The Cincinnati Beacon
State of the City, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 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.
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