Thursday, December 12 2013
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Streetcar Saga Continues: Cranley Extends an $80M Olive Branch
With the clock ticking on a federal deadline, Cincinnati's new mayor John Cranley held a press conference this morning where he proposed a new option for allowing the streetcar project to move forward. If supporters can secure funds to cover 30 years of operating costs, then he's willing to let the first phase of the streetcar move forward; a figure that would amount to at least $80 million. The mayor also cautioned that any pledge of private support would require a guarantee for his stamp of approval.
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Cincinnati Public Schools Open Enrollment Experiment Looks to be a Success
Cincinnati Public School’s experiment to save the district from losing millions of dollars has so far been a resounding success, according to Assistant Superintendent Gabe Lofton. The savings came from enacting an open enrollment program that allows students who live outside of the Cincinnati Public School district limits to attend a CPS school. As a result of enrolling, $5,700 comes with the student to the district. More than 800 out-of-district students applied for open-enrollment this school year and about 600 were accepted and are currently attending more than 20 CPS schools. Before open enrollment students who wanted attend a CPS school had to pay a tuition fee.
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City Council Committees Cancel Two More Projects
A Cincinnati City Council Committee voted to pull support for a 99-unit housing facility in Avondale because many local residents complained the facility would negatively alter the neighborhood by worsening the community’s problems with poverty and revitalization efforts. Christopher Smitherman and Amy Murray were the two council members who voted to rescind council’s support for the facility that aided low-income and chronically homeless individuals. Another City Council Committee voted to repeal bidding rules governing the $3.2 billion upgrade of the Metropolitan Sewer District system. The rules stated that bidders on some contracts require an apprenticeship program. Critics of the rules say that they unfairly limited contracts to union labor.
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Amid Controversy, Council Appoints Scott Stiles as Interim City Manager
After the brief honeymoon of hopeful City Manager Willie Carden came to an end this week, City Council appointed interim City Manager Scott Stiles Wednesday to the post. But the move didn’t come without it’s fair share of controversy with some council members concerned with Stiles’ updated compensation package that raises Stiles’ annual salary to $240,000. If the city chooses someone other than Stiles to be the permanent city manager, Stiles would be demoted to an assistant city manager with a salary of $180,000, which is $30,000 more than the other assistant city manager. If on the other hand the theoretical permanent city manager relieves Stiles of his duty completely, the city is obligated to pay Stiles some form of salary until 2018, which allows Stiles to collect his full pension payment upon retirement.
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Orchids at Palm Court Among Top 10 Restaurants
Cincinnati eateries continue to get national recognition in popular media. This week, Orchids at Palm Court was listed seventh in OpenTable's top 10 restaurants of the year. Listed alongside venues from Hawaii to Boston, the results of the list were compiled via millions of consumer reviews from diners verified by the online reservation service.
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