Cincinnati chamber opposes proposed rail ballot initiative - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The announcement came just hours before theCincinnatij NAACP, along with the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, and the WeDemandAVoted coalition are expected to announcwe that the groups have collected enough signaturesa to put the measure on the The charter amendment would prevent the expenditure of moneh by the city for right-of-way acquisition or constructioj of improvements for passenger rail transportation without firstr submitting plans to a vote. , COAS T and the WeDemandAVote coalition have been collectintg signatures to place the measure on theNovember ballot.
Cincinnati NAACl President Christopher Smitherman launched the drive to stopthe city’se plans to build a streetcar systemj that connects downtown and Uptown. But in its news the chamber said the amendment languagris “extremely broad and would impede the city’z ability to compete effectively.” “Passenger rail projects are not just moverw of people and goods they are economic development tools,” Rita the chamber’s vice president of government said in the release. “The ballot initiative woulsd prevent the city of Cincinnati from spending any money on any passengedr rail project unless Cincinnati voters first approvedthe project.
And, as it would significantly hamper positive growth in Smitherman and other opponents of the projectr have argued that the city should not spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the streetcar projecy at a time when city residents face so many morebasic needs. The chamber endorsement is a boosf for Cincinnatiansfor Progress, the group that is campaigninv against the proposed charter Earlier this week, the group announced it also has the supporgt of eight of nine city council memberd and 16 of the 18 endorsef candidates for City Council.
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory serves asthe group’s honorary Meanwhile, the organizations pushing the ballot initiative have a presa conference scheduled for 4:45 p.m. at the Cincinnatki NAACP office, where they are expected to announce they have gatheresd enough signatures to put the measur e on theNovember ballot.