locations into development-ready sites is a critical step to better compete with "greenfields" in other counties for new and expanding businesses. If we don't have good locations, we won't drive the business and job growth we need within the County.

Second, the Enquirer provided nice updates on the Project Disarm and road improvement work I also discussed last week on this blog.

A Key to Our 21st Century Economy: Freight Infrastructure

2009-03-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

One of the most important big-picture challenges, and opportunities, for our regional economy is the need to improve our freight transportation infrastructure. It's not talked about as much as other issues, but it definitely should be. Here's why.

In this 21st century global economy, few things will be more important for any region than access to the global stream of freight commerce. Low-cost, reliable and rapid access will ensure companies will locate and expand here over the long run--which also assures a growing number of jobs. On the other hand, poor access and poor infrastructure will be the fastest way to become an economic ghost town.

Hamilton County, and the region--located on the Ohio, with major rail infrastructure in our midst, and about a day's drive to half of the nation's population and manufacturing capacity--is well positioned to be a major center of access and transportation in the global economy.

And if we make the right investments, we can also help the environment--because rail and river freight transportation options not only cost less, but are far better for the environment than road/trucks. Making the right investments can literally take trucks off the road.

But if we are truly going to compete, there's definitely a lot of work to do to go from where we are now to where we need to be.

In 2009 and beyond, you'll hear the County and region talk a lot about the need to upgrade our freight infrastrucure, including a lot of emphasis on rail, river and intermodal freight. OKI, our regional transportation planning organizations, has put together a nice video explaining this issue very comprehensively. For those interested, it's worth watching.

More to come.

My Talented Sister

2009-03-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

This week, there was a great article on my sister, who lives in Boone, North Carolina, and among other talents, is a singer/songwriter and a student of Appalachian music and culture.

Susie's a great example of someone pursuing her passion, and we're all proud of her great work.

Meals on Wheels for a Day

2009-03-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

I took a short timeout today to get a better sense of one of the many services we provide for our seniors in Hamilton County -- Meals on Wheels. I did this as part of "March for Meals" week, to draw attention to this critical service, and the broader issue of senior hunger. I and a number of other elected officials agreed to take part in some meal deliveries.

Today, I joined a driver, Steve Martin, a retired plumber, on his regular route, and we visited four seniors under the program. In addition to delivering meals, we had a pleasant chat with each client. It's clear that as much as the meal itself, the face-to-face checking in is also a critical part of the service.

I want to thank Steve, and Wesley Community Services, funded by the Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio, for allowing me to join their route today.

Investing Millions in Roads, Jobs

2009-03-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today, we were excited to approve the County's 2009 Municipal Road Fund Program, which effectively leads to more than $100 million in investment throughout Hamilton County in cities, villages and townships. The County’s investment of $2,049,662.00 is leveraged 50 times over by construction in the targeted areas.

This investment serves as our own local stimulus package and economic primer: it focuses directly on infrastructure, puts people to work on projects across the county, and creates safer, better roads.

As always, the County Engineer has leveraged a County investment with far more outside dollars invested to make all these projects happen.

The Municipal Road Fund Projects includes eleven projects in ten municipalities: Cincinnati; Addyston, Deer Park; Golf Manor; Harrison; Lockland; Madeira; Newtown; Norwood; and Springdale. For the street names, please see attached Resolution.

All Municipalities in Hamilton County are eligible to apply for this fund with the Hamilton County Engineer.

Sheer Greed

2009-03-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

At a time where many companies and most governments, like our's, are asking for voluntary furloughs and having to impose even worse decisions, this AIG bonus issue is truly an outrage. There are many questions, and few good answers.

No doubt, we must have far better government oversight and accountability. But the most galling part to me is the sheer, shameful greed of individuals who would insist on and then accept such outrageous bonuses for their clearly calamitous work in 2008. Makes it clear just how out of touch, out of control, and money hungry, parts of our financial world have become.

Outrageous, and scary.

Unsung Heroes: Those Who Help Our Seniors

2009-03-17T18:30:00.001-07:00

Tonight, at the annual Senior Services Dinner, I had the great honor of helping congratulate and thank some of our communities' greatest, but most unsung, heroes.

They are the caregivers and organizations that support the many citizens of our community who are aging, and who need some extra assistance to maintain the independent living situation they desire.

First, I honored a senior citizen herself who has, since retiring as a nurse, volunteered tirelessly to care for, screen, counsel and support other seniors--along with recruiting other nurses to do the same.

Then I presented the Outstanding Caregiver Award to a widower who lovingly cared for his wife in every way until the day she passed away, followed by another Outstanding Caregiver who, as a home health aide, has touched so many lives through her passionate, sensitive and respectful approach.

