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Speaker 1: Seven oh six. Happy Friday. E Frank Thomas right here

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Speaker 1: in the studio with Todd Zenzer Citizen Watchdog. You got

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Speaker 1: to follow his podcast, Citizen Watchdog. Former Inspector General for

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Speaker 1: the United States of America. He is just a voluntary

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Speaker 1: inspector General for everything that's going on in the city

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Speaker 1: of Cincinnati, and man, do we have a mind blowing

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Speaker 1: list of I cannot believe this is actually going on topics.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back, Todd Zenzer. I always appreciate what you're doing.

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Speaker 1: It was great Senior listener lunch yesterday at Rod's US.

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Speaker 1: So much fun and just a real delight seeing you

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Speaker 1: show up. And thanks to everybody else who was able

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Speaker 1: to make it. I had a wonderful time there. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: we are you stick around the whole hour. You're gonna

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Speaker 1: get an eye full of I don't know if I

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Speaker 1: call it corruption in government, lots of incompetence and huge

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Speaker 1: declarations of shenanigans, which is how I like to boil

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Speaker 1: these things down, including the three hundred million dollars in

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Speaker 1: funding that the city got for pandemic relief. Wait till

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Speaker 1: you here where that went and what's in store force

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Speaker 1: in the future. We'll determine what's going on with the

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Speaker 1: railroad money. Wow wow, Cincinnati, Yes, they want another solar

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Speaker 1: energy farm virtue signaling from the City of Cincinnati. And

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Speaker 1: what is an emergency which the city uses for emergency ordinances?

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Speaker 1: Todd Zinzer, You know, I like say, just I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: pick the solar panel. Can we go without this to

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Speaker 1: start with? Because they're all equally mind boggling? Yes, all right,

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Speaker 1: the City of Cincinnati is it's just part of that

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Speaker 1: green energy policy that they're pursuing, right, that's right? Okay?

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Speaker 1: Is this? Do they have a date by which we're

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Speaker 1: supposed to be carbon neutral or some other odd nonsense.

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Speaker 2: The goal is to be carbon neutral and Cincinnati by

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Speaker 2: twenty fifty.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Now, just let me throw out there. Does anybody

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Speaker 1: outside of the city limits in Hamilton County or Butler

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Speaker 1: Warren Adams County, my friends in northern Kentucky, any of

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Speaker 1: those folks striving to be carbon neutral by the same date?

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Speaker 2: Not that I know of.

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Speaker 1: Do we all breathe the same mayor? Does it kind

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Speaker 1: of blow across areas? Okay? And we even get win

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Speaker 1: from China, don't we? In India and Turkey and other

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Speaker 1: countries who don't even lift a finger to get carbon

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Speaker 1: dioxide out of the plant off out of the atmosphere.

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Speaker 2: As far as I know.

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Speaker 1: It's one big round globe, right, Okay, because I've heard

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Speaker 1: those arguments made before. Okay, will this accomplish anything by

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Speaker 1: way of global carbon dioxide reductions given the realities of

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Speaker 1: what we just talked about. I know, I'm just asking

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Speaker 1: sort of you know, rhetorical questions here, Todd.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, if you read the city manager's January fourteenth memo,

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Speaker 2: it is going to produced carbon neutrality by globally.

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Speaker 1: Oh that's good.

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Speaker 2: No, it's I think it's only going to be in

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Speaker 2: a sense.

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Speaker 1: This is the dumb part about it. You got a

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Speaker 1: finite number of dollars. Are we still thirty one? True?

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Speaker 1: A million dollars in the hole in terms of our budget.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's still the projected deficit.

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Speaker 1: All right, So we have we are underwater, we have

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Speaker 1: no extra money. And yet they're pursuing the building of

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Speaker 1: a solar panel array and they already have one, don't they.

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Speaker 2: Yes, they do.

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Speaker 1: Okay, let's walk through that one real quick rewind history,

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Speaker 1: and the city of Cincinnati paid for a solar panel

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Speaker 1: farm somewhere.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it's it's out east a little ways. I forget

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Speaker 2: which county it's in. It's called the new Market Solar Array,

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Speaker 2: so it's new Market, Ohio, I think.

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Speaker 1: And you got a power line hooked up from out

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Speaker 1: there into the city.

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Speaker 2: Well that's interesting because and their proposal for the new

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Speaker 2: solar array they say they already have a distribution network

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Speaker 2: that exists there. So I don't know. I don't know

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Speaker 2: what that is. But I don't either, I don't really

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Speaker 2: know how it all works.

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Speaker 1: Brian, Okay, Well, good because if you don't know, I

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Speaker 1: take great comfort in that because I truly consider you

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Speaker 1: to be a brilliant man, and you've been demonstrably brilliant.

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Speaker 1: So we got a solar panel array. Is there any

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Speaker 1: information that's been produced that shows how much that solar

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Speaker 1: panel array that we've already paid for the one that

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Speaker 1: you just mentioned, how much power generates, and whether there

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Speaker 1: was the return on investment that I presume we were

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Speaker 1: promised from it.

