Hot News!
• Tea Party leader gets grilled by NAACP membership
On today's date in The Beacon archives, we published:
•Smitherman still saying the issue is about a “streetcar” (2009)•More on Amy Goodman’s Arrest and the Struggle for a Free Media (2008)
•Journalist Amy Goodman Unlawfully Arrested At RNC (2008)
•Seizing Illegal Guns—Thinking About 2% (2007)
•Information or Advertisements? (2007)
•Nick Lachey: “I have never supported George W. Bush.” (2007)
Contact Us
v mail: (513) 685-0678
e mail: click here
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
State of the City, 2008
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Photo courtesy of here.
Last night, Mayor Mallory gave the State of the City address. Some of the items in his speech, however, beg follow up questions. This strand is meant to indicate some of those questions, while opening a space for readers to quote from and address specific aspects of Mallory’s speech, too.
(Click the cursor button at the top of the Scribd menu bar to choose the “select text” tool if you wish to copy-and-paste.)
Mallory discussed how crime has reduced in Cincinnati last year:
Our number one priority is reducing homicides, and last year we were successful in cutting the number of homicides by 22 percent. But, even one homicide is too many, and we remain committed to continuing to reduce the number of violent crimes in Cincinnati.
Our success is the result of the collaboration between my office, City Council, the Police Department, the community, other elected officials and leaders throughout the city.
Let me tell you about the successes that our partnerships have produced.
We have put more officers on the streets. We graduated 49 police officers last year, and we are hiring 80 new officers this year.
The number of calls to CrimeStoppers increased, helping to solve 41 murders, 52 felony assaults, 9 kidnappings and 57 aggravated robberies.
Cocaine seizures increased by 60% over 2006; more than 7,000 pounds of marijuana were seized; over 1,200 weapons were seized, and almost $1 million dollars was confiscated, and that is a 74% increase over 2006.
The Vortex Unit continued to aggressively pursue the most dangerous and violent individuals in our community and because of their efforts crime in Over-the-Rhine was reduced by 23%.
No where in his speech does he make any mention of the Sheriff patrols in OTR. Why not? What role, if any, did they play, and why are they being ignored?
The following passage is noteworthy, in that Mallory wishes to tout the City’s new “economic development director.” But the accomplishments are mostly about keeping old jobs, and not bringing in much new:
Last year, I told you that we were committed to running a world-class economic development department. In 2007, the City Manager conducted a nationwide search to find our new Economic Development Director, Holly Childs. We then increased the staff of that office. And now, we are systematically marketing Cincinnati locally, nationally, and internationally.
Health Insurance giant Humana chose to stay and grow in Cincinnati, keeping 529 jobs, and relocating 300 new jobs from Northern Kentucky. They also expect to add an additional 300 jobs over the next several years. And, in order to accommodate those jobs, they are building a new 250,000 square foot office tower and a 125 room hotel.
FirstGroup America is expanding their operations in Cincinnati, keeping 140 jobs here and creating 135 new jobs.
We reached an agreement with Kendle International to keep their headquarters in Carew Tower. That keeps more than 600 jobs, and creates 75 new jobs over the next three years.
In Evanston, the first phase of Keystone Parke will be completed this spring. When the $100 million dollar, green office complex is complete it will house 2,000 jobs.
In Oakley, a 300,000 square foot office complex, Midtown Centre, will break ground this year and will be home to more than 1,200 jobs and a 100 room hotel.
In Columbia Tusculum, we have also invested $1.6 million dollars in a street project, which cleared the way for the 50,000 square foot Columbia Square development.
In Avondale, working with the Uptown Consortium, we’re building a $52 million dollar development on Burnet Avenue that includes 75,000 square feet of new office space in two buildings and a 1,400 car parking garage. That complex will be the new home of the Cincinnati Herald.
Don’t get me wrong: these all sound like fine things. But the only concrete items expressed are that jobs that already exist will not be moving. The other jobs have not been created yet, and the success of office space that hasn’t been built is purely speculative.
• Share This Article! | Listen to this article |
|  |
Register
Anonymous comments are allowed, but you can create an account above to stamp your name and to avoid typing the anti-spam code.
If you are not familiar with our rules for leaving comments, click here! The Cincinnati Beacon is not responsible for the contents of any comments. Comments do not represent the views of the moderators of The Cincinnati Beacon.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
06 Feb 2008 at 08:15 am | #
Ok, my first question would be this; How many millions of tax payers dollars is the city being asked to chip in to pay for these magnificent office buildings and hotels, and for how many hundreds of jobs? Yes we do need jobs here but there has to be a better way of attracting them to Cincinnati than taking money from poor working people, closing clinics and public schools and homeless shelters, in order to pay these filthy rich moochers millions or billions of dollars to remain in Cincinnati.
Remember the stadium deal, Remember the Lazarus/Federated Department store deal, Remember The Kroger Garage/Condo deal, Remember the deals make with 3CDC? How much better off are we now than before we paid them to stay here?
06 Feb 2008 at 01:39 pm | #
VeraZ - much better off…tons
06 Feb 2008 at 02:18 pm | #
Anon, can you provide some evidence for this? Vera Z didn’t mention deals like Convergys, did we really get a good return on that investment? I don’t think so.
