"Progress" v. The Metropole Tenants Association (Part I)

I've been wanting to write about the coming conversion of the Metropole (located on Walnut between Sixth and Seventh) to a luxury hotel for some time. (Background: Enquirer; Streetvibes.) I've been reluctant to, for fear of what will appear in the comments. I don't want to feed the trolls who regularly comment in order to insult poor people. I also suspect, though, that the overwhelming part of our readership is fairly unsympathetic to the Metropole's tenants. Many of our readers consider themselves "urban pioneers" (a term I find patently offensive) who are somewhat sympathetic to the poor--so long as they don't have to live, eat, work, play, or pray alongside the poor. I'm a little afraid of what you'll have to say, too.

For me, this episode in the development of downtown Cincinnati raises three issues: the merits of the dispute between the tenants of the Metropole and the new owner of the building; the role and power of 3CDC in downtown development; and the role of Legal Aid in the provision of services to the indigent. I'll tackle each in turn over two posts.

1. Who's right: the tenants, or the landlord? Like most things, this isn't as black-and-white as those on either side of the dispute would have you believe. If the complaint to HUD is accurately described by the Enquirer (in other words, if the complaint really alleges that 3CDC is discriminating against the tenants because most are elderly or African-American), my guess is that it lacks much merit. I don't think 3CDC cares much about the age or race of the tenants it is displacing. Instead, 3CDC has a vision for downtown and this project is part of that vision, regardless of the tenants who are tossed out on the street. Remember, 3CDC's plans also call for the "relocation" of two commercial tenants, neither of whom--so far as I know--are owned by people who are minorities, elderly, or indigent.

But the tenants need to be treated with respect. To the extent that isn't happening, 3CDC should be ashamed. Federal law requires that a process be followed before federally-subsidized tenants can be displaced. The tenants' fear and anxiety is certainly understandable. I'm not indigent, and if my landlord announced that my building were closing in the next twelve months, I'd be apprehensive, too (I hate moving!), and I have the resources to find my own place. 3CDC claims that it will make sure it follows the law and that it will find appropriate new residences for the Metropole's tenants. I hope it keeps its word.

Ultimately, the question comes down to this: once a landlord accepts federal housing money, does that act as some sort of covenant that runs forever against the building, regardless of ownership? Certainly, that cannot be the case. Property owners must be free, assuming they follow the law, to opt out of Section 8. Take care of the tenants, but don't demonize the building's ownership for deciding to go in a new direction.

Dear Gang of Five: It's Your Turn

Mayor Mallory didn't waste any time after Milton Dohoney issued his budget by passing the plan right to City Council, which will change on December 1st. So the message I took from this is: Gang of Five, it's your turn to govern, not grandstand. I'll be very interested in hearing the rhetoric from the likes of Ghiz and Berding and as of Dec 1st, Charlie Winburn.

I'm surprised I've not heard anything from Berding. Just a month ago he was claiming people would flee Cincinnati if police were laid off. What will his plan be now? Dohoney's plan cuts really deep everywhere and raises fees, but still must cut the public safety departments. Will he now try to govern, or will he and the Gang of Five change winds and not pander to the FOP and the Westside voters and finally face the music by cutting the CPD and CFD ranks without the rhetoric of fear filling talk radio and Twitter?

Playing Chicken, Part II

Well, it is no longer election season. Now we shall see who really will be honest and who will continue to grandstand on the City's Budget. The City Manager has announced his plan and it includes cutting 315 jobs, including 110 from the police department, and 47 from the fire department. So two departments (police and fire) making up 2/3rds of the budget will get only about 50% of the job cuts. I guess some might call that prioritizing public safety. I am sure the FOP's sock puppets will call it something akin to a nuclear bomb going off in the heart of the Westwood.

I really hope that City Council does not play games. I've not seen what's come out on Twitter today and I don't know what's be said on talk radio yet, but I honestly wish it will adult speak, not gamesmanship or juvenile rants about who won't shut up.

Most Dangerous Cities 2009: Where's Cincinnati?

So, the same flawed group is out with another Most Dangerous list, this time for Cities, but Cincinnati didn't make the list. I for some reason didn't read this in any of the local media. Cleveland made the list, but not Cincinnati. St. Louis is #2, but no mention of it.

I hope the local media learned that this website uses bad stats, but it would be good journalism to do another story about how Cincinnati is not on the list, but it incorrectly got on a worst "neighborhood" list by some bizarre misuse of data. I know not to expect the media to do follow-ups, but I hope they will and calling them out may guilt an editor/producer into assigning a reporter, thus letting them do their jobs. Instead I expect to ready more fluff, but its the holidays, so no one wants actual news to happen. The goes double for local TV news, who are the worst!

Cincinnati Unchained November 21st

This Saturday join your fellow Cincinnatians and support local independent businesses in the annual Cincinnati Unchained. From the press release for this year's event:

On November 21, locally-owned businesses across Greater Cincinnati will urge area residents to support the city’s vibrant independent businesses by shopping locally-only. As part of Cincinnati Unchained, a shop-local event throughout Greater Cincinnati, participating businesses are asking residents to take one day to shop, dine out, and do other business only with locally-owned independent business.

A place to start would be the Gateway Quarter in OTR. Cool shops in the best neighborhood in the city.

You can help you neighbors by shopping at businesses that truly add to the community and local economy.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime . . . . . A Report From The Breadline

Raise your hand if you think the United States has the best health care access and coverage in the world and if you think the United States is the richest and bestest country in the world . . . . Let's hear it for American exceptionalism . . . . .

The number of Americans who lived in households that lacked consistent access to adequate food soared last year, to 49 million, the highest since the government began tracking what it calls “food insecurity” 14 years ago, the Department of Agriculture reported Monday. The increase, of 13 million Americans, was much larger than even the most pessimistic observers of hunger trends had expected and cast an alarming light on the daily hardships caused by the recession’s punishing effect on jobs and wages.

* * * * *

One figure that drew officials’ attention was the number of households, 506,000, in which children faced “very low food security”: up from 323,000 the previous year. President Obama, who has pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015, released a statement while traveling in Asia that called the finding “particularly troubling.”

But, lest we get all wobbly about the fact that 14.6% of our country does not have adequate food or feel too sorry for these hungry children, Robert Rector, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, comforts us by stating, “Very few of these people are hungry. When they lose jobs, they constrain the kind of food they buy. That is regrettable, but it’s a far cry from a hunger crisis.”

Now, doesn't that make you feel better, these people are not hungry, they have just stopped buying steak, caviar, and foie gras, and are eating ramen noodles instead. I mean, after all, what five year old doesn't love a steady diet of ramen noodles.

'Every Breath You Take, Every Move you Make'

Bring on "Big Brother!" Public Safety will improve with the installation of video cameras at various points around town. Starting in Downtown and Uptown, street corners will have 24 hour surveillance and will be able to better catch criminals and watch for medical emergencies.

OTR is being considered for this, and I personally say yes please!

I am trusting the police on this issue. I understand that every time I walk to Fountain Square, I will be captured in the surveillance. This invades my privacy on one level. It is legal. The police could just have multiple officers stationed at the same locations and watch me just as much. They would be witnesses to know that I walked by just as much as video tape would be. Stationing multiple police officers as each corner is obviously way too expensive, so not a practical option.

One point that is not mentioned in the article and is the key question against this idea is how long is the video tape stored? 24 hours of tape is a lot and takes up a ton of space, whether digital or not. How long will it be stored? How long will police have to trace your movements? There has to be some time restraint, unless they have as much server space as Google, so that time frame will be something that should be made public.