NKAPC helps improve quality of life, conserve resources, reduce costs

The Tea Party, in their effort to fight against "big government regulation," has an ally on their side, the Homebuliders Association of Northern Kentucky, and thus an enemy, the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission.  In their quest to eradicate NKAPC, and other local planning initiatives, they are in effect trying to undermine the principles of "smaller govenment, fiscal responsibility, and free markets" they claim to uphold.

In full disclosure, I have visited the NKAPC office in Ft. Mitchell several times, either for meetings, tours, or job interviews, and know people who have worked or do work for them, either as co-workers from co-ops or classmates at UC.  The provide planning services to jurisdictions in Northern Kentucky that otherwise can't afford to do so on their own, services that I believe are important to improve the quality of life for residents and municipalities, and sustain economic and social health.  

Some claim that the services of older northern Kentucky communities are not needed, because they are built out, and in many cases, with only a few vacant lots/buildings here and there.  Sure, that may be the case today, but what about 10, 20 years from now?  In turn, many of the buildings in a community may become vacant, dilapidated, and even a crime magnet, a drain on a city.  We need planning in our communities to explore new land uses, opportunities for development, and ideas that would not only enhance tax revenue and the quality of life for a community, but to also sustain that health for decades to come.

What the HBA and Tea Party want for northern Kentucky is to continue to go down the same road, of one-size-fits all single-use zoning, building whatever, wherever they see an open piece of land, and create this illusion that they are creating many jobs and providing homes and business opportunities.  

What they are doing in reality is leaving behind already developed areas that simply need to be re-tooled, and adding to the capacity demand of highways like I-75/71.  This highway is being reconstructed at the inconvenience of more and more people using it than ever, and also the need for a replacement of an overloaded Brent Spence Bridge, which will cost well over $2 billion.  Meanwhile, we are lacking ways to pay for the bridge, which will certainly too be overloaded due to the unbridled growth policies espoused by the Tea Party and HBA.

People seem to forget that what led to our struggling economic state was the rapid housing boom that easily led to a bust, and thus a glut of housing, shopping centers, and office buildings and parks.  We're duped into believing that we'll be back in order once we get back to our old ways, when reality says that our old ways are precisely what got us into this mess.  We simply cannot afford to keep building more schools, roads, and other infrastructure, when other infrastructure is either falling apart, left behind or overused.

Does NKAPC need to be retooled, reformed, so that it is more transparent, accountable, and efficient?  Possibly.  Having a healthy discussion on the right balance is always welcome.  But the combined power and propaganda of the Tea Party and HBA is not the right solution to a looming problem that puts the region at a disadvantage.

NKAPC/Tea party fight dominates meeting (nky.com)

More delusion at City Council, tax cuts only worsen deficit.

The Cincinnati city budget has been facing a lingering deficit, and yet City Council cannot agree to making the right balance of cuts and revenue increases.

Logic would say that if the City lost 10% of its population, between 2000 and 2010, service cuts should also be proportionate.  And while many city services have over recent years have been reduced, like parks and recreation, or in some cases, even eliminated, spending on the fire and police departments have actually increased over the past decade.  Has this directly made the City of Cincinnati a safer place?  The conservative member simply won't budge, because to them, it's a matter of perception with the media and the suburbanites, more than it is a matter of reality and actually working harder and smarter for safety.

I believe that this impasse is more a ploy to kill the streetcar project in its tracks.  Yesterday, it was announced that the project cleared federal environmental impact studies, allowing for contractor bidding for rails, construction, and the streetcar vehicles themselves.  However, the critics, from the four Republicans on council, to COAST, and talk radio, remain determined to take this job-creating, economic growth driving project down at the ballot, as they first failed to do so in 2009.  Do they really want to be the ones who clearly killed jobs, especially after the planning process was not only well underway, or better yet, construction had begun?  They will point to the city's continued insolvency as to why we "can't afford it," even though they themselves refuse to either make serious, reasonable cuts, or enhance revenue, through minor tax hikes.

Some of the cuts that the conservative council members are proposing are for programs that have a strong impact on the quality of life, yet have a relatively minimal cost, such as yard waste collection, the environmental impact committee, and support for festivals.

Is it fair to continue rejecting their hired expert's requests to cut officers and firefighters?

"I don't care about fair," Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz said. "Life is not fair. It's not fair that somebody got shot and killed last night on the street either."

This brings me back to the delusion - Ghiz claims that if we reduce police department levels, there will be a spike of shootings that could have been prevented, which cannot be proven.  Most of these crimes take place where patrols are absent, and it is simply not feasible to hire police to continually patrols every block.  We still have a crime issue that will not go away unless more effective measures, such as a more critical mass of residents, and revitalized neighborhoods.  Neighborhoods where homes are populated, and storefronts are occupied with businesses and services that create tax revenue, while reducing demand on public safety services.

