Congratulations Superintendent Ronan

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

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

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

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"

(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

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"

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.