CINCINNATI — Despite early voting being open for nearly one week, the city of Cincinnati has announced it will hold three "community workshops" about the possible sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway.
The sale is on the ballot for city residents to decide on in November, though Ohio's early voting opened Oct. 11.
The three sessions will be "to inform the public about the potential sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway and learn more about community budget priorities," according to a press release announcing the workshops.
The workshops will be held at the end of October and into early November:
- Saturday, Oct. 21 — Evanston Recreation Center at 3204 Woodburn Avenue from 10 a.m. to noon.
- Thursday, Oct. 26 — Hirsch Recreation Center at 3630 Reading Road from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 1 — Winton Hills Recreation Center at 5170 Winneste Avenue from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
According to the press release, attendees will be asked to participate in activities to provide feedback about infrastructure needs and to identify which projects are important to them.
The announcement comes after community members — particularly in minority communities — have spoken out about a lack of discourse between residents and city leaders about what funds from the sale of the railroad would fund.
Earlier in October, the Cincinnati Black United Front called on city council to consider using the funding to pay reparations and work to close the city's racial wealth gap.
Pastor Damon Lynch III said he was a "hard no" on the sale of the railway because he felt there hadn't been enough outreach in Black communities, but if voters approve the sale he said he still wants to make sure Cincinnati's Black communities aren't forgotten.
Others have questioned whether city leaders, who have been predominantly in favor of the sale, have been transparent enough with Cincinnatians on the issue.
The current plan for the $1.6 billion the city would gain if the railroad was sold is to put it into a trust fund that generates annual interest. Then, the city plans to siphon that interest — an estimated $50 million annually — for existing city infrastructure. However, there's no guarantee the city will be able to reap a full $50 million each year, since the investment returns could vary.
What exactly the funds would be spent on has been undecided, but a spending plan announced in October outlined several possible places it could go. That plan "conservatively" projected the CSR sale would generate a minimum of $250 million over the next 10 years (around $25 million a year).
That amount would then be divided into five different categories: $101 million would go toward transportation infrastructure; $49.6 million would go toward public services, including police and fire; $40.7 million would go toward city parks; $31.1 million would go toward health infrastructure; $27.6 million would go toward recreational improvements.
The railway, which runs from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, Tennessee, stretches 336 miles through Kentucky and Tennessee. It has been owned by Cincinnati for more than 140 years. The Cincinnati Southern Railway Board of Trustees unanimously voted earlier this year to put the proposed sale on the ballot.
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