I then recognized Amelia Middle School students for putting together a Seniors Fair for seniors in their community, which featured dancing, singing, informational booths, and food.

And then I recognized Clermont County Communications Director Cathy Lehr and her team, for rallying support behind Clermont County's "adopt a senior" program.

Thanks and congratulations to all the award winners. It was a wonderful evening.

I've mentioned it before on this blog, but one of the most important things this County and its taxpayers do is provide support for the Elderly Services Levy, administered by the Council on Aging. The programs these funds pay for not only make the difference in keeping citizens living independently, as they overwhelmingly prefer, but it often keeps couples and families together as well. (Incidentally, the cost of these services is far less than the cost of nursing home care). No wonder almost 70% of voters supported the levy in 2007.

For more information on these services, go here.

Project Disarm: Going "Federal" on the Most Violent Offenders

2009-03-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Today we received an update on a proactive law enforcement strategy that we initiated when I first got to the Commission in 2007. It's called Project Disarm, and it drops the "hammer" on the worst of the worst violent offenders in our County by seeking federal prosecution for federal gun and other charges.

The underlying purpose is to aggressively seek "federal time" for those criminals who, among other crimes, are felons in possession of a weapon (weapons "under disability"), which is a federal crime requiring long sentences. This has a triple benefit: maximum time for the most dangerous criminals and gang members in our community; transferral to the federal system for those sentences (ie. out of our overcrowded and costly county and state systems); and maximum deterrence of committing these crimes in the first place.

I was a big proponent of this approach when I was at the City, and committed to supporting it as much as possible once I got to the County. So in 2007, we added dollars to fund its expansion in the County.

Well, today's report showed marked progress:

The prosecutor's office, with an additional prosecutor and an additional investigator, has taken the project countywide, and has now worked with police departments and prosecuted criminals from Elmwood Place, to Springfield Township, and a number of others.
The number of cases has more than doubled since we started funding the expanded approach--from 12 in 2005, 25 in 2006, 30 in 2007 (transition to the expanded approach), and 51 in 2008.
The average sentence of those criminals who are placed under the "Project Disarm" strategy is 87 months! Far longer than what they would have seen in the state system
The "hammer" of Project Disarm has provided other benefits, including: close cooperation with the highly successful CIRV initiative of the City of Cincinnati, the dismantling of several violent street gangs, and the development of significant evidence that has helped solve over 30 homicides, as well as other firearms and narcotics cases (ie. knowing a long sentence is likely, those who face such charges under Project Disarm have given up far more information than they otherwise would have).

In short, this has been a great success, which explains why we have kept funding Project Disarm despite our tough budgets.

Thanks to all, particularly those in the Prosecutor's Office and the United States Attorney's Office, who have helped make it a success.

A Glimmer of Hope?

2009-03-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

At a time where most economic news is not just bad, but VERY bad, I got an email from our budget office yesterday that gave a faint glimmer of hope.

When we finalized our budget for the year, we projected 4% declines in sales tax each of the first four months, and 2% declines each of the final eight months. Needless to say, that's a pretty conservative set of assumptions, and led to a tough budget. But being disciplined and realistic was necessary. How have things played out since?

In January, sales tax was off 3.28%--not good, but at least better than our four percent projection.

In February (reflecting the beginning of the holiday season--November sales), it was off 6.2%! Very scary. If that were to continue (along with other revenues that are declining), we will need to make major mid-year cuts

So we've been waiting anxiously for our March numbers. March reflects December sales--which because of the holidays, is our largest month. (Up to 33%, or several million dollars more, than the typical months). Another 6% hit or more would be devastating to our assumptions.

Well, the number came in yesterday . . . . . . and it was $6,946,346. This represented a 2.65% reduction from 2008. A decline, but a nice directional turnaround from February, and a healthy amount above our projection. And cumulatively, after three months, we remain just ahead of our projected 4% decline. (Although again, other sources of revenue remain off in that time).

While we can not spend dollars assuming anything but the most convervative scenarios, let's hope that this blip in the right direction was not an anomaly, but the beginning of a trend.

Follow-up on Public Safety

2009-03-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

We had a long discussion today on public safety, and the recent, horrific murder of Esme Kenney. While it does not appear that the County was directly involved, all of us in government have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it, and ensure that this never happens again in our community, and that our citizens--and children in particular--are safe.

A couple steps we will be taking:

1. Prosecutor Joe Deters and I talked, and in addition to prosecuting the case, his office will be conducting an analaysis of each stage the alleged defendant took in the criminal justice process. This will examine which and when critical mistakes were made to allow such a dangerous person to be on the street. We will then work to ensure such mistakes can and do not happen again.

2. Todd Portune is working on a letter that will push our state leaders to require a far more stringent chain of custody requirement for dangerous offenders such as this, so they do not fall through the cracks.