In this case, we have politicians who choose to govern with theory - a theory that a larger public safety force and lower taxes alone will lead to safety and prosperity.  Reality says that it is simply not that simple.  Well-funded public services, from parks, recreation, planning, and economic development are necessary to tending to the needs of residents and businesses, which in turn add to tax revenue, while reducing the need on emergency services.  As councilmembers, they need to realize that they are public servants, not business executives.  While government can always borrow ideas from the private sector, government itself is not a profit-making business.

This fall will be a turning point.  When selecting their council members, will they go with people who propose concrete, innovative ideas to make the city work harder, and smarter to attract and retain residents, and enhance the quality of life; or will they continually listen to the voices of fear, despair, distraction, and gossip through talk radio sessions and soundbytes?  Will they listen to plans other cities have taken to not only balance their budgets and drive economic growth, or will they listen to the shakedown antics of the police and fire union bosses?

Council majority wants to cut taxes, can't agree on deficit plan (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Do Ohio’s children win when schools compete?

Plunderbund, a site dedicated to Ohio statehouse politics, has done a great analysis on whether Charter schools in Ohio have led to an increase in test scores in Ohio schools.  While charts have generally shown an increase in test scores,  those at charter school are below those of public schools in Ohio's four largest public systems.  Even those test scores remain well below the state average, which includes suburban and rural districts, where there is little competition from state funded charter schools.

The argument of supporters of charter schools is that unlike public schools that perform dismally, charter schools themselves do fail and close.  Here's the issue: if a charter school closes down due to poor performance, where do the children end up?  In many cases, back in traditional public schools, sometimes having to catch-up to their peers who were continuously enrolled in that public school.

Has the jump in test scores been the result of influence and competition from charter schools?  Maybe?  Then why do charter test scores remain below those of urban public districts, and still well below public districts in general?  If the charter system is to be intellectually honest, it's time to shut down many of the charters.

Or better yet, if Ohio is having a massive budget deficit, and needs to cut education funding, this would be the right time to pull the plug on a shaky free-market idea, and focus on reality, and make sure all our children are educated and become successful.  If innovation is needed, let's innovate from within, rather than against our own tax dollars helping to fund more administrators, executives, and facilities.  This goes against Governor John Kasich's campaign to "spend more dollars in the classroom."  But then again, look at Kasich's campaign funding trail, and that's where we see "priorities" means something different.

Do Ohio's children win when schools compete? - Plunderbund

Make cities, not war

Sarah Goodyear at Grist.org wrote how Secretary of Defense Robert Gates referred to the conflicts the U.S. is engaged in as "wars of choice."  As most Americans polled view our overseas military intervention excessive, they said so not only due to their cost (we're got a big deficit, remember?) but the emotional and reputational costs upon families and our nation.

I strongly see the past decade as a greatly missed opportunity to fix our broken cities.  The many dollars spent on war could have been used towards rebuilding infrastructure, having comprehensive mass transit in cities, beginning a high-speed rail network across America, which would have led to many jobs, especially for those trapped in impoverished neighborhoods.  Per the New York Times:

"There are so many better uses for the money," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore. Mayor R. T. Rybak of Minneapolis lamented that cities across the nation were being forced to make "deeply painful cuts to the most core services while the defense budget continued to escape scrutiny." And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles said that the idea "that we would build bridges in Baghdad and Kandahar and not Baltimore and Kansas City absolutely boggles the mind."

I feel like we still have the opportunity to turn the ship around, given our lingering recession.  With ever-high gas prices and soul-sucking commutes, we have the opportunity to rebuild infrastructure, rebuild good, walkable urban areas, create jobs, foster private-sector growth, putting more dollars into the economy and in turn boosting revenue to eat at our nation's deficit.  I believe patriotism and national strength has to start at home, and what we're seeing here isn't making many of us too proud.


Make cities, not war (grist.org)

The return of the Blog is near!

Some of you thought that the Allen Arena blog was dead... but thinking about this crazy world, I've decided to resurrect my blog as a place to keep and share articles I come across that I find interesting in these "Sports":

• Architecture
• Planning
• Politics
• Transportation

There will also be posts related to other topics of interest, like comedy, roller coasters and amusement parks, and (actual) sports.

I will work out details, like colors, schemes, and maybe even the name of the blog.  But one way or another, it is coming back!  I also plan to link updates to Facebook and Twitter.