Speaker 1: Do you want to be an American? You got for
Speaker 1: them till seven hundred ww Here we go in this
Speaker 1: Monday morning, a little bit better, a little wind at
Speaker 1: our back because the Reds take two of three in Boston.
Speaker 1: How do you like that?
Speaker 2: I say?
Speaker 1: In Boston against Boston is what I meant to say.
Speaker 1: Home game that continues to night against the Pirates. Reds
Speaker 1: keep on rolling. They're looking pretty good, looking pretty good.
Speaker 1: Also happening in Cincinnati. Of course, you may remember this
Speaker 1: histor always repeats itself. We may have Mahogany's two point
Speaker 1: zero at our hands right now. There is, in this
Speaker 1: time of very very delicate budgets, the city trying to
Speaker 1: save some money. The city is underwater somewhat too, and
Speaker 1: they're asking for budget cuts. At the same time, the
Speaker 1: City of Cincinnati is handing out money to people who
Speaker 1: in I guess private's a private sector. You go to
Speaker 1: get a loan and you can't back up your claims
Speaker 1: and you don't have any collateral. You got problems. But
Speaker 1: the City of Cincinnati, it's your money. We're just going
Speaker 1: to hand it out. On this It's a very interesting story.
Speaker 1: Is council Member Mark Jeffers Mark welcome. How are you.
Speaker 2: I'm doing well.
Speaker 1: Thanks, I'm doing before we began, of course, we had
Speaker 1: and I have a chance to talk to you. But
Speaker 1: what happened Thursday at the banks relative to the outbreak
Speaker 1: of crime there too, and some said it's a riot,
Speaker 1: but it was a bunch of individuals out there just
Speaker 1: wreaking havoc, shutting things down. They closed the banks, early crime,
Speaker 1: crime and more crime. I know the Teresa Thiji report
Speaker 1: is due out any minute now, and there was a
Speaker 1: praamp to strike by her attorneys to say, well, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a bunch of bs and it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot of noise. But there's nothing there, any word
Speaker 1: on when that report's coming out.
Speaker 3: By the way, I don't know on the report. Got
Speaker 3: what I would say about Thursday. I mean, honestly, it
Speaker 3: was disgraceful. I was down for the parade as usual,
Speaker 3: an amazing day.
Speaker 2: Parade was great, everyone was good.
Speaker 3: Opening day. The game itself wasn't too great, but we
Speaker 3: did recover.
Speaker 2: It's all right.
Speaker 3: But look, I mean, you know, I use the word hooligan.
Speaker 3: Some people attack me online, but you know, I mean,
Speaker 3: it's so different than the hooligans to disrupt soccer matches
Speaker 3: in Europe.
Speaker 2: I mean people who disrupt the perfectly.
Speaker 3: Peaceful day, beautiful day, and you know, I mean, we
Speaker 3: can't have this in our city. So you know, we
Speaker 3: got to I'm grateful that. You know, it looks like
Speaker 3: some of the folks are going to have you know,
Speaker 3: higher bond, which I think is appropriate. So you know,
Speaker 3: we need to send a message. Is the same reason
Speaker 3: why next week will be taking up my motion to
Speaker 3: impound cars for up to six months on street takeovers.
Speaker 2: We have to send a message to.
Speaker 3: People that you know, this is not behavior that is
Speaker 3: acceptable in our city.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to get you back onto the street
Speaker 1: takeovers thing because Northern Kentucky is doing something there where
Speaker 1: they seize your car and crush it. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you want to go that far constitutionally speaking, but
Speaker 1: we'll circle back on it. But it's part of pressure
Speaker 1: for a bigger issue. I guess the biggest is show
Speaker 1: I have is people are clapping back at you because
Speaker 1: use or hooligans. That's a pretty kind term considering what
Speaker 1: they were doing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it.
Speaker 3: I mean anyone who's disrupted of like that. It is
Speaker 3: a bunch of hooligans and look, I mean, you know
Speaker 3: there were three parts of it, right. There were the
Speaker 3: kids at Washington Park making each other, there were people
Speaker 3: on Byne Street. You can't block an entire street, it's
Speaker 3: just inappropriate.