3. City Council has drafted a letter to the Governor asking that the VOA Pogue Center be shut down. From what we know so far, I agree with them. I understand the Enquirer's caution not to react hastily or short-sightedly. And generally, I'd rather have predators such as this monitored in a well-run facility rather than roaming the streets if/when they have completed their sentence. (Although I think we should have NO facilities "importing" offenders from outside the County, and have previously made that clear).

But some mistakes are so egregious, so colossal, display such bad judgment, and carry such horrific consequences, that there must be true accountability. In my book, when the consequences are clearly so potentially dangerous, failing to release someone who had this egregious history and high-risk potential in a way that guarantees a smooth and safe handoff is one of those mistakes. Just like some acts are "fireable" offenses, the apparent failure here is the same. And imposing real accountability in this case will send a loud and clear message to other such facilities that breakdowns such as this are beyond the pale. Such accountability may be the best way to ensure a mistake like this never happens again.

4. Whether or not they were directly involved, all governments in the corrections/custody business must ensure that they have a system that guarantees that when a dangerous predator such as this is in their custody, they will never release them, knowingly (of course) or even unintentionally. It's no secret that after the failure of our Comprehensive Safety Plan, the Sheriff must unfortunately conduct "stationhouse releases"--which he has had to do at various times over the years. We must ensure that when the Sheriff does release offenders through this process, there is a risk assessment done, and an examination of their criminal history, before release (as opposed to just looking at the most recent criminal charge, which can conceal a far more dangerous background and potential). We must apply the same rigorous release standards across the board (to government and non-profit facilities alike).

5. Finally, a story over the weekend highlighted the shortage of electronic monitoring units in our county system. These EMUs can play a very positive role in relieving jail overcrowding, and reduce the number of releases. We will look to use stimulus dollars to both purchase new EMU units, and to pay staff sufficient to monitor and manage those new units. I have also asked several councilmembers to have the City consider doing the same.

A Heart-Wrenching Tragedy; A Massive Breakdown

2009-03-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

The brutal and horrific murder over the weekend of Esme Kenney as she jogged in her own neighborhood has made all of us sick and deeply sad since we heard the news. Our prayers go out to her family, friends and classmates as they all grieve and come to grips with this terrible event. I know parents across our community are especially unnerved by this horrible incident, as am I.

The family has asked that people make a donation in Esme’s name to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at http://www.missingkids.com/. Also, anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.

While the accused killer is innocent until proven guilty in the court of law, if it turns out that he did do what he is charged with, it will represent a massive breakdown in a system that is supposed to protect citizens, and in children in particular, from predators, but clearly failed to do so.

How a man with his record of being an aggressive predator (and killer) was allowed to get out of the state system only six months after being convicted of soliciting and exposing himself to a 13-year old (in 1997), and thereafter to slip through the cracks of the parole/rehabilitation system that is supposed to monitor predators such as him, is something that must be investigated, understood and responded to immediately.

Even with the overcrowded County jail, our County court and criminal justice system had the good sense to keep him locked up for the entire pre-trial period for his 2007 offense. They clearly knew he was an imminent danger who should not be allowed in the community. Why, after the County handed him off to the state to serve his felony sentence, the "system" and all the money invested in it couldn't figure out that this person was a ticking time bomb, and treat him accordingly, is incomprehensible.

Every stage of this predator's journey through the courts, jails, parole and "rehabilitation" process should be scrutinized to see how the "system" failed, and how it must be immediately fixed.

Impressive Interest in Council '09 Race

2009-03-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

I must say, it's exciting and refreshing to see so many people interested in running for City Council.

When I first started running in 2000, the first question I often got was: why in the world would you want to do that? And I always thought that was part of the problem--if service to our City through elected office was held in such low esteem, you wouldn't expect much from those who serve. And as a result, you wouldn't get much.

That seems to have changed. In recent months, I have met with a variety of impressive and talented individuals, with very interesting backgrounds and experiences, who are planning to run for Council this year. Just today, both Laure Quinlivan and Nicholas Hollan have made clear they plan to run. A month ago, Tony Fischer--an Iraq war veteran--entered the race.

And just yesterday, I met with another very intriguing candidate who will soon announce. I won't blow his cover.

While there will be quite a squeeze come November, I think it's very good news for the City that a new wave of public servants, from all walks of life and parts of the City, is stepping up to help lead the City and this region forward.

Here's the Scoop: Graeter's to Expand in City/County

2009-03-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled to join City leaders and Rich Graeter at a press conference today to announce the expansion of Graeter's Ice Cream into a new headquarters and ice cream manufacturing and distribution facility in the City of Cincinnati. (A video clip is here.)