06 Feb 2008 at 09:22 pm | #
Justin - if you were to assess the state of our City today and compare it to 1,2, 5 or even 10 years ago, what would your opinion be? Better or worse?
You want my thoughts?
Crime is way down - especially in OTR - around 40% since ‘02.
Fountain Square is very successful as evidenced by all the new restaurants and investment in the immediate area.
Go downtown any night during the week and there are lots of people.
People are still buying condos downtown.
Western & Southern will soon build the City’s tallest building.
The Banks is closer than ever.
The article questions the role of the new economic development director and suggests that no progress was made. Business is very competitive, and companies will move if its a better opportunity elsewhere. You cannot discount the fact many of these companies were retained here in the area. What would have happened if they did leave?
Speaking outside of downtown, the Columbia Square project is in fact underway. Its not a pipe dream.
Council just gave permission for Millworks up in Oakley.
Linden Park Commons is looking like its nearing a start date up in College Hill, whereas its been stalled for years.
The new Duke energy center has had a great year and has attracted national attention to the extent that the NAACP conference is coming…in light of the not so distant issues up in OTR. You can discount the additional tax revenue from this stream.
2007 was the first year hotels downtown had over 50% occupancy in over a decade.
need I go on?
07 Feb 2008 at 03:26 am | #
OK, Anon, Here’s my take on what’s happening in our fair? city. The gap between the “haves and have nots” is growing wider every day. As the song says, “The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The corporations are raking it in while the homeless are growing in number every day. There are more people homeless, hungry, and desperate and fewer and fewer agencies to help them. We are demolishing section 8 housing and public schools. The working poor cannot afford basic health care. While many Corporate CEOs are given huge bonuses of millions of dollars every year. VerZ
07 Feb 2008 at 10:56 pm | #
VeraZ - what you are referring to is a very generic (liberal) summary of the American landscape. Whether accurate or not is beside the point. It does not address the state of Cincinnati, OH 45202 specifically. I’m asking for concrete points, facts, details, etc… Generalizations are next to worthless in a debate.
08 Feb 2008 at 12:05 am | #
Ok Anon#6, here are some facts about Cincinnati:
In the last 15 years, the homeless population has increased 150%.
· The top two reasons people report for becoming homeless in Cincinnati are the lack of affordable housing and loss of income.
· 18% of homeless women in Cincinnati are homeless as a result of domestic violence, the third highest reported cause of homelessness for women.
· 60% of homeless men in Cincinnati work at least part-time.
· Almost 60% of homeless men here are high school graduates; almost 5% have college degrees.
Minimum wage is currently $6.85/hr. in Ohio
· The minimum wage in 1979, when adjusted for inflation, was $7.40
· 80% of low-wage workers do not get health insurance.
Between 1,300 and 1,500 people are homeless every night.
29% of the homeless are children.
· 33% of children who are homeless are under the age of 5.
· Single men comprise 56% of the homeless population.
· Single women comprise 20% of the homeless population.
· Unaccompanied children make up about 13% of the homeless population.
But other people have places to eat and get drunk in the new restaurants around fountain square.
08 Feb 2008 at 02:46 am | #
Gee, Anon, I wasn’t aware I was involved in a debate. I don’t have a lot of facts and figures here at the moment; but I’ll see what I can dig up. Meanwhile, off the top of my head- :
The face of homelessness is changing, a few years ago it was primarily people with serious problems, mental illness, or drug or alcohol problems. Today it is often whole families, or single women with children. Families who have been displaced by the loss of jobs, by gentrification, by the demolition of section 8 housing. Veterans make up a large percentage of the homeless population, and by many accounts I have read the numbers of homeless people are increasing rapidly. If you truly wan’t the facts, I would suggest you go and talk to Pat Clifford at the Drop Inn Center on Twelveth and Elm Sts. Or better still talk to some of the people residing there. VeraZ
08 Feb 2008 at 09:14 am | #
Thanx Janis. By the wy Anon, City Hall is presently working on the budget for the coming fiscal year. Keep an eye on what they are trying to cut and where the big money goes. You might learn something. Vera Z.
09 Feb 2008 at 01:06 am | #
Lets see - Janis you’re talking about 1 issue: homelessness. While it is an issue what else is there? Where do you think the City is?
Vera Z you’ve still said nothing.
09 Feb 2008 at 09:40 pm | #
Ok, Anon. Here is another issue.
“Infant mortality rate is defined as infant deaths per 1,000 live births. In some European and Asian countries, the infant mortality rate is 5.0 or below, while the U.S. rate is 6.8. The Hamilton County infant mortality rate stood at 9.8 in 2002. The African American rate of 18.1 is three times greater than the White rate of 5.7.”
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/research/cores/cprc/infant-vitality/
Enjoy your beer on Fountain Square.
10 Feb 2008 at 01:58 am | #
Ok Anon, how about the lack of adequate health care, especially for the working poor whose work place does not provide coverage? How about the rising cost of higher education that allows only the people with money to prepare themselves for professions that pay enough to pay for their own health insurance? Vera Z.