Speaker 2: And then down to the bank it's the same thing.
Speaker 3: So part of it got does come back to you know,
Speaker 3: we need to make sure that people in their neighborhoods,
Speaker 3: you know, I mean that part of the attraction is
Speaker 3: people want to come downtown because it's fun and.
Speaker 2: They want to hang out over the right things to do.
Speaker 3: We need to make sure that people in their neighborhoods
Speaker 3: have things to do. You know, this Friday for example,
Speaker 3: word that doing a groundbreaking first gate park. All right,
Speaker 3: make sure kids and people have things to do in
Speaker 3: their neighborhood rec centers, libraries, other activities. So, you know,
Speaker 3: and especially in opening day. I think next year we
Speaker 3: got to look at that. It's like, hey, what kind
Speaker 3: of events attraction can we make for kids and other
Speaker 3: folks you know, to hang out in their neighborhood enjoy
Speaker 3: the day rather than you know, everybody gathering down. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's a problem too that looks like it's
Speaker 1: going to get worse. I mean, that was a sample
Speaker 1: of warm weather. We're gonna have a stretch of that
Speaker 1: before you know. It's starting well this week as a
Speaker 1: matter of fact, in the next and you just wonder
Speaker 1: if all Hull's going to break loose to some degree
Speaker 1: because of all this pent up. I want to get outside,
Speaker 1: But it also brings out some hooligans, as you said,
Speaker 1: and other people. I'm going to bring that up because
Speaker 1: right now as we speak, I mentioned the Teresa Thigi controversy,
Speaker 1: and that report is coming out. Hitter in Chief Henny
Speaker 1: is going to testify before Budget and Finance because you're
Speaker 1: working on that right now, and across the board, departments
Speaker 1: are told to cut five point one percent. So a
Speaker 1: five point one percent budget reduction for police equals about
Speaker 1: eleven million dollars. And the only way to cut that,
Speaker 1: because ninety percent of the budget is personnel, the only
Speaker 1: way of cutting the five point one percent is to
Speaker 1: layoff cops. Can we really afford to lay police officers?
Speaker 1: Though from this environment, Yeah, that ain't happening.
Speaker 3: I mean I think look, I mean the city manager rightfully,
Speaker 3: at every department, if you had to cut five point
Speaker 3: one percent, what would that look out like which Franks,
Speaker 3: I think is a good exercise to do. I mean
Speaker 3: I did it all the time at PNG. Most private
Speaker 3: companies do it. Hey, what would what would happen if
Speaker 3: you had to cut five percent? And then you go
Speaker 3: through the exercise and maybe there are efficiencies you can do.
Speaker 3: You can automate different things, you can be a little
Speaker 3: more efficient.
Speaker 2: Good exercise to do. Are we going to cut police officer? Should?
Speaker 3: We know? We were going to do the opposite? I
Speaker 3: have my budget priorities, and I think my colleagues would agree.
Speaker 3: We have to continue to invest in new recruit classes. Uh,
Speaker 3: you know, that's that has increased the size of the force.
Speaker 3: We need to continue to invest in recruit classes. So
Speaker 3: that's just not going to happen. I think it's a
Speaker 3: good exercise for every department to go through the you know,
Speaker 3: where are their efficiencies?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 3: You know, and then you know, we need to push
Speaker 3: ourselves on, hey how can we operate more efficiency? I
Speaker 3: know the police, you know are doing that even with
Speaker 3: how they leverage groans for example. Uh, you know, there
Speaker 3: are still a lot of ways that they can be
Speaker 3: more efficient. You know, going I think through technology, you know, automating,
Speaker 3: you know some of the reporting, which I think they
Speaker 3: would love to do. Sure, you know, so I think
Speaker 3: it's a good exercise to go through. But no, we're
Speaker 3: not going to and nor should we see we should
Speaker 3: be doing the opposite, and we will be doing the opposite.