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Speaker 2: Well, I and this proposal was put on the agenda.

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Speaker 2: I went ahead and looked for performance information for the

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Speaker 2: existing solar panel array, which if.

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Speaker 1: It worked great, they'd be waving it around everywhere, wouldn't they.

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Speaker 2: I would think, so, yeah, they're they're pretty good at that,

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Speaker 2: Yeah they are. But my problem with the way this works,

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Speaker 2: and this is also an emergency ordinance, which is a

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Speaker 2: whole other issue.

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Speaker 1: So we got to hurry up and build another solar

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Speaker 1: array up panel. Yes, okay, okay.

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Speaker 2: And I didn't see any information that the city council

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Speaker 2: members relied on to make this decision. You have a memo,

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Speaker 2: a two page memo from the from the city manager,

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Speaker 2: and they were presented with a fifteen page PowerPoint presentation

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Speaker 2: with a lot of photos and big print. And that

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Speaker 2: that presentation I looked and that was from twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 2: So that was that was presented before or the federal

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Speaker 2: government withheld a ten million dollar grand for the project.

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Speaker 2: And so now rather than say, you know what, we're

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Speaker 2: gonna wait and see what happens here, they're gonna spend

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Speaker 2: the city's own money to put that solarray panel to

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Speaker 2: the two to twelve million dollars.

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Speaker 1: Right a new solary And by the way, Jus Trecker

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Speaker 1: looked it up. New Market Solar Array is in Highland County.

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Speaker 1: He says, it's over near the Serpent Mound. Oh yeah, okay,

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Speaker 1: it's up there, removed from the city limits and outside

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Speaker 1: of the Hamilton County even. Yes, all right, So with

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Speaker 1: no information about whether that one works or even met

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Speaker 1: the expectations, they're going to build another one. They were

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Speaker 1: expecting federal grant money to cover the whole thing, basically

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Speaker 1: so they could virtue signal without it costing anyone any

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Speaker 1: money within a budget for it within the city's budget.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: The plug got pulled on it for a multitude of reasons,

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Speaker 1: most notably that they don't produce the electricity that they promise,

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Speaker 1: and they are more expensive to build and operate. And

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Speaker 1: yet the city is going to move forward in spite

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Speaker 1: of the fact they got a thirty one million dollar

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Speaker 1: hole to fill going forward, it's twelve million dollars.

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Speaker 2: I think you had said, that's what the city has

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Speaker 2: put aside now to spend on that. Yes, twelve million.

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Speaker 1: And all for an objective that is like trying to

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Speaker 1: chase your tail and the reduction of carbon dioxide by

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Speaker 1: one city, as if it's going to have any impact

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Speaker 1: on the globe at all whatsoever.

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Speaker 2: Right, that's my perspective anyway, Okay.

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Speaker 1: I'm having trouble making sense of how they can support

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Speaker 1: moving forward to this tot. I mean, come on, do

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Speaker 1: we not have potholes that continue to need to be filled.

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Speaker 1: Is there not infrastructure that is still crumbling? Are there

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Speaker 1: not neighborhoods that are in need of law enforcement and

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Speaker 1: maybe some street cameras or whatever we do to help

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Speaker 1: improve neighborhoods and make communities safer.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I went down to city Hall and

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Speaker 2: claim my two minutes to talk to the council, and

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Speaker 2: that's what I said. I said, don't you have better

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Speaker 2: things to do with twelve million dollars? That's say a

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Speaker 2: lot of money.

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Speaker 1: But they're not obliging to answer your questions, are they.

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Speaker 2: No, they don't. It's not a back and forth.

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Speaker 1: So it's like talking to a wall.

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Speaker 2: Uh you could say that, yeah.

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Speaker 1: Did you send them a letter or anything that would

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Speaker 1: obligate them to follow up? I mean, I know they're

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Speaker 1: freedom of information and actor questions and things of that nature,

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Speaker 1: but you can't force them to answer a logical, reasonable question,

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Speaker 1: can you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't think I send a letter after after

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Speaker 2: that two minutes, but I have sent letters in the

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Speaker 2: past just to kind of confirm what I've said in

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Speaker 2: my two minutes. I never get a response. They don't

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Speaker 2: respond back, even though the council rules say they they

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Speaker 2: should take these correspondent seriously and do their best to respond.

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Speaker 2: I haven't brought that up to them one time.

