Cincinnati City Council voted 5-3 Wednesday to approve providing FC Cincinnati $37 million in public funds to help pay for the infrastructure needed to build a new stadium as part of a Major League Soccer bid. Hamilton County approved an additional $15 million towards a stadium garage.
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley pushed hard to get both portions of the funding approved. Of course, FC Cincinnati said that it needs $75 million for infrastructure surrounding the proposed stadium. So where is that extra $23 million going to come from? Who knows? Certainly not Mayor Cranley, who complained people were "nitpicking" the details.
And, yes, we could mention that FC Cincinnati and the city aren't 100 percent sold on building in Oakley. And we don't have solid plans for if they do. Or plans for if they want to build in the West End. Or if residents will be displaced for construction. Or if all those "thousands of jobs" the mayor said the stadium will bring in will be permanent. Or if the city will get tax dollars back. Or —
Eh. Those are just details.
Kevin Necessary is the editorial cartoonist for WCPO. His opinions do not represent those of WCPO.
