To all my friends that live in the city of Cincinnati and can vote in the city this election day,

There is a lot of confusion about Issue 9 on this year's ballot. Many Pro-streetcar folks would like for you to believe that Issue 9 is anti-rail. It is, indeed, NOT. It is anti-spending. To be more accurate is anti-irresponsible spending and pro-voter aproved spending. Here is the issue on the ballot, as it reads:

Shall the Charter of the City of Cincinnati be amended to prohibit the city, and its various boards and commissions, from spending any monies for right-of-way acquisition or construction of improvements for passenger rail transportation (e.g. a trolley or streetcar) within the city limits without first submitting the question of approval of such expenditure to a vote of the electorate of the city and receiving a majority affirmative vote for the same, by enacting new Article XIV? YES NO

There is nothing in the wording that asks you to vote for or against a streetcar. Instead, it asks if you feel that you should have a vote, before the city of Cincinnati gives money to such a project (streetcar or other passenger rail).

-This keeps the decision making out of city council’s hands, and in the voters’.
-City Council is struggling to balance the budget and has asked firefighters and police officers to take furloughs to help. They are discussing layoffs in both of those departments, as well as to other departments throughout city government (including the Health Department and Public Services).
-A streetcar project would cost the city $102 million dollars in 2010 (a year, in which, Cincinnati’s city council thinks more city-wide layoffs may occur)
-As proposed, the streetcar would run through the most dangerous neighborhood in the United States. walletpop.com/insurance/most-dangerous-neighborhoods?photo=26 wlwt.com/news/19826766/detail.html

Issue 9 does not kill any possibility of a statewide passenger rail. In fact, it doesn’t kill the possibility of a streetcar. It simply gives city residents (i.e. taxpayers) the opportunity to vote on whether or not they would like the city to spend the money (i.e. tax money) for the project. Streetcar enthusiasts blur the line here, because they know that, while most Cincinnatians disapprove of the streetcars (in these tough economic times), they would probably approve of a high-speed rail connecting the larger cities of Ohio. They want you to believe that issue 9 would not allow such an inter-city rail.
I, personally, have no vote in the matter. I no longer live in Cincinnati or Hamilton County; nor am I anti-streetcar. I believe that, until the city can afford such a project, it should put it on the back burner and look at the task at hand.

Don’t you feel that, as a Cincinnatian, you should have a say? “No” on Issue 9 will guarantee that council will not consult you on the matter.

Thank you for your time.