CINCINNATI – Three votes top the news in Cincinnati, including the mayoral race, mass transit and casinos.
ISSUE 3 PASSED; CASINOS GET OK –
Issue 3 for permitting the construction of casinos in Ohio passed Tuesday night.
Ohio voters have said "no" to casino-related ballot measures four times in the past 20 years and it turned out the fifth time was the charm.
With the passing vote, Ohio will become the 39th state to have casino gambling.
Issue 3 was a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that permits construction of four casinos in the state – one each in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo.
Cincinnati’s casino will be built at the Broadway Commons site, Downtown, bounded by Broadway, Court Street, Reading Road, and Gilbert Avenue.
* Creates 34,000 new jobs
* Economic impact of $11 billion over five years
* Provides $200 million for state job training
* Mandates at least $1 billion in new private investment for the casino facilities
* Levies a fixed tax of 33 percent of gross casino revenues
* Sparks revitalization in the downtown centers
MALLORY VOTED TO STAY ON –
Voters elected Mayor Mark Mallory to a second term in office as Mayor of Cincinnati.
Mallory made his victory speech before supporters at the Millennium Hotel in Downtown Cincinnati just before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
Mallory, who is a Democrat, says economic development, public safety, and neighborhood revitalization will be his top priorities as he heads into his second term in office.
Mallory ran what many consider to be a low-key campaign against Republican challenger, Brad Wenstrup, who is a podiatrist at Wellington Orthopedic and an Iraq War veteran.
ISSUE 9 FAILED; VOTER APPROVAL FOR CITY SPENDING ON MASS TRANSIT NOT REQ’D –
Issue 9 for voter approval before the city spends money on mass transit has failed. Issue 9 is an amendment to the Cincinnati charter that would require voter approval before the city could spend money for any passenger rail transportation.
That includes, but is not limited to, streetcars.
The seeds for Issue 9 were planted when a number of Cincinnati government and business leaders proposed building a $100 million streetcar system linking Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and the Uptown area around the University of Cincinnati main campus.
A coalition of civic organizations opposed to that project obtained enough signatures on petitions to draft an amendment for voters to consider.