Speaker 3: Is adding more officers to the force.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So here's where this comes in. There's a
Speaker 1: you know, as members of councils said, hey, you know
Speaker 1: there's a lack of sit down restaurants in the West End.
Speaker 2: We need to sit down runt.
Speaker 1: So residents there have been trying to renovate a space
Speaker 1: on Lynd Street to fill that need. You guys a
Speaker 1: council approved four hundred and fifty five thousand over the
Speaker 1: last three years to fund that. But the problem is
Speaker 1: this the property owner. So this is a lease. They
Speaker 1: terminated the West End Sports Bar and Grills year long
Speaker 1: lease at the property. They said they haven't paid any rent.
Speaker 1: They're back like thirty seven thousand dollars. The landlord changed
Speaker 1: the locks. The owner, Nick Johnson, I believe it's a
Speaker 1: man's name, said you can only go in there to
Speaker 1: retrieve his personal property. And and so what happened was
Speaker 1: we had this money, we had four hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: five thousand dollars. It's been invested by the city, but
Speaker 1: didn't check to see that he was locked out of
Speaker 1: his place and he was behind, and other members of
Speaker 1: council stuff and said, well, this is for reparations for
Speaker 1: I seventy five ripping apart the neighbor and I'm not
Speaker 1: quite sure you picked one individual. This is looking like
Speaker 1: Mahogani's all over again in that in twenty twelve the
Speaker 1: city voted on council. I know you were around that,
Speaker 1: but six hundred and eighty four thousand dollars for Mahoganies
Speaker 1: at the banks and three hundred thousand loans for furnitures, fixtures, equipment,
Speaker 1: all that stuff, nearly a million dollars in financing for
Speaker 1: Liz Rogers. And from day one, it turns out Liz
Speaker 1: Rogers had multiple leans against her. She fell behind on
Speaker 1: her loan payments rather quickly, and the city got I
Speaker 1: think didn't even get the one hundred thousand dollars back
Speaker 1: of the near million, because it was a very bad
Speaker 1: deal from the get go, and they just kept throwing money.
Speaker 1: Council then and the city manager, Harry Black, just kept
Speaker 1: throwing money, like it was a bottomless pit out of
Speaker 1: some sort of guilt trip to say we have to
Speaker 1: lift this particular African American woman up and essentially give
Speaker 1: her money in order to open this business. Well, that's
Speaker 1: all well and good, but again, you've got to have a
Speaker 1: tracker of success before you scale that up into something
Speaker 1: as prominent as one of the early buildings on the banks.
Speaker 1: How is this any different than what we're talking about
Speaker 1: today with this place on Lend Street.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I'd take a couple of thanks Scott. First.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's a disaster there.
Speaker 3: There has been about sixty thousand that has been spent
Speaker 3: no more, and the question is how can we claw
Speaker 3: that back? When this came up, I offered an amendment
Speaker 3: emotion to set in a mechanism to claw back any
Speaker 3: of this money and make sure that you know, hey,
Speaker 3: we can take back control of you know, whatever that
Speaker 3: investment is that didn't pass.
Speaker 2: It wasn't even seconded, you know, So.
Speaker 3: What we have to figure out how do we get
Speaker 3: that six thousand. I think the bigger question is, you know,
Speaker 3: the status quo in the West End, any of working right,
Speaker 3: there's poverty, lack of opportunity, lack of a safe place
Speaker 3: for people to gather. Just like we were talking about
Speaker 3: what we want to create, what I'm trying to do
Speaker 3: on like youth football fields. A dire part in uh,
Speaker 3: in the in the West End is to create places
Speaker 3: for kids to go play, places for people to gather,
Speaker 3: and we do need places for families together. The question
Speaker 3: is how can we accomplish that, you know, and you know,
Speaker 3: I've hacked conversations with several private sector companies including you know,
Speaker 3: you know folks who invested have invested in the West End.
Speaker 3: How can they help out to create a place, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, for people to sit down and families to
Speaker 3: sit down and gather. So I think the objective is right.