This is great news from an iconic Cincinnati company and brand. They plan to sell more of their ice cream in stores across this country, and this new building will be the centerpiece of that expanded effort. They also are tentatively planning to include a "visitor center" for citizens to watch the ice cream being made and packaged--which is a pretty neat process to watch.

It's no secret that regional neighbors of our's were working hard to seize this new opportunity from us. I for one met with Graeter's to let them know how important a company they were for our community. But the City of Cincinnati in particular stepped up and got the deal done. My thanks go to the Mayor, City Manager, and his staff (along with our state partners) for working so hard to ensure that the expansion of Graeter's into a national brand took place right here in Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

And of course, we thank and congratulate the Graeter family and company for their new growth plans--and their decision to grow right here in Cincinnati.

Finally, this is one other example of how the best way to grow your economy is to work with your own companies, large and small, to ensure that when they grow and expand, they do so right here.

Renaming the Banks Project -- Your Input

2009-03-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

The Developers of what is now known as "the Banks" project are seeking community input on what the ultimate name of the district/neighborhood should be.

To take the survey, go here.

Holding Our Own

2009-03-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Ohio unemployment figures for January are out today, and while they're too high for everyone, and the trends aren't good (it went up for every county in dramatic ways), the only positive news is that out of Ohio's 88 counties, we have the 8th lowest unemployment rate.

We also have the lowest unemployment rate in the region, ahead of Warren, Butler and Clermont counties.

It's a good example of how our diverse economy remains stronger than most, and provides more protection in bad times than most counties and regions.

Let's hope that all counties do better soon--and we will do our part to ensure that Hamilton County remains among Ohio's leaders when it comes to employment.

That's a Lot of Garbage!

2009-03-02T15:23:00.001-08:00

In government today, we have to be creative, and we have to partner, to do more with less. When it comes to using inmate details to clean up our communities, that's exactly what we've done.

Today, we received a report showing that the joint Hamilton County/Cincinnati effort to use inmate "details" in communities across the County is off to a remarkable start. From August to December 2008, the details removed 237,270 pounds of garbage off neighborhood streets, and cleaned 808 total miles (further than the distance from here to New York City) in major corridors, gateways, and business districts throughout Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

And as well know, cleaning up our communities is an essential part of making them safe.

Financial support for the Partnership comes from grants totaling $120K from 3CDC, the City of Cincinnati Department of Public Services, and the Hamilton County Solid Waste District (and not the County’s general fund). The funds pay for the deputy salaries who supervise the inmates. The deputies also cite property owners who fail to follow code.

In Hamilton County, the cleanup areas include: Cheviot, Forest Park, Mt. Healthy, Lincoln Heights, Colerain, Green Township, Delhi, and Golf Manor. In Cincinnati, the areas include: West End, Westwood/Price Hill, Northside, Walnut Hills / East Walnut Hills, Avondale, Evanston, Madisonville, and Corryville / CUF and Over the Rhine.

This is a great start, and we look forward to rolling this out to other communities.

Serve on the Regional Transportation Board: Calling Clermont, Butler and Warren County Residents

2009-02-27T14:15:00.001-08:00

Hamilton County Commissioners are looking for volunteers to serve on the restructured board of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, which operates the region’s public fixed route bus system.

Recently, the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County agreed to restructure the board to make it more regional in governance, and service. This means there are three new seats—for the first time representing each of the surrounding Ohio counties, Butler, Warren and Clermont.

Citizens who live in those counties are welcome to submit applications to join the board, as well as a cover letter expressing their interest, and any references they may wish to list.

These are critical positions that will help us create a more regional transportation system for the 21st century.

Interested residents can find the application here.

Slumdog Outrage

2009-02-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed "Slumdog Millionaire" more than any movie I've seen in a long-time. I told friends and family to see it. I've downloaded the best songs from the soundtrack onto my Ipod. And I sat at home last Sunday night and cheered, loudly, for it to win every Oscar for which is nominated. It was that good, that powerful.

But outside of an incredibly well-crafted story, the best part of the movie was the amazing kids. Until today, I had no idea they were literally from the "slums" of Mumbai, because they were such great actors. Honestly, better than any of the adults. (Maybe it's because they were actually representing their real lives.) And as someone who loved the movie, I'm here to tell you that the movie would not have been the hit it was without those kids playing the roles they did, as well as they did.

Which is why I'm as outraged as anyone by the story that days after the Oscars, the kids are now back in the slums. Surely, as the movie has taken off and likely generated so many dollars for many adults involved, the kids who played such an important part should also share in the fruits of their incredible work--and be fairly compensated. Compensated at least well enough to move out of the very slums that were so haunting in the movie.

I don't think it's too much to ask for life to imitate art this one time.

(Something tells me that the collective response to this story will lead to a better result).