Wednesday, November 11, 2009

COAST, WeDemand Bat .500 for 2009 Season

Referendum on Trolley, Water Works sale

The November 3 elections were one on and one out for COASTers. COAST pushed Issues 8 and 9 on the November ballot, starting with petition drives this spring and summer that gathered more than 30,000 signatures to force a vote on both issues.

Issue 8 prevents the City from selling the assets of the Water Works to a regional Water District without a vote of the electorate. City Manager Dohoney had planned on selling the water works for $475 million dollars to a new regional entity and then charging back that purchase price to the ratepayers. The new $475 million in revenue for the City would then be squandered as the billions the City already has. Voters approved the measure clipping Council’s wings by a 61% vote.

Issue 9 was the higher-profile issue designed to force a public vote on issues such as the proposed $185 million streetcar system and the $60 million Riverfront Transit Center. Opponents spent more than $100,000 to defeat the measure, including $5,000 donated by streetcar vendor Parsons Brinkerhoff. Issue 9 was defeated by 56% of the vote.

COAST thanks our many volunteers, our partners in the WeDemandAVote.Com coalition, the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP and its President Christopher Smitherman, the more than 30,000 voters who supported limited government and the more than 15,000 petition signers who brought us hope for more limited government.

6 comments:

  1. It took thousands of dollars and countless hours from volunteers to defeat the big lazy lies behind Issue 9.

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  2. It seems to me that on a level playing field, the truth will win out. why then did the other side need to outspend the pro-Issue 9 group by a factor of 20 to 1?
    Why did the anti-9 side have to confuse the voters with their comments on this blog and others, like "stop the trolley no on 9"
    at the end of the day we all know where the big lazy lies are.

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  3. Lies are cheap, the truth isn't. COAST lied hundreds of times during this campaign (they repeated a few of those lies in this post) and they had a huge head start because they created the whole issue. COAST's lies were the first thing the public heard because the local media was asleep. This is why government by referendum is so dangerous -- a handful of the city's outcasts can get something nutty on the ballot and it can take months for opposition to organize and at that point they're automatically on the defensive.

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  4. Big-money outside special interests won the day. Bobby Maley must have been very happy as he skipped home to Kentucky on election night.

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  5. Bris,
    Yeah never mind all the $30 or less donations that people like me contributed. Yeah, it was all the big corporate special interest in a streetcar that you guys claimed didn't exist in the first place. Nice doubletalk.

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  6. Batting 500? Give us a break. COAST endorsed 14 candidates and positioned on five ballot issues. Ten of those 14 candidates lost and voters rejected the COAST position on four of the five issues. That's a massive FAIL by any count. Not only aren't you batting 500, you aren't even in the major leagues.

    "Rocky COAST: Voters spurn anti-tax conservative group"

    http://www.examiner.com/x-28265-Cincinnati-Public-Schools-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Rocky-COAST-Voters-spurn-antitax-conservative-group-two-education-incumbents-are-out

    COAST — the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes — has been a nemesis of several school administrations and school boards in Southwest Ohio, actively opposing tax issues.

    COAST endorsed 14 candidates and took a stand on five ballot issues. Ten of the 14 COAST-endorsed candidates lost, including three incumbents, and voters rejected the COAST position on four of the five issues.....

    Losing COAST-backed school incumbents were Arnold Engel in the Fairfield City School District and Jennifer Miller in the Mason School District. Losing with Engel were Victor Rivera and Tony Steer, all of which had COAST backing.

    Engel has been a vocal critic of school spending and taxes since before COAST came onto the scene. He founded a Fairfield citizens group called Citizens for Accountability and Results in Education, or CARE.....

    The other losing incumbent with COAST backing was Anderson Township Trustee Albert Peter, an eight-year trustee, who finished fourth in a field of five. Two were elected.

    Jerome Kearns, president of Fairfield Board of Education, said Engel and his supporters have been a destructive influence.

    "Our community got it right this time," Kearns said. "They got out and supported candidates that are good for the community, that aren't interested in being destructive. They were strong in saying that's not what they want for out district and our community."

    COAST losers
    Brad Wenstrup, Mayor of Cincinnati
    Albert F. Peter, Anderson Township Trustee
    John Banner, Cincinnati School Board
    Christopher McDowell, Cincinnati School Board
    Arnold Engel, Fairfield School Board
    Victor Rivera, Fairfield School Board
    Tony Steer, Fairfield School Board
    Jennifer Miller, Mason School Board
    Shannon Hartkemeyer, Fairfield Twp Trustee
    Jeremy Furniss, Fairfield Twp Trustee
    Issue 7, Public Library tax levy
    Issue 9, Trolley or Streetcar Charter Amendment
    Issue 52, Cincinnati School Levy
    Issue 57, Little Miami Fire & Rescue tax levy

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