Speaker 3: I think clearly you know, the execution and the way
Speaker 3: that it went went about and the city has to
Speaker 3: figure out how we get back up sixty six.
Speaker 2: Thousand dollars and uh and not let the history repeat itself.
Speaker 1: Well, what are you talk about like a playground or
Speaker 1: something a park? What when you said just a place
Speaker 1: for families to sit down and gather? Are you talking
Speaker 1: commercial what?
Speaker 2: What? So there's there are several parts.
Speaker 3: So if you think of the West End, there's a library,
Speaker 3: now there's a rec center. There are plans for a
Speaker 3: romac like an art art center, you know, community center,
Speaker 3: which is great. Uh separately, yeah, I mean there there
Speaker 3: should be, And the question is how can you get
Speaker 3: there a place for people to sit down and have
Speaker 3: a burger and you know, have to have a coach
Speaker 3: if you will. How you get there is the question.
Speaker 3: You know clearly, Uh you know this was not and
Speaker 3: is not the right plan.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, how can you incent private sector folks to
Speaker 3: help out those who've invested in the West End. I
Speaker 3: mean there's a couple of blocks from Sam Adams a
Speaker 3: few blocks and City Cincinnati. Uh, you know, so how
Speaker 3: can you leverage that to create a state where people
Speaker 3: can walk over and sit down and have a burger.
Speaker 2: And relax with their family.
Speaker 3: And as a result, you know, families are hanging out
Speaker 3: in their neighborhood and they're not going downtown, and kids
Speaker 3: are not going downtown. They're hanging out. And whether it's
Speaker 3: a skate park, a football field, a community center, some
Speaker 3: place where there's also state where they can also get
Speaker 3: mentored and they can have some opportunity to get out
Speaker 3: of the current situation.
Speaker 2: Because the current situation in the West End. It ain't working.
Speaker 1: But if you look at it though, you say, okay,
Speaker 1: we need a place to gather. If you go from
Speaker 1: Ezu Charles all the way up to Liberty which is
Speaker 1: several city blocks, and then between Land and where where
Speaker 1: Tiquol Stadium is, you have Laurel Playground, you got the
Speaker 1: Laurel Rec creer. You've got plenty of green space there.
Speaker 1: Don't we already have that?
Speaker 2: Oh green space?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I do think I am working, as
Speaker 3: you know on a dedicated youth football field and dire
Speaker 3: park which is in the West End.
Speaker 2: So you do have some green spaces.
Speaker 3: You do have a rec center and you will we
Speaker 3: will soon have you know, like an art center for
Speaker 3: kids to come and sit down. You are and you know,
Speaker 3: I mean stay out of you know, have some productive
Speaker 3: use but having to play some families together and you know,
Speaker 3: have a burger great.
Speaker 2: How we get there is the question.
Speaker 3: You know, and how can we have private sector folks
Speaker 3: and the right investor you know, stepped in and you
Speaker 3: know and help take that.
Speaker 2: That's possible. That's the question going forward.
Speaker 1: He is accountsmember Mark Jeffreys on The Sconsland Show seven
Speaker 1: hundred Wow, there's a sports bar of the West End
Speaker 1: that's never gonna get off the ground. City threw some
Speaker 1: money at it. It's like Mahogani's all over again, on
Speaker 1: a smaller scale, but still, I think if you're a taxpayer,
Speaker 1: you hear this and go, okay, let me let me
Speaker 1: get this straight. And here's what people are here. They're going,
Speaker 1: we've got this crime going on right now. You're going
Speaker 1: to have budget meetings and you're told the departments prepare,
Speaker 1: what would it look like if you cut five point
Speaker 1: one percent, give yourself a five percent haircut across the top.
Speaker 1: Chief Adam Henny is going to present to you.
Speaker 2: Guys.