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Speaker 1: Well, Todd, I'm I'm struggling to find I mean, I

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Speaker 1: can't see literally anything that the city's going to benefit

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Speaker 1: from this at all. Well, I know there's I mean,

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Speaker 1: there's some people that there's got to be a bunch

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Speaker 1: of very far hardcore Blue voters out there who live

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Speaker 1: in one of these neighborhoods where they just believe that

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Speaker 1: the Democrat answer is gonna They're gonna solve every problem

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Speaker 1: in the neighborhood. Oh, we just gonna vote for Democrats.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna come over here and whatever they think is

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Speaker 1: going to happen in any given neighborhood. Does anyone truly

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Speaker 1: believe that those folks in those neighborhoods that need some

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Speaker 1: attention put this on their priority list at all? In

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Speaker 1: the top ten things that any person in any neighborhood

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Speaker 1: in the fifty two in the city of Cincinnati got

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Speaker 1: a list, what do you think the city should do

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Speaker 1: here to make my life better, I garon blanc and Tee.

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Speaker 1: As I sit here, not one is going to say

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Speaker 1: we need a solar panel farm, right.

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Speaker 2: No, it's it's it's definitely just dogma. You know that

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Speaker 2: all this stuff about you know, carbon neutrality, and you know,

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Speaker 2: may maybe it'll do some good. I don't know, but

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Speaker 2: I don't think it's a very good business business decision.

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Speaker 1: It's going to do good for the solar panel manufacturers,

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Speaker 1: which is ultimately China, the individuals who will be installing

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Speaker 1: the solar panels, and the people who are left to

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Speaker 1: maintain and upkeep the solar panel which I spect will

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Speaker 1: be a higher priority than the roads in the city

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Speaker 1: of Cincinnati.

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Speaker 2: We just got a foot of snow.

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Speaker 1: We could go. I wonder what that panel farm up

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Speaker 1: in Highland County look like? And did they have to

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Speaker 1: hire people to shovel the snow off of the panels,

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Speaker 1: because I have to guess, Todd, and I am a

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Speaker 1: dumb man. I'll admit I'm not versed in matters of

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Speaker 1: scientific or how solar panels of the sun transform the

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Speaker 1: sun is transformed into the flow of electricity. But as

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Speaker 1: I sit here, I'm wanting to bet every single dime

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Speaker 1: I have that if the solar panels covered by a

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Speaker 1: foot of snow, it's not going to generate electricity seven

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Speaker 1: to fifteen. Right now, if you have ker City talk station,

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Speaker 1: what do you hear what they did with the the

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Speaker 1: talk station seven nineteen If you have ker Cite talk station.

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Speaker 1: Brian Thomas was Citizen Watchdog. Todd sinser. Citizen Watchdog the

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Speaker 1: name of the podcast, and of course defines Todd's role,

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Speaker 1: a self appointed role in pointing out the batcrap insanity

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Speaker 1: of the city of Cincinnati and its priorities. Okay, so

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Speaker 1: we dealt with the epic epic fail that is the

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Speaker 1: solar panel array, the list of priorities we have in

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Speaker 1: the city, God Almighty, let us pivot over to three

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Speaker 1: hundred million dollars the city of Cincinnati received as a

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Speaker 1: for pandemic relief. This is COVID nineteen money. This was

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Speaker 1: episode forty five of Todd Zenzer's Citizen Watchdog. Find Citizen

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Speaker 1: Watchdog and listen to what he has to say about it,

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Speaker 1: which we will scratch the service of right now. What

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Speaker 1: was the money designed for? Todd? I've always been of

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Speaker 1: the mindset that that was a sort of a nefarious

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Speaker 1: way using COVID nineteen as an excuse to shovel massive

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Speaker 1: millions of dollars to a lot of underwater leftist leaning

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Speaker 1: cities like New York was having budget problems Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: Then you enter COVID, nobody's working. The problem gets worse.

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Speaker 1: All the things that had already dug them into the

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Speaker 1: hole got worse. So if we just throw all kinds

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Speaker 1: of money at these cities, they can level their budgetary

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Speaker 1: whole playing field and then maybe choose a better path

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Speaker 1: and direction going forward. So we've reset things, we've started

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Speaker 1: from scratch. You no longer are infinitetial peril because of

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Speaker 1: your COVID nineteen money. So we were in a similar position,

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Speaker 1: not as bad as in New York or Los Angeles

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Speaker 1: or Chicago, but we had our budget problems going into

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Speaker 1: COVID nineteen. So lo and behold how much? How many

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Speaker 1: millions of dollars did we get in COVID nineteen money.

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Speaker 2: Well, there's two different tranches. There's the first tranch was

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Speaker 2: called the Cares Act, and that was under Trump and

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Speaker 2: Trump's last year, right, and that was like the payroll

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Speaker 2: protection plan. Everybody got us a check sometimes stimulus check

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Speaker 2: fraught in that and different different things about immediate needs

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Speaker 2: that the cities were going to suffer because of the

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Speaker 2: they shut down commerce, et cetera. So that was the

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Speaker 2: CARES Act. And then when Biden comes along, they passed

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Speaker 2: the American Recovery Plan Act, and that put two point

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Speaker 2: five trillion dollars into the economy, and about five hundred

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Speaker 2: a billion of that was to the state and local governments.

