CINCINNATI — Cincinnati leaders gathered Thursday morning in Madisonville to discuss the possible benefits the Cincinnati railway sale will have for underserved areas.
Leaders, including former Mayor Mark Mallory, members of city council, Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney and more who support Issue 22, met to emphasize how the money from the sale would be used equitably.
Voters will decide on Issue 22 at the Nov. 7 election. If passed, the Cincinnati Southern Railway would be sold to Norfolk Southern. Currently, the city is now discussing what it would do with that money collected from the possible sale.
On Wednesday, three Cincinnati City Council members introduced a motion prioritizing equity while spending money the city would get from the sale.
Fifteen different neighborhoods were then recognized as those traditionally underserved in Cincinnati. This motion proposes more money go to projects involving existing infrastructure in those neighborhoods.
Those neighborhoods include:
- Villages at Roll Hill
- Millvale
- English Woods
- Lower Price Hill
- Queensgate
- Winton Hills
- South Fairmount
- West End
- East Westwood
- Avondale
- Roselawn
- Mt. Airy
- East Price Hill
- South Cumminsville
- North Fairmount
That motion also proposes other funds not from the sale go to new projects in these communities. It would task the city manager with creating a community advisory committee related to equity and the railroad sale funds.
While some Black city leaders believe the sale is a great way to benefit those communities, others disagree and believe these conversations are being had too late.
"Our reason is not that we're anti-selling the railroad, our no vote is because we just feel disrespected in the entire process," said Damon Lynch III, pastor at New Prospect Baptist Church. "We want to make sure that the process is equitable and that it benefits African Americans."
He also has concerns about involvement of the community.
"There was no conversations with the African American community, we were just expected to vote," he said.
Mark Mallory, former Cincinnati mayor, said there's always a question of why things weren't done sooner, and this is one of those circumstances.
"The reality is we are where we are," Mallory said. "The conversations are being had now, council is going to be taking action soon."
For Lynch, trust is another issue.
"It's hard for us to trust. It's hard for us to believe that these dollars for infrastructure, existing infrastructure will be used to decrease the racial wealth gap in our city," he said.
Mallory was trying to reassure Cincinnatians on this Thursday.
"This mayor and this City Council are doing an excellent job in executing their vision and their plans for the citizens of Cincinnati. I don't think there's any reason to not trust that council is going to do what they say they're going to do," he said.
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