Speaker 1: You said it's not going to happen. We just this
Speaker 1: is part of the process here as we ask departments
Speaker 1: to do that. It doesn't really mean we're going to
Speaker 1: But people hear that and go, wow, they're going to
Speaker 1: lose eleven million dollars at a time where violence is
Speaker 1: on the way up, crime is on the way up,
Speaker 1: and not all over the place, but in many areas,
Speaker 1: especially the high profile ones. A top of that, we
Speaker 1: just ate eight million dollars riverbend two point zero, and
Speaker 1: of course we know the symphony has tons of cash,
Speaker 1: but we're going to give them money anyway. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: we're going to give business to someone who is in default,
Speaker 1: already already been locked out. We're giving him money for
Speaker 1: a place that's shuttered because he didn't pay his rent.
Speaker 1: We didn't bother the check that before we wrote the check.
Speaker 1: How do you think that's playing with your average voter
Speaker 1: or your average citizen in Cincinnati, Mark, Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, first of all, the reason that there's
Speaker 3: a reason why I voted against the eight million for
Speaker 3: the Music Center is because I don't think that we
Speaker 3: should be investing and things like that. And eight million
Speaker 3: is a lot when you have a budget deficit of
Speaker 3: thirty million. And I think rightfully to the other reason
Speaker 3: why I'm also non in favor of an increase in
Speaker 3: the earning sects. We have to live within our meetings,
Speaker 3: and I've been the one outspoken voice on that, and
Speaker 3: you know, I mean, look, I think we need to
Speaker 3: make sure that we are smart about our investments. I
Speaker 3: do think the objective is right in the West End,
Speaker 3: which is, how can we make sure that folks do
Speaker 3: have safe spaces to go when you have two kids
Speaker 3: who are shot at playgrounds. You know, if I'm a
Speaker 3: pair in the West End, I'm like, no, I don't
Speaker 3: really want my kid to hang out on a playground,
Speaker 3: Which is why we're pushing four things like cameras, things
Speaker 3: like lights, lighting, and playgrounds, you know, And so the
Speaker 3: objective of yees having a place for people together. I
Speaker 3: think how we get there is the question. And how
Speaker 3: can we have private sector come in and help out
Speaker 3: to to create a place for people to have a
Speaker 3: burger and a beer and a coke, you know, with
Speaker 3: their family on a you know, on an evening.
Speaker 1: All right, all well and good because I like nice
Speaker 1: slices to go. But you know, I look at what's
Speaker 1: happening in Cincinnati. We have shootings at playgrounds for crying
Speaker 1: out a lot. I mentioned Laurel Playground and the rec
Speaker 1: center their queens gates fairly close to they at a
Speaker 1: rec center. A lot of green space in that area
Speaker 1: in the West End. And yet okay, we'll put place
Speaker 1: where see people can sit down, have a burger to coke.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm down, But what makes us think that
Speaker 1: the violence isn't just gonna end up there? I mean,
Speaker 1: we had a shitting at we had a shooting on
Speaker 1: Fountain Square at City Bird people firing through the glass
Speaker 1: at each other right there on Fountain Square. They're gonna
Speaker 1: do that on Fountain Square, and they're gonna do that
Speaker 1: in the West End.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, look, I mean this is a bigger problem if
Speaker 3: you well know God right, I mean, when somebody shoots
Speaker 3: someone and a police officer of the incident you mentioned
Speaker 3: in Fountain Square was literally twenty feet away. We need officers.
Speaker 3: We need more officers than we will recruit more, but
Speaker 3: we can't. And police will be the first person say
Speaker 3: that police our way out of it, because when somebody
Speaker 3: shoots somebody twenty feet away, it's a tigger care. So
Speaker 3: we have to create and it starts with kids. But
Speaker 3: to create opportunities, job opportunities, you know, making sure that
Speaker 3: folks are getting, you know, into the trades. You know,
Speaker 3: we're building things like the Branston Bridge Western Hith Viaduct,
Speaker 3: and we get people trained as iron workers and laborers
Speaker 3: and plumbers. And that is the only way you know,
Speaker 3: to give people opportunity and uh, you know, and get
Speaker 3: out of the poverty that we see in the West
Speaker 3: End through education and job opportunities and showing kids that
Speaker 3: you know, people adults can be responsible. You know, I
Speaker 3: want kids in the West End seeing people, you know,
Speaker 3: uh vote and the bus stop with a bus driver
Speaker 3: or the security guard and they're resusponsible. They're getting on
Speaker 3: the bus and they're coming home in the afternoon and
Speaker 3: they're taking care of the family. That's the kind of
Speaker 3: that's the only way out. We're not going to be
Speaker 3: able to police our way out of it, you know. Uh.