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Speaker 2: So that's the pool of money. And the city got

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Speaker 2: about three hundred million dollars and two tranches, one in

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty two and one in twenty three, and so

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Speaker 2: they had until December of twenty four to obligate it all,

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Speaker 2: which they've done. They've obligated one hundred percent of it

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Speaker 2: from what I can tell, and they claim I'm trying

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Speaker 2: to figure out how much they have left. It's very difficult,

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Speaker 2: and I'll get into that, I guess, but I think

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Speaker 2: they have about twenty five to thirty million dollars left

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Speaker 2: to spend. But what they did is the Treasury Department

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Speaker 2: let the cities put their funds in four different groups,

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Speaker 2: and each group had different levels of kind of accountability.

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Speaker 1: So here we go the cities.

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Speaker 2: The city decided to put two hundred and it got

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Speaker 2: three two hundred and eighty million dollars. Let's say they

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Speaker 2: put two hundred and forty million of that into what's

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Speaker 2: called revenue replacement, and revenue replacement is this catch all category.

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Speaker 2: And as a result of that, they the city announced

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Speaker 2: in their twenty twenty five report to the Treasury Department

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Speaker 2: that they had created sixty new programs and contract signings.

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Speaker 1: We're talking NGOs here, aren't we.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's sixty new ones, sixty new programs. So I

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Speaker 2: when you look at it, so I went to their

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Speaker 2: financial statements to see, okay, how did what was the

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Speaker 2: increase in revenue during those years? And what I looked at.

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Speaker 2: What I looked at was the grants. What was the

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Speaker 2: level of federal grants that the city received in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty two versus twenty nineteen. Before COVID twenty nineteen, the

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Speaker 2: city got forty four million dollars in grants. In twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty one with this COVID money, they got one hundred

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Speaker 2: and ninety eight million dollars, and then the following year

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Speaker 2: they got one hundred and seventy one million dollars so

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Speaker 2: each year they got between one hundred and twenty and

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Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty million dollars more than what they

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Speaker 2: had received prior to COVID. And you see programs like

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Speaker 2: an Act for Sincey, the Financial Freedom Blueprint, which has

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Speaker 2: all these different programs to help the underserved. You have

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Speaker 2: the Green Cincinnati Plan. All of that appears to have

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Speaker 2: been funded by this COVID money that the city received.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's a finite number of dollars. It's COVID related.

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Speaker 1: COVID's gone. We're not getting any more big piles of

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Speaker 1: money from the federal government. So that means, right, Todd Zensert,

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Speaker 1: that all of these plans that were funded by by

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Speaker 1: that short term injection or infusion of cash won't be

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Speaker 1: funded going forward. They'll have to close shop and go away, right,

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Speaker 1: I mean, isn't that the normal course of matters, Todd Zenzer.

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Speaker 2: Right? What happened is they took these one time pots

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Speaker 2: of money and they established continuing programs with that instead

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Speaker 2: of one time uses.

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Speaker 1: I knew the answered My question was no, they're going

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Speaker 1: to continue. So I guess the other weird thing about

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Speaker 1: this are you telling me that at the time these

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Speaker 1: sixty new grant programs were set up that there was

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Speaker 1: no other prior program that was out there that was

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Speaker 1: designed to serve whatever need they identified. Well, these outstanding

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Speaker 1: needs had existed for such a long time and were

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Speaker 1: finally getting around to them sixty different NGOs. Right, Well,

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Speaker 1: I can't say that because, of course the SEC would

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Speaker 1: not be happy with me.

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Speaker 2: Well, because of the way that the city decided to

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Speaker 2: categorize these these moneies what they spent it on. You

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Speaker 2: have to keep digging down and down, and yeah, you

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Speaker 2: would actually have to get and I will probably do that.

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Speaker 2: You try to get the Ledger accounts to see exactly

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Speaker 2: who got the checks. There's some high level groups that

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Speaker 2: are announced that received like the Urban League got one

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Speaker 2: hundred and got one point five million, hy WCA got money.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the list goes on and on, but you

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Speaker 2: don't really know what they used it for. And how

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Speaker 2: did the city decide which group gets which money? That

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Speaker 2: is all still behind the curtain.

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Speaker 1: Oh my word, we have more a full hour of

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Speaker 1: this with citizen watchdog Todds ins Or. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if I can say it only gets worse, but will

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Speaker 1: continue on the perilous path that we're on Station fifty

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Speaker 1: Kcity Talk Station Brian Talmess, citizen with Citizen Watchdog, Former

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Speaker 1: Inspector General for the United States Todds Ends are going

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Speaker 1: through some of the issues in the city, Sin say

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Speaker 1: that you figured out, and we were still talking about

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Speaker 1: this three hundred roughly three hudred million dollars in COVID

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Speaker 1: nineteen money, some of which or a large chunk of

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Speaker 1: which allocated to sixty brand new non governmental organization programs

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Speaker 1: which will will necessarily have to be funded on an

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Speaker 1: ongoing basis going forward, not that we have any idea

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Speaker 1: what the money is actually being used for it even if,

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Speaker 1: as you pointed out as we were into the break,

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Speaker 1: the YMCA is getting some on its face like, well,

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Speaker 1: who can argue with govern some money to the YMCA

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Speaker 1: that helps the community and provide place for activities and

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Speaker 1: brel BA, But we don't know what the YMCA did

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Speaker 1: with the money. And that's the problem that extends throughout

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Speaker 1: all of these grants. And this is not just a

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati problem, folks. And one of the beautiful things we

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Speaker 1: can point to the City of Cincinnati because it's relative

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Speaker 1: to my local listeners, even folks who don't live in it.

