Good morning all. Here’s what’s up today.
Hamilton County won't tap a pool of money from hotel taxes to help FC Cincinnati with its plan to build a stadium it says it needs for a Major League Soccer franchise, commissioners said yesterday. But they're open to another deal. If sharing Paul Brown Stadium — the county's preferred outcome — absolutely doesn’t work, they might throw roughly $15 million in other funds toward building a parking garage for FC’s own stadium.
As we told you about yesterday, FC Cincinnati announced this week it wants some taxpayer help with infrastructure as the team funds and builds a $200 million stadium, most likely in Oakley. FC President Jeff Berding says he has support from Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley for some unidentified city funds, but that the city won’t be able to chip in all of the $75 million he estimates is needed to cover infrastructure around the site. That includes upgraded roads and a 1,000 car parking garage.
Berding says the county has $2.8 million a year ready for a project like the FC stadium in a fund generated by the hotel tax. Commissioners aren’t convinced, but say they’re willing to deal with the team to work something out — but first, they say, why don’t we check out that spot where the Bengals play one more time? FC says that location won’t work — MLS wants expansion teams to have their own digs so the league can control schedule and revenue. We’ll see how talks play out ahead of a December deadline for FC’s application to the league.
• The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority released its 2018 budget Tuesday — and it's pretty grim stuff. Though it's balanced, per state law, the fiscal forecast looks brutal going forward — projected deficits for the city's Metro bus service beginning in 2019 that could lead to route closures, fare increases or both. You can read more about the coming challenges for Metro — and some ideas to fix them — in our story here.
• Longtime local police accountability advocates are sounding alarms about the state of Cincinnati’s historic Collaborative Agreement after police officers last month were blocked from testifying before a police oversight panel set up by the 2002 reforms. Black United Front leaders Iris Roley and Damon Lynch III last night held an “emergency public meeting” in Roselawn to discuss the state of the Collaborative. You can read more about their concerns and the events that led to them in our story here.
• Local immigrants brought here as children and living without documents received a lifeline under the Obama administration — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which came with Obama's DREAM Act. But last month, Trump nixed that protection and gave Congress six months to figure out a new approach. Now, local DACA recipients are waiting to see what will happen. But they're not doing it quietly. Our news feature this week is about the high school and college age DREAMers leading organizing efforts that seek to push Congress toward immigration reform.
• Procter & Gamble top brass probably thought they were out of the woods when it came to an effort by activist investor Nelson Peltz to gain a spot on the Cincinnati-based consumer giant’s board. Turns out, not so much. Initial results of a shareholder proxy vote last month showed Peltz lost that bid by a very narrow margin, but the Trian Fund Management CEO seems to have prevailed, according to a recount by an independent firm. Peltz, whose company holds more than $3.5 billion in P&G stock, refused to concede after last month’s unofficial results. The recount has him winning his seat by a razor-thin .00016 percent margin. P&G also has the right to challenge the results, however, meaning the official-official outcome of the proxy vote may not be known until December. In the meantime, Trian is pushing P&G to give Peltz his seat now.
• Cincinnati Parks’ second-in-command Marijane Klug is leaving her post, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Klug has been in charge of the Parks’ finances for 17 years. During that time she’s been involved in major parks projects and received high marks from superiors, but has also weathered controversies around the private Cincinnati Parks Foundation, ethics complaints for bonuses she received, her use of uncommon city perks like a car allowance, a high-profile audit that recommended more financial oversight for the Parks and other issues. Klug’s one-time boss, former Parks Director Willie Carden, also left his post earlier this year for retirement.
• One year after it passed, Preschool Promise hasn’t hit its goals — but organizers say they’re encouraged by its progress. The effort to extend preschool opportunities to more Cincinnati children aimed to enroll 2,000 kids its first year. So far, 1,046 have signed up. Those are all students who wouldn’t otherwise be in preschool, boosters like Interact for Health CEO O’dell Owens point out, and students are still enrolling. But it’s just more than half of the enrollment the initiative aimed for. And United Way, which promised to push fundraising efforts for the initiative, has yet to do so.
Education activists have some other areas of concern. Recent Cincinnati City Council candidate Michelle Dillingham of the Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition points out that while top Preschool Promise leaders are making upward of $100,000 a year, its teachers aren’t even clearing the living wage benchmark of $15 an hour. That was an element of the Preschool Promise campaign, and leadership says they’re working on making it happen. But it isn’t feasible at this time, Interim Executive Director Stephanie Byrd says, though she says Promise is looking at ways to make it happen.
• Hamilton County officials and nonprofit Interact for Health will convene this weekend in Norwood to talk about strategies to fight the heroin epidemic. The Hamilton County Heroin Coalition, chaired by Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus, is holding the forum, which will feature addiction experts, healthcare professionals and others in a variety of group discussions around anti-overdose drug Narcan, finding addiction services, mental health advocacy and other topics. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon at Norwood High School. Cincinnati Works, Talbert House and other nonprofits will also be onsite to provide information about their services.
• Ohio might soon get another Democratic contender for the governor’s seat. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Corday yesterday announced he would leave that post at the end of the month, clearing him to campaign for governor in his party’s primary. Corday, a powerful Democrat who has led the bureau since it was founded six years ago in the aftermath the financial crisis, has been mentioned often as a possible favorite in the race. He would be entering a crowded field, however. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, former State Rep. Connie Pillich, State Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O’Neal and former Congresswoman Betty Sutton have all thrown their hats in the ring. O’Neal has previously said he would withdraw if Corday entered the fray.
• Another state lawmaker has resigned after allegations of improper conduct. State Rep. Wes Goodman, a Republican from the north-central town of Cardington, resigned Tuesday after his fellow Republican State House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger was made aware of accusations that Goodman was involved in an “inappropriate interaction” in his office with someone not in the state’s employ. The details of the behavior Goodman was allegedly involved in have not been disclosed.
Goodman, a freshman representative who campaigned on a platform of conservative Christian values, released a statement shortly after his resignation apologizing.
"We all bring our own struggles and our own trials into public life," the statement read. "That has been true for me, and I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service."