Speaker 3: And but we also do need police, We need both, yes,
Speaker 3: and so that's the only folution to go forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned the earnings tack and earning stacks and
Speaker 1: this is part of it. And saying hey, we cut
Speaker 1: five percent, we do the earnings tax. But again, giving
Speaker 1: money to riverbend money to people already in default.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: That that really if you that's really going to hurt
Speaker 1: that vote? Is that for nerd? I'm not debating whether
Speaker 1: or not in New to raise the earnings tax, but boy,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be a hard hell to climb for you
Speaker 1: guys based on this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's the reason why.
Speaker 3: I mean I said this before the last campaign, and
Speaker 3: I haven't changed my position. You know, you eat your
Speaker 3: carrots before you eat your dessert. There are plenty of
Speaker 3: efficiencies and things, and I am laying them out in
Speaker 3: my budget parity motion. I've got a lot of efficiencies
Speaker 3: and opportunities. You start there before you.
Speaker 2: Ask, you know. I mean it's the same thing with kids.
Speaker 3: You know, you don't give them a stake increase in
Speaker 3: their allowance if they're not doing their tour correct.
Speaker 1: So you got That's why I want the city Cincinnati
Speaker 1: be my parents. You seem kind of like generous about that,
Speaker 1: kind of lax about that, if you will.
Speaker 2: I'm not laxibotic, my friend.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about I'm talking about it in general. It's
Speaker 1: like it's like, I know, you guys are like the
Speaker 1: cool parents. You're buying my weed for me. I know
Speaker 1: you're fighting against this mark. That's why you on the show.
Speaker 1: And I appreciate that because five percent is not going
Speaker 1: to happen with the police department. But also just be
Speaker 1: more responsible and running it like a business in some
Speaker 1: regards instead of just handing money out Willy Nilly probably
Speaker 1: would go a long way. I know that you're in
Speaker 1: the heat of budget meetings right now. Chief Heny's going
Speaker 1: to testify and give his proposal and I'll take your
Speaker 1: word for it that the city will now touch a
Speaker 1: dime of police money because we really can't afford it,
Speaker 1: and I think they'd be the dumbest thing to do.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure there's a couple of members of council
Speaker 1: that will vote for it. But again, it sounds like
Speaker 1: a winner to me. Mark Jefferies, appreciate the time as always, Buddy,
Speaker 1: appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Thank ye.
Speaker 1: You got money for River Bend. You're wanting eleven million
Speaker 1: dollar haircut for the police. Crime and violent crime at
Speaker 1: that is starting to pick up quite a bit from
Speaker 1: the cold summer, because the cold winter months before we're
Speaker 1: heading the summer here. And on top of that, you're going, well,
Speaker 1: maybe an earnings tax for the people that work still
Speaker 1: work downtown. Okay, great, we got money. We need more
Speaker 1: money coming in because they're thirty million dollars upside down.
Speaker 1: But meanwhile, we're gonna hand out money to Riverbend. We're
Speaker 1: gonna hand out money to a bar who has absolutely
Speaker 1: wouldn't pass like the first test if you went to
Speaker 1: a bank and asked for that com money, you know,
Speaker 1: I get the city is there to hand some cash,
Speaker 1: how to help people out by I get it, but
Speaker 1: you have to show that you'll be a good steward
Speaker 1: of that money, and clearly we forget that lesson when
Speaker 1: it's public dollars. Scott's Loan Show, seven hundred w Alwa