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Speaker 1: But this is illustrative of the national plague we've got

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Speaker 1: going on with non governmental organizations getting our taxpayer dollars.

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Speaker 2: That's definitely correct, no question about it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd love to say, see what the Democrat Party

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Speaker 1: would look like, or even the Republicans the extent they're

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Speaker 1: involved in any of this, if you could just magically

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Speaker 1: waive the wand and eliminate all fraud in any program.

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Speaker 1: That's not to take all the money away from all

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Speaker 1: the programs, because there may be some that are actually

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Speaker 1: accomplishing what they promised to accomplish if we knew what

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Speaker 1: they were doing with the money, but just the ones

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Speaker 1: that are taking the money and sending it to political campaigns,

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Speaker 1: lining their own pockets or paying themselves handsome salaries, you know,

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Speaker 1: making six figure salaries that work because I work for

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Speaker 1: a nonprofit, that would be an amazing thing to but

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Speaker 1: hold it would also be interesting to see how the

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Speaker 1: Democrat Party would do by way of funding if all

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Speaker 1: that fraud money disappeared. Anyway, Todd, you had something more

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Speaker 1: to say about this three hundred million dollars in COVID money.

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Speaker 2: Well, the reason I went back and looked at the

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Speaker 2: COVID money and was because of the noise coming out

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Speaker 2: of City Hall that they want to raise the arniance tax. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and when I look at their books, they got a

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Speaker 2: lot of money. And if they try to use the

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Speaker 2: loss of COVID money as a reason to increase the

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Speaker 2: earnings tax, that would not be honest.

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Speaker 1: No, it would not be honest. Todd, you don't really

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Speaker 1: truly expect honesty from this administration, do you.

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Speaker 2: Well, Unfortunately, it's really hard to understand exactly what the

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Speaker 2: city is doing all the time. Well, they're not transparent.

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Speaker 2: I can tell you that they're not.

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Speaker 1: They hide information that should be readily available, which leads you,

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Speaker 1: notably and in expert capacity to speculate, and folks like

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Speaker 1: me who don't have that level of knowledge to speculate

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Speaker 1: and go down some tangent like, oh my god, this

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Speaker 1: is truly nefarious. And we can come up with a

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Speaker 1: million different ways about why this is just outright wrong,

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Speaker 1: if not make a good argument that it could be

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Speaker 1: even criminal.

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Speaker 2: Well, the thing that really bothers me is that the

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Speaker 2: city Council has no interest in oversight of the city administration.

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Speaker 2: They just go right along and that's all.

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Speaker 1: It's a part time job, Todd, you can't be expected

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Speaker 1: to mind the store when it's a part time job.

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Speaker 2: Well, they're not even curious. And that's what really bothers me.

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Speaker 2: Like on the solar array or on some of this

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Speaker 2: COVID money, they just go right along with whatever the

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Speaker 2: mayor and the administration want to do.

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Speaker 1: Yes, they do get on that solar array. We're going

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Speaker 1: back to the whole just how epic stupid it is

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Speaker 1: to think that carbon neutrality in the city of Cincinnati

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Speaker 1: is somehow going to benefit the globe or even the

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Speaker 1: city itself. I was joking with Todd over the break.

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Speaker 1: I said, we should do just let's take all this

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Speaker 1: money and buy a giant dome, big glass dome, and

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Speaker 1: put it over the city of Cincinnati. All fifty neighborhoods,

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Speaker 1: vacuum seal it, of course, provide them with fresh carbon dioxide,

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Speaker 1: free oxygen, and see how long it takes for all

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Speaker 1: the plants to die. Seven thirty five. We're not done.

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Speaker 1: The list has not been exhausted. Like the budget money

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Speaker 1: the city of Cincinnati. We'll talk about station seven thirty

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Speaker 1: nine half if you bought KCD talk station. Congressman David

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Speaker 1: Taylor after the top of the art. It is in

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Speaker 1: the meantime, City of Cincinnati, they don't realize how blessed

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Speaker 1: they are to have Todd zens or citizen watchdog, former

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Speaker 1: Inspector General looking at these records and trying to find

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Speaker 1: out answers to questions. It seemed very perplexing. A lot

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Speaker 1: of that topic so far this morning, the solar panel,

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Speaker 1: insulation batcraft, stupid and crazy. The three hundred million dollars

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Speaker 1: in funding received from the pandemic relief that's now we

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Speaker 1: find it's gone to fund sixty non governmental organizations, resulting

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Speaker 1: in the city taxpayers maybe having to have their taxes increased. Crazy, inexplicable,

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Speaker 1: probably corrupt. Now let's pivot over to the railroad money.

