Streetcar backers mount ballot resistance
By Barry M. Horstman • bhorstman@enquirer.com • January 26, 2011
Readying for another battle in a war they believed was already won, Cincinnati streetcar supporters, melding their frustration with redoubled determination, hope to convince voters that a new attempt to derail the $128 million-plus project could be more damaging to the city than the one defeated in 2009.
Although legal questions remain about whether a second ballot measure later this year could halt a project on which construction likely will have already started, streetcar supporters concede the likelihood of another electoral showdown and are planning accordingly.
"It's like Groundhog Day - it's the same old story all over again," said John Schneider, a Downtown businessman who has been a leading backer of the streetcar. "The other side will never stop trying to kill this. If they fail again this time, there probably will be another effort down the road."
Opponents of the proposed Downtown-to-Uptown line say they expect to turn in their first batch of signed charter amendment petitions to the Hamilton County Board of Elections within the next few days.
"The signatures won't be a problem," said local NAACP president Christopher Smitherman, referring to the need to collect about 8,700 signatures of registered city voters to place the measure on the ballot. "People are fired up over this."
Assuming opponents meet that requirement, the charter amendment could go before voters between May and November, depending on when they turn in the petitions.
While streetcar foes are waging the early stages of their new campaign on the streets where their petitions are being distributed, supporters, reviving a strategic tactic they used masterfully in the November 2009 ballot battle over Issue 9, are relying heavily on social media for now to galvanize their forces.
"This will be a game of inches, won with lots of individual efforts," Schneider said in a call-to-action e-mail sent this week to rail advocates.
Cincinnatians for Progress, the group formed in 2009 to try to turn back Issue 9 and that built an energized grassroots network of 10,000-plus in doing so, is expected to again play a central role in this year's campaign.
Schneider's e-mail offers a glimpse at what could become the cornerstone of supporters' campaign - the argument that the new charter amendment is worse than its predecessor and would severely restrict City Hall's ability to pursue transit options even if gasoline prices soar over the next decade.
Under 2009's Issue 9, the city would have had to get voter approval before proceeding with the streetcar or any other passenger rail proposal. In contrast, the new charter amendment would flatly prohibit the city from spending "any money from any source whatsoever ... on the design, engineering, construction or operation of a streetcar system" until Dec. 31, 2020.
"Last time, their slogan was, 'We demand a vote,'" Schneider said. "This time, essentially what they're saying is, 'We demand you don't vote.'"
To reach voters, the charter amendment first may have to survive some thorny legal questions.
City Solicitor John Curp, noting that City Council approved the project last summer when it voted to accept state and federal money and to issue $64 million in local bonds to pay for it, argues those actions could preclude any attempt to "unspend the money."
Streetcar opponents are confident they are on solid legal ground.
The timing of the ballot measure - a question with strategic and financial considerations - also remains in doubt.
Opponents initially planned to seek a May vote, before substantial work on the streetcar had been completed - but when a special election could cost the city roughly $400,000. Now, however, they say they would be content to have an election any time from spring through November, even thought the later schedule could give the city more time to approve construction contracts and make a sizable initial expenditure.
When the issue appears on the ballot could dramatically alter the race's dynamics and electorate.
With no other major local matters expected on the primary ballot, a May election likely would draw only the most ardent advocates on both sides of the streetcar debate to the polls. A November contest would produce a higher turnout - and force City Council members to run for re-election on the same ballot with the contentious issue.
"It would be bad faith to try to push something like this through in a sneaky, one-issue election," Schneider said. "But I think that's what they'd like to do."
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