Thursday, December 19 2013
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The State of the Streetcar: Dead Project Walking
A lot has happened in the last few days regarding the city’s most controversial project. The financial audit came back yesterday and shows that cancelling the streetcar will cost $50 to $80 million while continuing will cost roughly $70 million. While the report appears to have swayed at least one swing vote on the council, Mayor Cranley has vowed to veto any ordinance allowing the project to continue. A final decision is expected today, as the deadline to secure federal grants expires at midnight tonight. And be sure to stop by the Senate for their dog of the day: The “John Cranley” - plain hotdog on a bun with no reasoning behind it.
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Kasich Outlines His Plans for 2014
It’s getting close to the time to make New Year’s resolutions and Gov. Kasich made a number of them for Ohio in 2014. The governor’s wish list includes increasing funding for infrastructure projects in Ohio, new anti- poverty measures and a possible tax cut. Kasich needs to do something to curb state unemployment because Ohio has experienced several months of stagnant job growth and currently ranks 43rd in the nation for job growth rate during the past 12 months. Kasich also said Ohio has an image problem and has teamed up with L Brands CEO Les Wexner to brainstorm a marketing plan for the state.
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Landsman’s Promise Hopes to Enroll all Cincinnati Children in Preschool
Only 57 percent of students in Cincinnati are considered “ready for kindergarten,” according to education-focused Strive Partnership’s executive director Greg Landsman. Landsman is heading up a new initiative called Preschool Promise that hopes to provide a preschool education to all local children. Landsman estimated it would take between $15-17 million per year to send all 3- and 4-year-old children in the city to preschool. The project still has far to go, however, and is currently exploring funding options such as private donations, a new property or income tax and having CPS appropriate money to the project.
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Kenwood Towne Project Developer Takes the Stand
Real estate developer Matt Daniels took the stand Tuesday and Wednesday to answer questions about his role in the bungled Kenwood Towne Place project. Daniels faces 23 counts of fraud, including being accused of defrauding Bank of America by providing false information for the construction loan. Daniels, who was paid a salary of $225,000, told the courtroom that he wished he would have given the project “more time.” The project is now under active development under the name the Kenwood Collection and is set to open in 2016.
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SoMoLend Likely to be Liquidated by January
Candace Klein’s SoMoLend will likely be liquidated before it faces a Jan. 23 hearing where it is being accused of securities fraud. Klein and her partners are accused of selling unregistered securities and making false financial projections. Investors in SoMoLend accused the state of Ohio of causing the venture to fail because of a bias against crowd-funded ventures and possible investor fraud associated with such investments.
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