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Speaker 1: Toddszenser sold the railroad for one point whatever billion dollars.

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Speaker 1: Money put into trust fund interest generated is supposed to

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Speaker 1: be handed over to the City of Cincinnati to help

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Speaker 1: our work on existing infrastructure projects. I know there's some

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Speaker 1: question marks swirling around what is actually started by way

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Speaker 1: of projects, what have they done with the money, what's

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Speaker 1: been allocated. There's these complicating layers on it. But we

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Speaker 1: find out now after you investigate that level that there's

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Speaker 1: another layl level of well, I don't know of his

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Speaker 1: duplicity or but really swirling question marks. Let my listeners

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Speaker 1: know what you discovered. Todd Zenzer, Well, do you remember

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Speaker 1: before Christmas? Local twelve ran a report about how the

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Speaker 1: city was unable to use their railway money on infrastructure

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Speaker 1: projects that they had only spent like six percent of

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Speaker 1: the tranch that the board had sent over. This was

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Speaker 1: the interest generated, and how much money had they sent over?

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Speaker 1: Roughly was tens of millions of dollars right.

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Speaker 2: Well, the annual amount that they agreed to send to

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Speaker 2: the city for this year was fifty six million. Okay,

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Speaker 2: we're putting that or sending that to the city in

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Speaker 2: four different tranches, so I'm not sure exactly how much

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Speaker 2: they sent. But the Local twelve report generated a lot

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Speaker 2: of controversy, and the city council asked.

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Speaker 1: Because we don't see any projects starting, right, that's right,

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Speaker 1: they got them. We know they got the money. The

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Speaker 1: railroad board said, we gave them the money. We know

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Speaker 1: it's in the fifty million dollar range. So that local

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Speaker 1: news says, where did it go? We're not seeing it

436
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,400
Speaker 1: and getting done here, and this is then that results

437
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: in right.

438
00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,000
Speaker 2: So after that report, I sent a letter to the

439
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,640
Speaker 2: board to make sure they saw the Local twelve report.

440
00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 2: I put a hyperlink in it, and I reminded them

441
00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 2: that in February of last year, in twenty twenty five,

442
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,240
Speaker 2: I went to their board meeting and I alerted them

443
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 2: that the city was does not have the capacity to

444
00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 2: spend that money, and they need to figure out what

445
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,760
Speaker 2: they're going to do if the city, you know, doesn't

446
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,040
Speaker 2: spend the money. And what's happened is we found that

447
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 2: what the what.

448
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 1: The board is going to do in the city doesn't

449
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,000
Speaker 1: spend the money, right because they gave it in good

450
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: faith to the city based upon I guess a list

451
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: of projects that the cell told them.

452
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,199
Speaker 2: They followed the law. The law tells them they have

453
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,360
Speaker 2: to give them so much, and then they decide how

454
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 2: much more to give them.

455
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 1: Oh okay, So.

456
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 2: I lost my train of thought here when so.

457
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,480
Speaker 1: You alert the board that the money went over but

458
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,639
Speaker 1: there's no you can't account for what it was, right.

459
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,639
Speaker 2: So the board actually sent a letter to the city

460
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:37,360
Speaker 2: apparently I haven't seen it, but and the finance director

461
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 2: wrote back to the board and told them that, well,

462
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:42,920
Speaker 2: if we can't use it we put it in our

463
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:43,920
Speaker 2: investment account.

464
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,439
Speaker 1: So they city has opened a separate investment account. Well,

465
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,639
Speaker 1: they have an investment account, oh oh, existing one, and

466
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 1: the investment account has one point six billion dollars of

467
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,199
Speaker 1: its own in there. And so they're taking railway money

468
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 1: that they can't spend and they're putting it in their

469
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: own investment account on top of their existing investments, and

470
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 1: they're you know, that's adding to their earnings from that

471
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:13,960
Speaker 1: investment account. And those earnings are not restricted to existing infrastructure,

472
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,640
Speaker 1: are they? Todd Zenzer, right, if you were. Let's say

473
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,560
Speaker 1: that money it's a way to get around the existing

474
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 1: infrastructure limit to the to the railroad money. Todd, can

475
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 1: I just state that out loud? I mean, am I right?

476
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 2: Yeah? You have to, you have to. We don't know yet.

477
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 2: Apparently the city is going to go to the meeting

478
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 2: next week in front of the board and hopefully they're

479
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,399
Speaker 2: going to explain all this. But that's exactly what it

480
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,400
Speaker 2: looks like. And let's say that money, that that millions

481
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,640
Speaker 2: of dollars was stolen, Well, putting it into an account

482
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,919
Speaker 2: like that washes it so you can't really trace it.

