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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

NAYSAYERS CONTINUE TO DECEIVE CINCINNATI VOTERS

Attacking Cincinnatians for Progress another attempt to conceal the truth

July 7, 2009
Media Release

Cincinnati, OH - The naysayers behind the Anti-Progress Charter Amendment that would change our City Charter to prevent the City from funding all passenger rail without first holding an election have been calling this dangerous proposal the "Streetcar Petition" or "Trolley Amendment" for some months now. Even though the language of the petition they are circulating clearly states that this charter amendment would affect all passenger rail, they continued to mislead Cincinnati voters by falsely arguing that this would only affect the proposed Streetcar.

Cincinnatians for Progress has been working to inform Cincinnati voters that this "Anti-Progress Charter Amendment," as we have been calling it, really does affect all passenger rail in the City, not just the Streetcar.

Now the proponents of the Anti-Progress Charter Amendment are employing new tactics in their campaign to deceive Cincinnati voters. COAST is now referring to this issue as the "Pro-Vote Charter Amendment," instead of the "Trolley Petition." If all they want is to allow voters to have more of say in the electoral process, why limit their Charter Amendment to passenger rail? What about roads and bridges, or even funding for the police or schools?

Chris Smitherman has stooped to even lower levels, claiming that Cincinnatians for Progress supports "Jim Crow" because of our work informing Cincinnati voters of the potential dangerous consequences if their proposal is adopted in November. This is just another unfortunate attempt to deceive Cincinnati voters from the truth about the Anti-Progress Charter Amendment.

"We will not let these baseless and inflammatory attacks distract us from our work informing Cincinnati voters of the truth behind this dangerous Charter Amendment," said Robert Richardson, Co-Chair of Cincinnatians for Progress. "We will not let their deceptive tactics go unanswered."

Cincinnatians for Progress remains committed to working to inform Cincinnati voters about the truth behind the Anti-Progress Charter Amendment.

1. More than the Streetcar: The language of the ballot amendment means this will affect ALL passenger rail projects, including President Obama's plan to connect Cincinnati to Cleveland and Chicago via high speed rail (3C Rail), the Eastern Corridor project or any other project (such as connecting CVG to downtown via rail).

2. Cincinnati needs jobs: This Anti-Progress Amendment will cost Cincinnati jobs and put the city at a competitive disadvantage by impeding the city's ability to develop our regional infrastructure.

3. We don't want California style government in Cincinnati: If the Anti-Progress Charter Amendment passes, elections in Cincinnati will resemble California, with an endless stream of referendums and initiatives.

4. Protect the city charter: The City Charter is Cincinnati's version of the Constitution. It shouldn't be used as a vehicle for binding referendums that handcuff the mayor and keep city government from moving forward.

For more information on Cincinnatians for Progress, please visit www.cincinnatiansforprogress.com.

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posted by Cincinnatians For Progress at 11:25 AM

2 Comments:

Living in Gin said...: These stories are all well and good, but it will take more than preaching to the choir on this blog to defeat the charter amendment. What is Cincinnatians for Progress doing to get these stories out into the mainstream media in order to counter the lies and spin being put forth by the Enquirer?

I can write a letter to the editor like anybody else, but I'm just one guy who lives in New York City. Something from Mayor Mallory or an official spokesperson from CfP would carry far more weight on the op-ed page and in the airwaves.

What is CfP planning to do in order to get out the vote on Election Day? Is there an effort underway to get CfP members to phone bank voters, or go door-to-door in city neighborhoods, to make sure this amendment never sees the light of day? I think lots of people would love to help out, but the grassroots energy needs to be effectively guided and directed.
Jason said...: I agree with Living in Gin's comment above. This effort needs to be ramped up tremendously if its going to make any real impact on the votes in November.
I think with a large enough grassroots effort we can easily defeat this charter amendment. But, we have to start stepping it up NOW.

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NAYSAYERS CONTINUE TO DECEIVE CINCINNATI VOTERS

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