Cincinnati's streetcar plan is the chief issue in today's mayoral election, and Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls wants to continue the project started under Mayor Mark Mallory.
CityBeat here in town backs her for the streetcar and for a number of reasons:
The streetcar project has already effectively been supported by two voter referendums, and the situation has progressed to the point that stopping the project could end up costing more than finishing it, a ridiculous proposition, not to mention the sign it would send to people currently investing in Cincinnati’s progress as a forward-thinking, economically growing city.
But CityBeat’s support for Roxanne Qualls goes further than the streetcar project or any other single issue.
During the past six years, Qualls has been part of the true revitalization of downtown and Over-the-Rhine that too many of Cranley’s supporters — and sometimes Cranley himself — publicly doubted. Anyone who’s been downtown in the past couple years has seen the result of Qualls’ work with the rest of City Council: a flourishing riverfront, an Over-the-Rhine bustling with new businesses and restaurants, and a downtown that can’t get new apartments quickly enough to meet demand.
Despite Cranley’s attempts to distance himself from some of the worst of the urban doubters, there’s a profound concern that a Cranley victory would send a message to all of the city’s detractors that voters are embracing their defeatist direction.
The Cincinnati Enquirer however backs her opponent, John Cranley.
During his nine years on council, he not only reached across party
lines, he drove to fellow council members’ homes and sat in their
kitchens courting their votes. The next day, on a different issue, he’d
find new allies and build an entirely different coalition.
The city needs his directness. Ask Cranley what he thinks about an issue, and he’ll tell you.
Or
don’t ask him, and he’ll still tell you. His frankness can be bracing,
but it will also be refreshing after the excessive control Mayor Mark
Mallory exerted over the council agenda, curbing public debate and, in
the end, serving citizens poorly. We’re disappointed that Qualls, as
vice mayor, didn’t challenge his actions more forcefully.
The city
needs Cranley’s passion. A real estate attorney by profession, he is a
salesman at heart. It’s second nature to him to convince people of
things. In a mayor, that skill can’t be overrated. Cincinnati has long
needed a leader who could articulate a bold vision for the city and then
roll up his sleeves and get out and pitch it to the masses. Neither
will Cranley be shy about courting new businesses, selling Cincinnati to
conventioneers or national media, or building a regional coalition to
lobby for expanded service at CVG, the Brent Spence Bridge replacement
or the I-71/Martin Luther King interchange – an idea he championed.
Cranley
often talks about emulating powerful mayors like Michael Bloomberg of
New York or Andrew Young, who once led Atlanta. That’s the type of
energetic, game-changing leadership Cincinnati needs right now. One of
Cranley’s best traits is that he’s not one to watch and wait from the
sidelines.
Needless to say, anyone the Enquirer backs (with their raging hatred of the city's first elected black mayor in Mallory) is the wrong choice for the city. Qualls has the good to back up her claims. Cranley doesn't. The problem is the race is already ugly, and
with a state Supreme Court decision on ballot language necessitating early and absentee voters having to vote again (and possibly being disenfranchised as a result) it's anyone's ball game.
If you're reading from Cincy, go vote.