483
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,280
Speaker 2: And that's really what's happening here is that they have

484
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 2: washed the money of the railway color and now it's

485
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:54,200
Speaker 2: Cincinnati money. And that wasn't the intent of the law

486
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:55,800
Speaker 2: when they when they passed the law.

487
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:57,520
Speaker 1: And given that it was not the intent of the law,

488
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,199
Speaker 1: and it violates the clear intent of the law law,

489
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 1: is there any way that an illegal action could be

490
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 1: filed on the board could otherwise claw that money back

491
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 1: and say, hey, we shouldn't have sent it to you

492
00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:08,480
Speaker 1: in the first place. Look at what you're doing. You're

493
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,920
Speaker 1: investing in your own investment account and you're taking away

494
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:12,240
Speaker 1: the limitations on its use.

495
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:14,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they either need to try to do

496
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 2: that or make clear that they're not going to be

497
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,400
Speaker 2: sending tranches of money like that to the city anymore.

498
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,160
Speaker 2: And then what I'm proposing is that the board use

499
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,160
Speaker 2: a drawdown system where when the city needs the money

500
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,959
Speaker 2: because they have a bill pending for some work, that

501
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,919
Speaker 2: they come to the board and they draw down the

502
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,479
Speaker 2: money that they need. That's how That's how most of

503
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 2: these infrastructure accounts operate.

504
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 1: Sounds to me like the only way they should operate.

505
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 1: This is just I still can't get over that is

506
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 1: going on.

507
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 2: Time I sent a letter to them again last night,

508
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 2: reminding them again and reasserting my recommendation.

509
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 1: To the board or to council, to the board, to

510
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,879
Speaker 1: the board, yes, to the well, at least the board

511
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 1: gets the attention to council, and council or the mayor

512
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,400
Speaker 1: or maybe the city manager at least has to respond

513
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,679
Speaker 1: to the board. They are responding to, have to respond

514
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:05,399
Speaker 1: to Todd Zinzer.

515
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:07,200
Speaker 2: That's right, they are responding to the board.

516
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:18,439
Speaker 1: See, that's why we have Todd the talk station five KRC,

517
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 1: the talk station Happy Friday Eve right time is here

518
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,120
Speaker 1: with citizen Watchdog todds Zinser again. You know, he dives

519
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:27,960
Speaker 1: in even more in depth in his podcasts and some

520
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,840
Speaker 1: of the topics we're talking about this morning, all of

521
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 1: which just spell I mean, grave concern from my perspective

522
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 1: about the existence of well, lack of oversight, perhaps fraud

523
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: and corruption. All I know is you can't follow the

524
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 1: money anywhere in the city of Cincinnati. And that last

525
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,399
Speaker 1: little insight about the city getting the railroad money then

526
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,200
Speaker 1: parking in its own investment account. Man, somebody's got to

527
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,439
Speaker 1: do something about that. So Todd's on the job on that.

528
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,560
Speaker 1: We'll see what the railroad board does. But pivoting back,

529
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,119
Speaker 1: we started out this morning of the laughable concept of

530
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:59,240
Speaker 1: the city buying and paying for out of the general fund,

531
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,920
Speaker 1: since the federal dollars aren't there anymore. This new solar

532
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,639
Speaker 1: panel farm wherever they're planning on building it. It's a

533
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,800
Speaker 1: preposterous notion anyway, It's a pointless gesture in the name

534
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:15,119
Speaker 1: of virtue signaling. But you mentioned that it was pursuant

535
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: to an emergency declaration. Right now, the power hasn't gone

536
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 1: out in the city. The panels aren't gonna keep the

537
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:28,159
Speaker 1: lights on really under any given circumstance, demonstrably failures in

538
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 1: terms of reliable energy supply. So how is this building

539
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,920
Speaker 1: of the panel farm in any way shape or form

540
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:36,840
Speaker 1: an emergency.

541
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 2: God, Yeah, I'm not sure if I brought it with me,

542
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:45,080
Speaker 2: but the city does a lot of business by emergency.

543
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,520
Speaker 2: In fact, I was watching the city home a city

544
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,200
Speaker 2: council meeting one day online and some woman came up

545
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 2: to claim her two minutes, and she didn't even talk

546
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 2: about what she came to the council for because she

547
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 2: had seen the agenda, And the agenda will list all

548
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 2: these emergency ordinances that they intend to you know, deliberate

549
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 2: or to vote on. And she was beside herself and

550
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 2: she thought the city was beset by emergencies. She says,

551
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,200
Speaker 2: what are all these emergencies.

552
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 1: Close to martial law declaration exactly?

553
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 2: So she was she was alarmed, and it's it's unfortunate.

554
00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 2: But that's how the city does business in in in

555
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 2: the state of Ohio U and I think this is

556
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 2: pretty much universal across the country. But legislatures. Legislatures are

557
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 2: supposed to pass ordinances based on three readings of the ordinance.

558
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 2: They they're they're supposed to read the ordinance on three

559
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 2: different days before they vote on it. Well, what the

560
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 2: city does is when they want to get something passed

561
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,560
Speaker 2: without any you know, pushback or feedback from the from

562
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 2: the people.

563
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 1: Their constituents, you mean Todd, Yes they represent, Yes, we

564
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 1: don't want to for them those people.

565
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 2: So they actually have to take three votes on an

566
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 2: emergency ordinance. They first have to vote to suspend the

567
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:10,760
Speaker 2: three readings.

568
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 1: All right, I see this couple a mile away.

569
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,840
Speaker 2: So then they vote on the ordinance itself as an emergency,

570
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,360
Speaker 2: and then they have to vote to keep that emergency

571
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 2: clause in the bill. So, for example, I decided to

572
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 2: go back and look at how many emergency ordinances did

573
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 2: the city council enact in twenty twenty five. So I

574
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,959
Speaker 2: went back counted them all up. They passed four hundred

575
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 2: and four ordinances in twenty twenty five. Three hundred and

576
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 2: three of them were emergency ordinances seventy five percent, and

577
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:50,120
Speaker 2: they're supposed to state the reason, and the reason is

578
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:54,080
Speaker 2: that the reason is some general statement about to further

579
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,760
Speaker 2: the health, safety and whatever of the community. That's all

580
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 2: they have to do. And that's been tested in court,

581
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:02,600
Speaker 2: and the court says, okay, well, we're not going to

582
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,840
Speaker 2: get involved in what the legislature decides to do and

583
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 2: that type of things exactly, So the city council has

584
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,480
Speaker 2: a clear runway to pass whatever they want to pass

585
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,040
Speaker 2: without any feedback in the And the critical piece about

586
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 2: emergency ordinances is that in the Ohio law, it cuts

587
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 2: off any ability of the citizens to appeal that through

588
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:30,760
Speaker 2: a referendum. So, for example, on this solar array, if

589
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,840
Speaker 2: that hadn't been an emergency ordinance, we could try to

590
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 2: get that on the ballot for people to approve yes

591
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,480
Speaker 2: or no. So these emergency ordinances wipe that all out

592
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,480
Speaker 2: and that's what happened with connected community.

593
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 1: That's what I was going to say. That's what Hyde

594
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,479
Speaker 1: Park did. Well, I mean, they're not a ballot. They

595
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 1: got something that was going to go on the back exactly.

596
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,920
Speaker 1: For some reason, they forgot to call it an emergency.

597
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,080
Speaker 1: I don't know why they didn't call it an emergency.

598
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,000
Speaker 1: I think it I think they.

599
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:56,720
Speaker 2: Knew that if they had done that, it would have

600
00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 2: been an outrageous outcry from the from the people.

601
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 1: Because the residents of Hyde Park were paying attention to

602
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:04,640
Speaker 1: what was going on in their neighborhood, that's right.

603
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:09,040
Speaker 2: And so there was a calculation that while it's better

604
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 2: to risk them being able to get all the signatures

605
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,120
Speaker 2: on a petition in time versus all the outcry that

606
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:18,600
Speaker 2: would happen if they declared an emergency.

607
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,440
Speaker 1: Or and they ignored all the outcry that they received

608
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:22,840
Speaker 1: when they went forward a plan anyway. All the residents

609
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:24,280
Speaker 1: showed up and complained about it.

610
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,960
Speaker 2: Hours and hours, hours and hours of you know, protest

611
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 2: by the people.

612
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,240
Speaker 1: So they said, well, we'll suffer through that, we'll ignore

613
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 1: the will of our constituents. We'll move forward with it anyway,

614
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 1: and we'll run the risk of a ballot initiative. But oh,

615
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 1: come on, this is the City of Cincinnati. There's no

616
00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 1: way they're going to be able to collect enough signatures

617
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 1: to override this. Whoops, I think they did.

618
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:45,160
Speaker 2: I think that's what happened, right.

619
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,800
Speaker 1: I guarantee you sure as I'm sitting here, Todd zenzer Man,

620
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,080
Speaker 1: I cannot thank you enough for doing this on behalf

621
00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 1: of the city of Cincinnati, and the residents take the

622
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: laboring or all the time, all documented. If there are

623
00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,080
Speaker 1: no documents, Todd at least goes through the process of

624
00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,640
Speaker 1: asking for them or appealing to at least a body

625
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:04,600
Speaker 1: that will be in a position to get them the

626
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 1: Railroad Board. Todd, you keep up the great work. You

627
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,200
Speaker 1: always have a welcome spot here in the fifty five

628
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,240
Speaker 1: Caro Scene Morning show. And thanks again for coming to

629
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:12,680
Speaker 1: lunch yesterday was fabulous, sing it.

630
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:13,160
Speaker 2: Thank you,